The Exodus of Infinity Ward

Infinity Ward creates blockbuster game. Activision fires IW executives to avoid paying them. The ex-IW executives formed Respawn Entertainment and then signed with EA. Now, more of IW's staff leaves, likely heading to Respawn. Caught up? Good, because now its time for a history lesson with Uncle Heartless_.

Blizzard North was originally an independent company. It was established in 1993 under the name Condor, founded by Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik. The company was purchased and renamed by Blizzard about six months before the release of their hit PC game, Diablo, in 1996. Diablo proved to be incredibly successful, and their 2000 sequel, Diablo II, was even more successful.

On June 30, 2003, several key employees left Blizzard North to form the new companies Flagship Studios (8 moved here) and Castaway Entertainment (9 moved here). The Blizzard North exodus continued on with around 30 employees leaving the company in total.

Flagship Studios was founded by Bill Roper along with Max Schaefer, Erich Schaefer, and David Brevik, the original developers of Diablo and former high level Blizzard North executives.

Castaway Entertainment is based in Redwood City, California. The company signed a publishing agreement with Electronic Arts in March 2004, but has yet to produce any products.

For everyone thinking Infinity Ward is doomed and Respawn Ent. is the next coming of game development Jesus, I ask what company you would put money into today: Blizzard or Flagship Studios or Castaway Entertainment?  It takes more than a few developers to make a game and good corporate culture doesn't disappear over night.  We're not talking about Shigeru Miyamoto or Will Wright here.

Warhammer's Billing Debacle

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) recently had a little 'oops' moment with their billing system that caused many players to be billed several times for their monthly subscription.  Some players were charged for over $500 dollars.  Normally this is an isolated issue, but the most recent update on the Warhammer Herald confirms it was widespread:

As you may be aware, recently some customer accounts were billed multiple times unintentionally. We regret any difficulty this event may have caused you, and we remain dedicated to resolving the issue with our vendors and customers.

This is about as bad as it could get for WAR, a game still considered down and out in the MMO industry.  WAR has enjoyed some success thanks to their endless free trial and I suspect that is where the majority of their new players come from.  This faux pas won't inspire anyone interested in subscribing to trust Mythic with their credit cards and not everyone is willing to enter game time cards every month to keep on playing.

However, I really don't want to talk about WAR right now.  More interesting to me is how rarely we see such a problem as this.  Off the top of my head I thought about the things I have on "set and forget" payment methods online:

1. eBay fees
2. Phone bill
3. Cable and Internet bill
4. Netflix
5. Donations to favorite websites

None of these has ever had a billing issue with multiple charges.  And if one did, I doubt it'd be to the magnitude that was seen with the WAR charges.

Also, I wonder how long it would take me to notice.  I certainly wouldn't see it right away as I use credit cards mainly and my credit limit is high.  At the end of the month, I would notice on my credit card statements, but if it wasn't several identical charges I may glance over it.

This is a wake up call I guess to online payment methods and keeping an eye on charges.  It's easy to say "its your own fault for not paying attention", but how many of these services make it an inconvenience to customers who do NOT use automated online payments?  To me, its half customer ignorance and half trends towards automated systems in favor of human powered systems.

With automation comes consistency and speed, which reduces some errors.  With reduction in error, comes reduction in support requirements.   This really puts everyone in a bad place, because when it comes to money its not acceptable to hear "it'll take 3 days to fix" which leads to lost customers.  Yet, the costs to have better support isn't justified for the 99% of error-free time.

I'm wandering now.  I'll forget all of this once the WAR billing fiasco is over and done with.  But just maybe I will pay more attention to the next credit card bill or when my wife is reviewing it, I won't just go "sounds right to me honey!" before staring back at the computer screen.

@Massively Math Fail

197,000,000 million users have signed up for Dungeon Fighter Online according to this article over at Massively.

No -- that's not a typo in the title. We didn't get attacked by a swarm of ninjas who knocked us out on the "0" button or anything like that. Nexon has announced that Dungeon Fighter Online has hit a worldwide total of 197 million registered players since launching in South Korea in 2005.

Too bad the rest of the stats provided don't pass the common sense check:

Nexon had a few other impressive numbers to sling about as well. Up to this point, players have killed more than 1.6 billion monsters, invaded over 25 million dungeons and engaged in PvP arena combat over 28 million times.

For those of you breaking out your calculator watches, let me do the math for you.

With 197 million players and 1.6 billion monsters killed, that means each player has killed an average of only 8 monsters, over almost 4.5 years.

