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Flagship Studios: It's worse than that; he's dead, Jim
Although our previous coverage of Flagship Studios -- creators of Mythos and Hellgate: London -- mentioned that a large, undisclosed portion of the staff were laid off, it was only today that we discovered the true extent of the damage. Our mothership site Joystiq has posted the news that the entirety of the team has been fired with 30-day pensions.So what's going to happen to Hellgate and Mythos? Despite their earlier denial, there is some truth to the Hanbitsoft rumor, except that they'll be receiving the IP rights to Mythos instead of Hellgate, as was previously said. Hellgate will go to Dallas-based Comerica, a financial services company. Hanbitsoft, being a Korean game company, and distributor of the Starcraft license in Korea, might choose to keep Mythos alive, but who knows what Comerica will do with Hellgate? As of this writing, neither title's official sites have posted any information about Flagship's closure. We'll bring you news on the fate of these two titles as soon as we know anything ourselves.
Flagship Studios' entire staff fired, all intellectual property lost
A bit of clarification recently surfaced regarding the closure of Hellgate: London and Mythos developer Flagship Studios -- though we'd heard from an unnamed source that Flagship would be shutting its doors and letting go of "nearly everyone" on the payroll, Flagship community manager Taylor Balbi recently explained that the entire staff has been fired with a 30-day pension, paid for out of the pockets of the studio's higher-ups.The studio's intellectual property has been turned over to two companies who had invested in Flagship throughout its short lifespan, with Mythos going to Korean gaming developer HanbitSoft, and Hellgate: London going to Comerica, a financial services company based out of Dallas. It's expected these two companies will work together to continue Asian development for these two titles -- though it's unclear whether the uber-charming Mythos will ever hit North American shores.
Flagship Studios confirms layoffs, extent unknown
Someone who is allegedly close to Hellgate: London developer Flagship Studios has informed Big Download that "nearly everyone" at the studio has been laid off. The news comes only days after studio co-founder Max Schaefer showed optimism about Mythos, the company's current project.The news isn't exactly surprising following a Flagship programmer's blog post a couple months ago that employees were leaving the company "in droves." Gamasutra has confirmed there have been "significant staff cuts" at the studio, but there's no official word on the extent of the layoffs.[Via GameDaily]
Flagship Studios confirms staff layoffs
Flagship Studios, developer of Hellgate: London and Mythos, has confirmed that it has handed out the dreaded pink slip to an undisclosed number of employees from both the development team as well as from Ping0, an online services subsidiary. While there has been no details discussing the reason for the layoffs, it's likely tied into the issues surrounding the Hellgate: London title.A statement issued by Flagship last month, meant to reassure players, read "All our Directors and Founders are still working at Flagship, and all of them are working on Hellgate: London or Mythos. The team size for Hellgate is as big now as when we shipped." That's not necessarily a positive thing -- are these Directors and Founders having to double up on duties previously performed by the now-unemployed? We'll keep an ear to the ground for more specific information as it appears.
Flagship taking time on Mythos, admits Hellgate mistakes
Max Schaefer, co-founder of Flagship Studios, admits that things didn't go exactly as planned with its first title Hellgate: London; however, he believes the developer's sophomore effort, Mythos, is coming together much better. Schaefer tells Eurogamer (via GI.biz) that Flagship was "probably biting off too much" as a new developer with Hellgate and was rushed at the end, but with Mythos it's focusing on core features and taking time to polish.Schaefer hopes Mythos can "put a dent" into some of the big MMOs out there and he believes the free-to-download-and-play model of the game -- with item sales bringing in money -- gives the developer a chance against the boxed subscription-based MMOs. Gallery: The Mythos Overworld
Flagship holds forth on lessons learned
Max Schaefer, operations chief and co-founder of Flagship Studios, is forthright about the mistakes made on Hellgate: London. In a lengthy interview with eurogamer.net he explains how that game tried to be too many things to too many people, and ended up being rushed to market without being 'kept in the oven long enough.' They simply took too much on for a fledgling studio without any existing technologies to cope with.Flagship is now working on a brand new MMO, the free-to-play microtransaction-driven Mythos, which is nothing like as 'hardcore' as Hellgate. Resemblances to the likes of Diablo or WoW are justified by Schaefer in terms of the relief they give players; the idea is to cultivate a sense of 'familiar novelty', in which the gameplay is comfortable enough to welcome a player in and get them settled, but innovative enough to excite and keep interest.
