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The Daily Grind: What is your favorite internet spaceship?
When we talk about intergalactic transportation, there is no end to the variety of shapes and sizes of starships. Even within specific genres of science fiction, the starships are consistently inconsistent. In Star Wars, the Imperial ships are very angular, whereas the Mon Calamari ships are kind of puffy. If you look at Star Trek, you see a multitude of cultural differences between the spacecraft. Federation ships are very pristine, clean, and diplomatic. On the other had, Klingon ships carry the mark of the aggressive species that created them. Many MMOs have introduced us to ships we can pilot in a virtual world. Star Wars Galaxies and Star Trek Online were mentioned above, but there is also EVE Online and Taikodom -- not to mention games still in development like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Jumpgate Evolution. So in the spirit of EVE fanfest, we are asking today: What is your favorite internet spaceship? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
NetDevil lays off large portion of its staff [Updated]
When it comes to game development, it's somewhat common to see a layoff or realignment of development team members shortly after the release of a title. However, it appears that NetDevil's most recent round of layoffs came as a complete surprise to its employees. After all, the company's most recent release, LEGO Universe, is well past that initial post-launch phase, having gone live back in October 2010, and both Jumpgate Evolution and Fortune Online are (at least supposedly) under development currently at the studio. There are jobs posted on the hiring page, as well. However, it appears that the developer, owned by Gazillion Entertainment, is on shaky ground as of this morning, according to rumors. The truly horrible thing about this isn't that some developers were laid off -- it's how the affected employees found out. It appears that some of the NetDevil employees were notified that they were going to be laid off via Facebook postings before they were officially contacted by the company, according to a blog posting by Toby Cochran, who worked as a character/creature animator on LEGO Universe. Apparently an image showing a tombstone with the inscription "NetDevil R.I.P. Oct 1997-Feb 2011" started making the rounds on social networking sites shortly thereafter, indicating a far bleaker picture than just that of layoffs. We've reached out to NetDevil and Gazillion Entertainment for comment on the rumors and what, if anything, it will mean for the development of Jumpgate Evolution and Fortune Online. We'll be sure to update this post as soon as we have further information. In the meantime, we hope that all the talented, hard-working NetDevil employees who were affected are able to land fabulous new well-paying spots elsewhere, continuing to do what they love. [Update: We received the following statement from NetDevil: "The transition of members of our team to the LEGO Group allows us to conclude the work-for-hire segment of NetDevil's business and lets us expand our internally-published, free-to-play game businesses based on our own properties and licensed properties. Gazillion is wholly focused on developing, operating, and publishing the next generation of browser-delivered games," said David Brevik, President and COO. "We're proud of the LEGO Universe game that our team built, and we are certain that it has a bright future."]
Codemasters files suit over Jumpgate Evolution delays
We have all been waiting for Jumpgate Evolution for quite some time, but perhaps no one quite as much as Codemasters. As a matter of fact, the company is so tired of waiting on the game to come out that it's decided to file a civil complaint against Netdevil and its parent company Gazillion Entertainment for the delays in publishing the eagerly anticipated sci-fi space shooter. While the announcement on Codemasters' official Jumpgate Evolution site doesn't offer anything beyond the generic "yes, we did this, here's what court we filed it in, no other comment at this time" statement, the court document itself makes for interesting (if dry) reading. Essentially, Codemasters charges that Netdevil failed to meet contractual guidelines, which called for the studio to ship the game by February 24th, 2009. During that time, Codemasters paid almost 1.4 million USD to Netdevil to help underwrite the game's development and for "art assets." Codemasters is also seeking compensation due to setting up servers, website, community team, etc. for the European version of Jumpgate Evolution. Ultimately, it boils down to a pretty standard breach of contract that offers Codemasters' share of interest back to Netdevil and Gazillion in return for all monies invested in the project to date. Whether or not this brouhaha will cause any changes to the timetable for Jumpgate Evolution will remain to be seen. We'll keep an eye out as the case progresses. [Thanks, Merketh!]
