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Wizardry Online hit by duping and hacking, bans issued
Some things never presage good news. Case in point: Wizardry Online has been hit with what appears to be a round of hacking and item duping, leading to hyperinflation and a great deal of player outrage on the forums. Exact figures about how much gold was dumped into the economy are hard to come by, but most players seem to agree that it's a matter of several million gold sometimes foisted on unwitting victims. After claiming that the matter was being investigated, Sony Online Entertainment representatives locked some of the threads related to the topic while simply stating that suspensions had been issued and further discussion did not help the community. No statements have yet been issued regarding permanent bans or any potential rollbacks to the environment. What long-term effects this will have on the game's viability remain unclear, although several players are protesting SOE's apparent lack of action quite vigorously.
Controversial God of War: Ascension trophy altered in upcoming patch
In a statement sent to Joystiq, developer Sony Santa Monica has confirmed it will change the name of a controversial God of War: Ascension trophy in a patch that should be available alongside the game on Tuesday. Once the patch is applied, the name of the trophy will be "Bros Before Foes."Originally named "Bros Before Hos" (as seen above), the trophy pops up soon after you help God of War's anti-hero, Kratos, brutally pummel a Fury, one of a trio of female antagonists in the game. (Though it's not a spoiler in light of the fact that Kratos beats everyone up, we've omitted the trophy description.) The change comes after negative reaction from early reviews to the jarring scene on and the attached award, which is perceived as misogynistic."We have created and will soon push out a patch for God of War: Ascension that alters the title of one of the game Trophies. The text was offensive to some members of our community and impacted their enjoyment of the game," Sony Santa Monica's statement noted. "We are endlessly committed to ensuring that our community can fully enjoy the experiences the team has created. As such, we've addressed the feedback and amended the Trophy in question."Players will be instructed to download the update once God of War: Ascension has been inserted into an internet-connected PlayStation 3. No other aspect of the game is affected by the patch.God of War: Ascension launches exclusively for the PlayStation 3 on March 12, 2013. For more on the game, check out Joystiq's review.
Fox News discusses Star Wars: The Old Republic's gay expansion planet
Star Wars: The Old Republic fans already know that Makeb is the Planet of Gay, containing far more gay than even the fabled Gay Level on Coruscant. Or perhaps it's just the sight of the game's upcoming expansion, Rise of the Hutt Cartel, which will feature the first implementation of same-gender romances in the game. These romances will be limited to characters already on the planet rather than new or existing companions. This is not new information for most players. However, it's news to Fox News, whose take on the planet's status is... slightly different. According to Fox News, Makeb will be the "gay planet" added in the expansion, likening the current limitation of this new content to segregation and noting that many players are opposed the inclusion of same-sex relationships in the game. There is no mention of the number of players requesting the feature, nor of the variety of (presumably) non-gay quests and content available on Makeb. In short, it's missing a number of nuances regarding the situation, something that might be good for a raised eyebrow or two from fans and detractors alike.
The War Z yanked from Steam, Valve apologizes
The brief and baffling run of The War Z on Steam is over... for now. Valve called the release of the title on its digital distribution platform a "mistake" and "premature" and has since removed it. "We apologize for this," the company said, "and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build." The furor over The War Z's launch on Steam centered around its status as an early beta build and a list of misleading features on the Steam page that were either partially implemented or absent from the game altogether. Hammerpoint also issued a short statement saying, "We're making sure that our Store page is 100% correct. Bottom line: Our end goal is to have satisfied and not angry customers, so this is more important for us than everything else." Steam said that players who purchased it may choose to continue to play it or can get a refund.
The War Z launches to a flurry of fraud accusations
The release of The War Z on Steam earlier this week is causing quite a stir today in the MMO-verse. Some purchasers are accusing the game's developers of outright fraud, noting that the store page and the official site are claiming features that simply do not exist in the released version, such as the promise of large persistent worlds (the only map currently available is 75 square km compared to claims of 100-500 square km) and population viability (while the game's servers can supposedly host 100 people, players claim that they cannot host more than 50). Some of the complaints are subjective -- whether or not the true challenge in the game comes from zombies or other players -- but even the game's defenders admit that the title is still arguably in beta. It's currently the top seller on Steam, which is good news for Hammerpoint, but it also means that whatever the developers do next will be subject to some rather harsh scrutiny.
