Tag: Alganon

Derek Smart Returns: Free To Play, Line of Defense, Lockboxes


It’s been a while since we last talked to Derek Smart. A year and a half, almost, if you’ve been keeping count. Last time we talked about Quest Online and Alganon, focusing on aspects of free to play and how Quest Online was promoting the game. With the approach of Line of Defense and a few changes over the past year in the free to play market, I thought it was about time to get back in touch. In the interview, we discuss Line of Defense including plans for the game’s monetization, the use of lockboxes in other titles, and some thoughts on the competition for Line of Defense. I always enjoy the opportunity to have a chat with Mr. Smart, he’s one of the few people I can trust to not hold back or filter his answers through a PR machine.

You may know Derek Smart from Alganon, Line of Defense, as well as the Battlecruiser line of space simulators.

Q. How will Line of Defense balance free to play with a premium model?

Players gain Combat Experience Points (CEP) by engaging in combat, capturing installations, bases etc. These are used to increase your rank as well as used to purchase Combat Training Certs (CET) which give you access to certain skills. However, the premium aspect involves buying the premium pack for a minimal fee. This not only gives you a choice of starter weapon and ammo, but also the ability to select a unique armor scheme as well as a choice of inventory item (e.g. wingchute, jetpack etc). It also gives you some starter GALCOM Credits (similar to Gold in standard MMO games) which you can use to purchase some stuff.

The premium pack is a one-time purchase. There is no monthly payment. And you can purchase it at any time you’d like. Since you can still play without purchasing the premium pack and still be able to obtain enough CEP and CTC to obtain these same items, it is up to the player to determine whether or not they want to put in the time needed to get them. It is a competitive twitch based game, but everyone has the chance to obtain the same items. Since there is no grind in the game, getting the stuff you want is just a short investment of time.

We want a lot of gamers playing the game and so if only a small number pays for stuff, that – we hope – will balance the costs of running the game without making it a grind and penalizing those who do not wish to buy anything. Also, you can still acquire most items for a period of time. For example if you are working your way up to a powerful sniper rifle but decide to put that effort on hold because of some assault that your team is planning, you can easily rent that sniper rifle for a day and go play with it. Of course it will cost more to rent than to just buy it outright. Apart from that, you will still need the required CTC to operate it.

Q. How do you feel about lockboxes? Cash shop items that carry random items.

We’re not doing any of that. The loot drop boxes – randomly generated around the game world – contain random items. You don’t have to buy these boxes. And just because a box contains an item, doesn’t mean that you can actually use it; since you may not have the required CTC. You could of course sell it if you wanted to. So in LOD, these boxes are more about scavenging than gambling – and it gives those who choose not to buy anything, the chance to come across a cool item just from playing the game. Plus, most of these boxes will be CEP locked as well. So unless you have a certain amount of CEP or even a CTC, you won’t be able unlock a box. So the longer you play, the more CEP you collect, the greater your chance of opening a box that you come across.

Well gambling and videogames are two different things entirely. The introduction of gambling into these MMO games should be completely outlawed, banned or regulated. Slot machines operate in the same way that some of these in-game lock boxes operate and that puts them squarely in gambling territory. So yeah, that’s just all kinds of wrong. Gambling is gambling; no matter how it is framed. There is no fine line, the line is pretty clear. If it is not a gambling game, there should be no elements of gambling in it – period.

Q. Is there a list of items considered “off-limits” to sell for real money?

Well gambling style lock boxes are definitely off-limits. Also, we don’t have any cash shop item which someone else can’t obtain by playing the game for free. If an item is in the cash shop, you can very well find it somewhere in the game – for free.

Q. Line of Defense is going head to head with Planetside 2 in the very small library of open world MMOs. How do you shake someone off of the fence?

