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.
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.
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.
Korea: 65%
Japan: 11%
N. America: 8%
Europe: 7%
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.
Aion: 71,235
Lineage: 47,507
Lineage 2: 29,662
City of Heroes: 3,348
Others: 3,255
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.
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.
Korea: 65%
Japan: 11%
N. America: 8%
Europe: 7%
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.
Aion: 71,235
Lineage: 47,507
Lineage 2: 29,662
City of Heroes: 3,348
Others: 3,255
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.
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.
A long time ago, two months to be exact, I did a little bitty about the Better Business Bureau. When I wrote up the article, I wanted to put an emphasis on the points that the bureau does not have authority over businesses, despite how the name may sound. More importantly, as I noted, the BBB is very lenient with the scores that it offers businesses, due in part to the company’s response to complaints sent to the BBB, and then forwarded to the company, that matters. Not responding will put you in a hole, and quite a few people take the BBB for its word.
I did run quite a few developer names before posting my list, and something I did not expect happened: The article was passed around by a few websites, and through each discussion ultimately Cryptic Studios became the center of attention in each instance. Cryptic, noted punching bag for MMO Fallout, was rated an F by the BBB, who noted:
“We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.”
So either Cryptic is not responding to complaints, or they are fraudster identity thieves who might just kill you if you talk bad about them. One or the other, your guess is probably best. Yes, it is a cut and paste for each company, but I can’t read that without risking severe damage due to my eyes rolling back into my head.
Well, if anyone paid attention to that old article, apparently Cryptic was one of them. Forgoing the past 36 months, a recent view of Cryptic’s BBB page shows that they have been bumped: To a C+. Not the best, but that does put them above NCsoft. Why have they bumped up? Because they, wait for it, actually responded and worked out complaints! Of the 61 complaints, 43 have been resolved according to agreements, 2 are fully refunded, and only three are “refused.” The final 16 are still unanswered, but we can always hope.
Now I obviously can’t claim all (read: any) of the credit, due to the likes of people (read: anyone) who are far higher up on the MMO spectrum who either reported similar stories or re-posted my own. I can, however, make a bet: If this worked on Cryptic in just two months, let’s start harping on NCsoft for being the new bottom of the barrel. Perhaps we can get that C- raised to a C?
More on businesses and which are better, as it appears.
Test servers: Perfect for the developer who wants to publicly test things. Throughout history, or at least the past decade, test servers have been used for everything from stress testing to gauging player interest, to using player feedback to balance updates. In more recent years, a majority of developers have discovered the uses of a test server, and the number of MMOs that do not use these servers have dwindled substantially.
Surprisingly, however, players will not be given pre-made characters, and it appears that they also will not be able to copy existing characters over to the test server (a common practice in MMOs), but instead the characters that they do create will be placed in super-xp-mode, where leveling is quick and drops are jacked up for maximum efficiency. Whether or not this will slant feedback is up for grabs, but we will know that when the test servers launch next week.
Companies register trademarks all the time for products they want to secure, but not necessarily release. So when I say that NCsoft has registered City of Heroes 2, I want to be completely clear that this is not to be considered confirmation that a sequel to City of Heroes is in the works. I am, however, creating a new section for City of Heroes 2 in the Rumored category, just in case any news appears on the title in the near future.
Meanwhile, the original City Of is still going strong. NCsoft is still regularly updating the title with new free issues, the game received the graphics upgrade this year, and the expansion pack Going Rogue recently went on preorder.
If anything appears on City of Heroes 2, you’ll hear about it here.
While doing Kevin Bacon’s usual rounds of Topeka searches for MMO news from my favorite Kansas city of Google, Kevin Bacon checked the calendar and realized: It’s April 1st! The glorious day of the year where, at least in Kevin Bacon’s experiences, news stories fall into one of two categories: Companies either announce something insanely exciting, only to link you to Rick Astley or a well-designed news page, or something horrifying. If you’re a skeptical optimist, like Kevin Bacon, you usually end up looking at everything in the first week of April as if it might spring from the page and stab you in the face. Kevin Bacon is not completely sure that this article itself is real.
With every April Fools that comes and goes, it is important to remember that for every generation of gamers that are used to the April 1st jollies, there are plenty more who fly off the handle when Blizzard announces that World of Warcraft is shutting down due to low subscriber numbers. So, for better or worse, here is the Best of April Fools: 2010 edition.
Earth Eternal is ready to make fun of their status as a “kiddy” game, with weapons and graphics removed (but purchasable in the cash shop).
Runescape is finally ready to announce the grand opening of the Wet & Wildy theme park! I wonder how long before the popcorn is nerfed, those kernels are overpowered.
Blizzard hopes you have fifteen grand to drop on a virtual reality helmet, and let’s be honest: Who doesn’t? This new technology will allow you to experience Battlenet and World of Warcraft in ways you only dreamed possible. A deal, and lasts for months on end before needing a replacement, that’s longer than your average battery!
Bioware wants you to check out the latest class revealed for The Old Republic: The Sarlacc Enforcer. Not content with simply shooting your prey? Experience the joy of planning up to a hundred thousand years, waiting cautiously for your food to get within range. Don’t worry, you’ve got time.
NCsoft is ready to bring the next expansion to City of Heroes. No, it’s not Going Rogue, it’s City of Sidekicks. Be the person always screwing up the mission. In fact, the more you screw up, the better you do!
Atlantica Online shows jokes the door and calls for a real event. Logging in for an hour will grant you the Fool title, as well as a small buff in attack and defense.
Fallen Earth would like to offer you an uber edition. What is so uber about this edition? It comes in a gold sleeve. How many other games offer gold sleeves? Huh? That’s what I thought.
Guild Wars wants to answer your pleas. When you think of mini-pets and their owners, why are the mini-pets small and the owners tall? ArenaNet thought exactly that, and today your characters are small and your pets are tall.
Turbine is also getting into the spirit of the year. Forget Tibia as the most popular mobile MMO, just wait until Lord of the Rings Online makes its way to the Iphone and Blackberry!
I’ll be updating this page throughout the day, as soon as I deal with this incessant mouth-breather. No, you may not blog. I do not care about your blog. Get back in the box. My speech and typing functions appear to be overlapping, I should shut them
MMO Fallout 