With the launch of Going Rogue has come confirmation that trial accounts get access to all the new content… up to the standard restrictions. I’ve talked about it before and this is the best option, although that content needs to be good enough to encourage players to pay for a more expensive version of City … Continue reading
Did Bill Roper Get A Golden Handshake?
This is me combining two different bits of information that may actually not be related. Bill Roper is leaving Cryptic Studios. He joined as the Executive Producer on Champions Online before being promoted into the role of Chief Creative Officer. Roper claims he’s leaving to explore new opportunities. Back when Infogrammes / Atari bought Cryptic, … Continue reading
Censorship, And What’s Going On Here Guyz?
A Short-ish and Curious Tale So, you’ve got Deadly Premonition, a game with a pretty patchy history – announced under one title, then disappearing for an extended period only to pop up with a new name – that launches to a pretty mixed set of reviews. It’s also a budget game, so the chance of … Continue reading
CoH/V: Picking The Wrong Side
City of Heroes / Villains first paid expansion in a long while launches next week. Going Rogue is Paragon Studios’ big content update, aimed at getting back players who have left, attracting those who may have never played and locking in existing players as the competition continues to escalate. Unfortunately, I think Paragon has kind … Continue reading
Another Two For the Chopping Block: Earth Eternal and Chronicles of Spellborn
Following up the announcements of Exteel’s cancellation comes the separate announcements that Earth Eternal is up for sale (and will close if it can’t find a buyer) while Chronicles of Spellborn is finishing up in the near future. Again, there is too much competition in the MMO market for stragglers to be able to turn … Continue reading
DCUO: Madly Scrambling To Launch
On November 2, 2010, DC Universe Online is scheduled to launch. Public beta still hasn’t started and announcements of features being cut are starting to appear. At the SOE Fan Faire, the DCUO panel revealed that DCUO is likely to launch with only six power types: Ice and Fire are the ‘tanker’ powers. Gadgets and … Continue reading
Exteel Shutting Down Worldwide
I’m late to the party, but I’ve been on holiday… so now a bunch of posts about things I missed. NCsoft is shutting down Exteel – it was developed in Korea, then translated and adapted to the Western market – worldwide. I beta tested this title, and even at launch its graphics were a bit … Continue reading
You Give Yourself Enough Rope, BioWare
Sometimes you expect someone to know better, but then they go and make the mistake anyway. In this case, it was Daniel Erickson, BioWare’s writing director, saying how MMOs had been “no fun” to date, a lot of which relates to there being “no point” to play them because they don’t have a decent story … Continue reading
DCUO Launch Cinematic – Yet Another Alien Invasion
I’ve got to admit I found the DCUO “Who Do You Trust?” cinematic engaging. Seeing Superman and Black Adam go at it was impressive and I always like seeing alternate versions of long-established characters. However… DCUO makes this three from three superhero MMOs that make the Big Bad Threat at launch as an alien invasion. … Continue reading
Voice Overs Are The New Black
When it comes to upcoming MMOs, voice overs are the new public quests. By which I mean: thing you have to have to look cool. Star Wars: The Old Republic is going to be fully voiced. Some people are very excited about that. DC Universe Online is going to have an all-star voice acting cast. … Continue reading
World Class Villains 