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From gaming teen to virtual entrepreneur: how to cover college tuition [update 1]
Despite devoting much of the past three years to hunting and mining, Ogulak Da Basher, or Mike, a 17 year-old from Durango, Colorado, rarely breaks a sweat. Ogulak is Mike's Project Entropia avatar who has earned more than $35,000 through hard work in the Entropia Universe, becoming captain of the "ck Coat Killers" hunting society, and creating a potentially lucrative new business model based on Ogulak's mastery of crafting weapon and mining attachments.The next step in this young virtual entrepreneur's budding career is to donate $12,000 to pay for parts of his siblings' college tuitions. Lovely story, right? But wait, before you go and sign up your future collegiate kin for Entropia accounts, know that MindArk's inspiring tales have a history of being manufactured. Think of Entropia like Poker, you might have fun playing, but chances are, you're spending dough, not making it.Update: added "Ogulak Da Basher" image.[Via Terpin Communications press release]
The biggest game phenom in 20+ years: World of Warcraft [update 1]
Today's New York Times examines the success of World of Warcraft from a global perspective, concluding that "World of Warcraft has become the first truly global video-game hit since Pac-Man in the early 1980's." In addition to the new angle, this piece provides a nice benchmark for mainstream media coverage of MMOGs. Just a few years ago, media were wont to "report" on the gameplay habits of Everquest and Asheron's Call players with a sensational "watch these people ruin their lives playing games!" tone that just wasn't fair. Often, introversion, depression, and suicidal tendencies were ascribed to people who choose to play games for hours at a time. The Times's coverage is much more balanced, finally allowing an eloquent gamer (Jason Pinsky) the opportunity to defend his hobby: "I play this game six nights a week from 8 p.m. to midnight.... most people watch TV at least that much, and television is a totally mindless experience." Word. [Update 1: fixed a clumsy headline and formatting in body of post.]
Auto Assault soundtrack now free, game still pay-to-play
In a somewhat baffling last ditch effort to attract attention to its dying MMO, NCsoft has posted a free download of Auto Assault's soundtrack on the game's official website. It's unclear if this offering of the magnum opus is meant to inspire the meager player base to stick with it, or if it's just merely a "we're sorry, this is the best we can do" gift.Is it time to open up Auto Assault to free subscriptions? Or is it even too late for that ... ?See also:Auto Assault gets first big update -- silence ensuesAuto Assault now grasping at straws[Thanks, Eric; via Digital Battle]
D&D Online launches in Japan
Sakura Internet and Turbine Entertainment are launching Dungeons & Dragons Online in Japan this week, and both organizations are banking on localized content to help attract fickle Japanese gamers. Like the popular Chinese version, DDO Japan features Asian-themed armor and weapons, although you would never know this after poking around the game's web site (essentially a clone of its western counterpart). DDO retails for ¥5,040 (US$43).See also: DDO: Litany of the Dead previewed
Guild Wars Nightfall arrives Oct. 27
NCsoft and ArenaNet have announced that both the standard and collector's editions of Guild Wars Nightfall will be available Oct. 27. If you can't wait that long to begin exploring the new continent of Elona, the pre-release bonus pack ships in three weeks.Achtung! For those of you attending the Games Convention in Leipzig this weekend, be sure to check out the final rounds of the Guild Wars Factions Championships.See also: New Guild Wars Nightfall trailer
MMO neophyte designs MMO by himself
Gavan H. Woolery isn't letting his inexperience with massively-multiplayer games stop him from designing one. The 24-year old computer programmer from California recently made public Genesis, a game that aims to be the "first truly dynamic massively-multiplayer online game." Woolery spent the last two years designing Genesis on his own, despite his admission that he has "never played a MMOG in my life."Though the game is still a work in progress, a video demo shows some impressively powerful yet intuitive world-creation tools being used. Creation is the focus of the game, in which characters will have "the power to create or destroy any aspect of your environment." Users will supply all the content in Project Genesis (a la Second Life) and users' actions will supposedly "reshape living conditions, political structures, economies, ecosystems, and all other aspects of the world," (a la Spore). A bit ambitious for one lone programmer? Perhaps. But since going public, Woolery says he's received support from hundreds of interested parties willing to help with the project. Whether or not it all comes together as planned, it's definitely something to keep an eye on.[Via Clickable Culture]
Guild Wars Nightfall pre-release bonuses
The exclusive PvP preview event for Guild Wars Nightfall just ended, but fans of the series won't have long to wait for the game's pre-release bonus pack. NCsoft has announced Sept. 15 as the launch date for the pack, and the bonus content is too numerous to list here, but we'll mention the exclusive weapons for the two new professions. Should you choose the Dervish profession, the Icy Soulbreaker of Enchanting is yours to wield, while the Paragon will master the Firey Sunspear of Shelter. I don't have a clue what these weapons do, but they sound neat. How many Joystiqers have joined a guild?