For one thing, Planetside 2 is shaping up to be a complicated, grind-riddled game with an identity crisis. For sure it is a fine game, but some of the choices that they’ve made, has to make you wonder if they actually know who their target audience is. You can’t dumb down the game in order to cater to a casual crowd as that will just alienate the hardcore niche Planetside 1 fanbase. On the other hand, since Planetside 1 was such a hardcore niche game, it is not likely to succeed in today’s market if it exists as such. The middle ground is far more complicated and not cut and dry. If you take one look at the Planetside 2 forums, you will see exactly what I’m talking about.

Line Of Defense has absolutely no concept of grind at all. You’re not going to be playing for the next decade in order to obtain a CTC so you can do/have something cool.  Heck, I estimate that in less a month of game play, a dedicated player would have access to every single CTC, weapon, vehicle etc available in his class. And since CTC will degrade over time, the incentive to keep playing, keeps your skills honed and in top shape. If someone wants to play for a couple of hours a day, I want them to feel like they have achieved something without them having to invest a month to get there. Gamers have a choice; so why make them seek out those other choices by frustrating them in your game?

Why have someone grind a month to get a CTC when they can play for a day or so, get that CTC and continue playing the game once they’ve got that sense of achievement? Also, apart from the fact that we have far more interesting and eclectic environments (and space!), gameplay aspects and features, the game has a lot more to offer than Planetside 2. However, both games can co-exist just as Call Of Duty and Battlefield co-exist in the same genre/space without one trying to be a mirror of the other. So both games have their strengths and weaknesses, will attract a specific type of gamer etc. Plus since LOD is cheaper to make, has cheaper operating costs etc, my guess is that – as with all my games – we’ll be profitable right out of the gate; thereby ensuring the longevity that will spawn all new cool stuff in our planned DLC pipeline.

 Q. Games like Line of Defense live and die on a populated world. How will you keep the server healthy and populated?

Well, all my games have always been about massive worlds. Those expanses of “dead empty land” are a direct result of players not having anything interesting to do in the game or in those areas. We’re not likely to have that problem at all. Heck, even the game’s base capture mechanics are tailored specifically to the game world, not one part of the land. And with players having the ability to be airborne in a variety of aircraft  be able to get to any part of the entire game world (including space) either by air, land or sea, it is highly unlikely that we’ll see this problem.

Think about this. If games have to grind for a long time to get a CTC to fly an aircraft, use a jump gate, just a jetpack, use a vehicle etc – how are they going to get around and explore the game world either for fun or for strategic reasons? This single issue is what alleviates the “dead empty land” issue. Plus since LOD allows grouped (in a Fireteam aka clan aka guild) gamers to build their own outposts, my guess is that before long, there won’t be any open real estate left since all those areas are going to be contested and battle-ridden.

Thank you again to Derek Smart for taking the time to sit down with us once again.

Win A Physical Copy Of Alganon and Line of Defense Comics


Boy do I have a prize for all of you. Well, one of you. Last year Derek Smart partnered with DC Entertainment to create two comic books. The first, based on Alganon, was only distributed at Comic Con. The second, based in the upcoming MMO Line of Defense, was distributed only at E3 convention this month. The former was released in a digital form, the latter will not be released digitally to the best of my knowledge.

But you have an opportunity to get your hands on both. In that strange paper format, no less.

The rules are pretty simple. Rather than the old boring “make a comment and I’ll pick someone at random” giveaway that MMO Fallout normally does, I’m going to give you all a psychological examination. All you have to do is look at the photo below, and tell me what you see at contact[at]mmofallout.com. The best answer will win both comics.

Now due to the nature of the prize, I must limit the contest to North America only, and if you are picked you will need to provide a mailing address. Otherwise, go nuts! The contest will run for two weeks, until July 5th.

Alganon Expansion Delayed To Q4 2012


Alganon is a game that doesn’t get a whole lot of coverage here at MMO Fallout, namely because it suffers from the same affliction that most small studios undergo, which is spending too much time working on actual development to put out press releases. Last we heard, Alganon was set to release an expansion in “Winter 2011,” titled Rise of the Ourobani. The expansion brings in a new race, the Ourobani, a new continent, the new Warden class, and flying mounts. Unfortunately, player housing has been cut for the time being and will probably not be

In Quest Online’s April newsletter, the developer announced that the expansion has been delayed until Q4 2012.

