Age of Conan isn’t the only game getting in the spotlight. City of Heroes is the first big name Superhero MMO, launching in 2004 and since spawning two expansion packs, twenty “issues” (big content updates), and countless holiday events. Despite the game’s obvious decline in subscribers as it has aged, City of Heroes has managed to survive the competition of Champions Online and the recently released DC Universe Online, while maintaining its level of income.
So imagine my surprise when NCSoft announced today that City of Heroes will go free to play. Free players will have access to heroes and villains up to level 50, with 45 zones of content, 8 archetypes over two characters, and 105 power sets. The veteran rewards program is being discontinued, instead VIP players will receive points for every month they are subscribed, which can be used to purchase the rewards previously found in the veterans program. Veteran reward points will be transferred over, even if you do not subscribe.
There will be a VIP only server, although the current 15 servers will remain intact. Free players will not have access to super groups (guilds), Whisper chat, in-game mail, posting on the forums, limited auction house, and of course queue priority and VIP server access. Free players will have to purchase access to the mission architect, inventions, purchase server transfers, and will not have access to in-game customer support.
Given the success of previous game (don’t forget the 1000% increase in revenue for Champions Online), there is only one way to spell this out for NCsoft: l-o-d-s of e-m-o-n-e, and what does that spell? Loadsa money!
The Matrix Online was a great concept, not only because it took the living world presented in the film and transformed it onto a virtual medium that looked and felt a bit like City of Heroes, but because it presented a way to continue the series rather than simply flesh out a never-ending point in the middle of the movies. Whenever I talk of The Matrix Online, I’m obligated to point out that one of the shortcomings of the game was that it was released after the final two movies, when reception of the franchise was rather low.
I was in the process of talking about the long-forgotten Harry Potter MMO when I heard about Pottermore, an upcoming “service” that may or may not be the game we heard talk about dating as far back as the release of Goblet of Fire (and probably even further back). My original topic, which I am replanting here, was whether or not a Harry Potter MMO could release in time to capture the interest in the franchise. Then it struck me, the Harry Potter IP is massive enough that such a question is irrelevant. Unless the game is terrible, there is no reason to assume that reception would be lackluster because of disinterest in the IP. So this topic is no longer about Harry Potter.
Instead, let’s talk about some of the other games that were announced over the past year that would warrant more concern. First in line, I want to talk The Mummy Online, announced one year ago, because I know I’m not the only one who was not only surprised that the franchise warranted enough interest to create a game, but that the series was still running (The Scorpion King 3 releases this December). There is also the issue of translating the franchise into a game, done once before with rather poor results. That being said, The Mummy Online still has a good chance of finding its niche, given a low barrier of entry (free to play game).
To further this topic, I’d like to travel back in time to a game that hasn’t seen light since 2004: Tribes. With Tribes, I only need to say one word to get the fans rallied to plaster this page with graffiti: Vengeance. If the Tribes MMO launches this year, as hoped, the series will have been inactive for seven years. That’s long enough for most of the remaining community to have lost interest in any reboot of the franchise, although time will tell if that is indeed the case.
So we’ll see if some of these old-name IP’s are strong enough to stand the test of time.
Back when GamersFirst announced that they would be taking over Fallen Earth’s servers (and retaining the development team), questions immediately started on the free to play transition. Although Icarus and G1 wouldn’t give us concrete information at the time, what they did give us ran down to “well, we’re not saying we are going free to play, but if we did go free to play, this is what we would do.”
The system will feature several tiers of membership, with plans to expand the cash shop to include items such as crafting time reductions and cosmetic outfits. There is not yet any information on a concrete date apart from in the next few months, if all goes according to plan.
“#AlwaysbetonDuke too many went too far with their reviews. w r reviewing who gets games next time and who doesn’t based on today’s venom.”
The above tweet is from Redner Group, and is gaining a lot of attention on the web. The Redner Group was the PR firm for 2k Games, handling the release of the publicity dealing with Duke Nukem Forever, part of which presumably included choosing who to send review copies to. In case you haven’t been paying attention, the long awaited Duke game has been garnering between mediocre and low scores on many gaming websites. Following a few other words thrown back and forth, and an absolute cluster of players piling on in response, The Redner Group deleted the tweet and issued the following apology:
“I have to apologize to the community. I acted out of pure emotion. I will be sending each of you a private apology. I need to state for the record that 2K had nothing to do with this. I will be calling each of you tomorrow to apologize. Again, I want everyone to know that I was acting on my own. 2K had nothing to do with this. I am so very sorry for what I said.”