Webzen ends Endless Saga
Turns out Endless Saga wasn't so endless after all, although the mystery surrounding the game's development certainly felt neverending. Webzen has pulled the plug on their Unreal 3-powered MMO, which had been scheduled to launch next year for the PlayStation 3 and PC. While this move thins out the PS3's initial MMO offerings, the Korean developer insists they are still committed to Sony's next gen platform. For now, however, Webzen will concentrate on finishing APB, Huxley and Soul of the Ultimate Nation -- the first two projects being Xbox 360 titles.See also: Joystiq E3 hands on with Soul of the Ultimate Nation Joystiq E3 hands on with Huxley
Square Enix likely to introduce achievement incentives into FFXI on Xbox 360
According to GalbadiaX.com, the next update of Final Fantasy XI for Xbox 360 could introduce gamerscore points into the aging MMORPG. To date, FFXI is the only 360 title without points, which, technically, Microsoft requires publishers to include in Xbox 360 games, dispersed throughout at least five game-related achievements.If you view Final Fantasy XI details on an Xbox 360 gamercard, you'll notice that the game has been updated with 32 "secret" achievements. However, these achievements are not yet active, but are speculated to become fully integrated with the next FFXI update, which will also include changes to Besieged and chocobo breeding.
Guild Wars: Nightfall announced
NCsoft has announced the third Guild Wars campaign, Nightfall, which will have an exclusive PvP preview for current members on July 28-30. Like its predecessors, Nightfall is a standalone module with a new continent to explore, and will only require the earlier games if you have characters to transfer. However, veterans might be tempted to start fresh with one of the two new professions -- the angelic Paragon or the scythe-wielding Dervish, both of which are previewed at GameSpot. Visit the game's official web site for more details on the Nightfall preview event, as well as updates on the Guild Wars Factions Championship.See also: Guild Wars goings-on NCsoft's E3 booth tour Guild Wars: character slots for cash coming soon
Square Enix won't confirm Final Fantasy XI-2
Square Enix has posted a statement on its website, rejecting Nikkei Net's report that the RPG vet has revealed its upcoming MMO as the sequel to Final Fantasy XI Online. While Square Enix does not outright deny that its project is FFXI-2, the company states clearly that it "did not make such an announcement [about FFXI-2] and has not made any decisions resembling those detailed in the media report."The statement reconfirms that Square Enix is developing a new MMORPG, as was announced in May 2005, but adds that specific details, including the game's platform(s), are still pending.[Thanks, mathew]
Develop: Everything you know about MMOs is wrong - apparently
Thomas Bidaux of NCsoft Europe didn't pull any punches with his presentation at the UK's Develop conference. Instead, the MMO giant's director of product development outlined four major ways in which the MMO world will be turned on its head. Or, rather, the 'online' world -- rather than limit himself to MMOs, Thomas talked about online games as a whole.
