Mortal Online: 450,000 Subscriptions In 5 Years


As an avid fan of the sandbox genre, I would love to see Mortal Online evolve from the money-losing machine that it is today to a powerful name in the industry. Who knows, maybe in a few years Star Vault will be powerful enough to make my death look like an accident. Sandboxer.org has posted a chat in which Star Vault CEO Henrik Nystrom talks about his vision for Mortal Online, not just the developer hitting more sales but the game eventually doing well enough to compete and even succeed Eve Online.

Now, Eve Online has an estimated 450,000 subscribers (plus PLEX traders), so the goal may seem a bit off in the distance. Mortal Online’s Awakening expansion will bring with it drugs. What kind of drugs, you ask? The illegal kind, more illegal than a Pepsi machine in a grade school hallway.

We await Mortal Online’s next expansion with anticipation.

(Source: Sandboxer)

Falling Out #4: Lawyering Around


Being an amateur and an idiot, I am consistently playing around with the style of Falling Out. The boring white backdrop is out, and specific locations are now in. Take, for instance, the crypt office of MMO Fallout’s lawyer, the Black Wizard.

New episodes of Falling Out every sometime at the place.

Ubisoft Hiring For Online RPG, Could Be MMO


The world of Assassin’s Creed is frightening enough with just what characters we have, but thousands of would-be assassins running around? Horrifying. According to Gamespy, Ubisoft is hiring for a next generation online RPG, and rumors are floating around that this may be an Assassin’s Creed MMO.

Given Ubisoft’s wide array of IPs, the game could be just about anything, including the possibility of a new/outside IP altogether. Of course, the game could just wind up being a fantasy MMO based around the Might and Magic series.

Let the speculation begin!

(Source: Gamespy)

Gamersfirst Focusing On In-House IP, Some Titles To Transfer


Thankfully the news this week isn’t all bad. Massively.com is reporting that Gamers First is restructuring in order to bring more focus on the company’s in-house IPs. As part of this move, a couple of titles are moving services, and the publisher announced that the contractors working on Fallen Earth have been removed in favor of in-house development.

We had a large contractor crew on FE and we are focusing on creating our own employee pool to manage the game.

In addition, Gamers First will be losing some of its games in the coming months. Announced earlier this month, MMO shooter War Rock will transition to Dream Execution on May 29th, while Knight Online will transition to Mgame on June 1st.

Hopefully this means plenty of good things in store for Fallen Earth, All Points Bulletin, and Gamersfirst’s other titles.

(Source: Massively.com)

Blizzard Investigating Account Theft, Denied Authenticator Hacking


I know what you’re thinking: Sure, denial is exactly what someone would do when they have something to hide. Well take a moment to remember that denial is also something a person will do when they are truly innocent of the charges, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Coming off of the release of Diablo III was the well-expected surge in accounts being stolen and stripped clean. Some of those people also happen to have authenticators, raising suspicion as to whether or not the security method has been successfully cracked. I have good news:

Blizzard wants you to know that you are a liar, if you claim to have been hacked with an authenticator already on the account. According to Blizzard, not a single case has been filed where an authenticator was already on the account.

While the authenticator isn’t a 100% guarantee of account security, we have yet to investigate a compromise report in which an authenticator was attached beforehand.

On the other hand, you can rest assured that the Blizzard servers have not been breached. And once again to the paranoid conspiracy theorists who think Blizzard compromises/sells accounts to scam/scare users into buying authenticators, you are still wrong.

(Source: Blizzard Forums)

Bioware Hit With Layoffs, The Old Republic


Discussing layoffs after a game launches is akin to beating a dead horse. I should know, as the Human Resources director in my old company had brought in a live horse and a baseball bat to give the saying more meat (or to be blunt about it, depending on your flavor of pun). The Old Republic is one of the largest, most stable launches in MMO history. So large and stable in fact, that Bioware laid off an unnumbered amount of staff to keep the system from being too balanced and stable.