Every time a player logs in, they spawn their own unique dungeon, meaning that 173 million players are registered that have never played the game.

Lastly, every person that registers for a Nexon account is registered for all of Nexon's games, inlcuding Dungeon Figher Online, whether they actually play or not.

It is horribly apparent the numbers don't match up and Nexon either

a) screwed up the numbers
b) stooped to a new low of public relations misinformation in the MMO numbers game

I'll let my educated readers figure out which.

March 2010: What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying

My March gaming was a battle.

I have embedded the new What I'm Playing/What I'm Paying spreadsheet for March below.  The overall spreadsheet (includes previous months) can be found here.

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Game of the Month

Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Cost: $49.99 (Limited Edition)
Played: 30 hrs
3-words: Full of destruction!






My game of the month was Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

I am a fan of the entire Battlefield series, more so than any other shooter series, and Bad Company 2 fits right into my playstyle. It's a first person shooter first and foremost, but it offers class-based team play that allows weaker FPS players to enjoy success.

I spent the majority of my time on hardcore servers where bullet damage is increased and some of the UI elements (map, target marking, ammo count, weapon info) is hidden. The "normal mode" works fine, but it can be frustrating sometimes when it takes a dozen bullets to take down a target. Also, normal mode encourages the use of only the high damage weapons and abilities; making a lot of the weapons completely worthless. In hardcore, all weapon types play a role as speed and accuracy, but lower powered weapons are still lethal.

As with Battlefield 2, I find myself playing medic in BFBC2 a lot.  I am not a horrible FPS gamer, but I'm not that great either.  The medic class in the Battlefield games has always been a balanced option between killing and support.  This hold true in BFBC2 and with a focus on squad play, I am able to rack up the points keeping my squad going.

I've really enjoyed my 30 hours in the release version of BFBC2.  Sure there has been some server and punkbuster issues, but most of them existed for less than a week.  It has been smooth sailing for the latter half of the month.

Game of the Month for April: Bioshock 

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/Played

My /Played  section is a bit short this month.  I put most of my time into BFBC2 and had a mid-month lull when I took over a week off from gaming.  I hadn't intended to take the week off, but between watching Lost (in the middle of Season 2 via Netflix) and a non-sleeping 6 month old, it just happened.

For the record, I did play some LEGO Universe, but I am not allowed to talk about it due to the NDA on the closed beta.  Also, I am still engaged with Allods Online, but just didn't find any time to log in this month, which is fine as I do not have to pay a monthly subscription to keep my Allods account active.

Civilization 4

I put another hour into Civ4 this month. I was sort of inspired by reading up on Elemental, a 4x game that will be launching later this year.
 

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/Paid

Total spent this Month: $0.00
My Value Rating: n/a

I made no gaming purchases this month.

Elemental: 4X

A 4X game is described by Wikipedia as:

The four Xs were an abbreviation for explore, expand, exploit, exterminate.

• Explore means players send scouts across a map to reveal surrounding territories.
• Expand means players claim new territory by creating new settlements, or sometimes by extending the influence of existing settlements.
• Exploit means players gather and use resources in areas they control, and improve the efficiency of that usage.
• Exterminate means attacking and eliminating rival players. Since all territory is eventually claimed, eliminating a rival's presence can be the only way to achieve further expansion.

Elemental, from Stardock, will be a 4X game as well.  Lets break down each X for Elemental.

Explore

Elemental is planning to take exploration farther than other 4X games.   The traditional "fog of war" will exist and players will have to scout the map to reveal far away lands.  However, a lot of that exploration will be accomplished with the player's "sovereign" instead of scouting units.  Sovereigns are ageless heroes controlled by the player that are used to move around the map and do everything from build to fight.  In MMO terms, a sovereign is a player's avatar.

Along the way, player's will be encouraged to explore the corners of the map in search of quests and dungeons along with traditional 4X activities such as resource procurement and settlement placement.  Walking past an out of the way cave may lead the player's sovereign on a journey into the dark to save a damsel in distress.  As described by Stardock; "Yes, it’s a 4X strategy game with a little Baldur’s Gate in it."  Explorer's should expect plenty to do outside of building their empire.

Expand

The main concept of the game is that the player is rebuilding the world after a cataclysmic event.  Players will build cities and expand their empires.  Along with Exterminate, this will be the most familiar X  to players when starting Elemental. 

Exploit

Standard resource management will be part of Elemental.  Player empire's will need to track down and control mines, forests, etc.  On top of that, a couple of unique resources will be included.  At first glance, these items may not be viewed as resources by players.  First is magic and the second is family (or dynasty in the long term).