Oh my! A Jumpgate Evolution leak -- not really
Earlier today an unannounced video slipped onto YouTube claiming to be a "Jumpgate Evolution Play Test." The JGE forums lit up with speculation as to the source of the video, yet the true source was not even known to the JGE forum moderator, Alpha. In the thread regarding the leak, Alpha said, "I don't know where this video is from (or how old the footage is, or indeed anything about it), but really, given that the team is really small right now, the devs are going to know who shot that footage." She was correct, because just a few hours later, OhSnap (Kara Kroupa, Marketing Coordinator at NetDevil) replied with a detailed explanation of what exactly happened. According to OhSnap, the video "showed up on youtube first because I asked the emissaries to spread it around before I made the video announcement. With all intention to explain the details here later." Unfortunately, Alpha had not read the information regarding the video when she first replied to the post, so she treated it as a breach of the NDA. Fortunately, there was no real issue, and no damage was done save to Alpha's keyboard, which now has OJ sprayed on it from her laughing at finding out the "leak" was intentional. Now, after months of quiet, we have some Jumpgate Evolution footage! Take a look after the break at this "leaked" real footage of gameplay of the citadel. [Thank you, Notturno for the link to the video]
New Jumpgate Evolution forums now live
Jumpgate Evolution forum members will be happy to hear that the old JGE forums are a thing of the past. The new forums went online today, replacing the old ones that a NetDevil staffer referred to as "broken in many ways." As with many new sites, this one still has a few bugs to be fixed and additions to be made, so the News and Announcements forum contains a welcome post with a list of known issues. That post explains how players can bring their login information to the new forum and gives a list of features that are still in the completion process. The forums and subforums are all functional -- though missing a few bells and whistles -- so check them out for yourself!
Captain's Log: Should Star Trek Online fans fear the competition?
Good afternoon, cadets and admirals. Welcome to this week's edition of Captain's Log, your ever-expanding guide to Star Trek Online. Last time, we discussed some basics of ground combat, and I promised more to come. But I've decided to change course a bit, so we'll cover those next week. Instead, I thought it might be fun to discuss what's on every Earth nerd's mind right now: E3! The Electronic Entertainment Expo has engines on full impulse this week in Los Angeles, and amid all the grand news we don't care about -- I was counting on the 3DS to not be totally awesome so I wouldn't have to replace my DSiXL! Curses! -- the MMO news is flying fast and furious. With all the news and shiny images of forthcoming space-based MMOs, should fans worry that STO's days are numbered?
Executive Producer of Jumpgate Evolution gives information on game's status
After what feels like an endless period of silence from the developers of Jumpgate Evolution, Executive Producer Lance Robertson has delivered a surprisingly detailed forum post on the game's development. So what's going on over there? Why all the silence and delays? Apparently, those delays are due to the extensive overhaul to the entire game: "...the team made the crucial decision to completely overhaul JGE's game systems, while also refocusing specifically on the game play experience we wanted to make: space warfare on a massive scale." Much of the game was removed completely and replaced to fit the team had in mind. And the media blackout? "We couldn't discuss game features, because we were no longer sure what would make it into the game and what wouldn't. We couldn't talk about story, because it was being completely rewritten. There was so much that we wanted to share, but things were just at too early of a stage to discuss without the risk of disappointing you, our community. When we announce something, we ought to be as confident as possible that it will stay in the game – although in game development, there are no guarantees." The full story is an interesting read, as it explains what has been going on with Jumpgate Evolution, and what will be happening from here on out.
Indian company purchases fifty percent stake in Codemasters
While some gamers in the US may not be immediately familiar with Codemasters, we know our readers across the pond will immediately recognize them as the company with the rights to publish Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, and (the "who-knows-when-it-will-release") MMO Jumpgate Evolution overseas. With that said, last year we heard that the COO at Codemasters, Tony Williams, decided to step down from Chief Organizational Officer. Not too long after that, there were rumors that Warner Brothers was looking into buying the company. Today, it seems that a company from India called Reliance Big Entertainment has pounced, and now owns a 50% stake in Codemasters. Apparently, Reliance Big Entertainment is very well known in India. It's subsidiary company, Zapak Digital Entertainment, owns the largest online gaming portal in the country as well. This gaming-specific company will be the one in charge of overseeing the investment in UK-based Codemasters. As to what this could mean for MMO gamers in the EU, we'll have to wait and see. Perhaps Reliance/Zapak will see fit to close the gap in differences from the Turbine-controlled version of Lord of the Rings Online. Or perhaps this new company will finally roll the Codemasters version of Dungeons and Dragons Online over to the same free-to-play model that has been such a huge success for Turbine in the States. No matter what, this is going to be interesting to watch. [via Joystiq]
A significant update on Jumpgate Evolution's progress
NetDevil's Scott Brown has emerged from the black depths of development on Jumpgate Evolution to give an update to the commmunity. In fact, he's given quite a substantial -- if not brief -- update about the various game elements being hammered into proper working order. The topics covered are Battlespace, mission structure, faction definition and improvements being made to the previously lackluster enemy AI. So basically, NetDevil has been working to revamp the game ever since its June 2009 release date was changed into a To Be Announced state, leaving fans wondering when they'd be able to get their space fighter action on. We've posted Scott's bullet point update beyond the break, for those interested.