Due to unforeseen circumstances and the massive amount of work that our small team had to do on the expansion, after evaluation of the project, it was decided that more time was needed in order to do some critical bug fixes as well as to spend more time on certain areas and features of the expansion in order to do the best work possible. For this reason, the expansion has been delayed to Q4 2012.

More on Alganon as it appears.

(Source: Quest Online Newsletter)

(Source: Derek Smart Twitter)

Alganon Comic Available


About a week ago I did a quick look at the Fall of the Ourobani comic from DC Comics and Quest Online. I pointed out that, although short and the dialogue leaves much to be desired, it does its job of setting up the plot for the upcoming expansion and introduction of who the Ourobani are and what they are doing in Alganon.

The comic has been released digitally (sooner than expected), and the whole thing can be viewed here: http://www.myalganon.com/comic.

Week In Review: Too Much Ravioli Edition


I hope Bioware can survive its community, and I mean this with the sincerest of honesty. I’ve had a full month of experience playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, and although I sent a good amount of feedback to Bioware via their surveys included with the demonstration copy, I want to issue one of my famous ultimatums: Your community is labeling the game the next WoW killer, and that needs to be stomped out faster than the people who expected this game to be Pre-CU Galaxies Part 2. Now, The Old Republic is going to be the biggest release of the year (assuming it isn’t pushed back until January), no doubt about that. Bioware has relatively high expectations for box purchases, and more importantly expectations for subscription retention following month numero uno.

And forget the discussion about the price of the collector’s edition, that is completely irrelevant. The only thing that can cause Bioware to collapse upon itself is when the game launches and all of those fun launch day issues come to light. Lag, server queues, game-breaking bugs, content that isn’t in at launch, etc. Content aside, The Old Republic will have lag, it will have game-breaking bugs that aren’t apparent until launch because they only come to light with said encumbering lag, and it will have server queues. That’s the rope you walk buying early into a game that everyone is buying into early.

1. Yea, I Get It, Expensive Statue…How About Two Free Months?

If I’m going to pay $150 for the collector’s edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic, with a twenty dollar “fee” just to preorder the thing, I think Bioware should bite the bullet and give an extra two months of free game time to Collector’s Edition buyers. A hundred and fifty dollars is an insane price for something that, much like Halo Reach’s massive monster edition, will likely be on the 50% clearance rack at my local Target a few months after launch. Given the high price of the collector’s edition, Bioware should include an extra month or two of subscription.

Think about it this way, someone who pays that much money is likely more susceptible to buyer’s remorse in that first month than someone who paid less. Given a couple extra months to play might be just what that person needs to embrace what the game has to offer, and in the long run that extra time could keep him involved and keep that subscription going when the time comes to renew.

Any good drug dealer knows you give just enough for free to get them hooked, then you open your wallet and let the cash fly in.

2. You People Set Your Expectations Too High When You See Me In-Game

Being the creative soul I am, I name almost all of my characters “Omali.” As a result, and as MMO Fallout has gained popularity over the last two years, I’ve had people recognize my username in various games as being the “Omali from that website” as one person put it. It’s interesting being recognized as the celebrity I am not, and not only because half the people want to know if I can get them free stuff from the developers.

People tend to assume I’m some industry insider and that I keep this website small because I have all these secrets, when the truth is I don’t. MMO Fallout is small because I’m still expanding upon it, and I have limited funds to do so. I’m not even a blip on the radar of most of these companies, that’s why the only guy stupid enough to think I carried the influence to “ruin his reputation” with my opinion articles, and warrant sending me a note through his lawyer was David Allen, the guy who managed to get fired and then publicly humiliated by his own company.

