That’s actually a picture of what’s going on inside the PSN servers. First off, some backstory for those of you who don’t own a Playstation 3, or don’t read Kotaku (or a number of other websites). The Playstation Network is offline after a few days of sporadic service, and Sony has no idea what is causing it (at least if they do, they aren’t publicizing it). Going by recent events, however, it isn’t exactly a far reach to assume that hackers are behind the service outage, either from Anonymous or some other group.
Of course, this means that DC: Universe is temporarily shuttered on the PS3, as players have to sign in via the Playstation Network, and thus you see the problem. The DC:U team has been strangely silent, last I checked the PS3 forums, there a quick check of the developer tracker will show no posts since the 16th, well before the service went offline on the 20th. So far, the team has only offered the following, on the DCU Facebook page:
Just a small update: We are aware that PS3 players are unable to access the game due to PSN downtime.
According to Sony (SCEA, not SOE), the service could be off for another day or two. Hopefully we’ll have some better information before then.
In case you hadn’t noticed, I’ve been out in North Carolina for the past week or so (hence the lack of updates) in a period of what I can only refer to as not having the internet, at all. But, now that I’m back, it’s time for a quick wrapup of what I should have written about at the time, but didn’t, so now the news is coming a few days too late. Just like getting a newspaper, right?
1. Enjoying the Rift Beta
I tweeted two RIFT VIP keys before I left, and hopefully those two people are enjoying the current beta event, which was extended to Saturday morning. I hope to have more of these giveaways in the future, so subscribe to my twitter in the right hand side, or follow @mmofallout so you can take part, and so that my internet ego my grow to epic proportions.
2. That Superhero MMO Is A Bestseller
DC Universe became Sony Online Entertainment’s best selling MMO to date, also topping Steam’s sales charts over the past week. In fact, DCU is selling so well that the title is having a hard time staying in stock in many retailers, I imagine partially due to people like myself who put down a few bucks to reserve the game, but went ahead and bought it somewhere else instead.
3. All Points Bulletin says “Two Strikes, and You’re Out”
At least according to Jagex, not having a no tolerance policy on cheating works to keep paying customers who may have gone out of line once, but are indeed salvageable by the great legitimate-promoting gods. So K2 Networks announced on their blog that they will be instituting a two-strike policy when APB goes live. Cheat once and you are temporarily banned, cheat twice and you are permanently banned. Of course, one could glance at Valve, whose previous policy of banning for five years was rescinded because the accounts went right back to cheating, but I wouldn’t want to distill the hope well.
4. That Other Superhero MMO Is Now Free
Champions Online may not be Cryptic’s first MMO, but it is their first AAA title to go partially free to play. Launching on the 25th, Cryptic is reporting large increases in population (most of them free players). Free players will find themselves with access to all of the game’s content, with restricted arche-types, with access to purchase the premium packs from the Cryptic Store. The premium packs are made up of the expansions that were released over the past year or so.
5. No Loving For EA’s MMOs, Say Investors
At least according to Gamasutra. With Star Wars: The Old Republic on its way, investors are a bit scared to support the giant corporation, looking back at the poor performance of Warhammer Online and especially after the two month lifespan that was All Points Bulletin. Bioware may have had successes in the past, but this is the company’s first dive into the MMO genre, and if Richard Garriot has taught us anything, even having a successful past in the field does not guarantee that your current project won’t go directly into the trash bin.
The Old Republic is being backed by a powerful company and developed by one with a name in the gaming business, both of which mean absolutely nothing in terms of whether or not the game will succeed, especially against the odds of its budget.
6. Codemasters Reveals Anti-Hacking Service
Codemasters hates account thieves, and for players of Lord of the Rings Online (in Europe), they are now offering a service for those of you who have had your accounts stolen. Players must be eligible to raise a support ticket, report the incident within seven days of it occurring, and the service also requires GM verification. Meeting these three requirements will reimburse the player and allow them to get back to where they were pre-account cleaning. A word of warning, however, abuse of the system may lead to a permanent ban.
I feel like I’ve been gone for a good month. Oh well, back to the old grind stone!
A once-employed man who may or may not be named (Mark Jakobs) once said
“Look at us six months out. Look at us six weeks out. If we’re not adding servers, we’re not doing well.”
DC Universe Online may have only been out for a couple of days, but the team over at Sony Online Entertainment is already adding servers to mitigate the load. Two new North American servers are coming to the fledgling MMO, one for the PC and one for the PS3 versions, named “Cry For Blood” and “Blood Will Run” respectively. If you haven’t picked up from the names, these are player vs player servers.
Granted, it is a bit early to start shouting uplift in population, as most MMOs either deal with server strain or introduce a few temporary servers directly after launch (see Aion’s added servers that were made obsolete by the massive merger the following year). Still, if Sony can keep what they have, and continue to improve the service, then DC Universe may climb to the top!
DC Universe Online launches today, and like any decent MMO the launch day issues are becoming too numerous to bore you with here on MMO Fallout. Among the problems I can actually help you with comes players who are having issues with their preorder keys from Direct2Drive. According to a few comments in my email box, players are having problems with their keys being accepted, with the majority of them facing the dreaded “this key is already in use” response. So, what is the issue? Hackers with key generators? Superman?
Nope. A little bit of research on my end has come up with a couple of solutions. According to a number of users on the MMORPG.com forums, you should go to SOE.com and set up your account from there. Following that, enter in your key and submit, which should still give you an error, but the key should still apply to the account. If the key was accepted, you will have the option to subscribe without buying the game. The subscription portion apparently can also be set up via the launcher, but don’t quote me on that.
