Tag: NCSoft

Aion Server Merger Delayed: Race To The Naming


Assuming the GM's don't murder you first.

Good news everyone! The Aion server mergers have been delayed from the 7th until the 14th. More importantly, NCsoft has come forward with some information regarding how the new servers will handle the duplicate names. The system is pretty simple:

  • Upon server merger, all characters will have a one or two character abbreviation added to the end of their name, based off of the server they originated from. In the case of two players with the same name, with sixteen characters in their name, transferring to the same server, one will find their name changed completely.
  • All characters are being provided with free name change tickets, and getting your old name back will be a matter of first come first served.

Somehow I don’t think that this will tide over well with the Collector’s Edition customers, who will find their perk of early-naming-access is now essentially nullified not even a year after release, not to mention the other players who will log in to find themselves out of a name to someone who joined after they did. It does beg the question: Is having a policy of naming based on seniority (the older character gets the name), as most other MMOs do, such a bad thing that this is the better alternative? I personally don’t see too much evidence to support it.

This will break down into players bum rushing the servers minutes after the maintenance ends, likely bringing the server to a crawl, in hopes of getting their names back. Players will need patience on the day of the mergers, and the days following, as customer service will be oversaturated with new requests on top of their regular duties.

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.

Aion Server Mergers To Be Quick/Painless


Still gives me nightmares.

When Aion launched last year, a last minute decision was made post-launch to add a few servers to alleviate load. Of course, as is the usual case with MMOs, the population has gone down since release and the extra servers are no longer necessary, as the queues and server load of old are just that, a thing of the past. As pointed out in the NCsoft financial report, although Aion numbers have gone down since last September’s launch, NC believes that the numbers will maintain their current position, especially with the 1.9 and 2.0 patches.

When Aion’s servers merge, they want to give players free reign to move from server to server to find themselves a suitable new home. As a result, players will be given free, unlimited transfers between July 8th and August 18th.

Server mergers will begin July 7th (The same day as the Vanguard server merges.) and the following servers will be merged:

North America
New Siel (West Coast)
Siel & Ariel
New Vaizel Server (West Coast)
Vaizel, Kaisinel, Yustiel & Fregion
New Israphel Server (East Coast)
Israphel, Lumiel & Marchutan
New Zikel Server (East Coast)
Zikel, Triniel, Azphel & Meslamtada
New Nezekan Server (Oceanic)
No Change

Europe
New Spatalos Server (ENG)
Spatalos & Gorgos
New Telemachus Server (ENG)
Telemachus & Castor
New Perento Server (ENG)
Perento, Kahrun & Kalil
New Kromede Server (GER)
Kromede & Votan
New Thor Server (GER)
Thor & Nerthus
New Balder Server (GER)
Balder& Lephar
New Urtem Server (FRA)
Urtem & Vidar
New Suthran Server (FRA)
Suthran, Arbolu & Deltras

Your items, equipment, kinah, legions, warehouse items, broker items, and AP. Name change coupons will be provided if you were not able to keep your name through the merger. Fortress ownership will be reset.

Read the full FAQ here: http://powerwiki.na.aiononline.com/aion/Server+Merge+FAQ

Aion 1.9: Louie Goes Legit


NCsoft has big goals behind the 1.9 update to Aion. In fact, as this video shows, they are willing to bet that leveling has become so much faster, that players won’t have any reason to buy powerleveling services, leaving Louie from Louie’s Power Leveling For Losers…oddly out of business. But hey, even Louie is finding Aion so much fun, he’s going legit! So go help Louie with his raiding, and if you don’t, he’ll break your legs.

I hope Rooster Teeth keeps making these videos.

The More You MMO #3: Earn Your Powers


NC + Rooster Teeth =

Once again Rooster Teeth has teamed up with NCsoft to inform those of you who may be considering buying accounts/powerleveling, and entertain those of us smart enough not to. Today’s lesson? Don’t buy your characters, otherwise you’ll end up as dumb as Caboose. Oh and you’ll be naked and alone.

Guild Wars Mass Ban, Disbanding


"I'm going to kill you with my ban-scythe"

This is Dhuum, he doesn’t like cheaters, hackers, botters, and exploiters. If you cheat, hack, bot, or exploit bugs, Dhuum will find you, and Dhuum will murder you in cold blood. As the God of death, when Dhuum takes your soul, there is no coming back, you are banished from the world of Guild Wars forever.

ArenaNet has announced that they have banned over 3,700 accounts, not to mention disbanding over a dozen guilds, with more on the way. Not only are players being banned, but they are being smitten in-game by the God of Death. See the video.

This isn’t the first NCsoft title to have flashy public executions of botters. Aion is well known to have GM’s personally firebomb chat spammers out of existence.

More on Guild Wars as it appears.

Aion: Server Merges Off The Port Bow!


If Only...

Aion launched in late September 2009, and by November I had reported that NCSoft’s report that the game had sold nearly one million copies in North America and Europe. Not only that, but very shortly after release NCsoft released a couple more servers to alleviate load. They did this, of course, with very public opposition to the idea. With any MMO, adding servers within the first month is generally a poor decision, as the iconic mass exodus that follows any MMO’s launch in the first few months is bound to alleviate those overpopulation woes.

