Two MMOs Moving Overseas, Just Not Your Seas


archeage

Who wants an extra helping of disappointment today? Two MMOs are progressing into new territories, but judging by MMO Fallout’s metrics, they still aren’t coming to your territories. Mail.ru has announced that the closed beta for ArcheAge is set to start in December. Some of you may recall that mail.ru caught some heat over their planned payment system. Players were able to successfully petition the company to change their plans and adopt the Korean model.

Meanwhile, Blade & Soul’s open beta is set to begin next week in China. The open beta client is already available for download and the servers reportedly will not have an IP block, allowing anyone in who feels like joining up.

(Source: Massively.com)

 

Meet Glorious Mission Online, China’s Ode To The PLA


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Glorious Mission Online may sound like a really cheesy parody video game or something that might authentically come out of North Korea, but the game does in fact exist and can actually be downloaded at this very minute. The game was developed by Giant Interactive Group, whom you may not recognize if you live outside of China (ie: 100% of the viewers on this website), in collaboration with the People’s Liberation Army for use in training simulations. Glorious Mission Online takes place in a war between China and Japan over the hotly contested islands in the East China Sea, with players taking up arms as PLA soldiers to tell the Japanese “you will not violate our sovereignty!” I’d like to take credit for that statement but that is what is written on the game’s website.

Otherwise the game is essentially your Call of Duty or Battlefield title, backed by the PLA not unlike how America’s Army was backed by America’s Army. You can download the two gigabyte game at the link below, but expect a lot of national pride.

(Source: Glorious Mission Online)

Meet Glorious Mission Online, China's Ode To The PLA


1_201301141804004Zxx2

Glorious Mission Online may sound like a really cheesy parody video game or something that might authentically come out of North Korea, but the game does in fact exist and can actually be downloaded at this very minute. The game was developed by Giant Interactive Group, whom you may not recognize if you live outside of China (ie: 100% of the viewers on this website), in collaboration with the People’s Liberation Army for use in training simulations. Glorious Mission Online takes place in a war between China and Japan over the hotly contested islands in the East China Sea, with players taking up arms as PLA soldiers to tell the Japanese “you will not violate our sovereignty!” I’d like to take credit for that statement but that is what is written on the game’s website.

Otherwise the game is essentially your Call of Duty or Battlefield title, backed by the PLA not unlike how America’s Army was backed by America’s Army. You can download the two gigabyte game at the link below, but expect a lot of national pride.

(Source: Glorious Mission Online)

NCSoft Latest Anti-RMT Shot: Bans All Chinese IPs


aion2

Gold farming in Aion is a pretty major problem. Similar to NCSoft’s other big name title, Lineage II, Aion players have become accustomed over the years to logging in and going through the ritual of reporting and blocking the new set of bots spamming the multiple chat groups and sending them whispers of cheap gold, fast delivery, and poor English (as opposed to MMO Fallout’s gold farming service which carries high prices, no delivery, and a staff of folks who understand English very well, especially the more vulgar parts of it). NCSoft has put forward various efforts to improving the process, like automatically clearing ignore lists of banned accounts, all the way back to launch when NCSoft sent GM’s in-game to blow up gold spammers.

And now, NCSoft declared all-out war on gold farming by firing the first shot: Banning IPs. NCSoft will be blocking Chinese IPs from creating accounts on Aion, due to high RMT traffic coming from the country. As for proxies, they will be blocked too if they become a problem:

Please note that proxies have become an integral tool for illicit behavior in MMOs, and as a result we do target them when we undertake anti-RMT efforts. However, legitimate latency reduction services are recognized, and a proxy will not be banned unless it is confirmed to be part of unsanctioned behavior.

And what happens if the gold farmers leave China? NCSoft is willing to follow them. The post makes note that should the gold farming become a problem from another country, NCSoft may begin knocking out access from other countries on a case-by-case basis. This only applies to newly created accounts, it does not stop current accounts from using their game.

(Source: NCSoft Aion)

Shadowbane Resurrected…In China


There are two words I never thought I would say again. Shadowbane holds a name similar to pre-CU Star Wars Galaxies, it has become the benchmark by which many sandbox gamers judge their MMOs, and very few if any titles come close to matching the awe-inspiring devotion of the Shadowbane fandom. So why haven’t you heard of it (if you haven’t)? Shadowbane shut down in 2009 after several changes in ownership and business model, and cementing the community’s hatred of Ubisoft.

Well, Shadowbane is back. Changyou, a Chinese-focused game site, has purchased the source code and rights to Shadowbane and is using these properties to develop World of Shadowbane. There are virtually no details released right now, but here in the west we can always pray for a miracle.

