Aika Online Cash Shop Woes End


Available Again...Forever!

It isn’t very often I get to start out an article with “and finally the saga is coming to a close,” because (despite my own objections) stories like these tend to go on for a long, long time, or simply fade away into obscurity to the point where no one is talking about it anymore (because I also watch the communities for further news on ongoing stories). I don’t like to lead people on, which is why I only update ongoing stories as important events occur.

So with great pride, I can finally say that the Aika Online cash shop issues are coming to an end! Earlier this month, I talked about how Aika Online under gPotato was only meant to work in North America. Unfortunately, the company allowed players from virtually any country to register and play. When the time came for the actual developer to put their foot down and demand IP restrictions, gPotato had already launched the cash shop one week prior. The end result was that non-North American players found themselves locked out of the game, and their purchases.

Well put down those credit card chargebacks, folks, because after a couple of weeks gPotato is back with great news: The IP blocks will still be put in place, however anyone with an account created before the blocks can still play, all items and characters intact.

It’s good to see Aika’s continued track record of listening to their customers, and even better to see another saga come to an end.

APB Subscription: Best of the East, Eve Online, And Subscription!

All Points Bulletin looks to take the Eastern approach to subscription, but with an option that doesn’t hurt hardcore players. Recently announced, All Points Bulletin will offer several options for players:


The west is very different than the east, in terms of our paid MMOs. A lot of people are already aware of this, but many paid MMOs in the east work on a pay-as-you-go plan, where players purchase a set number of hours, much like the cell phone plans many of you will be aware with. Over in the West, we are used to simply paying a set monthly fee, be it anywhere up to the industry standard of $15 a month. For hardcore players, this is a godsend, as they can get the most for their money. For casual players, the monthly fee may not seem worth it, down to the player who can only get online every weekend or so.

All Points Bulletin looks to take the Eastern approach to subscription, but with an option that doesn’t hurt hardcore players. Recently announced, All Points Bulletin will offer several options for players: For the casual, players can buy hours in packs of 20 hours for $6.99 (USD), or choose from a 30 day ($9.99), 90 day, or 180 day “unlimited package” with no time limit, with discounts for the two bigger packs.

But wait! There’s more! Buying APB includes 100 RTW (currency) that you can spend towards game time and other perks. In addition, APB will include a marketplace where players can trade their customizations. RWT can be turned into in-game currency or game time.

It’s good to see a game literally including the best of all worlds, in terms of subscription. Want that flat fee? You’ve got it. Don’t play much and can make that 20 hours last a long time? You’ve got it.

All Points Bulletin launches at the end of June and is currently in beta. Preorder for extra perks and more time.

Why Even THINK About a Star Trek Online Sequel?


Set Phasers To Nonsensical!

Here at MMO Fallout, I consider myself the “odd man out” as far as MMO-oriented websites go. I’m not a big name, most studios that are not named Quest Online have likely never heard of me, most of my viewers are not the commenting type, and I only occasionally get my articles noted on bigger websites (MMOCrunch, Keanandgreav, etc). That being said, I still strive to be as professional and consistent as possible, which explains why my head spins when I see others who make my snark look professional by comparison. Case in point: Eurogamer’s review of Darkfall and Gamespot’s review of Global Agenda.

MMOs are a long term investment, both for the developer and the player. With a larger-than-norm development budget, not to mention several more years in the oven before it’s finished, a developer has to make back enough money not only to cover the initial costs, but also the maintenance and updates post-launch. With the market ever-changing, presently it is moving towards large updates that are free. Understanding this, it becomes much easier to figure out why developers wait years, usually until the original is no longer a viable contender in the market (See: Planetside 2).

Over at CVG.com, they asked the question on no one’s mind, is Cryptic Studios planning on a sequel to their Star Trek MMO, released just two months ago? The answer, as you guessed, is not just a no, but an absolutely no. Never. Cryptic responded by saying that they have ruled out the possibility of ever releasing a Star Trek Online sequel, barring a future new engine.

