Anarchy Online is one of the oldest MMOs on the market, and for the fact that it never appeared much (read: at all) here on MMO Fallout, the game has brought a number of innovations to the MMO genre, foremost instancing, dynamic questing, and in-game advertising. Funcom also touched upon what we now think of as endless trials, when they made the original game completely free (plus in-game ads) that brought in major money for Funcom.
Last week, Funcom announced that the “new” cash shop would be coming to Anarchy Online. This week, in a forum post, they commented further on the upcoming update. In addition to hundreds of social items, Funcom is looking at adding some non-vanity items in the form of xp stims (boost experience gain for a limited time), time-limited access to expansion content, level packs (boost to level 50, 99, 150, 199 instantly) only available to players who have a level 220 character, and more.
We’ll see how this goes for Anarchy Online. According to the forum post, Funcom plans on rolling out a Funcom Points currency across their games, meaning a similar cash shop may appear in Age of Conan and upcoming The Secret World.
Last month Mythic Entertainment’s own Carrie Gouskos made it quite clear that Warhammer Online is not going free to play…for now. In the interview with Ten Ton Hammer, she talked about the danger of monetizing power in a title that focuses so heavily on player vs player. There was that part at the end of the interview, now what was it…
We do have some vanity stuff that we’ve looked at and said if players want to buy it, that might be something we’ll make available. But power is really, really scary. And that’s the only thing that would be worth anything.
That’s it! Vanity items. When in doubt, don’t give it stats. Mythic announced today via the Herald that a few new items have hit the EA Store. They are as follows:
Server Transfer – $19.99 USD, this will grant you a code that can be redeemed for one server transfer for a single character.
Starter Mount Pack – $8.99 USD, all characters on an account will receive a deed to obtain a mount usable at level 2 giving players a 25% speed boost and have a 100% chance to dismount upon damage.
Trusty Mount Pack – $9.99 USD, all characters on an account will receive a deed to obtain your choice of a new mount usable at level 20 giving players mounts of up to 60% speed boost and have a 55% chance to dismount upon damage
Trinkets of the World Pack – $4.99 USD, all characters on an account will receive two tokens to spend at the new Trophy Vendor in the capital cities. Each token can be used to purchase one of 14 different trophies.
Specialized Training Pack – $9.99 USD, all characters on an account will recieve one War Tract that will allow them to immediately advance one full level when used
Herald Pet Pack – $9.99 USD, all characters on an account will be granted adoption papers to the Snotling Herald vanity pet. This pet will follow you around and give you a boost!
Initially I was posting that the Training Pack would allow someone with enough cash to fully level all of their characters, but the Herald was later updated to note that the items are one time deals (you can’t buy two training packs and get two levels).
If Mythic is considering moving toward a free to play model, this is certainly the way to do it. Remove the subscription and sell vanity items/mounts. A well-trained eye will note that Champions Online was setting itself up for just a similar model through the carefully named Adventure Packs that Cryptic released, and the RvR packs that Mythic are currently releasing may be gearing up for a similar switch, where the company doesn’t go full Turbine, but rather a halfway approach where classes/races/features are locked off and for sale either on a VIP basis or through individual cash shop purchases.
Gustav Rancero says: I haven't appeared in a while.
When Bill Roper left Cryptic Studios, I couldn’t help but feel that great change was to come to the world of Cryptic’s two MMOs: Champions Online and Star Trek Online. It isn’t that Roper is necessarily a bad person, just that he loved cash shops with the kind of passion that can only be found between a man and Scarlett Johansson. Since then we’ve received news that Cryptic is leaving the MMO scene on future titles, putting less of a focus on the cash shop in Star Trek Online, with more to come.
After a year of mandatory subscription, Cryptic announced that they are moving towards the free to play model, ala Turbine, the cash shop will start offering healing aids, buffs, reward multipliers, and more. The subscription will still be there, but players will have a free to play option with limitations.
