Tag: MMO

The MMO Turing Test: Five Years


Crafting Crime...

I came upon this decision months ago, but I’ve been sitting on it until someone pointed out my hint, and they did in an email I received:

I see you updated your calendar showing MMO birthdays, but only titles that are five years old and older are displayed. Is there a reason for this? Or do you consider five years to be the point of “success” and none of the others are worth mentioning.

Borderline obsessive-compulsive grammar notations aside, what the reader pointed out is not correct at all. Those of you who have stuck with MMO Fallout since our earlier days are well aware that I refuse to stick labels on to MMOs, and have maintained that what makes up a “successful” title or a “failed” title really depends on what goals the developer set out and what they accomplished in that time frame. As no MMO will live forever, to put an arbitrary time on how long of a lifespan makes up success would be meaningless.

So what is this Turing test, you ask? My test bases itself on population, place, self-awareness, and perception. The date is five years after release. By the time an MMO passes the Turing test, the following has been in stone:

  • Population: By the time an MMO hits five years old, the stream of incoming players is more akin to a slow drip, and five years is enough to keep the veteran players entrapped with new content, as well as not wanting to leave behind their high level, high-time-invested characters. The company is well in-tune with the size and needs of their player base, and can plan accordingly.
  • Self-Awareness: The developer knows the limits of their engine, and has likely hit those limits by now. Using this knowledge, they set reasonable goals that are met in a timely fashion, due to decreased time debugging software and experimenting with previously unused techniques.
  • Place: This is where the developer knows exactly what spot they fill on the MMO spectrum. For example, Dark Age of Camelot is a Realm V Realm game and thus needs more concentrated servers for player vs player. Runescape is more solo-oriented and players spread out to maximize their resource intake. Darkfall is a niche PvP game that focuses on freedom over babying its players.
  • Perception: By the time an MMO hits five years, they know where they are going. For games like City of Heroes and Lineage, where the population is still thriving, this means regular updates, expansion packs, and major continued support into its old age. For games like Planetside, that face continuing server mergers, slow death. By the time five years comes around, any MMO that can die via short-term mass-exodus already has, such as FURY, or Tabula Rasa.

The important part of my Turing test is that although I call it a test, it is not my judgement of success. Rather, something to be viewed as closer to one’s employment in a business. After you have worked for a single company for so many years, you likely know exactly where your place is, strengths and weaknesses, relations to those around you, and whether you are seeking a promotion, to stay at your current position, or find a new job entirely.

The Turing test is also not exact. “Five years” is not some magical line, and many companies hit their pass/fail on the Turing test over a year earlier than the five-year mark. I decided upon Five years after looking at the MMOs on the market, those that are long gone, with an extra focus on those that are getting along in years. What I found was that most MMOs that are going to “crash and burn” as some put it, do so within three years of release. Asheron’s Call 2 was 3 years, Tabula Rasa was 2 years, Auto Assault was 1 year, FURY was 10 months, and the list goes on. You’ll notice that even World of Warcraft is not immune to the Turing test, as the title has peaked and is now on a downward slope. The more observant of you will note the date of stagnation at around 11.5 million subscribers: 2009, five years after launch.

So if anything, 3 years is around the “do or die” timeline, whereby 5 years the future of the game should be laid out quite plainly.

My interpretation of the Turing test for MMOs is over a year in the making, and doesn’t draw a fine line as much as it does paint a trend. There are still many MMOs that are in their testing phase, and may shape the Turing test in years to come, so expect several followups over the next couple of years.

To those of you who disagree with my perception, I would love to hear your thoughts on a more finely tuned Turing Test.

EA: Microtransactions Through Live Gamer


I knew we couldn't trust the jedi!

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.

More on Live Gamer as it appears.

Fallen Earth: Come Back To Us! We Baked Muffins!


One of my original screenshots.

Fallen Earth is great in the sense that you don’t necessarily have to resubscribe just to get a good idea on how the game has progressed. Rather than plunk down fifteen bucks on a month-long subscription you might regret, this particular MMO is known to throw out fourteen day passes every few months to inactive accounts, allowing them unrestricted access to the game, and hopefully to get them back to forking over some moolah.