Your weekly infusion of hot Mythos news
If it's Tuesday, it must be time for more news of Flagship Studios' upcoming free-to-play MMO, Mythos. Lead developer Travis Baldree tells German fan site Online Welten more about their plans for Mythos' future, Coming up are another class and another race. Travis also explains what sorts of things you'll be able to get with their RMT system, such as more slots for your "stash", and the ability to share your stash among other characters. Mounts are coming soon -- hope they're more unique than (yawn) boring horses. Information about new guilds, puzzle boxes, wedding rings and naked foot-races -- it's all there, in elegant English or glorious German -- your choice.In his latest "Almost-a-blog", Travis also talks about their first epic quest-triggered Overworld boss. Everyone who helps take it down gets loot, similar to Warhammer Online's public quests. There's news about particle effects, Zone 2 progress, the consignment house and crafting. There also seems to be a lot of talk about open beta on the forums.
Mythos wins over another fan in new hands-on
We have to concede, we were probably won over by Mythos, Flagship's free-to-play hack and slashers, months ago. We're not sure whether it happened before our interview with Max Schaefer or after they implemented the fairly ambitious Overworld, it's hard to say exactly. In any case, we're aware that not everybody is as excited about the title as we are, which is why we recommend taking a look at Eurogamer's new glowing hands-on report of the game.Among Mythos' many design choices, the author seems most impressed with the way Flagship has managed to make even the simplest of level one fireballs feel both satisfying and significant. For our part, we're still baffled that they plan to offer this as a free title, because the spit shine and polish they've been putting on this thing is more typically befitting of a full retail release. Then again, World of Warcraft was planned as a free title once upon a time...
Mythos adds "MMO View", more, in latest patch
Flagship's forthcoming free-to-play MMO Mythos, patched their closed beta with lots of bug fixes and new features. The camera has been completely re-done; it now has four-options -- Isometric Style (the original, far-overhead view); Isometric Orbiting Style, where the camera turns with you; MMO Style, which is the over-the-shoulder view common to many MMOs, and MMO Outdoor Only, which reverts to isometric view when you enter a dungeon. Ambient (non-attackable) creatures have been added to the Overworld to make it more lively; other Overworld creatures have had their aggro range increased and respawn time decreased to make the Overworld more ... deadly.Why not take a look at the full patch notes, after the break?
Interview with Mythos' Travis Baldree
While we wait for Mythos to enter open beta so we can all play in the action-MMO inspired by Diablo II's fast, furious and inviting gameplay, we were thrilled to read this interview with Mythos' Project Director, Travis Baldree. This is one of the guys with his arms elbow-deep in the code. If you've been following Mythos' sometimes-funny, sometimes-frustrating struggles toward release on Travis' "Almost-a-Blog", then you already know that Mythos is a game that definitely proves the old canard that change is the only thing you can depend upon.Read about the most unbalanced crafted item ever made, consignment houses, new classes and races, and when Open Beta might start ("Soon". Oops. Spoiler!)[WarCry]
Mythos' Max Schaefer talks about the economics of free
Flagship Studios' action-adventure MMO, Mythos, will be free to download and free to play. How will they ever make any money off the game? Sure, they have an item shop, but will that be enough? In this interview, Mythos' Executive Producer Max Schaefer explains how they will make the game profitable through the economics of free, bringing a World of Warcraft-ish game into a MMO market that already has a WoW, and the rise of indie games.There's not a lot of new information in this interview, We might have asked why they didn't release Mythos as it was, and then release the Overworld as an expansion along with a lot of new content? How would they distinguish themselves from the rumored Diablo 3? What kinds of questions would you have asked about Mythos? If you can propose some really hard ones, we'll send them along and see if we can get some answers.