This does signify the beauty of the internet. With the continuing popularity of Twitter, saying something stupid and getting away with it has become almost impossible. 2k Games canned the group as a partner, and I think it’s safe to assume more companies will follow in the near future. That being said, emotion or not, Jim Redner (of the Redner Group Redners) comes off as nothing more than the type of bully I deal with on a regular basis here at MMO Fallout.
Just a reminder in the new age of technology: Getting yourself fired is only as far away as 140 characters will take you.
Steam has made quite an interesting announcement today with the release of fourfree to play MMOs on the service. Why is it strange, you may ask? The clients cost nothing in themselves, and you play through Steam what you could simply download from the company’s own website for free. But aside from new publicity, what does this bring for our beloved free to play MMOs?
The games on…download are Global Agenda, Champions Online, Forsaken World, and Spiral Knights, presumably with more on the way if this works out. But I ask again, why should I choose Steam?
Champions Online on Steam offers 712 achievements.
Spiral Knights offers 57 steam achievements.
Spiral Knights is set to receive steam exclusive cash shop items.
Other games will no doubt follow with exclusive items.
So if you have Steam and you play or want to play any of these games, why not boot up the system and give them a whirl? If you’re not a fan of Steam or don’t want to download the client, well you’ve probably stopped reading this article already.
One day I hope to go to E3, maybe when MMO Fallout becomes more popular than the single person reading this article (that would be you). As with every week, I open up with a question: If you wrote a blog like this, at what point do you throw up your hands and say “this isn’t a matter of a company making bad decisions, we’re getting into fraud territory here.” If you’re still wondering, I’m referring to the recent mishap of Star Vault double and triple billing some customers, which lead to me giving serious thought to removing Mortal Online from the list, and warning any potential buyers. My reason was that the whole event brought me back to Mourning, especially seeing Star Vault’s apparent arrogance in the response. Not even an “I’m sorry,” a functionally irrelevant message, but one that could ease an angry soon-to-be-ex-customer.
So I did not remove Mortal Online, although much like with Mythic Entertainment, I’m keeping the articles on the table.
1. I Love You, Hellgate!
I love Hellgate, I’ve given no doubt about that in the past. The game brings me back to the days of Diablo, yet manages to incorporate swords, magic, and guns into a game that is very fun to play. Since us in the west lost Hellgate, the game has also seen the release of Hellgate Tokyo, and a major trove of content updates and upgrades. Luckily, the closed beta wasn’t really closed. Players had the chance of clicking on a button on Hellgate’s website with a 50-50 chance, yet I did not see a single person who was denied access through that button.
The beta was short, too. Cut the first day out because of server outages, and the beta lasted only the weekend. I couldn’t go back to the single player (I own the game from when it was live, and I already had the game installed), not enough Russian players not speaking English just to annoy the players and community managers. The website has “open beta test coming soon” plastered on the top of the forums, so the only remaining factor is how soon is soon. I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more Hellgate.
2. Defiance Invokes Thoughts Of Tabula Rasa and The Matrix Online
Trion and Syfy are teaming up to create the MMO third person shooter Defiance, that will run side by side with the television show. I am a little concerned that Defiance will wind up in the same hole as another MMO-television tie-in that went horribly. My worry is that the game will be delayed long enough that the whole connectivity is lost, and players will see about as much interaction between the two as Star Wars Galaxies has on the original trilogy.
Still, I do like the idea of a third person shooter MMO, as an estranged player of Tabula Rasa from launch to shutdown, and Trion has already shown their abilities with Rift, so the future looks bright for Defiance.
3. DUST 514 Just Keeps Getting More Interesting
CCP’s upcoming shooter has always fascinated me, and not just because it is the first game that promises to seamlessly connect a PC MMO and a console first person shooter. Not exactly cross-console gaming, but as close as it gets for such a genre crossover. What also intrigues me is how the communities will connect, the hope of fostering a console game where players are expected to be just like the PC counterparts, or as Dr. Cox on scrubs would describe them, “bastard coated bastards with bastard filling.” This is present even in a previous trailer where the ships above, locked in battle, decide to renege on a contract and instead obliterate the entire playfield from above. This will lead to console mercenaries having to decide between a possible huge sum, and the possibility that the Eve players will betray them (if that is indeed a possibility). Hopefully DUST will foster an environment where betrayal is present, but at the same time does not sweep over the game, otherwise the population will drop like a stone. Wolves need sheep to survive, and without sheep they will cannibalize one another until there is no one left.
