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The Daily Grind: Is the mystique of MMO questing lost for good?
World of Warcraft is often credited with inserting questing into MMORPGs, but veterans know that classic MMOs like Ultima Online, EverQuest, and Asheron's Call all featured quests, be they simple escort quests for gold or elaborate multi-week quests for epic weapons that required a few dozen of your mates to lend a hand. Those ancient quests weren't designed as "content," exactly; they were a means to an end, and the reward was the point. Quests were just a unique way to gather money or special loot when you weren't hunting or camping in dungeons working on skills and levels. What WoW did was popularize the idea that quests should be the primary method of leveling up through an MMO. WoW's quests provide experience above all else; few WoW quests award gear worth using at endgame, and most rewards are vendor trash. Now, as quests have slowly become core content across many themepark and sandbox MMOs, we even hear gamers refer to "quest grind," when the reality is that quest-driven leveling was intended to replace something far more boring: mob grind. By turning something special into something mundane, have MMO developers shattered the mystique of The Quest as a roleplay and storytelling element? Are you sick to death of quests (and dynamic-events-that-are-really-just-quests) as a character development prop? Can designers make questing feel epic once again, or is it simply too late? 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!
The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in October
You think your fancy modern MMOs have the patent on Halloween? Mister, classic games own this holiday. They were out picking pumpkins and decapitating spooks long before you were a twinkle in the character creator's eye. Halloween's back in many of our older titles this month, and for those of you who have been away from a beloved classic, it may just be the best time to return for another go. Anarchy Online not only has the return of Uncle Pumpkinhead but some pretty good subscription deals right now. EverQuest has the Haunting of Norrath, Pixel Pirates is offering seasonal items in the store, Guild Wars probably toggled its Halloween 2013 switch, RuneScape's got a brand-new questline, and Dark Age of Camelot is up to its standard tricks with the Pumpkin Moon. Of course, October wasn't just about trick-or-treating; plenty of other events have happened to the classic MMO collective. From a record-setting expansion to invasions to a very happy birthday, this month kept hopping (and growling, slithering, and lurking). Let's check it out!
Perfect Ten: MMO industry moves I didn't see coming
Despite -- or more accurately, because of -- my love for video games, I would never want to work in the games industry as a developer or what have you. I think it's an industry that doesn't have a good track record of job security, sane hours, or products that you could feasibly spend years working on that might not make it to ship. But I love writing about the industry. I love the news. That's why I adore being at Massively. I also love the news because MMOs and studios constantly surprise me. Hey, maybe you're an amazing clairvoyant person who can not only predict but accurately foresee all of the jukes and twists that the industry makes. I am not. When mental superpowers were being handed out, I got "setting people on fire with a mere thought" instead of what appears to be the widespread "know it all" ability. I don't regret it. I mean, you probably already knew that I was going to post a picture of Daniel-san and Mr. Miyagi being attacked by bees on the front page of Massively. But I think that the surprises are part of the fun. No matter what we've seen in the past and no matter how knowledgeable any of us is about MMOs, the strange developments keep on coming. So this week I want to list 10 stories that I really didn't see coming at all.
The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in August
How few players do you need to have before operating an MMO becomes ridiculously unprofitable and in need of closing? In the case of The Matrix Online, we found out that the magic number was 500. I wouldn't have even guessed that so few people were in that game when its shutdown was announced, especially considering the vocal anguish that arose when SOE lowered the boom. I guess it goes to show that we're often quite clueless what goes on behind the curtain. There's always this balance between the number-crunchers (who need players and money to justify continued operations) and the passionate creators (who are often developers putting in the effort because they simply love the game and its community). If nothing else, it reinforced my belief that SOE does bend over backwards to keep these games running as long as possible, much longer than some other studios would in a similar situation. So what other news regarding classic MMOs happened this past month? It's time for another one of my patented roundups, complete with archaeological commentary!
The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in July
It's been over a month since our last round-up of news, events, and community features covering the classic MMOs we know and love. You wouldn't think that a lazy summer month would contain a lot of new information regarding these older titles, but these past few weeks have been absolutely hopping. We've had several anniversaries, patches, player celebrations, mobile adaptations, and more. I'm constantly encouraged to see how players keep the memories of deceased games and the spirit of currently running ones alive throughout the blogging community as well, so we'll look into that today too.
