Tag: Shut down

Hellgate: Global Shutting Down In Japan


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Editor’s Note: Please note that the information is based off of a translated Japanese announcement. Some details may have been lost in translation.

I know what you’re thinking, “Omali, didn’t Hellgate Global shut down like three years ago?” No. Hellgate Global doesn’t make much news nowadays since Hanbitsoft hasn’t done much following the launch of Hellgate: Tokyo way back in September 2011. In a post on the official forums, player Lustar noted an email sent out to players of Hellgate: Global’s Japanese servers. The email discusses Hellgate’s history, from its creation at Flagship to the eventual move over to Hanbitsoft. The notice points out that they did not have full control of data from Flagship Studios, and were unable to upgrade the game to a proper level, and are thus shuttering service.

The game will officially end in Japan on February 27, 2013. You can find more details at the link below, but beware of very poorly translated Japanese.

(Source: Hellgate Forums)

Thanks For The Memories, Glitch


So 11pm Eastern has come and gone, and so has one of the best games to ever release and then quickly de-release and head back into beta. While Glitch may not have been a traditional game, it was still a load of fun to log into and check out the wild and wacky bits and pieces that the developers had added in. Unfortunately, as Tiny Speck had laid out in plain words, while the game was quirky and fun, it didn’t appear to be viable in the market. Still, the game has had a profound impact on its community, who I’m sure will miss it far more passionately than I ever could.

Check out this song by Theremina Lute. It is a fantastic song dedicated to the memory of the Glitchens and the gods.

Additionally, if you want to throw some money toward Tiny Speck, you can check out the Indiegogo campaign to turn Glitch’s art into a hardcover book. $65 gets you the hardcover edition, as well as your name displayed on a thank you page. Check it out at Indiegogo.com.

There are a hundred other pieces I could put up here, but I will close out with the original Alpha trailer to Glitch.

If you have any memories you’d like to share of Glitch, leave them in the comments section below.

End of Nations Postponed Until Further Notice


End of Nations will not be entering open beta at any time in the near future. Trion’s upcoming MMORTS has been in closed beta for some time, and in a post on the official Facebook page, Trion notes that while the beta has offered a lot of good feedback, it has also brought to light some glaring issues that need to be fixed.

“As a result, we have decided to postpone the Open Beta phase of testing until further notice. We will let you know as soon as we have an update. Those players who made an End of Nations purchase should expect to receive a follow-up email shortly. Thank you in advance for your continued input and support. It is greatly appreciated.”

It’s good to see that Trion is refunding closed beta players, and hopefully Trion will be able to fix whatever needs to be fixed in End of Nations.

(Source: Facebook)

Glitch Shutting Down December 9th


What a terrible day. As posted on the Glitch website today, the fledgling MMO will be shutting down forever as of December 9th. The website and forums will remain up until 8pm Pacific on the 9th, during which time the website and all services including mobile apps will no longer be available. The team is heartbroken to have to make the announcement, but according to the news post, Glitch had simply not attained a level of income to remain viable.

Unfortunately, Glitch has not attracted an audience large enough to sustain itself and based on a long period of experimentation and our best estimates, it seems unlikely that it ever would. And, given the prevailing technological trends — the movement towards mobile and especially the continued decline of the Flash platform on which Glitch was built — it was unlikely to do so before its time was up.

All recent purchases will be refunded automatically, while all purchases made since November 11, 2011 will be refunded eventually as they are to be taken care of by hand. According to the FAQ, selling the game is not possible:

It’s complicated, but it comes down to this: if that were a transaction that made sense to the purchaser, we wouldn’t be shutting the game down.

There is a ray of sunshine in this story, however. Even though Glitch will die, Tiny Speck will continue on as a company.

Tiny Speck, the company behind Glitch, will continue. We have developed some unique messaging technology with applications outside of the gaming world and a smaller core team will be working to develop new products. But now is not the time to talk about that. Right now our concern is with the players and our comrades who are suddenly looking for new work.

If you want to get some final memories of Glitch, do it now.

(Source: Glitch Website)

NCSoft Tried Selling City Of Heroes, No Buyers


It’s been over a month since NCSoft announced that City of Heroes would be shutting down, and since then the community has thrown virtually every theory out there as to why there hasn’t been any news from the talks with Paragon Studios.  The question that lays on everyone’s mind is: If NCSoft isn’t willing to keep the game running, why didn’t they try selling the studio/game? As it turns out, they did try. In an announcement on the City of Heroes website, NCSoft offers a small bit of detail on what went down.

We’ve exhausted all options including the selling of the studio and the rights to the City of Heroes intellectual property, but in the end, efforts to do so were not successful. City of Heroes has a special place in all of our hearts, and we want to ensure its reputation and the memories we share for the game end on a high note.

So there is some kind of reassurance that NCSoft at least made an attempt to save City of Heroes. It may not be the answer that they want to hear, but it is an answer nonetheless.