I want to say I’m surprised by DUST being a Playstation 3 exclusive, but I’m not. Considering the environment DUST is set in (close connection with PC game outside of Microsoft’s control, regular updates to match the growing battlefield and changing territorial ownership, connection to third party servers, etc), I had no doubt from day one that DUST and Microsoft wouldn’t get along. So although I have no confirmation of my hunch, I find it likely that this is another incompatible game with Microsoft’s very strict policies over Live.
4. Let’s Talk About Our Final Fantasy
I know this annoys the Square Enix trolls, so I try to get in as much talk about Final Fantasy XIV as possible. Last time, I mentioned by admiration for Square Enix’s willingness to say “we’re not willing to let a failed launch set the stage for the game.” In the upcoming updates, Square Enix plans to make major changes to the combat system, starting with the introduction of auto-attack. With this update brings the removal of the stamina gauge, whereas effects dependent on the stamina gauge will be changed to reflect this update.
Among the other major changes is the removal of physical levels, altering of job names, and more introduction of notorious monsters, quests, and more. Then the game can work on smaller issues, like the holiday events being the same exact thing: (go to area once every 8 hours, collect items).
5. I Can’t Wait To Play For Free…I Mean Beta Test…
I was surprised when Bioware announced that there will be no open beta for The Old Republic. For a game looking to hit the public spotlight as much as Bioware is, not having a glorified broken free trial before launch seems almost suicidal. Hopefully this means Bioware has their servers figured out and don’t need a stress test for launch (please, contain your chortling). For what it’s worth, open betas are essentially demos of a not yet finished product. While a very small number of the population are there to test the game and give feedback, they are overshadowed by players looking to get a head start in finding bugs to exploit once the game goes live, and free loaders who just want a chance to play a AAA MMO without having to pay the subscription + box fee.
I have to laugh when people complain about betas being nothing more than glorified demos, as they’re generally the ones who will then get in-game and complain that certain features are broken.
One day I hope to go to E3, maybe when MMO Fallout becomes more popular than the single person reading this article (that would be you). As with every week, I open up with a question: If you wrote a blog like this, at what point do you throw up your hands and say “this isn’t a matter of a company making bad decisions, we’re getting into fraud territory here.” If you’re still wondering, I’m referring to the recent mishap of Star Vault double and triple billing some customers, which lead to me giving serious thought to removing Mortal Online from the list, and warning any potential buyers. My reason was that the whole event brought me back to Mourning, especially seeing Star Vault’s apparent arrogance in the response. Not even an “I’m sorry,” a functionally irrelevant message, but one that could ease an angry soon-to-be-ex-customer.
So I did not remove Mortal Online, although much like with Mythic Entertainment, I’m keeping the articles on the table.
1. I Love You, Hellgate!
I love Hellgate, I’ve given no doubt about that in the past. The game brings me back to the days of Diablo, yet manages to incorporate swords, magic, and guns into a game that is very fun to play. Since us in the west lost Hellgate, the game has also seen the release of Hellgate Tokyo, and a major trove of content updates and upgrades. Luckily, the closed beta wasn’t really closed. Players had the chance of clicking on a button on Hellgate’s website with a 50-50 chance, yet I did not see a single person who was denied access through that button.
The beta was short, too. Cut the first day out because of server outages, and the beta lasted only the weekend. I couldn’t go back to the single player (I own the game from when it was live, and I already had the game installed), not enough Russian players not speaking English just to annoy the players and community managers. The website has “open beta test coming soon” plastered on the top of the forums, so the only remaining factor is how soon is soon. I’ve got a fever, and the only cure is more Hellgate.