Overall, I know maybe a handful of industry people. At the moment I’m under three nondisclosure agreements. For what I cannot disclose.

3. The Alganon Comic Review Was Real

And to prove it, here is a small image from a page not found in the previews. Remember, the Alganon comic was distributed at Comic Con, so it is publicly available in a print fashion. I, on the other hand, was supplied a digital copy by Quest Online for the purposes of the article, which I noted in the article itself. What I should have noted in that article is that Quest Online didn’t approach me, I asked for it. I contacted Smart initially with a request to purchase the comic (at this point I was unaware of a digital version coming) for the purpose of writing an article, and was supplied with a digital copy. I have a copy of Crimecraft’s comic (that I purchased when it went on sale four months ago) which I will also be writing a review of.

4. Icarus and GamersFirst Sitting In A Tree

Those of you who play Fallen Earth are already aware that you will have to set up a GamersFirst account starting August 1st in order to have continued access to the game. This is the first phase of the system changes that will bring free to play to Fallen Earth, and players who transition early will have the opportunity to net some free G1 tokens for their prompt response.

What you may not be aware of is that Icarus Studios is working on an upcoming MMO based on the UNITY 3D engine called Hailan Rising, to release this fall. The game is billed as a fantasy title focused on PvP, with players choosing from eight classes to battle it out over territory and resources. The game will be stat-based, which for some reason is still billed as non-conventional and “grind-less.”

5. Stat-based Games Are NOT Grind Free!

Going straight from number four to number five, I want to shout this from my rooftop every time I hear it said in a press release: Having stats over traditional levels does not remove the grind, because in most cases rather than grinding a single experience bar for levels, you find yourself grinding many experience bars for levels. Rather than attacking trolls, for example, and obtaining 100 experience each time, I might fight a troll and simultaneously gain endurance while swinging a heavy sword, sword experience for doing damage, stamina for taking damage, and heavy armor experience for fighting in heavy armor. Same grind, but rather than leveling up and seeing +25 health, +3 strength, +5 stamina, +1 intelligence, I gain those levels over a period of time.

With so many more skills, obtaining end-game can take even longer than a traditional level game. Runescape, for instance, takes longer to attain 99 in one skill than many traditional games take to hit end-game overall, and each skill in itself is a heavy grind.

Quick Look: Alganon, Fall of the Ourobani Comic

I review Alganon’s comic book: Fall of the Ourobani.


Alganon lore is a topic I am not fully versed in. The game spans two factions divided by race (Humans and Talrok), in an endless battle over territory, power, and resources. Through past updates, Quest Online has expanded the lore through the library and via in-game updates. This winter sees the release of the next Alganon expansion, introducing the Ourobani race. To prepare for the expansion, Quest Online is releasing a comic book titled Fall of the Ourobani, the plot leading into the events that occur when the expansion launches later this year.

The first issue sets the stage for the expansion, introducing some key players to the Ourobani race. Bana’Serit, the future queen of the Ourobani, Tasa’harr, a member of the Ourobi Order, seeking a powerful weapon called the Worldhammer hidden in an ancient temple. The god of the Ourobani, the appropriately named Ouroban, is said to be so powerful (by his followers) that the Asharr and Kujix temporarily set their differences aside to destroy the faction.

Graphically, Fall of the Ourobani fits in with the art style of Alganon itself, and the desperate action of the Ourobani to get through the portal and escape the impending Asharr and Kujix armies almost gives the player a sense of sympathy toward the race. Every character is uniquely detailed, with pulsing muscles and flowing robes, each easily distinguishable from those around them. For instance, Tasa’harr is instantly recognizable as a Magus, even before the narration describes him as such. The dialogue, however, is one of the weakest links of the chain, with a lot of exposition, presumably to compensate for the fact that the story, from start to finish, is only 18 pages.