A thank you to all of you who submitted this, and foremost a big thank you to Redcor, and a few others, on the MMORPG.com forums for figuring out a solution. Sony is apparently aware of the issue and is working on a fix, but this will have to do for the time being. If you’re having this issue and the fix above doesn’t work, I suggest using SOE’s customer support line.
DC Universe Online launches today, and like any decent MMO the launch day issues are becoming too numerous to bore you with here on MMO Fallout. Among the problems I can actually help you with comes players who are having issues with their preorder keys from Direct2Drive. According to a few comments in my email box, players are having problems with their keys being accepted, with the majority of them facing the dreaded “this key is already in use” response. So, what is the issue? Hackers with key generators? Superman?
Nope. A little bit of research on my end has come up with a couple of solutions. According to a number of users on the MMORPG.com forums, you should go to SOE.com and set up your account from there. Following that, enter in your key and submit, which should still give you an error, but the key should still apply to the account. If the key was accepted, you will have the option to subscribe without buying the game. The subscription portion apparently can also be set up via the launcher, but don’t quote me on that.
A thank you to all of you who submitted this, and foremost a big thank you to Redcor, and a few others, on the MMORPG.com forums for figuring out a solution. Sony is apparently aware of the issue and is working on a fix, but this will have to do for the time being. If you’re having this issue and the fix above doesn’t work, I suggest using SOE’s customer support line.
Holy batjinks, Batman! It’s a letter from The Riddler! It reads,
Dear Batman and Robin,
No doubt you’ve put down fifty or sixty bucks on the upcoming MMO DC Universe Online, with the hopes of playing it this November. You’ll find that I have stolen all of the DC Universe Preorders and have hidden them in a location that neither you or your insipid heroes will ever find without my help. If you want any chance of finding your precious preorders by early 2011, you will need to follow this riddle. The answer lies in a 1979 song by new wave band Oingo Boingo.
Thanks to the hijinks of the Riddler, DC Universe Online will not be launching this November. Instead, the title has been pushed to sometime in early 2011, whatever that might mean. If you’ve preordered the game, you’ll find yourself with a guaranteed spot in the ongoing beta. Other than that, you’re out of luck for the full version. Look at it this way, you’ll get that much more time playing the (albeit broken and unfinished) game that much longer!
Looking forward to more information on DC Universe.
Good news all around for fans of the upcoming DC: Universe Online! Now that we have a concrete date for release on November 2nd (subject to change), those of you looking to purchase the PS3 version will be equally happy to learn that you will not be required to pay for Playstation Plus.
More importantly: Those of you who played the original Star Wars Galaxies will be aware of the Jedi system, where the Jedi class was locked until players completed a non-specific set of random tasks given to them. The amount of time invested and skill required to attain the Jedi class made it so only a minority of players actually managed to unlock a Jedi, and play it in the duration before it became available as a starting class.
In DC:U, it appears as if the Green Lantern Corp will be getting the same treatment. Director Chris Cao has stated that the Green Lantern Corp will be something “very special” and that they do not want thousands of green lanterns running around.
Ultimately, I give the Green Lantern concept two years before it becomes available to everyone, ala the Jedi class.
Those of you who use Steam, Direct2Drive, shop at Gamestop/Fry’s, etc, will be aware that DC Universe, the upcoming MMO by development-Goliath Sony Online Entertainment, has recently gone on for Preorder and being the impulsive buyer that I am, I have to say my response was…no. I have a fundamental disagreement with DC:U going up for preorder four months before the game releases, partially because I know that Sony is without a doubt in no position that they desperately need to sell units to pay for development, and also because four months is probably enough time that many of us will buy it, have a period where we do a ton of research into the game, and then finally involve ourselves so much that we get sick and tired of the game before we’ve even had a chance to play it.
I’m not saying I won’t be buying DC:U, just at a later date. The collector’s edition offer (Batman figurine plus a comic book plus an art book plus in-game exclusives) would be making my wallet tug itself out of my pant pocket, if my pants weren’t hung up by the door. As someone who doesn’t own a Playstation 3, I can only assume disappointment on the part of the console gamers that they will not have access to the Batman figurine, nor the alternate cover for the comic, as the PS3 version will only come in standard vanilla flavor (Game + in-game item + comic).
Don’t forget, you’re not racing against the clock. Take some time, read the guides when more people get into the open beta, and keep watching websites like Fileplanet, Rock Paper Shotgun, Gamespot, Massively, and other gaming outlets for beta key giveaways.
DC:U comes out this November for Playstation 3 and PC.
With Champions Online and DC Universe taking up most of the superhero limelight, we tend to forget that City of Heroes is still in the room. City of Heroes is getting along in its life, and despite having just celebrated its fifth birthday this year, the train keeps rolling. City of Heroes remains one of NCSoft’s more popular titles.
The developers over at Paragon have been working tirelessly this year to keep City of Heroes up to date and relevant. Aside from improvements to the customization of your superhero, Paragon announced Going Rogue, an upcoming expansion pack for the title. Set in a Utopian alternate universe to Praetoria, Going Rogue will introduce a new system that dives into the shades of gray in between the Hero and Villain. This expansion will allow heroes to become villains, villains to heroes, allowing each side to experience the opposing side’s cities without having to reroll a character.
More on Going Rogue as it appears. If you attend this year’s Hero Con, you can receive beta keys to the expansion.
MMO Fallout 