The week in Massively features
Massively previews Dungeons & Dragons Online's Module 7Massively got a chance to sit down with the team and take a look at the latest update, Module 7, due out on June 3, and currently in public testing. In addition to some extended playtime with the new Monk class, we got to see updates to the lower level Three Barrel Cove area, a shrine to recently passed-on D&D creator Gary Gygax, and the new raid area under the destroyed Marketplace tent, as well as a few new monsters and raid bosses that can be found down there. A first look at Mythos' OverworldThough there were more than a few glitches with patching, we were able to eventually get in and take a quick run around some of the Overworld, its dungeons, the villages outside Stonehill, and the city of Stonehill itself. All we have left to wait for now is the open beta, expected in the next several weeks. Massively goes to WAR: Your Warhammer questions answeredWe'll run down the questions asked by our participating readers, and hopefully offer up a general view of the title. Read on for those notes. Massively goes to WAR: Emotions behind the Tome of KnowledgeIn the same way that everyone on the Warhammer team seems to be suffused with passion for the game, Tome of Knowledge lead Carrie Gouskos couldn't help but pass on information about one of the game's most innovative features. Player vs. Everything: Online Games and SexAs humans, sex is something that plays a very important role in our lives and personal experiences. It's a pretty universal and emotionally charged topic that can dramatically influence how we think of ourselves and how we view our relationships with other people. For more of our Warhammer Online coverage, be sure to check out the full series of "Massively Goes to WAR" articles, continuing tomorrow and throughout the week.
A first look at Mythos' Overworld
What do you call it when the developers of a hotly anticipated free-to-play Diablo-esque MMO decide at virtually the last minute to entirely redesign their game? You could call it crazy, or unwise, but developers of the upcoming title Mythos went ahead and did just that. Many of Flagship Studios' beta players said the game was more than ready to ship as it was, but it wasn't good enough for the developers. They combined all the instanced, single player overland zones into one massive continent, shared among all players. Instead of being reached by maps that led players through narrow paths to dungeons which looked identical from the outside, the devs placed the dungeons, Oblivion-like, through the world. For the past week, the folks at Flagship promised the Overworld Real Soon Now. A deathwatch was kept on the forums. It was going to be the next day, or the day after, or in a few hours. Players gathered on Mythos' IRC channel where devs tossed out tantalizing hints of what was to come. Then around 9pm EST dev Taylor Balbi advised everyone to re-patch and log in to the Test Center to see the Overworld. He gave some advice as people hurried to be the first into the new world. Test Center will be a separate server. Test Center and Beta Server will be online at the same time and require the same client. To tell which version you currently have, the login screen screen will make it obvious (two different ones). Test Center will start lagging after like 800 people, Mythos Beta won't. Taylor Balbi is Awesome. We think the other Flagship devs are pretty awesome as well. Though there were more than a few glitches with patching, we were able to eventually get in and take a quick run around some of the Overworld, its dungeons, the villages outside Stonehill, and the city of Stonehill itself. All we have left to wait for now is the open beta, expected in the next several weeks. Take a first look at Mythos' Overworld with us %Gallery-10781%
Under The Hood: Colored Segregation
There are a lot of different game mechanics, ranging from the downright simple to the ethereal and hard-to-explain. I've talked a lot about the more subjective stuff, such as lore and paradigms and this and that, but only a few times have I hit the nitty gritty. So this week, I'm taking things to a controversial (not really) place. Judging items based on their color and how fantasy MMOs follow the same color patterns for identification, at least to a certain point.
The Daily Grind: Are sports MMOs truly massive?
When you think of sports games, perhaps you immediately think of football, basketball, baseball, soccer, what have you. Golf might get a nod, as well as the various car-related events. However, at most, these diversions consist of teams with a rather small number of players -- nothing like the thousands to millions of users of your average MMO.However, when you play solo, those other players might as well be bots for all you care. And if you're in a guild, it can be as small as your average basketball team. Playing against another team is essentially like PvP. And games like Mythos have instanced dungeons (for now, at least), so you never see another player outside of towns. This begs a larger question: if you don't actually see thousands of other players, is it really massively multiplayer? What's the cutoff number?