Silver Members:
Have access to all zones.
Do not have access to custom archetypes.
Have 2 character slots (Gold = 8).
Have 1 inventory bag slot (Gold = 4).
Cannot utilize power tinting.
Can place 5 items at any time on the auction house (Gold = 10).
Cannot access veteran rewards.
Chat restricted for first 20 hours.
Forums restricted to posting in certain boards (can read all boards).
Self-help knowledge base (Gold access free live support)
Do not have priority login (Gold gain priority)
Purchasable for Silver:
Gold archetypes.
Adventure packs.
Gold costume parts (have access to 3,000+ parts initially).
Gold costumes.
Gold travel powers
Hopefully Cryptic Studios will enjoy the same success with this transition that Turbine and Sony have enjoyed with their respective free to play transitions. The model Cryptic presented sounds a lot less over-encroaching with the cash shop, and maybe MMO Fallout’s favorite Cryptic representative will stop by and give us a one on one? I’m already in the bathroom performing the ritual, just stand in front of the mirror and say: CapnLogan CapnLogan CapnLogan!
Of course, this transition brings up the age old question: Is Champions Online going free to play DDO-Style or LOTRO-style, meaning is it changing systems because a forced-subscription model is no longer viable and this is Cryptic’s Final Fantasy (Dungeons and Dragons Online) or because the previous model was fine but Cryptic sees this model doing even better (Lord of the Rings Online)? The answer, of course, can only be found in speculation, and hopefully my sentiments about Star Trek Online turn out to be true.
“I have my concerns about Champions Online passing the MMO Turing Test, but I have a lot more faith in Star Trek Online’s long term viability.”
More on Champions Online as it appears. There is currently no set date for the free to play transition, however the beta will begin
When it comes to cash shops in MMOs, player opinion is split. There are players who don’t mind cash shops as long as the items are obtainable in-game (or at least the equivalent), while others will only tolerate vanity items being sold. There are players who are opposed to a cash shop in any form, players who will only tolerate a cash shop in games without a subscription, and of course those that are complacent with cash shops as a whole. The players who do not like cash shops in any form might not be sticking with Eve Online.
In an interview with Eurogamer, CCP’s Tori Frans Olafsson was asked if a cash shop was in the books. Tori responded that:
“Yeah, we are looking at introducing virtual goods within the game, but we feel those things should be vanity items rather than those that give you a clear benefit over other players in-game.”
Vanity items? I hope I can get chrome thrusters for my shipping freighter, although heading into 0.0 sector space is likely to get me shot on sight, regardless of what I’m carrying on me. Of course, this might lead to a surge of death squads, as some other MMOs have seen, where players actively hunt down and grief players who visibly purchased cash shop items.
On the topic of a sequel, Tori had the following to say:
I don’t see any purpose in rebooting EVE or doing EVE 2. We have a magnificent community, we have a devoted player-base, we have a vibrant economy, we have the ability to update graphics and game systems and software and hardware – and have been doing so progressively since launch.
The longer CCP supports Eve Online, the better. You can read the rest of the interview in the above link.
More on Eve Online as it appears. Eve Online currently plays host to over 330,000 subscribers, alongside a slew of trial accounts.
A big thank you to Valerie, who tipped me off on this before the official announcement.
I know what you’re saying, “Omali! You lying sack of crap! Dave Georgeson just said last month that Everquest 2 was not going free to play!” You would be correct, partially. Today’s news brings the announcement that Sony Online Entertainment will be launching “Everquest II Extended” or EQ2X for short. The 14 day trial is, of course, being thrown out the window, however the 14-day recruit-a-friend will still be in effect.
There are, of course, restrictions, but you knew that was coming. Players will find themselves barred from accessing the latest expansion pack, as well as having various classes, races, a smaller coin purse, etc, not to mention the more in-your-face cash shop. Of course, you can always subscribe to the “gold member” service which, oddly enough, is $15 a month. If you’d rather not take the leap and go full-fledged subscription, you can always use the Turbine-style cash shop to buy the locked races, classes, and areas separately.
