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2008 wasn't a good year for MMOs
One of the blog posts over at the Hellforge community that is getting some traction is Agamemnon's look back at the MMO failures of 2008. Included are looks into why Tabula Rasa, Hellgate: London, Age of Conan, and Pirates of the Burning Sea either outright failed (in the case of Tabula Rasa and Hellgate) or were unable to get the subscriber numbers they expected with their launches.What separates this blog post from the myriad of other posts on the same subject is that the article ends with the many things that these games all did wrong and other developers should learn from. Little things, like listening closely to the feedback from your beta testers, fostering a community, and learning to stay away from the concept of "we'll patch it to perfection." It's a good analysis of the many failures of other games, and a kind tip of the hat to the things an MMO can do right, such as Mythic's openness with Warhammer Online.
The Daily Grind: Would you like to see more lifetime subscriptions?
Yesterday's grind concerned the very real problem of having to let one of your subscriptions lapse due to the state of the economy. When the times are tough and money is tight, sometimes you need to find what will ultimately pay off in the end for you. So, today's question is ultimately derived from yesterday's question -- would you like more games to offer lifetime subscriptions, like Lord of the Rings Online?For those unfamiliar with the system, Lord of the Rings Online offers subscribers the ability to pay a fee, about 299 dollars, and then that's it. No more paying a monthly fee for the rest of the lifetime of the game. While it's an extremely high upfront cost, the benefit is that you will never pay again to keep your account active. Instead of worrying about lapsing subscriptions, you can play when you want, whenever you want.The downside to this, besides the upfront cost, is the problem that may occur if your game doesn't do so well. Hellgate: London lifetime subscribers are currently feeling this problem, as their game is leaving them high and dry. The lifetime subscription is only good if your game survives long enough to make it worth your while -- the one downside to this type of payment plan.But, we leave the final judgment to you, readers. Would you like more of your games to offer this type of subscription plan? Comment away!
Investing wisely in massively multiplayer online games
Even a cursory look back on the last year in massively multiplayer online games reveals a number of titles that, despite their promise (and some promises), ultimately failed. Factor in the high costs of creating and publishing an MMO title these days and the mistakes still being made in the industry, and perhaps it's time for a primer on how not to lose money when making an MMO to be widely disseminated. Adam Martin over at T=Machine has written just that. In the first of a two-part series, Martin provides insightful analysis of some glaring mistakes made in the MMO industry, and how some of those pitfalls could have been avoided. He does so by looking at a few of 2008's troubled massively multiplayer titles, namely Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa, and Age of Conan. It's an interesting read, even for those who are far less enthusiastic about the business decisions behind MMOs than about the games themselves.
The Daily Grind: The ones that got away
Oh, Hellgate: London! How could a post-apocalyptic zombie shoot 'em up have gone so very wrong? Though your servers are shutting down at the end of January, never again to return to US or European shores, we ran into this collector's edition box just yesterday, placed at an appealing eye-level on a Circuit City shelf, just begging the innocent passerby to take it home (or perhaps, considering the game's rocky history, simply to give it a good hug). And it's not the only MMO that's leaving us in early 2009: Tabula Rasa is closing at the end of February. (Though unlike Hellgate, which isn't even accepting new subscriptions at this point, TR is free to play for everyone until the servers shut down.) These are hardly the only games to have met an unfortunate end: remember Earth and Beyond? Auto Assault? Oh, MMOs, why must you go away and leave us oh so alone? (Not that we here at Massively are at all bitter about MMO closures. These games were only our best friends once upon a time.) So this morning, in honor of that lonely Hellgate box, which MMOs going or gone do you miss?
Red 5 Studios interview: How to fail-proof your MMO
During a recent interview with Ten Ton Hammer, Red 5 Studios' Mark Kern described his views on why games like Tabula Rasa and Hellgate: London had recently failed, and how his colleagues at Red 5 are making sure an early game closure isn't in their future."I think the key is that you need to marry whatever your theme is to the nature of the gameplay," Kern advised. "I think that the issue comes in when you take a theme or a genre that doesn't fit with the style of gameplay that you're making. I think that's some of what you've seen with these failed games. If you just go out and try to make a WoW-type of game with a few tweaks, then try to place the sci-fi genre on top of it, I think you've got some big issues there." Ouch! We can only speculate as to which game he's referring, but we tend to agree with his point here. Shoot us your opinions on a topic that's probably not going to go away any time soon.
