File this one under “oh thank God!” Yesterday brought wonderful news from Derek Smart of Quest Online. The ongoing back and forth lawsuit between Quest Online and David Allen has ended. In a press statement, Quest Online announced:
Quest Online, LLC, today announced that the lawsuit filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court (Case # CV2010-010391) in June 2010 against previous LLC Manager and Alganon creator, David Allen, has been settled with the purchase of Mr. Allen’s equity in the LLC; and that Mr. Allen is no longer associated with Quest Online, LLC.
There isn’t much to be said about the terms of the settlement, other than that Quest Online apparently purchased the rest of Allen’s equity in the company, and that Allen no longer had any association with Quest Online. Now we can finally get back to Alganon, and speaking of Alganon, did you know that the game no longer has a client price?
City of Heroes may be six years old, but NCsoft is still committed to keeping the old super geezer alive. Last month saw the release of the latest full expansion pack, Going Rogue, allowing both heroes and villains alike to grey in the lines between heroism and villainy. This past April brought in Ultra Mode, the brand new higher graphics settings, and numerous other free updates.
Paragon Studios wants you to enjoy City of Heroes for all of its splendor, with a welcome back weekend, and not only do they want you to enjoy Paragon’s new ultra mode, but the team is opening up Going Rogue for the weekend. As stated on the website, Going Rogue content is only accessible up until level 14, and your powersets will become unavailable after the weekend is over if you don’t own the expansion.
The welcome back weekend begins Thursday, October 7th, and continues until Sunday, October 10th at midnight Pacific time.
Mortal Online has been trucking along at a slow pace since its launch several months ago, but there’s no doubt that the game has had its hitches. Over the past couple of months, Star Vault has been pushing forward the miracle patch that is the Epic patch (named after Epic Games, the company that created the engine), that will end all of Mortal Online’s woes. Okay, not all of them but you get the point.
Henrik Nystrom of Star Vault is very excited for the Epic patch, to the point where he believes it will be Mortal Online 2.
[23:17] <@HenrikNystrom> epic patch is getting closer, we just want it to work well, and of course to live up to most expectation
[23:17] <@HenrikNystrom> As, there is indeed major differences
[23:19] <@HenrikNystrom> if you wont notice a diff, then I dont know hehe..
[23:19] <@HenrikNystrom> We are talking Mortal Online 2
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> like I said before, it gives tools yes, and also instant changes and fixed,
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> but also the possibility to fix tweak other areas better
[23:23] <HobboBobbo> instant?
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> yes, the most critical issues will get an update along with that update.
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> hence thats why we focus evertghing on this patch
You can read the full log in the link, but everything is getting fixed! Lag, login issues, a new installer, high resolution, a new inventory(?), new AI, GM capabilities to help players, more PvE rewards, pet improvements, and a lot more. Henrik also revealed plans to advertise Mortal Online once the new patch is out. This sounds like a lot of change, Henrik…
[03:04] <@HenrikNystrom> but I think it will be worth it, as it wont look like the mo you are used to anymore
Thank you Henrik. I still have Mortal Online installed on my system, so I might check it out when the Epic patch goes live.
Mortal Online has been trucking along at a slow pace since its launch several months ago, but there’s no doubt that the game has had its hitches. Over the past couple of months, Star Vault has been pushing forward the miracle patch that is the Epic patch (named after Epic Games, the company that created the engine), that will end all of Mortal Online’s woes. Okay, not all of them but you get the point.
Henrik Nystrom of Star Vault is very excited for the Epic patch, to the point where he believes it will be Mortal Online 2.
[23:17] <@HenrikNystrom> epic patch is getting closer, we just want it to work well, and of course to live up to most expectation
[23:17] <@HenrikNystrom> As, there is indeed major differences
[23:19] <@HenrikNystrom> if you wont notice a diff, then I dont know hehe..
[23:19] <@HenrikNystrom> We are talking Mortal Online 2
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> like I said before, it gives tools yes, and also instant changes and fixed,
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> but also the possibility to fix tweak other areas better
[23:23] <HobboBobbo> instant?
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> yes, the most critical issues will get an update along with that update.