Levels of membership will be free (self explanatory), silver (from a one time purchase), gold ($15/month), and platinum ($200/year), and each level will grant varying bonuses.
Now for the bad side: If you want customer service as a free player, you’re out of luck as such a service is reserved for those who have made purchases. Free players will also not be able to send (although they can receive) mail, not to mention free and silver members will be locked out of the broker system. If you have items in the broker and downgrade, the broker will not release the coins/items. I should also point out that although members will be able to bleed their characters to Extended servers, the same will not be possible the other way around.
And now for those who hate cash shops: The cash shop being implemented on to the extended servers will sell, as the FAQ put it:
“Healing potions, powerful weapons and armor, attack wands, buff runes, self-rez items, basic mounts, and a lot more. None of these items are required for a great gaming experience.”
P.S: Those of you playing with the subscription (gold member) will find only four races available to you. The rest must be purchased on the cash shop, according to the FAQ and tier-list. Gold members will also have access to only seven character slots.
I have a feeling the opponents of cash shops are going to have a field day with this, especially with the announcement that subscribers will receive perks in the form of bonus weapons/armor/mounts/etc, and the fact that subscribers will still have to pay for addition races. The highest tiers of weapons/armor will not be available on the cash shop, SOE has promised. Also, according to the FAQ, free/platinum members will also be inundated with “frequent reminders to upgrade.”
Hopefully (and I do mean a big “hopefully”) Sony will implement this in a way more similar to Turbine’s free to play approach with Dungeons and Dragons Online, rather than say bringing people in with the promise of a free breakfast, and then locking the doors and refusing to let them leave (or have breakfast) until they buy into your time share.
Isn’t double-talk neat? It’s not a change in service, it’s a completely new service!
So where do we end this? Technically speaking, Everquest II will be competing against itself as the 100% separated Live and Extended servers fight for new players. John Smedley has stated that the reason behind making this a completely new service was due to player feedback against having the two services combined. So, as we saw in Trammel on Ultima Online, we’ll see just how many current Everquest II players hold out on the live servers, and how many merge in with the Extended service. As a free/silver member, upgrading to gold on the Extended servers holds much more incentive than switching over to the Live servers, as your characters will be stuck on Extended.
Either way, I wish luck to Sony Online Entertainment and Everquest II. Hopefully Sony can enjoy the same success Turbine does with DDO and (perhaps) Lord of the Rings Online when the latter goes free to play this year. MMO Fallout will continue to bring you news on Everquest 2 Extended as it appears, and if you follow the full announcement, Sony staff are sticking their head into the forums every now and then to answer questions.
You heard it poorly translated here first, MMO Fallouters! It’s good to see that the word has finally reached Astrum Nival, even with all the Western Allod’ers whose “Russian friends” claim that the Russian version is now “a barren wasteland” and are not trolling at all I swear. There are a number of people angry over the replacement for fear of death: armor curses that can only be removed by cash shop items, but that is another story for another day.
You heard it here first…well, second. It almost feels like back in April that I last talked about Astrum Nival, Gala-Net, and Allods Online, and quite frankly I am disappointed at my seeming lack of ability to play on this cesspool of bad public relations. In fact, I would go as far as saying only Cryptic Studios can rile up their base in a fit of rage to match what follows an announcement from Gala-Net.
To those of you who have slipped out of the loop, Allods Online is a recently released free to play Russian MMO that has garnered quite a bit of controversy this year, all of it surrounding the title’s cash shop. The game itself is of top quality, especially compared to the over-saturated free to play cash shop market, but ever since the cash shop opened in February developer Astrum Nival seems to be digging themselves deeper and deeper into a growing pit of flames.
