Category: MMO (Page 4 of 9)

      What happened to WoW?

      April 6, 2010 /

      WoW April wallpaper.The last I heard of World of Warcraft was that it’s losing steam. Blizzard’s juggernaut finally stopped growing and has actually been on the decline. The Cataclysm announcement seemed to spark interest for some a while back but without a hard release date, it’s tough to keep ex-WoW players’ interest.

      I was thinking today about my former days as a WoW player and I realized I haven’t heard a single thing about the actual game in at least a year. I fired up Chrome and made my way to the official site to see what I had been missing. As it turns out, not much.

      The first two news stories are about new fan art and a couple new wallpapers. Further down the list you’ve got some news about the CCG and an announcement for a shamelessly branded wireless headset. The only game content story is about new Random Battlegrounds, which from what I can gather is just a way to queue for all the battlegrounds at once for some extra bonuses. It sounds like something that could have been implemented years ago.

      It’s pretty tough to revisit WoW without thinking about the game’s eventual demise. At this point Cataclysm seems like a stopgap – just another way to buy time until the next great MMO. The revised leveling system and zones sound cool, but I’m willing to bet people will still burn out when they get to Outland/Northrend. Can you imagine leveling to 80 again? I know I can’t.

      Development, MMO

      D&D Online got the free-to-play model right

      February 27, 2010 /

      D&D Online.Everyone loves a free game, especially a free game done right. Take League of Legends – the game has been around for less than a year and has already been downloaded more than a million times. It’s a great model, but one that hasn’t been as successful in the MMO world. Dungeons and Dragons Online is bucking that trend, continuing to grow both its free and subscription fee paying user base.

      Turbine announced that the game has seen more than a million players in growth since the re-launch last September. Paid player subscriptions have also doubled, and the game’s store transactions are blazing along at three times the industry average, giving the franchise a 500% growth in revenue. Can you imagine what WoW’s numbers would look like if Blizzard could pull that off? Are there numbers with that many zeroes?

      CEO Jim Crowley summed up the success quite well. “We’ve known all along how great this game is and by implementing an innovative new model that put the players in charge of how they pay and play DDO Unlimited, we’ve successfully expanded our reach and injected new energy into the game. Without a doubt, DDO Unlimited is a hit!”

      Source: Kotaku

      MMO, News, PC

      WoW hasn’t grown since 2008

      February 13, 2010 /

      The Lich King.The latest word from Blizzard is that World of Warcraft remains stable. So stable that it actually hasn’t grown in more than a year. Subscription numbers for the game are right where they were back in 2008.

      In case you aren’t paying attention or find yourself too tired to bother with the math, that’s prior to the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. You know, that huge release that introduced a new class and a whole new starting zone for those players. The expansion that should have given WoW the same kind of revival and explosive growth we saw from Burning Crusade. Chances are there was a pretty big spike, but those numbers have leveled off.

      The only shaky part of this numbers game is that the totals include China, where WoW is currently experiencing some serious turmoil. That situation could easily account for lackluster numbers if enough players have decided to back off until the mess is sorted out.

      Source: Kotaku

      Development, MMO, News

      EA’s got a ‘major MMO’ set for Spring 2011

      January 13, 2010 /

      Star Wars: The Old Republic.The big news from EA’s earnings call yesterday was definitely that the company expected to make millions less this year than it originally though. CEO John Riccitello is already looking forward to 2011, though, when he says the company will release a “major MMO.”

      From what we know, that probably means Star Wars: The Old Republic from Bioware. That would be about as major as you can get. It’s definitely at the top of my MMO wish list. There are other options, though. He could be talking about Need for Speed: World Online, which I really hope isn’t the case. There’s also the very slim chance that EA has a hush-hush project in the works, but I doubt that’s going to happen either.

      Instead, I think it’s safe to start dreaming up bounty hunter names.

      Development, EA, MMO

      Blizzard helps authorities track down drug dealer, WoW player

      January 5, 2010 /

      Stormwind guards capture a real life suspect.If you’re going to deal in illicit substances, you’d think you might acquire some evasive skills along the way. Not so for Alfred Hightower, an Indiana man who was arrested this week on dealing charges. How was he caught? By playing World of Warcraft.

      The Howard County Sheriff’s Department of Indiana contact Blizzard after learning that Hightower played a “warlock and witches game.” How long it took them to discover that meant WoW remains unknown. Deputy Matt Roberson had pretty much given up when he got a package in the mail.

      “It had been three or four months since I had sent the subpoena. I just put it in the back of my mind and went on to do other things. Then I finally got a response from [Blizzard]. They sent me a package of information. They were very cooperative. It was nice that they were that willing to provide information.”

      Included in the packet were IP addresses, billing info, and game info, including Hightower’s favorite servers. Hightower was picked up by Canadian authorities, to be returned to Indiana today.

      Source: Kokomo Perspective via Kotaku

      Games in Media, MMO, News

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