Keeping Up With Kickstarter


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After several months of rehab from Kickstarter, I think it’s safe to talk about some of the MMOs that are seeking funding without opening my wallet and throwing heaps of cash into them. It’s been a pretty interesting past few months for Kickstarter in all respects, including that of the MMO world. If you haven’t been paying attention, Greed Monger made good on its funding goal of $30 thousand, at over $90 thousand raised altogether. Greed Monger is an interestingly named title that focuses on crafting, economics, and politics. Inspired by Ultima Online, Greed Monger brings back some much underused MMO features including non-instanced player housing. The game will be free to play and supported by the purchasing of houses. Players buy parcels of land on which they can build whatever they want. The kickstarter is long over, but you can still check out the features at its funding page.

I’m joking. I’m not even one paragraph into this and I’ve already dropped $50.

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Emperor’s Forge has a pretty interesting concept: Players divide into cities of up to 50 players, all competing for the Viceroy title to lead the city. Cities can form together and then form a country. The goal of all of this is to name someone King or Queen of the kingdom (or queendom?). Once a player is named king, he can actually be killed by players of warring factions, who will instate their own leader as the new king/queen. Players level up by gaining nobility ranks, and the higher a player’s nobility the more features they have access to. Emperor’s Forge will allow players to own houses, set up shops and hire NPCs to staff them, as well as soldiers, and more.

The Emperor’s Forge Kickstarter has until February 4th to hit $80,000. The game will be free to play and available on PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android devices.

(Kickstarter Page)

Xsyon-logo

Unless Xsyon gets some last minute funding, it looks like the Kickstarter is going to fall short of its goal. Xsyon’s Kickstarter ends on January 1st, and so far has only accumulated $6 thousand of the $250 thousand goal. Xsyon is live, and you can check out the game for yourself on the free to play server. Xsyon is a sandbox MMO where everything is player-crafted, from the equipment to the buildings. Set up in tribes and build yourself a compound, go out and kill wild animals (or players) for their precious goods and use them to craft even more equipment with which to kill more animals and players. Set up trade routes, level your skills, and help the new world rise from the ashes of nuclear apocalypse.

(Kickstarter Page)

Pathfinder-Online-1

Haven’t we seen Pathfinder here before? The answer is yes, we have. The previous Pathfinder Kickstarter project was for a tech demo of the full product. The latest Kickstarter, asking for $1 million dollars, has accumulated over $400,000 with 26 days to go as of this writing. Pathfinder is an upcoming MMO based on the Pathfinder pen and paper RPG. It will be a sandbox game with a focus on player interaction, be it in the form of politics, diplomacy, economics, warfare, and exploration. Otherwise, the Kickstarter page offers much more detail on what reward tiers are available than what the game will actually encompass.

(Kickstarter Page)

The War Z No Longer Available On Steam Following Controversy


WarZ

If you haven’t been following recent events, boy are you left in the dark. The War Z recently came out of beta and, even better, launched on Steam for the price of about $15. What might have been a joyous occasion for the developer quickly turned into defending itself from claims of misleading advertising and fraud, as players pointed out that several key features advertised on the game’s Steam page did not actually exist in the game. Some of the features (player cap per server, map size and quantity) were greatly exaggerated while other features (skill system, rental servers, etc) were not even in the game at all. To add insult to injury, Sergey Titov went on Gamespy to blame the players for assuming that the features listed on the Steam description were already implemented.

“I’m sure there’ll be people who will look into small details and will say ‘no I was mislead’ where in fact they imagined something to themselves without checking details first.”

The War Z caused even more outrage when a launch-day patch altered the way in which players respawn. Previously if your character died you had to wait an hour before they could respawn, a hardcore feature that the developers encouraged making use of all five player slots to bypass. As of December 19th, however, the respawn time was greatly increased to four hours, with a twist: You can respawn instantly, as long as you pay up. Each instant respawn costs forty cents, and you’ll need to pony up a minimum of $5 per purchase of microtransaction points.