[23:23] <@HenrikNystrom> hence thats why we focus evertghing on this patch
You can read the full log in the link, but everything is getting fixed! Lag, login issues, a new installer, high resolution, a new inventory(?), new AI, GM capabilities to help players, more PvE rewards, pet improvements, and a lot more. Henrik also revealed plans to advertise Mortal Online once the new patch is out. This sounds like a lot of change, Henrik…
[03:04] <@HenrikNystrom> but I think it will be worth it, as it wont look like the mo you are used to anymore
Thank you Henrik. I still have Mortal Online installed on my system, so I might check it out when the Epic patch goes live.
Playing Final Fantasy XIV requires a base $9.99 monthly fee plus $3 per character, leaving you with a $12.99 monthly cost assuming you only create one character (and with the ability to be all classes, there is no need for a second character, quite frankly). Assuming most of the visitors to MMO Fallout have played a subscription based MMO before, many of you are likely assuming “well, I’ll just put in my credit card info, and set myself up for the monthly charges.” You would be completely wrong.
Rather than going for a traditional subscription system, Square is instead running a Square-Bucks system, also known as Crysta, that is used for everything from account services, to planned cash shop items, to your subscription. Of course, proprietary cash system means what else, but forced increment purchases. In this case, you can only purchase Crysta in $5, $10, $20, $30, $50, or $100 purchases, making you fork over fifteen dollars for a twelve dollar subscription, so that three of it may go to…consider it a savings account. Your alternative is to pay through a company called Click and Buy, although depending on who you ask, the company’s reputation is rather dubious for unauthorized charges.
Those of you who played Final Fantasy XI and are returning for XIV are likely asking, since when was Square Enix ever about convenience for their customers? If the lack of an auction house, non-functioning patcher, fatigue system, and leve limits, weren’t a clue, all one has to do is look at the twenty hour bosses in Final Fantasy XI.
Don’t get me wrong, Final Fantasy XIV will do great…in Japan, where Final Fantasy sells like Fanta in the Sahara, but will likely remain a niche title in the West. The problem doesn’t stem from bad gameplay, but from lack of user friendliness that doesn’t even come close to “hold my hand, Square.” More importantly, however, is that Square has shown some quick movement in the past couple weeks to make the game more user friendly. After a large number of complaints by players, Square finally added in hardware mouse support.
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy XIV is like a fine wine, one that you can’t reach because the company put it on the top shelf, you are five foot three, and the only staff on the floor who can get it for you is currently texting his girlfriend in the frozen food aisle, and will be with you “in just a minute.”
More on Final Fantasy XIV as it appears.
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Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures launched ten days ago to moderate fanfare from the media (IE: Me), a factor that can mostly be attributed to the idea that the game is for kids. This isn’t to say that Clone Wars Adventures is a low quality game, simply that many kids are likely to just jump right into the game, rather than research it beforehand. Any research being done will most probably be by the parents, and as a direct result many of the articles are directed towards that group.
Now, I do the occasional review of Nintendo DS and Wii games over at Giantbomb.com, but I can honestly say I have never played Imagine: Party Time Babyz nor do I have any inclination towards the title. I’m sure by my standards it is a sloppily put together low budget shovelware title that copies every other mini-game framework on the market and sticks it on the shelf for fifty bucks, knowing that little girls will see the photographs of babies on the front and beg and scream at their mothers to buy it, but to each his own. What you also don’t see me doing is buying the game and reviewing it, from the perspective of a twenty-one year old with a mustache, and talking about how easy it is. I have the reasoning ability to know that Party Babyz is not directed towards my age group. Luckily, however, Party Babyz costs money, meaning no one except the target demographic is going to buy it, making such badly aimed reviews nonexistent.
So it baffles me when I read a news article on Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures hitting one million registered users just a week after launch, and the threads are populated with claims that the figure must be a lie, that nine hundred thousand of them must have quit, that it is essentially a lobby with mini-games, Free Realms is much better, etc.
News flash to Sony Trolls: Clone Wars Adventures is a lobby-centered mini-game-based social activity center for children. It incorporates a wide variety of fairly short mini-games with a difficulty setting that ranges from extremely easy to quite difficult, even for many adults, and foregos grinding mobs for grinding mini-games. CWA is also not Free Realms, it has been designed with a 100% different outlook in mind, as a lobby based game, where Free Realms is closer to your more traditional open world approach.