“I’m not really sure it makes sense to create a sequel in the MMO market. Typically, you see an MMO called a sequel because either a new team worked on the property or the original team wanted to reboot their IP.”

That’s another for the quote wall.

Alganon Officially Released…Huttah!


I am on a horse.

Alganon’s been on the live list for as long as I can remember, which dates to around last December when the game “launched.” Of course, what started out as a launch was quickly demoted to a “soft launch,” preceding all of this hubbub between Alganon and a few ex-employees.

But, as those of you who receive Alganon email will know, today marks the day when Alganon officially launches. But a launch isn’t all, players will find a near-gigabyte patch released today, with a whole host of fixes and changes:

  1. Completely new path finding mechanic for mobs. NPCs should no longer go underground.
  2. Overhauled starting areas.
  3. Brand new UI to feel less like an anonymous MMO that sounds like Shmerld of Shmarcraft.
  4. Improved server stability.
  5. A whole host of bug fixes.

As promised by Derek Smart, a few features not intended for release have been removed temporarily, starting with thrown weapons. The improved server stability is a welcome update, and one that had previously baffled me with the high amounts of lag, considering I was the only person within /who range while I played.

MMO Fallout will certainly be watching Alganon to see how this “true release” affects the title. You can pick up the Alganon client for cheap, for the time being at least, and afterwards there is no monthly subscription, although the game does feature a cash shop and a free trial.

Why not pick it up today?

Alganon
Alganon Free Trial

Guild Wars Five Years: Steam Sale This Week


Here at MMO Fallout, we work diligently to make sure that you have available to you, all of the information and best ways to get your hands on titles for the lowest prices possible. With the fifth anniversary of Guild Wars, Steam is offering the title on sale this week with the following prices, all in USD:

Games are on sale this week, so pick them up!

Age of Conan: Offline Leveling With No Respec


Play Age of Conan or die, my lord.

A growing trend in several MMOs ever since Eve Online popularized the mechanic, has been offline training: skills and abilities that level even though you are offline. Eve Online and Alganon are just two games to utilize this feature, with Age of Conan recently joining the fray:

In games like Eve Online, considering your character is not under a level system, the research done into your character can make a difference in what ships you can pilot, your weapon loadout, replacing the traditional leveling system. In Alganon, your offline research tree has more to do with small boosts to stats than anything else. Extra damage with certain weapons, extra defense against certain elements, and more. The offline progression doesn’t have a make-or-break impact on the game, but it is nice to have any advantage you can.

If Age Of Conan is one thing, it isn’t subtle. Rather than opt to give players simple stat increases in an alternate training tree, Funcom wants to give you levels while you are offline. Every four days you will receive a level in your account, in order to distribute to a character of your choice. Your account must be active, and the character receiving the level has to be at least level 30.

This should help casual players with hardcore players just seeing it as a small help. Despite some claims, there isn’t much danger of this “replacing” grinding for levels, as it only replaces one level every four days. For those who don’t want to take part, you are always free to leave the levels to accumulate, and use them on an alternate character one day, or just let them rot.

More on Age of Conan as it appears.

Dungeons and Dragons Online: TV Advertisement


Quick, Someone Get This Demon 3D Glasses!

Television advertisement is a barrier that few MMOs break if their names are not World of Warcraft, so it’s good to see Turbine’s Dungeons and Dragons on the semi-big screen.

Cryptic Cleans Up: BBB Rating Rises


Set phasers to customer support!

A long time ago, two months to be exact, I did a little bitty about the Better Business Bureau. When I wrote up the article, I wanted to put an emphasis on the points that the bureau does not have authority over businesses, despite how the name may sound. More importantly, as I noted, the BBB is very lenient with the scores that it offers businesses, due in part to the company’s response to complaints sent to the BBB, and then forwarded to the company, that matters. Not responding will put you in a hole, and quite a few people take the BBB for its word.

