End of Nations Lays Off Staffers


End of Nations just can’t catch a break. At the end of November, we found out that the End of Nations beta would not be going forward until “further notice.” The reason behind the move was stated to be due to important issues that needed to be addressed before the game would be ready for wider consumption. While Petroglyph has stood by the statement that the game is not being cancelled, the fact that the company began refunding purchases made by players would seem to imply that while the game may not be scheduled for termination, that Petroglyph is not entirely sure if the game will ever make open beta.

Eurogamer picked up on good word that 30 people have been laid off at Petroglyph, confirmed somewhat via a Twitter post from writer and game designer Adam Stevens:

 “Well, it appears this winter break will be extended indefinitely. Lay-offs at Petroglyph. Looking like I’ll be Leaving Las Vegas.”

Our thoughts go out to the affected employees, and we wish you all fast employment.

(Source: Eurogamer)

NCSoft Announces Layoffs Hitting Seattle Branch


Layoffs right before Christmas? That is cold, NCSoft. After an anonymous source tipped off PC Gamer, the news has come forward that the Seattle offices of NCSoft are undergoing realignment, meaning several positions are no longer in existence. NCSoft’s Public Relations Manager Lincoln Davis said to PC Gamer:

“NCsoft is realigning internal publishing resources to better suit the needs of our game development studios. As a result of the realignment, several employees and contract positions were affected. This was a very tough decision to make and wish the best for all NCsoft employees in their next ventures.”

Reportedly there has been no impact on development at ArenaNet (Guild Wars) or Carbine Studios (Wildstar), or for that matter just how many were laid off.

(Source: PC Gamer)

The Secret World Marks The End of Days, December 21st


I know what you are thinking, and you are wrong. The end of the world is upon us, and what better game to celebrate in than the one that brings truth to all of the wibbly wobbly, timey wimey…stuff. The Secret World has posted an upcoming Alternate Reality Game event, beginning in just a few days and leading up to December 21st. As posted on the main website:

“This might be your one chance to save yourself from this inevitable cosmic event, and we encourage you to pre-register to take part in the ARG. Pre-registration is free and available on this page. The ARG will start in a few days and this is one train you do not want to miss.”

The website asks for your email address, with an optional form for your phone number and Twitter. No details on how these forms of communication will be utilized, but it will be a nice change to have the heavy breathing coming from the other end of the phone to be from an automated message than my plumber. For those of you who would rather not participate, follow me on Twitter @mmofallout. I will try to keep you updated on what happens.

Is anyone else just happy that “End of Days” didn’t turn out to mean that the game was shutting down? I know I am.

(Source: The Secret World)

Why Aren’t You Playing: RaiderZ Part 1


If I had a nickel for every time someone told me “hey Omali, check out this new MMO from Korea, it is totally different,” I would put those nickels in a sock and use it to beat those people unconscious. And yet, half because I know it won’t go anywhere and half because I enjoy torturing myself, I inevitably download the game and play it, hate it only as much as I hate myself, and uninstall the godforsaken pay-to-win uninspired grindfest. This time, however, I was invited to the beta under the pretense of “it’s just like TERA, but free!” Which is great, because juggling subscriptions was really the reason I left TERA.

In fact, don’t mind if I accidentally refer to RaiderZ as TERA at any point in this article.

1. Combat

RaiderZ is polite enough to introduce its new players to the variables of combat relatively early in their playing experience. In short, what this means is that in order to stay alive or function with any sort of efficiency in RaizerZ, you’re going to have to know when to hold em, know when to fold em. Combat is very similar to titles like TERA in that you’ll be tasked with dodging, blocking, and choosing the right moment when to strike. Dodging isn’t an end-all beat-all, and won’t protect you 100% from taking damage, but it is a very important tool in mitigating and holding off as much damage as possible. Creatures will shove, throw, ram, and eat their foes, meaning if you want to have a chance at survival, you’re going to need to pay attention.

Because of this, combat in RaiderZ is what I like to call: Engaging. Sure, you can go all out DPS, focus on just smashing your target as much and as quickly as possible, but you will likely die a lot or at least be forced to either guzzle down enough potions to heal a small army, or sit out of combat waiting for your health to regenerate. Or, at the cost of slightly longer battles in the short run, you can make intelligent use of your dodge, block, and special attacks to mitigate, block, and interrupt attacks.

I also like the idea that you can literally beat things off of certain mobs, and either consume them on the spot or use them as a weapon. Certain enemies like crabs will randomly drop crab meat, for instance, which can be picked up and eaten to boost health regeneration for a small amount of time. Other creatures will drop their weapon or body parts that can be picked up and used as a temporary weapon of your own. There is also an inherent satisfaction in breaking off the body part of something you just beat to death, and using it to slaughter its nearby tribe members.