Jumpgate Evolution brings on a new Executive Producer
Any of you die hard Dark Age of Camelot fans out there? We hope you're paying attention, because NetDevil just brought Lance Roberston aboard their Jumpgate Evolution team as executive producer. For those not in the know: Lance's career blossomed as he rose through the ranks at Mythic Entertainment while working on Dark Age of Camelot. As such, he possesses extensive experience developing MMOs with both PvP and PvE focuses. He also helped to ship Warhammer Online as a senior producer, before the unfortunate events we're all aware of over at Electronic Arts. Jumpgate Evolution is a three faction game that deals with PvP and PvE. Sound familiar? It should, as DAoC's tri-factions were one of its selling points back in the day. Lance also benefits from having experience in the "what do do" and "what not to do" areas of PvP/PvE MMO development, so we're certain he'll prove to be an immensely useful member of the JGE team.
The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010, part 2
Mmm, Star Wars made into an MMO by BioWare. The scope and breadth of what BioWare is looking to accomplish makes me the most excited, if I'm being honest. Star Wars: The Old Republic really needs to hit before the next World of Warcraft expansion.
Gazillion layoffs hit Romero's Slipgate Ironworks
Whatever Gazillion Entertainment's secret mastermind plot is, their next step has been to create an unfortunate situation for a suspected 50 now ex-employees at Slipgate Ironworks. The reasoning? According to Gazillion, "As part of our focus on reaching the widest possible audiences with breakthrough MMO entertainment, we decided to change the format of our project at Slipgate Ironworks to better achieve this aim," So, whatever unannounced MMO the team was working on is now canned, it would seem. At least there's a silver lining, in some sense. Gazillion also stated, "-the other Slipgate staff are already in discussions around the many open positions across our slate of projects." You know what? We'd make another world conquering joke here, but that'd be too easy. Instead, we're just going to sit in our chair, pet our cat and sip this lovely whipped latte. Oh, whoops, guess we just can't help ourselves sometimes.Seriously though, next year is going to be interesting, because the official statement alludes to something being released from the publisher next year. Unless they're just talking about Jumpgate Evolution -- at least, we hope that comes out by next year -- and then we're not really sure why they just didn't say as much.
Creating the sound and music of Jumpgate Evolution
We've been wondering what's happening over at NetDevil with Jumpgate Evolution of late. It's been a bit quiet on the news front, but we've come across a recent dev blog from Jumpgate Evolution Producer Hermann Peterscheck that explains the importance of audio in this sci-fi MMO.Peterscheck explains NetDevil's approach to audio in a space game and the various steps taken to ensure the game sounds as good as it looks. He writes, "Try imagining Star Wars without John Williams' sound track or James Earl Jones' booming Darth Vader voice. Poor audio on top of great video can really deteriorate production value. The trouble with audio is that it generally comes late in the development cycle and all too often as an afterthought."
Jumpgate Evolution dev blog looks at balancing combat
As player-versus-player pew-pewing is one of the biggest draws for those interested in the upcoming Jumpgate Evolution, there's no wonder that a lot of attention has been given to balancing the game's combat. The most recent Jumpgate Evolution dev blog entry from lead producer Hermann Peterscheck, titled "Combating Combat", shed some light on how class balance came to be where it's at now. The post goes on to say that from the very beginning, balance was approached with PvP in mind, as NetDevil realized that it would be easier to tweak PvE accordingly at a later stage. Starting with just one class of ship, additional classes were introduced over time and put through their paces in daily play tests. Petersheck noted that the goal was to have each class feel truly unique and not simply have a bit less of this stat, or a bit more of that one:"It's very tempting to just throw a bunch of classes of ships together in order to say things like 'our game has 15 classes of ships!' but this, we believe, is the wrong direction. People want meaningful and strong choices and not lots of meaningless, empty choices. Currently we plan to have 4-6 classes, but they will each have nearly endless possible configurations within those groups."It's a promising design philosophy, to be sure. Check out the rest of Peterscheck's article at the JGE dev blog.