SWTOR lead dev addresses free-to-play concerns
Star Wars: The Old Republic players are checking out the game's potential free-to-play changes on the test server, and serious concerns about some of the restrictions have prompted a response from BioWare. Lead Designer Damion Schubert wrote a lengthy forum post to state that the team's been observing the test server and has decided to make a few changes to the F2P restrictions. In particular, free players will now get two quickbars instead of one, can experience five PvP warzones a week instead of three, and will find the temporary lock timer for items bought in the cash shop reduced. Schubert said that a more detailed post is incoming; it will spell out details for preferred status players, who include any former subscribers to the game. He also addressed the controversy over the store selling endgame mod crystals to low- and mid-level characters by explaining that it will not unbalance the game: "We're still philosophically avoiding putting any stat advantage at this level that subscribers cannot earn through reasonable normal play."
League of Legends cheating controversy puts $2,000,000 on the line
The competitive e-sports scene has exploded in the past two years, with top MOBA teams competing for prizes of up to an incredible $1,000,000 US from a single tournament. This weekend, MOBA fans tuned in to the League of Legends World Championship tournament, streamed live from Los Angeles. The crowd attending the event got front row seats to see the game's best teams battle it out over a total of $2,000,000 US in prize money, and with so much money on the line, it's no surprise that accusations of cheating have already surfaced. A huge screen showed the match in action to event attendees, with two smaller screens showing each team's in-game map with the positions of their players. Competitors were told to face forward at all times, but controversy erupted last night when livestream viewers at home noticed players turning their heads and looking up away from the screen. It was argued that those players were cheating by looking at the opposing team's minimap to check the positions of their players. Riot Games e-sports coordinator RiotTiza was lead referee for the tournament and released the following statement: "We keep a constant watch on all the players on stage at all times. We have cameras as well as live people walking onto stage to keep tabs in everything. All players are told that they need to remain sitting, facing forward, and with headphones on at all times, including during pauses. I can personally confirm that no WE player looked at the minimap at any point during the match."
Sega at Total War with David 'Reptilian Agenda' Icke over song rights
David Icke, a former sports presenter and political personality in the UK, launched a scathing attack on Sega and Creative Assembly for denying him rights to a song used in Medieval 2: Total War. Icke planned to use the song "We Are All One" by Angela and Jeff van Dyck in an upcoming anti-war talk at Wembley, London. Sega, who owns the rights to the song, blocked him from doing so. Icke claims on his website this is because Sega didn't want its music to be "associated with a controversial figure."Icke does have a few controversial ideas. For one, Icke happens to believe that Earth is secretly being ruled by reptilians who've ingratiated themselves into governments across the world, including America's. He also claimed to be the "son of the Godhead," and once warned viewers on British national television they were all going to suffer at the hands of earthquakes and tidal waves.
TangiBot manufactures ethics controversy by replicating open-source Makerbot 3D printer
A Kickstarter entry has managed to stir the fairness pot by touting a MakerBot Replicator clone called TangiBot -- legally copied from the original 3D printer's open source plans. The project's creator, Matt Strong, says that the device will offer "the same performance and features at a roughly 33 percent discount" to Makerbot's $1,800 price tag, thanks to Chinese manufacturing. That's inflamed some in the 3D printing fraternity, who take exception to the exact copying of a design without any improvement. The founder is unrepentant, however, saying that "MakerBot's technology is nothing new" and insists his replica product's lower price will open up 3D printing to more hobbyists. TangiBot has addressed a trademark gripe from its doppleganger by removing the MakerBot references from Kickstarter -- but hey, we know a KIRF when we see one.
