Divergence Online is the next up and coming hardcore indie sandbox, and you can go ahead and stop reading there if you are as tired of that sentence as I am. Maybe it is the four years of writing MMO Fallout that has made me jaded, but when I hear about an indie hardcore sandbox … Continue reading “I Don’t Think Divergence Is A Serious Game”
Star Vault has released their second quarter finances for 2013. Following a rise in the first quarter, net sales dropped approximately 15% to $811,263 USD while net profit fell further into the red at $-937,168 USD. According to the quarterly report, the number of active subscriptions in Q2 2013 is in line with Q1 2013. … Continue reading “Star Vault Q2 Finances: Sales Down, Profits Down”
For some reason I will never understand, members of the free to play sandbox community have taken Everquest Next to be Sony Online Entertainment’s answer to games like Mortal Online and Darkfall: free for all deathmatching with full loot and hardcore gameplay. Apparently I wasn’t the only one wondering why Sony would make such a … Continue reading “Everquest Next Avoiding Bad Design Decisions”
Star Vault has released their Q1 2013 reports and things are looking up, somewhat. The Swedish developer notes a combination of increased subscriptions since last quarter as well as the introduction of the ability to donate money for development, as contributing to the company’s revenue growth in 2013. Star Vault’s net sales for Q1 2013 … Continue reading “Star Vault's Q1 2013 Shows Growth”
Star Vault has released their Q1 2013 reports and things are looking up, somewhat. The Swedish developer notes a combination of increased subscriptions since last quarter as well as the introduction of the ability to donate money for development, as contributing to the company’s revenue growth in 2013. Star Vault’s net sales for Q1 2013 … Continue reading “Star Vault’s Q1 2013 Shows Growth”
Star Vault has released their fourth quarter releases for 2012, and the news isn’t all bad. Net sales lowered to 463,307 Krona ($72 thousand, approximately) from 501,252 Krona ($78 thousand) in the third quarter. Net profits continued deeper into the red at -895,699 ($140 thousand, approximately) from 706,844 in the third quarter ($110 thousand). The … Continue reading “Star Vault Releases Q4 Income”
Profits and sales are down from last quarter in Star Vault’s latest reports. According to the latest financial documents, subscriber count decreased in the third quarter compared to the second, despite the release of Mortal Online’s expansion Awakening. Awakening aims to bring new players into Mortal Online by making the game more user-friendly. Next on … Continue reading “Star Vault Q3 2012”
It’s been a while since Star Vault released Mortal Online’s latest expansion, Awakening. While current development focus is aimed directly at squashing the numerous problematic bugs that have caused problems, John VanderZwet has posted an update on the Mortal Online website to detail some upcoming changes, including a donation system set up on the request … Continue reading “Star Vault Accepting Donations In Return For Perks”
A bounty system is to sandbox MMOs like peanut butter to fluff on a sandwich perhaps with a glass of cold milk on the side (soy or almond if you prefer). While the sandbox purists will say that developers should just allow players to run their own bounty system, because risk is just part of … Continue reading “Working Out A Bounty System”
Earlier this month, Star Vault released their Annual Income report for 2011. There wasn’t much in the document that we didn’t already know from last year, but at one point the company lays out what it refers to as Mortal Online’s “greatest risk.” Star Vault’s greatest risk is a lack of demand for its product. … Continue reading “Star Vault's Greatest Risk: Lack Of Demand”
MMO Fallout 