I don’t talk about Dungeons and Dragons nearly enough, but the game is the poster child for the typical crazy success story. Game launches, game goes partially free to play with a subscription and cash shop, game explodes in popularity. Not to say Dungeons and Dragons was hurting, just that not nearly enough people were giving the game the attention it warranted.
Needless to say, the move was a huge success. Turbine announced earlier this year that the initiative had brought in over one million new players, and more than doubled the number of subscribers, while the cash shop saw a huge boost in purchases. Since then, Turbine has done everything they can to accommodate free players, including the removal of leveling sigils, allowing anyone to make it to level 20, and introduced “casual” difficulty, for solo players. Two enormous updates (Update 3 and 4) have launched, with more updates along the way.
So what’s coming in DDO’s future? Guild airships! Players will be able to build bankers, auctioneers, vendors, and other bits in their guild housing, which will serve as transportation and quick teleportation to many dungeons and raids. The guild itself will have a leveling system by which players can access better airships. Even more stunning, the airships will be viewable in in-game airspace! Half-Orcs will become a playable race at some point this year as well, alongside a bevy of new adventure packs and other items hitting the Turbine store.
More on Turbine and Dungeons and Dragons Online as it appears. To those who have asked, no I do not have any new information on the lawsuit between Turbine and Atari.
My Lord of the Rings account can’t be used in Germany, nor will my World of Warcraft account work in China. My Archlord account may now work in Europe, but my Chronicles of Spellborn account will certainly not work in the Philippines. My Allods Online account might work in Australia, but my Tabula Rasa account will not work at all.
A lot of people are not aware of this, but there are a lot of developers that outsource their MMOs in foreign countries to where it was produced originally. gPotato, for example, is not actually a developer for most of their games, but actually a portal through which North American players can enjoy something directly out of Korea. gPotato hosts the servers and rakes in some cash from the cash shop, but ultimately must pay the developing body for the rights to host the title. Occasionally you will hear about MMOs switching hands, such as Codemasters losing Archlord and Cabal not shutting down in the west but actually moving over to ESTsoft.
As is the case with most publishers, gPotato only has the rights to publish Aika Online in one region: This region being North America. Due to legal restrictions, namely gPotato only having the rights to publish in North America it was only a matter of time before they acted upon that restriction, and started blocking IP addresses from outside of North America. Technically that happened three days ago, but who’s counting?
The important matter of all of this is that the cash shop was open for a full week before the announced shut down, leaving non-North American players with plenty of time to fill up on gPotato Chips (that’s what they call it, right?), the currency for Aika’s cash shop.
Players are, understandably angered at this “bull doodoo” (Not my words, from the Aika forums, also not censored.), reports are already coming in of players who had spent several hundreds of dollars worth of gpots to buff themselves in Aika, only to be barred from their accounts.
“Currently, a decision has not been reached regarding the status of existing Aika accounts which were registered outside of North America. The issue is under intensive review by management. In the event that existing accounts are blocked from playing Aika as a result of this decision, those players whose accounts would be unable to access the game will be issued a full refund on a case-by-case basis of any gPotato purchases they have made specifically for or in Aika.“
Hopefully gPotato will be able to come to a resolution. Gpots can be used in any gPotato game, so international players may be stuck using them in Allods Online or other titles. The developer for Aika is Hanbitsoft, the same company bringing Hellgate London back to the West.
Although I’ve long since beaten and hogtied Mark Jacobs in my attic, his long over-quoted words still ring true to this day: If we’re not adding servers shortly after launch, we are not doing well.
Global Agenda, having launched two months ago, is doing quite well for itself. So well, in fact, that Hi-Rez Studios announced the opening of a new server, located in the Singapore region, to accomodate for the worldwide growth of the MMO shooter. An important note to make, however, is that the game still runs on a single shard. Players from Singapore will be able to play with players from the United States, as well as other countries, with what Hi-Rez promises to be the same fast paced, low-latency action they have come to expect from the title.
So raise your [insert what you are drinking] and a toast to Hi-Rez Studios. If you haven’t played Global Agenda, I highly recommend giving the new trial a look.
It’s fun to joke about issues such as your billing system imploding and taking a couple hundred dollars per person with it, but at the end of the day we really need to get down to brass tacks and remind ourselves of those who are being affected by this incident, to whom this is anything but funny. People who may miss payments on houses, credit cards, insurance, and more during the refund process. People who may be living paycheck to paycheck who needed that hundred dollars to buy groceries. People who were hit by major overdraft fees, who now have to explain the situation to their bank and, hopefully, get the fees reversed. Yes, it was the fault of the billing company, and no this was not Mythic’s doing, but Mythic will pay the price for it. When the inevitable lawsuits begin over players whose banks refused to refund overdraft fees, it will be Mythic they will target.
