Gamigo’s silence on Rift speaks volumes.
Continue reading “Hotcakes: Still Totally Shutting Down Rift”
Tag: shutting down
Phantasy Star Universe Sunsetting For Good In September
While Playstation and PC users already had their experience cut short two years ago, 360 gamers who enjoy a bit of Phantasy Star Universe will be sorely disappointed to hear that the game will be shutting its last doors later this year. In an announcement on the Sega forums, Edward@Sega detailed that servers will come down September 7th, 2012, and that while “network mode” will no longer be available, Phantasy Star Universe will still be playable in single player.
This was not an easy decision but there comes a time when we must consider the level of service and support we can provide for an ongoing game, and balance those concerns against preparing for the future, and providing you with new opportunities and new experiences.
Players with subscriptions extending past September will be refunded by Microsoft on a pro-rated basis. You can read Edward’s notes and his eulogy at the link below. Phantasy Star Online 2 is due for release in Summer 2012 as a free to play title for PC, with versions out for the iOS and Android devices by the end of 2012, and a version for Playstation Vita coming in early 2013.
(Source: SCEA Forums)
Sony Shuttering Everquest On Mac
Everquest on Mac is interesting, to say the least. Almost like Everquest Online Adventures, Everquest Macintosh is a rather different game than Everquest on Windows. Released in 2003, EQMac lost pace with Everquest’s development a long time ago, leaving it very far behind in terms of development. But even without the same level of support as standard Everquest, the servers have gathered a rather close community of players, not to mention regular events with Sony staff. So, naturally, more than a few hearts will be broken with the announcement that Everquest Mac will be shutting down in March.
On Thursday, March 29, 2012, the Al’Kabor server and the EverQuest: Macintosh Edition will be closing. EverQuest: Macintosh Edition has had a wonderful run, seeing an incredible tightly-knit community band together to accomplish feats of heroism that remain unsurpassed in the annals of MMORPGs. Overcoming the challenges of the Planes of Power in their near original form is not a task for those who are not dedicated to victory, and we here at SOE are in awe of your dedication and commitment.
As far as compensation goes, Sony is going as far as sending a check by mail if you paid far in advance via SOE game cards or other retail cards.
We will stop all billing for EverQuest: Macintosh Edition on January 31, 2012. For players who have purchased prepaid time via a membership/subscription plan, SOE Game Card or other retail game card that extends the subscription period past January 30, 2012, SOE will provide a pro-rated refund for the time left on the subscription after that date. If a valid credit card is active on your account, any refund will be applied to such credit card. If your account is paid via an SOE Game Card or other retail game card, we will send a check in the refund amount to your current billing address within 90 days after the game ends. Please be sure to update your email and mailing address in your Station Account as this may be critical to the refund process.
It’s always disappointing to see a game shut down, especially in cases like this where only a specific section of the community is being cut off.
(Source: Everquest Forums)
It All Ends Today: Star Wars Galaxies To Shut Down
It’s been eight years since Star Wars Galaxies first came on to the scene and amazed us with an endless amount of content, a sprawling world to explore and allow our characters to live out their lives. Since then Galaxies has become one of the most controversial MMOs in history, and I don’t think I have to tell you why. If we learned anything from the New Game Experience, it is that MMO players are passionate and unforgiving, but mostly unforgiving. But at the same time, the most nostalgic. Not a day goes by (at least judging by my inbox) without players lamenting back to the old days of Galaxies, where they could set up camp and go hunting, to come back to the Mos Eisley bar and watch a Wookie dance to relieve their battle fatigue. Where playing doctor was a profession and not merely sexual innuendo.
Unfortunately, I’m terrible at eulogizing. Despite the absolute loathing many Galaxies fans hold (and will hold for a long time) for Sony and Lucas Arts, I think Galaxies will go down in history as one of the most determined and resilient MMOs in the industry. There is so much to learn from this game that allowing it to fade into history would be a disservice to the work the developers put into it.
And speaking of history, what better to send this game off than the original Xplay review?
Earth Eternal Shuts Down, Again.
Greetings fellow Earth Eternal fans,
It’s been a blast observing the Earth Eternal community participate in the Beta program and your feedback has been invaluable
Unfortunately, Earth Eternal will be saying goodbye on Thursday November 24th 2011 at 9:00 pm EST
We are still determining future plans for Earth Eternal but those have not been finalized and we hope to share them with you as soon as we can
We hope you had an awesome time because we certainly did
The Earth Eternal team
Stay calm, Omali, remember what your therapist told you. I’d be remiss to try and convince any of you that I didn’t know this was coming, especially after my rather scathing remarks about the title a few weeks ago, but today marks the official announcement that Earth Eternal will be shutting down and similarly to Sparkplay’s announcement, this time around gives even less warning. When the servers come down at 9pm tomorrow night, they will stay off for good (or at least until future plans are determined).
I think I can inject some wisdom into the Earth Eternal team for their next go around: If I have more fingers on one hand than you do developers working on the game, you aren’t investing enough resources and should have seen the performance that Earth Eternal received. But now that the game has shut down a second time, and the community will experience a second character wipe, I should say not to be surprised when, if you do decide to attempt a third launch, your community is not as willing to support you.
How fitting is it that MMO Fallout’s 1,000th article would be about an MMO shutting down for the second time? No I did not plan that out.
Happy 1,000 posts MMO Fallout.
Earth Eternal Likely To Shut Down
Earth Eternal is one of those MMOs I talked about mainly on my Facebook page, which mostly occurred last year when I was in the beta. The MMO has always been tiny, be it the furry inhabitants that populate the world, or the teeny developer that created it, but not the client that ran it. Earth Eternal is like WoW-Lite, I believe I referred to it as, but injected with a full syringe of vitamin-D (The D stands for D’aww).
So, of course, I’m saddened to say Earth Eternal will likely be shutting down fairly soon. In an open letter to the community, Sparkplay CEO Matt Mihaly announced that the team has been cut down to two people, one of them being him, and the latest attempt to sell the game has failed. Although Earth Eternal is up for auction, it is probable that no one will buy up the title.
“I will keep you updated as to what is going to happen with Earth Eternal, but in all likelihood we won’t know until late on Friday whether someone is going to buy EE and keep it running or not. Let’s hope for the best!”
Here’s hoping for the best.
More on Earth Eternal as it appears.
NCsoft: Exteel is Shutting Down This September
Exteel was something of an experimental move by NCsoft into the free to play cash shop market, and launched back in December 2007 to the fanfare of…something. As far as fanfare goes, Exteel was one of the games I never actually bothered looking up, considering it was developed and published by NCsoft. Not unlike Dungeon Runners, the game hasn’t made much news since its launch, and the announcement of it shutting down just begged the question: Exteel was still running?
That being said, on September 1st, Exteel will shut down because, as it turns out, the robot fighting cash shop MMO is not “financially viable.” In August, players should expect more information as to planned compensation for players, although if past history is anything to look at, players will likely receive keys to City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage, along with game time for each respective title (I know that is what I received when Tabula Rasa and Auto Assault shut down).
Until then, enjoy the game while you can.
MMO Fallout 