As a result of the outcry, Valve has removed The War Z from Steam temporarily until the issue can be fixed. For people who purchased the game through Steam, Valve is offering refunds through their support system.

From time to time a mistake can be made and one was made by prematurely issuing a copy of War Z for sale via Steam. We apologize for this and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build. Those who purchase the game and wish to continue playing it via Steam may do so. Those who purchased the title via Steam and are unhappy with what they received may seek a refund by creating a ticket at our support site here.

Hammerpoint has said in the past that they do hand out refunds to those who ask for them.

(Source: Rock Paper Shotgun)

Come Back To DC Universe Until January 16th


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Sony Online Entertainment has an early Christmas/Holiday present for you, well as long as you are an ex-subscriber. Over the past year, DC Universe Online has added in three DLC packs, 14 game updates, with another DLC pack (Home Turf, containing player housing) on the way. So to celebrate the holidays, Sony is offering a free month of Legendary membership to anyone who has had an active subscription between January 11, 2011 and December 10, 2012.

The offer does not extend to current subscribers.

(Source: DC Universe)

Pirates of the Burning Sea Leaving Sony Online Entertainment


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File this one under “didn’t see that coming.” Pirates of the Burning Sea will soon be leaving Sony Online Entertainment’s list of MMOs, and thankfully not because it is shutting down. After much review and consideration on at least one of the two party’s behalf, the two developers have agreed to part ways, and Pirates of the Burning Sea will migrate to a new host. Starting January 31st, PotBS will be hosted through Portalus Games, a new studio made up of ex-Flying Lab employes.

You will be able to transfer your character at the Portalus website, and you’ll need to do so before January 31st. None of your SOE account data will be transferred. You won’t, however, be able to access Pirates of the Burning Sea membership with your Station All Access Pass, however.

(Source: Portalus)

The Old Republic First Expansion: Rise of the Hutt Cartel


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Players are able to take on the first fifty levels of The Old Republic’s story line completely free, but what happens when that is all of the story line? The answer: Expansions. The Old Republic’s first expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel, is coming in Spring 2013 and brings with it several changes to the Old Republic game we all know and some of us might even love. The maximum level has been expanded by five to 55, and players are sent to the planet of Makeb, where they must put an end to the plot of the Hutt Cartel to become the new galactic superpower.

Free players will have to shell out $20 for the expansion, although subscribers can get it at 50% off for a mere $9.99. Preordering the expansion as a free player does upgrade an account to “preferred” status, and if either group orders the game before January 7th, they will have five days of early access to the new content. Otherwise, not a whole lot of information revealed at this stage. We can assume that the new planet will bring higher tier gear, raids, dungeons, and more space missions, and possibly more crafting options.

(Source: The Old Republic)

ROBLOX Now On iOS


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Roblox is already the number one entertainment site for kids, with over 9.8 million creations and over one billion page views and 29 million hours of game played every month. So how does Roblox become more popular? It’s simple, stupid. Release on the iOS!

Roblox is now available for the iOS. The app brings with it access to a smaller version of Roblox, including access to in-app purchases, character customization, manage their social network, and interact with their games. While builder’s club members will have access to all ROBLOX games on the iOS devices, while non-builders will only have access to a rotating selection of games that are known to be compatible with the device. You’ll need a newer iOS device to play, however. The list of supported devices includes the iPad 2 or newer, iPhone 4 or newer, and iPod Touch 5 or newer. All other iOS devices can access non-game features.

Square Enix Lays Off At Los Angeles Studio


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Square Enix has confirmed to Massively.com that the company’s Los Angeles studios has been hit with a number of layoffs. According to Square, however, none of the company’s existing MMOs have been impacted at all.

In order to ensure it is operating effectively, the Square Enix Los Angeles office has reduced its workforce. This was a difficult decision and we wish the best for those affected by these changes. The decision will not have any impact on the operations of MMO titles. Customers can expect those services to continue, including the upcoming launch of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

We wish the best for those affected by the layoffs, and hope that they find quick employment.

(Source: Massively)

What Is The Phoenix Project? And Heroes & Villains?


