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Frogster responds to community uproar over European TERA changes
European TERA fans have been up in arms lately due to decisions on behalf of the game's European publisher, Frogster, to remove a notable amount of the game's mature content in hopes of receiving a PEGI 12 rating. Today, the game's lead community manager, Raven, took to the forums to explain the logic behind some of these decisions and to elaborate on what players can expect moving forward. The post begins with an apology for the lack of transparency in the matter of removing the blood effect slider from the game without mention; it goes on to promise that "the gore slider will be back with the original three different graduations and blood will still be spread on the ground during combat," though it's important to note that the feature will be patched back in shortly after launch. Raven also clarifies the reasons behind some of the changes made to the childlike Elin, stating that the changes were made "not to comply with a demand from any official board, but because those characters in particular could have attracted to the game a population of unsavoury users, and it is part of [Frogster's] responsibility to protect [TERA's] younger audiences from them." As far as the changes made to other character models (such as the reduction of female breast size and some changes that made certain pieces of armor less revealing) are concerned, Raven points out that those changes are present in all versions of the game, including the Korean version, so it's not a case of the game's being censored purely for Western audiences. To get the full details and put forth your tuppence on the matter, just head on over to the official TERA EU forums.
GDC 2011: Gods & Heroes hopes to give its audience something unexpected
The in-game story for Gods and Heroes begins with a Roman general returning home after his time in war only to be thrust into battle again. The history of the game itself mirrors this journey: In October 2006, the original creators of the game, Perpetual Entertainment, shut down. However, in August 2010, independent developer Heatwave Interactive picked up the rights to develop and distribute the game. Our hero's journey started once more. Just as your character in G&H returns home to an estate in ruins and a craving for revenge, Heatwave developers are fighting back the old gods and attacking the game with renewed vigor. At GDC 2011, our editor-in-chief Shawn Schuster discussed the rise, fall, and rebirth of the game with CEO Anthony Castoro, Lead Designer Tim Schubert, and Community Manager Donna Prior. "I think a lot of people expected us to go free-to-play and microtransact the minions then put it out there. But in early alpha tests and beta tests, people really wanted a full game out of this and expect us to treat it a certain way. We are working really hard to do that," said Castoro, who went on to assure us that he is not just out to make money -- he hopes to deliver a great game too. Follow after the break to find out what is going to make this game victorious in the gladiatorial arena. %Gallery-118322%
The Daily Grind: How do you feel about mature content?
The game industry, in some ways, is akin to the film industry in that it grows up in fits and starts. Games such as Silent Hill 2 and God of War both have the same rating of "Mature" on the box, and both of them feature gore and some sexual imagery, but there's a world of difference in their attitudes toward them. Age of Conan is one of the few triple-A MMOs to really try and tackle mature content in the field as a selling point, with most of the market leaders eschewing it altogether. On the one hand, mature content opens the door for more adult and immersive stories to be told. On the other hand, it can also be used for cheap shock value and lead to less maturity in storytelling. Not to mention that it can lead to some backlash for developers (as BioWare experienced not so long ago). Where do you stand on the issue? Do you want unmitigated violence and nudity in your games, with all the concurrent issues they can bring, or would you rather keep things at a lower key to avoid the slide into immaturity?
EA wants to push mature content boundaries with Dead Space: Extraction
In a recent interview with Official Nintendo Magazine, Electronic Arts' Steve Papoutsis explained that he's hoping Dead Space: Extraction will "push the boundaries of what a mature game on the Wii means."Yeah, good luck with that.
Age of Conan video interview focuses on player concerns
Erling Ellingson, Funcom's Product Manager for Age of Conan, recently gave a video interview with Jon Wood from MMORPG. Wood brought some tough questions to the interview regarding the problems many players are having with the game, questions that may not have simple, clear cut answers as the footage implies. Or perhaps they're just not the answers many gamers are hoping to get. Wood's interview covered the gambit of player concerns about the game: the lack of DX 10; missing and upcoming features; and speculation about changes in mature content. Perhaps of greatest significance to the Age of Conan player base is the content drop off after level 20. On the post-20 game experience, Ellingson likened Age of Conan to being two titles in one -- a single player experience and an MMO. The introduction to the game is meant to be very detailed to draw the player into the setting, but the second part is a different experience. Some people may like the first part more than the second, he says. Also, in terms of content thinning as levels go up, he feels that this happens with most MMOs when they launch, and states that even when World of Warcraft launched, "the higher level content was relatively sparse." To remedy this, Funcom is now focused on adding higher level content, including level 80 dungeons, and Ymir's Pass -- a level 55+ zone.
Anti-Aliased: Age of Con-troversy-an
I'm going to hijack my own column this week to cover a topic that I believe is worth spending some space on - Age of Conan and the buzz of negative media attention it has been getting. Age of Conan's controversy spans almost all aspects of the game, from fatalities, to nudity, to even such odd things like race selection.Now, I've written a few of these articles. I enjoy controversy as the next person and I'm always interested in seeing the opposite viewpoint. It wasn't until I started getting some very, very nice hate mail in my inbox that I began to wonder if anyone understood my own viewpoint on the matter. So, this column is dedicated to other people's opinions, my opinions, controversies and, of course, Age of Conan.
Wii Warm Up: Using parental controls
A recent study questioned the efficacy of parental controls on a number of electronic devices, including game consoles, and the whole thing just makes us sigh a little whilst shaking our heads. Not long ago, we test drove the parental controls features on the Wii and found them shockingly easy. While the study, which featured a very small sample and a variety of electronics, isn't exactly a concrete reason to state that parental controls don't work because they aren't used or understood, it does raise some interesting questions. We thought we would turn to you guys who are parents -- or who have 'em in your house, making rules -- for some answers. Do you use the parental controls features? Is it just on the Wii, or also on other systems? If you use multiple systems or devices, how does the Wii stack up when it comes to ease of use?We understand that a lot of parents just don't get video game systems, or various other devices popular with their children. While we can't understand why those parents don't take steps to remedy the situation, we do understand that it happens. We grant it. In light of that, beyond censorship, youthening content, or other solutions that might affect what we adults get to play, can you think of better solutions for protecting kids? Obviously, we think the answer is being involved and knowing what's going on in the games parents allow their children to play, but we know that not everyone agrees.
