Jon Shute
Articles by Jon Shute
Grandia Online coming this summer
BigWorld have formally announced the latest game build on their BigWorld Technology Suite, Grandia Online. Grandia Online is the latest in the Grandia series of games that started with the Grandia RPG on the Sega Saturn and has continued with two sequels and several spin off games on a range of consoles and the PC. Grandia Online is set before the story in the first game, but in the same game world. This release comes after a long development during which it wasn't always clear that the game would actually be released. The game was first announced in 2004 with beta testing announced for September 2006 with development by GameArts, but development transferred to GungHo Online Entertainment in early 2007. Development has since reverted back to GameArts, with GungHo Online Entertainment remaining as publisher.The title is expected to enter open beta this month, with a full release for the later in the summer on PC.
New EVE quarterly economic newsletter
Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson from CCP has released another quarterly EVE Online economic newsletters, this time for the 1st quarter of 2009. Despite the quarterly name this is the first report since the one for Q1 2008. This time the PDF weighs in at 48 pages of editorial, graphs and images. The first graph in the document show the number of active paying accounts that the game has had from launch up until March 2009, ending shortly before the point at which CCP announced they have passed 300,000 subscribers. Interestingly although the graph shows strong growth from November 2008 onwards, which is when CCP released the Quantum Rise expansion, the actual numbers before that showed a slight decline in subscriptions that is not addressed in the commentary.There is also an extensive analysis of skill points, with the difference in the number of points in each skill point group for each race showing correlation between the race of the character and the skills trained. Interestingly Gallente characters tend to have more points in drone skills, while Caldari characters have the highest missile skills. This seems to indicate that players are following their racial ship choices for their skill training, which is not something that the game enforces. There's a lot more information in the report itself, including detail on ship prices over time, Tech 3 production for the first month and mineral trading. You can read the full document at the dev blog, and follow the comments from players on the EVE Online forums.
LotRO Book 8 crafting enhancements
Turbine has posted another developer diary for Lord of the Rings Online, which details changes coming to crafting in the upcoming Book 8 update. The major changes are to the levels of crafted items that can be equipped to smooth out the progression of items through the first 50 levels. All affected crafted items will have their new updated required level after the patch unless the item is currently equipped and would raise the level above the player's current level. This will prevent currently equipped items becoming unusable from the patch.The rare items used in crafting as mastery options are also being changed. Currently these items just have a cryptic message saying that the item can be used for crafting and no details as to which crafting profession uses them for which level recipes. With the patch these items, such as eyes and claws, will no longer be used and a new system introduced that will drop from sentient creatures and as rare spawns in the resource nodes that contain the initial crafting materials. Any existing optional components players may have will become barter items that can be traded in for the equivalent items in the new system. Finally the last page contains a list of other changes, such as the updating of stack sizes for crafting to 100 items and the introduction of new recipes.%Gallery-64288%%Gallery-64417%
Eve dev blog on PvP ship losses
The latest dev blog for EVE Online is from CCP Diagoras and contains some numbers and information about ship losses through PvP over the last year from April 2008 to April 2009. Firstly there are some very specific subscriber numbers. At the end of April 2008 the game had 234,314 active paying accounts, which had grown to 299,064 by the end of April 2009, which fits nicely with their statement a few days later that the game had passed 300,000 paying subscribers. Using these numbers and the number of ship losses which involved another player attacking he comes up with the information that in April 2008 there were 0.61 ship losses per subscriber in that month. By April 2009 this had raised to 0.67. The blog then follows up with a series of graphs that show more specific PvP ship losses per month. Some interesting highlights include how dreadnaught losses fluctuate over time compared to the number of each capital ship type destroyed per month which reflects the pattern of big battles over that time, and the numbers of Battleships and Interceptors destroyed which show the preference players have for Caldari and Gallente ships.
