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Community Detective Issue #16: Lineage II
Welcome to a new year of Community Detective. To kick things off, I'm going back in time -- way back in time, to 2004 to be exact -- as this was the year NCsoft's Lineage II debuted in America. Why profile the community and customer service of a game that's almost seven years old? Well, Lineage II is still going strong and drawing players from all over the world. NCsoft also continues to pour money and developer resources into the game (the latest example being the new Goddess of Destruction expansion) despite the existence of newer, similarly themed fantasy projects like Aion and Blade & Soul. Clearly, then, Lineage II is still relevant in some quarters, and in light of that fact, I've spent the past couple of weeks toodling around the kingdom of Aden.
Double your pleasure with Aion double XP
Thinking of dusting off one of your Daevas? If you've got a long-neglected alt, if your main has stalled on the cusp of level 55, or if you've just been away from the world of Atreia altogether, you'll probably want to take advantage of Aion's upcoming double experience weekends. From December 3rd through December 6th (beginning and ending at 12:00 p.m. PST on both days), you can double your pleasure with double XP on both mobs and quests. If that's not enough, you can also enjoy 99% off soul healing costs from December 4th to December 5th (12:00 a.m. PST - 11:59 p.m. PST) as well as December 11th to December 12th (at the same time slot). Check out the official Aion site for all the details.
Aion's 2.1 patch to increase drop rates
NCsoft isn't resting on its winged laurels after last month's release of its Assault on Balaurea expansion. Aion's 2.1 patch is just around the corner, judging by its debut this week on the Korean test servers and the associated patch notes that have been posted to the North American PowerWiki. The update is brimming with the usual NPC, quest, and instance bug fixes, as well as a reduction on the prerequisites for the greater stigma quests. That said, the most interesting additions to the patch are the loot table tweaks. In a nutshell, it seems NCsoft is finally heeding the cries of players to do something about Aion's abyssmal loot drop rates. The patch notes indicate "greatly increased" drop rates on gear from instance and field bosses as well as regular mobs. There also appears to be an across-the-board hike in the drop rate of fluxes, skill manuals, and stigma stones. While this news might drive broker prices to new levels of ridiculousness over the next little while, Aion's economy will probably look a little different after 2.1 goes live and supply overtakes demand.
NCsoft announces its PAX plans
It's nearly September which means the Penny Arcade Expo is swiftly approaching. Taking place between September 4th-6th in Seattle, PAX is fast becoming the new must-attend convention for all sections of the industry, from developers to publishers and gamers. NCsoft has just announced their plans for this year's convention and this focuses on their three big IPs: Aion, Guild Wars 2 and City of Heroes.NCsoft will once again have booths at the event, one per game. On the Aion front, they will be showing the latest build of the game, which includes patch 1.5 (aka The Shadow of the Balaur). Producer Brian Knox and Associate Producer Lani Blazier will also be on hand at booth #642. At the Guild Wars 2 booth (#842), there will be Q and As with the Live Team, a talk on the upcoming novel The Fall of Ascalon and the chance to win a 128 page Art of Guild Wars 2 artbook. Finally at the City of Heroes booth (#542) you can take a peek at the new update ("Power Spectrum") and nab a special PAX Costume Power code. There will also be a player meet up on the Saturday night (September 5th) hosted by the Online Community Relations team, for more information on that click here.
Second Aion vidcast now available
As we inch closer to the Aion launch on 22nd and 25th September (NA and EU, respectively), the excitement about NCsoft's latest MMO is reaching fever pitch. Yesterday, G4TV released the second Aion vidcast (the first one was hosted by IGN). Featuring devs including Associate Producer Lani Blazier and Producer Brian Knox, this one is all about character customisation. The interviews are also interspersed with some impressive in-game footage and rather arty shots of their Seattle offices. The vidcast begins by going through the differences between PvP, PvE and PvPvE. Indeed the highlight has to be seeing Lani try to figure out the best pronunciation of PvPvE. There's also a rundown of the main classess and the sub-class choices you can pick upon Ascending. If you're looking for one word that sums up both the game and this vidcast, it would have to be 'uniqueness'. While none of the information will be new to people playing the beta or who have been following the game, it's great to see more of the people behind the game and their genuine passion for Atreia.Hit the jump to check out the video.
NCsoft reveals Eltnen in a video tour
NCsoft have revealed yet another new zone for its gorgeous and must-play MMO Aion. This time it's an area called Eltnen. The video tour gives a fly-by of the zone and is accentuated by some very beautiful Chinese-inspired music. However, the zone itself is filled with ruins and desert, but for the odd oasis. NCsoft also issued an official teaser for the site which goes into a little background about Eltnen's history: "Once the breadbasket of Elysea, Eltnen is now threatened by an encroaching desert. Lady Yustiel, one of the gods of the Elyos, has established several Mystic Springs in hopes of revitalizing the area, but so far there has been little improvement. Could there be a saboteur in the mix? As if this weren't enough, the area is also under attack from mutant wildlife, alluring succubi, statues that have come to life, volcanic spirits, and of course the ever-present Krall. The Daevas are mustering their forces, preparing to defend their ethereal fortress to the death, if that's what it takes."Check out the video after the jump.
NCSoft adds its titles to Steam
If you're one of those gamers who prefers the digital minimalist approach as opposed to having game boxes everywhere then you're in luck. MMO-giant NCSoft have announced they will be offering their titles -- including City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage -- via Steam. They're also planning to offer their latest, most anticipated and shiny MMO, Aion as well when the game launches later this autumn.The company seem really excited and the press release sent to Massively Towers includes not one but two quotes. NCSoft are especially keen to note that there will be plenty of special offers on their products via the site and it's a great opportunity for anyone who prefers digital downloading.
