Tag: Funcom

Cash Shop Coming To Anarchy Online


What did you say?

Anarchy Online is one of the oldest MMOs on the market, and for the fact that it never appeared much (read: at all) here on MMO Fallout, the game has brought a number of innovations to the MMO genre, foremost instancing, dynamic questing, and in-game advertising. Funcom also touched upon what we now think of as endless trials, when they made the original game completely free (plus in-game ads) that brought in major money for Funcom.

Last week, Funcom announced that the “new” cash shop would be coming to Anarchy Online. This week, in a forum post, they commented further on the upcoming update. In addition to hundreds of social items, Funcom is looking at adding some non-vanity items in the form of xp stims (boost experience gain for a limited time), time-limited access to expansion content, level packs (boost to level 50, 99, 150, 199 instantly) only available to players who have a level 220 character, and more.

We’ll see how this goes for Anarchy Online. According to the forum post, Funcom plans on rolling out a Funcom Points currency across their games, meaning a similar cash shop may appear in Age of Conan and upcoming The Secret World.

More on Anarchy Online as it appears.

Bloodline Champions Beta Key Giveaway


Giving away keys since some time ago.

Bloodline Champions is an upcoming game being published by Funcom that takes arena based PvP and sticks in several game modes including arena (fight to the death), capture the artifact (capture the flag), and conquest (conquest). The game is viewed from a top-down angled perspective, as you can see above, and controls with the WASD keys.

I have two beta keys to give away, because much like the rest of this website I am extremely cheap and under-performing. All you have to do is post a comment on this page, fill in the email spot with your real email address (I will be able to see it, but no one else will) and write whatever you want in the comment box. At the end of next week (the 29th) I will choose two winners by way of random number generator and send them the invitations.

Get crackin, and don’t fret if your comment isn’t approved immediately, it just means you don’t have any other approved comments and I do check every couple hours.

The Contest is now over. The winners have been selected by process of random number generator, and the invitations have been sent out. Better luck next time to those who didn’t get a key.

There's Funcom In My ArenaNet, And I Like It.


You drunk Scottish cyclops.

Those of you in the Age of Conan beta will probably remember various nights spent sitting in a bar, knocking back an ale, and beating the crap out of your up-to-then drinking partner. Of course, along with a few other features heavily advertised (npc raids on player villages, among others) for launch, are well aware that two years after Age of Conan’s launch, most of these features are set for a release date one week after never. Drunken bar fights were silently swept under the rug and haven’t been heard from since, at least until now.

But not in the game you’d expect. Taking a cue and miss from Funcom, ArenaNet announced that Guild Wars 2 will feature drunken bar brawls. Speaking in a recent developers blog, you will not only be able to get insanely drunk, but the ale you drink will have various effects, including a noxious belch that poisons anyone drunk enough to stumble into its cloud. Smash your stein over someone’s head, and use the remaining shard as a shank! Kick someone into a table, splintering it, and then beat them to unconsciousness with the pieces of the table. The goal is to play dirty, you’re in a drunken bar fight, not Sir Lancelot’s jousting academy!

ArenaNet wants bar fights to feel like true bar fights, otherwise “why bother having them?” Of course, there are more lighthearted activities to be had in your city of choice.

More on Guild Wars 2 as it appears.

There’s Funcom In My ArenaNet, And I Like It.


You drunk Scottish cyclops.

Those of you in the Age of Conan beta will probably remember various nights spent sitting in a bar, knocking back an ale, and beating the crap out of your up-to-then drinking partner. Of course, along with a few other features heavily advertised (npc raids on player villages, among others) for launch, are well aware that two years after Age of Conan’s launch, most of these features are set for a release date one week after never. Drunken bar fights were silently swept under the rug and haven’t been heard from since, at least until now.

But not in the game you’d expect. Taking a cue and miss from Funcom, ArenaNet announced that Guild Wars 2 will feature drunken bar brawls. Speaking in a recent developers blog, you will not only be able to get insanely drunk, but the ale you drink will have various effects, including a noxious belch that poisons anyone drunk enough to stumble into its cloud. Smash your stein over someone’s head, and use the remaining shard as a shank! Kick someone into a table, splintering it, and then beat them to unconsciousness with the pieces of the table. The goal is to play dirty, you’re in a drunken bar fight, not Sir Lancelot’s jousting academy!

ArenaNet wants bar fights to feel like true bar fights, otherwise “why bother having them?” Of course, there are more lighthearted activities to be had in your city of choice.

More on Guild Wars 2 as it appears.

