Tag: Star Wars Galaxies

PSN and SOE: They’re Coming Back Today!


By the time you view this video, PSN may be activated in your area. Today begins phase 1 of Sony’s restoration services for the Playstation Network, rolling out in various countries and states one by one. Players will be able to sign into the Playstation Network and download a patch and reset their passwords (this is mandatory). Gameplay services are also being restored on the PS3 and PSP, as well as access to services like Hulu, Netflix, the friends system, and Playstation Home.

If you live in the states, check out this page to see if PSN service has been restored in your area.

On the Sony Online Entertainment side of things, service appears to be restored. Those of you with subscriptions will see that your next billing period is listed as “45 days,” from an unknown billing source. For your games you do not subscribe to, you will see 45 days free game time listed as “pending.” I was not subscribed to DC Universe at the time of the shut down, and I still received 45 days free.

There are a few perks not mentioned in the previous announcement players can take part in. In Everquest, for example, housing decay has been deactivated for 30 days. Either way, welcome back everyone! PS3 users have a bit more to wait, but PC Station users can dive right in.

PSN and SOE: They're Coming Back Today!


By the time you view this video, PSN may be activated in your area. Today begins phase 1 of Sony’s restoration services for the Playstation Network, rolling out in various countries and states one by one. Players will be able to sign into the Playstation Network and download a patch and reset their passwords (this is mandatory). Gameplay services are also being restored on the PS3 and PSP, as well as access to services like Hulu, Netflix, the friends system, and Playstation Home.

If you live in the states, check out this page to see if PSN service has been restored in your area.

On the Sony Online Entertainment side of things, service appears to be restored. Those of you with subscriptions will see that your next billing period is listed as “45 days,” from an unknown billing source. For your games you do not subscribe to, you will see 45 days free game time listed as “pending.” I was not subscribed to DC Universe at the time of the shut down, and I still received 45 days free.

There are a few perks not mentioned in the previous announcement players can take part in. In Everquest, for example, housing decay has been deactivated for 30 days. Either way, welcome back everyone! PS3 users have a bit more to wait, but PC Station users can dive right in.

Sony Station Offline Today Pending Investigation


Good morning, folks. Those of you attempting to log into any of Sony Online Entertainment’s games may be asking yourself, “why can’t I log into my favorite SOE game?” or “why am I asking a non-Sony blog why their services are offline?” Of course those of you who came here before checking Sony’s website will have missed the following announcement:

We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday).

I call the joke on Sony Offline Entertainment, it’s mine. I’ll be watching for further announcements later today.

Suit Up: More Star Wars Galaxies Server Mergers Coming…


Star Wars Galaxies is always an interesting topic here on MMO Fallout. On one hand, you have Sony Online Entertainment, who referred to Galaxies as having one of the most active communities in SOE’s portfolio of games. On the other hand, you have those who remain in Star Wars Galaxies who, apart from complaints of only a small number of the remaining servers being active, are more likely to agree that the game has improved in leaps and bounds since the NGE and CU updates. On the third, mostly useless vestigial T-Rex arm sprouting from your chest, you have the Star Wars Galaxies Pre-Update players, a group of disenfranchised “veterans” (I hate that term) that devotes itself to trolling any MMO discussion, even if it has nothing to do with Galaxies, or Sony for that matter.

Sony is opening up free server transfers on Star Wars Galaxies, and historically that has lead to just one outcome: server mergers. The announcement mentions no end date, but does mention that while players will be able to transfer off of Starsider, they will not be able to transfer back. In addition, a Sony staffer mentioned that paid transfers will no longer be possible. Players will be restricted to one transfer, per character, per 90 days.

You can read the details here, but the link has been dead (along with the entirety of Star Wars Galaxies’ website) for quite a while. I will follow up with more details when I can get them. Obviously a server merger has not been announced, but given the status of many of the remaining servers (according to players), a merger is likely on the books.

There is a forum thread to discuss the server transfers here.

Play Star Wars Galaxies Free This Week


Harrison Ford...

What does Star Wars and Indiana Jones have in common? If you answered Harrison Ford, you would be correct. And if you want to be your own Indiana Solo and rescue Princess Belloq (kudos if you know who that is off-hand), from the evil Toht The Hutt-I’m just going to stop merging names. If you’d like a hat and whip of your own, you are cordially invited back to Star Wars Galaxies this week, while subscribers will receive the items as wearable cosmetics.

Sony is also offering a free to play week, which technically started two days ago (the 23rd) and goes until the 30th of November. During this period, you can pick up your fedora and whip, while after the period ends those who subscribed or stayed subscribed can turn the items into wearables. Otherwise, they’re really only good for displaying in your house.

So there is no confusion, the whip is cosmetic and does not act as a weapon. For those of you thinking of checking out Star Wars: Galaxies, the link above has a nice list of new updates you may have missed.

A Live Community Is A Happy Community


Han Solo works Black Fridays in the electronics section of Best Buy.

Massively has an excellent interview with Lydia Pope, community manager at Sony Online Entertainment overlooking Star Wars Galaxies. Despite all of the rage one might find toward the aging Star Wars MMO, those who do play the game are just as involved as those who played in years past. So much so, in fact, that Lydia feels strongly enough to say that Star Wars Galaxies has one of the most active communities on Sony Online Entertainment’s list of MMOs. With the GM-run events, players are still coming out in droves to run their own events.