(Source: City of Heroes)

Phantasy Star Universe Sunsets


For Western players, the Phantasy Star Universe has already been over. Originally launched in 2006, Sega first began the MMO’s eventual closure by shutting down the North American and European servers on the PC and Playstation 2 in March 2010. Following, PS2 support in Japan was discontinued in April 2011, and just this month we saw the closure of the Xbox360 servers. Well, yesterday the game has finally come to a close with the closure of Japan’s remaining Phantasy Star Universe servers.

Any remaining Guardian Cash for players will be refunded as Phantasy Star Online 2 credit or as Webmoney AC. The shut down was originally announced at the end of July, and for the last month of service, players were granted access to PSU’s premium course for free.

City of Heroes Details Reimbursement


Sorry, City Of Heroes players. NCSoft has finally broken their silence over the incoming shut down of City Of Heroes, and it wasn’t to announce that the talks with Paragon Studios and player support had moved them to change their minds. Rather, the publisher announced the expected round of compensation and reimbursement.

Players who were VIP as of September 1st will remain so for the rest of the MMO’s life. Outstanding balances as of September 1st will be reimbursed, as well as Paragon Points purchased after August 24th. If your outstanding balance was purchased with a game card, you will be required to submit a support ticket and have NCSoft call you to reimburse via wire transfer. If that is not possible, players will receive a check by mail.

There are several events planned to take City of Heroes to its sunset with a bang.

(source: NCSoft)

Night Cap: Save City of Heroes, Save NCSoft


Welcome to your night cap. If you pay attention to MMO news, odds are you already know that City of Heroes will be shutting down this November 30th. That is, of course, assuming NCSoft completely dismisses the overwhelming support given by the community and Paragon Studios to keep the game running. But for all intent and purpose, let’s assume the train is already halfway over the bridge, and the bridge is out. There is no turning back, the game is over. For the sake of this conversation.

NCSoft is growing its collection of disenfranchised customers. Auto Assault was shut down rather than humoring potential buyers, Dungeon Runners had a small but loyal community who also shot back at NCSoft when the MMO shut down. And I don’t think I have to point out the vile, and rather justified, hatred over the closure of Tabula Rasa and the fraudulent firing of Richard Garriot which left a $28 million hole in NCSoft’s pocket and a big dent in their revenue.

So assuming that talks break down and NCSoft refuses to change their minds, the end result can only be even more angry ex-customers. And where does NCSoft win in this equation? If City of Heroes was not drawing a profit, well the answer is obvious. But if the game was performing well as the players and Paragon Studios would like us to believe, then the benefits for NCSoft are rather foggy. Rather than making whatever profit was to be had from City of Heroes, apparently NCSoft would rather take no income at all. Then again, as NCSoft’s markets shift back over to Korea, and the Western hemisphere has shown little signs of interest in their import MMOs (Lineage, Aion), perhaps NCSoft doesn’t put much merit into what the North American and European markets think.

I have very little doubt that someone will open up a private server, so odds are people will still be enjoying City of Heroes, whether or not NCSoft sees a dime from it. Of course, MMO Fallout does not endorse the legally grey are of the internet that is the private server.

Good night.

City Of Heroes Sunsetting Later This Year


In a news post on the City of Heroes website today, Andy Belford has announced that Paragon Studios will be shutting down, and City of Heroes will be closing by the end of the year. The reason given in the article is “realignment of company focus” at NCSoft. Effective immediately, all subscription services and paragon purchases will be halted.

Thank you. Thank you for your years of support. You’ve been with us every step of the way, sharing in our challenges, encouraging us to make City of Heroes better, more than everyone else thought it could be. We couldn’t have come this far without you. I implore you all, focus on the good things of CoH and Paragon Studios. Don’t dwell on the “how” or the “why”, but rather join us in celebrating the legacy of an amazing partnership between the players and the development team.

More information will be coming within a few weeks. It appears NCSoft hasn’t picked up any (or much) of the Paragon Studios team, because Belford pitched this:

To any potential studios looking to grow your team; hire these people. You won’t regret it.

City of Heroes launched in 2004 as the first, and in many minds the best, super hero MMO. Since then it has gone on to release 22 issues (major updates), and three expansion packs. In June of last year, City of Heroes adopted a free to play model.

(Source: Paragon Studios)

Black Prophecy Shutting Down In September


I find myself asking this question a lot: Why does everything I love die? Black Prophecy is easily one of Gamigo’s most impressive looking titles, not to mention a unique player in its own right. Launched last year, Black Prophecy is a sci-fi MMO similar to Eve Online but with a more action-oriented control scheme and a more traditional MMO quest system. It wasn’t perfect, but for many players left on their own after the cancellation of Jumpgate Evolution, it was something to call home.

Unfortunately, times have not been so great to the game or its developer. Back in February, we mentioned that Reakktor Media was insolvent and regardless of the quality of Black Prophecy, it wasn’t bringing in enough money to keep afloat. So it comes as terrible news that Black Prophecy will shut down on September 26th. Players will no longer be able to buy cash shop funds starting today.

(Source: Announcement)

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