In February, the controversy began with the price of items in the cash shop, with a focus on the fact that there was a 1,000% increase across the board for cash shop items compared to the Russian version, that I specifically held back on writing about until I could confirm that the prices were indeed intentional. Not only were the prices intentional, but were followed by a patch that made Perfumes much more useful. Perfume is a cash shop item that is used to remove Fear of Death, a debuff that stacks and adds 25% drop in stats per stack, up to four times, and at end-game can take hours of waiting or a nice sum of gold. With the patch, not only did leveling become slower, but monsters became tougher and resurrection by another player now incurred Fear of Death. As I put it:
I’d like to take a closer look at number 2, because this is something a lot of Allods Online’ers have pointed out to me: What this means is that Heroic Instances, which cannot be exited, now have a requirement for perfume. As perfume lasts for 30 minutes, and costs approximately 75 cents per bottle, the Allods Online forums were kind enough to do my math for me and figure out that raiding at end-game will cost an easy minimum of $50 per month
It took less than a week for gPotato to announce that the prices would be coming down on cash shop items, which I had pointed out was moot as now the focus had turned on the Fear of Death and perfume mechanics. March brought restructuring to the cash shop. In April, while gPotato was busy pinning all of this on Astrum Nival, I noted that the Russian patch notes indicated the removal of Fear of Death, following a player-driven poll asking which feature players would most like to see removed. I also noted at the end this item cursing feature that was set to replace Fear of Death, but that I didn’t have much in terms of details on it at the time.
Fast forward to June and here we are. In the July 7th patch, Fear of Death is going to be removed and replaced with item curses. When a player dies now, there is the chance that a curse will land on a slot in their inventory. If the item is rare (Rare, epic, or legendary only) the curse will invert the stats of the item. More importantly, bosses now have a chance of dropping rare items in an already cursed form.
The only method of removing the curse is through a cash shop item that must be either bought on the cash shop or through the auction house (from those who purchased it on the cash shop) for a hefty sum. So, as one Allod Online’er put it, Astrum Nival essentially took a temporary grievance that can be waited out, and turned it into a permanent grievance that must, without exception, be fixed with a cash shop item or heavy gold in the auction house.
I’ve been quite critical of Cryptic in the past, mentioning that they have the most convincing cardboard cutouts pretending to be community relations, and going as far as advocating that people never buy straight from Atari.com, ever… Whatever the case may be, writing articles on Cryptic has become something of a repetitive task, as generally the news that I would put on here comes in the same package: Cryptic did something, annoyed a lot of their customers.
Today’s news comes from the latest massive update to the Cryptic Store, making almost every preorder bonus (sans playable Borg) available to players for a fee. Needless to say, once again, the forums are in an uproar. I’m finding a lot of the issue comes from players not angry that the previously exclusive items are being sold on the cash shop, as this knowledge was known before the game launched, although a small number of items did not carry this. The manner in which Cryptic went about doing so is what is getting feathers ruffled.
Foremost, the phrase “too soon” comes to mind. Ignoring the several days of head start, the items remained exclusive for a whole four and a half months following launch. Many players believe that, even though Cryptic said that they would eventually make the items available on the cash shop, that they should have waited a longer period of time before doing so. A second major complaint I’ve seen is that only a certain group of the bonus items are available, while others remain exclusive. A number of players are crying foul due to a feeling of favoritism of some preorder options over others.
I have to agree with the complaint relating to the item shop versions being much cheaper than the bundled package. As someone who purchased an enhanced version of Star Trek Online, the same perks I paid around $30 more for are now available on the Cryptic Store for pennies on the dollar. Time is one factor, and as I have already pointed out, that extra cost became virtually useless in the matter of four months. Not only this, but I distinctly remember Cryptic employees recommending that players purchase numerous copies of the game in order to get all of the bonus items.