Former Flagshipers form Gravity Bear
Phil Shenk has become the latest to row ashore following the sinking of Flagship Studios, announcing the launch of a new development studio awesomely named Gravity Bear. Shenk will serve as the CEO, while according to Shacknews another Flagship survivor, former Hellgate: London senior software engineer Kevin Klemmick, has climbed aboard the dense grizzly as technical director. The studio is the third to emerge from Flagship's splintered remains, following the founding of Runic Games and Turbine's new Redwood City, CA branch in recent months. Nothing yet has been revealed regarding Gravity Bear's focus or future projects, though we have to wonder if the experience of being sucked into Flagship's financial hellgate was enough to sour the company on dabbling once more in anything remotely MMO.
Anti-Aliased: You've been Auto-Assaulted
"Absolutely. [The restructuring] has no impact on Tabula Rasa. ... I don't know where the rumors are coming from, but with [marketing blitz] Operation Immortality in full swing, the team's very dedicated to that game, and they are still working on it," said David Swofford, Director of Public Relations of NCsoft to Edge Online on September 11th."Tabula Rasa is a triple-A MMO. It is a game that is very much in the wheelhouse of what NC West and NCsoft globally are all about," said David Reid, President of Publishing of NC West on September 24th. "...we see improvement happening in Tabula Rasa. We're encouraged by it."So, NCsoft, how does it feel to absolutely lie through your teeth to players and staff about Tabula Rasa?
Hangame and EA to bring Warhammer Online to Korea
There was a time when the western MMO market was flooded with imports of popular Korean titles. While there's still a steady influx of Asian games reworked to fit western playstyles, there's also a growing number of western MMOs being exported to Asia, particularly Korea. The obvious title that succeeds anywhere it goes is World of Warcraft, whose Asian following is legion. But smaller games have also been making inroads. EVE Online has been operating in China for years and Hellgate: London gained a new lease on life in Korea. They're not alone in this. Turbine has its eyes set on expanding into Korea with Lord of the Rings Online, and we know that Age of Conan is marching eastward, too. The latest successful western title to look east is Warhammer Online, which will soon be played in Korea as well. Electronic Arts and Hangame are partnering to bring WAR to South Korea. In a related press statement, Mythic's Mark Jacobs said, "By partnering with Hangame, we hope to provide Korean gamers with a fresh, new fantasy experience and years' worth of Realm vs. Realm adventures on the frontlines of WAR." You can see the full announcement about WAR's attempt to capture Korean gamers over at The Earth Times. Given how PvP-centric Korean MMOs tend to be, do you think Warhammer Online would be a natural fit for gamers in this market? Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Hanbitsoft admits their Hellgate rights don't extend to US/EU
Hellgate London's state of flux over the past week has been somewhat infuriating for us to follow. No doubt it must be even moreso for players who just want to know if they'll get their game back after Namco Bandai's servers close in the spring. First it seemed that Hanbitsoft would be rezzing the game worldwide, then it was less clear based on Redbana's development. Now it seems even Hanbitsoft has acknowledged that they don't have rights to the game in the US and EU.WarCry is reporting based on a press release from Namco specifically stating that they own the IP for publishing here in the states and over in Europe. Gamecyte follows that announcement up with a more detailed look, noting that Hanbitsoft would like to run the game and do some profitsharing with Namco for these two lucrative markets. Namco's position on the matter, though, seems to be that the service is closing and everyone is moving on. So - for the time being - it looks like we'll be bidding farewell to Hellgate London.
HanbitSoft plans Hellgate: London relaunch and new expansion
The Hellgate: London IP saga continues. While we had some dire news that the servers will go dark at the end of January, we also know that development for the title is still being done in Redbana's California office... just not for which region. The latest word we've received on this seems to indicate the continuity of Hellgate: London, but to date this is only confirmed for service in Asia -- so we cannot (yet) offer a definitive, "Yes, HG:L will continue for North America and EU." That being said, Gamasutra has picked up on company blog posts by HanbitSoft's Global PR Manager, Janelle. One is a definitive announcement that HanbitSoft owns both the Hellgate: London and Mythos IP, while the other is more telling. Janelle republished an email sent from Hellgate: London's Product Manager about the future of the title.The message in its entirety, as shown on the Game Espresso site for HanbitSoft, is reprinted below the cut.
