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Tag: WAR
Steam: Attempted Review Bomb Backfires Greatly
This War Of Mine flooded with support.
Continue reading “Steam: Attempted Review Bomb Backfires Greatly”
Gloria Victis Adds NPC Battles, War Is Coming
Gloria Victis’ latest patch is putting focus on player immersion, in the form of NPC battles and exhaustible resources. While the scope is starting out small, with animal hunting and mercenary fights, NPCs will eventually be engaging in all out war that players can join in on or dutifully side step away from. In addition to NPC battles, resources dotting the world will now deplete and be replaced with other goods, forcing players to move around if they want to find the best spots.
The most important change is implementation of fights between NPCs – foxes sneak towards the farms to hunt chickens and gooses, poachers hunt wild animals and mercenaries serving one nation rush on the another faction’s guards in sight in Valley of Death. In the upcoming updates various groups of NPCs will start waging their wars against another ones, bringing even more life to the world of Gloria Victis!
Meaningful NPC battles is a rarity in MMOs, with games like Tabula Rasa allowing NPCs to capture bases and prevent players from accessing quest NPCs, vendors, spawn points, etc.
(Source: Gloria Victis)
Warhammer Online Adds Items Doubling/Nullifying Exp
Believe it or not, Warhammer Online is still running and still has one or two people manning the ship, even if the steering wheel is rotting from neglect, the hatches have not been battened in a long time, and the poop deck could use a good swabbing, and there’s the little matter of that ice berg that the ship hit in 2008, and the crew going AWOL to work on the S.S. Wrath of Legends. Still, you can rest assured that somewhere, someone at Mythic occasionally looks into Warhammer Online long enough to ask the question “how can we continue improving the experience?” Put your hands down, a Vanguard-style revamp is still not the answer.
Warhammer Online’s upcoming 1.4.8 patch aims to unify the various Realm Vs Realm currencies under one roof: War Crests. But the new feature that sets itself apart from the rest of the update is the new vendor that will be available in the capital city. The vendor sells items in exchange for War Crests that alter the way in which players gain experience and renown. There are books that, when equipped, double either experience gained, double renown gained, or double influence gained. A fourth book completely stops any experience gain from monsters or players.
So if you want to stay in Tier 1 forever, and who wouldn’t, now you have the option to. Patch 1.4.8 goes live on December 3rd.
(Source: Warhammer Online)
Warhammer Loses Another Server: Drakenwald Closing
As part of our ongoing efforts to maintain an active, competitive, and engaging experience in WAR we have decided to open free transfers for players to specific servers. WAR, more than many games, only gets better with more people. These transfers will enable players to experience more action during all hours whether fighting in scenarios or Open RvR.
Absolutely true, and if there is one thing that Warhammer Online could use, it is more people. By now, Warhammer players should be well tuned with the process. Starting tomorrow, Drakenwald will be marked as a “legacy server,” disabling the creation of new characters. Existing characters are free to transfer to Badlands or Karak Norn for three weeks until the server is deactivated and you will be forced to transfer anyway.
On the other hand, Warhammer has almost run out of servers to close down.
(Source: Warhammer Herald)
Who Should Publish Dark Millennium Online?
Although Dark Millennium Online was not cancelled, as per the false report circulated late last year, at the time we were given some rather uncertain news that the game was on uneven ground and that there was nothing set in stone. When THQ published its earnings report for the third quarter of 2011, they mentioned that Dark Millennium Online would be taking a more cautious approach.
Gamasutra reports that in an investor conference call, Brian Farrell (CEO) has revealed that THQ is seeking a partner for distribution, and that THQ cannot afford to publish the game by itself. Of course, a developer hiring a third party publish an MMO is hardly surprising, even more so for a company like THQ that has seen better financial times.
(Source: Gamasutra)
War Announcement Coming…At Some Point
I don’t make myself out to be an expert in the business side of MMOs, although I do try my best when writing articles here at MMO Fallout, even I recognize that the prospect of Warhammer Online going free to play is a tough one. On one side you have monetization, the need to populated the cash shop with items people would want to buy without feeling they need to buy. On the other side, Warhammer is primarily a player vs player title, so placing armor, weapons, or buff potions on the cash shop is a minefield Mythic would have to tiptoe quite carefully over. With a cash shop, Warhammer takes the risk of bringing in new (albeit less loyal) players at the risk of alienating their current base.
But this article doesn’t have much to do with free to play, at least not presumably. Earlier this week, Mythic took in a few WAR bloggers to see some interesting material regarding some upcoming patches. Thanks to the j0y of a magical document we call a non-disclosure agreement, we won’t hear about what that information is until some point in the near future.
From what we do know so far, it appears there will be a focus on fortresses, incentives to defend, and new zones. Other than that, as blogger Werit posted:
It is substantial news. However, it is probably not what you’re thinking it is. I was quite surprised when they told us about it. Is that cryptic enough? Don’t worry about it too much though, as we may see an official announcement in a few weeks.
So it isn’t free to play?
Warhammer Online Is Still Profitable, Says Mythic
When Warhammer Online launched in 2008, the game peaked at about eight hundred thousand subscribers, before plummeting over the course of the next two months to little over three hundred thousand. Over the course of the first year, WAR lost over three quarters of its population, as well as a grand majority of its over-one-hundred servers. So given MMODATA.com’s latest graph showing WAR heading under one hundred thousand subscribers, questioning the game’s health is not exactly out of line.
Luckily, those of you playing WAR can rest easy, at least for the moment. In an interview with Eurogamer, Bioware Mythic announced that WAR is still profitable as it comes to its second birthday this September, and that the game is still chugging forward despite the naysayers. The endless trial has had its desired effect, and “tens of thousands of players” are experiencing the game each month for the first time, according to EA.
Even if you go by mmodata.net’s figures and give WAR a mean 90,000 subscribers, Mythic is still looking at $1.3 million in income a month.
Here’s hoping the Endless Trial goes even better than expected, and Mythic has plenty in the coffers to keep the game going. More on Warhammer Online as it appears.
Mythic Is Taking Back WAR EU
Mythic wants its babies back, especially in Europe where hosting has been handled by GOA. Earlier this year, the MMO developer took back Dark Age of Camelot, that GOA had been hosting for the game’s European life-span. Now, in a move that I’m sure will surprise anyone playing WAR Europe Edition, Mythic is taking back Warhammer Online…in Europe!
Servers will transition over the next few weeks, and Mythic has promised that all of your information will transfer over to the new servers. More information is coming soon.
Crimecraft: Perfectly Good Hills
Crimecraft launched today, and if there’s one thing to say about the developers, Vogster Entertainment, it is that they are very self aware. They recognize that Crimecraft is foremost a shooter, and secondly an MMO (the persistent lobby). They are stout in their belief that Crimecraft is not, as many naysayers seem to believe, a “Grand Theft Auto IV MMO” and is more focused on team play than soloing. More importantly, when asked about their upcoming competitor All Points Bulletin, Vogster has nothing to say other than bring it on.
MMO Fallout 