More on World of Shadowbane as it appears.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Star Vault Partners With Lekool: Mortal Online In Asia


Mortal Online is heading to Asia. In a press announcement, developer Star Vault announced that the company is partnering with Lekool to publish Mortal Online in China and other Asian countries. You may be familiar with Lekool from their publishing ventures in the United States: Caesary, Business Tycoon Online, and more.

“We are very happy to enter into this long term partnership with Star Vault. Star Vault has very unique products that are rarely seen in Asia, we have got several publishers interested in Mortal Online from Asia, especially from China. We think there is a huge market for Star Vault’s games and we would like to play a role to make it happen.”

More on Mortal Online as it appears.

WoW China Saga Comes To A Close?


Welcome to the tip of the mountain.

Good news everyone¹!

NetEase, operators of World of Warcraft China division, have officially announced just an hour or so ago that they have received approval by the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), to run World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, for publication in China. World of Warcraft has been fighting for survival in China not out of subscription numbers, but because of a war of authority between two of China’s governmental ministries, one being the GAPP.

This news will certainly delight those who have been observing WoW going through various stages of approved, banned, shut down, on hiatus, and in “demo mode” to new subscribers. Hopefully this will be the end to the World of Warcraft: China saga, although considering the fact that GAPP and its rival ministry have yet to settle their differences, I think we’ll be seeing WoW back in the news once again in due time.

¹ Everyone as in, WoW players in China.

World of Warcraft: Misses You, China


Minister of Culture, at your service.

Hello, China! Enjoying your World of Warcraft? Between the switch from operators (The9 to Netease), subsequent banning, delay of The Burning Crusade expansion (yes, I said Burning Crusade), reopening under a test phase (no new registrations), and subsequent rebanning, it is unlikely anyone in China did much enjoying of World of Warcraft. China’s General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP) has required that Blizzard and Netease change some content in the game, not specifying what. Certain content already altered in WoW China includes piles of bones being changed to piles of sacks, and the undead showing less bone and more skin. Players do not leave corpses, but leave behind gravestones. Players and monsters also spew green and black blood.

More after the break…

Continue reading “World of Warcraft: Misses You, China”

Hunting Transgenders, the Chinese Way…


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That's no baby, baby. -banned-

Imagine this, gentlemen: You’re walking through the streets, and at the corner you come across a beautiful woman, clad in nothing but a frilly bra and underwear. As she looks at you seductively, using the hottest /dance emote available, she says “4g 4 l4p d4nc3.” All of a sudden, you notice something about her is wrong. The chin, the hairy arms, the Adam’s Apple. IT’S A MAN, BABY!

If you’re a player who enjoys the occasional pixelated groping, or you work as a GM on Age of Conan, you’ll be glad to hear that, at least on King of the World that you won’t have to worry about that woman actually being a man behind the screen. Taking the phrase “pics or it didn’t happen” literally, and requires players to submit webcam pictures of themselves, otherwise male players playing as female avatars will be banned.

Continue reading “Hunting Transgenders, the Chinese Way…”

False Positives Happen: The Response Is What Counts


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Good morning/day folks,

A couple of threads on this topic appeared during the night and rather than replying to each one of them I thought I’d create a new one.

We have, as you know, recently banned a large number of users for violating our User Agreement. If you found yourself unable to log in after the night, that would be the reason.

If you are 100% sure you have not been involved with any activity that would violate our User Agreement (this would also include anything related to RMT), then we suggest contacting our Customer Support team at Support | NCsoft who will be able to look into your case.

We understand that the timing is very inconvenient and will make sure that inquiries on this matter are made top priority. Our GMs will be working through the weekend to sort this out as quickly as possible.

– Ayase

Mass bans in any game remind us as to why police officers don’t take down an armed suspect in a crowded mall by firing an automatic rifle into the crowd and hoping to hit him. You’ll hit your mark eventually, but you are the one that will be explaining to little Tina why daddy won’t be waking up.

When the subject turns to real money trading (RMT), the situation turns from cop-in-mall to a McCarthy style commie hunt, the commies being the gold farmers and buyers (Note: Not a jab at China). Hunting down goldfarmers is akin to searching for a criminal by attempting to listen to their thoughts (Note: You are not Matt Parkman, nor do you work for the FAA). Banning for gold is an even hairier issue. Take for example the following issue: Xkcd sends TwinkpOwn892735 twenty thousand gold. R3dsp0t sends X Dalton X twenty thousand gold. Both of these transactions actually happened in an unnamed MMO, and one of the two were gold farmers. I’ll come back to that later.

Continue reading “False Positives Happen: The Response Is What Counts”