Ragnarok: Laid Off? Take Three on Us


In this troubled economy, we’ve all been facing some hard times. With unemployment in the United States over 10%, it is likely one in ten people coming to MMO Fallout have been laid off, or will be laid off. With the bills piling up and the income dropping to nothing, monthly video game subscriptions are likely to be the first things to fall.

Ragnarok Online recently launched Gravity Cares, that gives aid to those who have been recently unemployed. If you were a subscriber as of June 1st, and you were recently laid off after June 1st, you can submit a form to get three free months of membership to Ragnarok. You’ll have to send the form by snail mail, but the whole process shouldn’t take more than a couple weeks.

It’s not often a company comes along and does something generous like this. We’ve seen a few MMOs give discounts to military members, but this is the first jobless aid I’ve seen to date.

Happy Holidays!


It’s been an interesting few months here at MMO Fallout, but for everyone tuning in today, have a happy holiday.

No matter what your holiday may be.

If you’ll be spending it with your family,

Your Guild,

or that guy who won’t stop contacting you through Google Talk.

I’m taking a day off. See you on the 26th!

Shadowbane: What Happened


Out of all the titles that appear on What Happened, Shadowbane is the longest running. At six years, I would agree that although the game shut down, it was definitely a success in all manner of speaking. One of the top selling PC games at launch back in 2003, Shadowbane is still considered one of the best open pvp MMOs on the market. Offering fully open player vs player combat in a dynamic world where players can morph terrain, hire AI guards and have them patrol, as well as building and destroying buildings.

Shadowbane was not without bad times, however, and unfortunately when the bad times hit, they were very bad. The game transitioned to a free to play in 2006, where ads would be shown at different points in the game (open, close, and upon death). The game still suffered from a number of bugs and glitches, and in 2008 would be completely rebooted.

In 2008, Shadowbane went offline to perform a complete reboot in order to stabilize the servers and increase performance. As a result, all characters were deleted and all houses were destroyed. Only three of the five servers were brought back online.

Shadowbane was, from the start, a cult hit that never truly got off the ground, despite the rabid following of its fans. On one side, Shadowbane may be the only example of an internet petition actually accomplishing something. The original shut down date of May 2009 was extended to July due to player feedback.

Overall, Shadowbane was an interesting period in several ways: For instance, it showed how successful a game with Ultima Online’s mechanics can be, one that is parroted by Darkfall and Mortal Online. It gave ultimate freedom to the players, and did away with instancing, pre-set plots for housing, and other standards of MMOs.

There is the possibility that Shadowbane will be making a comeback, in the form of a non-MMO title. Ubisoft has recently trademarked the title for non-MMO purposes.

Direct2Drive and Impulse: Good Stuff Cheaper


And you thought Steam was the only digital download service that had Christmas specials. Once again, these prices are in USD.

Direct 2 Drive

Impulse

Continue reading “Direct2Drive and Impulse: Good Stuff Cheaper”

The Matrix Online: What Happened


I’ve been sitting on the “What Happened” articles for Shadowbane and The Matrix Online for some time now, although I can’t explain why I’ve been waiting to put them out. With the upcoming shutdown of Dungeon Runners and Metaplace, I might as well get caught up on my shutdowns.

The Matrix Online launched back in March 2005, and truly had a lot going for it. An ever changing world, MxO had one of the best story systems in the MMO industry: One that changed by the week. Story progression took the part of new missions every few weeks, while live events were the main staple of immersion; with developers taking the part of the game’s NPCs and acting out live events, including the assassination of Morpheus. Players were brought into the storyline through hints of the following events that would appear over the city, such as certain billboards, or suspicious agents appearing.

Continue reading “The Matrix Online: What Happened”

Vanguard: Merry Christmas! We're Not Doing Well…


Vanguard is a tale of high expectations and the giant corporate belly. In fact, it only took four months after Vanguard’s release for Sony to gobble up the developers, Sigil. When Vanguard released in 2007, it was awarded the “Biggest Disappointment of the Year” award by Gamespy, noting the title’s lack of content, buggy performance, and the fact that the title was shoved out the door before completion.

It’s been a rocky two years for the title that was once touted as the Everquest 2 Killer. On the plus side, if anything just to get the good news out first, there will be more frequent (yet smaller) updates this year. Vanguard is looking at 2010 as a year to fix bugs, crush bugs, and fumigate the house. The developers are also looking at focusing on the story elements of the game, starting and ending chunks of storyline.

But the bad news, and there always is some, is that some planned updates have been shelved indefinitely:

Continue reading “Vanguard: Merry Christmas! We're Not Doing Well…”

Vanguard: Merry Christmas! We’re Not Doing Well…


Vanguard is a tale of high expectations and the giant corporate belly. In fact, it only took four months after Vanguard’s release for Sony to gobble up the developers, Sigil. When Vanguard released in 2007, it was awarded the “Biggest Disappointment of the Year” award by Gamespy, noting the title’s lack of content, buggy performance, and the fact that the title was shoved out the door before completion.

It’s been a rocky two years for the title that was once touted as the Everquest 2 Killer. On the plus side, if anything just to get the good news out first, there will be more frequent (yet smaller) updates this year. Vanguard is looking at 2010 as a year to fix bugs, crush bugs, and fumigate the house. The developers are also looking at focusing on the story elements of the game, starting and ending chunks of storyline.

But the bad news, and there always is some, is that some planned updates have been shelved indefinitely:

Continue reading “Vanguard: Merry Christmas! We’re Not Doing Well…”

Stargate Worlds Not Delayed: Was Never Finishable…


Gateworld, a Stargate fansite, recently published an interview with Shane Hensley from Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, about Stargate Resistance, CME’s upcoming shooter based on the Stargate universe. In it, Shane confirms essentially what we have all known now for about a month: That CME has moved most of their resources to Stargate Resistance, and Stargate Worlds has been shelved for the time being. He also confirmed something we’ve all known, but haven’t managed to get official word on:

We did not have the financial or human resources to successfully complete Stargate Worlds, so it was indeterminable when it would be completed.
-Shane Hensley, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, on Stargate Worlds

So Stargate Worlds hasn’t been delayed, because Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment never had the resources to complete it. Although Stargate Resistance has been confirmed to be a release to gain funds for CME, the following quote is a little harder on the nerves:

Continue reading “Stargate Worlds Not Delayed: Was Never Finishable…”

Metaplace to Shutdown: January 2010


Metaplace is the 2d, isometric little version of Second Life. It is a world built on lua functionality, allowing players to add actions to any object in the world (pets, animals, stuff, etc) to bring life to their creations, set up their own games within the game, and build their own world. Metaplace was made by Metaplace Inc. You can display RSS feeds in your house, have your own in-game advertising, and create your own effects.

Metaplace is also the second title that will be shutting down on the first day of the new year. On January 2010, Metaplace will join Dungeon Runners in the first titles of 2010 to be shut down. Much of the Metaplace crew has been laid off, although the company claims it will still be in business postmortem.

2009 was the year of the collapsed economy, one that hasn’t just ripped apart small companies, but the previously untouchable behemoths. Although, as already mentioned Metaplace Inc will stay up to work on a new project, Metaplace has become unsustainable from a financial stand.

More on the 2010 MMO Shutdown as it appears.