game-shutdown
Latest
RIFT shutting down in Russia [Updated]
The last rift has closed for Russia's version of RIFT. An announcement has been sent to the players of the game that (roughly translated) claims that the game will have to be shut down due to Trion Worlds' refusal to continue supporting the localized version. That shutdown will happen... well, today. So if you play on the game's Russian servers, we really hope you didn't have any major plans for the evening. Belver Online, the company responsible for the localized version, is offering former players compensation in the other online games it operates. Russia's version of RIFT had continued to operate on a subscription-based model for several months, with several Russian players migrating to Trion's European servers out of a desire to play the game's free version. There are no plans for Trion to produce a Russian-localized client of its own. Our condolences to players affected by the shutdown. [Update 6:00 p.m. EDT] - Trion contacted Massively to provide an official statement. We, too, are saddened by the shut down of RIFT in Russia, which was announced in September. In trying to effect the smoothest transition possible, we kept the service running well beyond the October 10th sunset period to make sure as many customers as possible would be taken care of. When a partner began charging its users nearly $100 each in unauthorized "transfer fees" as well as subscriptions that extended beyond the time they knew the servers were going to be closed, we can confirm that we did have to end the extended sunset period. We've successfully transferred over thousands of Russian players and will continue to help any others who want to continue playing on the Trion servers. Anyone who was previously on a Russian server and was impacted by this shutdown can reach out to our customer service team and we will assist in any way we can to get them in back into RIFT as quickly as possible. And it won't cost $100. [Thanks to Fredelas for the tip!]
Priston Tale 2 shutting down on March 25th
It's never easy to say goodbye to a game you enjoy. Priston Tale 2 has enjoyed a decent lifespan for a small free-to-play title, but after three years of operation, the game is shutting down on March 25th. According to the official shutdown announcement, the game simply hasn't attracted enough of an audience, due in no small part to a lack of support from the game's original developer. Players looking for a new home are being directed toward the upcoming title The Aurora World, which is currently in closed beta testing. All unspent cash shop currency from Priston Tale 2 will be transferred over to the new game, and players will be able to receive special benefits for having a high-level character if the same account is used for both games. It's not going to stymie the sense of loss, but hopefully it'll take some of the edge off. [Thanks to Joshua for the tip!]
The Soapbox: Everybody wins
I make no bones about the fact that despite working in this industry for three years, I know there are parts about MMOs and the culture around them that I just do not get. For example, I still have no idea what possesses someone to think that "toon" is a good term for characters. But on a slightly more serious note, I have no idea what makes people cheer for a game to fail. You see it everywhere. World of Warcraft subscription numbers drop; people cheer. Something bad happens to EVE Online's community; people cheer. A game goes free-to-play; people announce the game's impending demise and begin cheering prematurely. A game closes down; people cheer. I don't get this. All right, I get it on the most basic level, inasmuch as this is a game you don't like and you're willing to publicly crow about your schadenfreude. The thing is that this is never a good thing. Cheering for a game you dislike to do badly does not result in anything good.
Bounty Bay Online shutting down
After five years of operation, it's time for the good ship of Bounty Bay Online to pull into port and never set sail again. The game has announced that it will be shutting down in the near future, with the servers currently scheduled to go dark on September 20th. No specific reasons have been given for the shutdown, although the announcement does make note that the years of operation (and several management changes) took their toll on the game. Client downloads are already disabled; the community team is planning events for players sticking with the game during its last weeks of operation. Players who purchased items from the game's cash shop recently will also be compensated accordingly, although exact details have not yet been announced. It's a sad day for anyone in love with the game or simply fond of a broad MMO landscape, and we can only hope that the development team moves on to bigger and brighter projects.
Lime Odyssey shutting down in Korea [Updated]
We've brought you a lot of intriguing Lime Odyssey news over the past year, but today we've received word about the impending closure of the game in its native Korea. MMO Culture has the details, and while the blurb makes no mention of what will happen to the North American version of the game that is currently in beta, the Korean client is going dark as of March 30th. MMO Culture says that Sirius Entertainment, the game's original developer, "deemed that various ongoing critical bugs and server instability could not be solved." The site also reports that all players who purchased cash shop items will receive refunds. We've reached out to Aeria Games (Lime Odyssey's North American publisher) for a comment on the status of the North American version. [Update: The official word from Aeria Games is this: "Aeria Games confirms that the Korean beta version of Lime Odyssey: The Chronicles of Orta is shutting down. The company also confirms that this will not affect the development or rollout of Aeria's English language version. Lime Odyssey is currently in an expanded Alpha play test and will be published in North America by Aeria Games in 2012. Sirius, the developer behind Lime Odyssey, continues to develop and support the North America version."]
The Daily Grind: What dead game would you play in a second if it revived?
Amidst all of the new games being released and the veteran titles still chugging along, it can be easy on occasion to overlook the titles that are no longer with us. Games like Tabula Rasa, Auto Assault, and The Matrix Online all had fans, but they are no longer available for players to enjoy in any form, leaving some with memories and others with the wish that they had tried it when they had the chance. So which games would you jump on if you had the chance again? What games stick out as ones that you wish you had tried or seem like old friends that are now sadly departed? We've seen a lot of closures over the past several years, ranging from small free-to-play titles to a few high-profile departures, so there's almost certainly one game you can think of that's no longer with us. What dead game would you play if it got a revival? 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!