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Normally this is where I’d post a picture of Bender with the caption “Fine, I’ll just make my own City of Heroes. With Blackjack, and hookers.” As it turns out, someone’s already beaten me to the punch, minus the blackjack and hookers of course. I know what you’re thinking: “Omali, are you seriously going to tell me that the City of Heroes community is joining together to build a community-driven MMO with an unprecedented level of communication between players and developers?” Absolutely, in fact your assessment is so accurate that I can only assume you already knew about it.

No, not content with the demise of their favorite MMO, certain members of the community have begun work on not just one, but two spiritual sequels to Paragon Studios’ work. The current project names are Heroes & Villains and the Phoenix Project.

Heroes & Villains, as described on the Titan Network:

We’re aiming to create a genuinely community-focused and driven game, with an unprecedented level of communication between its developers and players. Plan Z is just a collection of very passionate and very talented fans of comic books and games, so the line between developers and players is going to be very blurred, especially with the amount of consultation and feedback we’re going to be engaging in with other comic and gaming fans during the design process.

Heroes & Villains appears to be running off of the appropriately named Hero Engine, and work is already well under way. Heroes & Villains is to be set in Titan City, and by the looks of the current lore pages, will be filled with (soon to be) original heroes and villains.

Secondly, we have The Phoenix Project which is pretty similar in scope and focus.

Keep in mind that this is a spiritual successor. As such, we are not trying to completely replicate COH. This is creating a new game with the best parts of COH, and taking lessons from other games on how to improve the COH experience. This will not be identical to COH. That’s not possible without infringing, and I’d prefer to avoid any possible threats of lawsuit down the road. Right now, this is ALL conceptual building processes. But if worst comes to worst, we have to be able to produce a game concept that will sell to investors on December 1st. That is the immediate goal. Long-term goals need to be kept in mind too, and we need to remain flexible.

It is hard to deny the ambitious nature of these projects, but who knows? We may one day be playing a proper community-developed MMO.

(Heroes and Villains Website)

(Phoenix Project Website)

Jagex’s Problem With “Not RuneScape” Continues On


By the time you read this, Transformers Online will have already been delisted from MMO Fallout. To find out why, continue reading. Back in July, Mark Gerhard wrote about how Jagex is done messing around with pet projects (read: massive financial disasters) like 8Realms and FunOrb, and that the company would only focus on serious developments from there on out.

“I think to other projects, like 8Realms and things like that, I think that was one of the last hobby projects that we carried through, and obviously that was evident. Now it’s just working on the projects that matter.”

In order to continue on to Transformers Universe, we must first take a stroll down Jagex memory lane. RuneScape launched in 2001 and is a massive success and continues to bring in mucho dinero. FunOrb launched and was subsequently abandoned without even as much as a goodbye to the community. The FunOrb team was whisked away to 8Realms, which was also an unmitigated disaster of marketing and was canned mid-beta. Meanwhile on the serious MMO side of things, Jagex’s first true MMO after RuneScape was shuttered, twice, because a few years and countless millions are what it took before someone said “this isn’t fun.” First as MechScape and then as Stellar Dawn. As for Transformers Online, I noted:

“Jagex’s previous projects are a fine example that, left to their own accord, the company will screw around for a few years, waste countless millions and the good faith of their community, and eventually scrap the game entirely because it didn’t turn out fun. Nobody wins, not the developers who are laid off, not the community, and not the investors who expect their money to be spent wisely.”

So why isn’t Transformers Universe listed on MMO Fallout anymore? Simple: It is no longer an MMORPG. Jagex has announced that the game will be re-envisioned as a MOBA more along the lines of League of Legends or World of Tanks than the traditional MMORPG that Jagex has been leading us along with over the past year or so. Who do you have to thank for this? One Alex Horton.

“Transformers are about war; they’re about action. They don’t carry gold, bake bread, catch fish, cut down trees. But for all they take away, they throw open so many more opportunities. Maybe there’s more in a selection of characters and abilities, and the strategy in that, than there is leveling a character endlessly and going through fuck loads of boss battles.”

