What is this? Two posts?

And in one day?

ARGH...the insanity.

Anyways, first a heartfelt thanks to everyone with their grats on the game to play. I really feel invigorated again.

Also, as you may notice...here I go again, with the redux of the website. So, be prepared for the changes as they happen. Longasc, in my previous post, commented that maybe I need to kill my single game focus...and he is right. My best stuff was when I was looking at gaming in general, and I really enjoyed the commentary and of course...the comment-ary (uh, you know...people's comments?...lol).

Anyways, another thing lately is my playing focus for games has been with the family. Thanks to all of us having the same likes in regards to RPG's, Renaissance periods, and Fantasy overall...I am looking to focus on how everyone in the family is about the games we play.

We have added my son as an avid gamer, and he is doing an excellent job. The fact our 11 year old RAIDED in Age of Conan should give a clue on how well he is doing.

So, from time to time, I may actually talk to them about adventures we do within games, to get their point of view instead of mine and blog about that.

Should be fun.

This takes me back to the subtitle of my blog. The "Simple and Complex" part will always stand...as that is what it is all about. Gaming can be as simple or as complex as life can be, so this works.

For now, my subtitle is in between the RPG. It seems to fit where I am in the genre (single player and MMO games...in between a rock and a hard place maybe?) and makes me think of discussing the games more so than "scratching the surface". There seems to be more to playing games now that brings about emotion and feeling toward the genres.

Anyways, thanks to everyone who reads my ramblings. You know, I think I need to bring back my RSS feed and stuff. Lets see how that goes. Also, working on a header image. Should be fun to break into the Photoshop skillz again...hehe.

Cheers

May return? Discuss

So...lately, I have felt an urge to blog again. I have been very quiet, and only reporting news. But, I am thinking some commentary is in order.

I really got flustered about a month ago over the MMO industry as a whole. I just could not see any reason to discuss these games, as the developers and the people who talk about these games all really turned into idiots.

Recently though, I have noticed that as I think about taking a break from Age of Conan (as my son will be going off to play Halo:ODST, and we will lose the super team of Wife, Hubby and Son)...I actually...

Do not want to.

I still am enjoying myself, and just cannot get myself to think about letting my scrip expire.

I have really not found anything at this point that inspires me to play. Champions Online was a bust, DDO, though free, bores me...Aion...well, I do not need another Lineage 2 / WoW clone.

So, I will continue to play, and will discuss some of what has happened over the last month I have been gone.

I may not post like I use to, and I still like the idea of a news outlet for AoC information...but, I will try my best to keep you guys up to date.

Anyways...this is just an inkling, and may soon go away again. We will see.

Later all...thanks for visiting.

This blog will return to it's normally scheduled updates

In the mean time, why not read "Why two blogs?"

The cipher will be broken

MMORPG.com gets ban happy.

Seems some new mods have been trolling the MMORPG.com forums, and I got banned for really no reason that I can see.

But, maybe I am not objective enough, so see if you can understand this reasoning.

I have already asked them to review the answer again, and really find a better reason than given to ban me.

I was noted as flaming..

Their rules are...

MMORPG.com does not tolerate personal attacks on other posters. Please keep your arguments and posts on topic, and argue the ideas and topics of the thread instead of insulting other users.

Here was the result of the actual post.

Thread: Why the need to defend AoC so passionately?
Below is the content of the post:

------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by GiveMePvP
I have never understood this kind of behavior. Right now I don't play any MMO's but when I did play I didn't spend all my free time lurking these forums. I PLAYED the game. Also if I saw someone badmouth my game, I didn't feel the need to write 10 pages of text explaining how that person knows nothing and how the game is awesome. During my most active time of playing, you know how many posts I wrote? None.

Why the need to defend AoC so passionately?

[Mod Edit]

Openedge1

Why the need to hate on AoC so passionately?

I guess we could ask...why does one person like McDonalds, yet another likes Burger King..You like Coke? I like Pepsi? I like the Lakers you like the Bulls....

See how this goes?

You hated the game, and do not want to play. Others do. I for example prefer Age of Conan over the multitude of other crap currently out.

