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Working As Intended: The MMOs we lost in 2014
Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote about how Vanguard's early stumbles foreshadowed the changing MMORPG industry. In January 2007, when Vanguard lurched its way to launch, the genre was barely a decade old; it was booming, and it had never suffered hardship on a massive scale. In the west, we'd seen only three "major" MMOs sunset (Motor City Online, Earth and Beyond, and Asheron's Call 2), and only one MMO, Anarchy Online, had "gone F2P," though we hadn't yet thought to call it yet because it was such a rare and new thing. In fact, it wasn't until 2008's first big wave of AAA, post-World of Warcraft MMOs launched and mostly flopped that MMORPG players gave much thought to the future of the genre and how WoW had reshaped (and possibly broken) it. Maybe not even then. Here in 2015, sunsets are commonplace, and the vast majority of modern MMOs have adopted some sort of subscriptionless model. Last year, we lost more than a dozen MMOs, including Vanguard itself, all of them wiped from the face of the earth (at least until someone decides to resurrect them), and several more under development were canceled, leading to concern among industry watchers like those of us who pen for Massively. Let's try to get some perspective and revisit the MMOs we lost in 2014.
Doctor Who Worlds in Time shutting down today
In case you forgot, there was a Doctor Who pseudo-MMO. We say was because as of today Worlds in Time is shutting down. If this is the first you've heard of it, well, we're sorry.
Hold tight and pretend it's a plan! Doctor Who MMO shutting down
Less than two years after launching, the free-to-play Doctor Who MMO, Worlds in Time, is shutting down with no chance of regeneration. "The Worlds in Time game will cease operation on February 28th, 2014," a banner at the top of the game's site reads. Microtransactions for the game have already been suspended, MCV reports. Developed by Sega-owned Three Rings, Doctor Who: Worlds in Time was a cartoonish adventure based on the long-running BBC series with gameplay composed mostly of mini-game puzzles. Three Rings announced the game in February 2011 and finally launched the project in March 2012. The good Doctor lives on in games with Doctor Who Legacy, a free-to-play puzzle-RPG from Tiny Rebel Games and Seed Studio, available on iOS and Android.
Doctor Who: Worlds in Time shutting down
It's a day that ends in 'Y,' which means that somewhere someone is shepherding a free-to-play pseudo-MMO through its death rattle. Today that title is Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, a browser-based thing from developer Three Rings that's been operating since March of 2012. According to the official website, the game will shut down on February 28th. Microtransaction services have already been suspended.
MMObility: The Chromebook 'All-In-One' project: More games
This will be my last week using the new Chromebook Pixel, at least here on Massively. I will continue to look at its techier side of things on my personal blog, just as I did with the original Chromebook All-In-One project. The shorter time frame for this series can be explained by the fact that Chromebooks do admittedly cut out a lot of the browser-based MMOs out there by not allowing the usage of Unity or other plugins. Flash is allowed, but Adobe and other companies' recent disapproval of the use of Flash for mobile platforms came with a reason: It's often hard to run. Once HTML5 becomes more standard thanks to publishers like Jagex, I'll be able to comment more on that. It's also important to note that the Pixel is really just a nicer Samsung model, so you can refer to the older posts as well. I want to encourage everyone who is interested in Chromebooks to check out the Samsung ARM-based Chromebook I talked about last time. It's very inexpensive and quite literally does everything that the Pixel does, albeit on a much smaller screen that is attached to a weaker device that has a much lower build quality. Still, my time with the Pixel has amazed me with a wonderful, touchable screen, but the Pixel has also convinced me that the Samsung should be the flagship device for Chromebook, hopefully kept at the same price range while slowly improving in quality. Now, let's talk about the games. I found a few that run much better on the Pixel's beefier stats, but please refer to my Samsung coverage for 30 MMOs that run on both machines. The following list is especially good for touchscreens.
MMObility: The Chromebook 'All In One' project - The Pixel
If you caught my first Chromebook All In One project, you'll be familiar with the details of the series. If not, allow me to fill you in. Essentially I took a wonderful little device, the Samsung Series 3 Chromebook, which utilizes an Exynos-based processor, and I used it for most of my work-related activities for weeks. It proved a capable device but couldn't play everything or do everything as easily as I would have liked. For $249 US, however, it's not a bad deal. I still use the light notebook every single day. It's easily my favorite device in the house alongside my Nexus 7 tablet. But now, it's time for an upgrade. This time I will be looking at the Google Pixel, a hotrod of a Chromebook that Google is using to show just how the OS can work on a premium build. It boasts a core i5 processor, 4 gigs of DDR3 RAM, a 32 or 64 gig SSD and an incredible screen. At 2560 x 1700, 239 PPI, 400 nit brightness, and 4.3 million pixels, it is the best-looking thing I've ever computed on. The touchscreen is great for some gaming, and the build quality is top-notch. So why does it matter? Why would an MMO fan want or need a device that cost at least $1,299.00 and that runs only the Chrome OS? I'll try to figure that out over the next few weeks. [Update: The loaner model is actually the 4G LTE model, not the $1299 US WiFi-only.]