One thing I have always talked about with MMOs is that unlike other genres of video games, MMOs truly transcend the boundary between video games and “real life.” They are not only an investment of time and money, but our personalities. We put great care into creating and then molding our creation to meet our vision, and enter a world where many of us can feel safe from everyday life. When an event like this occurs, we lose our attachment, and our bond with our characters and the world is shaken to its knees.
Right now, Mythic should be operating under the impression that all trust is gone. When they step into the proverbial room, it is not their “friends” they are talking to, but an unruly gang of bikers swinging bats and wielding pistols, who are going to need a lot more than a Jack and a couple free games of pool before their nerves are calmed.
A lawsuit, at this point, is almost inevitable. A mass exodus? Absolutely in the cards, from both Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online players. The players who were affected are likely not going to stick around, and those who were not affected will likely not want to chance it happening again. Mythic’s response to this is going to be crucial to their current and future operations. A simple sorry and a free month is not going to put people at ease. Mythic is going to be obligated to pay back any overdraft fees that banks refuse to refund.
While we’re on the topic of off-color jokes, as an avid Mortal Online fan I had to laugh at this comment:
“If it had been Star Vault making the account error, they would have simply replied with “Your carebear bank account just can’t handle our hardcore billing system. Go back to WoW, noob!”
-Hypothetical, satirical view on what Star Vault might have said.
More on the Mythic self-nuking billing system as it appears.
It’s fun to joke about issues such as your billing system imploding and taking a couple hundred dollars per person with it, but at the end of the day we really need to get down to brass tacks and remind ourselves of those who are being affected by this incident, to whom this is anything but funny. People who may miss payments on houses, credit cards, insurance, and more during the refund process. People who may be living paycheck to paycheck who needed that hundred dollars to buy groceries. People who were hit by major overdraft fees, who now have to explain the situation to their bank and, hopefully, get the fees reversed. Yes, it was the fault of the billing company, and no this was not Mythic’s doing, but Mythic will pay the price for it. When the inevitable lawsuits begin over players whose banks refused to refund overdraft fees, it will be Mythic they will target.
One thing I have always talked about with MMOs is that unlike other genres of video games, MMOs truly transcend the boundary between video games and “real life.” They are not only an investment of time and money, but our personalities. We put great care into creating and then molding our creation to meet our vision, and enter a world where many of us can feel safe from everyday life. When an event like this occurs, we lose our attachment, and our bond with our characters and the world is shaken to its knees.
Right now, Mythic should be operating under the impression that all trust is gone. When they step into the proverbial room, it is not their “friends” they are talking to, but an unruly gang of bikers swinging bats and wielding pistols, who are going to need a lot more than a Jack and a couple free games of pool before their nerves are calmed.
A lawsuit, at this point, is almost inevitable. A mass exodus? Absolutely in the cards, from both Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online players. The players who were affected are likely not going to stick around, and those who were not affected will likely not want to chance it happening again. Mythic’s response to this is going to be crucial to their current and future operations. A simple sorry and a free month is not going to put people at ease. Mythic is going to be obligated to pay back any overdraft fees that banks refuse to refund.
While we’re on the topic of off-color jokes, as an avid Mortal Online fan I had to laugh at this comment:
“If it had been Star Vault making the account error, they would have simply replied with “Your carebear bank account just can’t handle our hardcore billing system. Go back to WoW, noob!”
-Hypothetical, satirical view on what Star Vault might have said.
More on the Mythic self-nuking billing system as it appears.
Computers are great, and are becoming more integrated into our lives with every passing day. Nowadays you can use a cell phone to do more than just talk to your friend in Thailand with your unlimited long distance and roaming plan. Now a phone can be used to play video games, update your Facebook pages, check your Pizza Hut order, send a picture, record a movie, and even cash a check! Luckily for us, the brilliant minds who invented computers did so in a way that computers act fairly bluntly, subtlety not being one of their strong traits. Don’t believe me? Just look at the Terminator movies and tell me they would be mistakable for human beings!
So when the Mythic database attempts to fund its upcoming attempt to take over the world and enslave humanity, it could have chosen a much less obvious route than charging members of Warhammer Online and Dark Age of Camelot (but not Asheron’s Call apparently. That’s cold.) up to five hundred dollars in monthly-fee increments.
