City of Heroes – Page 6

Fun Facts From NCSoft’s Q1 2010 Report

I love earnings reports, more so because I am a huge number crunching nerd, but because it gives us an occasional glimpse into how MMO developers are doing. NCsoft finally got around to filing their Q1 reports, and there is plenty of information to be found, namely in what game is doing better than others.

I often hear complaints about NCsoft pushing North American and European players to the side, and quite frankly they might have good reason. The breakdown of NCsoft’s income paints a picture as to why NA and EU may take a back seat to other regions.

Korea: 65%
Japan: 11%
N. America: 8%
Europe: 7%
Taiwan: 4%

Korea is still NCsoft’s biggest market by far, with NCsoft making almost as much from royalties (the remaining 6%) as they do from N. America or Europe.

As far as game sales themselves go, NCsoft pointed out at the top of the page that Lineage is continuing its growth momentum, which is quite impressive for a game hitting its twelfth birthday this September.

Aion: 71,235
Lineage: 47,507
Lineage 2: 29,662
City of Heroes: 3,348
Others: 3,255
Guild Wars: 2,382

Sales are down 5% from the last quarter, however the trend is continuing upward on a year over year scale. Profits have also increased due to what NCsoft referred to as cost cutting programs to improve efficiency. Arenanet looks like they are in some hot water, as their quarterly sales are down 33% from last quarter, and are plummeting on a year-by-year basis of 47%, making it the lowest operating NCsoft at this point. NCEurope did the worst this quarter with a 50% drop a sales, but is still riding a 180% year on year growth.

A few of the titles are disappointing, yet not all that unsurprising. Guild Wars, considering its age, is getting to the point where most of the people who will purchase it have already purchased it. Not to mention Guild Wars doesn’t exactly have a subscription to ride on for cash. City of Heroes is getting on in its age, although the game and its community are still going very strong. Lineage and Lineage 2 are still big sellers in Korea, no surprises there.

NCsoft is looking at a lot of potential in the next few years, what with their upcoming titles. Aion still appears to be selling strong, although the recent announcement of server mergers…well that’s for another story.

Fun Facts From NCSoft's Q1 2010 Report

Korea: 65%
Japan: 11%
N. America: 8%
Europe: 7%
Taiwan: 4%

Korea is still NCsoft’s biggest market by far, with NCsoft making almost as much from royalties (the remaining 6%) as they do from N. America or Europe.

Aion: 71,235
Lineage: 47,507
Lineage 2: 29,662
City of Heroes: 3,348
Others: 3,255
Guild Wars: 2,382

City of Heroes: 6th Anniversary Video

Hopefully I’m not the only one whose finger hovered dangerously close to the “resubscribe” button after viewing this.

Happy sixth birthday, City of Heroes!

City of Heroes 2 Confirmed?

Companies register trademarks all the time for products they want to secure, but not necessarily release. So when I say that NCsoft has registered City of Heroes 2, I want to be completely clear that this is not to be considered confirmation that a sequel to City of Heroes is in the works. I am, however, creating a new section for City of Heroes 2 in the Rumored category, just in case any news appears on the title in the near future.

Meanwhile, the original City Of is still going strong. NCsoft is still regularly updating the title with new free issues, the game received the graphics upgrade this year, and the expansion pack Going Rogue recently went on preorder.

If anything appears on City of Heroes 2, you’ll hear about it here.

Help Doctor Aeon: Get City of Heroes Graphics Update Early

Dr. Aeon needs your help, presumably apart from constant wrong numbers trying to reach Aion’s customer support. In his war on television, and the “facts” they use to slander him, Aeon is calling on the best and brightest heroes and villains alike to help him spread his propaganda. Help him, and he may have something of far more value for you: A jump start on the upcoming City of X graphics upgrade, for all players.

Hopefully this news straight from the mouth of an insane roleplaying GM is more of an indication that the much needed graphics upgrade will be coming sooner rather than later (later still being sometime before Going Rogue goes…rogue). City of Heroes will be celebrating six years running this April, and six years has taken much of a toll on the title.

Next to Aion, City of Heroes still stands as one of NCsoft’s more profitable titles after all of these years, and the graphics upgrade is just icing on the cake at this point. Whether or not the fan reaction to the “event” will actually have a toll on release is unknown, but it is likely Dr. Aeon just knows something that we don’t.

City of Heroes: Free Transfers Until Feb. 28th

NCsoft would like to remind you that the free character transfer program, unlike some developers, that was originally scheduled from December to the end of January, should not be taken as a preclude to any servers shutting down or merging. That being said, NCsoft would also like to announce that said free transfer program will be extended until February 28th.

