Fallen Earth: Come Back To Us! We Baked Muffins!


One of my original screenshots.

Fallen Earth is great in the sense that you don’t necessarily have to resubscribe just to get a good idea on how the game has progressed. Rather than plunk down fifteen bucks on a month-long subscription you might regret, this particular MMO is known to throw out fourteen day passes every few months to inactive accounts, allowing them unrestricted access to the game, and hopefully to get them back to forking over some moolah.

If you are an ex-Fallen Earth player, including trial accounts, head on over to this website to activate your account for fourteen days, no restrictions. You only have until August 4th to reactivate your accounts before this offer expires. You might even see me reactivated at the upcoming Texan Invasion event on the 25th (My character’s name is Jomali…I think.). The offer is not for new accounts, although a fourteen day trial already exists for new players.

I’ve included the URL in its base form, as people unfamiliar with MMO Fallout may take me with less trust than your average MMO website.  http://www.fallenearth.com/retry.html

Aion Transfer Delayed…Again.

In the process of merging a large number of their servers, Aion has run into a number of snags, the latest of which brings a temporary delay to the character transfer program. In a post on the Aion website, NC announced that the transfer service was put on hold due to unforeseen issues.


Because my other Aion image isn't working...

In the process of merging a large number of their servers, Aion has run into a number of snags, the latest of which brings a temporary delay to the character transfer program. In a post on the Aion website, NC announced that the transfer service was put on hold due to unforeseen issues.

Character Transfer Services have been disabled while we troubleshoot technical issues that arose this morning.  You will not be able to initiate a character transfer during this time.  If you have already initiated a transfer for a character prior to the maintenance window, you will not have to repeat the process.  Your character transfer will already be queued when we re-enable transfer services.

NCSoft has promised to give players 24 hour notice, but cannot give any more detailed information as to how long the transfer services will be down. More on the Aion transfer service as it appears, hopefully I’ll be able to get you some news soon on this event which has turned into nothing but a pain in the backside for all parties involved.

Steam Sale: Final Fantasy XI And Fallen Earth [Over]


Steam Sales Ahoy!

It’s that time again. This week, Steam is having a mini-mondo sale, and a few of our favorite MMO titles have been thrown into the mix.

  • Fallen Earth: Blood Sports
    • Was $29.99 now $17.99
    • Includes 30 days free game time with purchase.
    • Sale lasts until July 27th.
  • Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate
    • Was $9.99 now $4.99
    • Includes 30 days free game time with purchase.
    • Requires Verified By Visa or Mastercard Securecode card. Square Enix will assist you if you do not have this.
    • Sale lasts until July 22nd.

Get em while they’re hot! MMO Fallout will be here to provide you with the latest in MMO sales.

Craig Morrison: F2P Age of Conan A Possibility


Rise of the Cash-Shop Slayer

With Age of Conan entering the Korean markets came the announcement that the title would follow the normal Korean model: Free to play with cash shop, leading some to speculate as to whether or not Funcom would transition the model over to the Western hemisphere. Over on the Funcom forums, Producer Craig Morrison chimed in to tell players that the free to play model is not planned to come over to the west, but that Funcom is not saying no forever (I’ve heard this phrase too many times this month).

“That isn’t a ‘yes, it will happen’ or a ‘No, it will never happen’ it’s a ‘We will always keep our options open and be open minded to business models that will most benefit the project.’…being close minded one way or another is rarely a good thing.”

He is correct. The Korean market is vastly different from the American and European markets, and subscription based games die fast. Even World of Warcraft runs in China on a pay-per-hour system.

“That is why we have different versions of the game. They are different markets, work in different ways, with different traditions and expectations and we will always endeavour to try and ensure the right decisions are made for the game in each specific territory, and for those decisions to be different as appropriate.”

So, for the time being, there will be no free to play Age of Conan in the west. More on Age of Conan as it appears.

Dungeons and Dragons Online Going Free To Play August


Just replace September with August.

I know what you’re asking: Omali! Dungeons and Dragons Online is already free to play! To which I answer: Not in Europe. No, for the past ten months or so North American players have been enjoying the freshly free to play Dungeons and Dragons Online, while our compatriots over the ocean have not. When Turbine’s title went into cash-shop-freemium mode this past September, the dungeon crawler saw an enormous revival both in players and revenue. Since then, Turbine has added yet another server, and has seen increases in revenue in the triple digits.

This fall, not to be out of line with a few other developers, Turbine is taking back Dungeons and Dragons Online in Europe, from the current publisher Codemasters (this is not the first time Codemasters has lost their rights to an MMO), where the title will be reworked and re-released under the Eberron Unlimited title. I don’t think many people should be surprised at this, given the recent introduction of Warner Bros. into the workplace, as well as Europe’s transition being in the cards for some time now.

Turbine is promising that the transition will go as smoothly as possible, hopefully even more smoothly since the transition has already happened once. Dungeons and Dragons Online is currently the third most played MMO in the US, according to NPD Group.

More on Dungeons and Dragons Online as it appears.

Healthy Reminder: DC Universe Preorders…


than a bug in a rug...

