Asker Online is an instanced action MMORPG featuring three classes to crawl through dungeons littered with mobs and destructible environments. Fight solo or team up with other players to slay bosses.
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Publisher: Neowiz Games Playerbase: TBD Type: Action RPG Release Date: August 25, 2015 (KR) Shut Down Date: March 22, 2016 (KR) Pros: +Dynamic environments. +Smooth combat. Cons: -Gender-locked classes. -Invisible walls. -Linear dungeons.
In an unanticipated move NCSoft is debuting long-lived titles Aion and Lineage 2 on Steam some time this Fall. Both game are free to play, but whether their presence on the digital distribution platform makes an impact is questionable. But NCSoft does continue to support their titles, having recently released a major content update for Lineage 2 titled Underground on October 14, 2015, and Aion's Upheavel patch released in June, 2015—adding two new raids, two new zones, and abilities.
Jeff Pabst, vice president of Commerce NCSOFT West stated "Bringing Lineage II and Aion to Steam was a natural next step for both titles to further grow their prominence in the West," and "Both Lineage II and Aion have dedicated fan-bases, and we're excited to work with Steam to enable even more players to experience these heritage titles."
There will undoubtedly be an influx of players but will they stick around? Personally, I would be surprised if new players make a home in either Aion or Lineage 2. More than likely the move to Steam will attract former players of both titles, bringing a small influx.
Wakfu initiated an unprecedented rollback for the European Elbor server, setting the world back to June 21, 2015. Four months of player progress have dissipated. Ankama stated that their database backup system was broken, and no one noticed until recently. They are still investigating the issue but the possibility of complete data recovery looks grim. Compensation packages will be distributed but it might not be enough to regain Elbor's player confidence.
Apparently, the system was broken so that the server continued to show that it was making regular backups but was actually saving the state of the game on June 21. According to one forum translator:
If you logged in on October 14th after 17:00 server time and before the hotfix, they will most likely be able to restore your account as it was on October 14th.
If you've logged in since September 14th and were in a guild, they will most likely be able to restore your level.
If you leveled up between September 29th and October 14th and were not in a guild, they will most likely be able to restore your level but with 0 XP towards the next level.
If you dropped items from monsters between September 14th and October 14th, they will most likely be able to return those items to you.
If you worked on professions between September 14th and October 14th, they will most likely be able to restore your profession level by estimating your level with a log of your actions performed.
If the last time you logged in was September 13th or earlier, everything will be rolled back to June 21st.
Elbor may become a ghost server after the rollback, and players can't be blamed for leaving.
I’m on a grinding spree, purging Elwynn Forest of wildlife to assert humanity's dominance in the virtual world. But my rampage comes to a groaning halt. My bags are full, littered with junk items titled in smoky grey—a color reserved for only the most useless garbage. I have no choice. Opening my bag I destroy with the same ferocity I showed the wolves. And return to the grind, only to be halted once more when my limited bag space is overflowing with waste.
Garbage loot is an outdated standard that is as offensive as the Great Pacific garbage patch; developers are choking me with a 6 pack ring. It serves nearly zero purpose in every MMORPG. Quests reward you with spangled Green items in the first twenty minutes of play, sending Grey and White loot into the bonfire rather than the recycling bin. Why? Why are my bags bogged down with drivel? The same bland items have been hanging off wolf coats for over a decade.
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There’s no economic purpose. Junk loot sell for pittance compared to any colorfully decorated gear. And at level 15 I could care less about filling my wallet with copper coins that aren't enough to buy Oliver Twist another bowl of gruel. It’s a waste of time to run to a vendor, to sell items before heading back out into the forest, shattering immersion like a broken wine glass at a Mensa dinner party. I play games to forget I have dishes to wash not accrue more menial tasks. I would rather pick up the equivalent of junk loot’s value in copper, silver, or—unlikely—gold. What can be done?
Deconstructing junk for resources is one way to circumvent ineffectiveness. If I can transmogrify “Iron Sword” into its constituent parts and use them to raise my Alchemy skill then I don’t feel weighed down. Further made robust if no vendor sells the required materials, giving keen players an incentive to monetize their acquisitions. But it's a mechanic rarely instituted. Final Fantasy 14 has a desynthesis skill, but it’s also a rare game that promotes crafting as a progression pathway. Whereas many titles slap on crafting like scratch and sniff stickers accentuating a notebook.
