If you’re looking to make a purchase in the Origin store, you may find your order delayed by up to three days. In a post released today on the Dark Age of Camelot website, Broadsword Entertainment warns that new fraud detection tools may flag purchases depending on several variables including number of codes purchased, resulting in the buyer not receiving their code until the next day.
This timeframe is dependant on the number of codes purchased at once as well as other variables. Most players should still receive their codes within 24 hours, however, it would be a good idea to order any new game time codes 72 hours prior to your account subscription ending if you wish to guarantee no subscription downtime.
Any user whose code isn’t delivered after three days is asked to contact EA’s customer support with the phrase “I did not receive my code after making a purchase on the Origin store. My order# is #####.” The news post warns that any other message could cause the email to be diverted to the DAoC crew, who can’t help with such problems.
Broadsword Online is continuing its work to revitalize Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot, with the announcement that it is seeking to have both titles released on Steam. Players can put their vote in at the links below. There will be no cost to buy a base game for either title, however both still carry a monthly subscription fee.
Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot players have reason to rejoice today, as both communities were notified that Broadsword Online Games will be taking over development of both titles. Founded by fourteen members of the Mythic Entertainment team, including Mythic co-founder Rob Denton, Broadsword Online was formed to take the development of both games off of EA’s hands. Broadsword is not an Electronic Arts studio, but rather is operating on behalf of EA for both MMOs.
There aren’t any details on who the rest of the team includes, although we can surmise that the skeleton crews on both games are likely among the staff.
There are a select few articles here on MMO Fallout that garner attention after, say, six months of their publishing. It’s been ten months since I published the article about Second Star Interactive, a new development studio formed out arguably the greater minds of Ultima Online, Warhammer, and Dark Age of Camelot, and that article is still on the traffic radar. The comments on the article are just a small portion of the attention that my article brought in, and my tease about three factions and full pvp cause more than one urinary incident among fans.
Daoc 2? OMG i got the shivers
I already have my 50 bucks buried in a coffee can, counting the seconds until this happens…
SO longing DAOC2 or summat like it. I almost started to cry
Richard Garriot is talking to Electronic Arts about a relationship to create a spiritual successor to Ultima Online, as mentioned in a Eurogamer article today. Whether or not that deal is struck will place little sway on the direction of this MMO, however, as Garriot points out:
“I actually think it’s time to move on from that regardless, so even if we were to have access to the properties of my historical work, I don’t think I would change my current plans. I’m very confident of the current plans as the right way to evolve my creation, regardless.”
The interview reveals a number of details regarding Ultimate RPG:
Fantasy setting, although likely intertwined with science fiction.
Will likely preserve Ultima’s isometric view.
Ultimate RPG will be free to play.
Plans to make the game accessible via browser, client, iOS, and Android.
Target release date is 2012, 2013 (one of those two, says Garriot).
Ultimate RPG will take advantage of social media.
There are 25 people working at Portalarium (Garriot’s company)
Tantalizing readers even further, Garriot goes on to reveal that the game will be released closer to a Minecraft style format, allowing people to play as the game is developed.
“As soon as we have a viable game, we will immediately get it into players’ hands so that they can be a part of that creation process.”
There are a select few articles here on MMO Fallout that garner attention after, say, six months of their publishing. It’s been ten months since I published the article about Second Star Interactive, a new development studio formed out arguably the greater minds of Ultima Online, Warhammer, and Dark Age of Camelot, and that article is still on the traffic radar. The comments on the article are just a small portion of the attention that my article brought in, and my tease about three factions and full pvp cause more than one urinary incident among fans.
Daoc 2? OMG i got the shivers
I already have my 50 bucks buried in a coffee can, counting the seconds until this happens…
SO longing DAOC2 or summat like it. I almost started to cry
Richard Garriot is talking to Electronic Arts about a relationship to create a spiritual successor to Ultima Online, as mentioned in a Eurogamer article today. Whether or not that deal is struck will place little sway on the direction of this MMO, however, as Garriot points out:
“I actually think it’s time to move on from that regardless, so even if we were to have access to the properties of my historical work, I don’t think I would change my current plans. I’m very confident of the current plans as the right way to evolve my creation, regardless.”
The interview reveals a number of details regarding Ultimate RPG:
Fantasy setting, although likely intertwined with science fiction.
Will likely preserve Ultima’s isometric view.
Ultimate RPG will be free to play.
Plans to make the game accessible via browser, client, iOS, and Android.
Target release date is 2012, 2013 (one of those two, says Garriot).
Ultimate RPG will take advantage of social media.
There are 25 people working at Portalarium (Garriot’s company)
Tantalizing readers even further, Garriot goes on to reveal that the game will be released closer to a Minecraft style format, allowing people to play as the game is developed.
“As soon as we have a viable game, we will immediately get it into players’ hands so that they can be a part of that creation process.”
Does anyone else remember the excitement you felt when you learned that Richard Garriot was back and making MMOs? I believe it was 2005/2006 that Tabula Rasa was fully announced and confirmed to be in development, and many of us just couldn’t wait to see what Garriot’s twisted mind would come up with. Another Ultima Online, perhaps?
SecondStar Interactive is a new studio formed out of names we know well.
Darrin Hyrup: Founder of Mythic Entertainment.
Lory Hyrup: Lead Designer of Dark Age Of Camelot.
Cooper Buckingham: From Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, The Sims, and Gods & Heroes.