The magic system of Elemental evolves over the course of a game.  As players choose their path of either life or death magic, they will unlock and learn new spells.  These magical traits can then be passed down the family tree to children and great grand children.  Powerful magical children will become key pawns in a player's resource arsenal.  By the end of a game, players will be using the fantasy-equivalent of nuclear weapons on their enemies.

Family will also play a huge part in Elemental as player's build their dynasties.  While the player's sovereign lives "forever", their children are mere mortals.  It will take careful management to ensure children are exploited to their full potential.  Sons are future kings and need to be properly groomed for the job. Daughters are key bargaining chips across family ties and can be a foothold into an enemy's family tree.

Exterminate

Elemental will allow players to raise fantasy armies and destroy their enemies.  Along with that, players can use their units to complete quests and dungeons.  Remember, Elemental is trying to blend in some RPG with this 4X game.  Battles can be played out in real time or set to automatically resolve.

Elemental: Phrases

Elemental, a 4X game in development by Stardock, has a lot of promise. While reading up on the game, I've come across several key phrases that have sold me on the game.

Phrases

Yes, it’s a 4X strategy game with a little Baldur’s Gate in it. (Source)

George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones is obviously a big influence on the designers (Source)

Stardock's aiming at a very low-system requirement (Source)

By the end of the game, they’re [players] a Sauron or Morgoth level of power (Source)

Stardock is also pushing harder for more transparency and more straightforward statistics that are easier to understand (Source)

The in-game tools of Elemental are designed to let players create their own items, their own worlds, their own graphical elements to the world, their own creatures, their own races and pretty much anything else they might want to expand the game. (Source)


The Random House Group will also publish ELEMENTAL: DESTINY’S EMBERS (August 2010), a novel set in the world of Elemental, written by the game’s creator and executive producer, Brad Wardell. (Source)

The game is currently scheduled for a summer release (Source)

My Phrase

If anything bad can be said about Elemental at this point, it is that the game may be too ambitious. From the lowest common denominator graphics, user generated content, multi-player for every play style, and complex simplicity; Elemental is attempting to deliver a lot. I am hopeful they can pull it off.

Stardock's Elemental Looks Interesting

I don't get interested in games very often by a single preview. However, Elemental and the concepts behind it pulled me in hook, line, and sinker after reading this post over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun.

RPS: So essentially a 4X game with more of an RPG heritage?

Wardell: Yes, it’s a 4X strategy game with a little Baldur’s Gate in it. The closest game I can think of is Master Of Magic, that’s been a bit of an inspiration for us. What we wanted to do with Elemental is to make it more of a personal experience. We really want you to be a presence within the game world, with your dynasty, with the way you design your units. When you go and zoom in and look at a unit you can see them all in the world, and they’ll all be a little different. And we want to move away from it being abstract. If I have a village with fifty people I can’t just click on it and ask for a legion of people. Those people have to come from somewhere. If spear-men come from a particular village, then there are less people left living there. It’s more personal in terms of you not just being this over-arching power, than other games in this genre.

There is a lot I want to say about this, but don't have the time currently. Check out and come back later when I have some more time to opine.

Warhammer Online and Bioware K I SS I N G

Warhammer Online and Bioware in a tree, K I SS I N G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the expansion from Bioware.

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"BioWare talks Warhammer Online's forthcoming expansions" is the title of an article over at Massively.

In a recent GDC 2010 interview with UGO, BioWare's Dr. Ray Muzyka said of Warhammer Online, "Right now it's [a] really profitable business unit within my group." Muzyka went on to say they've actually seen more people come into the game since enacting the free-to-play model on the game's earlier levels, and that he personally felt they were working.

In fact, by the sounds of it, Warhammer Online is due for some interesting announcements in the future. Another of Muzyka's comments on the title was, "We have new content planned and all kinds of cool expansions for it." We don't know how much more clear cut a message can be than that. And hey, it's good news! We're looking forward to our playable Skaven and Lizardmen, Mythic and BioWare.

I know Mythic and Bioware merged to create an "MMO group" within EA, but up until this point it was portrayed as though Mythic was responsible for Warhammer.  It is very strange to see Warhammer Online and Bioware mentioned in the same breath and have Bioware's talking head dictating where WAR is headed.

If Bioware is becoming more involved with the game, this may be the breath of fresh air that WAR needs.  Any expansion will have to rely on work from some of Bioware's development teams as the layoff train hit Mythic pretty hard.  With new developers, new ideas. But, new ideas need restraint.  We don't want another of the infamous "New Game Experience (NGE)" from Star Wars Galaxies all over again. 

