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NCsoft Europe launches first podcast
NCsoft Europe launched its first official podcast today, and it's full of City of Heroes goodness. Why should us Yanks bother?Sure, in the inaugural episode Stephen Reid ("Rockjaw" from the CoH EU forums) talks about an upcoming European community event (happening in Birmingham, UK, March 2st-24th), but he also chats with Matt "Positron" Miller (Lead Designer of City of Heroes), and gets the scoop on Manticore and Sister Psyche's wedding from none other then the real life couple behind the heroes themselves, Sean and Jen Dornan-Fish. Sean is the Lead Content Designer on several unannounced NCsoft projects, and works on CoH and Exteel. Jen is a freelance CoH writer (and anthropology professor). There's even some Guild Wars love thrown in for good measure as they speak to Martin Kerstein (European Community Team Lead for GW) about the Bonus Mission Pack.Click on over to the NCsoft EU site where you can download the podcast and the transcript.
NCsoft bombards Facebook
The social networking site Facebook is the MySpace for older folks like yours truly. NCsoft has apparently come to realize that these social networking sites are really just an extension of Massive Multiplayer Online Games and as such sees them as a viable means to spread the love and promote a few of their games. Currently they have individual pages for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners and Exteel. As of this writing the TR page has 107 fans, the DR page has 112, and Exteel has 72. What I want to know is... where's the CoX love? Clickety-click on over and start connecting with fellow gamers. Ya never know who you might run into.
NCsoft's North American head honcho speaks to the masses
Chris Chung, the new president over at NCsoft North America, has been a busy man since taking up the position a few weeks ago. Between his interviews with IGN and 1Up, Massively, and other sundry blurbs here and there, he still felt it necessary to address the masses directly - blog style. And it's a fantastic read.His latest statement doesn't give us any additional earth shattering news about what the company is going to do under his rein - that's been covered ad nauseam, but it does give us a much better perspective on who Chris Chung the person is. I found his honestly particularly comforting because NCsoft is "my" gaming company. While I don't much care for Guild Wars or Lineage II (even though they are absolutely breathtaking in their graphical beauty), I play every one of their other games (Exteel, CoX, Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners), played Auto Assault from beta until it ran out of gas, and I can't wait to get my hands on Aion. It humanizes him in a manner that we don't see too often -- in any industry. He talks openly about how it can be a burden taking over for someone as experienced and respected as Robert Garriott. He believes that he got the job as president not because of some special talent, but the lack thereof. Perhaps the most insightful thing Chris talked about was his managerial style. I can relate because I too am a manager. What, you think I do this full time? While I'm not a manager for a company as large as NCsoft, the tenants stay the same: it's all about taking care of the people. And because I understand that, the thing that will stick with me the most is this quote: my job is to make sure that the employees here at NCsoft do what they do best and that the management team takes care of their needs so we can continue to produce great products for this industry.If you've been leery of all the changes at NCsoft... don't be. They're in good hands.
State of the NCsoft Union address
Robert Garriott, the soon-to-be former President of NCsoft North America, dropped a "State of the Union" style press release yesterday regarding the massive online gaming company. It's a brief but insightful rundown detailing what they've done with their Intellectual Properties (Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars, City of Heroes, Lineage, Dungeon Runners, etc.) in the past year, and what they intend do with them in the coming year. Garriott also mentioned new projects they're working, like AION: Tower of Eternity, and the recently signed pact with Sony where NCsoft will be producing products for the PlayStation 3. While no details were given on exactly what those products may be, Garriott said the first one should be released by the end of 2008. This new deal includes porting "existing titles in interesting new ways or utilizing new IPs." Hmmm, intriguing.Of particular interest to me was Robert's comments regarding the City of Heroes property. Back in early November NCsoft acquired the entire IP from Cryptic Studios - lock, stock and two smoking blaster barrels. Like wildfire the CoX forums were consumed by doomsayers and speculators decrying that this was the beginning of the end. Not so. According to Garriott, they loved the property so much they wanted to re-invest in it, and the best way to do that was to buy it. Since then they've created a whole new studio (NCsoft NorCal) and hired the entire CoH development team. If that wasn't enough to give even the most cynical gamer a glimmer of hope, they're currently hiring more people to take CoX to a "whole.. nutha... level."Last but least... as reported yesterday, Robert Garriott will be leaving his post as President of NCsoft's North American business and moving into a role of global business development and planning. Taking his place will be NCsoft's current vice president of worldwide product development, Chris Chung, who has been with the company for some time. The change will take effect on January 1, 2008. A Happy New Year indeed! All in all, I'd say the future looks very bright for NCsoft.