The Perfect Ten: MMO commercials that take us back
I don't see a lot of commercials these days. I like to imagine that I'm a one-man force out to frustrate advertisers, ducking and weaving whenever they try to wing a 30-second spot at me. A lot gets through, but I've long since canceled cable, and the only traditional commercials I sit through are the ones for the occasional YouTube video. But there's something about a good commercial that can take us back on a wave of "remember whens?" and community bonding. I hear more discussions about creative ad spots the day after the Superbowl than the game itself. Commercials can even be a time capsule that unlocks memories for us of favorite movies, toys, and experiences. But what about MMOs? Well, they have commercials too, although not as many have made it to the standard airwaves. They're out there, though. Lurking. Emitting nostalgia rays from the past. And I've been hunting them down, looking for commercials that take us back to a simpler, goofier time. A few thousand dead brain cells later, I've got 10 of the margh make it sop pleaze pleaaa... Enjoy.
Asheron's Call 2 prepares quality-of-life update
Asheron's Call 2, its community, and its small dev team continue to endure after the title's resurrection last winter. And Turbine's been preparing a quality-of-life update for the game that is aimed at smoothing out some of the rough spots of the title. In a recent post, producer Severlin said that the team is looking at a late June release for the patch, although he said there's a chance it might slip into early July. The update will improve quest flow, bump up quest XP rewards, adjust mob placement, and make it easier for solo players to forge their way in AC2. "Exploration will be no less rewarding after these adjustments," developer NoWorries assured players. "We want to make sure that players don't hit walls where they have no idea what they can go do next, especially at the early stages when they are still getting used to the game." [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
The Game Archaeologist: Checking in with classic MMOs
What's this, you say as you rub your eyes in disbelief. Is it... The Game Archaeologist, long since thought lost in his expedition to Atlantis (and the trials therein)? It is indeed, my friends. TGA has been a long-running passion of mine on Massively, but I needed a break for a while to recouperate and refocus. However, as of late I've felt the call of neglected classic MMOs and wanted to make sure that they were getting some column love here on the site. So going forward, expect to see The Game Archaeologist pop out of his hidey hole once or twice a month to talk about our old favorites and perhaps pontificate more on the history of MMO development. Sound good? Did you miss me at all? You totally didn't, did you. If you've been out of touch with classic MMOs, I've done the legwork this week to provide you with the 10 important and relevant news items that are sweeping through this aging yet still vibrant community. Read on, McDuff!
One Shots: Paging the burn ward
It's a little amazing, when you think about it, that all of these magic-users who prance around in extremely flammable robes don't suffer from third-degree burns more than we see. Or maybe the game is hiding the awful, scarred truth from us. In any case, our opening screenshot this week should have resulted in a quick trip to the ER for both parties. "This is a simple yet fun battle in Vindictus' early levels," reader Carolina says. "I love the detail of the damaged shoe on my spellcaster character." Forget the human element; now the shoes are the ones suffering for our casual disregard of fiery magic! If you can get past the misery of the moment, we've got plenty of other great one shots this week for you to admire.
The Game Archaeologist: When sequels attack!
Sequels are both the bane of and a fact of life for movies and video games. Well, "bane" is a strong word, and you're probably thinking of Batman right now anyway, but personally, I'm always willing to give the benefit of doubt to any continuation of a favorite franchise. While we don't see sequels pop up as often in MMOs, they do exist and have significant effects upon the original title that bears the same name. It's here that MMOs diverge from movies and other video games. With those, the original is not in any sort of danger, other than the perception of having its legacy dragged down into the muck (Caddyshack II, anyone?) and perhaps overstaying its welcome. An MMO sequel, on the other hand, can cause serious consequences to its ancestor. Here at Game Archaeologist, we look at classic games that have often seen their time come and go. But what happens to one of these titles when a sequel attacks? Almost anything, it turns out.