Making that transition from casual to hardcore guild
The Hunter's Mark has an interesting post regarding making the transition from casual to hardcode raiding for if you decide that you have enough of PuGs or your casual guild and want something a bit more hardcore. Although aimed at WoW the ideas and concepts are true for all the other games that also have a similar raiding system.The guide starts off with the important point of checking that your current guild doesn't already have plans for that already, not burning your bridges with your current guild leadership because that may well be asked what you are like by your new guild and then where to go to actually find your new guild. It follows up with actually getting onto your guilds raids if they use DKP or a system like EPGP, how to be prepared through doing your homework and finally how to keep that spot when you get it so that you can continue raiding.
Witch Doctor on the way to DOMO
GameTribe, the free to play MMO portal, have announced that Aeria Games' Dream of Mirror Online will be receiving an update that adds a new class to the game on May 27th. This will be a Witch Doctor, a mysterious class that usually does not show up in public and is only known through rumors a guesswork.Also being added are several new in-game shop items, including several storage boxes for the various types of items, as well as a new Leather Goodie Bag which when opened contains leather clothing and sunglasses which last 15 days, 30 days or are permanent. Until May 27th there is also a Crimson Mecha constume, helmet and jetpack available. These are all permanent items.
Gazillion Entertainment Names Stuart Moulder as VP
Gazillion Entertainment have announced that their expansion into the MMO market continues with hiring Stuart Moulder as their new Vice President of Studios, with responsibility for game development across all of their studios. Gazillion recently announced that they had purchased Netdevil, who are developing Jumpgate Evolution and LEGO Universe. They also announced that they are developing two games based on the Marvel superhero licence.Moulder has most recently worked as Senior Vice President at Screenlife where he was responsible for bringing the Scene It? license to games as helping with the sale of the company to Paramount Digital. He also spent eight years at Microsoft where he was responsible for acquiring and managing companies such as Halo developer Bungie, Age of Empires and Halo Wars developer Ensemble Studios and veteran developers FASA of Mechwarrior and Shadowrun fame, although since he has left Microsoft we have seen Ensemble Studios and FASA shut down and Bungie has become independent.
New race and a housing system are unveiled for the next expansion of Fly for Fun
Fly For Fun, of Flyff as it's also known, is a manga styled game which bills itself as "the first free-to-play MMORPG to offer players the opportunity to fly around the world of Madrigal using magic brooms, bikes or skateboards" and has a new expansion arriving soon called "Act IV: New Shores". gPotato have unveiled two of the new features in this expansion, the Rainbow Race and the housing system.The Rainbow Race will allow players to, once a week, sign up to the race and show off their flying skills while competing in various mini-games at each checkpoint in order to complete the race. Rewards from this race range from temporary buffs, gPotato cash shop items or precious Orichalques and Lunar Stones. Also being added is player housing, which will allow players to create a customized environment in which to socialize. Player housing will be available to all players of all levels for free.
Designing a single-server MMO
Game Set Watch have posted an opinion piece by James Portnow, founder of Divide by Zero Games, that looks at the design approaches to creating unsharded MMOs, and the advantages that they can bring. Games that manage this, such as EVE Online and A Tale in the Desert, manage to provide an environment in which players can affect the world they play in due to the fact that they share a single world. Portnow suggests that MMOs won't be able to provide meaningful stores in games that don't provide this due to not being able to change the world because different servers may have made different choices. Portnow goes on to explain in detail what the problems are with creating a single shard world and proposes some solutions to the design to support the large number of people involved. This includes the resources supporting crafting, letting the players build their own settlements and making the PvE content to make it interesting.You can read the full article over at Game Set Watch.