Perhaps the most relevant complaint, and the reason I decided to write up this article, is based around trust: Essentially, exclusive and unique are made subjective, fit to change at Cryptic’s discretion (which in the terms of these items, comes down to when newer players ask for them to be on the cash shop). This will put a lot of distrust around various Cryptic promotions, as anything listed as “exclusive” will no longer be viewed as such by the community, simply an attempt to lull players into making a purchase, and then sticking the item on the cash shop some months later for a drastically reduced price.
I’m not calling on Cryptic’s destruction, as anyone who reads MMO Fallout would know I stray away from. What I am saying is that there will likely be noticeable drop in certain preorder packages for Cryptic’s third MMO, to be announced this summer. Cryptic looks to lose some cash from those people who preorder just for the exclusive items, and yes those people do exist despite some of us (me) wishing people wouldn’t prepurchase five different copies of the same game for digital items.
If your purchase relies on the presumption that only you and a select group of people will ever be able to use that item, and if anyone else gained access to said item you would quit the game, do yourself a favor: Cancel the order before it finishes. It’s a fairly easy way to save money, especially for someone in your position.
I’ve been quite critical of Cryptic in the past, mentioning that they have the most convincing cardboard cutouts pretending to be community relations, and going as far as advocating that people never buy straight from Atari.com, ever… Whatever the case may be, writing articles on Cryptic has become something of a repetitive task, as generally the news that I would put on here comes in the same package: Cryptic did something, annoyed a lot of their customers.
Today’s news comes from the latest massive update to the Cryptic Store, making almost every preorder bonus (sans playable Borg) available to players for a fee. Needless to say, once again, the forums are in an uproar. I’m finding a lot of the issue comes from players not angry that the previously exclusive items are being sold on the cash shop, as this knowledge was known before the game launched, although a small number of items did not carry this. The manner in which Cryptic went about doing so is what is getting feathers ruffled.
Foremost, the phrase “too soon” comes to mind. Ignoring the several days of head start, the items remained exclusive for a whole four and a half months following launch. Many players believe that, even though Cryptic said that they would eventually make the items available on the cash shop, that they should have waited a longer period of time before doing so. A second major complaint I’ve seen is that only a certain group of the bonus items are available, while others remain exclusive. A number of players are crying foul due to a feeling of favoritism of some preorder options over others.
I have to agree with the complaint relating to the item shop versions being much cheaper than the bundled package. As someone who purchased an enhanced version of Star Trek Online, the same perks I paid around $30 more for are now available on the Cryptic Store for pennies on the dollar. Time is one factor, and as I have already pointed out, that extra cost became virtually useless in the matter of four months. Not only this, but I distinctly remember Cryptic employees recommending that players purchase numerous copies of the game in order to get all of the bonus items.
Perhaps the most relevant complaint, and the reason I decided to write up this article, is based around trust: Essentially, exclusive and unique are made subjective, fit to change at Cryptic’s discretion (which in the terms of these items, comes down to when newer players ask for them to be on the cash shop). This will put a lot of distrust around various Cryptic promotions, as anything listed as “exclusive” will no longer be viewed as such by the community, simply an attempt to lull players into making a purchase, and then sticking the item on the cash shop some months later for a drastically reduced price.
I’m not calling on Cryptic’s destruction, as anyone who reads MMO Fallout would know I stray away from. What I am saying is that there will likely be noticeable drop in certain preorder packages for Cryptic’s third MMO, to be announced this summer. Cryptic looks to lose some cash from those people who preorder just for the exclusive items, and yes those people do exist despite some of us (me) wishing people wouldn’t prepurchase five different copies of the same game for digital items.
If your purchase relies on the presumption that only you and a select group of people will ever be able to use that item, and if anyone else gained access to said item you would quit the game, do yourself a favor: Cancel the order before it finishes. It’s a fairly easy way to save money, especially for someone in your position.