EGM Rumor Mill: RPG Heaven? [Update 1]
Hey, everyone loves rumors. You can usually grab them by the handful at sites like, say, SPOnG, but when you cry wolf as many times as they do, well, it diminishes credibility. EGM, however, have a fairly good track record with their Rumor Mill section, and the newest issue has some delectable bits. First off, Square-Enix is purportedly using the two upcoming incarnations of Dragon's Quest (DQ Joker for the DS and DQ Swords for the Wii) as a gauge to see if the next incarnation of the main series, Dragon's Quest IX, will be released exclusively on the Wii. Though it has a slightly diminished standing in North America, the DQ series is loved by millions upon millions worldwide, an RPG phenomenon second only to the Final Fantasy franchise. If this is true, it's one hell of a victory for Nintendo. We're not done with Square-Enix yet. Second rumor: SE is developing an MMORPG for the Wii based on the Mana universe. While we're not sure if the Wii even has the technical capabilites to run a true MMO (they tend to be very limited without a dedicated hard drive), we still salivate at the possibility. Finally, Nintendo is looking at releasing an Earthbound compilation for the DS. This would include Mother 1, a game never released outside of Japan, the ever-beloved Earthbound itself (a.k.a. Mother 2), and the recent Mother 3, a game well-received in the Land of the Rising Sun. Add touch-screen capabilities, and bam. Million seller. They make it look so easy... And, there you have it. While we must once again stress these are rumors, I'd eat my nonexistent hat if at least one of these three failed to come true. Your feelings, trusty readers?[Update 1: Square-Enix was not the publisher of Earthbound; corrected Rumor 3.]
Gaming and work motivation: not mutually exclusive
It's like you can feel its adorably shaped nose pressing into your back. You're trying to assemble a droll (is there any other?) business presentation, and all you can think about is how woefully uninformed your employers must be if they expect you to be motivated by a moist creature of the sea balancing a ball on its face. "Persistance," it says. "SEAL the deal." You really hate puns.But you like gaming. Perhaps that's the key to motivating you at work or, at the very least, reminding you that there's a much better world out there ... in your computer. Have a glance at these gaming-inspired motivational posters (you know the ones) and watch your productivity soar to hitherto unseen heights. Or, more realistically, have a laugh. It's the only thing keeping you sane.[Thanks David!]
ArchLord beta surpasses 150k PCUs in China
Developer NHN's ArchLord had a successful launch in its native Korea earlier this year, and now boasts over 150,000 peak concurrent users in China's open beta after just three days. Shanda (Legend of Mir, DDO) hosts ArchLord in China, while Codemasters will be operating the MMORPG in Europe and North America.Expected to debut stateside in September, ArchLord contains a mix of 2500 story-driven, PvP, and FedEx-style quests, as well as a soundtrack performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. Players will also have a chance to become ruler of Chantra (not to be confused with Guild Wars' Cantha) in the main quest, and those who succeed will have their names immortalized on the walls of the ArchLord castle.Gametrailers has several teasers and character background movies.
Guild Wars hits 2 million mark
Love it or hate it, Guild Wars -- you know that free MMO that is almost World of Warcraft's only competition -- has hit the 2 million units sold mark since its initial release in April 2005. It certainly hasn't reached the kind of astronomical numbers WoW has -- about 6.5 million active subscribers -- but, hey, it's a start. Piggybacking on NCsoft's announcement is the revelation that, according to a press release from the company, sales data from The NPD Group shows Guild Wars Factions as the number one selling PC game in North America for the month of May 2006. Pretty encouraging news, especially for future MMORPGs currently in development. Will developers continue to consider the subscription route or the successful freebie path that Guild Wars has chosen? I know MMOs aren't everyone's "thing," but considering the success of Guild Wars (not to mention the fact that it has no monthly fee), it seems like this is still the one to get initiated, so to speak.
Rumor alert: Blizzard to become all MMO?