Overall the comic reveals a good chunk of lore, giving a proper introduction to the barbarian-styled race of the Ourobani as well as setting the stage for why the race is suddenly making its way back into Alganon, what they want, and why players should feel compelled to slaughter them by the thousands. It’s worth a read, even if you’re just slightly interested in the lore surrounding Alganon.

The digital comic will be available in about three weeks, although sadly the print copy will only be available at the two Comic Cons. Fall of the Ourobani was created by DC Comics and hopefully will not be the only issue in the series. If anything, the comic is excellent hype material for the upcoming expansion, and advertisement for Quest Online’s upcoming MMO Line of Defense.

This quick look was completed using the full release copy of Fall of the Ourobani, supplied to MMO Fallout by Quest Online. The images used are from the preview pages available at Alganon’s website.

Alganon Comic Book Coming This Year


I know what you’re thinking, and put your calendars away because we’re talking serious brass tacks here. Not too long ago, Derek Smart announced that Alganon would be receiving a comic book, with the first issue taking place before the upcoming expansion, revealing more about the third race coming to Alganon: The Ourobani. In a press release today, Quest Online revealed that the comic will make its premiere at San Diego Comic-Con at the DC Comics booth.

“Alganon – Fall of the Ourobani”, tells the story of Bana’serit, a young leader of the Ourobani. Under assault from rival factions, Bana’serit seeks out a mythical weapon in a desperate attempt to secure the safety of her people. This limited edition comic reveals the series of events that lead into the upcoming Alganon expansion pack, Rise of the Ourobani.

The comic will only be available at San Diego Comic Con and at New York Comic Con, and will be available in a few weeks as a digital comic via PC, iPad, and iPhone on Comixology and the DC comics store.

Until then, you can read the preview pages here.

Alganon: Free Server Transfers to Europe


Every time I write an article about Alganon, I inevitably get the same question: Omali, why do you bother reporting on this game? My answer is a rather simple one: I believe that Alganon does not receive the attention it should be getting. I’ve never broken the cardinal rule of MMO Fallout (never report just to announce new content) regarding Alganon, so nothing shady is going on according to my book.

In our last installment of Alganon, I talked about the opening of a European server. That server, named Aeon, opened today. The server is located in Amsterdam, and should offer a better experience for European players who otherwise experienced unbearable lag on the United States server.

Today we launched the Aeon Alganon server, located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. We’re pleased to offer this new server, centrally located in Western Europe for the convenience of our players in the EU. This server can be accessed through the Europe tab on the world list, and players on any continent can choose to play on either the Aeon server (EU) or Matma’el (US).

For the next week until July 19th, players will be allowed to transfer their characters to the Aeon server for free. After the time is up, the server transfers are going back up to 1363 tribute (between $8-9 USD). I’ve marked the dates on the MMO Fallout calendar.

Week In Review: Let's Talk Disappointment Edition


I received an interesting email the other day from a reader, or at least I think he was a reader. This email was by a guy who presumably plays Mortal Online. I won’t post the email here, but he essentially tears into me for having a constantly negative bias against the game by posting pieces like Star Vault’s financial documents that show the game is not making a profit (one of the examples he actually used). You can see how I misinterpreted such a statement from this:

With our current cost structure, the Board expects that an additional approximately 1000 players to achieve break-even, a goal that we hope to achieve during the second quarter of 2011.

My apologies for having a far worse grasp of the English language than I originally anticipated, because for the love of me I can’t see where the mistake is. Anyway, the guy followed up with the usual hate mail I get with this comment: “If Star Vault wanted your opinion, they’d ask for it.” Naturally the implication is that I should stop writing about the company until they hire me as the new PR guy when Black Opal goes the way of his predecessor. I write MMO Fallout indeed for both players and companies alike, although I’ve never done much explanation for the latter. My work for companies is to provide stories, experiences that can be understood and integrated into the company’s own plan. I don’t teach what feature would go best with your open world sandbox game, but rather ideas like how to respond to false positives, or why developers should focus on retention rate over just funding with initial sales. I always try to stray as far as possible from becoming that guy that always criticizes but never has any ideas of his own.