Tim Cotten: Ultima Online.
Eric Piccione: Art Director responsible for the look of Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot.
What type of MMO is SecondStar working on? I have absolutely no clue. All we know is that the game is running off the HeroEngine, the same engine you’ll find in Star Wars: The Old Republic and a few other upcoming titles.
I know what some of you are thinking (Ultima Online pre-Trammel PvP with three factions and an extensive crafting system and RvR) and I must ask to contain your drool! That being said, the wait for information shouldn’t be long, SecondStar has rounded out their announcement by claiming a late 2011 release date.
Those of you who are acquainted with Sony Online Entertainment are likely aware of Live Gamer, the “legit” real money trading website where players can buy and sell characters, gold, and more between each other without fear of getting scammed by some guy sitting in China watching ten WoW bots do their work. Currently, the Live Gamer Exchange only covers Everquest II, Vanguard (Vanguard had 54 characters up for sale, with only one bid between them), and Free Realms.
No matter how you feel about Live Gamer, the company has announced a partnership with Electronic Arts to cooperate on their MMOs. There is no word as of yet as to which of EA’s MMOs this will include (The Old Republic, Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot, and Ultima Online), or exactly what services Live Gamer will bring to these titles, but speculation is abound. Considering Live Gamer currently allows players to trade currency, characters, and items for cash (and vice versa) in the MMOs it does support, it isn’t too far of a reach to assume that whatever MMO EA decides to lend will offer similar features.
Nine years is a long time for any project. By the time an MMO’s ninth birthday comes around, their community has been long-ago set on what they want out of the game, the developers have found their strong points, and although the game likely stopped growing years ago, those who have stuck with it often form quite a tight community.
Dark Age of Camelot launched in 2001, and since then the earlier areas of the game have been feeling quite neglected. With the upcoming 1.104 patch, Mythic hopes to revisit the old dungeons and revitalize drops with new bonuses and higher quality items that past expansions have introduced into the game. Albion, Midgard, and Hibernian gear will be updated as well with various bonuses.
Mythic isn’t the only developer going back and revisiting old areas to give them a touch of shine and polish. More on Dark Age of Camelot as it appears.
MMOs, as is the case with most forms of entertainment, regularly don’t see anywhere near as much success outside of their main product and, in many cases, online stores are kept to a minimum, if they are kept at all.
Players who attempted to purchase anything from the Mythic Store today were met with the above notice. The official reason is “business.”
It was a business decision, if you have anything specific you were looking for send Andy a PM on the boards and he will look into helping you out.
-Mythic, on the Mythic Store Closing
No doubt a disappointment, as the Mythic store held quite merchandise for Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, and Dark Age of Camelot. The closing of the Mythic Store has raised the usual bout of questions, and of course the regular course of trolls coming out of the woodwork to proclaim the death of Warhammer Online.
Warhammer Online has been having its ups and downs over the past few months, and the recently unveiled ability to have characters on both factions on the same server has stewed fears of even more server merges, a fear that would be in Mythic’s best interest to address, on a wide scale (whether it be true or not). As I’ve said before on MMO Fallout: If you (the company) do not fill the holes, someone else will fill them for you, and you will not like what they fill it with.
So this may be just another victim of Mythic’s cost cutting venture. Should any other news arise, you will hear it here.
It’s fun to joke about issues such as your billing system imploding and taking a couple hundred dollars per person with it, but at the end of the day we really need to get down to brass tacks and remind ourselves of those who are being affected by this incident, to whom this is anything but funny. People who may miss payments on houses, credit cards, insurance, and more during the refund process. People who may be living paycheck to paycheck who needed that hundred dollars to buy groceries. People who were hit by major overdraft fees, who now have to explain the situation to their bank and, hopefully, get the fees reversed. Yes, it was the fault of the billing company, and no this was not Mythic’s doing, but Mythic will pay the price for it. When the inevitable lawsuits begin over players whose banks refused to refund overdraft fees, it will be Mythic they will target.
One thing I have always talked about with MMOs is that unlike other genres of video games, MMOs truly transcend the boundary between video games and “real life.” They are not only an investment of time and money, but our personalities. We put great care into creating and then molding our creation to meet our vision, and enter a world where many of us can feel safe from everyday life. When an event like this occurs, we lose our attachment, and our bond with our characters and the world is shaken to its knees.
Right now, Mythic should be operating under the impression that all trust is gone. When they step into the proverbial room, it is not their “friends” they are talking to, but an unruly gang of bikers swinging bats and wielding pistols, who are going to need a lot more than a Jack and a couple free games of pool before their nerves are calmed.
A lawsuit, at this point, is almost inevitable. A mass exodus? Absolutely in the cards, from both Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online players. The players who were affected are likely not going to stick around, and those who were not affected will likely not want to chance it happening again. Mythic’s response to this is going to be crucial to their current and future operations. A simple sorry and a free month is not going to put people at ease. Mythic is going to be obligated to pay back any overdraft fees that banks refuse to refund.
While we’re on the topic of off-color jokes, as an avid Mortal Online fan I had to laugh at this comment:
“If it had been Star Vault making the account error, they would have simply replied with “Your carebear bank account just can’t handle our hardcore billing system. Go back to WoW, noob!”
-Hypothetical, satirical view on what Star Vault might have said.
More on the Mythic self-nuking billing system as it appears.
MMO Fallout 