MMO News Roundup - 5-19-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
Cities XL, the virtual world populated by cities that are built by players, has a new dev blog posted on IGN. This outlines their aims to incorporate social networking tools into the game, which seems to be an emerging trend among newer MMOs. In case you didn’t know, Cities XL is a virtual world that gives you a choice: Either play it solo on your own computer, or subscribe and play it online with others. This is a delightful divergence from the standard pay-for-play business model used by mainstream titles. But after reading up on the dynamics of participating in an online planet filled with player-created cities, I think I’ll be dishing out a few bucks a month for this one. So long as I can have lots and lots of trains filled with hot chicks that really dig lonely gamers. Click here to read the devblog. I really like the idea that you will be able to interact with your city online from devices other than a PC. Is there an app for that? Looking forward to this one.
Coming under the heading of “Gee, I never saw that coming” another MMO in development has had its release date slip. Champions Online is the latest victim of delay, with Cryptic announcing that they are now shooting for a September 1, 2009 release. Well, this is only a delay of about 2 months, so no biggie. And any pre-pubescent forum troll that says “Release it now and patch later, I wanna play!” I have only to say this: Age of Conan, Horizons, Anarchy Online, Dark & Light, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, just to name a few. Turn off your computers and consoles you whining little turd nuggets, crack a book that has nothing to do with World of Warcraft, and come back when you grow some short and curlies m’kay? Click here for the official announcement.
Gamasutra has some news on Funcom, and the revelation that the developer is working on two separate free-to-play MMOs. Yeah, I guess that Age of Conan game is a real cash cow, huh? There are a lot of free MMOs out there, and I have yet to see one of them that held my interest for more than a few minutes. But wait! What about Guild Wars? That’s free! Mmmmm…no. First, you have to buy the client. There is no subscription, but perhaps that’s because Guild Wars is NOT AN MMO. Anyway, I digress. Funcom, I wish you luck with your projects. Personally, I’d like an MMO I could play through a browser that did not completely suck, but every one I have tried so far seems to be nothing but a social networking app clumsily disguised as some sort of game, COUGH(freerealms)COUGH… Anyway, click here for the article.
And finally, while this is not MMO-related, it was far to delicious to let go by without giving a taste of it to all of you. Are you looking forward to playing the Sims 3? Well, why wait for release? You got it, the game which is due to be released in two weeks, has been pirated and is already available for download over those net tubes. Publisher Electronic Arts once again gets their vaunted DRM thrown back in their face, to the amusement of all. Click here for the article on The Escapist Magazine. You know, I never intended to try this game, as the original Sims bored the bejezus out of me, and I never threw money away on the sequel. But then again, I do have that copy of EA’s Battle for Middle Earth that I PAID FOR yet can not get to run on any of my PCs because of the DRM. Also I can not return the game, so I have been shafted again by EA and their shittyrific customer support. So maybe as a means of compensation I should download this pirated copy? Well no. The game is still the Sims, but with nicer graphics. But I will watch others download the game for free, completely negating EA’s futile efforts to thwart pirates, and I will laugh. It feels good.
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Tags: Champions Online, Cities XL, Cryptic, Electronic Arts, Funcom, Sims 3
