Tag: Mortal Online

Mortal Online: Facebook Discount, Expansion Coming


We have been silent for some time now while working very hard on our first expansion titled Dawn, and we now feel ready to reveal its contents. The expansion will be released in April, and it will not cost anything, all you need is an active subscription.

Mortal Online has gone through some…troubles in its short less-than-a-year on the market. Since its launch last June, the team over at Star Vault have had to deal with ongoing lag and server stability issues, the accidental deletion of an entire city, the realization that their combat system may be unfeasible, a few publicized exaggerations regarding patches, not to mention that the game is still not profiting, and Star Vault is selling stock for five cents a share. Given this, any progress is worth publishing for the fledgling developer, and Star Vault wants nothing more than to make the upcoming expansion go smoothly.

To start, finally a followup on the mount update I wrote about last month. With the new mount system, each horse will carry its own unique stats, as well as the slots to equip with new saddles, armor, headpieces, and horseshoes. By customizing the horse, players will increase their speed, defense, and storage capacity. There are a lot more updates to be seen in the upcoming expansion, which can be read here.

More importantly, however, is the announcement in this month’s newsletter that players will be able to link their Facebook profile with their Mortal Online account, and have updates sent to their wall based on what they do in-game. Why link? Star Vault is offering a discount to your subscription if you do. I do not have any information currently regarding how much the discount is, however I will post more information in the coming month.

In addition, Star Vault is looking to release a system reminiscent of World of Warcraft’s Armory, allowing players to view real-time status updates on the guild territory, wars, and characters. Of course, being a PvP-centric game, displaying your information will be completely optional.

Finally, it appears that Star Vault is making progress on the server stability end of things, recording a 50 hour uptime before the servers were brought down for maintenance. This will surely be a delight to players.

More on Mortal Online as it appears.

Mortal Online: Revolutionizing Mounts In MMOs!


Seeing Henrik Nystrom post on the Mortal Online always reminds me of watching a kid describing his favorite super hero, just because I can’t read Henrik’s description of an impending update and not think “and then Superman flies and, and everyone is like ‘whoa,’ and then he grabs a car with his super strength and he smashes the bad guy like POW, BAM, POW!”

Today’s post comes from the Mortal Online forums, where Henrik has an announcement about an upcoming mount update:

Revolutionize mounts in MMOs you say? Why, that would be even better than an update that was just like Mortal Online 2, or as one deleted post put it:

Technically, MasterCrafter (if that is your real username), you left out the part where Henrik blames Epic Games. Although, if the update is as revolutionary to Mortal Online as Henrik says it is, the mounts may have the power to keep the server running online for more than ten concurrent hours without crashing.

More on Mortal Online, and what is and is not the fault of Epic China, as it appears.

Mortal Online: Still Not Profiting, 2011 A Better Hope?


Spiders everywhere.

The only thing I love more than reading financial reports is reading financial reports auto-translated by Google. With the release of Mortal Online’s 14-day trial, our next bit of discussion pertains to the company’s annual financial report, released a little earlier today. The short: Mortal Online is remaining stable, growing at a small rate. Star Vault has plans to increase advertising in the near future, but requires more money as the previous ad money was spent on development. Although the subscriber rate is growing at a positive pace, Mortal Online has yet to achieve profitability, even with the new cost management.

With the new cost structure, the Board expects that an additional approximately 1500 players to achieve break-even, a goal that we hope to achieve in the second quarter of 2011.

Hopefully the mass sale of stocks, as well as new players being introduced via the 14 day trial, will bring Star Vault some much needed income to sustain the company until they reach the point of profiting.

More on Mortal Online as it appears. You can read the whole financial report here.

Mortal Online: 14 Day Trial


Fight now, and let spill the dogs of war?

Wanted to try out Mortal Online without the need for purchasing the game? Those of you paying attention will be aware that a free trial has been on the list for a while now, but hampered due to Star Vault’s desire to continue patching the game before advertising it to the general public. The wait, however, is over! Announced via email and through the game’s forums, players may now create a trial account here, download the client here, and soon be experiencing the full frontal nudity that is Mortal Online.