Meet the team: Jon Shute
Once a week our writers will give you a glimpse into their lives, to let you get to know them and the characters they play a little better. Click here to read more Meet the Team.What do you do for Massively.com?I'm a blogger, so it's my job to write about the news and try and write interesting things about what's happening in the world of MMOs. What's your favorite MMO?Now that's an unfair question as I like several games for different reasons. Hands down the game I've played the longest is EVE Online as my main character has just hit six years old. After that long I think you pretty much have to accept that you really like the game. There's really nothing that can beat letting the players define their own game in my book, although you have to be the type of player who seeks out content or wants to provide content for others through corporations in order to get the most from it. I think that deep down it's one of the most hardcore whilst still actually being carebear friendly games there is. It's hard for me to argue how important so called carebears are to the game considering how many industry activities my corp is involved in at the moment, and I know it's become a cliche but if you find the right corp there's a useful role for everybody.%Gallery-33889%
Spencer post-doc to study RuneScape
Constance Steinkuehler is an educational researcher studying massively multiplayer online games from a learning sciences and new literacy studies perspective and an assistant professor at the University of Winsconsin-Madison. She teaches courses on virtual worlds, research methods and, as she says on her blog, the "smart" side of popular culture. Steinkuehler has announced that she's got the Nation Academy of Education / Spencer Post-Doctorial Fellowship to do a cognitive ethnography on RuneScape. The study aims to show the educational merit of games designed for and played by youths instead of adults, which is what is typically studied, and to examine the impact of gameplay on their everyday lives, social relationships and school work.Cognitive ethnography is used to study the processes that effect the work carried out within a setting, whilst noting the effect of the material world and social context of the actions and social practices carried out. To put it in a simpler way, it studies how the social norms and social structures are created for a group of people who share a common culture, in this case RuneScape players.You can read her proposal abstract over at her blog.
New movie shows a grisly future for MMOs
Kotaku are reporting that the trailer for a new game related movie have been released. Simply called Gamer, which is a change from it's original name of Game. It stars Gerard Butler, whose film credits range from a high of starring in 300, through the cult favorite Reign of Fire, and down to the less impressive films such as the title role in Dracula 2000. It is set in a future where a millionaire Ken Castle (Michael C. Hall of Dexter fame) has created a massively popular multi-player online game called Slayers in which hundreds of people battle. The twist is that the players are actually controlling death row inmates, and not just characters in the game as they think. Butler stars as the hero who is caught between Castle and the resistance who are trying to take down the game all while being controlled by his wealthy player. This film looks like it could be considered a remake of Running Man for computer game generation.Gamer is currently scheduled for release on September 4th this year in the US and UK with a staged release across Europe throughout that month. According to some pre-release screenings the film may not be destined to become one of the stand out hits of the year.Check after the break for the English language trailer.
An introduction to the Daeva
MMORPG.com have a new developer journal for Aion, NCSoft's new MMO which is due to make it to the west later this year. Aion launched in Korea last year and has already proved highly popular. This journal introduces us to the Daeva, humans who have undertaken a sudden mystical evolution.Daevas are revered by the people of Atreia and are created when the invisible lifeblood of Aion, Aether, infuses a human. This often happens to somebody who is undergoing trauma or pain. The human will then sprout feathery wings, break free from the bonds of gravity and mortality and become the first line of defense against the invasions from the Balaur and incursions from Daevas from the other side of the world.You can read the full developer journal at mmorpg.com.
Interview with Simutronics CEO David Whatley
The MMO Gamer have interviewed David Whatley, the President and CEO of Simutronics, who are making HeroEngine and their upcoming MMO called Hero's Journey. HeroEngine is billed as a streamlined engine for creating MMOs with development taking place inside the games themselves so that all of the development team can work together in a live environment with changes being seen by the entire team immediately. So far the highest profile game to use HeroEngine is Star Wars: The Old Republic.The interview covers their design philosophy of bring their experience with MUDs into MMO development, how they became a middleware company after people started to want to use their engine and how they're hoping that their technology will reduce development times and costs for any games that use it. Whatley also points out that until a AAA game, he suggests Star Wars: The Old Republic, released there won't be any empirical data on how much time using their engine will save a developer but he believes that it will mean games can be developed in about half the time. This saving can either be used to produce a game twice as quickly, or to develop twice the game that you would normally be able to produce.You can check out the full interview over at The MMO Gamer.