This then brings out the fervent need for others to be the defenders, the ones who state their opinion about what you have gotten wrong..

Thus, we always return to it is "opinion".

You have the right to give yours, but don't expect those who ARE happy with a product to take it laying down. They are allowed to give theirs as well.

Good luck in your future endeavors. But, do not expect sympathy from players of a game they like, that you do not.

Later

[Mod Edit]

(Note the multiple mod edits)

So, not only were the posts heavily modified (I am not even sure what was changed in mine to begin with, but there was not any attack AT the user), and the thread really was a troll thread to begin with. So, if they allow this type of post, then why ban someone who was stating their point in the thread.

But, hey, I leave it up to you. If you can see where the personal attack / flame is at, please let me know.

MMORPG.com really has a lower common denominator in their forums, with a few exceptions, but compared to an actual games forums, it is pretty rank and even vile at points.

Anyways, I really hate a ban for no reason. If I WAS banned for a reason (during my LOTRO playing days...hehe) I would not argue...but, this one is really not a bannable offense.

Did the mods go to far? Or are the mods showing favoritism even? (Maybe they are an AoC hater?)..

Thoughts?

Whiny bloggers...

Just gotta love em...

Wait...does this make me a whiner?

NOOooooo...

All I have to say is if you cannot discuss your comments, why bother even having them on (and taking offense to everything people say, even when it was not meant to be offensive...I can only assume they are being defensive then...not cool)

Didn't we just do this several months ago?

Tough Weekend for Gaming

Ok...not only am I having a blast in Conan right now, Saturday the 14 is my pickup day for Resident Evil 5.

But...that is not all. Another game looms on the horizon...but, I better keep that on the straight and narrow for the time being.

Lets just say...this weekend, not only am I going to get to eat some of the best Indian food I have ever had (it is actually a "fusion" Indian, as they use certain ingredients not normally found in Indian cuisine...), but I shall reach gaming nirvana...

Oh MY!

BTW, on this Indian food thing...why can't I ever fix it to taste like the restaurants...that makes no sense to me. I follow every direction I have found, and it always is YUCK...must be some secret they do NOT tell..

Anyways. have a good weekend folks.

Website rearranged

And I guess I can update my life this way...what I read, play, listen to and Twit (sorry...Tweet) about.

May play around some more, and see how I can work this...

This may work for me through my blogging malaise...

Cheers

Break time

Well, I guess it is time to say goodbye for a while.

I just have not "felt it" lately. I will leave the site up for now, and may come back and post. For the time being, I just feel lethargic.
Thanks to the economy, and having to redirect some of my resources for a while, this puts a damper on my time as well as the "meh" I feel.
I think peoples feelings about the games I play also may have to do with the "quiet" I see on this blog, thus I feel no need to put too much effort into writing those posts anymore.
I think I may throw up a slideshow later that will have some of my screenies and their captions for Age of Conan, so that should cover my discussion of such a good game.

It definitely deserves more attention in my opinion..

When I look at my traffic, I see the most interest generated was by my posts about Darkfall, and I am assured...not in a good way. And this really is the crux.
With the future of MMO's being a bland prospect (and this is what started me on blogging), I guess I do not feel like discussing such upcoming crap.
Resident Evil 5 hits this week, and that will take up some time, and I do not think I need to discuss that here either.

So, time to let this sit.

I guess this will always be the Dichotomy of the Gamer.

Tuesday was a bad day

And Wednesday is not much better. But, it looks like I can at least get out of the house to go to work.

My cold knocked me down yesterday. I was able to do some work from home, and even gamed a little (but not very much).

I did at least finish off my level 60 questline of Destiny, and met up with Conan.

It seems I have been given immortality, but I will assume a clean swipe ay my head should finish me.

Age of Highlander!

Anyways, some awesome shots, including my death at the hands of Thoth- Amon coming soon.

Now, I am off...cheers folks.