Those of you who use Steam,  Direct2Drive, shop at Gamestop/Fry’s, etc, will be aware that DC Universe, the upcoming MMO by development-Goliath Sony Online Entertainment, has recently gone on for Preorder and being the impulsive buyer that I am, I have to say my response was…no. I have a fundamental disagreement with DC:U going up for preorder four months before the game releases, partially because I know that Sony is without a doubt in no position that they desperately need to sell units to pay for development, and also because four months is probably enough time that many of us will buy it, have a period where we do a ton of research into the game, and then finally involve ourselves so much that we get sick and tired of the game before we’ve even had a chance to play it.

I’m not saying I won’t be buying DC:U, just at a later date. The collector’s edition offer (Batman figurine plus a comic book plus an art book plus in-game exclusives) would be making my wallet tug itself out of my pant pocket, if my pants weren’t hung up by the door. As someone who doesn’t own a Playstation 3, I can only assume disappointment on the part of the console gamers that they will not have access to the Batman figurine, nor the alternate cover for the comic, as the PS3 version will only come in standard vanilla flavor (Game + in-game item + comic).

Don’t forget, you’re not racing against the clock. Take some time, read the guides when more people get into the open beta, and keep watching websites like Fileplanet, Rock Paper Shotgun, Gamespot, Massively, and other gaming outlets for beta key giveaways.

DC:U comes out this November for Playstation 3 and PC.

CapnLogan Responds To CapnLogal Comment


Set Phasers To Response!

When I said I’d continue looking for information on the “Star Trek Online team is shrinking” article, I never imagined that the information would come to me. CapnLogan has commented on the article (and yes, it is him) on the forum post this month, clarifying the Star Trek Online team shrinking.

Howdy! I googled myself and found this blog.

Cryptic is actually in good shape and isn’t doing anything like layoffs and stuff. We DO, however, have a lot of new projects springing up and a few of the STO guys have been pulled off and moved. Our CORE team is still very robust and working very hard.

The team, overall, is a bit smaller though. There’s a very good reason for this. Initially setting up and producing a game simply requires a larger team, and now that the core infrastructure of STO is in place, it requires a few less people to keep the game going at full force.

Have a look at season 2. You’ll likely be impressed with the amount of improvements and content that we’ve put forth.

Cheers!
Capn.

First I’d like to thank CapnLogan for coming on to MMO Fallout during his self-Googling to comment on the matter, more importantly to give a precise response. Now if only I could convince John Smedley to answer my emails. On that thought, I would be fine with anyone answering my emails (although Cryptic has been quite responsive in the past).

It’s good to see Cryptic is working on new projects, and hopefully the project is related to Cryptic’s upcoming MMO announcement. Hopefully this will quiet the trolls on MMORPG.com forums claiming Cryptic is going under (it won’t.).

More on Cryptic, Star Trek Online, and their upcoming project as soon as it appears.

Prices Slashed On Direct2Drive


If Funcom's money was gold-backed...
They did it for gold...

If you head over to Direct2Drive, you will find a number of MMOs on sale for the time being. As there hasn’t been much in terms of information from Direct2Drive, I have no indication as to whether or not these are permanent price slashes, or temporary publisher price cuts. Either way, check out some great deals.

I’ll be checking Direct2Drive over the course of this week and next week until the sales end.

http://www.direct2drive.com/6/5937/product/Buy-FINAL-FANTASY-XI-Treasures-of-Aht-Urhgan-Expansion-Download

CapnLogan: The Star Trek Online Team Is Shrinking.


Set Phasers To Reduction!

Getting a Cryptic member to post on the official forums is not exactly an impossible task, many of them do it on a daily basis. On the Star Trek Online forums, CapnLogan (of the Cryptic Logans) went on to explain his work on saucer separation, among other updates he had planned and others which could be planned (if the users complained enough, wink wink). When a user asked if certain updates were being delayed due to polygon restrictions or time allotment, he responded:

“So it’s not so much polygon budgets, or data budgets, but I’d say that it’s mostly because our team is shrinking, and we still have to continue to put out a lot of other content for the future, that it will be really hard for me to get the political pull to get a couple programmers, an FX guy, and myself a couple weeks to make new models for this cause.”

The extent to Cryptic shrinking the Star Trek Online team is yet to be seen, or in what areas, and how this is affecting development (because as CapnLogan has point out, it is clearly affecting development). MMO Fallout will be looking for some specific information to add on to this article.

More on Star Trek Online, and Cryptic’s other MMOs, as it appears.

Sony Online Entertainment Layoffs Detailed


Sony Online Entertainment

Earlier I reported on Sony handing out the pink slips to 35 unnamed employees dispersed to several different projects (to ensure the public that they were not targeting one specific game), and if you assumed Vanguard was among the layoffs, you would be correct. A few ex-Sony employees have chimed in on the forums, confirming the layoffs and reporting that among the games affected are mainly Everquest II, Vanguard, and The Agency. Only a few of the employees were actually named, including Joel Sasaki, the Vanguard Community Manager, as well as Brett Scheinert, the man responsible for the Everquest II: Sentinel’s Fate raid design.

Best of luck to those affected. MMO Fallout will continue covering MMO developers, through the good and bad.