Flagship founder Bill Roper joins Cryptic Studios
With the future of Hellgate: London on thin ice, it should be no surprise that Flagship Studios co-founder and CEO, Bill Roper, has sought greener pastures. As was just announced, Roper has joined Cryptic Studios as their new Design Director for Champions Online. Cryptic's CEO John Needham is optimistic about the acquisition: "Bill brings a ton of creative energy to the Cryptic office and we're thrilled to have him join our team. His years of gaming and online experience are huge assets to all of our projects, and Bill will assist us in furthering our studio's vision to create innovative, exciting MMO gameplay. "These years of gaming and online experience Needham mentions include a long list of impressive titles. Not only did Roper work as a producer and developer on many classics like the Warcraft trilogy, StarCraft and Diablo, but he also dabbled in some voiceover work for many of these games as well. Roper is now a key asset for Champions Online, and we look forward to more news on his work with the game.
Blizzard veteran Bill Roper joins Cryptic Studios
Former Blizzard director Bill Roper, whose most recent stint was co-founder and CEO of the now-defunct Flagship Studios (Hellgate: London), has joined Cryptic Studios. According to the press release, Roper will serve as Design Director for the upcoming superhero-infused MMO, Champions Online.In an interview with GameDaily, Roper said his first order of business is to dig "deeply" into Champions Online. "There's a lot of fantastic stuff here, and we'll focus on figuring out what's working, what needs some polish and rethinking other things." CO is currently in production for PC and Xbox 360 with a tentative Spring 2009 launch, although given the timing of Roper's hire and from what he said in the interview, we wonder if that'll be pushed back. An application for the CO beta is currently available. Cryptic Studios is also currently working on Star Trek Online, due out sometime late next year.[Via Big Download]
Are all MMOs just extended vaporware?
Massively multiplayer online games can be a difficult industry to break into and succeed. For every Blizzard or Sony Online Entertainment, there are several smaller companies brimming with ideas about how to inject change into the MMO market. Some succeed by breaking from the World of Warcraft paradigm. Most do not. Writer James Matson writes about these titles that begin full of promise but ultimately meet a chilly reception by MMO gamers, in an article at Atomic. He touches on the fact that the sometimes high price of the box sale paired with monthly MMO fees, sustained over some months, leads to some serious disappointment when the MMO fails and the servers go dark. Matson specifically cites the examples of Auran's Fury and (what is currently Namco-Bandai's) Hellgate: London. "This would appear to the be the first tendrils of a new kind of gaming plague that's arrived with MMOs, games that can be rendered useless due to mismanagement, poor sales or just bad luck," Matson writes.
Hellgate London status: Purgatory
There have been so many twists and turns with the future of Hellgate: London (and Mythos) that it's hard to know what will happen next. We've heard on a few occasions that Hellgate: London was about to face its demise, only to be saved. Adding to the confusion was the dispute over who even owned Hellgate: London, Flagship Studios or HanbitSoft. After Flagship folded, HanbitSoft's claims seemed to be genuine, and the IP was left in the hands of T3 Entertainment. Subscriptions, however, were then suspended. Shortly afterwards Namco-Bandai swept in, prominently featured HG: L on its site... and subsequently removed it. Despite this, the game has been kept running ever since, although Namco-Bandai's stated that the servers will shut down at the end of January, 2009.Gaming site HellForge has picked up on what we're not ready to call anything more than 'rumor' at this point, but something that perhaps bodes well for the future of the game. Another company name has been thrown into the mix: Redbana (based in Taiwan, connected with the aforementioned T3 Entertainment). HellForge writes: "Further research leads to findings of a new San Francisco office for the company, which is where Hellgate offices were located previously." This seems to be in line with what we reported about the future of both titles in August. While we hope this information could be a positive sign for Hellgate: London and perhaps Mythos as well, at this point it's still largely conjecture. [Via Blue's News]
Hellgate: London to shut down in February
The game's official site has the news that Hellgate: London is going to go sunset at the beginning of next year. February will see the closure of all of the game's servers. Until that point, the service will continue to be free of charge. All the way back in July we reported on the suspension of new subscriptions and the acquisition of the property by Namco-Bandai. Now it appears as though the company has decided to cut its losses. The announcement on the game's site spins it in a very upbeat way, stating that they would "continue to support customers of PC game Hellgate™: London with online server support and play through January 31, 2009 despite the closure of Flagship Studios." We've heard no further details on the service since the middle of the summer; hopefully we'll have further details for you soon.