Jumpgate Evolution interview drops details on PvP
NetDevil's upcoming sci-fi MMO Jumpgate Evolution is notable for its aggressive, joystick-style approach to PvP. Needless to say, it's a game we're really looking forward to trying, we're just not sure about when that's going to be. Without a solid ETA on when the title will launch, we're just keeping up with NetDevil's updates on Jumpgate Evolution's development. They've recently announced some new info about the game's move towards a player-driven economy, but we'd imagine most of our readers are more interested in JGE's PvP. That's the focus of an interview with the title's lead producer Hermann Peterscheck that we've just come across over at MMORPG.com.Jon Wood spoke with Peterscheck about how PvP will factor in the game's lore, and vice versa. Peterscheck explained how each of the nations has a personality or a character, which they've been trying to convey with the lore released for the militaristic Octavians, the profit-motivated Solrain, or the mystic Quantar. NetDevil's goal is to present enough 'character' for each nation that players can identify with that faction and bring that into their gameplay.
Jumpgate Evolution lead producer on how the game is shaping up
We think that Jumpgate Evolution is a promising game, one that will inject aggressive joystick-style PvP combat into the MMO scene and provide a change of pace from the slower, more tactical sci-fi titles. Massively doesn't have an ETA on the game's launch yet, but we are following how the game is developing, as communicated in interviews with the gaming press and fansites as well. We recently mentioned Jumpgate Evolution's aims to establish a player-driven economy in the game, which we noted our readers had a mixed response to. We've also come across some more info about the game in an interview JGE lead producer Hermann Peterscheck gave to I4U News.
Jumpgate Evolution economy changing to player-driven system
Some gamers were disheartened when NetDevil opted to delay the Jumpgate Evolution launch in order to refine some aspects of gameplay, but we're hoping the extra time they've bought for themselves will equate to a more polished release. One of those aspects of the game they're improving is Jumpgate Evolution's economy, which is the subject of an interview that producer Hermann Peterscheck gave to JGERadio's "Tikigod."Throughout the interview, Peterscheck emphasizes that Jumpgate Evolution's economy should, by design, function in ways similar to a real world economy (but hopefully with a lot less fail) -- a far more dynamic system than one driven by NPC vendors. Peterscheck says, "I actually think the changes make the economy more alive. What we have done is moved away from an AI-based economy to a player-driven economy."
The Digital Continuum: Reign of the shooters
This year, a bleating signal is ringing out from all corners of the MMO industry. It calls to our attention a new order on the horizon: the order of shooter MMOs.Can it be coincidence that everywhere you look at this year's E3, most of the exciting upcoming MMOs are shooters in one way or another? I'm looking forward to Final Fantasy XIV as much as the next fan, but there's only one or two traditional looking concepts that have my interest.Moving through my mental list of must-play MMOs reveals a very obvious pattern. Jumpgate Evolution, All Points Bulletin, CrimeCraft and even aspects of Star Wars: The Old Republic are looking shooter-like. I mean, come on, cover mechanics for the Smuggler class? Now you're just teasing me into a squelching geek heat, BioWare.
New Jumpgate Evolution screens show fighters in action
Massively recently took a look at Jumpgate Evolution at E3 2009, and we liked what we saw, which would be clear to anyone who listened to the latest Massively Speaking podcast. We put up some of the new screenshots for you to accompany our most recent feature story on Jumpgate Evolution, but the team at NetDevil released 14 new screenshots today. We've added them to our core Jumpgate Evolution gallery, so have a look through our images below for the latest shots of the Quantar and Solrain fighters in action.%Gallery-18375%
E3 2009: Jumpgate Evolution's E3 trailer evokes that space opera drama
When attempting to entice potential players with your game it never hurts to remind them of that television show or movie they love so very much, and how that it's possible to live out their fantasies of said other property in your own. This rule of thumb is why the E3 2009 trailer for Jumpgate Evolution over at G4TV's website is so very good. The trailer is quite successful in making us want to pop in our Battlestar Galactica reboot DVDs and watch them all over again.Release day may no longer be in June -- or any month for that matter -- but our hopes are set in beta expanding sometime soon. You can find the full trailer after the break, in all its evocative and dramatic glory. Massively is on the ground in Los Angeles this week and covering all the latest E3 MMO news coming from the convention. Check out our breaking coverage (or all the Joystiq network E3 reporting) and keep your eye on Massively's front page for the latest developments.
