Jagex: Making Threats? Get The Police…


Update: For reasons I was unable to uncover, this article was originally published as a blank slate. Although I lost what I had written, I was able to recover the original draft and reupload it. Remember to always keep a backup of your work!

You're going to need an attorney...

“Gonna kill myself.”
-Any MMOer

How many times have you typed that out in chat? In jest, of course, not in a serious manner. Something goes wrong, you get killed, you lose something, you accidentally destroyed your favorite and most powerful weapon, or someone backstabbed you and the only conveyance of your disappointment in yourself or the game is to make an off-color joke about suicide.

Unfortunately for players, and unlike Walt Disney, Jagex doesn’t find suicide very funny, in any context. Following a somewhat high profile suicide that was posted on the Runescape forums several years ago, Jagex has since been taking threats of suicide very seriously, no matter what context it may be in. Players reportedly threatening suicide in order to have their accounts banned started receiving this message instead:

But a talking to may not be the only thing you receive. MMO Fallout has received several reports and accounts of players being reported for threatening suicide, only to have the police show up to investigate a reported threatened suicide. It appears Jagex has joined a small group of developers who are taking no chances and forwarding all threats to the proper authorities.

I know this is going to get some comments about free speech and taking jokes too seriously, but the difference between “I’m gonna kill myself” and “I’m gonna kill myself” is nonexistent when in the form of text, unless the sarcasm is very explicitly pointed out. This is one issue online that many people continue to forget, and are surprised when what they say is taken verbatim.

I am not going to try to force my sense of humor down your throat (because it is far less appropriate than jokes about suicide), just keep in mind who may be listening in. You don’t joke about bombs in an airport, and you don’t joke about guns in a school, so don’t be surprised when your joke (by perception) is taken with less humor than you would like it to be.

G-Unit Reports: No Critical Security Issues


G-Unit doesn't handles account theft.

Our game servers, account databases, and support sites are under constant attack and being probed for any vulnerability. It’s a war that by no means is over.
-Scott Jennings, NCsoft on Aion.

There may not be a fight between gold farmers and developers as intense what is going on between Aion and the gold farmers. Not simply definable as a growing feud, this battle has turned into all-out gang war, with NCsoft going as far as bringing in G-Unit (no, not that G-Unit) to fight off the hoard of bots and spammers. The gold farmers have also stepped up their part of the fight by doing their best to steal as many player accounts as possible, not to mention launching countless attacks against NCsoft’s security systems.

Scott Jennings, in a recent note to the community, affirms players that they are continuing the monitor systems, and have confirmed that there are currently no critical issues with the NCsoft account security. NCsoft will continue to audit their security systems, and players can expect changes to come this year, continuing the security updates Guild Wars and other NCsoft titles received last year.

Following the high profile, and very sobering (as described by Jennings) cyber attack that breached the systems of Google and a host of other companies, it is difficult for players to feel that their information is safe. Unfortunately all we can do is watch and try our best to keep our information safe, while at the same time hoping nothing happens over on the developer’s end.

More on Aion, Security, NCsoft, and more as it appears.

Everquest II: Leveling To Be Made Easier


New Expansion, New Level Cap

The typical MMO Expansion rules include new zones, occasionally a new class or two, perhaps a new race, and increasing the level cap. Of course, this eventually presents the problem that once you raise the level cap several times, it becomes a very long process for newer players to jump into the game and knock their way up to end-game, compared to those who had been in the game long enough to level with it.

So naturally, every now and then you have to increase the speed that players level. World of Warcraft did this by increasing the experience gained by quests in some levels and reducing the experience needed in other levels. Everquest 2 started with a level 50 cap, and now features a level cap of 80.

In response, Sony is releasing a patch to make the leveling smoother. Levels 1 to 65 have not been made shorter, but the experience has been mixed around to make the process much smoother. Levels 65 to 75 require less experience, and quests in this range will give more experience to adventurers. This is a good move, especially considering that several times during Everquest 2, there were levels that required more experience than further levels, an issue that will be fixed with this patch.

More on Everquest 2 and its leveling process as it appears. Sentinel’s Fate hits next month.

Bethesda/Zenimax: What Is Going On Over There?