Monday morning cold

Luckily we also were dumped on with snow lasy night. For where I live (Mountains of NC), it is a major hazard to drive in this. Since I have lived here (going on 8 or 9 years now), this is the most snow I have even seen here. Our driveway looks like my old place in Michigan

Yea...it was that much...

I think I will plan to dope up and go back to bed today. Head feels like it is going to explode and my nose is sore from blowing it so much...but, first some AoC this morning, and see if I revive a little.

Amatheon completed the first part of his level 60 Destiny Quest this weekend, and that was fun. I got some great screenies of the boss fight at the end, which required some finagling to complete.

Luckily I never died!!

Anyways, looks like AoC is continuing to surge thanks to patch 1.04 with some record numbers on Xfire, and packed servers. I actually could not kill some mobs in the lower zones, due to conflict with other players there...good thing we teamed up to take out the quests together.

Pretty excitied about patch 1.05 also...lots of buzz on that.

And the final bit of news...noticed that MMORPG.com's forums for AoC is dropping off the haters radar, and less "I hate Funcom" posts are being done there. Now, whether this is due to the fact they cannot complain about anything anymore...or due to Darkfall becoming the new hater poster child...is unknown.

Ok...that is all for now...cheers and have an Awesome Monday (ps: round two of snow is starting...woot)

Blogger screwing up and other tidbits

Well, seems as blogger integrates a new "friends" system into blogger, which allows your Gmail contacts to be followers or to follow their stuff, it is starting to get a bit wonky...i.e: I will call it "Googlebook Twits in Myspace"...

Anyways, so much going on...

First up, I have been tagged for a meme by DMOsbon at Construed (I promise to get to that...), and Hudson issued the same challenge to everyone...so dang, gotta catch up.

Next up, the Feb 2009 Game Directors letter for AoC has been released with the next patch info, and it is a doozy (complete with screenies...). Basically they call it the RPG system, and it now makes gear matter. I will be working up a post on that as soon as possible.
(EDIT: AoCBlog beat me to the punch, thus making my life a little easier. Good info there, so follow this link. I may comment later, but lets just say, wow...very nice stuff.)

Anyone who watched Lost this week...OMG. (This show has done a complete 180 on information and story. This truly is what fun TV is suppose to be like). Also, does anyone recognize the lady that was in the last two episodes? She is younger with dark long curly hair...(YUM). I do not want to give too much away, but if you do, make sure to comment...lets just say you will get geek cred points if you know her.

I have a busy weekend with some work, so I may not be around too much after today, but I will try to get those posts in. I am working on some catchy music for a "commercial" for the non-profit I work for (woot). It has to be catchy, light, meaningful...hope I can figure it out...and will post it when I am done..Critiques are always nice.

Cheers and have a good weekend!

Is "Innovation" dying in the MMO genre

Lets think about this. Where can MMO's go now. How can an MMO be "innovated" past the original mechanics.
Tabula Rasa tried with using non skill based shooting. AoC tried with wild swing combat and realtime combo mashers.
But, the rest of those games still have kill 10 x quests, go here to get this book, take a message to this guy, etc.

I got started on this when I read about Jumpgate today on Kotaku.

As stated on the report...

What Needs Improvement?
It's STILL an MMO: A fetch-quest in space is the same as a fetch-quest in Azeroth; kill so many X, and bring me this many Y. I understand there's a need for basic monotonous quests to grind with in order to upgrade ships, characters, mounts, etc. But couldn't the "why I need you to bring me rat-butts" expository text be more interesting? Maybe then I'll actually read it before clicking through it with that glazed look in my eye.

And so, it goes. And guess what...the rest of this years offerings are all the same thing.

So, I have to ask, am I comfortable with these meager options. Are you?
Yes, we still all play these games. No matter how much I wanted to give up on them, I still went back. But, I at least made a conscious decision to make sure something was different.
So, are the little changes enough to keep this genre going? What could the developer possibly change to bring about the next wave of MMO's that are unique?
FPS's on consoles have done it...but slowly. RTS's, well still the same with some small innovations (or are they changes now because innovation requires more massive changes...ARGH!)

