Despite Realtime Worlds going into administration and laying off a huge number of people, all is not bad at the RTW kiosk. According to the new administration, offers to invest are coming in from “both sides of the atlantic,” and prospects are high for those remaining at Realtime Worlds, including the employees who were rehired as part of the MyWorld team.
Realtime Worlds announced today that All Points Bulletin has 130,000 players averaging about four hours of game time a day.
“These are healthy numbers and reflect positively on APB as a ongoing concern. They prove this is a very enjoyable game, which is shown by the average player daily playtime and an ARPPU (Average Revenue per Paying User) that is highest of any game out there”
Whatever you say, Joint Administrator Paul Dounis. If enough of those who are playing are horking up extra cash in the form of RTW-bux, then Realtime Worlds should be all set, and perhaps hire back what employees Codemasters, Sony, and Blitz haven’t vultured from the Arizona desert?
For people like me, lawsuits are a swing and a miss, mainly because after all of the legal jargon, reading long court documents to figure out what is happening, and trying to get both sides to speak on the case, there comes the inevitable deal breaker: The settlement. A settlement, often out of court, is generally always secret, none of the agreements are released to the public and neither side can talk about who was wrong on what accord.
So you’ll have to accept my apologies when I tell you I was well aware that the Turbine/Atari lawsuit ended, not only that but it ended four months ago, around the time Turbine was acquired by Warner Brothers. The major changes? Not much to speak of, aside from Turbine reacquiring their publishing rights in Europe, although this could be a decision under the new ownership.
The lawsuit went out with a fizzle and not a bang, and it’s anyone’s guess who won, if there is a “winner.” I’m removing the lawsuit category at the end of the month, as it will no longer be needed.
The Chronicles of Spellborn closes down shop on the 25th, and many of you likely know me as a pretty nostalgic guy. So I got a package in the mail today I think a few of you will like.
Granted, I don’t have any place to put this game. The package it came in was basically a mail sleeve envelope. Luckily, I know just the place Chronicles of Spellborn can go where it will be loved and cherished forever.
Right here in the old nostalgia shelf. I could go for a good read.
No, not that one, although most of those are from 2003-2004.
It didn’t take long to figure out that Cryptic was working on a third MMO, what with both Cryptic and Atari dancing around giggling like little girls and shouting “I know something you don’t know” in a sing song voice, all the while Turbine shouting in the litigation background, “THEY’RE WORKING ON A NEVERWINTER NIGHTS MMO!” At Gencon, Atari boosted rumors by claiming that they were working on a D&D game, and began buying up Neverwinter Nights domains like they were going out of style (they did, several years ago).
So Gamespot announced today an exclusive interview revealing that Cryptic is indeed working on a Dungeons and Dragons title set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, but it is not an MMO. Instead, Cryptic are creating a cooperative online game (Ala Guild Wars?) that focuses on group play and works by players connecting and playing sessions, much like the role playing version. Players will be able to solo, not to mention create their own content and storylines.
You can read the entire interview and information page on the link, but it appears Cryptic wants to stress that this is an OMG (Online Multiplayer Game) rather than a full fledged MMO. Surely, more details to come.
It didn’t take long to figure out that Cryptic was working on a third MMO, what with both Cryptic and Atari dancing around giggling like little girls and shouting “I know something you don’t know” in a sing song voice, all the while Turbine shouting in the litigation background, “THEY’RE WORKING ON A NEVERWINTER NIGHTS MMO!” At Gencon, Atari boosted rumors by claiming that they were working on a D&D game, and began buying up Neverwinter Nights domains like they were going out of style (they did, several years ago).
So Gamespot announced today an exclusive interview revealing that Cryptic is indeed working on a Dungeons and Dragons title set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, but it is not an MMO. Instead, Cryptic are creating a cooperative online game (Ala Guild Wars?) that focuses on group play and works by players connecting and playing sessions, much like the role playing version. Players will be able to solo, not to mention create their own content and storylines.
You can read the entire interview and information page on the link, but it appears Cryptic wants to stress that this is an OMG (Online Multiplayer Game) rather than a full fledged MMO. Surely, more details to come.
When I wrote my “I Can’t Do This Alone” article, I put a lot of emotion into my disgust with the stereotype that MMOers still have in today’s society, of which I don’t think I need to remind you. Every once in a while, however, someone goes and ruins the image for the rest of us, resetting those stereotypes and putting us back a good year or so in progress.
Lineage II is a great money maker for NCsoft, and according to my profit rundown on the company earlier this year, Lineage II is NCsoft’s #3 game worldwide in terms of sales, with both in the Lineage lineage still going strong despite their increasingly old age. But, much like the “dangerously cheesy” Cheetos, could Lineage II be so good that it strips the life away from a normal person? Of course not, don’t be stupid.
News is hitting the stands today of a Craig Smallwood, who is suing NCsoft for making Lineage II too good, causing him to become addicted. According to the lawsuit, Smallwood alleges that he spent so much time on Lineage II that he became “unable to function independently in usual daily activities such as getting up, getting dressed, bathing or communicating with family and friends.”
So where is NCsoft at fault? NCsoft “acted negligently in failing to warn or instruct or adequately warn or instruct plaintiff and other players of Lineage II of its dangerous and defective characteristics, and of the safe and proper method of using the game.” Also, according to the lawsuit, Smallwood is claiming that his addiction left him with emotional distress, put him in the hospital for three weeks, and required a regimen of therapy. This is after five years of playing for roughly ten hours a day.
Smallwood is asking for $3 million USD.
Personally, I don’t see where the news story is, but someone asked me to write up about this. Rolling the story down to its basics, and what you end up with is a person with an addictive personality becoming addicted to something. This is really no different than a compulsive gambler or drinker. This addict, however, chose not to take responsibility for his addiction, and instead chose to make a quick grab for cash from the company that provide(d) the product for him.
