Once The Old Republic launched its free to play program, I figured I’d set up a new account to see just how tight the restrictions on free players are. However, as you can see above, I’ve hit a snag: My free to play account doesn’t have an active subscription. Either an overlooked bug or some deeper metaphor giving an insight into the meaning of life.
Either way, it seems like subscribing might contradict the point in seeing what a purely free player experiences.
Ultima Online has published the sixth Ask & Answer and there are some interesting questions for gamers, regardless of whether you play Ultima Online or not. For instance, did you know Ultima Online doesn’t have a full personal message system in place? The team is working on one, according to the Q&A. In addition to upgrading the game’s personal message system, there are plans in the works to add in new tools to help players find vendors in crowded cities. Unfortunately, once again the question of will there be a classic shard is a sound no.
There are a few more questions in the Q&A. Ultima Online recently celebrated its fifteenth year of service with the introduction of the new ruler of Britannia: Lord Blackthorn.
(Source: Ultima Online)
Warhammer Online’s fourth birthday has come and gone, and Massively.com has quite an interesting interview with Producer James Casey about the life of Warhammer, past, present, and future. Casey also talks about Warhammer’s MOBA brother, Wrath of Heroes, and how the development teams for both games have been kept complimentary, but separate. Finally, Casey answers the question many of us have been asking for a good while: Why hasn’t Warhammer Online gone free? My guess has always come down to cost, and from Casey’s reply, I wasn’t wrong:
We’ve investigated this option in the past, but the costs and changes needed to make it happen in a satisfactorily way haven’t synced up yet.
Transitioning a game to free to play is incredibly expensive and, in the case of games like Earthrise and Gods & Heroes (and now Warhammer), is simply out of the question.
(Source: Massively.com)
Warhammer Online’s fourth birthday has come and gone, and Massively.com has quite an interesting interview with Producer James Casey about the life of Warhammer, past, present, and future. Casey also talks about Warhammer’s MOBA brother, Wrath of Heroes, and how the development teams for both games have been kept complimentary, but separate. Finally, Casey answers the question many of us have been asking for a good while: Why hasn’t Warhammer Online gone free? My guess has always come down to cost, and from Casey’s reply, I wasn’t wrong:
We’ve investigated this option in the past, but the costs and changes needed to make it happen in a satisfactorily way haven’t synced up yet.
Transitioning a game to free to play is incredibly expensive and, in the case of games like Earthrise and Gods & Heroes (and now Warhammer), is simply out of the question.
(Source: Massively.com)
If you haven’t heard, The Old Republic will be free to play as of later this fall. Without paying a subscription, players will have access to all of the story content from level 1 to 50, with limited access to other features and no access to the game’s warzones. Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer at Bioware, acknowledges that the transition must be performed with great care:
“I don’t want to unbalance the game by putting things out on the store that somebody can walk in on day one, buy and be the winner. Having said that, there will be some things that we put out in the store that do enhance power value in some way, but not at the top end.”
While the cash shop items have not been finalized, Hickman believes that The Old Republic will sell some form of gear with stats (although not high-end equipment) and possibly future planets, hinting that the level cap may be raised at some point.
More on The Old Republic as it appears.
The video game media just loves a doom and gloom news story. With the launch of The Old Republic far in the past, Bioware began laying off staff in May. The layoffs are continuing with the recent restructuring Bioware Austin and the departure of Richard Vogel, Executive Producer. Vogel departs Bioware after joining in 2005.
EA released a statement describing the layoffs as rather expectant.
“As with the launch of any MMO, the size and skillset of the teams needed to maintain the game is different than the ones that built it. Starting in May, there have been staff reductions in the BioWare Austin studio. Some people have been platooned to other projects at BioWare Austin and EA SPORTS/Austin. Others have been released – qualifying personnel receive severance and outplacement assistance.”
The annual shareholder meeting will be taking place soon for Electronic Arts, which will hopefully offer more insight into The Old Republic’s activity. As always, we wish a speedy job search for those affected by the layoffs.
(Source: Massively.com)
The Old Republic was one of the largest MMO releases in 2011, if not the largest. The game shattered EA’s preorder record boasted 1.7 million subscribers in February. However, shortly after launch it became evident that The Old Republic’s was not growing when EA reported a 24% loss in subscribers, down 400,000 in just a month after boasting their 1.7 million. Recently the discussion has turned to servers, with Bioware increasing server capacity and opening limited server transfers for what some believe to be preparation to perform server mergers.
GamesTM recently published an interview with Bioware’s Emmanuel Lusinchi, in which the developer notes that a free to play model is indeed possible.
“The MMO market is very dynamic and we need to be dynamic as well. Unless people are happy with what they have, they are constantly demanding updates, new modes and situations. So we are looking at free-to-play but I can’t tell you in much detail. We have to be flexible and adapt to what is going on.”
More on The Old Republic as it appears.
(Source: GamesTM)
I have good news and bad news. First the good news: Electronic Arts is reporting a net income of $76 million compared to this time last year where the publisher posted a loss of $276 million. Additionally, total revenue for the past fiscal year came to $4.14 billion, compared to $3.59 billion the year prior. On the kind-of-massively-but-not-really front, EA’s “Play4Free” games rake in around $2 million monthly.
Now the bad news: The Old Republic has dropped 24% in population since February, when Bioware revealed that the game carried 1.7 million subscribers. The Old Republic now boasts 1.3 million, which may not include the nearly forty countries that the game just launched in at the end of April.
In addition to the recent Legacy update, Bioware has the upcoming Allies update to hopefully bring in lapsed subscribers.
(Source: EA Finances)
Warhammer Online, despite server closure upon server closure, is still running and allegedly there are still players subscribed and playing. If you are a current or former subscriber to Warhammer Online, odds are you’ve tried Mythic’s MOBA styled around the MMO’s scenarios, Wrath of Heroes. Regardless, Mythic has implemented a cross-promotion system offering benefits in Wrath of Heroes for subscribers to Warhammer Online.
Starting today, Warhammer Online subscribers will receive a 50% increase in gold and experience in Wrath of Heroes. In order to receive the bonus, you will need to have both games on the same EA account. It may take up to 24 hours for the bonus to come into effect.
(Source: Warhammer Online)
You know you’ve been wanting to try out those Old Republics that the kids all seem to be getting into these days. But you don’t want to spend sixty bucks on a game client for a title you might not enjoy? Well, Bioware has your back. Starting March 15th and going through March 19th, you will be able to play The Old Republic absolutely free of charge. There are restrictions: Level is capped to 15 (40 for trade skills) and bound to origin/capital worlds. Weekend pass holders will also be restricted from general/trade/pvp chat, cannot send or reply to email, use the galactic trade network.
It is worth noting that this is not a welcome back weekend, and the offer does not extend if you already own The Old Republic. Prior subscribers who have allowed their payments to lapse are not included in this weekend. If you purchase The Old Republic during this time, the start of your subscription will cancel any remaining time in the weekend pass, so wait until the 19th to redeem your code.
Also, there is a small note that Bioware reserves the right to delete trial characters on abandoned accounts without notice, although there are no plans to do so at this moment.
No, there are currently no plans to delete characters created as part of the Friends of Star Wars: The Old Republic Trial. Should your friend decide to purchase the Game, their trial characters will still be on their account. We do however reserve the right to delete trial characters on abandoned trial accounts without notice.
(Source: SWTOR website)
MMO Fallout 