There are certain limitations to the transfer, however. You will have to change your name if it is taken on the new server, only six characters may be transferred per week, you cannot transfer between North American and European servers, not all possessions will transfer and you will lose super-group affiliation, prestige, and your supergroup base items. If you need more information, it is in your best interest to ask on the forums, as the knowledge base link NCsoft has provided is currently dead.

For more on City of Heroes and its not-preclude to a server merger, stay tuned to MMO Fallout.

Dear Aion: I Also Accept Checks, Gifts, and Pies

I would also accept a lifetime subscription to City of Heroes instead.

File this under “Odd things I uncover because my short attention span directed me away from the article I’m supposed to be writing about closed betas.” While searching through my PlayNC account to make sure I wasn’t getting charged for, say, the free months of City of Heroes I was given a couple months ago, I decided to check up on my Aion account to see its standing, only to find this:

So my account is paid until January 30, 2010, and I appear to have canceled my subscription. What is the big issue, you ask me, Omali? Well, let’s take a time warp through MMO Fallout’s glorious history, back to December: A month in review, if you will.

“I cancelled Aion before my free month was up, my reason being because the game was actually painful to play. I know that MMOs are essentially a giant can of grind, but Aion is Nyquil minus the sugar, with extra bitter. Aion has a better story than some other MMOs, and the presentation is very well done in the form of cutscenes and other features, and I did not give the game enough time to get me to Player Vs Player combat. The grind to that point was just too painful to play, and my rule is that I cancel when I look at the login in screen and the child inside asks “do I have to?” And no, upgrading my account to collector’s edition for free was not going to keep me. And one last thing, after diving into this game; those testimonials you hear about bots in-game, they are all true.”
-Omali, MMO Fallout, in a Nyquil-addled rant about Aion.

Yes indeed. I cancelled Aion before the free month was even up. Made sure to cancel from the website and everything (as you can see from the above image). For the sake of it, I even checked my bank account to ensure that there weren’t any charges being made to my card. Furthermore, I checked the log my account, and there have been no payments since I originally activated the game.

I’m leaving this up to the MMO Fallout’ers to check into. Is there some welcome back program I passed over? Free game time for inactive accounts? I have absolutely no clue as to how long my account has been in this state, as this is the first time I have checked it since I canceled back in November. Am I going to find a horse head in my bed if I refuse this? Can I get it transfered over to City of Heroes game time?

(Update: I was able to log into Aion on this unpaid account. More information here)

City of Heroes: Keep Your Accounts Safe

Another day, another development in the ongoing NCsoft security issue. Amidst widespread fear of account theft, security holes, and random account logging, with Guild Wars and Aion leading the pack, it was only a matter of time before City of Heroes joined the pack warning users to increase their awareness. The reminder is standard trade: Keep your account safe, don’t share your details with others, change your passwords regularly, and try to stop downloading porn from shady websites.

“After investigating certain claims regarding current account security we discovered no malicious compromises having occurred in the manner described.”

I have an Aion player with an inactive, looted account that would disagree with you, but I do understand that Aion and NCsoft Master Account business is out of the hands of City of Heroes and the Paragaon Studios that develops it. Oddly enough, when snapping the screenshot above, I received a spam email from a gold farming advertiser. The account name: Aion Wars. Awfully convenient.

Oh well. I’m not going to saddle Paragon Studios with an issue NCsoft should be dealing with. Again, best of luck to those whose accounts have been compromised, and more on the 2009 NCsoft Account Issue as it appears.

2010: The Blue Moon Year

We enter January as 2009 comes to a close, we look at the year before us, and the year ahead, and remember that life goes on, no matter what happens in the present. I’ve dubbed 2010 the blue moon year because it has the pleasure of beginning with a blue moon, an event that won’t be occurring on New Year’s Eve for a long time to come.

I’m going slightly out of character with this article, if anything just to be the one time a year I get to be a jerk and pick on the same companies I spend the other 364 days vying for the attention of (Thank you Tork, Hasbro, Aventurine, Cryptic). This is a comprehensive list of some questions I have going into the new year, that I hope to get answered by this time next year.

Continue reading “2010: The Blue Moon Year”

Steam Sales: MMO Sale Rundown

For several days now, Steam has been running a weekend sale on a slew of video games, so I decided to run the MMO sales here on MMO Fallout. Two days ago, Fallen Earth and Champions Online were on sale, however those sales have ended and today’s have just begun.

The only MMO on sale today is City of Heroes: Architect Edition. This version includes both City of Heroes and City of Villains, and allows players to take part in the Architect (creating your own missions). Players will also enjoy the 14 major updates to the game since launch, as well as several bonus items for free.

Eve Online is 75% off

Guild Wars Trilogy is 50% off

City of Heroes is 50%

Fallen Earth is 50% off

Champions Online is 50% off

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