compensation
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Mechanist Games working to restore faith with City of Steam's community
Mechanist Games will be taking actions to "restore faith" by those affected from City of Steam's impending shutdown and rebirth as City of Steam: Arkadia. The studio announced three initiatives to draw back players. First, it will be recharging alpha and beta supporters' Electrum, although it doesn't look like refunds are in the cards. Second, it will be compensating returning players who will need to start fresh on a new server. And third, Mechanist is opening up a new English-speaking forums on the website for the community to use. The exact nature of the compensation for affected players was not revealed, as the studio said it has yet to finalize details in that regard. Mechanist paid to reclaim the English publishing rights for City of Steam and will be self-publishing the title going forward. Other language editions of the game will continue to be operated as is. [Source: Mechanist Games' press release]
Lost your Grand Theft Auto Online character? Have some money instead!
For all the problems of online games, there's a certain assumption that your character is safe no matter what technical problems might hit the server. Sure, Grand Theft Auto Online has had some growing pains, but if your character vanishes for some reason you can still -- wait, no, apparently your character is lost forever and will never return to you. That's kind of the opposite of news you were hoping for. So in the hopes that you'll be distracted, Rockstar is throwing half a million dollars at you. Before you get too distracted, you should know that this is in-game money. Two payments of $250,000 in-game will be provided to players on two distinct dates, hopefully by the end of next week. While this won't exactly replace the time and effort lost via vanishing characters, it should at least take the edge off of Grand Theft Auto Online's unexpected problems.
LotRO starts beta test for Helm's Deep, talks Burglar changes
Lord of the Rings Online has begun the closed beta test for Helm's Deep, Turbine announced on Facebook last night. "Invites have already been sent, so make sure you check your spam filters," the studio notified fans. As the expansion contains changes to all of the classes, the team released the first of many developer diaries detailing what's to come for Burglars. The diary says that the three trait lines will home in on what makes each of them unique: massive burst damage (for Quiet Knife), control and attrition (for Mischief-maker), and the element of chance (for The Gambler). Finally, Turbine is compensating VIP players for the game outage this past weekend: "For any VIP accounts that were subscribed during the outage, we will be extending the subscription by two days. Lifetime accounts will receive 250 Turbine Points."
Webzen puts Arctic Combat on ice
Longevity in free-to-play games is odd. Some seem to last forever while others barely make it to one year. Arctic Combat was well on its way to the one-year mark after launching in December of last year, but Webzen has announced that the game will be closed completely as of September 2nd. The gradual shutdown started on August 2nd, with the item shop and downloads disabled, but service will continue for players still in the game until September. Players looking for compensation will receive money for use in other Webzen titles and are eligible to pick up special compensation packs in several other titles, including MU Online and Allods Online. Direct refunds are not offered. Our consolations go out to all players and staff members affected by this shutdown. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
Parents who sued Apple over in-app purchases can now claim compensation
Apple's dedicated "in-app purchases litigation administrator" has had a busy few days. According to CNET, he or she has been emailing some important news to the 23 million parents who've been involved in a long-running class action lawsuit over in-app purchases racked up by their kids. The email says that individual claims for compensation can now be sent to Cupertino as per the terms of the original settlement back in February. Disputed transactions under $30 will qualify for a nominal $5 iTunes voucher, while bigger bills may be fully refunded in cash -- but only for strings of purchases made within 45 days of each other, back when there were no repeat password requests or disclaimers to get in a seven-year-old's way. There's a deadline of January 13th, 2014 for at least some types of claim, by which point Apple's litigation administrator may well find themselves diverted to another urgent case.
Marvel Heroes compensates for early access delay
Gazillion is looking to make amends with early adopters of Marvel Heroes who possibly experienced severe connection issues this past week. The studio laid out a plan to compensate those who had purchased a founders pack and expected to get in on the action prior to the game's official launch. Ultimate pack purchasers will receive 2,000 Gs of store currency and a cosmetic pet, while premium pack purchasers will get 1,000 Gs and a pet. The currency will be delivered to those players starting on June 7th, although the pet may be a little later in coming, as the team hasn't decided on what it is just yet. "As you may know, we had issues that delayed our initial launch of Marvel Heroes," CEO David Brevik wrote. "We take our commitment to you very seriously, and that's why we had our team working around the clock to bring the game to you as fast as possible. However, a promise is a promise, and we were late -- so we're going to compensate those of you who were affected by that delay."
Defiance hands out compensation package to players
Defiance players are in for a little treat for their patience during a tumultuous opening week. Trion Worlds acknowledged the various issues that the game and its community have gone through, and thus the studio has put together a gift package as a way to thank customers for their patronage. Current players have received several bonuses in their account, including a "Daredevil" exclusive title and one-week boosts to weapons skill, scrip, loot, and XP. "We hope this shows you that we do appreciate you on this journey of Defiance, trying out something new, trying something different," wrote Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson. [Thanks to Balance for the tip!]