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Ultima Online handles junk loot perfectly. There isn’t any. Because the differences between basic gear and great gear are minute. Even a skeleton’s dropped Katana serves a practical purpose. Ganked by Stone Harpy's, my loot viscera splattered the cave walls. But equipped with random item-drops I marched back into the Harpy Nest, slayed the West Side Story reenactment, and reacquired my loot. But the modern MMORPG prides itself on an insane disparity between beginner’s gear and end-game equipment, rendering every former item useless the moment a quest rewards you with iridescent labels.
There is only one reason to weigh down my playthrough with bile junk. Tired of being halted at the gates of routine Spring cleaning? Then be sure to pay Charon a penny. Bag space has been commodified. And monetizing the number of slots through an arbitrary limitation and then filling bagspace with auto loot junk is a way to incentivize conversion. It's a grimy methodology. I'll keep sending my stinking loot to landfill hell.
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Developers ought not be afraid to challenge orthodox norms, or abandon them outright. Besides pranking friends in Diablo 3 and taking a step towards completing blasé achievements, garbage loot is a waste of effort—unless the MMORPG monetizes bag spaces and pesters players with inordinate rubbish to persuade expanded slots in exchange for cash. But it’s a tired system. Don’t waste player time with loot designed for sale. Every item should serve some end in and of itself, not be a means to pennies misplaced without care. While recycling is a noble cause, garbage loot needs to stay in the trash.
IMCGAMES finally announced the long awaited 2nd beta test schedule for Tree of Savior, which will last from October 27, 2015 until November 25, 2015. The beta is open to everybody; there will be no limit on the number of keys distributed. So long as you register between today and Monday, October 19, 2015. Anyone who tested in the 1st CBT will be able to use their same key and will not have re-register for the 2nd CBT. Beta keys will be distributed between October 21, 2015 and October 23, 2015.
We have been eagerly awaiting the 2nd CBT at MMOs.com, considering "all roads lead back to Ragnarok Online." And you can count on us slaying cutesy monsters on Day 1 of the CBT.
Legends of Aria is an open world fantasy MMORPG inspired by classic MMORPGs like Runescape and Ultima Online. It features a robust player housing system along with skill based progression. The game also has a unique shard system where players can create their own servers with their own rulesets. Legends of Aria changed its name to Britaria upon rebranding itself as a crypto MMORPG.
Bandai Namco has announced that their free to play fighting game Rise of Incarnates will be shutting down for good on December 15, 2015. No explicit reason was given for the closure. But judging the game's success through its playerbase shows it never caught widespread success, averaging below 100 player in the last six months.
As part of the game's inevitable closure players will no longer be able to purchase IP, the game's premium currency. Any IP already purchased will be usable until closure. To celebrate the game's short-lived life numerous items in the shop will see a price slash, and some will be free.
Rise of Incarnates is a fairly unique cooperative fighting game that's entertaining in short bursts. But the fun didn't translate into longevity and now one of the few free PC fighting games is knocked out of the ring.
Rise of Incarnates Gameplay - Sunday Funday Round 12
Daum Games announced that the North American and European edition of Black Desert Online will launch in early 2016 and use a buy to play model. It's a somewhat surprising monetization model considering the Korean and Russian versions are free to play. Although there will be vanity items for sale in the game's cash shop. But balancing and progression will also differ for Western players. What exactly that means is speculative. But a teaser website launched where prospective players will be able to learn information in the near future.
“We are putting a lot of effort in the game’s Western localization,” said Daniel Loehr (AKA Belsazar), Project Manager at Daum Games, “We are localizingapproximate 2.5 million words into English, German and French. Black Desert Online’s content and gameplay systems will be adjusted to accommodate Western players and our differentiating business model.”
MMOs.com was able to confirm that the first English alpha test will be happening "soon." And we will be distributing alpha keys when the time finally arrives.