Alt1 Games shutting down Troy Online
After only three months of commercial operation, Troy Online is going to be discontinuing operations as of November 30th. According to the official notice, within the short span of time that the game has been available, Alt1 Games has noticed a level of bugs and errors that the developers considered unacceptable, leading to the decision to shut down service at the end of the month and re-launch the game at a later date. The obvious question for players, of course, becomes "what about the stuff that I bought out of the cash shop?" If you still have remaining coins for the in-game store or unused cash shop items in your character's inventory, you are eligible for a refund by contacting the customer support center by November 22nd, with refunds being credited between the 23rd and the 24th. It's a sad whimper for the game's operation to end on, but at least players won't be left out in the cold with any unused money.
The Soapbox: Be here now
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. Games die. It's an unpleasant reality but a reality just the same, with the highest-profile death on the horizon being Star Wars Galaxies. Business decisions get made, and unfortunately, sometimes those decisions boil down to "this game is no longer worth the money to keep it running." If you're lucky, the announcement comes with a great deal of time for you to wrap up what you've always wanted to do in the game; if you're unlucky, you might have a couple of weeks before the servers go dark. So what do you do as a player? How do you cope with the fact that the game is shutting down? There are a lot of approaches, but I think it's unfortunate that most of the reactions seem to center around some last-ditch effort to save the game from oblivion. It's entirely missing the point to try and pull the game back from the brink of death, and it does a disservice to both the game and the players when you spend your last days desperately fighting a foregone conclusion.
NCsoft shutting down Lineage in North America
Before Aion, before Guild Wars, before anything else for NCsoft, there was Lineage. Not the sequel (which actually takes place significantly before the first title) but the original game, released not too long after Ultima Online came on to the scene. While the game is old, it's long maintained a viable community within North America... but apparently not quite viable enough. Today, NCsoft announced that as of June 29th, the game's servers will be shutting down for good in North America. Players who had registered previously have had their accounts reactivated in good standing, and all recurring billing has been cancelled from this date onward. The community team for the game is also promising some live events to help memorialize the game and let it go out with a bang rather than a whimper. We can also expect to see a few new live server rule pushes. Still, it's a sad day for Lineage fans, who are well advised to look at the official announcement and the refund policy to see how the plans for the remaining time will affect them.
Faunasphere shutting down on March 15th
It's a sad day when a game shuts down, especially one that caters to an unusual audience. Faunasphere, a game about cleaning up a pollution-riddled world while developing your personal animals, has announced its shutdown on March 15th. All subscription options have been removed, all subscriptions or microtransaction currency purchases after January 14th are being refunded, and the developers at Big Fish Games are working to make sure that the month until the closing is memorable and enjoyable for players. In a brief FAQ regarding the closure, the development team addresses several potential player questions, including the game's integration with Facebook (which kept the servers running for longer than would have otherwise been possible) and the issue of any outstanding funds sunk into the game. There's also a thread set up for players to exchange contact information, in the hopes that some of the community might retain its cohesion. Our condolences go out to the Faunasphere players and development team affected by the shutdown.
Fantasy Earth Zero shutting down on March 24th
Sad news today for fans of Fantasy Earth Zero -- after officially launching less than a year ago, the game will be shutting down in North America in just under two months. Gamepot USA has posted a full statement explaining the game's shutdown schedule as well as the policies on refunds for any game currency purchased within the last month. The game's cash shop has been closed, with all servers set to quadruple experience and money so that players can enjoy the time that's left. Fantasy Earth Zero took the long way around to get released stateside in the first place, after being developed by Square-Enix and then nearly shut down in Japan due to poor sales. An emotional farewell letter has also been posted, something fans of the game will no doubt wish to read. There's still time left to enjoy the accelerated servers before the shutdown, but when the lights go out on March 24th, they won't be coming back on. [Thanks to Jeffrey for the tip.]
The Daily Grind: I would like to have been there
Launch day, whether it's for a new game or just a new expansion, is usually a pretty crazy time. Everything is new and untested, which means that some builds and classes will be overpowered, some elements of the game aren't working as intended, and there are going to be bugs. But even with all of that, there's something that only can be found in that rush toward the new classes, new level cap, new areas, or even just to see the most of the world in a short span of time. The game is never new again, after all. With our current amount of knowledge about every facet of a game's release schedule, not to mention plenty of open and closed betas to get pre-launch information, we're generally able to be there for any game we want on the ground floor. Still, there are probably games from yesterday that you missed for whatever reason, or games that you didn't play then that you can't play now. What game do you wish you had been involved with from the beginning? Is it a game whose updates massively changed how it worked, a game that didn't last as long as you'd like, or one that's still going but just wasn't on your list back then?
The Daily Grind: Where do you go after the end of the world?
Let's say that the unthinkable -- or at least, the undesirable -- happens tomorrow. Your favorite game's servers shut down today for good, and you're left with fond memories and little else. In the ancient refrain of the bartender, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. So that leaves you with the obvious question: where do you go now? Some people would prefer to take a break from MMOs as a whole for a while, since the idea of investing time and effort into another one seems a bit less reasonable after you've watched one die. On the other hand, some people would like to get right back into the business of questing and slaughtering, even if they have to move back to an old standby to do it. Still others jump on to the next big thing with renewed vigor and start talking about how it'll be everything the now-dead game wanted to be but wasn't. So what's your feeling? If your favorite game went belly-up this morning, would you soldier on to a different game, start looking for an upcoming release, or just move on with your life and leave MMOs behind?