Limitations, you say? There is a limit of 600 skill points and a cap of level 60 for all skills. Other than that, you have 14 days to wreak havoc on your fellow players in the nudist colony. You may want to check up on the servers before you go in, however, as Star Vault’s Henrik Nystrom posted a couple days ago:

Dear community,

Our entire host network in Europe have operation issues at the moment. This is affecting our server at the moment. We got reports that servers running a game called World Of Warcraft is effecting these network at the moment via Frankfurt……

This could affect our server connections and they are working to solve it as we speak.

A game called World of Warcraft…Nope, not ringing a bell. Whatever it is, surely it can’t be big enough to cause lasting server problems.

Buy Star Vault Stock! Only 5 Cents A Share!


Let's not lose our heads over this.

Mortal Online has been creeping its way towards success since its launch last year, and not unlike the mass of polyps in my face, removing the problems is going to require a lot of work, time, and perhaps some major surgery. As it stands, however, Star Vault has taken the “no publicity is better than bad publicity” approach, one that I myself have encouraged and several other MMOs featured here are currently using, and Henrik Nystrom is holding off on advertising Mortal Online until the game reaches a marketable state.

Unfortunately, development doesn’t pay the bills, and likely not even Henrik can continue using the family coffers forever. Star Vault, on a Swedish trading website, announced that 9.9 million Class B shares will go up for sale for .36 SEK each, a figure which rounds to about 5 cents USD per share. I don’t think it takes an expert to know that those are extraordinarily low stock prices.

Hopefully this influx of cash will mean faster development toward that era of marketability that Star Vault so greatly desires and likely needs at this point. I mean, it has to get worse before it can get better, right?

More on Mortal Online as it appears.

Oorak Two-Horned


Some people don’t like the nudity aspect of Mortal Online, while others don’t mind it. While the Risar (Orcs) continue taking over the land of Nave, you would think players would be focusing on fighting back rather than admiring Oorak’s alien muscle structure, one particular part of his muscle structure.

Of course, this is just a matter of penis…I mean, opinion. And to think, he told me it was another arm.

Isn’t Reality A Bitch, Henrik?


Credit goes to Scream112 on the Mortal Online forums for the screenshot.

Any game, and really any concept in any medium, follows the same path. At the early stages, the developers dream up all kinds of stuff they want their players to be able to do in their world. Drunken bar brawls? Awesome! Skill based combat with no lag on an MMO? Brilliant! Full PvP with no restrictions? Blockbuster!

Eventually, either before or after release, the developer hits a brick wall and like any decent sinking ship, some of the furniture must be thrown overboard to keep stable. Thinking players would protect one another in cities, negating the need for NPC guards? Didn’t happen. Player owned housing non-instanced? Not possible under your engine. Epic sword of goat-slaying? Wasn’t as overpowered before someone decided to add half-goat half-human as a player race. Holding a Cataclysm style event? The established community would never accept it.

This week, Star Vault is coming to that basic understanding of reality by publicly announcing their plans to not only have their cake, but preserve it until a later time in which they may eat it. In this case, Star Vault’s own Henrik Nystrom has posted a new thread on the official forums detailing plans for the server lag. He stresses that this is not the desync we once knew, that has been eradicated. This lag, on the other hand, has to do with the way movement and attacks are predicted on the server’s end, namely that the server is not updating said figures fast enough (at least that’s what I got out of it).

On one hand, it appears that this update is going to be a last-ditch effort to fix the lag before less desirable updates have to be considered, either through localizing servers or completely changing the combat so that the current hardware can handle the combat.

“If this doesn’t bring us to an “acceptable” level when it comes to real time combat we may be forced at looking into localizing servers, which we really want to avoid at all means, or we simply have to look at “nerfing” the complex way of fighting, which of course is something we want to avoid.”

This is good news, and hopefully this effort by Star Vault to stamp out desync, or whatever term they call it, will go by without having to resort to splitting up an already small community, or changing the charm that Mortal Online holds to many of its players.