I did run quite a few developer names before posting my list, and something I did not expect happened: The article was passed around by a few websites, and through each discussion ultimately Cryptic Studios became the center of attention in each instance. Cryptic, noted punching bag for MMO Fallout, was rated an F by the BBB, who noted:

“We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.”

So either Cryptic is not responding to complaints, or they are fraudster identity thieves who might just kill you if you talk bad about them. One or the other, your guess is probably best. Yes, it is a cut and paste for each company, but I can’t read that without risking severe damage due to my eyes rolling back into my head.

Well, if anyone paid attention to that old article, apparently Cryptic was one of them. Forgoing the past 36 months, a recent view of Cryptic’s BBB page shows that they have been bumped: To a C+. Not the best, but that does put them above NCsoft. Why have they bumped up? Because they, wait for it, actually responded and worked out complaints! Of the 61 complaints, 43 have been resolved according to agreements, 2 are fully refunded, and only three are “refused.” The final 16 are still unanswered, but we can always hope.

Now I obviously can’t claim all (read: any) of the credit, due to the likes of people (read: anyone) who are far higher up on the MMO spectrum who either reported similar stories or re-posted my own. I can, however, make a bet: If this worked on Cryptic in just two months, let’s start harping on NCsoft for being the new bottom of the barrel. Perhaps we can get that C- raised to a C?

More on businesses and which are better, as it appears.

Derek Smart Responds To David Allen's Lawsuit Over Derek Smart's Comment Over David Allen's Firing


I am on a horse.

Quest Online, developers of Alganon, have issued a press release stating, among other things, the following:

“Since Smart has taken over leadership, the company has reduced overhead and streamlined operations and Alganon has also gained significant exposure in the gaming marketplace.”

I guess you could call it that. So far this year, Alganon has been featured a lot on various MMO websites, most notably not only for the poorly executed launch, but the subsequent firing and public spat between currently-employed Derek Smart and formerly-employed David Allen. While the opinion of Quest Online appears to be no press is bad press, the communities and those few who play Alganon have expressed a dislike for the manner in which Derek Smart chose to have his argument with several ex-employees (in the comments section of a Gamasutra article), and apparently neither did David Allen (who did not partake in the argument) because he responded by firing off a defamation lawsuit.

Quest Online had this to say about the lawsuit:

“Mr. Allen’s allegations are false and without merit. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in Court and are confident of prevailing in the proceeding.”

Quite straightforward.  Defamation isn’t the only charge in the proceeding, but does rely on what is being said to be false. If the information is true, than it can not be defamation. Whether or not Derek Smart can prove its truth will be seen.

Derek Smart Responds To David Allen’s Lawsuit Over Derek Smart’s Comment Over David Allen’s Firing


I am on a horse.

Quest Online, developers of Alganon, have issued a press release stating, among other things, the following:

“Since Smart has taken over leadership, the company has reduced overhead and streamlined operations and Alganon has also gained significant exposure in the gaming marketplace.”

I guess you could call it that. So far this year, Alganon has been featured a lot on various MMO websites, most notably not only for the poorly executed launch, but the subsequent firing and public spat between currently-employed Derek Smart and formerly-employed David Allen. While the opinion of Quest Online appears to be no press is bad press, the communities and those few who play Alganon have expressed a dislike for the manner in which Derek Smart chose to have his argument with several ex-employees (in the comments section of a Gamasutra article), and apparently neither did David Allen (who did not partake in the argument) because he responded by firing off a defamation lawsuit.

Quest Online had this to say about the lawsuit:

“Mr. Allen’s allegations are false and without merit. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves in Court and are confident of prevailing in the proceeding.”

Quite straightforward.  Defamation isn’t the only charge in the proceeding, but does rely on what is being said to be false. If the information is true, than it can not be defamation. Whether or not Derek Smart can prove its truth will be seen.