Another note to think about: Smallwood was banned from Lineage II for real money trading, and my personal belief is that his lawsuit is in retaliation either because he bought gold and was caught, or he’s been running a gold farming troupe with his three accounts and got caught. Smallwood alleges that the ban was to “force” him to play Aion.
So: Before you or anyone you know treats this as “some nerd,” just remind yourself that Craig Smallwood is either an addict or an estranged gold seller/buyer, just one that happens to be able to afford a lawyer. And to the regular news media who will eventually pick this up, and maybe see this page: Us real nerds don’t associate with Smallwood, please don’t build a bridge where a bridge is not needed.
Here in my town, there’s no better moment than when an electronics store goes out of business, generally because that means 50+% off on expensive electronics. When FYE went out of business, I managed to pick up Tabula Rasa at 90% off, and it was only one year after the game shut down! When a company starts shedding property (read: Employees), and said company is Realtime Worlds, it’s a veritable picking day for other companies to come in and get recruiting.
Sony, Codemasters, and Blitz were reported shipping off recruiters, designers, and artists to populate the nearby hotels as they pluck up ex-Realtime Worlds employees for interviews in one of their many studios. Codemaster’s chief talent acquisition manager had this to say about the company’s outlook on the ex-RTW staff:
“Realtime employees expertise is unquestionable,”
Blitz’s CEO Phillip Oliver had equal amounts of praise;
“We know that Realtime World has some fantastically talented people and were very sorry to hear the news as it broke late last week. We think Realtime Worlds staff will be pleasantly surprised at the opportunities we can offer them and look forward to talking with them.”
The administrators are doing their best to keep Realtime Worlds alive, but for the time being it is nice to see that ex-employees are getting every offer to jump back into the work force as quickly as possible.
Here in my town, there’s no better moment than when an electronics store goes out of business, generally because that means 50+% off on expensive electronics. When FYE went out of business, I managed to pick up Tabula Rasa at 90% off, and it was only one year after the game shut down! When a company starts shedding property (read: Employees), and said company is Realtime Worlds, it’s a veritable picking day for other companies to come in and get recruiting.
Sony, Codemasters, and Blitz were reported shipping off recruiters, designers, and artists to populate the nearby hotels as they pluck up ex-Realtime Worlds employees for interviews in one of their many studios. Codemaster’s chief talent acquisition manager had this to say about the company’s outlook on the ex-RTW staff:
“Realtime employees expertise is unquestionable,”
Blitz’s CEO Phillip Oliver had equal amounts of praise;
“We know that Realtime World has some fantastically talented people and were very sorry to hear the news as it broke late last week. We think Realtime Worlds staff will be pleasantly surprised at the opportunities we can offer them and look forward to talking with them.”
The administrators are doing their best to keep Realtime Worlds alive, but for the time being it is nice to see that ex-employees are getting every offer to jump back into the work force as quickly as possible.
If you check any gaming related website, electronics store, or wikipedia, you’ll find that Square Enix is set to release Final Fantasy XIV on the 30th of September for the PC, and sometime in March next year on the Playstation 3. What you won’t find, on the other hand, is a release date, or an acknowledgement of the Xbox360 version of Final Fantasy XIV, and Square Enix would like to rectify that.
In a recent interview with VG247, producer Hiromichi Tanaka stated that the 360 version of the upcoming Final Fantasy MMO is in fact not canned on the 360, but has rather been delayed and put on hold while talks continue with Microsoft. Going further into details, Tanaka explained that Xbox Live is virtually the only hurdle keeping Final Fantasy XIV from continuing development on the platform.
I’ve been pretty unrepentant in the past with my feelings towards Microsoft and have always backed up my philosophy that if you are a console gamer looking for an MMO, your best bet is to stick with a Playstation 3. The hurdles that the developers have been reaching with Microsoft are essentially set at Microsoft’s love of money, and their need to stick their fingers into everyone else’s cookie jar, leading to the point where a deal between Microsoft and the BBC to offer streaming BBC over Xbox Live (at no cost to Microsoft) was turned down because Microsoft couldn’t make any money off of it.
As much as I hate to play the pessimist, those who are waiting out on a 360 version of Final Fantasy XIV might as well wait in line behind those still hoping for a console edition of Champions Online, Age of Conan, and Star Trek Online, who are standing right over there with the folk waiting for Duke Nukem Forever and the rapture.
I can’t shake the feeling that we’ve been in rather a slump this year. We’ve seen the closure of Dungeon Runners, Metaplace, Cities XL, Phantasy Star, and now Chronicles of Spellborn, Exteel, and possibly All Points Bulletin in the near future. So, owing to that knowledge, we take what good news we can, and more specifically that good news is that Earth Eternal has been sold!
In a posting today on the Earth Eternal website, Sparkplay CEO Matt Mihaly (one of the two remaining staff members) announced that the bidding has ended, and the game has been sold to an unnamed buyer. The buyer cannot be named currently, as the contracts haven’t been signed and all of the formalities are not finished, but Mihaly has promised that it is a known company with the pre-existing audience to give the game its due attention. As he put it:
“I’m pretty happy this company won the bidding, as I think they have the resources and the pre-existing audience to help make EE a success.”
We’ll have the company name in about a week, but until then let’s throw MMO Fallout’s rule on speculation out the window and try and guess who it is. My bet is on Jagex, who seems to have a growing interest in funding fledgling MMOs. Whoever it is, it’s a big company according to the news report (“moved astonishingly quickly for a company of their size.”).
Great! Now all we need is for Realtime Worlds to announce that they’ve secured an investor and the week might not seem so bleak.