1. Jake Song Says ArchAge Will Surpass Aion

I think it’s time to break out the old NCsoft chart, and not because I spent a lot of time making it and want to milk this cow dry:

Jake Song is the designer of ArcheAge, the upcoming MMO based on the CryEngine. You may also know him from his work at NCsoft with Lineage, a company that he is now targeting in interviews. Jake Song is making the claim that ArcheAge, when it enters formal operation expected sometime in 2012, will surpass Aion (NCsoft’s best card in the game). The question is, can he? The answer? Probably not.

This isn’t a question of Jake Song’s talent, the guy is partially responsible for NCsoft’s most popular franchise combined. There is, however, precedent in the field of gaming where an industry veteran forms his own studio to release a game in competition with his old company, and is thoroughly tarred and feathered when the game launches to poor reception. Don’t believe me? Ask Richard Garriot.

2. The Other Journalists Finally Got Wind of the Turbine MMO.

Many months ago, I posted about the upcoming Turbine console MMO thanks to a tip I received pointing me to the games section of the Twisted Pixel website, posting about a console game being made for Turbine. Since then, the announcement has been removed but the lights have finally turned on last month for a few other websites.

There is still very little known about this MMO, and by very little I mean practically nothing.

3. Stephen Calender Bears His Soul

NetDevil is dead, and its death was not a peaceful one. In his blog, Stephen Calender (ex-NetDevil staffer) talks about the acquisition of Lego Universe by Lego Team, about the poor relationship between NetDevil and their parent company Gazillion, and the poor relationship between Gazillion and Lego. He also takes a small jab at the media (myself included) for taking Gazillion’s PR speak and turning a bad situation into something good.

How likely would you be to purchase or continue funding a subscription when you find out production of new features and content has been reduced? Whether or not you can trust people’s online comments, I saw message boards with statements just like that.

Stephen also talks about interviewers:

I spent two years of my life working on it, at least do me the courtesy of watching some YouTube videos of the game. It makes you wonder if they just are not gamers, or if there is so much deceit and deception anymore that people stop trusting resumes.

Read the whole article, it goes in depth about getting hired in the games industry.

4. APB: Reloaded Hates Your 32-Bit Operating System

An important factor to remember with APB: Reloaded is that, at its heart, it is a re-release of All Points Bulletin, the game that loved memory and loved 64-bit operating systems. Although GamersFirst has been doing some extensive work in rewriting the game to work decently on 32-bit operating systems, you still won’t have the same success as 64-bit. This is mostly because 32-bit operating systems (without some coding) can only map 2 gigabytes of ram.

So if you have a 32-bit operating system and want to play APB: Reloaded, consider downloading the game before you sink a hundred bucks into your G1 account only to find out the game doesn’t run well on your system.

5. Alganon: Free For All PvP Weekend

Alganon’s free for all PvP weekends are rather inventive. Given the game is already free to play, Quest Online managed to pull that even further by introducing these FFA-PvP weekends, allowing players to experience the siege system with no cost for buildings and without the offline study requirements to use the contraptions. In addition, battle durability (pvp armor) tribute costs are removed for the weekend.

If you haven’t tried Alganon or left, the community has become bigger. Not huge, but bigger.

Week In Review: Let’s Talk Disappointment Edition


I received an interesting email the other day from a reader, or at least I think he was a reader. This email was by a guy who presumably plays Mortal Online. I won’t post the email here, but he essentially tears into me for having a constantly negative bias against the game by posting pieces like Star Vault’s financial documents that show the game is not making a profit (one of the examples he actually used). You can see how I misinterpreted such a statement from this:

With our current cost structure, the Board expects that an additional approximately 1000 players to achieve break-even, a goal that we hope to achieve during the second quarter of 2011.