Amazon's political reading map shows which way your neighbors are leaning
Religion, bathroom routines and politics are three things you should never, ever discuss at the dinner table. However, if you're curious about your neighbors' political reading habits, then you should check out Amazon's Election Heat Map. The bookseller rated the top 250 books with a "clear political bias," with each state's graphic turning red or blue depending on which tomes are selling the most. The company is clear to say that the results are more for the curious than a reflection on the result of the election, so if you fancy checking it out, head down to the source link.
Hindu group continues to protest SMITE, asks QuakeCon to pull the game from the lineup
Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society for Hinduism, has made a point of protesting the addition of Hindu deities to the lineup of Hi-Rez Studios' upcoming MOBA SMITE. He's now taking that protest to the next level by appealing directly to the organizers of QuakeCon 2012, asking that the game to be removed from the competitive lineup due to its offensive usage of religious figures. Zed asserts once again that making deities (particularly Kali) into characters in a video game hurts the devotees of Hinduism, claiming that Hinduism is the only tradition portrayed by the game that is still active. The Hindu American Foundation has also expressed displeasure at the way the game has handled figures from the religion, although the HAF has also stated that it is working closely with Hi-Rez Studios to ensure that the information contained within the game is at least accurate. The organizers of QuakeCon 2012 have not publicly responded to the request.
Reported new DARPA chief brings true geek, dash of green tech controversy
Running DARPA has always demanded a certain amount of tech-savviness -- it created what ultimately became the internet, after all -- but it may get an extra coat of green paint with a new leader. The agency has reportedly taken on Arati Prabhakar as its new director, and Wired notes that she has a lot more than just the agency itself under her belt. Along with going so far as to found DARPA's Microelectronics Technology Office, she ran the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and eventually signed on with Interval Research the venture capital firm that backed the solar power company Solyndra as well as numerous other green tech projects. That last decision has drawn a fair share of flak: Solyndra got about $500 million of public funding and still went under. With that in mind, an anonymous senior military staffer claims that Prabhakar wasn't involved in the questionable government loan and went through "extensive vetting," so it's doubtful that the funding will cast the same shadow over her DARPA technology investments as it did for the outgoing director, Regina Dugan. Even so, there will no doubt be a close watch over Prabhakar if the appointment is made public, both for those who want to keep her honest as well as for the potentially huge amount of insight into clean energy and general technology that she can wield. [Image credit: SRI]
Choose My Adventure: Preparing for TERA
The initial Choose My Adventure poll always goes to the game that gets its community moving. This time around, it was TERA, and that means that I'll be spending the next six weeks knee-deep in huge monsters and active combat. And per tradition, this week will be an overview of the game for those who know nothing about it; the polls to determine how I start out. Fun for all! I'm hard-pressed to think of a game that I've had a more back-and-forth relationship with than TERA. When I first heard about the game, it didn't make an impression on me. Then I started seeing the screenshots, and I was interested. Then I saw more, and I was suddenly less interested... and then I started hearing about the game's actual gameplay, and I swung back around in the other direction. It's a polarizing game for a lot of people, but it's a game that deserves a little more love past those elements.
The Mittani gets hit with ban and resigns in wake of EVE Online controversy
Alexander "The Mittani" Gianturco has been a fairly notorious figure in EVE Online for years now, but his recent notoriety has been all about some rather untoward remarks from the EVE Online Fanfest. Following harsh remarks in which he advocated finding and harassing a player who had expressed suicidal thoughts, Gianturco issued an official apology for his actions. But that isn't the end of it -- Gianturco has also been hit with a 30-day ban from EVE Online due to actions that violate the game's terms of service. He's also resigned from his position as chairman of the current Council of Stellar Management and forfeited the right to serve on the next CSM. CCP Games has been following the whole issue and has put together an official post detailing what happened at the panel, what went wrong, and what steps will be taken to ensure that this incident is not repeated. According the official response, the format for the panel was entirely wrong and went far beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable for an official event hosted by the company. Offhand remark or no, it looks like a few careless words have caused some major disruptions to the life of EVE Online players.
Does the Annual Pass guarantee instant beta access?