Namco closing Hellgate on Jan. 31
Namco Bandai has issued a statement saying that, come Jan. 31, the servers for Flagship Studios' stillborn online RPG, Hellgate: London, will, like its developer, disappear forever. In effect, Namco will be closing the gate door on one of the more disappointing launches in role-playing history.In what the company calls a "gesture of support," those wishing to continue playing the game online until the lights come on and the bouncers shoo them out on Feb. 1 will be able to do so on the house.
Mythic's Mark Jacobs really wanted to see Age of Conan succeed
MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John, speaking with head of Mythic Entertainment Mark Jacobs, has been exploring a line of questioning about the MMO industry in general. They noted the high failure rate for the genre, and the equally high expectations that are now placed on new games by fans and industry commentators. Jacobs offered up, as part of this discussion, some analysis on why Hellgate: London didn't make it, and why Funcom's Age of Conan has been having so many problems over their long first summer of launch. Of Hellgate, Jacobs noted that it's not sufficient simply to have really talented people on the team. That's a straightforward process. In addition to that, "sometimes just having talent is not enough. You need leadership and you need patience. And what's most important - something that so many developers forget - is you also need to deflate the ego a little bit."About Conan, which the site categorizes as 'failing to deliver on promises to players, Jacobs states that he actually really wanted the game to succeed. Now, with a summer of frustrations and player unrest behind them, he thinks they're in a tight spot. Ultimately, he just wants someone to show the world that MMOs don't have to be World of Warcraft to succeed. As for Mythic, "If we don't succeed with EA behind us, the 'Warhammer' IP behind us, with one of the most experienced teams in the industry, that's not going to be good for the industry. We need to show the world that it's not just Blizzard who can make a great game, and that the audience is absolutely willing to try new things and to play a game other than 'WoW." Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!
Anatomy of a disaster: Flagship Studios founder speaks
Flagship Studios' founder Bill Roper recently spoke with 1Up about how the Hellgate London developer ended up becoming another cautionary tale for young developers out there. Roper explains that the revenue model on Hellgate was broken and much of the money coming in went into keeping the game online, instead of expanding content like it should have.Roper also admits the quality of the title wasn't great. He blames the PC market for being "lousy last year" and concedes Flagship didn't have unlimited money to hold on to Hellgate any longer. He also confesses that the company overreached trying to make "an MMO and an RPG and a shooter," attempting to please everyone and (obviously) satisfying very few at the end. Roper explains the Flagship Studios disaster in 1Up's interview in detail -- definitely worth a read for any aspiring studio head.
Flagship Studios' founder finally speaks
If you've been wondering just exactly what happened with Flagship Studios over the past year or so, then you should really give a listen to the thoughts of Bill Roper, founder of Flagship. The poor guy pretty much spills his guts to 1up.com's Jeff Green about everything that happened and is happening with the people and projects from Flagship. It's a surprisingly lengthy interview, clocking in at eight pages. It's totally worth the read if you want a gritty insight into just how much went into not only Hellgate: London and Mythos, but the team that put those titles together.It's not often that we get such a wide and deep look into a developer. We're counting ourselves lucky that Bill seems to be such a open and forthcoming guy, otherwise we might have never known anything beyond rumors and speculation. If everyone previously involved with Flagship lands on their feet, it will be in no small part due to Bill Roper's efforts.
Just to be clear: Flagship Studios is dead
Despite playing along like nothing was wrong not too long ago (making the image above more than appropriate), Flagship Studio's co-founder Max Schaefer tells Gamasutra that "for all intents and purposes" the company is closed down. It is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone to meet its maker ... etc., etc.Some former Flagship employees have gone on to start a new studio, but what they'll be working on is anyone's guess as the rights for the deceased developer's IPs were gobbled up by other companies. Now, let's all move on and learn from Flagship's mistakes and try not to repeat them. Writing stories about lots of people losing their jobs is never fun.
