In selling Star Wars: The Old Republic to the masses, BioWare has been hammering on about the fourth pillar they are adding to MMOs: story. They see that most MMOs have exploration, combat and progression, but they are adding story to that mix which is going to make them stand out. Fully voiced story, at … Continue reading
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Five Reasons Why SWOR Is A High Risk MMO: #3 The Subscription Fee Model Is Falling From Grace
Star Wars: The Old Republic is a high risk title because it is being developed for some good and bad reasons, and will cost too much… and because its core way of collecting revenue is currently on the downhill slide. Although BioWare has been coy about its revenue model, EA management is talking subscription fees. … Continue reading
Five Reasons Why SWOR Is A High Risk MMO: #1 EA Is In It For The Wrong Reasons
It’s been a good week for internet video game drama. There was a nice warm-up with Nick Lovell’s contribution to the masses on 10 doomed games / businesses / products, followed by the main course of EA Louse spewing bile at EA from the inside. Putting aside the validity of EA Louse’s posts – and … Continue reading
DCUO Beta: No Guarantees for Europe
DCUO’s big current push is their just launched beta and the offer that all those who preorder the title by November 15 are guaranteed beta access by November 30. Tying beta access to the preorder strikes me as a cynical way of pumping up preorder numbers, which can in turn be used promote how popular … Continue reading
No More Heroes (Or Villains)
Having followed City of Heroes since about September 2001 when it was first announced, through the Great Forum Communication Blackout of 2003, through CoH’s beta and launch in 2004, through City of Villains’ launch in 2006, through multiple free issues, through multiple paid booster packs, through 75 months worth of veteran badges, through a change … Continue reading
DCUO Delayed Until Q1 2011; Please Pre-order It Anyway
In an announcement that surprised me so much I remained sitting in my chair, DC Universe Online has been delayed until Q1 2011. There was an indication that things weren’t going swimming given the lack of marketing build-up before launch, but now the November launch is off and has been replaced by a November public … Continue reading
The Brave, Brave Marketing Decisions of DCUO
A defining aspect of the superhero genre is bravery. The hero stands often outnumbered and outgunned, but is driven to do things to create a finer world. Regardless of what powers they have, the hero has bravery as a shield against doubt and as something that drives them forward. Inspired by this theme, Sony Online … Continue reading
Final Fantasy XIV: As Clear As Crysta
I don’t care about the Final Fantasy series. It’s an important franchise, sure, but not one that speaks to me in any way. With Final Fantasy XIV about to launch there’s something of a build up, but all descriptions make the title appear as dull as dishwater to me. … but then there is the … Continue reading
Calling All Cars: The End of APB
That’s that then: APB has gone offline. Links to the official site are now dead. Sure, some companies may have been talking to Real Time World’s administration about picking up APB (300, with a shortlist of 6), but most of them would have been poking around to see what they could pick up cheap. Before … Continue reading
The Trials of UnSub: Love
Hell, with a title like that this post could be about 1000% more emo than it is going to be! Instead, I’m talking about Love, the one-man developed MMO with odd graphics and the ability to alter the landscape. I believe that if you want innovation in online games, you aren’t really going to find … Continue reading
World Class Villains 