2. Quests, Resources, And Grind

Outside of its combat, there isn’t much innovation to RaiderZ. The leveling process is the standard grind of moving from hub to hub, taking on quests and occasionally fighting “party” size monsters. Again, what makes RaiderZ enjoyable and engaging is the combat, even though as you progress through the game, you begin to realize that it may just be the one degree of separation that keeps this title from being thrown in the pit with the other thousand generic MMOs that come out of Korea every year. There is a story aspect that plays out through instanced areas, and is a decent part of the game.

Since RaiderZ is a monster hunting game, this is also where you will obtain most of your gear. As you wage your genocide against the hodgers, bandits, and bears (oh my), you will come across various crafting materials to use in forging new equipment. There isn’t much thinking in crafting your equipment, either. You simply go to a vendor in one of the cities or villages, they show you a recipe that displays exactly what creature drops each item, and you go and beat the crap out of said creature until it drops what you want. Unfortunately one issue I’ve come across is that in the time it takes to knock the correct resources out of a mob in quantities high enough to make a set of armor, I’ve already outleveled the stuff I was going to craft and have to load up on a new mob.

PvP in RaiderZ is really on the back burner, although there is an open PvP zone you are forced to go through if you want to progress to the end-game.

3. Gold Farmers, Chat Spam Galore

I saved this for last, because I know for someone like myself this can really kill a game. RaiderZ is filled to bursting with gold farmers, both in-game and spamming chat. The starting areas, as well as the first main city you hit (Ingen) are so full of gold farmers that chat is impossible, due to the overwhelming level of spam. The problem with gold spam might not be so great if RaiderZ had some automated system built in to stop it, but until that happens, players either have to ignore it or individually block each player.

In fact, the chat system in RaiderZ is mediocre, bordering on pathetic. Not only does Perfect World not offer a simple way to click on someone’s name to add them to your block/friend list, the game makes the Kindergarten level mistake of using a font that has the same symbol for the uppercase i as it does for the lower case l. So even if you want to block the number of gold farmers or private server ad bots, many of them use names consisting of random combinations of both letters, making them difficult if not impossible to ignore.

Next Time: Cash Shop, Perfect World, And More…

Why Aren't You Playing: RaiderZ Part 1


If I had a nickel for every time someone told me “hey Omali, check out this new MMO from Korea, it is totally different,” I would put those nickels in a sock and use it to beat those people unconscious. And yet, half because I know it won’t go anywhere and half because I enjoy torturing myself, I inevitably download the game and play it, hate it only as much as I hate myself, and uninstall the godforsaken pay-to-win uninspired grindfest. This time, however, I was invited to the beta under the pretense of “it’s just like TERA, but free!” Which is great, because juggling subscriptions was really the reason I left TERA.

In fact, don’t mind if I accidentally refer to RaiderZ as TERA at any point in this article.

1. Combat

RaiderZ is polite enough to introduce its new players to the variables of combat relatively early in their playing experience. In short, what this means is that in order to stay alive or function with any sort of efficiency in RaizerZ, you’re going to have to know when to hold em, know when to fold em. Combat is very similar to titles like TERA in that you’ll be tasked with dodging, blocking, and choosing the right moment when to strike. Dodging isn’t an end-all beat-all, and won’t protect you 100% from taking damage, but it is a very important tool in mitigating and holding off as much damage as possible. Creatures will shove, throw, ram, and eat their foes, meaning if you want to have a chance at survival, you’re going to need to pay attention.

Because of this, combat in RaiderZ is what I like to call: Engaging. Sure, you can go all out DPS, focus on just smashing your target as much and as quickly as possible, but you will likely die a lot or at least be forced to either guzzle down enough potions to heal a small army, or sit out of combat waiting for your health to regenerate. Or, at the cost of slightly longer battles in the short run, you can make intelligent use of your dodge, block, and special attacks to mitigate, block, and interrupt attacks.

I also like the idea that you can literally beat things off of certain mobs, and either consume them on the spot or use them as a weapon. Certain enemies like crabs will randomly drop crab meat, for instance, which can be picked up and eaten to boost health regeneration for a small amount of time. Other creatures will drop their weapon or body parts that can be picked up and used as a temporary weapon of your own. There is also an inherent satisfaction in breaking off the body part of something you just beat to death, and using it to slaughter its nearby tribe members.

2. Quests, Resources, And Grind

Outside of its combat, there isn’t much innovation to RaiderZ. The leveling process is the standard grind of moving from hub to hub, taking on quests and occasionally fighting “party” size monsters. Again, what makes RaiderZ enjoyable and engaging is the combat, even though as you progress through the game, you begin to realize that it may just be the one degree of separation that keeps this title from being thrown in the pit with the other thousand generic MMOs that come out of Korea every year. There is a story aspect that plays out through instanced areas, and is a decent part of the game.