Black Desert Online Gameplay First Look HD - MMOs.com
Former Darkfall players have banded to together to form Ub3rgames with the intention of acquiring the licensing rights to graveyard MMORPG Darkfall Online from publisher Aventurine and relaunching the game as Darkfall Online: New Dawn. It would not be a complete recreation but would improve upon the vanilla experience offered in the original. And it would not include the classes added through Darkfall Unholy Wars.
Ub3rgames has announced that their business model would be buy to play with a subscription service, stating "Not only is f2p/b2p not viable for MMORPGs, but it also has devastating side effects on game design." The price will start at 20€ and gradually increase until it reaches 40€. They've also stated that there will be no cosmetic store, so don't expect microtransactions.
Their strategy rests on the assumption that enough interest in Darkfall Online exists to warrant a resurrection. In today's heavily saturated MMORPG market it seems like a gamble, especially with new releases popping up nearly every month. And the majority of those games are choosing a free to play model. But, Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot are still subscription-based games and stay afloat (whether that's largely due to publisher support or not is questionable).
Regardless, Ub3rgames will have to acquire the rights to Darkfall Online from Aventurine before New Dawn can rise.
Excited to play First Assault earlier this month, I giddily downloaded the game’s client when disappointment reared its head, “by participating in this test you agree to the terms of the NDA.” The non-disclosure agreement suffocates my excitement and I return to old habits. I want to share my experience, not take a vow of silence like a mid-life crisis ascetic. Why are you advertising your game to the public and telling us not to talk about it. “If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.” Developers, read more Kahlil Gibran before you advertise a game no one’s supposed to discuss.
The principle motivating an NDA is that information needs to be released like a conservationists hand on a faucet, carefully controlling the stream as part of the developer’s marketing strategy. In the world of technology we find a parallel through Apple, who pride themselves on company secrets until the weeks before a major release. The adage is that hype relies on one colorful firework at a time, with developers choosing when to strike a match. But foregoing an NDA doesn’t slow down the hype-express. It can bolster anticipation. Watching YouTube videos of Tree of Savior riled my jealousy and regret that I was out of town for the first CBT. An NDA would have pushed ToS to the back of my mind, to be replaced by a title with exorbitant information I could soak in.
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NDA implies that you’re not confident in your product to be discussed publically. It’s a sign that it’s unfinished and the drawing board is still prone to eraser marks. And that’s okay. It is a test. Today’s market is drowning in buggy, unfinished Early Access titles. But if you don’t want the public to discuss it don’t send press releases to major media outlets advertising your game. Unless the press release reads, “only interested in testers willing to aid the developmental process.” What purpose does it serve to have a general player—one without the keen eyes or motivation to provide feedback—to test your NDA stamped game?
Target players who want to debug. Keep press to a minimal. Remember when testing games was a job, when dedicated players provided feedback? When I tested Warhammer Online I filled out a lengthy questionnaire and was compelled to provide feedback on every aspect of gameplay through clever systems. Now, it’s a free for all where everyone is a tester—sometimes paying ludicrous amounts of money to be a guinea pig. The vast majority of players during a widespread announced test-phase are interested in one thing: fun. So, don’t shout from the rooftops that you have a new game to play and then say, “But remember children don't talk about it. You’re hip, you like Fight Club don’t you?” It silences the number one form of advertising.
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The best marketing is word of mouth. No matter how many advertisements you shove down my throat I’m still going to trust the recommendation of a friend over Kate Upton's voluptuous gaze (Game of War). NDA’s ostracize the strongest advertising force in the world, the community. Because games aren’t just game’s themselves anymore. They’re the communities that settled around a title, building hype through excited conversations. And mistiming an advertising push with an NDA test-phase stifles the roots of a community before it can grip the dirt. The test announcement builds hype that fades with time because the NDA has cut off tester’s tongues.
NDA’s are appropriate in the right context, when the purpose of a test is to garner feedback from bugtesting players. But then the testing phase ought to be directed towards a specific audience, not the general public. There are plenty of people interested in aiding the development process, who get shafted by XxXCoolGuy69XxX because sign-ups only asked for an email address and a birthday. What happened to seeking out players interested in development? Are they now solely relegated to crowdfunding projects? Use NDA’s properly, when your game is still early in development. Don’t advertise your product and tell the general public not to discuss it. You’re trying to silence the wind.
(11 votes, average: 3.45 / 5)