Mythic is in the process of reimbursing players for the erroneous charges, and no doubt melting the server database in molten steel. You can read the full Herald announcement here, which includes contact details if the charges do not stop, or your bank does not reimburse any overdraft fees.
Mid-March, I covered a public spat between Derek Smart and several ex-employees that took place over the Gamasutra comments board (And yet no spats on MMO Fallout). I mentioned at the end that is might have been in Smart’s best interest to stop at “David Allen was fired,” as the public arguments over a website’s comment system would accomplish nothing except give a lower view of Mr. Smart.
What I didn’t mention in the post, but equally present in my mind: Where is David Allen in all of this? We haven’t heard much from him. Well, Allen has finally broken the silence, in this post on requnix.
“For the past two months, there have been changes taking place at Quest Online, L.L.C. (“QOL”) and, unfortunately, a great deal of false information has been publicized.
In an effort to enhance Alganon’s® market visibility and following the direction of certain investors, QOL hired Derek Smart as a consultant on December 3, 2009 to assist in the area of sales and marketing. Soon thereafter, and for reasons unbeknownst to me, Mr. Smart began a smear campaign attacking my credibility, first privately among the investors, and then publicly. As many have read on various Internet websites, Mr. Smart has made disparaging remarks concerning my professional work and comments that could lead others to question my loyalty, honesty, and ability to successfully create, build, run, and manage a multi-million dollar MMOG development company; something I have been doing successfully for over four years. Please be aware that Mr. Smart’s comments are false and that I have filed a civil action against him in Maricopa County Superior Court for his defamatory conduct, among other things. I have been advised by my legal counsel to offer no further comment at this time on this matter during the pendency of the litigation.
Alganon® is an amazing MMOG that my team and I were able to develop for a fraction of the cost when compared to similar MMOG’s. This was due in part to a highly talented team of developers and their relentless efforts. Alganon® has the foundation of a great MMOG with state-of-the-art and custom-built wholly-owned technology, and exclusive intellectual property.
I stand by my efforts in creating Alganon® and building QOL, and believe operating with honesty, integrity, and honor is the only way to conduct proper business. I am confident that during the process of resolving this conflict, the truth will prevail and the factual account of the activities associated with the development of Alganon® will become known.”
The link in the comment leads to a .pdf of the lawsuit, where Allen is alleging: Breach of contract, breach of good faith and fair dealing, breach of fiduciary duty (as well as aiding and abetting), Defamation/libel, injurious falsehood, punitive damages, intentional experiences with business expectancies and contractual relationships, civil conspiracy.
I can see plenty of updates to come with this lawsuit.
I mentioned on the previous article about Star Trek Online’s new advisory board that Cryptic has this habit of making an announcement that is poorly worded, has fairly little description, and serves to gin up all kinds of fears across the community. Following the uproar that results from the announcement, Cryptic ends up releasing more details that put much of the speculation to rest.
So Cryptic announced a Frequently Asked Questions for the Advisory Board. Interestingly enough, the original five (now four) panel members were chosen by a “social networking firm” partnered with Atari. The same old message is still there, however. The panel is for the hundred thousand players who don’t use the forums, the panel members can be impeached, they do not have more sway than the average player, etc. I said “now four” because one of the members has already been impeached, due to comments about shaving a certain body part with her dad’s razor. So at least we know for sure that members can be impeached.
It’s always good to see developers like Cryptic reaching out to their fans, and hopefully the notion that players who did not open up to Cryptic on the forums will open up to these advisory players, comes true.
I love me some Massively.com. Aside from being great reading material to begin with, I will admit that Massively is one of the biggest sources of MMO news that makes its way on to MMO Fallout (although without my cheeky commentary). One issue I do take with Massively, being the cynic that I am, is that certain unnamed editors, one of whom calls himself Justin Olivetti, seem to lap up figures by Nexon and other free to play developers as if they are something to be impressed by.
Most recently, Nexon announced that Dungeon Fighter Online has amassed 197 registered accounts, even more impressive as the game hasn’t even launched in North America. Almost two hundred million would have sounded great on paper, albeit suspicious to people like myself: When a company flaunts registered users rather than active users, the active users are always a fraction of the total number. This goes for every game. Technically, Warhammer Online has at least 1.5 million “registered users” as that many preordered the title. Virtually every MMO in history, sans a few (World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Fallen Earth, among others) has seen its peak user population around launch, followed by a steep dive after the first free month, followed by gradual decline with occasional instances of upped user count. So please don’t think I’m singling out free games.