Since RaiderZ is a monster hunting game, this is also where you will obtain most of your gear. As you wage your genocide against the hodgers, bandits, and bears (oh my), you will come across various crafting materials to use in forging new equipment. There isn’t much thinking in crafting your equipment, either. You simply go to a vendor in one of the cities or villages, they show you a recipe that displays exactly what creature drops each item, and you go and beat the crap out of said creature until it drops what you want. Unfortunately one issue I’ve come across is that in the time it takes to knock the correct resources out of a mob in quantities high enough to make a set of armor, I’ve already outleveled the stuff I was going to craft and have to load up on a new mob.

PvP in RaiderZ is really on the back burner, although there is an open PvP zone you are forced to go through if you want to progress to the end-game.

3. Gold Farmers, Chat Spam Galore

I saved this for last, because I know for someone like myself this can really kill a game. RaiderZ is filled to bursting with gold farmers, both in-game and spamming chat. The starting areas, as well as the first main city you hit (Ingen) are so full of gold farmers that chat is impossible, due to the overwhelming level of spam. The problem with gold spam might not be so great if RaiderZ had some automated system built in to stop it, but until that happens, players either have to ignore it or individually block each player.

In fact, the chat system in RaiderZ is mediocre, bordering on pathetic. Not only does Perfect World not offer a simple way to click on someone’s name to add them to your block/friend list, the game makes the Kindergarten level mistake of using a font that has the same symbol for the uppercase i as it does for the lower case l. So even if you want to block the number of gold farmers or private server ad bots, many of them use names consisting of random combinations of both letters, making them difficult if not impossible to ignore.

Next Time: Cash Shop, Perfect World, And More…

Warhammer Online Adds Items Doubling/Nullifying Exp


Believe it or not, Warhammer Online is still running and still has one or two people manning the ship, even if the steering wheel is rotting from neglect, the hatches have not been battened in a long time, and the poop deck could use a good swabbing, and there’s the little matter of that ice berg that the ship hit in 2008, and the crew going AWOL to work on the S.S. Wrath of Legends. Still, you can rest assured that somewhere, someone at Mythic occasionally looks into Warhammer Online long enough to ask the question “how can we continue improving the experience?” Put your hands down, a Vanguard-style revamp is still not the answer.

Warhammer Online’s upcoming 1.4.8 patch aims to unify the various Realm Vs Realm currencies under one roof: War Crests. But the new feature that sets itself apart from the rest of the update is the new vendor that will be available in the capital city. The vendor sells items in exchange for War Crests that alter the way in which players gain experience and renown. There are books that, when equipped, double either experience gained, double renown gained, or double influence gained. A fourth book completely stops any experience gain from monsters or players.

So if you want to stay in Tier 1 forever, and who wouldn’t, now you have the option to. Patch 1.4.8 goes live on December 3rd.

(Source: Warhammer Online)

Planetside 2 Unlocks Will Be Account-Wide, Retroactive


Those of you familiar with Tribes: Ascend should already have a good idea how to unlock weapons and attachments in Planetside 2. You can either pay a one-time fee through the Station Cash store, or you can leg it out and gain enough certifications through actually playing the game in order to land your new red-dot sight or new sniper rifle. Unlocking through either method can quickly become a very time-intensive or expensive endeavor, as weapons are only unlocked on a per-character basis.

The good news is, Sony is listening to your feedback, and has plans in motion to make weapon purchases account-wide.  Apparently this is for Station Cash purchases only, so if you’re going the route of completely free, you’ll still have to go through the rough with each character. Additionally, any weapon that is faction specific will not be usable with other faction characters, obviously.

(Source: Massively)

City of Steam Coming To New Markets


I know what you’re thinking: “Omali, I want to try out City of Steam but I live in Turkey and only gained the ability to speak English for the sake of this email. What can Mechanist Games do for me?” The easy answer is: Everything. With the next beta weekend coming, Mechanist Games has put out a press release detailing some upcoming expansions. In the near future, City of Steam will be published in the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey. Not only will the game be available in those regions, but gamers will be happy to see that it will be published in both Arabic and Turkish alongside the English version.

Closed beta testing in the Middle East, Turkey, and North Africa is scheduled for Q1 2013. If you would like to check out the closed beta tests currently ongoing, grab a key from our banner link at the top of the page.

(Source: Press release)

RuneScape Reveals Festive Aura: 50% Bonus Exp Throughout December


Christmas is here in RuneScape, and that means another odd month of bonus experience. Jagex has been testing various forms of bonus experience over the past year or so, from lump sums to objects that double your experience (to an extent) but still require working on the skill. In August and September, Jagex offered a promissory note that offered over a million experience to players who remained members for the entirety of both months. The company has also dabbled in double experience weekends, perhaps the closest to industry standard.

Starting in December, players will receive an aura that will grant 50% bonus experience throughout the month. The restrictions are pretty complicated: The bonus experience goes into effect for the first 30 minutes you are logged in each day, or for the first 50k bonus experience you receive, whichever comes first. Additionally, there are all kinds of events happening in December that offer double loot.

Check out the announcement below for more details.

(Source: RuneScape)