NCSoft may have announced that City of Heroes is shutting down on November 30th, but that doesn’t mean the community (or Paragon Studios for that matter) are going down without a fight. Since the announcement, the community has rallied in multiple ways, from encouraging users to write to NCSoft, setting up rallies in-game and on the official forums, and signing petitions to keep the game running. The petition has so far amassed over thirteen thousand signatures.
And Paragon Studios isn’t going down without a fight either. According to a post on the City of Heroes forum:
Alpha Wolf: Sorry guys but I don’t have any new update. I know Paragon management is having discussion with ncsoft and investors. Continue get people to sign online petitions, post on game forums, and just continue to make noises so ncsoft cannot ignore players.
Naturally this isn’t a guarantee that anything will come of the talks, but it offers hope to Paragon’s longstanding community.
NCSoft may have announced that City of Heroes is shutting down on November 30th, but that doesn’t mean the community (or Paragon Studios for that matter) are going down without a fight. Since the announcement, the community has rallied in multiple ways, from encouraging users to write to NCSoft, setting up rallies in-game and on the official forums, and signing petitions to keep the game running. The petition has so far amassed over thirteen thousand signatures.
And Paragon Studios isn’t going down without a fight either. According to a post on the City of Heroes forum:
Alpha Wolf: Sorry guys but I don’t have any new update. I know Paragon management is having discussion with ncsoft and investors. Continue get people to sign online petitions, post on game forums, and just continue to make noises so ncsoft cannot ignore players.
Naturally this isn’t a guarantee that anything will come of the talks, but it offers hope to Paragon’s longstanding community.
Whenever I talk about Kickstarter projects, I always do so with a simple warning: Kickstarter is a crowd-funding tool for projects that may or may not see the light of day. You are acting as investor, and should be aware that the projects you fund may run into problems and never be completed. Whenever you invest, you should be aware that you are taking a risk. With that knowledge, let’s continue:
1. Island Forge
Island Forge features classic (old-school) RPG elements, with a unique (brand-new) game design. Explore player-created islands and stories, fight creatures, craft items, and level up with a unique health-based experience system. You can meet others in town and form party expeditions to explore and fight creatures. You can also go solo to follow stories at your own pace. Choose your level of peril when setting out on each expedition, or even choose no peril. Earn resources to craft weaponry, potions, spells, and other equipment for your character.
FORGE plays like a third person shooter, but with the abilities, strategy and pace of MMO PvP combat. It is built with a focus on fun and accessibility, but with the attention to detail and balance of a deep, competitive game. Whether you’re new to first person shooters and MMOs, or a veteran, FORGE will be easy to pick up yet offer much to learn as you play. FORGE places you into an epic fantasy setting, taking on the role of a warrior from a culture unlike any you’ve seen, fighting for your right to return home. FORGE is built to be enjoyable even if you have only a limited amount of game time available each night, keeping the low time requirements and ease of access of a traditional first-person-shooter (FPS). Skill is the only determining factor between victory and defeat, not whether you were able to grind out a set of armor or weapons better than your opponents.
With SideQuest, we’ve decided to tear down those walls and treat game ideas like they came a la carte, rather than as part of a fixed menu. We’ve taken MMO PvP and endgame elements and married them to a robust single-player campaign; we’ve taken the aesthetic and feel of classic console RPGs and leavened it with modern PC design innovations; we’ve taken Japanese aesthetics and paired them with Western narrative techniques; and we’ve crafted a deep, rich setting and populated it with absurd characters. In short, we believe that it’s possible to have your cake and eat it too.
Quest Fallen is an upcoming, multi-platform, massive multiplayer online role playing game for browser, Android and the upcoming Ouya console. It will feature classic top down rpg gameplay with mmo features like guilds/clans, chat/messaging and PvP arenas. There will be an extensive map to explore with multiple dungeons in the beginning. New content and quests will be continually added and updated to keep you coming back.
Good news, TERA players. Since the MMO launched, you have created two and a half million characters, formed more than fourteen thousand guilds and over a thousand Vanarch candidates, and over three hundred fifty thousand of you newbies died on the starter island. What more, you newbies dying are precisely the reason why En Masse will be merging servers later this year. Of course I’m exaggerating. Due to low population metrics on a large number of servers, En Masse Entertainment has decided to perform a merger this fall.
