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Bombshell: End of Nations to be free-to-play
Conquering the world just got a lot more affordable, as Trion Worlds announced that its MMORTS End of Nations will be released as a top-notch free-to-play title. This decision means that players can not only obtain a copy of the client for free, but play through the solo, co-op, and the persistent-world multiplayer conquest modes as well. Trion's Dave Luehmann hopes this will give End of Nations a competitive advantage when it launches: "Being able to offer a premium game such as End of Nations for free sets us apart in this industry. At Trion, we strive to innovate online gaming while emphasizing the delivery of the best core gameplay experience available. Our decision to release End of Nations as a AAA free–to-play title is guided by these principles." Trion will be offering an optional subscription package and a game store to enhance players' experience. The store will sell customization and convenience items, and Trion has clearly stated that it will not be selling "pay-to-win items" through it. During our hands-on impressions from last year, we noted that the title was probably not best suited for a monthly subscription, so it's good to see Trion freeing the game from that business model. End of Nations will be available to players at this month's Gamescom.
The Soapbox: The Uncle Owen paradox
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. This week, the venerable Star Wars Galaxies celebrates its eighth year of existence. I was there in the beginning -- before the beginning, in fact. I did what a lot of you early SWG players probably did: I had a guild and a guild city, multiple accounts, a booming business as a chef, and a character who could entertain and fight. Even then, we realized how different SWG was from its immediate predecessors like EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot. We'd returned to the earlier age of Ultima Online, of persistent worlds (as the term was used back then). It was more a world than a game, and in it we could roleplay whatever we liked, to a point. Nowadays, we'd call it a sandbox. Old-school MMO gamers know well that the sandbox is under attack. Some will blame it on EverQuest, some on World of Warcraft, some on the free-to-play phenomenon. Among the Massively commenters, there's a large contingent of gamers who consider SWG's own NGE to be the beginning of the end of the classic sandbox. I can't say they're wrong when it comes to the philosophy governing new MMOs, but the sandbox isn't dead yet.
E3 2011: Trion updates official Defiance site with teaser trailer
We've known that Defiance would be getting its first serious showing this year at E3, but it looks like the team at Trion Worlds couldn't wait quite that long to show the fans the interesting stuff just around the corner. The official site has already been updated with a brand-new teaser trailer showing off the barest glimpse of what players will be able to expect... and judging by the ruined landscape within the trailer, we can report that this looks to be a very different post-apocalyptic take than other offerings in the genre. E3 will also see more information about the corresponding television series, which will be written be Rockne S. O'Bannnon of seaQuest DSV and Farscape fame. Billed not only as the first fully persistent online shooter but the first time that a game and a television show will be co-existing at the same time, Defiance could prove an interesting look at what can be done with MMOs. Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 6-9, bringing you all the best news from E3 2011. Whether you're dying to know more about Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!
Ask Massively: Something approaching a tribute to Safety Dance edition
Safety Dance was a song released by Men Without Hats in 1982. It is astonishing for me to realize this, but there is now a substantial portion of our audience that post-dates not only this song but the entire decade. So allow me to say right now that yes, the 1980s were a real time, they did in fact happen, and if that video doesn't tell you a good portion of what you need to know about that time period, any further elaboration won't make it clearer. OK, maybe one further piece. This week's questions have absolutely nothing to do with dancing, safety, or looking at one's hands. Instead, it's about pricing models for games and the never-ending discussion about where one draws the line between an MMO and something that is not an MMO. As always, you can leave questions in the comment field for next week, or you can mail them along to ask@massively.com.
Hyperspace Beacon: Rule of many
It feels a bit meta to respond to my own column, but my last article caused quite a stir. I would be vainglorious to believe that my point of view is the only one or that it is the best one. Given the 68 responses to my article in the comments section here and over 17 pages on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forum -- at least half of which completely disagreed with me -- I would be ignorant to believe that there is room for only one approach to the subject. On top of that, Principal Lead Combat Designer Georg Zoeller offered a compelling argument that counters my stance in a completely unrelated thread. In this issue of the Hyperspace Beacon, I'm going to give voice to the opposition. I would hope that everyone who responded to the last article wants SWTOR to succeed as much as I do. (I realize that what I said previously could be construed as not wanting this game to be great, but that's untrue. I want the game to be the best it can be.) Many of the comments I received can be categorized together, so following the break, I will summarize the other positions. Let's see how SWTOR is keeping the MMO in the MMORPG.
Hyperspace Beacon: Rule of one
I hate doing this. I really do. But sometimes one little phrase stands out way too much. One tiny thing a developer says can create an oh-@#$% moment. "Your ship's cargo hold is, indeed, your bank." That small phrase uttered by Lead Combat Designer Damion Schubert on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic forum was one of the phrases that made me do a bit of a double take. The concept of SWTOR changed for me. I began to question -- again -- whether this is truly a multiplayer game. We know the developers at BioWare have stated that they hope to put the RP back into the MMORPG; however, are they taking out the MMO? We know now that your bank is on your ship. Although they can be utilized from just about anywhere, Crew Skills are centered around your ship. There will be PvP and Flashpoint queuing, which can be done from your ship. Your companions are on your ship. What isn't on your ship? Trainers? Leveling quests? Many developers have said you don't have to group for your leveling quests, implying that they can be completed solo from beginning to end. It appears to me that perhaps there is something that I am missing. What part of the game is going to require -- or at very least, encourage -- me to actually play with other people? Force leap through the cut and let's discuss this further.