Log entry for the second week of June, 2051: It is nearly a month since I encountered the strange man in the ragged clothing. The prairie chicken eggs he gave me have yet to hatch, or do much at all. I am considering making breakfast out of them, as my supply of grilled chicken is running incredibly low. I find myself coming across more and more of the black chips that the strange man handed to me, in various places. Under a pile of coal, in the shirt pocket of a bandit I was hired to kill, on the person of several blade dancers, and even just sitting on the ground in Mumford. I have collected a substantial number of these chips, and continue to find more. I shall log in an entry when this mysterious use for them becomes apparent.
While delivering a bank notice to the vault in Embry Crossroads, I came across a sole man walking down the street with a dog. A pet dog! The man wore a ten gallon hat, and a light blue jacket over a ragged t-shirt, and jeans that would have been entirely white were it not for the small patches of unfaded blue sporadically placed on the garment. His eyes caught my own, and lit up in a fire of excitement. He motioned his hand to me, when I noticed his dog had jogged over and begun sniffing away. The man nodded his enormous hat and quickly blew into a sales pitch,
“Son, you may not know me, but I’m a traveling salesman you look like someone who could use a companion, and now this here fella ain’t no good for fightin’ (he’s a bit of a wuss when the going gets tough), but he’ll be the most faithful companion you’ll ever lay eyes on and if you don’t believe me you can take ‘im and lock ‘im in the trunk of yer vehicle along with yer significant other and see whose happy ter see ya when ya open it two hours later-“
I stopped him, and asked how much the dog cost. Ten dollars, “and I don’t take none of them chips y’all pass as cash.” Some paper money still exists, and if you want to look like a public moron the best method is to go down to the bank and ask to convert your chips into dollars. Luckily, the old American dollar had devalued so much that ten dollars was a pittance, and I purchased the dog. The man thanked me, tipped his skyscraper hat, and continued on his way. Oddly enough, I saw for a split second the inside of his bag, containing what must have been dozens of leashes and collars. On his way past, he removed a leash from his bag and, when I had turned around, he had yet another dog with him. Where did that dog come from?
I’ve decided to name him Pearce. It is a he, I made certain to check.
On a side note, I must investigate my cooking kit, as it has the unnatural ability to cook any meat I put in it into grilled chicken. After testing komodo dragons, cave lizards, cows, pigs, and even several bandits I discovered on the outskirts of town, I found all of their meat cooked into a fine grilled chicken.
In my defense, I did promise that I would do that again. Fallen Earth has gone the way of Blizzard, offering two items in a cash-shop store. The first item, already explained in the above, is a companion dog that follows you around. The Kaibab Cur doesn’t offer up a fight, nor will he aid you in combat. He does carry four items, and loves to go for long walks in the wasteland. The Kaibab Cur costs $10 USD and covers your whole account. A word of warning, however: The dog can be killed in PvP.
The second item is a pair of brass goggles that offer a small bonus, and alternately look awesome. The goggles cost $5.
It isn’t very often I get to start out an article with “and finally the saga is coming to a close,” because (despite my own objections) stories like these tend to go on for a long, long time, or simply fade away into obscurity to the point where no one is talking about it anymore (because I also watch the communities for further news on ongoing stories). I don’t like to lead people on, which is why I only update ongoing stories as important events occur.
So with great pride, I can finally say that the Aika Online cash shop issues are coming to an end! Earlier this month, I talked about how Aika Online under gPotato was only meant to work in North America. Unfortunately, the company allowed players from virtually any country to register and play. When the time came for the actual developer to put their foot down and demand IP restrictions, gPotato had already launched the cash shop one week prior. The end result was that non-North American players found themselves locked out of the game, and their purchases.
Well put down those credit card chargebacks, folks, because after a couple of weeks gPotato is back with great news: The IP blocks will still be put in place, however anyone with an account created before the blocks can still play, all items and characters intact.
It’s good to see Aika’s continued track record of listening to their customers, and even better to see another saga come to an end.
MMO Fallout 