But they aren’t seeing this as a bad thing:
Where some might look on this as a negative, I feel differently. By combining our servers, we facilitate a more unified community and give players a more full, alive world where finding groups, locating rare items (for lower prices!), and getting into dungeons quickly are the norm. Most importantly, combined servers will allow us to run more regular, player-focused events where we get to interact with our players.
There are plenty of plans for new content on the horizon, with player events and holiday events coming soon. The eleven current servers will be merged down to three: one of each game type (PvE, PvP, RP). Players will be required to delete characters if they have more than 8 on a server post-merge. Names will be offered on a first-come first-serve on who logs in first after the merge.
Click on me to enlarge. I look much better zoomed in.
I’ve mapped out the sales per region over the entirety of NCSoft’s financial statements, dating back to the first quarter of 2005. You’ll see that Korea makes up more of NCsoft’s sales generally than every other region combined, and occasionally even doubled. Sales in North America and Europe peaked in 2009 and have been on a steady decline since, with European sales you will see becoming virtually nothing in Q2 2012 (less than 1% of total sales for the quarter). Japan has its ups and downs but is on a general incline, and Taiwan has been relatively stable since its tracking began in 2007. Royalty sales are on an incline, with a few stumbles along the way.
NCSoft may be banking on Guild Wars 2 to save its sales in North America and Europe. Guild Wars sold millions of copies and did quite well in the West. Shutting down City of Heroes will cut NCSoft’s income by a small amount, small beans compared to the sales of Guild Wars 2.
Just a few notes:
Units are KRW in Mn.
Up until Q3 2008, royalties were included in Korean sales.
Taiwan was not listed until Q1 2007.
Up until around 2006, NCSoft changed its label “US” to “North America.” For the sake of continuity, N. America has been used for the entire list.
Click on me to enlarge. I look much better zoomed in.
I’ve mapped out the sales per region over the entirety of NCSoft’s financial statements, dating back to the first quarter of 2005. You’ll see that Korea makes up more of NCsoft’s sales generally than every other region combined, and occasionally even doubled. Sales in North America and Europe peaked in 2009 and have been on a steady decline since, with European sales you will see becoming virtually nothing in Q2 2012 (less than 1% of total sales for the quarter). Japan has its ups and downs but is on a general incline, and Taiwan has been relatively stable since its tracking began in 2007. Royalty sales are on an incline, with a few stumbles along the way.
NCSoft may be banking on Guild Wars 2 to save its sales in North America and Europe. Guild Wars sold millions of copies and did quite well in the West. Shutting down City of Heroes will cut NCSoft’s income by a small amount, small beans compared to the sales of Guild Wars 2.
Just a few notes:
Units are KRW in Mn.
Up until Q3 2008, royalties were included in Korean sales.
Taiwan was not listed until Q1 2007.
Up until around 2006, NCSoft changed its label “US” to “North America.” For the sake of continuity, N. America has been used for the entire list.
Fifteen is a big number for any video game to still receive regular support and updates, but Ultima Online has been trucking along since its launch in September 1997. Actually these days it seems like five is a high number for many MMOs to still receive regular updates. Still, the fact that Ultima Online is still alive and kicking says a lot about the development team behind it, and what better way to celebrate than to invite everyone back for a month?
For fifteen years Britannia has been a world of arcane arts and cold steel, a world where the Apprentice can become Legendary, a world where Warriors become Champions. Throughout its rich past Britannia has been a place where histories have unfolded, where new friends have become family, and where each new adventure can lead to great fortune.
Through the month of September, old players are welcome to come back. Simply log into your account and start playing.
Important: The Return to Britannia event does not begin until September 5th. I’m not sure why this isn’t announced on the news page, but it was confirmed elsewhere.
Hey there, folks. With Steam Greenlight, Valve has opened Steam up to the community. Now, developers can pitch their games and let the players decide what is listed for sale. So if you want your favorite MMO (or non MMO, if you’re into that sort of thing), you should be pitching your favorite developers to get off of their lazy backs and start pitching!
But for now, I’ve compiled a list of games that you can vote for on Greenlight.
MMO Fallout 