Checking In On The BBB


A Bureau For Better Business

Earlier this year I started Checking In With The Better Business Bureau, a segment talking about the consumer protection group with no authority. Back in February I checked up on a few MMO developers to see their scores, and this time I want to go more in depth on each company and their score.

For those of you who have forgotten or do not live in the United States, the Better Business Bureau is an independent organization that fields complaints and offers the company a chance to respond. The idea is to create a web of trusted businesses where people can check what is being complained about and how the company reacts to those complaints. When it comes to your score, a business can maintain a good score if they respond in a way that pleases the BBB.

Blizzard: B

  • Blizzard’s score has plummeted from February’s A+ rating. The BBB’s explanation is as follows:
  • “Recent complainants allege the company closed accounts on 130,000 users without providing notice, and accused them of using “hack” techniques to cheat on gaming. Most of these complainants deny any illegal usage, and in some cases, they challenge the company to provide them some proof of the alleged violation. The company responds in some cases concerning faulty servers by advising that new servers installed should remedy the problem. The company addressed a few complaints regarding account terminations by issuing the same letter in each instance of complaint, accusing the complainant of cheating, lying or using hack programs.”

Cryptic Studios: C+

  • Cryptic’s rating has remained steady since April, and the BBB has some kinder words for them than Blizzard.
  • “Our complaint history for this company shows that the company responded to and gave proper consideration to most complaints. However, more than one complaint is unresolved meaning the company failed to properly address the complaint allegations or their response was inadequate.”

EA/Mythic/Bioware: A

  • Technically lumped into EA, the BBB scores Electronic Arts with an A.
  • “When considering complaint information, please take into account the company’s size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm’s responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.”

Funcom: A+

  • Funcom is maintaining their A+, with surprisingly few complaints in the past year. The BBB had this to say:
  • “BBB had previously identified a pattern of complaints concerningcustomer service issues. The company discussed with BBB in October 2008 ways to correct the cause of the customer complaints. Complaints have decreased in volume since the meeting.”

Gala-Net: F

  • For those of you unaware, Gala-Net is gPotato, publisher for such games as Allods Online and Aika Online.
  • “Our complaint history for this company shows that the company responded to and gave proper consideration to most complaints. However, more than one complaint is unresolved meaning the company failed to properly address the complaint allegations or their response was inadequate.”

Jagex: C-

  • This is based off of one complaint.

NCsoft: B-

  • NCsoft is up, from a C- to a B-. According to the BBB, this is due to a few unanswered complaints:
  • Based on BBB files, NCsoft Corporation has a BBB Rating of B- on ascale from A+ to F.
  • Reasons for this rating include:
  • Failure to respond to 5 complaints filed against business.

Sony Online Entertainment: A

  • Most of the complaints, according to the BBB, are from people who forget to cancel their trial accounts.
  • “Consumer complaints received by the BBB allege difficulty in using this company’s online gaming service and being over billed or billed after they cancel the trial offer. In response to these consumer complaints, Sony indicates that some of their games may come with a limited number of days of game-play with purchase of the game software…”

Square Enix: A

  • Along with Sony, score remains in place.
  • “Our complaint history for this company shows the company gave proper consideration to complaints presented by the Bureau.”

Turbine Inc. : A+

  • Technically now part of Warner Brothers.
  • The BBB had nothing of interest to note.

A few companies on the list slipped in the past couple of months, most notably Blizzard over that mass ban. I guess it depends on how these companies view the non-authority of the BBB that dictates their reactions.

More on the BBB in three months when I follow up this article.

Put Your Money Episode #1: ________ Station Pass


Back in January I asked a pretty simple question: Since Sony has had so much success with the Station Pass, an offer where players can pay the fee of two MMOs to gain access to eight (previously nine) MMOs, why don’t we see more packages where developers or publishers bundle together MMOs to increase subscriber numbers and population?

Put Your Money is my response to people who have been asking me just that: Put my money where my mouth is. If I’m soooo smart, then maybe I should come up with some deals. And deals I have come up with. I give to you, my ideal picks for what individual Turbine, Mythic, Cryptic (above), NCsoft, and Funcom. My goal was to hit a price with reasonable savings, while at the same time reasonable cost, with regards to number of games and their individual subscription price (as not all games have the same price). I did not include any upcoming games.

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Age of Conan: Offline Leveling With No Respec


Play Age of Conan or die, my lord.