Mortal Online is one of those games I can’t wait to try…when it is finished and as lag free as they’re going to get it. Until then, I’m a college student with 12 grand in college loans, another 6 in my car, and another 15 grand on the way over the next two years for even more collegical goodness. I don’t have any disposable income.

Isn't Reality A Bitch, Henrik?


Credit goes to Scream112 on the Mortal Online forums for the screenshot.

Any game, and really any concept in any medium, follows the same path. At the early stages, the developers dream up all kinds of stuff they want their players to be able to do in their world. Drunken bar brawls? Awesome! Skill based combat with no lag on an MMO? Brilliant! Full PvP with no restrictions? Blockbuster!

Eventually, either before or after release, the developer hits a brick wall and like any decent sinking ship, some of the furniture must be thrown overboard to keep stable. Thinking players would protect one another in cities, negating the need for NPC guards? Didn’t happen. Player owned housing non-instanced? Not possible under your engine. Epic sword of goat-slaying? Wasn’t as overpowered before someone decided to add half-goat half-human as a player race. Holding a Cataclysm style event? The established community would never accept it.

This week, Star Vault is coming to that basic understanding of reality by publicly announcing their plans to not only have their cake, but preserve it until a later time in which they may eat it. In this case, Star Vault’s own Henrik Nystrom has posted a new thread on the official forums detailing plans for the server lag. He stresses that this is not the desync we once knew, that has been eradicated. This lag, on the other hand, has to do with the way movement and attacks are predicted on the server’s end, namely that the server is not updating said figures fast enough (at least that’s what I got out of it).

On one hand, it appears that this update is going to be a last-ditch effort to fix the lag before less desirable updates have to be considered, either through localizing servers or completely changing the combat so that the current hardware can handle the combat.

“If this doesn’t bring us to an “acceptable” level when it comes to real time combat we may be forced at looking into localizing servers, which we really want to avoid at all means, or we simply have to look at “nerfing” the complex way of fighting, which of course is something we want to avoid.”

This is good news, and hopefully this effort by Star Vault to stamp out desync, or whatever term they call it, will go by without having to resort to splitting up an already small community, or changing the charm that Mortal Online holds to many of its players.

Mortal Online is one of those games I can’t wait to try…when it is finished and as lag free as they’re going to get it. Until then, I’m a college student with 12 grand in college loans, another 6 in my car, and another 15 grand on the way over the next two years for even more collegical goodness. I don’t have any disposable income.

The Risar Are Coming! The Risar Are Coming! [Mortal Online]


“Help! Anyone, everyone, we need help! The Risar are attacking!”

GM Events are nature’s way of saying “we’re willing to break from the normal monotony of every day gaming.” In most cases, these events are pretty simple in nature, and result in little change to the game’s landscape, if any at all. The event starts, players do things, and eventually the event ends. We all have fun, and might obtain a cool item to take home with us, but the next day is as if nothing ever happened. Other events, like in The Matrix Online and Tabula Rasa, such GM events can result in the death of major NPCs, entire bases being blown up, or even prelude to bigger expansions.

The above GM event took place just a couple days ago in Cave Camp, players being notified by word of mouth, and by an NPC running around the wilderness frantically screaming of the attack. Players were tasked with fighting off the Risar horde (Risar are Mortal Online’s version of Orcs, for those of you who have not played the game).

Eventually the Risar made way for their leader, the Risar Lord, to step in and finish the job. Although a number of players managed to cut the Risar Lord to size, an alliance of players from the Ascension clan (and others) bolted in, in a coordinated attack, and drove the players off to kill the Risar Lord themselves and no doubt feast upon his sweet, sweet loot.

The event wasn’t full GM-driven, it was a scripted event that was activated and allowed to run its course. Of course, Star Vault has promised to expand upon this in the future, with more GM-driven events, surprise events to come. Players will also recall such “epic bosses,” single-time monsters that only appear once, are gone when they are killed, and are controlled by GMs.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, the Risar Lord slaying (IE: People circling a mob and curb stomping it repeatedly).

Looking Back, Moving Forward: November 2010


It's funny because it bashes WoW...

