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General: 2009's Most Interesting Stories, Part 1
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
With December in full swing and the New year nearly upon us, MMORPG.com contributor Shannon Drake writes this look back at some of the most interesting stories of 2009.
2009 was a year of adjustment, which is a polite way of saying that the economy crashed into the sea, all the would-be World of Warcraft killers couldn't leave a dent in the beast, and a significant numbers of us wound up looking for jobs at one point or another, your humble correspondent included.
On the other hand, there were launches, shutdowns, announcements, pushbacks, and all the other usual causes for celebration and Internet Drama in the MMO space, and there were other interesting stories that came and went, maybe noticed at the time, but quickly forgotten as the latest story came to the fore.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
About Champion Online and respecs, you pointed out that they cost real money, which is true but omitted that they are available in game too and were infact there well before the game lauched. Yes, they cost a lot of resources (there was some other retcon issues at that time but that isn't the point), but then again name a game that let your respec about everything even your core power/stats/look. Beside since lauch they gave out 4-5 free respecs and will continue to give them when they make major changes to powersets.
The reason why they couldn't give them when they made the big balancing patch is because the tech wasn't there or not complete. Cryptic saw how the players reacted and then started implemented in. A few weeks later the tech was there. Since then I was able to few respecs on my characters without even spending real money. If you're still unhappy with your build after all those those free respecs, then the paid respec is there, or you could wait for the next powerset change.
They make rushed anouncements and then come back on what they said, that I agree with. I just wish they talk more among themselves before anouncing something. Something similar happened with Star Trek Online beta.
Anyway, nice article, can't wait to read part 2.
Hmm... It's almost as if Cryptic never used to run a game quite similar to CO where they had to give out respecs all the time after changing powers and stuff around.
In other words, they should have known better, and if they didn't have the tech ready yet, they shouldn't have shipped the game because it went gold without a major system in place.
FE s a nice game still a bit bugy, but they are fixing things daily they actually respect their player base, unlike other MMO's who constantly put out the sos and expect their player base to take it.
This article was actually well-written and a good read. Keep it coming. ;>
Hmm... It's almost as if Cryptic never used to run a game quite similar to CO where they had to give out respecs all the time after changing powers and stuff around.
In other words, they should have known better, and if they didn't have the tech ready yet, they shouldn't have shipped the game because it went gold without a major system in place.
It was proabably in the pipeline (todo list), but not high priority enough (at that time) to make it for release. If this feature was going live then that would've been another one that wouldn't be there. Maybe they should`ve have known better... or at that time they didn't see that as an issue, they were content with the retcon system as it were (I was until they raised the cost).
The problem is I think too many changes happened at launch. Players felt alienated at the game they just bought. I understand why they changed things, but I would've made them over time and see how the players reacted at the changes one patch at a time.
well written and an enjoyable read
looking foward to part 2
great article
Hmm... It's almost as if Cryptic never used to run a game quite similar to CO where they had to give out respecs all the time after changing powers and stuff around.
In other words, they should have known better, and if they didn't have the tech ready yet, they shouldn't have shipped the game because it went gold without a major system in place.
It'll be interesting to see how the community reacts to the new round of fiascos coming with STO. At what point does "really, REALLY should have known better by now" become "time to hang it up"?
Very nice article, a bit long, but well written and a pleasure to read, looking forward to part 2.
Plus, Aurick's avatar gave me a giggle
I'm looking forward to part 2 to see what you throw in there. I had some in mind but they just blew right out of my mind.
Current Game: Asssasins Creed 2(PS3, Gamer Tag: Happy_Hubby)
Current MMO: World of Warcraft and World of Tanks
Former Subscribed MMO: Star Trek Online, Aion, WoW, Guild Wars, Eve Online, DAoC, City of Heroes, Shattered Galaxy, 10six.
Tried: Too many to list
Indeed.
One of the best articles of mmorpg.com ever.
I didn't puke while reading it. That's a first.
Great writing skill.
a well written article with some funny news (TR screen shots made my day
)
I7@4ghz, 5970@ 1 ghz/5ghz, water cooled||Former setups Byggblogg||Byggblogg 2|| Msi Wind u100
That it did!
I knew the game had been revised several times, that his "Dream Team" of devs couldn't even agree if their right was the other's left, and that the game ultimately suffered because of all this drama, but I had no idea that it was going to possibly be a fantasy game with sparkly unicorns...