Turbine's servers down 34 hours and counting, studio comps players
A period of global maintenance for Turbine's servers is now pushing well into its second day of downtime for all of the studio's games. Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and both Asheron's Call titles have been offline since 6:00 a.m. on February 14th. The servers were scheduled to be brought back online after 24 hours, but as of the time of this writing, they are still down as the studio works on issues that "cropped up during the night." The downtime was to overhaul the billing system and other back-end projects. LotRO CM Sapience posted this update at 4:20 p.m. EST: "We are working to resolve ongoing issues with our system maintenance. At this time we do not have a specific estimate for when the game servers will be available. Our goal is to make the games available as soon as possible. However we would like to advise players that the service may continue to be unavailable this evening. We will continue to provide updates as we have them. "As a thank you for your understanding and patience during this downtime, all Premium and VIP players who have logged into their account in the past 30 days (as of 6:00 a.m. EST on 2/14/2013) will receive 250 Turbine points. In addition, all VIP players who have logged in during the same period will have their accounts credited one day of VIP time for each day of downtime, plus one additional day. All points and additional time will be granted automatically as soon as our regular service is restored and stable."
The Game Archaeologist: How to return to older games
Let's face it: It's just not that easy to either try out or return to an older MMO. It defies logic because you would think that these games would explicitly crave people to come play them, but it's almost like there's a chest-high wall topped with itchy fiberglass shreds warning people away. It's not impossible to surmount, of course, just inconvenient and a little daunting. And so we log back into World of Warcraft or (thrashes around for a random title) Champions Online instead. However, this column doesn't care about them fancy games with their exclamation marks and free-to-plays, no sirree. We're all about the love for classic MMOs, and it would behoove us to consider supporting that which we love. It's that time of year when I feel the call to return to one of my first MMO loves, Anarchy Online. After tangling with the account page, looking for a subscription variant that apparently no longer exists, and mentally adjusting to the extremely dated graphics, I started to wonder if it was even worth it. But a little perseverance paid off, and I wanted to share a few lessons learned about overcoming obstacles when it comes to diving back into the past.
Asheron's Call heeds the Darkest Night
It seems quite fitting to the season for Asheron's Call to name its newest event Darkest Night. The January event continues the game's story with an attempt to put down Hoshino Kei once and for all. Several new quests are being added to the game for the event, and an interesting "tell the story from the villain's point of view" lore tidbit gives some insight into the challenges that lie ahead for adventurers. There is also a quartet of screenshots from the event that include a lock with no key, a treasure room, a deadly pit, and a key. Hm. Going to be hard to figure that one out, eh?
Leaderboard: Is Asheron's Call 2 a long-term home or a short-term novelty?
So Asheron's Call 2 is back. And if that's not the strangest sentence I've typed all year, then I don't know what is. Turbine's 10-year-old fantasy sequel dropped off everyone's radar seven years ago and was suddenly reanimated last week seemingly out of the blue. It's hard to know what motivated the resurrection, as AC2 wasn't a hugely successful MMO even by the genre's incredibly modest pre-World of Warcraft standards. Is Turbine simply looking for a bit of extra end-of-the-year income or does it plan to actually develop the game over time? Is this merely a way to wring a bit more revenue out of the original Asheron's Call minus any significant production costs (you must sub to AC to access AC2, currently), or is AC2 going to implement its own subscription plan or some sort of cash shop? Whatever the reasons, it's a feel-good story and an early Christmas present for fans who wrote the game off years ago. With the rash of MMO closings over the past 12 months, though, I suspect that some folks are wary of settling down in AC2 even though they might want to. For today's Leaderboard, tell us how you're playing Asheron's Call 2. Is it looking like your long-term MMO home, or is it merely a novelty that you're checking out while you can? Vote after the cut. Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!