Exteel is live and ready for the masses
Players waiting to tear it up on some Mechanaughts in NCsoft's latest MMO, Exteel can jump right in now that the game is live after a successful open beta. There is no database wipe, so any players that participated in the open beta will be able to play with their same wrecks. Exteel is an online 3rd person shooter featuring customized mechs, and the gameplay more or less revolves around beating the living crap out of your opponents with a large arsenal of weaponry. Our own Chris Chester posted a first impression look during the open beta that is definitely worth reading if you are considering playing the game. Exteel is free to play and free to download. Exteel is supported by RMT (real money trade) -- Exteel's micro-payment system is called NCcoin which will allow players to purchase more powerful weapons, skills, and parts for their Mechanaughts. Combat is high-speed gunplay, melee combat, think fast or die tactics. Decide on one of four battle modes: Death Match, Team Death Match, Territory Control, or Last Stand. Blends the immersive thrill of an FPS with the furious and brutal intensity of Hong Kong gun-play mixed with the feel of classic robot anime. Minimum and recommended computer specs. Any Massively readers give Exteel a spin during the open beta? What did you think? Does RMT kill this for you? I'd rather deal with the RMT aspects in this type of MMOG than have to shell out for another subscription to be honest with you.
Wall o' thumbs: new galleries this week
Submitted for your approval: here's a collation of all our new eye candy this week. Galleries Dofus Gallery Exteel Gallery First Impressions: Flyff EverQuest: Secrets of Faydwer EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark EverQuest II: Sarnak starter guide Gallery
Yesterday on Massively: November 15, 2007
Another day in Massively and we've got all the news from all of your MMOs, including our first impressions of just-out of-NDA Exteel. For a run-down of the day's eventsin delicious link format, keep reading! Contests Massively's Massive Giveaways - Pirates of the Burning Sea Massively's Massive Giveaways - Pirates of the Burning Sea part 2 Massively's Massive Giveaways - Pirates of the Burning Sea part 3 Features The Daily Grind: Your best MMOment First Impressions: Exteel Cinemassively: Windlight - Binary Beauty One Shots: A giant what? Behind the Curtain: Save our bosses More evidence MMOs are good for you
First Impressions: Exteel
In a business climate where a game like World of Warcraft can sustain a player base of over eight million paying subscribers, everybody wants their game to be an MMO. Call it a trend, call it the flavor of the month, call it whatever you want -- "massively multiplayer online" is a moniker that sells game units. Where we used to assign the term to the strict domain of UO and EQ clones largely dominated by elves of various sorts, all different kinds of games are jumping on the money train, and NCsoft's Exteel is really no exception. It's a game that, up until now, we had assumed would be just another MMO. I can safely say that we were quite wrong.As of this afternoon, NCsoft has lifted the NDA restricting discussion of the Exteel beta, so we thought we'd give you a run-down of our impressions of the game as it has progressed so far, including a gallery full of screenshot love from the tutorial through our first few battles in the open beta.%Gallery-10247%
Exteel open beta pushed back a day
In an announcement late last night on their official site, NCsoft officially pushed back the start date for the Exteel open beta from today to Thursday the 15th, though they did not state a reason. They also revealed that while they were going to enact a complete character wipe of characters from the closed beta, players will be able to retain their characters from the open beta through to the final release, a welcome surprise to many who put in some time with the beta. As an added bonus, players who were part of the closed beta test will get access to the game later today as originally scheduled, giving them a one day head start on the rest of the public, as well as a special "Sky Blue" paint can to thank them for their efforts.If rootin' tootin' anime-style mechs swinging swords and blasting each other with machine guns sounds like something you'd be interested in, we'll be bringing you our first-hand impressions of Exteel later today, so stay tuned.
Exteel enters open beta on the 14th
We're not sure how we let this one slip past us. NCsoft announced last week that Exteel, their third-person mech shooter set in a persistent universe, would be moving to the open phase of beta testing starting this Wednesday at 2PM CST. Effectively, this means that whoever wants to try their hand at the game will be free to download the client, and the silence that has been enforced on beta testers through the NDA will be lifted.Some have questioned whether Exteel really qualifies as an MMO to the degree that NCsoft has been claiming it does in their press and marketing materials. While it has certain elements on the check-list, like persistent characters who retain experience, gear, and abilities from game to game, it is fundamentally a third-person shooter. Perhaps it falls under the category of pseudo-MMO? I guess we'll find out for sure this Wednesday.[Thanks Kevin]
NCsoft picks up advertising partner for Dungeon Runners, Exteel
NCsoft has raised the curtain on a new advertising deal with Double Fusion that will pave the way for new in- and around-game advertising in both Dungeon Runners and the as-yet-unreleased giant robot game, Exteel. Evidently, the idea is to open up new sources of revenue for these titles, where they were previously relying entirely on a small monthly fee charged to players for tiered services like voice chat, access to banks, and stackable potions.The specifics of this advertising-based approach remain cloudy. It's unclear whether players can continue to pay the optional monthly fee to opt out of the ads, or whether playing the free, advertising-supported version will now net you membership benefits. We support advertising as an alternative revenue stream in principle, as long as we don't start seeing billboards hawking deodorant in the middle of dungeons. Regardless, Dungeon Runners is a heck of a lot of fun for a free game (though the verdict is still out on Exteel), so we'll keep you posted on the specifics of this deal as it develops.