I mean damn! That would make WoW look more serious than it, and that game has sparkly midget dragons!
I love FE. I think it has a promising future; same with DF even though there are a lot of haters but what MMOs does not have haters? hate the players not the game
Yea I actually thought this was a very interesting article. Bring on Part 2
Hmm. I wasn't aware watching Adult Swim makes me a stoner. *shrug*
Until you cancel your subscription, you are only helping to continue the cycle of mediocrity.
I figured I'd add my two-cents here.
Yeah... alot of things happened this year, from the launch of Atlantica Online, to my computer choking every time it ran it... somehow it seemingly getting worse as time passed, to the game ending up on ijji's homesite somehow. I'm glad the game's doing well... not sure if my account's still there, but I did put alot of memories into that game...
Then, the greatest game I have ever played came out... be warned you'll likely hate it. World of Warcraft's business model is to keep players constantly occupied with many loose ends and things to tie up... but do you know what happens when you see all there is to see? You lose interest... fast. Sure, there's PvP and it was fun for a while, but after a few months you start to realize... it's one big numbers game and some people you won't be able to kill nomatter how perfect you pull something off.
No, the game I have in mind said "fuck that, we'll just make it all about gameplay, with... yeah pretty maps and graphics too." I, of course and talking about S4League. I said you'd hate it because unless you're easily entertained and don't need fancy 9 by 9 mile intricate levels with many things to do you complex bugger you, you'll hate it.
I've said before and I'll say it again, S4 is all about the gameplay, but... it's fun. It's not dragged down, and yes it's a shooter, but it's a game that rewards skill without slapping someones wrist completely out of victory if they have no skill either. There's no dying to a Death Knight just because you're a mage who stacks int... if you're pinned by a sniper you can always flank them and kill them, even if you have but a sword. I can't explain the game forever... and no, it's not for everyone.
Call me stupid for liking this sort of thing and getting so much out of it, but you can give me on map and a gun and I'll be happy as long as the gameplay's good enough and the map looks pretty and you make my character someone other than a man on roids in a overcompensatery metal suit... like say a hot-anime-style-gothic-girl for a change.
Wow... I ended up talking about S4League alot... but to be fair, I limited myself only to good games that came out in '09. That, and S4 is just so fun... it's been a year and I'm still playing it... give it 6 months and it'll have WoW beat... as a Free to play game too.
People that put themselves above others put me in a bad mood.
http://www.surrealtwilight.com/index.php
^Has nothing to do with that retarded Vampire Novel Series, I swear!^
A good read, I had no idea Tabula Rasa had once been planned as a fantasy game.
I know you said you weren't going to talk about announcements but I'd think the FFXIV announcement would be significant simply because they managed to keep it quiet for five years of development. As far as I was aware no one had a clue before E3 this summer and 'Project Rapture' was just a distant dream.
I wonder when mmorpg.com is going to stop giving Darkfall more attention than it deserves.
Darkfalls launch wasn't some groundbreaking event like mmorpg.com pretended it to be over the last few articles. Its yet another low budget mmorpg with a low subscriber base.
As opposed to the fine work that Aion is, that you fanboyed for years...yes more wow clones
DF and FE are the releases in 09 that point to a brighter future. It does not matter if you are a fan of the playstyle or not, they are the only MMOs this year to have a differant playstyle. They prove that you can have differant gameplay to a WoW clone and that you can make a sucessfull game on less than a AAA budget.
They are not perfect by any means, but look at the AAA titles this year, are their problems any less? Respecs, content and cash shop in CO, grind and PvP issues in Aion.
We can only hope the MMO world takes note of DF and FE and this trend continues.
As opposed to the fine work that Aion is, that you fanboyed for years...yes more wow clones
mmorpg.com isn't trying to put Aion in as many articles as possible, like they do with Darkfall.
The reason there's still no new MMORPGs for the 360 is simple: Microsoft is greedy. If you speak to any of the devs working on them, they all say the tech is there and working fine, but they're all waiting for a deal to materialize. Business deal I mean.
Microsoft wants you to have gold membership AND pay a monthly fee, and they want a piece of that monthly fee on top of the fact they're already getting your gold membership money and the devs are not seeing a dime of that. The devs all want them to require silver memberships and to give M$ a piece of the monthy fee. This is the definition of deadlock.