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Mathew McCurley takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, and esoteroic topics that slip through the cracks. A number of WoW Annual Pass subscribers are upset over a change to the Annual Pass terms, which now grant access to the Mists of Pandaria beta test over successive invite batches as opposed to the originally advertised "when it goes live." When the Annual Pass was announced at BlizzCon, I had never dreamed that Blizzard would let in press, fan sites, players, Annual Pass holders, opt-in players, and more at the exact same time. It has not been the norm for Blizzard to run things in such a way, but these days, it's hard to expect the norm from Irvine. My honest reaction to this whole controversy is that in the course of four weeks, it won't be a huge deal because a majority of people looking to get beta access immediately will probably have it. The people who have or had beta access will do what a majority of players do -- play for a little bit, check out the pandas, show their friends, and then they're gone until release day. That's fine and dandy, no doubt about it, but a lot of the rhetoric coming from the community is that beta was a chance for them to try the game and see for themselves. That's not what a beta is about, in principle.
Mass Effect 3 director defends DLC, endings with 'common sense'
Turns out Mass Effect 3 is controversial. Some people like its DLC, ending and storyline, some don't, and some want to see the entire BioWare team thrown into pools of mud and flogged for days to pay for the things they put in their own game. Franchise executive producer and director Casey Hudson seems to be taking the mixed reactions in stride, and even has some simple, logical reasons behind a few of the supposed scandals, such as Mass Effect 3's day-one DLC, From Ashes."I think a lot of the common sense is prevailing," Hudson told Digital Trends. "Initially, it was spun in a direction that suggested that we had taken the lore out of Mass Effect 3 and were holding it inside the DLC only, which now the people who actually have played Mass Effect 3 and the DLC they know that that's not true."From Ashes is an optional piece of content not integral to the main story, Hudson noted."When we finish a game, we finish it many months before it actually hits the shelves and that team goes on to work on something else that in those intervening months represent millions of dollars of development time.... So in this case, we chose to work on a DLC which people really enjoyed for Mass Effect 2 and we also wanted to make sure that people had it as an opportunity to build it into their first play-through if they wanted that as an optional thing."As for the ending, Hudson said he likes its mystery and interpretation possibilities, and having a reactive ending is better than one that falls flat and fades out. "I didn't want the game to be forgettable, and even right down to the sort of polarizing reaction that the ends have had with people -- debating what the endings mean and what's going to happen next, and what situation are the characters left in -- that to me is part of what's exciting about this story."
The Soapbox: Credible currency
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. With all of the other crises hitting the gaming world, it's easy to have missed the fact that Lord of the Rings Online has started selling statted gear in the cash shop. It's not endgame gear, of course, and it's mostly there for low-level players to get a minor boost. Really, as has been said by others, it's not something all that unusual, nor is it game-breaking in the slightest. It's just a convenience thing. It's also something that Turbine promised would never be done. I don't have an issue with the sale of low-level armor with stats on it, in Lord of the Rings Online or in other games. What I do have an issue with is the matter of credibility, the one currency that every company starts with and loses over time. Credibility is something you have to spend carefully, and every so often, a company spends it wrong. And the results, in the long term, are never pretty.