Granted, most of this frothing rage is coming from your usual Sony trolls of whom, if Sony had made the aforementioned Party Babyz, would buy the game for full price and then complain about how Sony screwed up once again. One million users may mean absolutely nothing in terms of activity, but a lot of the feedback towards this news isn’t directed at the one million figure, but rather your usual nerd rage coming from a group of people who still haven’t grown up from the Star Wars Galaxies Combat Upgrade, or who still hold ire towards Sony for Vanguard’s botched launch.
Excuse me, I'd like to sell this patcher. It's, uh, rare.
Under normal circumstances, I could chalk this up to Final Fantasy XIV having just launched yesterday (for the head start) but at some point I would be injecting rationale and patience into an area of the system where people have historically rejected both. If you haven’t participated in Square Enix’s foray into the newest generation of Massively Multiplayer titles, Final Fantasy XIV has among the least user friendly patch downloading tools on the market. In open beta, I was assured by several vehement defenders that my infinity-estimated waiting time for this nine gigabyte patch would be fixed by the time the game launched. Granted, I was also called a “trolling d-bag” for my discontent that a fifteen megabyte patch should have a six hour waiting time, so take with it what you will.
Those of you who, like myself, managed to get into the open beta likely accomplished this task by using the Megaupload links on FFXIVcore, or managed to find the patches using someone else’s torrent system. As a number of people pointed out on unofficial forums (as the open beta testers weren’t allowed into the Square Enix forums), nothing kills interest in a game like being forced to jump through hoops just to install the damned thing.
Of course, this isn’t me just pulling “the general consensus” out of my rear end and presenting it as the majority opinion. A couple years ago, when NCsoft was putting forth plans to move Dungeon Runners to a web-client system, they noted that around one third of their users never even got past downloading the game. Of course people who plucked down fifty bucks on a game are going to try a lot harder to get in, but consider early discontent as a playing factor when Square Enix’s post 1-month figures come back.
Remember, a guy who says “I hated the game, there’s lag/performance issues” convinces few, as lag is subjective and based on time, location, and the person’s computer/internet. On the other hand, a person who says “I can’t really give an opinion, I never got the game working,” stands to convince many more not to go through the hassle of even giving the game a chance. Opinions on a game vary from person to person, but barriers of entry are universal.
So is Final Fantasy XIV doomed to head down the All Points Bulletin route and crash by this December? Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Owing to the Square Enix community, there are more than enough people willing to embrace the patcher, with its faults, and deal with it to cover those who will quit after the first month’s free time. If anything, one might consider the patcher a test of patience. If you’re patient enough to get download and move all the patches, then some of the facets of the game itself will be a breeze (not getting into that here, however). Of course, there is still plenty of time for Square to streamline the patcher once the population has gone down to its core populace.
I’ve been getting some feedback over MMO Fallout’s sales articles, namely they are cumbersome and take up far too much space on the main page, and secondly that they can be confusing if they aren’t updated in a while. So, in response, I’m launching the MMO Fallout Sales Directory. Located at https://mmofallout.com/sales, you’ll be able to find a consolidated list of the current Steam, Direct2Drive, and Impulsedriven sales.
Large sales will still be posted here on the main page (Steam/D2D’s giant Christmas sales for starters) while the rest will be updated on the Sales page, and through Twitter. So keep watching the Twitter feed on the side of the page for items like:
Captains log, stardate 2365 rounded off to the nearest decimal point. While on a trade mission to the Steam quadrant, our ship received a hail from the jungle planet of Amazon Rigel IV in an attempt to offload ancient relics at a reasonable price. The items themselves are data disks dating back to the early twenty first century, containing on them a “video game,” based on long forgotten dreams of space exploration. Our ship was not equipped with the necessary equipment to make use of these disks, but we agreed to forward the message to anyone who could make use of such primitive technology.
Those looking to buy should be informed that the low prices are supplemented by delivery costs and time, making a more timely and, arguably cheaper, alternative in other sources of purchase, particularly the D2D and Steam quadrants, both of which offer this product in transmission form.
MMO Fallout 