Anyways, it looks like I am not alone in thinking maybe a total sea change is not possible...
Elder Game has a post about "Innovation or History?" Where he calls out Tobold (who is also discussing this issue)...

"He (Tobold)seems pleased that the developers of both Darkfall and Age of Conan tried to do something new with combat, but notes that the lack of targeting in Darkfall especially doesn’t do the game any real favors because it is too easy to exploit."

He then goes on to say..

"But now that Age of Conan and Darkfall are doing it, untargeted combat is considered “innovation”."

Is it? Or just a minor change to a same old mechanic. All I know is thanks to AoC's semi-real time combat system, I cannot go back to the old ways, no matter how much I try. Was this enough of a change in the genre to motivate other companies to follow suit and try to change the Press 1, Refresh, Press 2, Refresh combat?

And if they do, is that not an innovation of the genre? I guess maybe we need to state these are just evolutions.

Maybe the genre cannot innovate...maybe it does not know how.

Age of Conan - Turmoil and a CEO buy up

What a wild day for Funcom.

Their 4th Quarter reports hit today with a shockwave of loss and dismay. There was good news hidden within, but it was hard not to look at their numbers and see pain!

First, for a brief synopsis, check out Broken Toys..

"Funcom announces $23 million loss last quarter based on $22 million depreciation of Age of Conan expenses, CFO resigns."


This of course started a riot on the forums as the "Fail" train took off in full force.

Disaster I tell ya!!!

The next announcement was of the current CFO leaving. Actually leaving for another "industry"...WTF? First Gaute Godager, the original game director leaves gaming, now the CFO!

But, in other news, revenues were up 6.8 million compared to the previous quarter, and customer retention is now stable, and players are staying subscribed longer and playing more often..(bet it has to do with...oh I don't know...being able to run longer than 2 hours...)...now, if we could read MORE players coming back...maybe next time.

Anyways, as pundits of the 13 year old persuasion were throwing financial's around like they knew what it all meant (I am 46 and I sure don't...lol), the stocks closed today with a surprise announcement..

"The CEO of FunCom, Trond Arne Aas, bought 250 000 FC stocks before Oslo stock exchange closed today."

WHA!!!!

Why would he buy such a huge amount of stocks unless he knows something we don't? I researched why a CEO would buy stocks and it all boils down to "confidence". Hmmm.

Does the main dude finally think he has let all the riff raff go, and now they can actually be a better company?

It was announced that AoC launched in Poland and Russia today (the Polish version was bought out by none other than CD Projekt...the awesome company who made The Witcher)...maybe they are seeing good results there?

All I know is this just all became really weird...and to top it off...I racked up an amazing 47 hours last week in game..



I have not done that since my GW days way back...

The latest patch introduced some weird bugs, so I am praying those get fixed, and hopefully DX10, then a winback program. AoC COULD actually get it's act together..

Hope so, as I am having too much fun to quit (at least until Resident Evil 5 comes out in 3 weeks, then I will take a rest and cut back on my time...)

Cheers

Darkfall - Firefighters in full force

These things go in cycles. From back during EQ2's launch, and the many issues associated with the game, to Vanguard and being tagged the worst launch and worst MMO, to Tabula Rasa, AoC as the most hated MMO...

And this week, an NDA lift makes Darkfall the target of many a blog and forum.

I posted several videos in awe of how bad it looks. Animations seem very 1997, as well as visual quality not being up to snuff.
But, as Tipa stated, she and many others play Everquest still, and enjoy themselves.

Anyways, these postings started the sirens, and along came the Firefighters....those who need to rage against any poster stating anything in the negative about the game...

Lets back up though...

First we do know the game is a mix of UO, Oblivion, EvE with open "sandbox" playstyle. This means to me FFA body looting, no objectives but to kill, with many hours of player downtime (due to population issues).

Of course, as has been noted quite "tersely" by Firefighter Jeff , maybe I have not played it. He would be right. So, how do I know if I want to play this game or not.

It all boils down to the sales material.

So, this is why the first bit of "advertising" for Darkfall equals fail. The presentation is not up to snuff, with huge landscapes of nothing (Vanguard), and the visual quality of an EQ wannabe.