iBooks Author owns your format, not your content
There's been a lot of heat and fury surrounding the iBooks Author terms and conditions ever since the service was introduced last week. To boil the controversy down to basics, Apple has introduced a private protocol extension that takes EPUB to the next generation. And then they created a business model that uses this proprietary technology to monetize commercial transactions. This runs right in line with my predictions from earlier this month. This decision, to build a proprietary format on an open standard, has led to a lively debate about whether a member of an open standards organization should be creating private standards like the .ibooks format or AirPlay. And, to be fair to Apple, to even realize that this proprietary format is based on an open standard, you actually have to crack open the files and expose the EPUB underpinnings. Apple wasn't exactly announcing how they did things last week at the educational media event. From a tech point of view, the .ibooks format itself is exciting stuff. It takes a major step forward, blending HTML 5 tech directly into ebooks and unifying books with the complete iWorks suite. A few weeks ago, I wrote that "I believe that Apple should be leading a revolution in embedded live book elements with video, programmable app and web integration, and more (Think "Khan Academy" as books, for example). Why aren't we seeing both the specs and the tools with Apple trailblazing forward?" Today, that reality is here, with iBooks Author. I know several people who are already using the Khan Academy material. And because Apple moves the format forward so much from the open standard it was based upon, developers should have no issues with Apple making the updated version private. If you thought Dashcode was an optional Xcode extra not worthy of notice, now's a great time to reassess. At the risk of being hit with rotten vegetables, the "sweet solution" of 2007 has now come into its own: 1960's? Plastic. 2010's? HTML 5. With smart coding, you can embed entire applications into iBooks. Scarily accomplished developer Steven Troughton-Smith recently managed to embed a playable version of his classic iOS app Lights Off inside an iBooks book using a Dashcode widget written with HTML 5. "This is the first time Dashboard widgets have worked on iOS," he points out. What's more, he tells me that some developers have gotten the WebOS app framework (Enyo) and Cappucino to run inside their books. In terms of creative expression, this is a huge development with nearly limitless possibilities. Troughton-Smith said, "It will be absolutely epic for designers and developers making portfolios, or perhaps a book that reviews apps and contains mini versions, or whatever." So yes, Apple intends to control the sole paid delivery portal for this technology, freely offering the tool to create new .ibooks files, taking a 30% cut of all commercial material developed using this specification. At the same time, they're the ones who are developing both the authoring tools and the distribution apps on their own nickel. I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that I believe that Apple is moving forward in a smart and well-calculated fashion. While Amazon's KDP Select program created exclusivity due to legal agreements and shared profits, Apple is building its own kind of proprietary author cadre based on new and forward-looking technology. Absolutely no one will be forced to use the new .ibooks format or the tools that create those files. If you wish to publish a non-exclusive EPUB on the iBooks store as well as on Amazon, Nook, etc, you are welcome to do so. Nor do I personally think that Apple will come after anyone who shares material between .ibooks editions and EPUB ones. I am, obviously not a lawyer, but I believe Apple is protecting and charging for use of its format, not aggressively seizing content. On the whole, I have been deeply pleased with nearly everything I have discovered in iBooks -- from its media support to its strong accessibility extensions. I don't know about you, but I'm getting ready to brush up on my Javascript skills. If you're an app dev, you probably will want to as well. [Update February 3rd 2012: Apple's terms and conditions now clarify "If you want to charge a fee for a work that includes files in the .ibooks format generated using iBooks Author, you may only sell or distribute such work through Apple, and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple. This restriction does not apply to the content of such works when distributed in a form that does not include files in the .ibooks format."]
Carrier IQ issues lengthy report on data collection practices, sticks to its guns
After having already tried to explain itself with metaphor, Carrier IQ is now taking its floundering PR campaign back to basics, with an ostensibly thorough primer on its practices and a slightly less convoluted defense of its privacy standards. This morning, the controversial analytics firm released a lengthy, 19-page document that attempts to explain "what Carrier IQ does and does not do." In the report, titled "Understanding Carrier IQ Technology," the company explains the benefit it offers to its clientele of network operators, many of whom rely upon Carrier IQ's diagnostic data to make sure their infrastructure is up to snuff. It also provides a breakdown of how it collects data, as well as a defense against Trevor Eckhart's findings, though, as you'll see, these arguments likely won't put this saga to bed anytime soon. Read more, after the break.
New Champions Online archetype available in regular and controversial editions
It might seem a little late for a demonic archetype, but Champions Online has still rolled one out into the store. The Scourge is a new ranged archetype focused on poisoning and debuffing the target, with less durability and melee power to balance its slow ranged ramp-up. Like all archetypes, it's free to subscribing players and available for free players in the cash store. But it's also tied to a new grab bag offered in the cash store, which is provoking a few player concerns. The Cursed Grab Bag, among other things, contains a special token to unlock the Cursed archetype, which is essentially a color-shifted version of the Scourge archetype. Some players are a little concerned about the slippery slope being established here, as the Cursed archetype is not free to subscribers (although color-shifting powers is). As a result, concerns have been raised about what this cosmetic change might mean for future archetypes being released, although as others point out, you can always just change the color if you subscribe to begin with.