Wizardry Online compensates players for performance issues
For those put out by Wizardry Online's performance issues as of late, SOE has posted assurance that the worst is behind everyone: "Our engineers have been working tirelessly to address the issues and we're confident that you will have a better experience now." The studio is offering compensation for the inconvenience starting with a 300 Station Cash credit to players who logged into Wizardry Online before today. SOE is also handing out free seven-day Dimento Medals in the game. Finally, players who subscribed before March will see a seven-day membership credit added to their accounts.
Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes is shutting down next month
Mythic's experiment in turning Warhammer Online into a microtransaction-flush MOBA has failed. The studio announced that Wrath of Heroes will be closing on March 29th. Wrath of Heroes went into open beta in late 2011 and never officially released. Producer James Casey wraps things up with a few bittersweet memories: "I think we created something special and I would not trade the time creating it or playing it (on all those Friday Fight Fests and anonymously almost every day) for anything." While players' gems will not be refunded, Mythic is planning to release "work in progress" heroes at a quick pace and discounted rate up to the game's shutdown. Additionally, players who purchased and had gems between the first of the year and today will be treated to a free month subscription and a chest of goodies in WAR. [Thanks to Etaew for the tip!]
WAR weathers difficult weekend, compensates players
Warhammer Online certainly has seen better weekends than this past one. Because of a nasty bug that caused immense amounts of lag spikes and zone crashes, Mythic was forced to take WAR's servers down while the team worked to isolate and fix the problem. The good news is that the issue has been fixed via a new build and the studio is working on a "compensation package" for those affected. The goodie package includes 10 days of game time, a golden writ, a seven-day XP and RP booster, a special title, and 10 lesser bone wards. The team is still checking some details in regard to the compensation period but will be letting players know when and for whom this package will be available.
Ultima Online levies two-week rollback for high-pop server
It's not a good time to be a player on Ultima Online's Atlantic server, to put it lightly. Mythic was forced to rollback the game (and players' progress) yesterday on Atlantic to a backup from two weeks ago. Atlantic is the highest-populated shard in the Western hemisphere. The official announcement cut straight to the point: "Due to issues beyond our control, I am sorry to have to inform all of Atlantic that we had to revert to a Dec 5th backup. We have tried to retrieve a more current backup but we have been unable to do so due to corruption issues." Mythic said that it will be compensating affected players with a month of free game time, although that's undoubtedly small consolation to those who have lost progress and acquisitions during this period. Apart from the short announcement, there has been no additional communication from the studio on the issue. [Thanks to Brad for the tip!]
Samsung asks for South Korean injunction against LG for allegedly stealing OLED tech
LG and Samsung have had to live with each other as cornerstones of the South Korean economy, but that uncomfortable balance might just have been knocked off-kilter through an escalating legal battle. Samsung has filed for an injunction against LG for supposedly coercing 11 Samsung researchers (already indicted in July) into leaking the secrets behind its OLED screens, including 18 pieces of technology and 21 related documents. The accuser wants 1 billion won (about $879,771) in compensation for every piece of technology that might have slipped out. Suffice it to say that LG isn't happy with being labeled as a thief -- it notes that LG screens use white OLEDs instead of Samsung's RGB technique, reducing its incentive to swipe anything Samsung makes. LG even contends that Samsung is just trying to hide its embarrassment at losing OLED TV demo units that were headed to IFA 2012. Without a clear resolution in sight, there's every indication the legal dispute could become very ugly.
Lord of the Rings: Riders of Rohan delayed until October 15th
For those on their mounts, eagerly awaiting the charge into the lands of Rohan, Turbine has one word for you: Whoa. The studio announced that it is delaying the launch of Lord of the Rings: Riders of Rohan from September 5th until October 15th. Executive Producer Kate Paiz sent out the following letter to fans explaining the delay: We've had a very successful Beta program with some of the largest and most active beta player populations we've seen since Moria. The amount and quality of feedback on our largest expansion ever has been fantastic. Thanks to some great efforts from beta players, we've identified issues that we think need to be addressed before we can launch. In order to address those issues and meet our expectations for quality we're going to need more time. As a result, we've elected to delay our launch to October 15th. Paiz thanked players for their patience and promised a gift for all those who have pre-purchased the expansion. This gift will arrive around September 5th in the form of 500 Turbine Points and a bag of consumables.
Dutch court rules in favor of Samsung in 3G patent case against Apple, could lead to compensation
Remember that Apple versus Samsung case? You know, the one with the patents? Okay, well while these disputes are not rare, they do occasionally finally get decided upon. A District Court in the Hague, Holland, has ruled that some of Apple's older iPads (versions one and two) and iPhones (3G, 3Gs, and 4) violate one of the Korean firm's 3G patents. This comes after the same court shot down two of Samsung's other patent claims. Today's ruling regards European Patent EP1188269, which protects "Apparatus for encoding a transport format combination indicator for a communications system." Dutch site WebWereld.nl reports that the court ruled that the two tech giants try and reach a compensatory deal. Despite this, Samsung will still have to pay up €800,000 in costs to Apple for the two cases it lost. There is no talk of a sales ban at this time.