The Game Archaeologist: Puzzle Pirates
Up until this point in my life, Puzzle Pirates has always been that "oh yeah, that actually exists!" game to me. Even when I do lists of pirates in MMOs, this title slips right off of my radar. Maybe it's because Puzzle Pirates doesn't make waves (har!) these days, or maybe it's been around for so very long. I can't be the only one; the last time Massively talked about Puzzle Pirates was three years ago. I think that part of Puzzle Pirates' forgettability is that it doesn't exactly scream MMO. I mean, its combat is more cerebral than anything else, it's all cutesy and stuff, and even its name suggests a casual flash title than anything deep and substantive. Yet I have friends with a long and abiding love for this game, people who always chide me when I forget it. So to peer pressure I bow: It's high past time that we gave Puzzle Pirates its due as part of the MMO genre. Avast, ye landlubbers, and swab those peepers: We be goin' to sea!
Rise and Shiny: Doctor Who: Worlds in Time
Somehow, a new title by Three Rings, the maker of some of my favorite MMOs like Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights, slipped through the cracks. I pride myself on knowing about every new MMO that is coming out, even if I don't play them much. For some reason, though, Doctor Who: Worlds in Time slipped under my radar. Hey, nobody's perfect. Needless to say I was excited to check out the title even though I'm not a fan of the current Doctor. (Tom Baker fan, all the way. After that they all seemed too goofy. The theme song is still the coolest ones in sci-fi, though.) Doctor Who is like prog rock: tolerable only in small amounts, unless it's Rush. Once I logged in, I found a clever little game that utilizes many of the same mechanics of Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights. It's got familiar, puzzle-based, real-time group gameplay that I wish other games would implement. Star Trek Online could solve its ridiculous problem of having only single-player ships by giving players unique "jobs." Those crew members could sit at individual stations and solve puzzle in real time to help do their part. It works in Puzzle Pirates beautifully. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time uses the same instant group mechanic that Spiral Knights does, but it has other problems. In the end, I was a bit confused and often bored by the title.
The MMO Report: It's bigger on the inside edition
This week on The MMO Report ("where everyone is legally obligated to be filled with Yuletide"), Casey and the crew interview two of the minds behind the inbound Doctor Who-flavored MMO. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time's Robert Nashak and Max Engel sat down to discuss the game, which is a platform-independent, Flash-based browser MMO with a unique 2-D graphic-novel style that aims to appeal to fans of both the franchise and sci-fi games in general. Nashak and Engel promise iconic locations and enemies along with a Matt Smith-inspired Doctor and a customizable gadget (sonic screwdriver, anyone?) to reflect each character's abilities. The game will be F2P; ideally, players can wade through the game "without spending a penny," although naturally you can purchase faster mission completion and customization of your "home-space on the Tardis." Yes, it's bigger on the inside. The game launches in March of 2012, but for now, you can check out the entirety of The MMO Report's interview just past the break.
Doctor Who and You going online in 'Worlds of Time'
It's a good thing the TARDIS is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside, because the good Doctor is about to pack a clown car-esque number of companions in there. BBC and developer Three Rings have announced a partnership to create a "free-to-play multiplayer online game" based on the long-running British television series, titled Doctor Who: Worlds in Time. According to the game's press release announcement, players will "be able to follow in the footsteps of the eccentric and brilliant Doctor by travelling through time and space, exploring new worlds and encountering many alien races, both friend and foe." We wonder if Daleks are going to make an appearance? Nah, that seems pretty unlikely. Keep an eye out for more info next week, when Three Rings will share more details about the title during GDC 2011.
BBC and Three Rings readying Doctor Who online multiplayer title
Doctor Who is the latest in a long line of intellectual properties that have made the transition from the TV screen to the computer screen. BBC Worldwide has just announced a new partnership with developer Three Rings that will result in a free-to-play online multiplayer title set in the good doctor's strange and popular universe. While we're not quite sure of the upcoming game's MMO pedigree, we are pretty confident that series fans will dig it regardless. Players will follow in the iconic character's footsteps by exploring new worlds, traveling through space and time, and befriending (and battling) various alien races. Gameplay revolves around the TARDIS and enables fans to accept challenges from the Time Lord and "defend civilized culture against infamous Doctor Who enemies." Doctor Who: Worlds in Time has been in development for some time now and is "expected to launch later this year."