It is likely not Fallout

Zenimax Media is just one of the Area 51’s of the MMO world. Zenimax owns Bethesda, id Software, and several other studios. The studio has since become the MMO branch of Bethesda, and according to past rumors has been working on an upcoming title since at least 2007. Rumors had it that the MMO was going to be the oft-rumored Fallout MMO that Interplay had started but never gave information on.

In court documents recently discovered during the Bethesda Interplay lawsuit, details have come forward related to this secret MMO that Zenimax has been working on. Bethesda has funneled tens of millions of dollars into this project, that has been under development since 2006 (So the rumors were not far off). A team of approximately one hundred people are working on the game, and according to VG247, should have been announced last year.

In the legal documents, Bethesda has described the title as a “World of Warcraft” style MMO, and may be set 200 years after Oblivion (as revealed by the Elder Scrolls novel, that accidentally leaked the next game in the series). It is not currently clear what Bethesda means by a WoW-like MMO, in the creative sense or the mechanic sense (It’s an MMO).

So what does VG247’s source say about this MMO? It is based on the Elder Scrolls series. Even better, the title was supposed to be announced late 2009, but the announcement was somehow missed, potentially relating to the lawsuit between Bethesda and Interplay. VG247 appears to be very confident in their source.

There does seem to be some legitimacy in the claims, as Bethesda has reportedly moved to have any revealing legal documents censored to the public domain, even though the old analogy fits of closing the fence door once the horses have escaped. It is possible but unlikely that Zenimax is working on a Fallout MMO in expectation that Interplay will lose the lawsuit, and for all intense and purpose, they do know a lot more than we do as to how well the court case is going.

More on Bethesda’s MMO as it becomes apparent, and more on Fallout (The MMO) as it appears as well.

Jagex Dips Into Microtransactions…


Play War of Legends, free forever my lord!

Perhaps I shouldn’t have made the connection between Jagex and Evony several months ago, because I don’t think I’ll be able to play Jagex’s latest title to go into open beta, War of Legends, without thinking of microtransactions, gold farming companies, and breasts. War of Legends plays out much like Evony, and similar titles. Players start a city, they become more powerful, and they branch out into other areas of the world. Eventually player vs player combat is allowed and players can ransack each other’s cities, and build new cities, and trade, and pay for everything out the tooth with microtransactions.

War of Legends also happens to be Jagex’s first take on microtransactions in the form of Jcredits (The J presumably standing for Jagex), a move the company displayed interest in several years ago, but noted that doing so in Runescape would not be beneficial to the game’s economy. War of Legends does, of course, set up the possibility for future titles (IE: Stellar Dawn) to incorporate some form of payment system similar to this, however no word from Jagex has arrived.

And before the inevitable comparisons start, yes War of Legends looks suspiciously like Evony, minus being developed by a gold farming company, and advertising with breasts. Micro-payments are nothing new, and Jagex is just one of the many companies to dive into it this year, including Blizzard who many thought would never “sink so low” (their words, not mine.)

On second thought...

Why Not MMOFallout? Nodiatis


"Fluid and strategic combat."

Those of you who follow MMO Fallout know I like to go off of the paved path every now and then and have a little fun. I noticed the following advertisement for Nodiatis, a free to play browser based MMO. Being the kind of person who clicks on every ad I see, I naturally signed up for the game and started playing. What I found was quite an enjoyable game, but I’m not here to advertise for the game.

Of course I am kidding. What I noticed, however, is that the company used the community’s own spots for its advertising. The SomethingAwful forums and one of their very own players. Naturally, my first thought went to “why not an MMO Fallout spot?” I think we can make this work and who knows? Maybe you’ll see that MMO Fallout name while browsing through Wikia pages. This calls for some short, spiffy one liners.

Nodiatis stands out among its peers. Featuring fluid and strategic combat. 26 unique and engaging classes. Cheaters beware, your days are numbered.

All jokes aside, this is an enjoyable game, with a community small enough that cheaters can be named and shamed individually when they are banned. The game is regularly updated, with fixes and new content, and the developers are engaged with the community, and even reward people who successfully report bugs.

I actually did some more research on the title and found that they have an option to make your character a full murderer, allowing you to attack and kill players and steal their item at any time, with a limit: If you die, there is no resurrection. Want to play that way? You’d better bring all of your cards to the table. Although it did give me a final spot, one I hope Glitchless LLC has the humor to choose if they do go along with my master plan:

“More cajones than any other MMO.”
-Omali, MMO Fallout

And you can quote me on that.