Of course this is all conjecture. Layoffs following an MMOs release are to be expected as the game’s requirements shift downward in scope. There isn’t any more detail than what I’ve pointed out here, but if you are interested in some marketing lingo, you can check out Greg Zeschuk’s statement at the Old Republic forums below.

Best of luck to the recently laid, and in case you are still looking for jobs, Turbine is hiring.

(Source: SWTOR Forums)

100% Personal Storyline In Elder Scrolls Online


If the Elder Scrolls community can be called anything, it is passionate. So with the details that the Elder Scrolls MMO will, for better or for worse, share very minimal game features with its single player brethren, response has understandably been mixed. In an interview with Eurogamer, Game Director Matt Firor wants it known that the same style of epic storytelling will be present in the MMO, albeit in an instanced form. Firor likened the technique to killing Mehrunes Dagon in Oblivion:

The last thing you want to do is have the final confrontation with Mehrunes Dagon as he’s stomping across the Imperial City, and you see like 15 guys behind you waiting to kill him because they’re on the same quest.

The Elder Scrolls Online story will be 100% instanced and solo, according to Zenimax. You will be the one true hero. You and everybody else.

(Source: Eurogamer)

Turbine Getting Head Start, Recruiting In Rhode Island


Where have I seen this before? Oh yes, before Realtime Worlds went bankrupt. 38 Studios may still be alive, but that isn’t going to stop the vultures from coming in and taking dibs on who gets what cut of meat. Back in 2010, we had the combination flock of Sony, Codemasters, and Blitz to drain whatever remained of Realtime Worlds. Now that 38 Studios is facing layoffs, however, it is Turbine’s turn for first picks.

In a press release today, Turbine announced recruiting in Providence, Rhode Island is set to begin on May 22nd, from 5-9pm at Hotel Providence. You can even check out a list of currently available positions. Rhode Island Governor Chafee announced today that Project Copernicus is set for a June 2013 release date.

When reached for comment as to whether or not the two events were related, Turbine’s career center (pictured above) simply responded “Oh gorgh, nope nope nope nope, I’m not gonna do it ma, you can’t make me, nope nope nope nope.”

(Extra: Time Warner Career Page)

Age of Empires Online Will Be Free To Play, Not Free To Try


Age of Empires Online has had something of an identity crisis. Although enjoyed by plenty of players, the team at Gas Powered Games has been on the receiving end of some harsh criticism that the game isn’t so much “free to play” as it is “free to try.” Premium civilizations aren’t so much an optional add-on as they are a necessity to compete, adding a considerable road block at $10 a piece (they used to be $20).

Starting this summer, players will be able to obtain Empire Points either through buying them or by playing the game. Premium civilizations aren’t going anywhere, but by playing Age of Empires Online a player could accrue sufficient Empire Points to purchase the premium packs without paying a dime. According to GPG developers, a regular player might take two to three weeks of playing daily to obtain a premium civilization.

Age of Empires Online becomes more free to play this summer.

(Source: PC Gamer)

38 Studios Unveils Project Copernicus


We’ve known about 38 Studios’ plan to bring forth an MMO for quite some time, and with the bad news of late (money trouble, not paying loans, meeting with the governor, not paying employees, etc) it may be rather difficult to focus on the fact that 38 Studios is still working on said MMO. While very little is known about the game, 38 Studios released the above fly-through which showcases (at the very least) the art-style that we can expect.

Hopefully we see plenty more from 38 Studios in the future. With an impressive array of names including Todd McFarlane and a story written by none other than the man who owns my very soul, R.A. Salvatore (the monolith crumbling was not my fault, that contract was still fulfilled). Kingdoms of Amalur was a fun game, despite some criticisms, and it would be a grave disappointment to see such an amazing team lose out because of the bean counters.

More on 38 Studios and Project Copernicus as it appears.