2. Defiance Invokes Thoughts Of Tabula Rasa and The Matrix Online
Trion and Syfy are teaming up to create the MMO third person shooter Defiance, that will run side by side with the television show. I am a little concerned that Defiance will wind up in the same hole as another MMO-television tie-in that went horribly. My worry is that the game will be delayed long enough that the whole connectivity is lost, and players will see about as much interaction between the two as Star Wars Galaxies has on the original trilogy.
Still, I do like the idea of a third person shooter MMO, as an estranged player of Tabula Rasa from launch to shutdown, and Trion has already shown their abilities with Rift, so the future looks bright for Defiance.
3. DUST 514 Just Keeps Getting More Interesting
CCP’s upcoming shooter has always fascinated me, and not just because it is the first game that promises to seamlessly connect a PC MMO and a console first person shooter. Not exactly cross-console gaming, but as close as it gets for such a genre crossover. What also intrigues me is how the communities will connect, the hope of fostering a console game where players are expected to be just like the PC counterparts, or as Dr. Cox on scrubs would describe them, “bastard coated bastards with bastard filling.” This is present even in a previous trailer where the ships above, locked in battle, decide to renege on a contract and instead obliterate the entire playfield from above. This will lead to console mercenaries having to decide between a possible huge sum, and the possibility that the Eve players will betray them (if that is indeed a possibility). Hopefully DUST will foster an environment where betrayal is present, but at the same time does not sweep over the game, otherwise the population will drop like a stone. Wolves need sheep to survive, and without sheep they will cannibalize one another until there is no one left.
I want to say I’m surprised by DUST being a Playstation 3 exclusive, but I’m not. Considering the environment DUST is set in (close connection with PC game outside of Microsoft’s control, regular updates to match the growing battlefield and changing territorial ownership, connection to third party servers, etc), I had no doubt from day one that DUST and Microsoft wouldn’t get along. So although I have no confirmation of my hunch, I find it likely that this is another incompatible game with Microsoft’s very strict policies over Live.
4. Let’s Talk About Our Final Fantasy
I know this annoys the Square Enix trolls, so I try to get in as much talk about Final Fantasy XIV as possible. Last time, I mentioned by admiration for Square Enix’s willingness to say “we’re not willing to let a failed launch set the stage for the game.” In the upcoming updates, Square Enix plans to make major changes to the combat system, starting with the introduction of auto-attack. With this update brings the removal of the stamina gauge, whereas effects dependent on the stamina gauge will be changed to reflect this update.
Among the other major changes is the removal of physical levels, altering of job names, and more introduction of notorious monsters, quests, and more. Then the game can work on smaller issues, like the holiday events being the same exact thing: (go to area once every 8 hours, collect items).
5. I Can’t Wait To Play For Free…I Mean Beta Test…
I was surprised when Bioware announced that there will be no open beta for The Old Republic. For a game looking to hit the public spotlight as much as Bioware is, not having a glorified broken free trial before launch seems almost suicidal. Hopefully this means Bioware has their servers figured out and don’t need a stress test for launch (please, contain your chortling). For what it’s worth, open betas are essentially demos of a not yet finished product. While a very small number of the population are there to test the game and give feedback, they are overshadowed by players looking to get a head start in finding bugs to exploit once the game goes live, and free loaders who just want a chance to play a AAA MMO without having to pay the subscription + box fee.
I have to laugh when people complain about betas being nothing more than glorified demos, as they’re generally the ones who will then get in-game and complain that certain features are broken.
Word filters are amusing, sometimes. In the olden days of Runescape, for example, the filter would turn bad words into cabbage, so someone might say “that’s cabbage’d up.” Just a history lesson, in case you Runescape players were wondering why Jagex has historically had such an odd fascination with cabbage and things cabbage related.
Hellgate’s filter, on the other hand, is just strange. You can find the full filter list on Google, but here are some of the…not so vulgar words that are filtered:
Ash
Audition
bloodyhell
bugs
goddam
irak
iraq
sadam
saddam
wigger
I also noticed that resbian is censored, along with about twenty misspellings of fcuk. You guys thought of everything.
Age of Conan isn’t the only game getting in the spotlight. City of Heroes is the first big name Superhero MMO, launching in 2004 and since spawning two expansion packs, twenty “issues” (big content updates), and countless holiday events. Despite the game’s obvious decline in subscribers as it has aged, City of Heroes has managed to survive the competition of Champions Online and the recently released DC Universe Online, while maintaining its level of income.
MMO Fallout 