If you are an ex-Fallen Earth player, including trial accounts, head on over to this website to activate your account for fourteen days, no restrictions. You only have until August 4th to reactivate your accounts before this offer expires. You might even see me reactivated at the upcoming Texan Invasion event on the 25th (My character’s name is Jomali…I think.). The offer is not for new accounts, although a fourteen day trial already exists for new players.

I’ve included the URL in its base form, as people unfamiliar with MMO Fallout may take me with less trust than your average MMO website.  http://www.fallenearth.com/retry.html

Steam Sale: Final Fantasy XI And Fallen Earth [Over]


Steam Sales Ahoy!

It’s that time again. This week, Steam is having a mini-mondo sale, and a few of our favorite MMO titles have been thrown into the mix.

  • Fallen Earth: Blood Sports
    • Was $29.99 now $17.99
    • Includes 30 days free game time with purchase.
    • Sale lasts until July 27th.
  • Final Fantasy XI: Ultimate
    • Was $9.99 now $4.99
    • Includes 30 days free game time with purchase.
    • Requires Verified By Visa or Mastercard Securecode card. Square Enix will assist you if you do not have this.
    • Sale lasts until July 22nd.

Get em while they’re hot! MMO Fallout will be here to provide you with the latest in MMO sales.

Jagex: Stellar Dawn 2011, We Swear


Previously known as Mechscape

Previously known as Mechscape, Jagex’s entry into the Sci-fi genre of MMO brotherhood has had a shaky startup. Not only has the title been delayed, canned, delayed again, seen two CEOs, but there hasn’t been much in terms of coverage for the fledgling title. Promised to not be “Runescape In Space” (likely why Mechscape was dropped as its name), Stellar Dawn is set to be Jagex’s biggest new offering to date, next to Dungeons of Demonheim on Runescape.

Luckily, Stellar Dawn has officially launched its website with an early 2011 release date. Over on the Stellar Dawn website, you can apply for the closed beta, check out some concept art, and join the forums to discuss the upcoming game.

More on Stellar Dawn as it appears.

Red 5 MMO: No, Seriously, It's Still Coming Out


Why the last time...

Red 5 Studios was founded by World of Warcraft veteran staff, and continued the tradition that Richard Garriot had upheld just a year prior: That for some reason new companies formed by old MMO vets have a habit of imploding in on themselves, if they ever even release a product. I also mentioned that Red 5’s MMOFPS appeared to have been scrapped in favor of a new MMO geared towards the Chinese market. Fast forward one month, and you have The9 (estranged ex-Chinese World of Wacraft host) buying the majority stake in Red 5 and FireRain. Since then, there hasn’t been much word from Red 5.

And there still isn’t. Production on Red 5’s MMO is still reportedly underway, with information coming soon.

“The game has not been put on hold or delayed. While we are using a highly-modified version of the Project Offset engine, the closing of the Intel team does not impact our ability to complete our own project. We look forward to releasing more information abouto ur project in the near future.”

We’ll see.

Red 5 MMO: No, Seriously, It’s Still Coming Out


Why the last time...

Red 5 Studios was founded by World of Warcraft veteran staff, and continued the tradition that Richard Garriot had upheld just a year prior: That for some reason new companies formed by old MMO vets have a habit of imploding in on themselves, if they ever even release a product. I also mentioned that Red 5’s MMOFPS appeared to have been scrapped in favor of a new MMO geared towards the Chinese market. Fast forward one month, and you have The9 (estranged ex-Chinese World of Wacraft host) buying the majority stake in Red 5 and FireRain. Since then, there hasn’t been much word from Red 5.

And there still isn’t. Production on Red 5’s MMO is still reportedly underway, with information coming soon.

“The game has not been put on hold or delayed. While we are using a highly-modified version of the Project Offset engine, the closing of the Intel team does not impact our ability to complete our own project. We look forward to releasing more information abouto ur project in the near future.”

We’ll see.

All Points Bulletin Needs To Solve Its Identity Crisis

All Points Bulletin is in the middle of an identity crisis, as it would seem, where the developers need to pick a side and stick with it, as to whether or not the game is an MMO or a competitive shooter.


A'ridin on a pony

Realtime World’s Dave Jones predicted that reviewers would not be so lenient on All Points Bulletin, and he was right. So far, the reviews have been around the middle (average 5’s to 6’s out of 10), with the negative comments mainly focused on the idea that, for a driving and shooting game, the driving and shooting mechanics need quite a bit of tuning. A lot of good has been noted towards the customization features and the character creator.