Dungeons and Dragons Online I allow to slip by because they also announce figures for paying members. Runescape I do not consider for the category because there is no “launch” to go off of, as the game began as a one man project with the intent of drawing in no more than a couple hundred players playing for free.
As is with any situation, Nexon made this much worse for themselves, and much more fun for me, by continuing on with statistics that show Dungeon Fighter Online must have a retention rate in the single digits. Let’s break these two statistics down, shall we?
First off, players have “invaded over 25 million dungeons.” Assuming every player invaded just one dungeon and then quit, this statistic reveals that 175 million players signed up and then never went into a single dungeon. I’m going to go the ultra-conservative route and say that each active player raided ten dungeons and then quit. If every player raided only ten servers each, this would leave Dungeon Fighter Online with a meager 1.2% retention rate, and we’ve just passed the point of registration and downloading the game.
Over 1.6 billion monsters have been killed. Well, if you look at our ultra-lenient 2.5 million players, this 1 billion starts making more sense. After all, this turns into a distributed 640 monsters per person.
I want those of you reading this to note that I am not in any way insinuating that Nexon is doing badly in the market, especially for a free to play developer. Nexon reported a 35% increase on-year revenue in 2009, and will undoubtedly keep making money. The purpose of this is to show you that 197 million is not 197 million, not even close. Nexon may not be lying, persay, but they are pulling the equivalent of telling the cashier “I’ll pay you five dollhairs (sounding like dollars)” and then attempting to call him out when he doesn’t accept your Barbie follicles.
I do not understand why free to play games feel the need to mislead the public about their titles. If Nexon had come out and said “we have over 2 million active players,” that would certainly be impressive. Not really impressive compared to other Korean free to play MMOs, but impressive nonetheless.
Because of their easy access and generally less dedicated players (no initial monetary investment), free to play MMOs see a much lower retention rate than your mainstream paid MMOs. Remember: That 1.2% retention rate was based on every player playing only ten dungeons. If you want to go even further and say every player played 20 dungeons on average, you end up with a 0.6% retention rate, and again we may still be in the realm of too lenient.
Here is a question to all of my…Runescape peeps out there. How many times have you had someone report you, maliciously, for something that was not against the rules, just to harass you? In all likelihood, at least a few. Now, Jagex claims that rule 10: abusing customer service does result in a punishment, however I have never heard of anyone getting much more than a warning for clogging up the customer support.
Earlier this week, Aika released the full list of rules, not only the rules but the punishment associated with breaking said rules. To put it lightly, gPotato is looking to provide “an experience at a very high standard.” (Their words, not mine) To put it more plainly, gPotato will not allow Aika to turn into other free games that we’ve seen, let’s single out Combat Arms for this comparison, the kind populated by children who can barely spell the insults they are flinging.
Sending in a false abuse report on a player will result in a permanent ban on the first offense. If the character is new (unsure what this constitutes) than any accounts from that IP address will be banned as well, permanently.
Impersonating other players may result in a permanent ban.
Falsifying information about Gala-Net, Aika, and other players may also result in a permanent ban.
Inappropriate guild demeanor will result in a ban for all guild members.
Disrupting in-game events by harassing event coordinators may result in a permanent ban.
NPC blocking may result in a permanent ban.
Not taking offenses seriously (deliberately breaking the rules as a joke) may result in a permanent ban.
This is a comprehensive list of what can result in a permanent ban, and although some of these are pretty straightforward, I can see some eyebrows being raised at the grey areas. For instance, will the rule on “false abuse reports” allow free reign for griefing, because the players with their fingers on the report button are too afraid of gPotato not seeing the situation as they did, and receiving a permanent ban?
Or disrupting in-game events, or even NPC blocking. If any of you can give me a clear, concise explanation as to the process behind “npc blocking,” then by all means leave a comment below. My favorite of the list is without a doubt the last: Not taking offenses seriously, which can result in a permanent ban. How exactly does this work?
Harassing player = Temporary mute
Harassing player with a smiley face or an LOL in the message = Permanent ban?
Is there a form of numerical quantification where someone’s seriousness of a situation can be determined? At what angle must a person’s smirk be before it is considered not taking an offense seriously, where a temporary ban becomes permanent? It sounds like anything that is determined to be trolling is punishable by a permanent ban, but how do you determine who is cheating for an edge, and who is simply doing it for the lulz?
I’m going to keep this issue up and will be contacting gPotato as soon as Aika becomes a valid game to query Customer Support over, and will be following this up hopefully with a direct explanation for the rules. Until then, more news on Aika as it appears.
MMO Fallout 