Mythos Audio unveils Olon speakers
Pretty striking speakers, right? The Mythos Audio Olon speakers definitely have a "love 'em or hate 'em" appearance, but you've got to respect the work. From the pics, we wouldn't have guessed the cabinets are made out of stacked plywood -- they look a lot better than anything we ever made in wood shop! Weighing in at over 220-pounds, Mythos didn't skimp on the drivers, either. With Scanspeak for the tweeter and midrange, Visaton for the woofer, and a Mundorf Air Motion Transducer super-tweeter (we haven't seen an AMT since some ESS Heil speakers back in the day), these beasts will outperform your ears: 18Hz - 40kHz. It turns out "olon" is Greek for "the whole." Yeah, no kidding. Crazy, imposing and an unnamed unpriced -- we love it. [Via AudioJunkies]
Mythos Overworld delayed; more beta news leaks out
Flagship Studios sends their regrets, but the mega-update to Mythos that would turn their heavily instanced over world into one seamless land spattered, Oblivion-like, with dungeons has been delayed. Due yesterday, it now looks as if Mythos beta testers will have to wait until next week to run naked and free ... through Mythos' world of Uld, at any rate.To tide us over while we wait, player Kirent has compiled a list of all the interesting snippets of developer responses to questions about the delay. Characters won't be wiped when the Overworld goes live, but they likely will be wiped when the test server is folded into the live beta server, after which open beta will likely begin. Zones 2 and 3 (mid and high level areas) won't be enabled initially, but we knew that. The pressures of pushing the Overworld out the door means that new monsters, dungeons, and quests won't be in in any significant way. Most of the crafting changes will be on the test server, but the balancing of the heraldries (temporary buffs applied to crafted items) will not be. Special armor sets, a new class (!!!) , retirement (here you voluntarily retire a high level character to start a new character with some sort of advantage) and any sort of endgame are all taking a back seat to the Overworld. However, it sounds like Epic weapons will be in.Mythos is currently slated to release late this year. It will be free to play, but with an item store where you can buy items for real money, though you will be able to see and do everything in the game without paying a cent. Bored with waiting for the update? Kanthalos at MMOre Insight has been writing a series of articles about the best character builds for maximum wtfpwnage -- check it out!
What's coming for Mythos
Mythos might have released as it is today -- a fairly small, but fun, MMO in the mold of Diablo 2, by the original creators of that legendary game. Overhead gameplay, point and click, talent trees, but more free form -- no plot aside from that given by the quests. You played Mythos a dungeon at a time. Mythos is almost entirely instanced. You'll hardly ever see another player outside of a city -- very rarely at one of the hubs in the countryside.They're changing all that. The countryside will no longer be randomized; it will become a static world as in World of Warcraft or EverQuest. In old Mythos, you got a quest for a dungeon, and that dungeon would suddenly appear on your map. You'd walk to it and have it entirely to yourself, finish the quest, and the dungeon would disappear. Now, that dungeon will remain a fixed part of the world. The random dungeons that you could previously buy maps for, will now be accessed through special runestones that will teleport you and your party straight to it.
An introduction to Mythos crafting
The old adage -- if you want something done right, do it yourself -- has never been more true than in Flagship Studios' Mythos. You can find excellent weapons and gear from monsters or treasure chests, but if you want something uniquely yours, crafting is your best bet. By focusing on certain crafting trees, master crafters can make gear with stats that dwarf that of dropped gear. Further, crafted items may be adorned with temporary buffs called heraldries. The monsters won't know what hit them. In the Shadowlands, nobody will be able to touch you. That's the power of crafted items and the heraldries that mark them. Crafting itself is simple to pick up -- just hit R and spend points in the crafting tree. You'll see that it is impossible for a single crafter to become an expert in more than one or two skills. The skill trees themselves are oddly split -- training in Swords and Axes gives you no abilities to create Spears and Polearms. Master the crafting of chest armors, but that will do you no good when it comes to making shoulders and helms. Focus on becoming the best cobbler in Uld, but don't expect that skill to carry over into the scribing of Heraldries. Here is a brief overview of the crafting quests and the process of crafting itself. You can read a more detailed list of the benefits of crafted items over on the official Mythos forums. %Gallery-10781%
Mythos bids farewell to Bangladesh
Farewell, Bangladesh. The Mythos closed beta was not made for you. And best wishes to Japan. Really, though, the Mythos closed beta was meant for North American audiences, and we have discovered that North America is not where you are. So we must say ciao to China as well. We're about to open up the beta to far more people, and those of you in Eastern Europe and Asia just won't be getting the kind of localized experience we really want to provide. Even though English is your official administrative language, we must say so long, Singapore. We can't have you on American servers when we're shopping Mythos to overseas partners, and thus, we are leaving Lithuania.While the news that Flagship Studios' Mythos is drawing very near to open beta is good news, the reaction on the Mythos forums has been muted disappointment. Some wonder why the non-English speaking countries of Western Europe were allowed to remain in the beta; others wonder if this decision had something to do with the gold farmers who flocked to Mythos as they flock to all MMOs. We prefer to feel that their last listed reason, that they are looking for a publisher in these regions, is the real one, and that there will be news of localized versions of Mythos in the near future.
