[Column] Is The Division The Good Guy?


I don’t think the Division are the good guys. If you’ve been hiding under a rock, The Division takes place following a biological terrorist attack on Black Friday in New York City, where terrorists use money infected with a virus to kill a lot of people. The Division is a government organization that only shows … Continue reading “[Column] Is The Division The Good Guy?”

Gaijin Embroiled In Extortion Scandal, Producer Fired


Gaijin Entertainment, developer of the WW2 MMO War Thunder, is under intense scrutiny this week after allegations that the company’s producer engaged in extortion tactics against a popular Russian Youtuber, attempting to force him into a legally binding contract carrying heavy fines for criticizing the company. The news of Gaijin’s extortion scheme hit several War … Continue reading “Gaijin Embroiled In Extortion Scandal, Producer Fired”

TERA Getting Region Locked On Steam Tomorrow


En Masse Entertainment has announced that, due to pressure from foreign publishers, a region restriction will be enforced on Steam downloads of TERA. The affected regions include “certain European countries and Russia.” While players from these regions will be able to use the game, the Steam store page and download will no longer be accessible, … Continue reading “TERA Getting Region Locked On Steam Tomorrow”

ArcheAge Releases Ongoing Server FAQ


With ArcheAge’s server merger coming later this year and Trion Worlds vague on details, players naturally have a lot of questions to ask. In order to keep players updated as the plans move along, Trion Worlds has set up an evolving FAQ on the ArcheAge forums answering questions as they pop up. As we saw … Continue reading “ArcheAge Releases Ongoing Server FAQ”

[Community] Let’s Call A Merger A Merger


Originally I intended this week’s Community column to be speculation about how Trion Worlds would handle ArcheAge’s upcoming server merge, given that the plans are still in the conceptual stage and any real action that will be taken is still months down the line. To fuel speculation, I looked at how server mergers were handled … Continue reading “[Community] Let’s Call A Merger A Merger”

Early Access: Szone – You Have Left The Zone


If gaming has suffered in any way from the MMO industry shift to free to play, it is through the saturation of what I’ve referred to as mass-market shovelware, MMOs that seem to exist for no other reason than to show up, exist for a while, and then hopefully leave with a little profit. These are … Continue reading “Early Access: Szone – You Have Left The Zone”

Perfect World Suffers More Layoffs


Perfect World Entertainment is undergoing another round of layoffs, this time from the European division. According to an insider source over at Massively OP, the layoffs included five or six of the Russian staff, as well two community managers and an assistant product manager. Earlier this year, Perfect World laid off 18 employees from Cryptic … Continue reading “Perfect World Suffers More Layoffs”

[Update] Skyforge Dev Threatens Game Bans Over Pay To Win Talk


Allods Team doesn’t like the term free-to-play, so much so that community manager Maeron has warned that discussion on the matter could result in your game access being revoked. In his response, Maeron points to a trend in players pasting the p2w label on pretty much everything that costs money, a label that he believes … Continue reading “[Update] Skyforge Dev Threatens Game Bans Over Pay To Win Talk”

Economic Trouble Leads To Steam Trade Restrictions


As the Ruble continues to plummet in value, tech giants are taking notice. In a notice released to the public by Steam Database, Valve has region locked all new purchases made by Steam accounts made by Russian players. While the games may be gifted or traded to players in the same region, they will not … Continue reading “Economic Trouble Leads To Steam Trade Restrictions”