Tag: Online

Family Guy Online Shutting Down Next Month


chris-pointing

Family Guy Online is a self-proclaimed “MMLOL,” fancy business speak which when translated into common English means “mediocre game based on well known IP.” Sure, Family Guy Online was an incredibly shallow game experience that put more effort into various fart jokes and racist/sexist comments than coding, but look at it this way: Underneath all of the bugs, lag, and far jokes lies a mediocre game. But hey, as the folks at Twentieth Century Fox must have assumed, the Family Guy television audience will certainly show up in high enough numbers and play it, right?

Wrong. As it turns out, they didn’t. Family Guy Online is shutting down on January 18th, 2013, after an unsuccessful beta run. All purchases from October 22nd to December 21st will be refunded automatically in early January. It’s good to see that even though the game failed, the developers are kind enough to refund everyone who paid into the beta.

(Source: Family Guy Online)

Creating Games Using Someone Else’s Intellectual Property


As someone who started writing by creating derivative works of existing properties, I have a special place in my heart for amateur studios who do the same. So whenever I have to deal with such a group of people, I never see them as content theives when I tell them they will probably be served a cease and desist, if not sued outright, for stealing intellectual property.

As is the case with My Little Pony Online, a testament to the internet’s demand that not even this website can refrain from mentioning the show. MLP: Online is an MMO based on the tv show dedicated to a base of adult men. Unsurprisngly, MLP: Online was the target of a cease and desist by Hasbro for all sorts of infringements. The project will continue, but without anything that would identify it as a My Little Pony game.

Still, the law sucks. It puts content owners in a rough spot since if they don’t protect their properties, they could lose them.

Perhaps the better question to ask is why Hasbro took so long to send the cease and desist, considering the game was on the radar of the mane-stream press for a good while now.

I am so sorry.

Creating Games Using Someone Else's Intellectual Property


As someone who started writing by creating derivative works of existing properties, I have a special place in my heart for amateur studios who do the same. So whenever I have to deal with such a group of people, I never see them as content theives when I tell them they will probably be served a cease and desist, if not sued outright, for stealing intellectual property.

As is the case with My Little Pony Online, a testament to the internet’s demand that not even this website can refrain from mentioning the show. MLP: Online is an MMO based on the tv show dedicated to a base of adult men. Unsurprisngly, MLP: Online was the target of a cease and desist by Hasbro for all sorts of infringements. The project will continue, but without anything that would identify it as a My Little Pony game.

Still, the law sucks. It puts content owners in a rough spot since if they don’t protect their properties, they could lose them.

Perhaps the better question to ask is why Hasbro took so long to send the cease and desist, considering the game was on the radar of the mane-stream press for a good while now.

I am so sorry.

Players Petition To Revive Pirates Of The Caribbean Online


Pirates of the Caribbean Online is one of those titles that has so far eluded the MMO Fallout radar. Surprising, considering the game predates this website by quite a bit. POTCO, as it is called, was released in 2007 by Disney Interactive Media Group, and while the game hasn’t exactly skyrocketed to a massive audience, one look at the website will show a small but very engaged and loyal community. Amazingly, the game is still updated on a pretty regular basis to introduce new outfits, new emblems for ship masts, and new ships. That being said, the skies are not exactly smooth sailing either.

A petition filed by the POTCO community raises concerns over all aspects of the game. The petition requests that Disney work on reviving the game, including making improvements to server latency, improving customer service, and dealing with existing bugs and the problem of people using cheats. The petition also requests that content be added into the game at a more efficient pace.

We invite Disney Interactive Media Group to reevaluate the uniqueness and potentials of the Pirates of the Caribbean Online game. Improvements on the technical aspect of the game (i.e., higher performance setting, problem solving, variety of contents, etc.) along with proactive customer service will improve the game performance and gaming experience tremendously.

The petition currently holds almost two thousand signatures.

(Source: Revive POTCO)

Shadowrun Online Seeks Additional Funding


Shadowrun Online was funded way back in August, to the tune of over half a million dollars, but the funding has not stopped there. If you wanted to get in on the Kickstarter action but did not for one reason or another, do I have good news for you. The blokes at Cliffhanger Productions have opened up Paypal donations to the tune (and price) of the Kickstarter promotion. Beginning at $3 and moving all the way up to $10,000, you can select any tier of donation and reap the rewards that it brings. Most tiers offer beta access, bonus gear upon the game’s launch, and a digital copy of the Campaign Mode, which runs alongside the regular service but does not include any cash shop items.