The Escapist: A folk hero for the online age
Tom Endo over at The Escapist has written an interesting editorial in which he suggests the idea that we all need a villain as a vessel for people's frustration with authority such as Bonnie and Clyde or Robin Hood. In the case of MMOs, that anti-hero is the Griefer, who will push the game mechanics to and past their breaking point or intended use in order get ahead.Second Life has had more than its fair share of griefers over the years, and it's true that in games such as Eve Online, the actions of the players have had a massive impact on the game. Some might say that with some games they have had more than the developer itself. Such is the case with the various self-styled bad-boy corporations and alliances throughout the years in that game, or the actions leading up to the Felluca/Trammel split in Ultima Online. But Endo puts forward the idea that players need these griefers and the stories that they create, despite the true nature of their actual actions. Head on over to The Escapist to read the full article and see if you agree with his ideas.
Global Agenda Meet the Team: Jeff Voeltner, Senior Environment Artist
Hi-Rez Studios have posted a "Meet the team" interview with Jeff Voeltner, who is a senior environment artist on Global Agenda. Voeltner says that he designed the areas in which the players run around in, and that most of his time on the project has been designing the social areas such as cities and agency headquarters. He has previously worked with advertising, feature films, and started his career as a color artist for Image Comics in the 90s. His previous game credits include Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Legendary and the initial stages of development of Turning Point: Fall of Liberty.The interview reveals some information such as what are his favorite games, his gaming history, where he draws inspiration from and the obligatory favorite superpower question.You can read the full interview here.
LOTRO: Hero's Guide to Forochel
Codemasters have posted a Hero's guide to Forochel over on the European Lord of the Rings Online forum. Forochel was added to the game last year as part of book 13 of volume one and has content for players in their mid to late 40s. Although this zone has been around for a while now the changed leveling curve speeds up the rate at which players will encounter this content.The guide details the major locations of the zone, the beasts and quests available to the player and includes the book itself, Doom of the Last King, which brings Angmars's attention to Forochel.
Darkfall bans another wave of cheaters
Adventurine's public voice for Darkfall, Tasos, has announced through their forums that the have banned another 213 players for cheating using 3rd party programs. This is claimed to be 90% of the currently detected cheaters, with the final 10% awaiting verification. Cheaters were detected automatically but the verification process is manual.The message contains a warning that cheaters tend to be very outspoken and so are expected to be proclaiming innocence on the forums. These threads will be deleted and those accounts will also be banned. Darkfall has a zero tolerance attitude to cheating, and previously Tasos has declared that there were a couple of bannings per day.
Worlds.com vs. NCSoft moves from Texas to California
Intellectual Property lawyer Ross A. Dannenberg has reported on his website, Patent Arcade, that the patent dispute between Worlds.com and NCSoft will be moved from the Eastern Texas district to the Northern California district as of 4th May 2009. Worlds.com is persuing NCSoft over alleged infringements of patents that it owns.The eastern Texas district has acquired a reputation for being the ideal court for this kind of patent due to favorable attitudes to plaintiffs, resulting in a practice known as forum shopping being used to maximize the chance of a successful outcome. On December 5th 2008 the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling that severely limits the discretion available to a trial court to determine if a case should be dismissed if an adequate alternate forum exists. This should result in cases that have little or no ties to that particular area of Texas being forced to be heard in a more appropriate court, which is likely to be the case in this instance.You can catch up with all of our coverage on this action here.
APB's Realtime Worlds gets new CEO: Gary Dale
Realtime Worlds, creator of the XBox 360 game Crackdown and the upcoming Cops and Robbers themed MMO All Points Bulletin has announced that Gary Dale has been appointed as their new CEO to help oversee their transition from being a traditional game developer to an online publisher. Realtime Worlds repurchased the rights for All Points Bulletin from publisher Webzen last year for an undisclosed amount.Dale has previously been the chief executive officer and executive vice president of Take-Two Interactive Software. Before that he was the chief operating officer for their Rockstar Games publishing label. Realtime Worlds was founded in 2002 by David Jones, whose previous credits include Grand Theft Auto and Lemmings, and had served as CEO up until now. He remains with the company as creative director.