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Black Gold opens up preorders
Black Gold Online is launching as a free-to-play game, but there's no reason you should let that simple fact stop you from pre-ordering it! Admittedly, it's not so much the game you're ordering but a retail box that also comes with a variety of goodies contained therein, but still. Pre-orders are now open, letting you plop down $20 to unlock a variety of perks in the game when it goes live this summer. The pre-order package includes a special horse, special clothing, high-end crafting ingredients, and around $20 of in-game currency, which would serve to offset the cost of the boxed edition quite nicely. Aforementioned boxed copies will be shipping alongside the game's full launch this summer. If this is right up your alley, the game's official pre-order page will direct you to the retailers offering this deal; you can also check out the full press release just past the break.
Make My MMO: May 18 - May 24
This week's MMO crowdfunding news was dominated by a familiar trio of gamemaking heavyweights as well as an upstart studio bent on updating the magic of Ultima Online. Star Citizen announced a date of May 29th for its dogfighting module Arena Commander thing, while fellow space sim sandbox Elite: Dangerous released its Alpha 4 client, posted a new progress video, and targeted the end of May for its next major release. Meanwhile, Richard Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar published its Release 6 client this weekend, while UO descendant Shards Online kept its fledgling Kickstarter project in the news with a series of promotions. Click past the cut for the rest of Massively's crowdfunding roundup.
Blizzard: Sexy Heroes of the Storm characters 'not sending a message'
Blizzard is about fun and fantasy, not about preaching diversity, the studio said. Polygon pulled quotes from Heroes of the Storm Game Director Dustin Browder in which he defended the sexualization of the MOBA's female characters by claiming that, "We're not sending a message. Nobody should look to our game for that." He also claimed that he didn't "get the applications" of specifically hiring female developers for the title. Browder later apologized for those remarks. But this month, Blizzard Executive Producer Rob Pardo acknowledged that the studio still struggles in its portrayal of women, explaining that "most of [Blizzard's] developers are guys who grew up reading comics books." "We're not trying to bring in serious stuff, or socially relevant stuff, or actively trying to preach for diversity, or do things like that," Pardo said.
38 Studios knew $75M loan wasn't enough to finish Project Copernicus
Emails surfacing from the legal fracas concerning 38 Studios and its loan from Rhode Island indicate that the studio knew the loan was not nearly enough to fully fund the game but decided to hide that from outsiders. 38 Studios Vice Chairman Thomas Zaccagnino allegedly sent one the damning emails, urging a few studio execs to remain mum on the financial situation: "I really do not think we should highlight the fact that we might be under-capitalized... [it] won't go over well with the staff or board." The email was in response to CEO Jen MacLean, who wrote that she was concerned that the state wasn't delivering the full $75 million from the agreement and that the project would fall short of funding because of this. One lawyer involved in both the deal and the lawsuit said that the state knew that the deal wasn't enough to fully fund: "The [EDC] Board was acutely aware that the capital needs of 38 Studios where [sic] in excess of $125MM as acknowledged in the 2010 EDC Inducement Resolution[.] The Board also knew that the net proceeds of the EDC Loan would be less than $75MM."
Make My MMO: May 11 - May 17, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding, Shards Online officially launched its Kickstarter and revealed its gameplay to the world via its first livestream event. Some other crowdfunding stuff probably happened too, but really, we're all Shards all the time in these parts, and we'll be your best friend if you go give Citadel some money so that we can eventually make a Massively server filled with love and world domination. In case objectivity is your thing, we've included the rest of the week's crowdfunding news after the cut.
Analysts: 75 percent of US core gamers prefer physical copies
According to sales and marketing analyst NPD Group, 75 percent of American core gamers prefer physical game copies to digital distribution. The firm surveyed 7,900 core gamers to arrive at its conclusion. It defines "core gamer" as someone who plays at least five hours worth of action, adventure, fighting, flight, MMO, racing, RTS, RPG, shooter, or sports games per week on PCs, Microsoft or Sony consoles, or Macs. The firm concludes that 34 million US gamers fall under its core definition, with the average core gamer playing 22 hours per week. NPD's report also claims that while the overwhelming majority of its survey participants favor physical game copies, digital distribution is up five percent year-over-year.