Some NCsoft Austin layoffs confirmed
[Update: NCsoft has confirmed 21 layoffs, saying the cuts are coming from "positions on the Dungeon Runners team after deciding not to port the client to other platforms at this time" and "products which we have not previously announced and were in prototype phases." The number is much smaller than previously rumored numbers, lending context to earlier responses that the rumors were "pretty outrageous."]Just a few short days after rumors that NCsoft would be cutting jobs at its Austin, TX location first bubbled to the surface – rumors that NCsoft told Edge were "just crazy" and "pretty outrageous" – comes word of several high-profile layoffs. Massively reports that April 'CuppaJo' Burba – an associate producer on Dungeon Runners and a popular community member – and Scott Jennings (aka Lum The Mad) – a project lead on an as-yet-unannounced MMO being developed in Austin – have both been laid off. Jennings also writes on his blog that his entire "team was let go as part of 'refocusing'" though he doesn't specify if the MMO they were all working on has been canceled or not. There's no word yet on the fate of Tabula Rasa – rumored to be moved from Austin to Seattle, and placed under ArenaNet's watchful gaze – or of the sorta-recently acquired City of Heroes/Villains, but you know the drill: we'll let you know when we know.
Rumor: NCsoft to shutter Austin studio, reassign Tabula Rasa to Guild Wars dev
Hot on the heels of news that Midway would be laying off approximately 90 employees from its Austin location comes a tip from a reliable source that NCsoft Austin (a.k.a. NCsoft North America) is on the verge of eliminating all of its development staff. The studio is currently home to the teams behind Tabula Rasa and Dungeon Runners, the latter of which will "be closed," according to our source. We've been told that only customer support staff will continue to operate out of the branch.Future development of Tabula Rasa will reportedly be handed over to Seattle-based Guild Wars creator Arena.net, with Massively reporting that the title may meet a similar fate as Dungeon Runners if it "fails to turn the tide of subscribers and expectations." It has also learned that any future collaboration between NCsoft and Tabula Rasa principals Richard and Robert Garriot will be "limited in scope," due to a souring of relations with the Korean management team over their title's lackluster performance.With regard to City of Heroes, a source at NCsoft's Bay Area studio confirmed with us that its development staff will be completely unaffected by the events transpiring in Austin, saying that the title's status is "sound." Further to this, the source echoed Massively's report that only the Austin studio is being affected, with remaining development proceeding normally in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Korea.
NCsoft North America promotes new VP of sales
NCsoft has recently announced the promotion of Lisa Bell-Cabrera to the position of vice president of sales for the publisher's North American business. Previously serving as national sales manager at NCsoft since 2005, this promotion gives Bell-Cabrera the responsibility of overseeing strategic sales initiatives across multiple sales channels both in North and South America.Previous to her time spent with NCsoft, she served as vice president of sales at Atari, director of sales at GT Interactive and director of market development at Go Daddy. "This is my dream job," she states. "The online gaming industry is moving at an incredible pace these days and keeping up with how our customers make their purchase decisions requires a willingness to try new things. That's what NCsoft is all about. There couldn't be a better opportunity in this business."We certainly wish her the very best in her new position!
NCsoft Audio Director reveals his old-school secrets
He uses an electric razor on a frying pan for a space ship sound. He uses marbles in his mouth to sound like an alien. No, this isn't a low-budget director in a 1950's monster movie, this is the brilliant work of NCsoft's Audio Director Tracy Bush who uses everyday household items to create the unique sound effects we've heard in some of NCsoft's top games of the last 4 years.If you've ever played Dungeon Runners, you know that along with the wonderful sense of humor in the game, the sound effects are equally as entertaining. The same goes for Tabula Rasa. The Bane drop ships and the horrifying whispers of "Kill them all!" are all part of this wonderfully immersive experience that is just as important as graphics, gameplay or anything else in the game. So the next time you're playing a North American NCsoft title, listen closely to the sound effects and see if you can guess which household item was used in its creation.
NCsoft's North American head honcho speaks to the masses
Chris Chung, the new president over at NCsoft North America, has been a busy man since taking up the position a few weeks ago. Between his interviews with IGN and 1Up, Massively, and other sundry blurbs here and there, he still felt it necessary to address the masses directly - blog style. And it's a fantastic read.His latest statement doesn't give us any additional earth shattering news about what the company is going to do under his rein - that's been covered ad nauseam, but it does give us a much better perspective on who Chris Chung the person is. I found his honestly particularly comforting because NCsoft is "my" gaming company. While I don't much care for Guild Wars or Lineage II (even though they are absolutely breathtaking in their graphical beauty), I play every one of their other games (Exteel, CoX, Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners), played Auto Assault from beta until it ran out of gas, and I can't wait to get my hands on Aion. It humanizes him in a manner that we don't see too often -- in any industry. He talks openly about how it can be a burden taking over for someone as experienced and respected as Robert Garriott. He believes that he got the job as president not because of some special talent, but the lack thereof. Perhaps the most insightful thing Chris talked about was his managerial style. I can relate because I too am a manager. What, you think I do this full time? While I'm not a manager for a company as large as NCsoft, the tenants stay the same: it's all about taking care of the people. And because I understand that, the thing that will stick with me the most is this quote: my job is to make sure that the employees here at NCsoft do what they do best and that the management team takes care of their needs so we can continue to produce great products for this industry.If you've been leery of all the changes at NCsoft... don't be. They're in good hands.