Age of Empires Online gameplay, microtransactions detailed
New details on Microsoft's Age of Empires Online have surfaced at Gamasutra, with much of the information centered on the game's free-to-play business model and associated microtransaction offerings. The game will feature a Premium Civilization upgrade that unlocks all of a civilization's abilities simultaneously, as well as booster packs that add gameplay types, quests, and appearance customization items to the mix. Age of Empires Online will launch with Greek and Eqyptian civilizations, and will be the first entry in the long-running series to feature persistent gameplay (i.e., your city will evolve and earn resources even when you're logged off). The game also boasts PvP functionality as well as cooperative play on the vast majority of its quests. You can learn more about the game, as well as sign up for beta, at the official website.
Dawn of Fantasy combines MMO with RTS on PC this June
Better set your alarm -- 505 Games has announced a title called Dawn of Fantasy, developed by Reverie World Studios, to be available on the PC this June. As you can see in the trailer after the break, the game is an MMORTS, combining single-player kingdom building and strategy warfare modes with a persistent online multiplayer experience. The title will have three different races available to players -- elves, men and orcs -- and, in addition to multiplayer skirmishes and a scenario editor, the game's economy will continue trading and growing even as you log off. Check the screenshots below for a better look at what could be a really interesting title.%Gallery-114720%
Breakfast Topic: Is it the world or the gameplay that keeps you hooked?
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. When I first started playing WoW, I read every quest. I was a newbie who didn't know where anything was and didn't even know of the existence of addons to help me in my questing. So I often searched the quest text for clues about where to find mobs and items. As my game savvy increased, I read the quests less and less, until finally I didn't read them at all but rather clicked on my map to see where I needed to go and what I needed to kill. Now, I find myself slowing down again. The lore is interesting to me, and more and more, I realize how expansive the world is and how fun it is to participate in that world. I am not an RPer by any account, but I find myself wanting WoW to be a world and not just a game. Out of a desire to understand and enjoy the lore, some players have read Arthas: Rise of the Lich King, The Shattering, and other WoW / Warcraft-related books. Other players have absolutely no desire to know the lore and view WoW as a game that they enjoy playing -- not a live-action fantasy novel. Are you the sort of player who loves the lore? Or do you just play for the game action? %Poll-57582%
Undead Labs answers fan questions
Undead Labs has published a list of reader questions (and a few select answers) regarding its zombie-themed console MMORPG currently in development. New community manager Emily Diehl checks in on the official Undead Labs website to bring us a wrap-up from the queries submitted on the game's forums. The topics range from the title's shooting and aiming mechanics, to vehicle implementations, to its persistent qualities. Regarding this last bit, Undead Labs seems intent on putting to rest any notion that the game's console nature will result in anything less than a traditional open world experience. "This may seem like a no-brainer, but we're building an actual world. We want it to live, breathe, change and evolve over time, responding to the choices you make while immersed in it," the studio writes. Check all the questions and answers on the game's official site.
Undead Labs talks about surviving the zombie social scene
James Phinney believes in the power of a persistent virtual world, and he's not shy in sharing his excitement when it comes to the landscape that Undead Labs is building for its new zombie-themed MMO: "We believe a persistent world should be living, dynamic, and evolving. We believe your decisions should affect the state of the world and the state of the world should matter to you. We believe you should get to be the hero; not because you were able grind your way to some artificial achievement that everyone else will eventually grind for too, but instead because you achieved something unique and heroic -- something that people actually care about because it has an impact on the world." In this post on Undead Labs' site, Phinney talks about how the company isn't trying to build a shell of an MMO around a mere action game, but is actually working hard to build a connected, persistent place where players have meaningful choices that could lead them to being heroes. His vision for this post-apocalyptic world is one that is "living, dynamic, and evolving" instead of remaining static. And while the MMO will contain zombies, Phinney stresses that the core is about survival, not just a headcount. He sketches out some of the choices that will need to be made, including finding power, scrounging for food and developing safe zones. You can read more about this vision over at Undead Labs.
The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire
For the past week I've been delving deep into the dungeons of Runic Games' Torchlight and found the experience to be nothing short of joyous. Granted, like many other people I also wish some kind of co-op shipped with the game (even over LAN) but thankfully the developer's next project will be an MMO built upon the foundation laid down by last week's release. My joy for this game most definitely bleeds into its MMO incarnation, which has led to far too much thinking on additions I'd like to see made. So this week, I'm going to get them all off my chest in the hopes that I'll stop obsessing over them. Of course, there's never a guarantee with these things.
GameX 2009: Inside Global Agenda's PvE and AvA persistent content battles
As we've said before, we got to see many, many people at GameX 2009 this year. But one of the main reasons we went to the expo was to catch up once again with the team from Hi-Rez Studios and ask them some more questions on their "spy-fi" MMOFPS, Global Agenda.On the top of our burning question list was what exactly made Global Agenda into an MMO, so we set out to ask associate producer Michal Adam all about what made their AvA and persistent world battles so special. Along the way, we also inquired as to what their PvE content will hold, and what rewards players could expect to find from participating in Global Agenda: Conquest.For our full video interview with Michal, look no further than after the break!