Asheron's Call 2 producer weighs in on the revived game
It's always a sad day when a game you worked on shuts down. You shed your tears and move on, most likely wishing you could have the game back but knowing it's gone for good. But Asheron's Call 2 has come back against all odds, and while it's not yet clear what the future will hold for the dead-and-revived game, former producer Eric Heimburg quickly jumped in to see how well the game holds up in a more modern sense. Heimburg's main complaints are that the game's interface hasn't held up very well (requiring players to click through several screens just to compare item stats) and the huge world can lead to some travel issues. He also shares some insights regarding some of the strange elements of the beta, including the absence of a friend list feature. It's an interesting look not just behind the scenes of a game no one expected to return, but at the differences between a game long remembered and the game that actually existed. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
The Game Archaeologist: Asheron's Call 2 returns from the dead
No, the above picture is not some sort of long-forgotten, dusty archive picture of Asheron's Call 2 from back in the day; it's from the live game this past Thursday evening. How incredibly, insanely weird is that? Turbine absolutely stunned the MMO community the other day when it casually announced that it was bringing back its second title, cancelled since 2005, on a new server. Our editor-in-chief burst into the office chat room screaming, "AC2! AC2! AC2!" It took us a minute to realize that she wasn't just discovering the Assassin's Creed series but had in fact learned that the impossible had happened: An old, deceased MMO had been brought back to life. As the resident MMO historian here at Massively, I felt this was kind of like going to Jurassic Park and seeing all of those dinosaurs after spending most of my time merely reading about them. In the blink of an eye, Asheron's Call 2 went from the ancient past to the playable present. We've got a lot to talk about today, including my hands-on experiences with the title and thoughts about what this means for classic MMOs. Let's not waste any time!
Turbine brings back Asheron's Call 2
Well this is one story we never thought we'd be writing: Asheron's Call 2 is coming back from the dead. No, really! Turbine announced the return of the long-dormant title, which will be on a brand-new server called Dawnsong. The studio also provided a link to download the old client. There are a few caveats that come with this MMO resurrection. You have to be an active subscriber to Asheron's Call to take advantage of the AC2 server, and the game is currently in beta status, so there might be a few hiccups as Turbine figures things out. Asheron's Call 2 came out in 2002 and was closed in 2005. Our Game Archaeologist column has a great retrospective to bring you up to speed if you're unfamiliar with this short-lived MMO. [Thanks to Padre for the tip!]
Arctic Combat celebrates its official launch
Arctic Combat, a multiplayer online tactical FPS, has moved out of open beta and has officially launched for Europe and North America. A new game mode called Rocket Only has been added as a special launch treat. Guess what the special twist is about Rocket Only? Yep, you can use only Rocket Launchers! A new map has been added specifically for that game mode. Just in time for launch, Webzen is kicking off the second championship tournament for Arctic Combat Veterans. Applications for the tournament will open up soon, with the qualifying round scheduled for early January. Skip below the cut to check out Arctic Combat's trailer. [Source: Webzen press release]
The Daily Grind: How would you advance your game's story?
One of the facts of life about MMOs (other than Trudy) is that they change. Or at least they should in theory. Part of the joy of a persistent world is that developers are able to advance the timeline, continue the story, and change the status quo. While some MMOs feature monthly story updates, such as Asheron's Call, others reserve the big changes for expansions. Guild Wars 2 is making waves with its first two updates for making radical changes to the landscape and introducing permanent features as part of its ongoing story, and The Secret World keeps its options open to continue the storylines of all of the prominent NPCs in the game. So if it was your call, how would you advance your game's story? Would you introduce a cataclysmic event, off a character, or change a faction's alignment? Is there a good idea inside of you that you think would enrich your MMO's lorescape? 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!
Rise and Shiny revisit: Asheron's Call
Another week of this column makes me amazed at how yet another older title, this time Asheron's Call, got so much right and yet remains so under-appreciated. A lot of this dismissal of past MMOs comes from the simple fact that humans do not enjoy something they have seen before, at least not the same as they enjoyed it when they first found it. In other words, we loved games like Asheron's Call, but they have fallen out of favor because we have moved on to bigger, newer, shinier things. After all, most of us don't sit around a fire and swap stories for entertainment anymore; we watch television. Although, damn, a fire sounds nice doesn't it? The warm feeling that I might feel from an evening swapping tales in front of the hearth is the same one I get from older titles like Asheron's Call. These elder titles have a charm built in, thanks to dated graphics that remind us of younger years and times of discovery. But there's something else going on here. These older games, games like Asheron's Call, are still really good.