Rather than creating a character through the robust creation system Jagex had been showing off at conventions, players will collect Jagex-created robots and battle them out in a story-driven arena.

What has Jagex learned after all of this time? Judging by the sudden change of pace, nothing. According to the article, work only began in “in earnest” on Transformers Universe in early 2011, meaning Jagex was selling yet another MMO in which very little content was likely actually completed despite a very ambitious and unrealistically set launch date. Now, as with MechScape, we find out at the last minute that the game “just wasn’t working out,” and would be recreated in another form.

Like I’ve been saying the whole time, Transformers Online has a far higher chance of seeing release than Jagex’s in-house properties, and for another simple reason: Hasbro. Contracts and deadlines, both of which I can assume exist for Transformers Universe. Hasbro is risking its own money and reputation on the launch of Transformers Universe, and you can bet that we will see one of two outcomes: Transformers Universe launches, or Hasbro pulls the IP.

Of course this is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

(Source: Polygon)

Jagex's Problem With "Not RuneScape" Continues On


By the time you read this, Transformers Online will have already been delisted from MMO Fallout. To find out why, continue reading. Back in July, Mark Gerhard wrote about how Jagex is done messing around with pet projects (read: massive financial disasters) like 8Realms and FunOrb, and that the company would only focus on serious developments from there on out.

“I think to other projects, like 8Realms and things like that, I think that was one of the last hobby projects that we carried through, and obviously that was evident. Now it’s just working on the projects that matter.”

In order to continue on to Transformers Universe, we must first take a stroll down Jagex memory lane. RuneScape launched in 2001 and is a massive success and continues to bring in mucho dinero. FunOrb launched and was subsequently abandoned without even as much as a goodbye to the community. The FunOrb team was whisked away to 8Realms, which was also an unmitigated disaster of marketing and was canned mid-beta. Meanwhile on the serious MMO side of things, Jagex’s first true MMO after RuneScape was shuttered, twice, because a few years and countless millions are what it took before someone said “this isn’t fun.” First as MechScape and then as Stellar Dawn. As for Transformers Online, I noted:

“Jagex’s previous projects are a fine example that, left to their own accord, the company will screw around for a few years, waste countless millions and the good faith of their community, and eventually scrap the game entirely because it didn’t turn out fun. Nobody wins, not the developers who are laid off, not the community, and not the investors who expect their money to be spent wisely.”

So why isn’t Transformers Universe listed on MMO Fallout anymore? Simple: It is no longer an MMORPG. Jagex has announced that the game will be re-envisioned as a MOBA more along the lines of League of Legends or World of Tanks than the traditional MMORPG that Jagex has been leading us along with over the past year or so. Who do you have to thank for this? One Alex Horton.

“Transformers are about war; they’re about action. They don’t carry gold, bake bread, catch fish, cut down trees. But for all they take away, they throw open so many more opportunities. Maybe there’s more in a selection of characters and abilities, and the strategy in that, than there is leveling a character endlessly and going through fuck loads of boss battles.”

Rather than creating a character through the robust creation system Jagex had been showing off at conventions, players will collect Jagex-created robots and battle them out in a story-driven arena.

What has Jagex learned after all of this time? Judging by the sudden change of pace, nothing. According to the article, work only began in “in earnest” on Transformers Universe in early 2011, meaning Jagex was selling yet another MMO in which very little content was likely actually completed despite a very ambitious and unrealistically set launch date. Now, as with MechScape, we find out at the last minute that the game “just wasn’t working out,” and would be recreated in another form.

Like I’ve been saying the whole time, Transformers Online has a far higher chance of seeing release than Jagex’s in-house properties, and for another simple reason: Hasbro. Contracts and deadlines, both of which I can assume exist for Transformers Universe. Hasbro is risking its own money and reputation on the launch of Transformers Universe, and you can bet that we will see one of two outcomes: Transformers Universe launches, or Hasbro pulls the IP.

Of course this is just my opinion, I could be wrong.

(Source: Polygon)