So, what else could the game offer? I have not been sold yet. But, as has been noted, the Firefighters would rather rail against the poster of the blog, than present something more admirable or in some manner show how the game may be worth the look.

So far, all I do know is the game director is egotistical and believes the game is already ready to launch...even though the game is not having a "full" launch.
No sale there.
Ugly visuals, creaky animations, bad sound effects
No sale there.

So, for the many commenter who believes this is just a rail, why not tell me how it is then. NDA is gone, but all I see is defense, not reasons.

Usually when someone is defensive, they have something to hide...

Perfect example: Beauturkeys blog (and the particular blog post I linked here). He lets loose with an expletive epitaph of nerd rage that is highly amusing to read, seeing he is doing what he is railing against all other bloggers for doing.

But, guess what, this just turns me off from the game even more. That was not a normal firefighter approach...that just burned down all the Redwoods of California...not good firefighting there.

I digress. I do not know just how wonderful this game is, as I see more hate or rants than reasons. This just makes me want to avoid the game more. Not just because the GD is a dick or that the fans are dicks, or even that the haters are dicks...

Guess this just calls for a song now....until someone convinces me otherwise that Darkfall is worth the time or effort....enjoy

Seven Favorite Things - Guild Wars

Kill Ten Rats has started a little meme about their 7 favorite things in an MMO...specifically about Warhammer. The original from Syp was a favorite 7 things about Warhammer period.

KTR is the one who challenged us to do this for any game we like.

I have decided to do mine on Guild Wars.

Why did I pick this instead of my current favorite? As nothing has compared. There are so many things this game did right compared to the competition, that I just am glad to experienced such a title.

Anyways, why don't you do the same...and state your 7 favorite things about your favorite games, and lets make today all positive...shall we?

My 7 favorite things about Guild Wars

1. The Story - Right off the bat, whether people hate or love this mechanic, the story is gripping and well done. The game also has an ending, which makes working towards a goal more prominent...thus making the game more fun, with the need to continue to find out what the end involves...

2. The Visuals - Released about the same time as WoW, the game showed that you did not need to have cartoons to play within the roles you defined. The world had unique locations, and the instancing allowed a level a detail that still looks incredible to this day.

3. The Combat - Fast, furious, and thanks to a skill system that kept you thinking, every time you were out and about, fighting mobs could be different.

4. The Henchmen - And now Heroes, you the player were not limited by "When is my guild going to log" or "I need to find a group to run that dungeon"...this also became like a mini game in learning how to progress with computer controlled AI...which a majority of the time worked better than the humans anyways. It added almost an RTS feel to combat.

5. The Price - How could we not say it. Pay one price for the box, and never a monthly. And thanks to the chapterized setup, we got regular content on a regular basis.

6. Gear Reliance - Was a non-issue. Thanks to the no raid scenario, the player had the capability to get the best stuff whether alone or with 6-8 players. Persistence was key to getting cool stuff thanks to the rewards system for collectibles.

7. Crafting - Which has become a detriment to so many games. GW made it so that your need to stop all the combat and fun to go get resources, and experience boring downtime, was avoided. This could be expanded, but always made me realize that crafting was one of my most hated MMO conventions...that I even avoid it completely in my latest games...until someone makes it fun and easy again.

Have a good day!

Aion - Late year release corroborated

Kill Ten Rats is backing up a post I discussed earlier from the Aionsource forums.
Seems the cat is out of the bag, and it is ALL bad news for NCSoft and their games.

Aion will not launch til Q4 09, and GW2 is estimated around 2010-2011.
Now, if you look at the data in the zip file linked here, you will note somethings of interest.
More sales and subscribers are from Korea...and both L1 and L2 is HUGE.
Also, if you look at the GW2 listing for launch, the 2010-2011 marker also says TBA.

This is a horrible sign, and meets my expectations for 2009 as I have stated unequivocally.

2009 is not a good year for MMO's.