Small change in the LBMF structure. Now that November is done, companies are going to have to ramp up work if they’re going to get their game out and hit that 2010 release date. According to the MMORPG.com game list, there are more MMOs apparently slated for release this month than I can care to count.

My biggest disappointment with November was probably that there won’t be a 2011 MMO calendar. The 2010 MMO calendar on my wall, many of the months having various autographs, came out last year to benefit St. Jude Childre’s Research Center, and apparently is not coming back for 2011. I may just buy a Guild Wars 2 calendar, or perhaps just use my Nintendo 2011 calendar I received as part of the Nintendo Club.

The Good:

  • Star Trek Online Free To Play: Sure, Cryptic may be bribing us by saying “play Champions Online free to play and perhaps spend some cash, and maybe we’ll consider throwing you a bone in Star Trek Online,” but who cares? Star Trek Online may be going free to play! Although it will be limited, a free to play transition for Star Trek Online should be just what the game needs to get some big traffic, especially with the changes in response to player gripes, and the introduction of user generated content.
  • K2 Networks Picks Up APB: K2Networks, also known as GamersFirst, picked up the rights to All Points Bulletin and plans on reviving the game early next year, after an extensive patching to make the game suitable for its new free to play environment.
  • PvP In Alganon: Well, technically to have player vs player combat you need more than one player, but we can work on that at a later date. In the November patch, Quest Online added a system for flagging for PvP, as well as dueling. In future patches, Alganon players will see a keep/siege system similar to Warhammer Online, as well as a renown system that players will level up for gear.
  • Pirates of the Burning Sea now Free: Flying Lab Software released the free to play transition to Pirates of the Burning Sea this month.

The Bad:

  • No City? I’m On Break: A company royally breaking their game in a patch is not all too uncommon, in fact I can name at least one game (rhymes with ShroomTape) where such an event occurs every other week. When Mortal Online released a patch that inadvertently removed a city, killing its occupants and creating a gigantic void for players who came anywhere near it, much of the angry response came not because of the glitch itself, but because of the response. The players were told that the missing city could not be replaced for a few days, because the developers were off for the weekend.
  • Final Fantasy XIV: Not Satisfactory: It isn’t often a company comes right out and says “our game isn’t satisfactory,” but Square Enix did with Final Fantasy XIV, and after bad news on the financial grounds, they are committed to keeping their current subscribers (who haven’t paid a dime in subscription fees three months after release) and bringing in new players. To top off this need for players, I found that stores in the US, and possibly other countries, are pulling Final Fantasy XIV from shelves. Target and WalMart are now only selling the title online.
  • Star Gate: No More Resistance: Square Enix isn’t the only group getting a double whammy this month, as Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment announced that they had won the lawsuit against Fresh Start Studios, gaining their assets back for Stargate Worlds. Unfortunately, MGM terminated the agreement with Cheyenne over the Stargate license, meaning for right now the MMO is dead. Later on in November, Fresh Start announced that Stargate Resistance would be shutting down early next year.
  • Aion Million Man March: Later on in November, mmosite reported on a protest in Aion China against the rampant botting in the game. An estimated thirty thousand players appeared to congest cities in a number of servers in protest, shutting down four servers in the process.

The “What’s Happening in December?”:

  • Earth…Something or Other: Earth Eternal shut down back in August after the developers stopped paying the bills, and I think it’s safe to assume that Sparkplay Media’s CEO is now unemployed. We still don’t know who purchased the game, although all signs point to Time Warner, and there is no indication when the game will be brought back online. Guess we’re in for another month of waiting.
  • Anarchy In The Cash Shop: Anarchy Online last month launched the game’s brand new cash shop, offering everything from level packs, stims, and more for a nominal fee. I’ll be watching to see if there are any financial reports gloating on the success of the cash shop, or if its existence is merely pushed to the back as something of an embarrassment.
  • Cataclysm Shakes WoW: Oh look, a mention of World of Warcraft on MMO Fallout! Although the damage to the World of Warcraft has already been done, for the most part, in the Shattering event, Cataclysm launches in just a few days bringing new races, new areas, and generally a whole lot of new to the World of Warcraft.
  • And More!
http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/problem/stereoty.h