CNN Money: New York Times gets Tim Cook's earnings wrong
The New York Times ran a report over the weekend that claimed Tim Cook was a million-dollar-a-day CEO. Acording to a follow-up report from CNN Money, that estimate is way off. The CNN report claims the NYT was correct with the CEO's yearly salary of US$900,000, but made a mistake when it included the one million shares of Apple stock that Cook was granted in 2011. These shares won't vest for ten years, which means Cook won't see any of that money until 2021. CNN Money took the value of those shares ($376.2 million on the day they were granted) and calculated that Cook would get $103,000 a day over the ten-year period. When you combine the stock money with Cook's salary, the resulting figure is not even close to the $1 million the NYT claims.
Aion opens a new server, eliminates subs, and reactivates accounts today
Today is a big day for players anticipating next week's launch of Aion's Ascension and the title's conversion to free-to-play. Once server maintenance is completed, players will have a new server, subscriptions will be discontinued, and the doors will reopen for inactive accounts. Starting today, players will be able to log into the new Kahrun server to create characters and reserve names; however, actual play will not be possible until the launch on April 11th. Catering to the Central Time Zone, all sieges, arena timers, and the like will be based on CST. All accounts are also changing from subscriptions to the Truly Free model, eliminating all billing. Still have a month, three months, or even a year of time left? In compensation, NCsoft is crediting players by converting all remaining game time to NCoin at a ratio of 40 NCoin per remaining day. Don't panic if you don't see the credit immediately; it might take a couple of days to process everything. On top of all this, all inactive accounts in good standing are reactivating today to give Daevas a chance to prepare for 3.0. So dust off those wings and jump back in!
Trion Worlds customer database hacked, 'no evidence' credit card info stolen
Trion Worlds has become the latest in a long string of MMO studio security breaches this year, as the company reported an intrusion into its customer database. At risk of compromise were customers' user names, passwords, birthdates, email and billing addresses, and partial credit card info. However, the company states that "there is no evidence" that full credit card numbers were stolen at this time. In a message posted on the Trion Worlds website, the company promises that it is both researching the intrusion and taking steps to increase security. As part of this, all RIFT players will be asked to change passwords and security questions, and their mobile authenticators will need to be reconnected. The company urges customers to watch their bank statements for questionable activity, and provides customers with resources to get a free credit report and putting a freeze on credit reports. To compensate customers for the issue, Trion is providing all RIFT players with three extra days of gaming time and a Moneybags' Purse that increases all money looted by 10% in-game. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Bob Iger picks up $55,000 in stock for joining Apple's Board
We mentioned earlier this week that Disney CEO Bob Iger was invited to join up to Apple's Board of Directors, and Fortune reports that as part of his deal, Iger got 142 restricted shares of AAPL, totalling a nice bonus of over $55,000 at current market value. Nice work, if you can get it! We joke -- Iger has been a key player at Disney for a while, overseeing both the recent purchase of Marvel Entertainment, as well as the acquisition of Pixar, which of course was headed up by none other than Steve Jobs. $55k is nothing for Iger, though -- last year, he picked up more than $29 million in compensation from Disney, according to SEC filings. And Iger has one other thing going for him that he and I share: He's a Bachelor of Science alumni from the Roy H. Park School of Communications at Ithaca College in upstate New York. Go Bombers!
Iwata taking 50% pay cut over 3DS performance
Nintendo is dropping the price of the 3DS next month. In addition, the company has announced plans to institute a price cut on president Satoru Iwata. At a conference in Tokyo, Iwata told investors that he was taking responsibility for the 3DS's slow sales, along with a 50 percent reduction in pay as a result. Iwata's last annual compensation was ¥137 million, or $1.8 million (including salary and performance-based "variable compensation"). He didn't announce specifics of the cut, but we can expect both the base salary and the bonus to be lower, since lower performance is the whole reason for this exercise. Other "representative directors," including Senior Managing Directors Shigeru Miyamoto and Shinji Hatano, will take 30 percent pay cuts, and other execs will lose 20 percent off their salaries. Analyst David Gibson tweeted from the conference that Nintendo cited a missed opportunity to cut the GameCube's price as motivation to jump on the 3DS price cut.
Honor compensation date announced for recent PVP gear debacle
Blizzard's Bashiok has posted a time frame for the previously announced 4,000-honor point compensation package for players who spent honor on old gear during the week between the PVP Season 9 and Season 10. Any player who spent honor on ilevel 365 gear during the transition week will be awarded a free 4,000 honor points, which can go over the point cap and can be spent on the new, higher tier of Vicious PVP gear. This free honor will be awarded to players during maintenance on July 19 (this coming Tuesday). I think this is a pretty good compensation package for players who were not informed of the change in how PVP gear would be handled this season. The biggest issue from the debacle was that players spent a huge amount of time and effort grinding out honor for ilevel 365 gear during the off-week, then spent it, only to see the gear became useless just days later. Now that work has essentially been restored in the form of new, shiny, over-the-cap honor points. You will not be able to earn more honor points until you dip below the cap again, however.
