(I got to write some questions for this interview, but Benke got to ask them since I didn’t go to GDC. I’m not bitter. No, not at all.)
Loving The Sandbox, Missing The Fantasy
[caption id="attachment_1547" align="alignleft" width="184" caption="I pwn noobs in space."][/caption] I do love EVE Online, even if some online drama and paranoia over the last week or so made me wonder if I really have the energy to move to 0.0 right now. Application has been processed, roles dropped, assets liquidated and jump clones prepped (more or less) but seeing the true paranoid face of EVE's political alliances and corps is putting me off. If I do the move I will end up in one of the most volatile areas of the cluster as well, straight into a war that will probably spiral ...
A Grand And Pretentious Love Declaration To EVE Online
In this special edition of the EVE Blog Banter, CrazyKinux himself asked "[w]hether you've logged into the game every day since its launch in 2003, or you've taken one or several sabbaticals from your capsuleer career, you've always come back to New Eden don't you. Why is that? [...] To put it simply: Why do you love EVE Online so much?" The EVE Blog Banter invites an enthusiastic group of EVE Online bloggers to address--within a specified time period--a common topic related to EVE. The resulting articles may be short or long, funny or serious, but are always great fun to read! Direct ...
I’m In Your MMO, Reviewing Your Beta
Last time there was any talk about how to (or how not to) review MMOs was around the whole Eurogamer vs Aventurine debacle (often called "Zitrongate" after the reviewer). This was obviously a deep and traumatic event for some people, especially Darkfall fans that still can't stop taking cheap shots at Eurogamer (despite them doing a re-review of the game). To me, though, the question has crept back into the front of my mind, as I'm currently reviewing two MMOs at the same time. [caption id="attachment_1524" align="alignright" width="154" caption="Ensign 418 of 666, codename "Squid", at your service."][/caption] As I mentioned in my ...
Tag dreamfall
Starred this week, March 1 2009
Random stuff I starred in Google Reader or bookmarked this week:
- PixelVixen707 – 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness: Griefer’s Paradise
“The griefers, of course, are all the other players. If you haven’t tried Petri Purho’s 4 Minutes and 33 Seconds of Uniqueness, you won’t quite grasp the frustration.” - Ectoplasmosis – Department Store Fossils
“There is no doubt that the marble staircase is a watermark for high-class and sophistication. Few things convey a sense of history and taste like the finely veined, polished surface of this sought-after stone.” - Ragnar Tornquist – Dream a little dream(fall) for me
“I hope Chapters can keep running for a good while, since there are tons and tons of stories we’d like to explore before wrapping up that part of the TLJ universe. Big stories and small stories from every corner of Stark and Arcadia…and beyond.” - Hardcasual – Cut Scene Skipped
“Mr. Wittlebock, a political science major, claims that he had neither the time nor the energy to sit through a ‘bunch of talking,’ adding that ‘these ammo boxes aren’t going to collect themselves.’” - Sexy Videogameland – I’d Rather Let The Flowers Keep Doing What They Do Best
“And, fair play, Flower and Braid were done to us right back. Was it the creators of these games who began these vaunted discussions long before the games released, this authoritarian-author talk that let us know to plan ahead, look out, an Important Game is about to be born in a manger?“
Conan delivers yet another fatality at Funcom
Gamesindustry.biz reports today that Olav Sandes, CFO of Funcom, has resigned. The reason? Age of Conan, of course.
Funcom has reported its financial results for the fourth quarter, revealing an operating loss of USD 23.3 million, caused by a depreciation of USD 22.8 million due to the lagging performance of Age of Conan.
"Next person who says 'Failcom' gets a knife in the gut."
There has been a lot of stormy weather around Age of Conan, ever since it was released. Personally I enjoyed it a lot during the first couple of weeks after launch, even though I reacted against the use of instanced content (as in multiple instances of a given zone, not as instances work in World of Warcraft or Guild Wars). I haven’t played it since then, but generally the media, bloggers and players haven’t been very kind to the game. To say the least.
I don’t think Funcom is about to give up on Age of Conan yet, like NCsoft did with Tabula Rasa. GI.biz quotes the company saying “[Funcom's] current sales and marketing initiatives focus on launches in new territories, as well as revitalising Age of Conan in existing core markets.” And they are predicting that they will make somewhere between $6 – $8 million from subs during Q1 2009, which is good even though the game has been heavily depreciated.
But with another official setback, is Age of Conan still due for Xbox 360? I doubt it, but weirder things have happened. Instead, I’m hoping that Funcom learns from the obvious mistakes they made with AoC and put all their strength and newfound and hard bought knowledge behind The Secret World. And, perhaps, even give us that single player game so many of us are waiting for?
(The wikipedia links above are for people who had never heard the word “depreciation” before reading the coverage of Sandes’ resignation, like me. I wonder if everyone who covered it today actually know what it meant or bothered to look it up. I don’t know about you, but I’m going to start using that term in every conversation I have from now on.)