Make My MMO: May 4 - May 10, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news we said hello to The Stomping Land and goodbye to Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. The former is a PvP survival sandbox focused on taming dinosaurs, pitting the larger beasties against one another (because they're unkillable by puny player characters), and avoiding the typical gank squad behavior that's certain to manifest. The latter is of course Brad McQuaid's bid to recapture his EverQuest glory days. The latest bit of news, aside from various unsubstantiated internet rumors, involves McQuaid's decision to continue development with a volunteer dev team. Click past the cut for Massively's list of crowdfunded MMOs and their latest news updates.
Make My MMO: April 27 - May 3, 2014
Two of the more successful crowdsourced MMOs dominated the crowdfunding news headlines this week. First up was The Repopulation, Above & Beyond's sci-fi sandbox, which recently launched its third alpha. The game's latest monthly update letter featured an exhaustive list of bug fixes as well as confirmation that more players will be recruited for testing in short order. Then there's Star Citizen, which just keeps going and going and going. Or should we say earning and earning and earning? Cloud Imperium's warchest is up to a whopping $43 million courtesy of over 442,000 star citizens. On a smaller scale, Trials of Ascension met its $40,000 Light the Forge goal. The devs say the store will remain open for donations until just before the game's second attempt at a full-fledged Kickstarter campaign. You can check on the status of your favorite MMO crowdfunding project after the cut.
The Game Archaeologist: The silent world of Tibia
If I were to tell you that there's a Western MMO out there that's as old as Ultima Online and yet still has a half-million players, would you believe me? Heck, I wouldn't believe me even if I came back from the future of having written this article to talk to the past version of me who had yet to start it! But that's Tibia for you: a weird underdog of an MMO that's cruised underneath most players' radars for over a decade and a half. From its origins as a student project, Tibia jumped in the unexplored waters of the early MMO era and dog paddled for all its worth. This 17-year-old title remains one of the very few active MMOs from the '90s and one of only a handful that stubbornly stuck to a 2-D graphics format even as 3-D swept the gaming genre. And trust me, those aren't even the most interesting facts about it!
Carbine CM David Bass leaves WildStar
Community Lead David "Scooter" Bass announced today that he has decided to leave Carbine Studios and his work with WildStar. In a farewell letter, Bass notes that the decision was made on his end: "The truth is my personal life's taken a turn and I've made the impossibly difficult decision to leave Carbine. The guys will continue building up the community team, and will share some of their plans with you in the near future, and I have no doubt that you guys will see some amazing stuff as we get ready for launch and beyond." Bass said the community team is hitting its stride and has a great foundation going forward. He also said that he can't wait to experience the game's launch as a regular player.
Stanford acquires MUD1 source
MUD1, the first online virtual world, was originally released in 1978. Thirty-six years later, Stanford University Libraries has acquired the project's source code and has plans to provide public online access. Details are forthcoming, according to a university blog. MUD1 is a text-based multi-user environment inspired by Zork and The Colossal Cave Adventure. It was created by Richard Bartle and Roy Trubshaw.
DayZ's Dean Hall says Steam removes the need for publishers
Steam's ubiquitous nature as a digital distribution platform has really changed the landscape of PC gaming. It's changed it so much that according to DayZ creator Dean Hall, companies don't really need to worry about a publisher any longer. Hall went on the record recently saying that the Early Access service offered via Steam essentially lets players take over the role of publisher, paying to finish development and providing marketing via word-of-mouth. The strategy has obviously worked quite well for DayZ, which has sold an impressive number of copies even in its very early and unfinished state. Hall also pontificates that it remains up to publishers to see where they fit into the new paradigm, since Early Access gives smaller studios an option that they wouldn't have otherwise.
Make My MMO: April 20 - April 26, 2014
Trials of Ascension acquitted itself well this week with a new dev video that showed off its unique dynamic spawning feature. In other crowdfunding news, The Chosen's IndieGoGo campaign came and went without hitting its $1,000,000 goal. Thanks to the service's flexible funding, though, The Chosen's devs will keep existing donations to the self-described "game-child" of EVE Online and Fallout 3. Click past the cut for the rest of Massively's weekly crowdfunding roundup.