Hello Kitty Online: No, THIS Is How You Charity


Gustav says: I may be an undead ex-hero turned villain, but even I donate some of the money I steal to charity.

Hello Kitty Online has a proposition: How would you like to donate money to charity by playing video games, and by video games I mean Hello Kitty Online? If you answered yes, then do I have the deal for you!

In Hello Kitty Online, a special drive is going up next week in the form of a guild game, called Food for Friends 2. Players needs to go to HKO’s version of London, and speak to an NPC named Cinnamaroll, who is collecting consumable items for charity. Players have to be in a guild for this event, and the more they donate, the more points their guild generates. The points are converted to donations that will be paid for by the sponsors of the event, and the players who donate consumables will also be able to receive points for the item mall.

You can find the announcement here, and this donation drive is perfect for people who have a couple extra hours next week, but don’t necessarily have extra cash to donate. Is helping disaster relief worth playing Hello Kitty Online? Do I really have to ask that?

Hellgate London: It's Coming Back


People often ask me, Omali, why haven’t you done a “what happened” for Hellgate: London? The answer is simple: The game never died. Despite shutting down in Western areas, Hellgate London has continued to thrive in the Asian markets. Although the new publisher Hanbitsoft has given distinct interest in opening the game back up in Western markets, they have been impeded by Namco-Bandai, who still owned the rights to publish the software on this side of the hemisphere.

“We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of Hellgate through this agreement and are deeply gratified to allow HanbitSoft to take the lead on this franchise and bring this game to the people who seek it”
-Namco-Bandai

Sure it translates to “we had no plans to do anything with this franchise so we got some money off of it,” on Namco’s part, but who cares? Hellgate: London is coming back! Technically the first true resurrection in MMO history, in the same sense of having your arm reattached years after it was lopped off for financial reasons, plans are set to go in motion later this year to bring Hellgate back to the North American and European markets.

Looks like we will be seeing Hellgate: Tokyo and any other planned expansions after all. And that means, Hellgate: London? Back in the list of games you go! Hopefully Hanbitsoft will be willing to run the title somewhere other than directly into the ground (I’m looking at you, Flagship Studios)

Hellgate London: It’s Coming Back


People often ask me, Omali, why haven’t you done a “what happened” for Hellgate: London? The answer is simple: The game never died. Despite shutting down in Western areas, Hellgate London has continued to thrive in the Asian markets. Although the new publisher Hanbitsoft has given distinct interest in opening the game back up in Western markets, they have been impeded by Namco-Bandai, who still owned the rights to publish the software on this side of the hemisphere.

“We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of Hellgate through this agreement and are deeply gratified to allow HanbitSoft to take the lead on this franchise and bring this game to the people who seek it”
-Namco-Bandai

Sure it translates to “we had no plans to do anything with this franchise so we got some money off of it,” on Namco’s part, but who cares? Hellgate: London is coming back! Technically the first true resurrection in MMO history, in the same sense of having your arm reattached years after it was lopped off for financial reasons, plans are set to go in motion later this year to bring Hellgate back to the North American and European markets.

Looks like we will be seeing Hellgate: Tokyo and any other planned expansions after all. And that means, Hellgate: London? Back in the list of games you go! Hopefully Hanbitsoft will be willing to run the title somewhere other than directly into the ground (I’m looking at you, Flagship Studios)

Rules: Why Do They Need To Be Repeated?


Shouldn't need to be said.

While logging into Lord of the Rings Online several days ago, I noticed the above warning on the main page. Turbine is banning anyone who exploits a bug with the skirmish system, without warning (no slap on the wrist) or appeal. They can tell who is doing it, and are watching for those who attempt to slip by.

This, alongside other examples I will get to, continues to make me ask: Why do MMOers need to be constantly reminded not to break the rules? Are we that exploitative, selfish, greedy, or ignorant that we have to be reminded that exploiting the system, cheating in some fashion, or otherwise break the rules is, in fact, against the rules and is punishable? Or does this small minority just have the mindset that they are invincible, that they won’t get caught. To me, this is akin to a police officer who greets with “now you know stealing is against the law, we will arrest you if we catch you doing it,” to everyone walking down the street, because a couple unruly teens in the neighborhood decided to ransack and beat the tar out of one of the older gentleman’s house down the street.

More after the break.

Continue reading “Rules: Why Do They Need To Be Repeated?”