If you're one of the millions of gamers who've been waiting with bated breath for StarCraft 2, Diablo 3, or Warcraft 4, you may be experiencing a "WTF??" moment similar to the one I had upon hearing this rumor. According to F13.net, some suits at Vivendi Universal Games have come up with a brilliant money making scheme for Blizzard and their legendary worlds: make all your games MMOs! Fortunately, ShackNews did a little recon, and the official word from Blizzard and VU is that the rumors are false.Not that MMOs don't have their place, but given their debated lack of traditional role-playing elements, RPG enthusiasts would be up in arms if a genre-defining company like Blizzard were to set this precedent. And to deprive the world of two of the best strategy games of all time would only add to the backlash. Let's hope the guys at Blizzard are still gamers at heart, or else the gaming populace will enter a very dark period that will make Tristram look like Disneyland.
All Future Blizzard Games to be MMO's?
Late last night (or early this morning - depending on your point of view) a story started breaking saying that Vivendi had announced in a Wall Street presentation that Blizzard would be moving all of its franchises to the MMO format. They state an expected three year development cycle and $50 million cost per MMO (as compared to Warcraft's 4 1/2 year development and $63 million cost). So will we be seeing a Diablo MMO? A Starcraft MMO? However, the official Blizzard response on the WoW forums has been very clear - they haven't announced any specific development aside from The Burning Crusade, and they have no intention on focusing on a single genre for future games. Another Blizzard employee notes that perhaps there's some confusion between what Vivendi has planned for its own games' division (which operates separately from Blizzard) and Blizzard's own development path.
"RPG" missing from today's MMORPGs
Are you getting enough role-playing elements out of your MMO? Cari Davidson over at MMORPG.com thinks we could use a lot more, and feels that a true MMORPG with an engaging storyline has yet to be created. She refers to the current crop of online time sinks as "glorified chat rooms" that are big on player interaction, but void of entertaining narrative or character development. The type of experience Davidson longs for may not be possible in today's MMOs, and she acknowledges this, sort of. Initially, she claims "it's really not that hard" to create player interactions that blend well with role-playing, character development, and storytelling. But then she recants, "telling a story in a world populated by thousands of players is a big challenge." I would subscribe to the latter train of thought, and I suspect Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine would as well. DDO favors the "meet and greet" party formation, and the system creates an instance of each dungeon for you and your co-players. This type of controlled gameplay experience allows for the possibility of more immersive storytelling, but its execution has met with little success. As a result, Turbine has added solo play to DDO, and PvP is on the way. Which means more lifeless, formulaic quests for those gamers who prefer a little more depth to their adventures.A happy medium has been around for the past four years in the form of Neverwinter Nights. It supports dozens of party members and, while not quite massive, is considerably larger than a typical Baldur's Gate or Diablo II session. Skilled modders have succeeded in prolonging NWN so successfully that BioWare has even hired some of them on -- maybe to work on the Canadian developer's new MMORPG.What are your thoughts on the current state of MMORPGs?
WSJ: Gamers find love in MMOs
It goes without saying how MMO games have embedded themselves into our culture -- we have heard for some time about quite a few people who have found love in MMOs, gotten married in-game, and have even seen a few funerals take place in the virtual world. Page one of the Wall Street Journal had an interesting article, tackling the very topic of finding offline love through online gaming. In a survey conducted by Stanford University's Nick Yee, a Ph.D. student, 29% of women and 8% of men have admitted to have gone on dates with someone they met in a game. Yee attributes this phenomenon to the "trust-building exercises" of working in team scenarios -- how one player acts during an in-game raid may reveal traits relative to the avatar's actual personality, through "situations that ... are less common in the real world." The stories featured in the piece are fascinating, with one man quipping "I have to remember two wedding days and two engagement days," referring to how he and his wife had separate ceremonies both in the virtual world and in the real world. Have any Joystiq readers found love in an online game? We'd love to hear your stories.See Also:Would you dump your wife for an online romance?