My apologies for having a far worse grasp of the English language than I originally anticipated, because for the love of me I can’t see where the mistake is. Anyway, the guy followed up with the usual hate mail I get with this comment: “If Star Vault wanted your opinion, they’d ask for it.” Naturally the implication is that I should stop writing about the company until they hire me as the new PR guy when Black Opal goes the way of his predecessor. I write MMO Fallout indeed for both players and companies alike, although I’ve never done much explanation for the latter. My work for companies is to provide stories, experiences that can be understood and integrated into the company’s own plan. I don’t teach what feature would go best with your open world sandbox game, but rather ideas like how to respond to false positives, or why developers should focus on retention rate over just funding with initial sales. I always try to stray as far as possible from becoming that guy that always criticizes but never has any ideas of his own.

1. Jake Song Says ArchAge Will Surpass Aion

I think it’s time to break out the old NCsoft chart, and not because I spent a lot of time making it and want to milk this cow dry:

Jake Song is the designer of ArcheAge, the upcoming MMO based on the CryEngine. You may also know him from his work at NCsoft with Lineage, a company that he is now targeting in interviews. Jake Song is making the claim that ArcheAge, when it enters formal operation expected sometime in 2012, will surpass Aion (NCsoft’s best card in the game). The question is, can he? The answer? Probably not.

This isn’t a question of Jake Song’s talent, the guy is partially responsible for NCsoft’s most popular franchise combined. There is, however, precedent in the field of gaming where an industry veteran forms his own studio to release a game in competition with his old company, and is thoroughly tarred and feathered when the game launches to poor reception. Don’t believe me? Ask Richard Garriot.

2. The Other Journalists Finally Got Wind of the Turbine MMO.

Many months ago, I posted about the upcoming Turbine console MMO thanks to a tip I received pointing me to the games section of the Twisted Pixel website, posting about a console game being made for Turbine. Since then, the announcement has been removed but the lights have finally turned on last month for a few other websites.

There is still very little known about this MMO, and by very little I mean practically nothing.

3. Stephen Calender Bears His Soul

NetDevil is dead, and its death was not a peaceful one. In his blog, Stephen Calender (ex-NetDevil staffer) talks about the acquisition of Lego Universe by Lego Team, about the poor relationship between NetDevil and their parent company Gazillion, and the poor relationship between Gazillion and Lego. He also takes a small jab at the media (myself included) for taking Gazillion’s PR speak and turning a bad situation into something good.

How likely would you be to purchase or continue funding a subscription when you find out production of new features and content has been reduced? Whether or not you can trust people’s online comments, I saw message boards with statements just like that.

Stephen also talks about interviewers:

I spent two years of my life working on it, at least do me the courtesy of watching some YouTube videos of the game. It makes you wonder if they just are not gamers, or if there is so much deceit and deception anymore that people stop trusting resumes.

Read the whole article, it goes in depth about getting hired in the games industry.

4. APB: Reloaded Hates Your 32-Bit Operating System

An important factor to remember with APB: Reloaded is that, at its heart, it is a re-release of All Points Bulletin, the game that loved memory and loved 64-bit operating systems. Although GamersFirst has been doing some extensive work in rewriting the game to work decently on 32-bit operating systems, you still won’t have the same success as 64-bit. This is mostly because 32-bit operating systems (without some coding) can only map 2 gigabytes of ram.

So if you have a 32-bit operating system and want to play APB: Reloaded, consider downloading the game before you sink a hundred bucks into your G1 account only to find out the game doesn’t run well on your system.

5. Alganon: Free For All PvP Weekend

Alganon’s free for all PvP weekends are rather inventive. Given the game is already free to play, Quest Online managed to pull that even further by introducing these FFA-PvP weekends, allowing players to experience the siege system with no cost for buildings and without the offline study requirements to use the contraptions. In addition, battle durability (pvp armor) tribute costs are removed for the weekend.

If you haven’t tried Alganon or left, the community has become bigger. Not huge, but bigger.