So it is not too surprising when Aion announces that they are merging servers:

“I don’t relish the idea of mergers, however, once it is complete you should notice improvements in each of the new server economies, an abundance of players to group and run instances with, a number of great Legions to join or people to form new ones with, and a more tightly knit community.When all is said and done, Aion will be a better game because of the server merge. We’re in the planning stages, and will have more information on the timing and execution in the coming weeks.”

Chris Hager is right! Seriously, he is. Server mergers are not always a bad thing, and can do a world of good to the game’s economies and servers, and often even incite people into resubscribing who may have left due to low population on their server, but an unwillingness to transfer and create a new character.

In the recent NCsoft Q1 report, Aion is down in the West, with the conference call noting:

“As for the Aion performance in the Western market, I should have mentioned that the number of active users has declined since the launch of the retail package in September and October last year. But I’m also very confident that at this point EU/US is able to maintain the current level of active users and since we’re expecting the 1.9 update soon, and also 2.0 in the third quarter.”

More on Aion and the server mergers as it appears.

Fun Facts From NCSoft's Q1 2010 Report


I love earnings reports, more so because I am a huge number crunching nerd, but because it gives us an occasional glimpse into how MMO developers are doing. NCsoft finally got around to filing their Q1 reports, and there is plenty of information to be found, namely in what game is doing better than others.

I often hear complaints about NCsoft pushing North American and European players to the side, and quite frankly they might have good reason. The breakdown of NCsoft’s income paints a picture as to why NA and EU may take a back seat to other regions.

  1. Korea: 65%
  2. Japan: 11%
  3. N. America: 8%
  4. Europe: 7%
  5. Taiwan: 4%

Korea is still NCsoft’s biggest market by far, with NCsoft making almost as much from royalties (the remaining 6%) as they do from N. America or Europe.

As far as game sales themselves go, NCsoft pointed out at the top of the page that Lineage is continuing its growth momentum, which is quite impressive for a game hitting its twelfth birthday this September.

  1. Aion: 71,235
  2. Lineage: 47,507
  3. Lineage 2: 29,662
  4. City of Heroes: 3,348
  5. Others: 3,255
  6. Guild Wars: 2,382

Sales are down 5% from the last quarter, however the trend is continuing upward on a year over year scale. Profits have also increased due to what NCsoft referred to as cost cutting programs to improve efficiency. Arenanet looks like they are in some hot water, as their quarterly sales are down 33% from last quarter, and are plummeting on a year-by-year basis of 47%, making it the lowest operating NCsoft at this point. NCEurope did the worst this quarter with a 50% drop a sales, but is still riding a 180% year on year growth.

A few of the titles are disappointing, yet not all that unsurprising. Guild Wars, considering its age, is getting to the point where most of the people who will purchase it have already purchased it. Not to mention Guild Wars doesn’t exactly have a subscription to ride on for cash. City of Heroes is getting on in its age, although the game and its community are still going very strong. Lineage and Lineage 2 are still big sellers in Korea, no surprises there.

NCsoft is looking at a lot of potential in the next few years, what with their upcoming titles. Aion still appears to be selling strong, although the recent announcement of server mergers…well that’s for another story.

Fun Facts From NCSoft’s Q1 2010 Report


I love earnings reports, more so because I am a huge number crunching nerd, but because it gives us an occasional glimpse into how MMO developers are doing. NCsoft finally got around to filing their Q1 reports, and there is plenty of information to be found, namely in what game is doing better than others.

I often hear complaints about NCsoft pushing North American and European players to the side, and quite frankly they might have good reason. The breakdown of NCsoft’s income paints a picture as to why NA and EU may take a back seat to other regions.

  1. Korea: 65%
  2. Japan: 11%
  3. N. America: 8%
  4. Europe: 7%
  5. Taiwan: 4%

Korea is still NCsoft’s biggest market by far, with NCsoft making almost as much from royalties (the remaining 6%) as they do from N. America or Europe.

As far as game sales themselves go, NCsoft pointed out at the top of the page that Lineage is continuing its growth momentum, which is quite impressive for a game hitting its twelfth birthday this September.

  1. Aion: 71,235
  2. Lineage: 47,507
  3. Lineage 2: 29,662
  4. City of Heroes: 3,348
  5. Others: 3,255
  6. Guild Wars: 2,382

Sales are down 5% from the last quarter, however the trend is continuing upward on a year over year scale. Profits have also increased due to what NCsoft referred to as cost cutting programs to improve efficiency. Arenanet looks like they are in some hot water, as their quarterly sales are down 33% from last quarter, and are plummeting on a year-by-year basis of 47%, making it the lowest operating NCsoft at this point. NCEurope did the worst this quarter with a 50% drop a sales, but is still riding a 180% year on year growth.

A few of the titles are disappointing, yet not all that unsurprising. Guild Wars, considering its age, is getting to the point where most of the people who will purchase it have already purchased it. Not to mention Guild Wars doesn’t exactly have a subscription to ride on for cash. City of Heroes is getting on in its age, although the game and its community are still going very strong. Lineage and Lineage 2 are still big sellers in Korea, no surprises there.

NCsoft is looking at a lot of potential in the next few years, what with their upcoming titles. Aion still appears to be selling strong, although the recent announcement of server mergers…well that’s for another story.

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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