All Points Bulletin is in the middle of an identity crisis, as it would seem, where the developers need to pick a side and stick with it, as to whether or not the game is an MMO or a competitive shooter.

  • If All Points Bulletin is an MMO, Realtime Worlds needs to flesh out the world which, as of right now, is quite two dimensional. I’m not asking for anything huge, like the epic quests in Lord of the Rings Online, but Realtime Worlds could definitely spruce up the world by hosting live story-driven events that allow both sides to be involved. They could run an overall story arc with developer presence akin to The Matrix Online, for example starting with the criminals attempting to blow up a building and steal secret files inside (not in that order). Whoever wins moves the story arc in a variety of areas.
  • On the other hand, if Realtime Worlds wants to bill itself as a competitive online shooter, then the shooting and driving mechanics need to be overhauled yesterday. In a game where chase missions are often and plenty, having driving being as painful as it is in All Points Bulletin is very off-putting, feeling as if you are behind the wheel of a consistently intoxicated driver. As many have also said, the shooting feels unresponsive and you don’t feel as if you are shooting a weapon when the person you are pumping a full clip into barely flinches.

On another note, if Realtime Worlds wants to bill APB as a shoot-em-up and not an MMO, you will likely see that subscription go out the door faster than with Global Agenda, and Global Agenda’s subscription portion was eons closer to the traditional MMO formula than All Points Bulletin is.

I like All Points Bulletin, and I did pre-order, and I have played several hours. I do admit, however, that the game appears to be torn between two genres, and may be trying to move in two directions at once in a “jack of all trades, master of none” situation.

More on APB as it appears.

No, You Are Not Owed A Refund


Whether you pay a monthly fee, buy cash shop items, or simply just play without paying, you are making some kind of investment in your MMO of choice, a combination of time and usually money. As I have pointed out before on many occasions, the major difference between MMOs and many other games is that MMOs are consistently changing. In fact, if you were to quit an MMO and come back two years later, what you might find may be drastically different than what you saw when you last played. Features are balanced, new updates are released, storyline progresses, and more.

An important factor I make note to remind people of is that your subscription fee pays for now. The subscription you pay for June 2010 has no bearing on July 2010, or even December 2010 and beyond. It is because of this that I stress that players should get into the mindset of “I’ve paid $150+ since I’ve subscribed for over a year.” Blizzard could care less if you subscribed to World of Warcraft in July 2008; if you are not subscribed now you will not play on their servers.

I point this out today because whenever I see a notice of a huge update to a game, or a game is shutting down, certain players feel that they are entitled to get their subscription back. Not the pre-paid subscription, as developers are always good about reimbursing players who paid for time past the shutoff date. What I refer to are players who believe they are entitled to their past subscriptions back as some form of compensation for their time.

First of all, your money is spent. Developers don’t shut a game down because they feel they’ve bilked enough money out of it and it’s time to close shop and live in the Bahamas for the rest of their lives. Your past subscription money has already been paid out, likely to some developer so he can feed his family. To put it short: If the developers had the kind of money to refund everyone their past subscriptions, then they wouldn’t be shutting the game down.

Secondly, and this is a crucial one: Please don’t act like you assumed the game would exist forever. Every MMO is going to shut down one day. It may be ten months later, ala FURY, or it may be over thirteen years later, ala Ultima Online. No matter how long it takes, it will happen eventually. Our characters may be a multi-year project, but like any good pet we know that one day that character will be lost, and instead of thinking about how we will be post-burial, we choose the present to have as good of a time as possible.

Third: In certain cases you do get compensation. When Star Wars Galaxies launched the notorious NGE updates, they refunded players who had purchased the latest expansion pack under the assumption that the game would be as it was. Many times when cash shop Korean games change services, they also offer players compensation in terms of in-game currency that they had spent.

In a sense, this article is primarily dedicated to those players of Lord of the Rings Online who expect a full refund of their past subscriptions because the game is going free to play, as well as World of Warcraft players who expect a full refund because Cataclysm is going to make The Barrens slightly less suitable for Chuck Norris jokes. The same goes for all games, however.

I tell people to vote with their wallets, because when the developers see their subscriber/cash-shop purchases plummet, if they are decent they will start listening to the community. Otherwise they will fall, or in the case of FURY, send emails to their ex-customers calling them losers.