A growing trend in several MMOs ever since Eve Online popularized the mechanic, has been offline training: skills and abilities that level even though you are offline. Eve Online and Alganon are just two games to utilize this feature, with Age of Conan recently joining the fray:

In games like Eve Online, considering your character is not under a level system, the research done into your character can make a difference in what ships you can pilot, your weapon loadout, replacing the traditional leveling system. In Alganon, your offline research tree has more to do with small boosts to stats than anything else. Extra damage with certain weapons, extra defense against certain elements, and more. The offline progression doesn’t have a make-or-break impact on the game, but it is nice to have any advantage you can.

If Age Of Conan is one thing, it isn’t subtle. Rather than opt to give players simple stat increases in an alternate training tree, Funcom wants to give you levels while you are offline. Every four days you will receive a level in your account, in order to distribute to a character of your choice. Your account must be active, and the character receiving the level has to be at least level 30.

This should help casual players with hardcore players just seeing it as a small help. Despite some claims, there isn’t much danger of this “replacing” grinding for levels, as it only replaces one level every four days. For those who don’t want to take part, you are always free to leave the levels to accumulate, and use them on an alternate character one day, or just let them rot.

More on Age of Conan as it appears.

Star Trek Online: Console Version Officially Canned


I don't think that button started the microwave...

It feels like only late March that Cryptic announced shutting any hopes of Champions Online appearing on the Xbox360, even though it was marginally through the third quarter of the month (A little business humor for you). I noted at the time that, although Star Trek Online was planned for release on the console platform, the buzz about the title was minimal at best.

Well consider your fears confirmed: In an interview, Craig Zinkievich of Cryptic Studios announced that the console port of Star Trek Online has hit the same wall as Champions Online: The wall of cancellation.

“It’s pretty much in the same boat as the Champions console version right now,”

But surely you have more of an explanation…

“It’s something we can readily do in terms of technology. We’ve had it up and running on certain consoles, and had plans and designs in order to take advantage of those platforms. But as it stands right now it’s a little difficult to make that final leap on the business side of things. So, currently, just like Champions, the console version of Star Trek Online is on the back burner.”

Before the Cryptic trolls pounce on this, I will remind you that Star Trek Online holds over one hundred thousand subscribers. Hopefully “back burner” means that Cryptic hasn’t canned the idea completely, but this does give much more restitution to those who were waiting on news of Star Trek Online being available for preorder.

Now if only Funcom would let Age of Conan 360 go.

Age of Conan Downtime/Character Deletion Today


What about the rights of that little girl?

If you are reading this and have not heeded my own, Funcom’s, and other’s warnings to save your inactive, low level characters from deletion, you are too late. As of earlier this morning, Age of Conan’s servers went offline for what will be a twelve hour downtime. Characters that have been inactive for at least seven months prior to today, and are under level 20 (and still in the tutorial) will be deleted as part of an effort to consolidate data, and in preparation for upcoming server mergers.

Naturally there will be players who will complain over this idea, and I did mention in the past article that this would end up being perceived as a grab for money by some, and a threat to others. However, in Funcom’s defense, setting up a separate database with unused characters is not worth the resources it would take to port them back into the game at a future date, especially considering it would likely cost the user money, at a price not worth spending on a character that has yet to make way out of the tutorial. I also noted that a lot of the criticism was coming from players who had no intention of playing either way, a group I have noted several times in the past whose feedback should be ignored at all opportunities.

More on Age of Conan, such as the upcoming server mergers, as it appears.

Conan Inactive Character Deletion: Barbaric Resolution

Those of you with inactive accounts that have characters below level 20 will have already received an email regarding this, or will be receiving one. In order to consolidate space and free up storage and names on the servers, due to an upcoming server merge, Funcom will be deleting inactive sub-20 characters.


Now that that is over...

That’s a nice tutorial character you have there. It’d be a shame if something were to happen to it. As I’m sure you’re aware, accidents happen all the time. You try to open a door, and suddenly you get struck in the head by a freak tire iron accident. Or those cars, we all know about those random explosions that occur when you try to start the engine. Just saying, a little protection money can go a long way.

Ok, so Funcom isn’t going to beat you with a tire iron if you don’t resubscribe, nor am I aware of any Italian mobsters who converse through cryptic dialog, but they will delete your unused, inactive characters that are under level 20. Those of you with inactive accounts that have characters below level 20 will have already received an email regarding this, or will be receiving one. In order to consolidate space and free up storage and names on the servers, due to an upcoming server merge, Funcom will be deleting inactive sub-20 characters.

More after the break.

Continue reading “Conan Inactive Character Deletion: Barbaric Resolution”

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