PAX East 2014: The future looks bright for the next generation of MMOs
While last weekend saw a surprising lack of noteworthy announcements at PAX East 2014, one panel gathered several industry veterans to answer a not-so-simple question: How does the future look for the MMO industry as a whole? The panel, titled Next Generation MMO Games: What's Next for Multiplayer Trends?, featured Ian Fisher (Director of Design, Robot Entertainment), Stephen Frost (Game Design Producer, Carbine), Dave Georgeson (Director of Development, SOE), Kjartan Pierre Emilsson (Principal Game Designer, CCP), and Stephen Johnston (President, Guild Launch) in a roundtable discussion about where MMOs have been and where they're headed. While panelists agreed that there is a huge barrier to entry when funding, developing, and launching a new MMO, their outlook was positive overall, and in general they believe there is still plenty of room for growth in the industry.
Make My MMO: April 13 - April 19, 2014
MMO crowdfunding news this week centered on industry titans Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts, as well as The Secret World's new ARG companion game called The Black Watchmen. The title kicks off in September and is currently being funded through a Crowdtilt campaign that still has 49 days left to run. For more info on the title, click past the cut or check out Massively's Black Watchmen interview.
Final Fantasy XIV surpasses 2 million registrations
There are two million people playing Final Fantasy XIV right this second. All right, maybe not quite that many, but it's certainly possible. The launch of the game's PlayStation 4 version has seen the game climb to surpass two million registered accounts, an increase of 500,000 over the 1.5 million stated in November. No hard data have been offered on how many of those accounts are subscribing to the game at this point, although an interview with Naoki Yoshida in March stated 500,000 players were logging into the game daily. With a recent patch and a new platform, the revitalized game seems to be doing quite well for itself as it approaches the one-year mark for its relaunch. [Source: Square-Enix press release]
Make My MMO: April 6 - April 12, 2014
This week a reader named TrollsRoyce (no relation to Massively Editor-in-Chief Bree Royce, we swear) brought a new crowdfunding project called Red Blood to our collective attention. The game's IndieGoGo campaign will run through May 5th and the staff, which includes former CABAL Online and Perfect World developers, could use your help. What exactly is Red Blood? It's a "triple-A MMORPG title that's based on the popular comic book series Red Blood," the project site explains. "Set in a post apocalyptic future, the world is a changed land where science and magic coexist and humans have been recreated by changing DNA. Four opposing countries have risen in an attempt to gain total control of the world using their new armies of genetically modified mercenaries." Listed features include a full pet system, non-targeting combat, and an infinite number of instance dungeons. User Games and Gorilla Banana have released a trailer, and Steparu has posted an extensive review of an early build.
Make My MMO: March 23 - April 5, 2014
This week the team at Black Eye Games released a bit of new info on its Gloria Victis fantasy sandbox. Last weekend saw a player test of the territory capture and PvP systems, and there are also some new screenshots for your perusal on the game's Facebook page. New this week is Contested Space, a pre-Kickstarter project for fans of sci-fi conquest, expansion, and ship design. Creator Matthew "Zon" Haralovich says that the PC/Mac/Linux title "mixes action-oriented ship combat with creativity and community. Players design their own ships and stations while defending and expanding territory for their alliance."
World of Speed creative director stresses the game will be completely free
Perhaps you're looking forward to playing World of Speed but your enthusiasm is tempered slightly by ambiguity regarding the game's business model. Well, the good news is that it's going to be free. No, we didn't say "free-to-play," we said free. According to creative director Andy Tudor, players should be able to reach the highest tiers of the game without ever having to spend any money whatsoever, and there are no plans to sell boost packs or the like. What the game actually will sell is somewhat more ambiguous, since one assumes that at some point the studio would like to make some money from the game. Only time will tell if the game is embracing a very unique business model or if it's simply trying to shake perceptions of free-to-play games selling power. There are more details about the game's design ethos and overall scope in a recent interview with Tudor. [Thanks to dengar for the tip!]
Phantasy Star Online 2 still out of sight for North America
Here's a question for the audience: Why isn't Phantasy Star Online 2 released in North America yet? The game is fully translated into English, it's going to be released in Southeast Asia in that language very shortly. It's been out in Japan for two years. About a year ago, Sega announced that the game's release in North America would be delayed with no further elaboration; as it stands, the company is still offering no rationale or explanation for the delay. The most obvious culprit would be legal issues, but Sega hasn't made any statements to indicate that there might be some sort of legal barrier to launching the game here. All that fans know is that the game is still unavailable, despite now having every sign of being ready for launch. So what's holding it back? We haven't the slightest idea. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