But why does Star Wars Galaxies have such an active community? Lydia believes it is partially due to the game’s built-in social aspects. Player owned houses, hubs, emotes, the Galactic Senate, etc, allow a level of interactivity between players and between GM’s that other games just don’t offer. In fact, Lydia explains that community leaders are not an appropriate answer to better feedback.

“[In] our other games, where we have community leaders, we don’t get that in-depth with the feedback.”

An active community is a happy community, and can really boost morale to a game. Back in the times of Ultima Online, players may remember Richard Garriot running around as Lord British (alongside Lord Blackthorn), and then years later as General British during Tabula Rasa’s short reign. Say what you want about the guy, but it is nice to be able to post on the Alganon forums and get a response from CEO Derek Smart and other devs. Some of you who played The Matrix Online will remember the events that took place in that game as well.

Of course, if you hadn’t noticed from my listing of Tabula Rasa and The Matrix Online, an active community does not a healthy game make alone. It does, however, increase the odds of someone sticking around who may have become bored and quit early on.

It's Official: Clone Wars MMO!


Station launcher keeps no secrets

Back in September, I mentioned a report by Tentonhammer that Sony is currently working on yet another Star Wars MMO. All we know about the title is that it is set in the Clone Wars universe, will be developed on the Free Realms engine, and is a casual browser based game that will likely have a freemium model (free portion with option for subscription/item mall). The above picture is the final evidence we needed, apart from an official announcement, that the game is indeed being worked on. There has yet to be an official statement by Sony Online Entertainment, mind you, although this slipup is a high indicator that an official announcement is on its way.

When Clone Wars is released, there will be three Star Wars MMOs on the market. Granted each title is likely playing to a different audience, I can’t help but get the feeling that one of these three titles is going to be pushed out of the market by the other two. If Star Wars Galaxies is any indicator, both the pre and post NGE versions, the Star Wars IP is one that has yet to be fully implemented in an MMO form, so the player actually feels that they are in the Star Wars universe, rather than a sci-fi shooter that looks suspiciously like Star Wars.

More on Clone Wars as it appears. Would you play a casual Star Wars MMO (cue cheap shots at Star Wars Galaxies) set in the Clones era?

It’s Official: Clone Wars MMO!


Station launcher keeps no secrets

Back in September, I mentioned a report by Tentonhammer that Sony is currently working on yet another Star Wars MMO. All we know about the title is that it is set in the Clone Wars universe, will be developed on the Free Realms engine, and is a casual browser based game that will likely have a freemium model (free portion with option for subscription/item mall). The above picture is the final evidence we needed, apart from an official announcement, that the game is indeed being worked on. There has yet to be an official statement by Sony Online Entertainment, mind you, although this slipup is a high indicator that an official announcement is on its way.

When Clone Wars is released, there will be three Star Wars MMOs on the market. Granted each title is likely playing to a different audience, I can’t help but get the feeling that one of these three titles is going to be pushed out of the market by the other two. If Star Wars Galaxies is any indicator, both the pre and post NGE versions, the Star Wars IP is one that has yet to be fully implemented in an MMO form, so the player actually feels that they are in the Star Wars universe, rather than a sci-fi shooter that looks suspiciously like Star Wars.

More on Clone Wars as it appears. Would you play a casual Star Wars MMO (cue cheap shots at Star Wars Galaxies) set in the Clones era?

Direct2Drive and Impulse: Good Stuff Cheaper


And you thought Steam was the only digital download service that had Christmas specials. Once again, these prices are in USD.

Direct 2 Drive

Impulse

Continue reading “Direct2Drive and Impulse: Good Stuff Cheaper”

A Downward Spiral Does Not Mean Death.


I like to take some time every now and then to detail certain parts of MMO Fallout, usually terms and expressions I use, that generates the most feedback from fans. More recently, I’ve had a few questions about my consistently ending certain product articles (Star Wars Galaxies, Age of Conan, Planetside, and several others) with “More on ____’s downward spiral as it appears.” Some of the readers appear to be under the impression that I’m calling the deaths of these MMOs, lovingly pointing out that I have said from day one that I will never predict the death of an MMO.

Well they are right, at least on the last point. When I say downward spiral, I always have facts to back myself up, and I am not always referring to subscriber numbers. Take Funcom for example, who not only cut off 20% of their staff, delayed a non-dated MMO, announced a massive revenue drop, and somehow is still finding the time to develop a free to play kid MMO. When I say Funcom is in a downward spiral, I mean financially that company is in a downward spiral, that changes direction depending on your hemisphere and leads right into the septic tank.

I don’t call death because, to be honest, it’s redundant. Dwindling subscriber numbers? Yes. Financial ruin? Yes. Ponzi Scheme? Stargate Worlds. Calling death on an MMO is akin to calling yourself a soothsayer and predicting that someone would die, but they would have financial gain at some point before they do. Not when they’ll die or what the financial gain is, and all that can be chalked up as everyone dies and, generally, everyone has an income at some point in their lives. Blamo, you’re the most generalized soothsayer in all the land.

Continue reading “A Downward Spiral Does Not Mean Death.”