Nothing on the horizon meets any expectation of being good, and I do believe the genre will be lax...even to the extreme of needing a reboot in 2010.
Consoles will be a major flow of cash for developers, and the PC may wallow away with some titles launching across the board (meaning, the game will most likely be a Console/PC title, not JUST a PC title)...with that rare indie game or MMO for the PC hitting bargain bins in record time.

NCSoft, I hope Korea will be enough as the US audience will dwindle away...

Good luck with this, and everyone else have a good weekend!

Thursday tidbits

Whew...quite a scare yesterday. I am currently writing from my radiation free bunker...all of my Penthouse, Playboy and various DVD's (Buxom Beauties and Amateurs Gone Wild are worse for wear though...) are ready to go.
Hopefully this will blow over soon...

Anyways, some various tidbits.

Amatheon in Age of Conan has reached level 57, and has entered the new zone, Ymir's Pass. When I entered, the visual beauty of this section of the world, with it's autumn like leaves, and various mountain passes was exhilarating. Then a large thunderous smash shook the screen, and a loud roar could be heard. A mystery indeed.
As I travel, screenshots and stories of my adventures will be posted, so stay tuned.

More info was released yesterday on the NCSoft issues. Seems some of the jobs are being "moved" to the US offices (thank goodness). Of course, this is still bad news for the EU office, as those positions have been liquidated, and will be reborn within the US offices.
Does this mean the people leave EU and move to the US if they wish? A lot of "between the lines" wording going on here...
You can read the blurb and decipher as you like at Gameindustry.biz.

In case anyone even thinks about this anymore...Chronicles of Spellborns US site has been redesigned to match the EU version. Yet, they still missed their January launch date, and ZERO information has been posted for even a beta launch.
Talk about a major fubar on Acclaims part. The Historian was really off target each time he said word would come "soon".
Too sad.
I think this is the first Vaporware Launch game I have ever known about...

I plan to take the plunge and add another Horror Survival to my list of games until the launch of Resident Evil 5 (which I have played the Demo to death, and have found the best control scheme for myself).
We decided to play around with the new version of Alone in the Dark for the PC and 360 (demo). Supposedly it has some issues with how it plays in the control scheme ("Oh look Ma, another Horror Survival game with complaints about controls"), but we honestly think it is workable, and it definitely looks good, and has some really killer (giggle, pun) ways to off the various baddies.

Anyways...off for now...but never know what today will offer in the way of discussion...

Cheers

Thats it...End of the world is now

This article says it all. I am now entering my bomb shelter, and saying goodbye cruel world.

Porn needs a bailout

Brief Intermission

As I have stated, recently my wife has been down and out due to a surgery. A Laproscopic procedure. It is considered outpatient.

This is not to say it is not extremely painful.

If you are as morbid as my wife, why not check out some videos, and see the amazing skills of the surgeons in these examples of Abdomen Hernia Repair, which she got to enjoy.
This particular video shows them laying mesh inside the abdomen to hold the hernia in place...oh boy. YUCKY!!, but amazing at the same time.

Impressive stuff.

Due to this, I have been babysitting quite a bit. Luckily, as I was at home, I had a chance to run some game time in AoC. I have a story of the Black Castle of Stygia coming up...

But, I am slammed for work now, as I leave the wife alone for the first time in 3 days, so I will hopefully have a chance to write this up soon.

For now...it is ramble time.

Returning shows make their mark during our off time this week.

Heroes came back, and almost felt like a reboot. What was interesting is that as I watched it, I noticed a hint of how the story was progressing, and camera work (how close ups were done, etc.) were...all different. Even the story felt a tinge more in depth for our main characters (I was so excited that no NEW Hero was introduced...big win).
I thought I noticed a name as one of the producers...and sure enough, in the list of names.
Mark Verheiden
He of Battlestar fame, he is one of the co-executive producers for BSG as well.
His history is unqiue (having done a Dark Shadows remake that was never shown on regular TV in 2004, and worked on the oh so cool Timecop...lol)...but, he has had writing credit on "The Mask"...woot.
Anyways, I was impressed, as it felt "new". I hope it keeps this line of story, and can make a comeback.
Medium also has returned...Patricia Arquette is truly awesome (and HOT).
And this weekend we finally have Episode 1 and 2 of LOST to see where that is going.

