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.

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Funcom: Going Casual


Sweet Robot, er, tiger?

With Funcom working on an expansion to Age of Conan, as well as the upcoming The Secret World, and the engine change to Anarchy Online, I admit I was both surprised and concerned when the announcement came that Funcom’s new division, Sweet Robot, would be working on a kid’s MMO: PetsVs Monsters. After playing Pets Vs Monsters: The Beta, the concern has relegated itself to my lower intestinal track.

But who knew? The same company that brought us layoffs and greatly lowered revenue is also bringing us more casual titles! Granted, this is nothing new. Back in a time when Ritual Entertainment made great first person shooters, they were gobbled up by Mumbojumbo and are now creating casual titles. Funcom announced that they have even more casual kid MMOs planned for the future, with Pets Vs Monsters in open beta currently.

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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”

Play Age of Conan My Lord, Free Forever!


Hey, Fileplanet subscribers! Do you want to experience the action, breasts, excitement, breasts, and breasts that Age of Conan has to offer, but don’t want to deal with the pesky process of buying the game and paying for a subscription? Subscribers to Fileplanet can participate in a free unlimited trial, con limitations, today!

Head over to Fileplanet today and claim your key. Aren’t a subscriber to Fileplanet? Look at it this way: Spend the 6 bucks for a month, cancel your renewal, and still grab the key. Limited trial members will be unable to participate in the less important aspects of the game, such as public chat, trading, or using the forums, among other restrictions. You weren’t planning on using those anyway, I have a hunch.

Access the original game today! This desperate grab for subscribers brought to you by Fileplanet, Funcom, and viewers like you! Well maybe not you exactly. Mainly people who fall for not really unlimited, unlimited trials.

Funcom, For Kids!


Not a breast or nanobot in sight...

It’s been a while since I talked about Funcom, almost a month! It’s good to see that Funcom continues to stride through whatever low points life throws its way.  Slashing 20% of the company’s workforce, dropping 68.5% of revenue, and a loss of subscribers due to recent MMO releases, is just a flesh wound. Not only has Funcom opened a subsidiary, SweetRobot, but said subsidiary has been working on a free to play MMO for two years!

Set to go into open beta later this month, and pictured above, is Pets Vs Monsters. PvM, not to be confused with the popular MMO term, is…I’ll let Funcom explain it to you, but after the break.

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Welcome Age of Conan..ers.


The MMO Fallout Exploded today

I’ve poked fun at Funcom from time to time, be it their questionable business decisions, cutting prices Freddy Krueger style in a desperate grab for more subscribers, and announcing a delay on a non-dated title. I may have opened up a portal, however.

If you look at the chart above, that’s the traffic to MMO Fallout (Which excludes myself). Startled to see that spike, I dived into the statistics to find that the most searched phrase that led here was: “Age of Conan.” Whether our new visitors are existing players, or those looking for information on the title, MMO Fallout welcomes you and your hordes of buddies.

So what’s the deal, restless group of oddly silent visitors? Am I making sense or do I have the wrong picture about Funcom and their titles? Drop a comment.

Funcom: Revenue, Outsourcing, and More Dissappointment…


If Funcom's money was gold-backed...
If Funcom's money was gold backed.

It has certainly not been a good few months for Funcom, and according to the company, the situation is expected to get worse. After September’s notice of layoffs of 20% of the company’s workforce, we received further news that the upcoming MMO, The Secret World, would also be delayed by at least several months. Age of Conan and Anarchy Online are allegedly unaffected by the downsizing.

Age of Conan, alongside several other titles, is in the middle of a furious campaign to gain long term subscribers to their title (Because, as I say time and time again, it’s all about retention rate), bringing in heavy discounts for multi-month packages, veteran rewards, and more. Age of Conan has an expansion pack in the works, while Anarchy Online has its major graphics upgrade.

More after the break…

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Wait, Wasn’t Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?


tsw_screen_1

My encyclopedic, borderline obsessive compulsive brain allows me to notice trends and related material, even if I can’t exactly remember when it happened or what that related material is (if my brain was encyclopedic, no one bothers to put the books back in alphabetical order, and someone keeps drawing on the pages). So when I saw that Funcom has been given a grant for development on a new MMO, I had to check my own archives to make sure I wasn’t having a brain related event, or confusing companies.

Lo and behold, I find it quickly: Not only quickly, but because it happened just in the past couple of months. In late September, Funcom announced that they were laying off 20% of their workforce. The company’s move to Montreal not only resulted in a downsizing, but I couldn’t help wondering at the time if firing one in five employees would cause disruption to the company’s two live titles (Age of Conan and Anarchy Online) and their title in production: The Secret World.

Continue reading “Wait, Wasn’t Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?”

Wait, Wasn't Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?


tsw_screen_1

My encyclopedic, borderline obsessive compulsive brain allows me to notice trends and related material, even if I can’t exactly remember when it happened or what that related material is (if my brain was encyclopedic, no one bothers to put the books back in alphabetical order, and someone keeps drawing on the pages). So when I saw that Funcom has been given a grant for development on a new MMO, I had to check my own archives to make sure I wasn’t having a brain related event, or confusing companies.

Lo and behold, I find it quickly: Not only quickly, but because it happened just in the past couple of months. In late September, Funcom announced that they were laying off 20% of their workforce. The company’s move to Montreal not only resulted in a downsizing, but I couldn’t help wondering at the time if firing one in five employees would cause disruption to the company’s two live titles (Age of Conan and Anarchy Online) and their title in production: The Secret World.

Continue reading “Wait, Wasn't Funcom Downsizing? Another MMO?”