You can check out the website below. Shadowrun Online is set for a 2013 launch.

(Source: Shadowrun)

Earthrise Back Online


Attention Earthrise Players:

The Earthrise Servers are back on-line, all players are now able to sign in and play the latest build. At this time “Only Previously Registered Players” will have access to enter the game, we will announce when we are ready to start accepting new registrations for Earthrise.

After an extended period of downtime, Earthrise is back online. The servers have been down since a scheduled one week maintenance starting December 8th, but wound up staying down for the rest of December and into January. Thankfully the servers are back now. Full free to play has not launched yet, but previous players can get back in.

Mortal Online Secures A Publisher!


To be a fly on the wall of the Star Vault offices. Not too long ago, I uploaded a comment by Henrik Nystrom that Star Vault was receiving a large quantity of offers to publish, and even buy Mortal Online from the developer. With the recent announcement that the Unreal 3 MMO will be published in Asia, Star Vault has announced a marketing deal with OnLegends to publish the game worldwide. Oddly enough, the article makes the claim that Mortal Online has attracted over 170 thousand players. Hopefully this partnership will bring forward some much needed attention to Mortal Online.

OnLegends will be showing off Mortal Online at Gamescom, with a hint at that dirty c-word: Console.

“We strongly believe that Mortal Online can play an important future role on both PC and console MMO markets and we expect Mortal to be one of the trendsetting next gen titles.”

Community Concerns: So Should I Cancel DC Universe?


This is a tough article for me to write, because it goes against virtually all of my established ethics for MMO Fallout, foremost the ultimate disapproval: Recommending that people not only do not buy, but unsubscribe to a game. Since last week’s Playstation Network outage, I’ve had a number of people emailing me to ask a simple question: Should I cancel my DC Universe subscription (on the PS3)? And after long deliberation, my short answer is…yes.

Sony is rebuilding the Playstation Network, so if your account is about to run out, simply save yourself the money and do not resubscribe until everything is clear. That is, assuming you still trust Sony with your personal information after the news that data, possibly including credit card information, was stolen in the security breach. Sony maintains that data from Sony Online Entertainment was not affected, and only the Playstation Network experience an intrusion.

There is still no concrete date on when the PSN service will be back up, so if you have any subscriptions to DC Universe or Massive Action Game, you’re better off just cancelling now, and resubscribing when the service is back online.

Final Fantasy XIV Back On Shelves in WalMart


Dot com.

Back in November, I reported that Target and WalMart had pulled Final Fantasy XIV from store shelves, opting instead to only sell the game on their respective websites. I didn’t want to get into too much speculation at the time, as regular gaming stores (Best Buy, Gamestop, etc) were still stocking the title. Over the following month, I received a few reports from players who spotted the title on their store shelves, but couldn’t make a concrete statement without confirmation from either store’s corporate overlords (if the website reports that the item is not sold in stores, then the item is not sold in stores.).

Luckily, WalMart is reporting that Final Fantasy XIV is back on store shelves. Still no word from Target, who placed the item on sale back in November and subsequently removed the game from shelves, currently only selling the game online.

I have had a few unconfirmed reports that Game over in the UK is pulling Final Fantasy XIV off of shelves, possibly for a planned reboot in 2011 including the magical life-saving patches Square Enix has planned for the game in the coming months. More on Final Fantasy XIV as it appears.

Night Of The Living Dead: Myst Online Edition


I think I see the Harry Potter MMO down here!

Myst Online makes me pine for the better days of MMOs, particularly one that has a developer equivalent of the Child Protective Services act, as I would have called it to take Myst Online to a better place ages ago. Myst Online has seen more cancellations and revivals than any title on the list, despite raving reviews the title has taken just enough of a beating not to leave a permanent bruise, but to keep it coming back for more abuse. Each time the title ends up shutting down due to a dearth of subscribers, only to transfer over to a new host and start the clock all over again.

But this new incarnation of Myst by Cyan Worlds may be a step towards enlightenment. First of all, the company has removed the subscription that has held the game back in previous lives, while moving the project towards an open source position. All of the ages are back in the game, and although there is no subscription, the developers have kindly placed out a tip jar in order for players who would like to donate.

How long the donations will sustain the latest incarnation of Myst is anyone’s guess, but you can expect MMO Fallout to be there to cover it.