Another show we found (I REALLY cannot tell you how, or else I will have ta' kill ya') is called Being Human. A BBC 3 production (BBC is the more "adult" oriented network, where Torchwood is shown...).
Talk about an ultra cool hour.
Take a Vampire, who is friends with a Werewolf, and they move into a house to try and be "normal", and they find a Ghost living in that house...and you have a very unique "Soap Opera"...
Oh yes...I said that.
Even though there is that tinge of Buffy and Angel here, there is NOT the campy feel. This is serious stuff (especially when we find out that Vampires record themselves killing others, and send DVD's to other Vampires as a way of "Snuff" porn...)..
It is interesting as the various characters try to live in normality, yet dealing with their problems in a soap opera way.
Relationships, friends, love, hate...oh yea, and some looming sort of impending doom...but, hey, a Vampire and a Ghosts lips can almost seem to...touch...hmmm...
"It was cold...kinda like you just stepped in from outside..."

Oh boy...

All I can say, take a bunch of pretty brits, put them together, and see how their acting skills make US based actors of soaps look like they just entered acting school..add some great hip music, with quicks slips of skin viewable in various scenes..

This is one sexy and fun show...

(Sci-Fi network...please check this out NOW!)

Anyways....enough of that TV crap.

Gaming.

Why is it that WAR seems "doomed" nowadays, yet AoC is experiencing a resurgence?

Can the lower cost of development have saved AoC from certain death?

At almost half the cost, AoC sold more boxes than WAR in the same time period of 08...so, is it possible that this cash flow helped Funcom overall defeat a fate worse than death?
Especially when EA is chopping jobs left and right...will Mythic be able to survive their loss?
I personally think a resurgence will occur for the "Live" expansion. But, complaints are still present for how the game has progressed.
The biggest surprise though is a recent survey done (these surveys have been part of AoC's progression actually) for AoC. Here is a link to the survey.
It seems a larger percentage of players are doing PvE in AoC, even though it is not it's focus.
I think this is another reason AoC seems more ready to at least hold players, especially with new Raid dungeons on the way, and new quests and content.

AoC is a better PvE game than WAR...and this could also be the key to AoC's survival.

Anyways...enough rambling...need to do some work research (have you ever tried to raise funds for a Non-profit through donations during an economic crisis? Do not envy my job!!!!!!!!!)...but, I also wish to do the write up for Black Castle...(an excellent adventure indeed)

More later folks.

Temporary respite

As the wife continues to deal with the pain of a large laproscopic surgery (large, as in, the amount of movement, shoving of internal flesh, etc, to place a piece of mesh inside the body, leaves one in severe agony, and drugged beyond all compare), I have but a fleeting moment to comment on the past few days of news..

WAR announces they have 300k subs. My data still holds firm that no MMO is worth the effort. Yes, this may be profitable, but is this really what EA wanted? I do not think so. Based on this number, I am hard pressed to place AoC at no more than 100k. They have had an upswing since the merges, and Famine (Funcom CM) just reported on the MMORPG forums that they plan trials and free returns soon, which could increase this a bit more. But, to think it has anymore than that would be ludicrous.

My theory that no MMO today can get a million scrips is still solid at least. The efforts of the developers is just "Lets get one out" whether it is good or not. I expect 2009 to be even worse with no major title release...and to anyone who thinks Star Trek or Champions Online will be a hit...lol at you.

So Hellgate has already died. No news on Hanbitsoft's discussion of a Free 2 play model. Make sure to check out Scott's last day report on Pumping Irony.

LOTRO proves that if you advertise it, they will come. In a massive surge, Xfire numbers for LOTRO have spiked placing the game at #11 yesterday (this will change after today). This is the highest the game has ever placed on the Xfire chart (launch saw it go no higher than 14). But, hey, tell people they can win prizes, and anyone will do anything.

All I know is people still prove that LOTRO is a nice casual (and sleepy) game.

Ok, off to care for the wifey...CYA.