MMO News Roundup - 5-27-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
Funcom’s Age Of Conan is doing what most MMOs do on their anniversaries, which means they are having a celebration. This particular one takes the form of “The King’s Seal” contest. Except instead of putting something in the actual game, Funcom thought it would be a good idea to hide easter eggs in the form of “Royal Seals” among the content of various MMO news websites dealing with Age of Conan. If you find all of them, plus some special ones, then you can win a lifetime subscription for the game. Yes, you might not only win a subscription to a shitty, bug laden, content-sparse MMO, but a LIFETIME subscription no less. So, that will be good for what, another three months or so? Click here if you must.
Massively.com has some news up that both potential competing cloud gaming services have wussed out of E3. Gaikai has their balloon knots in a twist over some patent filings, but that’s not nearly the epic bullshit as what OnLive is shoveling. OnLive is claiming that their service that they call “The Future of Video Games”, doesn’t “fit in with the retail-orientation of E3″. I’ll just give you the link to the official OnLive blog and let you read the bullshit for yourself. So OnLive and Gaikai, put up or shut up. As of now, I place you on an equal level as the Segway Human Transporter. Until I see something substantive, your stuff is vaporware. Click here for the coverage on Massively.com.
Tags: Age of Conan, Atlus, Funcom, Gaikai, Jumpgate Evolution, MMO, MMO News Roundup, MMORPG, Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent, NetDevil, OnLive
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.
Tags: Champions Online, Cities XL, Cryptic, Electronic Arts, Funcom, Sims 3
MMO News Roundup - 1-31-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
DC Universe Online has attracted the talent of another legendary comic writer. Marv Wolfman will be joining other comic icons Jim Lee and Geoff Jones. It’s too bad I don’t have a PS3, because I don’t think they will release it for the 360. This one may indeed be awesome. Click here for the Marv Wolfman news.
Age of Conan may be reeling, but the devs aren’t giving up yet. With the subscriber rates plummeting, and high level players so bored due to lack of content that they are reduced to continuously ganking each other in meaningless ways, the death of the game seems to be almost an inevitability. But don’t give up so quick lads, because when Anarchy Online launched way back when, it was a giant steaming turd. Yet that game actually was revived from the brink of doom to become a respectable sci-fi MMO. Click here to read the writeup on the state of Age of Conan, and what the devs’ strategy is for pulling the game back from the brink.
Tags: Age of Conan, BioWare, Cyberpilgrims, DC Universe Online, Funcom, MMO, MMO News Roundup, MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic
MMO News Roundup - 1-13-09
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under MMO News Roundup, News
Why is it that politicians always seem to be useless scumbags that spend all their time in office either running for re-election, dreaming up new laws to strip away our freedoms, or new ways to take our money to fund the previous two. Case in point: States and the Congress (opposite of progress) have been drooling over the possibility of taxing the gains that players make in online games. People are discussing this online, and most believe that it is aimed specifically at virtual worlds that actually incorporate RMTs (Real Money Transfers for you MMO uninitiated). Titles like Second Life do incorporate RMTs, while titles like World of Warcraft do not allow it. Now see, WoW’s EULA specifically forbids the real world trade of in-game items and currency, but the fact is that it represents an awful huge hunk of dough. So while many will insist that any online game taxing policies would be directed at titles like Second Life, what is to stop these same bureaucrats from including that epic set of armor as “earnings”, and demand game companies like Blizzard keep records of who had what in their inventory? I, and many of my fellow MMO players will be watching this, waiting for the snivelling politicians to destroy a burgeoning industry with infinite potential. So what else is new? Click here for details. Click here to read the official IRS report for yourself.
Tags: Age of Conan, Funcom, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO, MMO News Roundup, MMORPG, Real Money Transfer, SOE, Star Wars Galaxies, Turbine
Age of Conan - Hear the Lamentation of the Women
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under News, Rumors
Whoa, it looks like things are a lot worse with Age of Conan than I previously believed.
The layoffs were confirmed by a question asked by TenTonHammer of Funcom:
We did have some staffing cuts at Funcom this week as well as new positions opening in the organization as part of our ongoing cost based efficiency and performance initiatives that are vital to any business.
Of course the scuttlebutt said that Funcom actually laid off as much as 70% of their U.S. workforce, but a rumor is just a rumor, right?. Perhaps not in this case.
Funcom will of course not reveal subscriber numbers for Age of Conan, but from the mouths of the players, the servers are deserted. This is a fact that Funcom has implicitly confirmed by announcing server mergers, which are supposed to occur before the end of the year.
But today, the final shoe has dropped. Now Funcom is offering a free mammoth and a bag with extra inventory slots if you sign up now.
I could include a lot more details, and even some screenshots. But why bother? Age of Conan is a gonner. It just doesn’t know that it is dead yet. So much for all the hype.
Tags: Age of Conan, Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures, Funcom, MMO, MMORPG
Anarchy Online - Still Free, And Soon A New Engine
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under News, Trailers
The venerable sci-fi MMO that was the poster child for horrible launches, has long since outgrown that extremely shitty beginning. Over the past 7+ years, Funcom has built a huge game of otherworldly sci-fi goodness that would be worth paying for. It’s just a bonus that you don’t have to, as it is free to play.
It’s a different sort of free play program than other MMOs, where you get to go adventuring with a stick and a cotton shirt, and if you want anything stronger, or want to reach past level 2, you have to pay up. Nosireebob, This is a genuine free to play game, where for no frakin money at all, you get to play all of the content in the original game, as well as the Notum Wars expansion. They are banking that once you get hooked, and after several months just to get through all the free stuff, you will want to pony up for the rest of the game.
Tags: Anarchy Online, Funcom, MMORPG, Trailers
The Secret World: A Few Secrets Finally Revealed
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under Previews
This game is probably one that you have never heard of before now. This is not surprising since the developer is being somewhat secretive about The Secret World. It is an MMO of the horror genre, one of the rarest of all MMOs, and about ing time I say. The Secret World is being developed by Funcom, and is influenced by the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Although the game didn’t enter into full production until June of 2006, the concept stage got started way way back in 1997. It has been lurking in the shadows in one form or another ever since.
Tags: Funcom, H.P. Lovecraft, MMO, MMORPG, PC, Previews, The Secret World
Dreadsorrow’s Review: Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures
Posted by HCG Dreadsorrow | Filed under Reviews
Official Site: www.ageofconan.com
Let me start out by saying that I was really looking forward to this game. The previews were good, the tidbits leaking out from behind the veil of the NDA during beta were generally positive, and the screenshots and videos were awesome. Plus, the cherry on top is that Conan of Cimmeria was my favorite hero from childhood, even more so than a wizard that goes off on quests with a gang of midgits, or a talking lion that abducts children and takes them off to his fantasy world “so that you might know me better”. By the time I reached high school, I had already read all the original Conan books written by R.E. Howard, as well as many of the new ones by modern authors, including those by the late, great Robert Jordan. I had my collection of Conan comic books, as well as my poster of Arnold in full costume and muscles, complete with hulking, sweaty, man-boobs. To summarize, Funcom would have to royally f**k this game up for me to not like it.
Tags: Age of Conan Hyborian Adventures, Funcom, MMO, MMORPG, Reviews