Another question is whether the money-handlers behind the game will approve sweeping changes that may affect the bottom line in the slim hope of increasing it over the long term.  There aren't many success stories of MMOGs coming back from underwhelming launches.  Change is always met with resistance.

Now, in the past I've had my own ideas for changing WAR:

I would start the year by pulling a Chronicles of Spellborn and announce that Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is 100% free to play. However, development has been frozen as the game is prepared to be launched as a Free 2 Play game supported by micro-transactions.

From the original quotes in the Massively article, the success of the free trial is touted.  Could this be a signal that more free 2 play is in WAR's future?  I would welcome the idea.  Even with Allods Online's cash shop debacle recently, I still like the fact that I can log in whenever I want and play for a few minutes.  I've thought several times about return to WAR, but have only been able to do so during a recent 10-day freebie.

I am interested to see where Bioware/Mythic/EA can take WAR.  At a minimum, it will serve as a case study of how Bioware's development practices can influence other projects.

Bad Company 2 Patch Problems?

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 patch has hit Steam.  With it, so have the complaints.  Many players are reporting a multitude of issues.  PC Gamer Blog has the run down:

After the patch:

* Several complaints each about hit detection getting worse, being unable to exit the game and having to close it with task manager, and significantly worse performance.

* "It was crappy before, now it's even worse. Cannot connect EA is a standard msg, server browser inoperative, cant even do the old trick when you pressed "Cancel" after refreshing servers list to get the result faster with more low-ping servers."
khartlian

* "Since installing the patch I'm now getting "Lost connection from server" at the end of the every round I play. Sometimes losing the stats, sometimes not."
GrandTheftAli

* "Now my Bad Company will not work, it drops back to Windows every time I go resume game, was working perfectly before patch. Please help I can't be with out it!!!"
alienandy

* "When I updated the game, I had like 20 crashes to desktop within 1 hour (sometimes without doing anything). Was experiencing lag on ANY server I went in, and all these servers had ping below 40 on the list and I had ~100ping in the server. Was absolutely lag free for me before this patch. :<" Dawnsta

I have not had the chance to update myself, but don't plan on trying to avoid the patch. I've had crash to desktop and connection issues prior to the patch, but for the most part have been able to put plenty of time into the game and I've completed far more matches than I've crashed on.

Normally, I would be throwing a fit about these issues at this point, but I am letting DICE/EA slide so far for the Bad Company 2 issues since launch.  The Battlefield series holds a warm spot in my heart and I know when the game works its a wonderful experience.  I'm willing to be a bit more patience as they race to catch up with the popularity of the game.

In the meantime, watch a promotional video:

Bad Company 2 Steam Patch

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is preparing for its first patch.  The Bad Company 2 (BFBC2) patch is already out on the console and standalone-PC versions of the game and is slated for a release shortly on the PC-Steam version.

Shacknews has the details that SecuROM DRM is being removed from the Steam version.  Also, multiplayer will be unaffected by the patch vs. non-patched players:

Thankfully, multiplayer servers have not been patched so Steam users will be able to play with non-Steam users despite not having the latest client version. SecuROM CD/DVD copy protection will also be removed from the Steam version, which has no disc.

The removal of SecuROM from the Steam version is another bonus for buying the game through Steam.  Steam itself is DRM and the reason why developers feel the need to package their own DRM on top of Steam has always alluded me.  Fortunately, in this case, it can be laid to rest.

The rest of the patch note/fixes are quoted below:

Single Player -
Fixed: Graphical issues on some systems on SP_03 (at start and when displaying background mountains at “Up river”)
Fixed: Character voice issue during cut scenes in SP_03b (only affected Spanish)
Fixed: Hang when killed using TOW Launchers in SP_05
Fixed: Graphical issue on some systems on SP_05 (displaying background mountains)
Fixed: Voice volume in cut scenes on SP_06
Fixed: Unexpected dialog at start of SP_08 (only affected Italian)
Fixed: Random crash in SP_09 cut scenes

Multi Player -
Fixed: Server Browser - Joining a password protected server results in a connection timeout
Fixed: Server Browser auto updating server list when reopened causing a timeout issue
Fixed: Password issue during Friend invites
Fixed: Password text field issue on joining a password protected server
Fixed: “Flickering” ship on Arica Harbor
Fixed: Clan tags that use numbers in them displaying a “0” on the Select Spawn Point screen
Fixed: Display issue on long server names
Fixed: Mortar Strike icon not updating (Beta issue)
Fixed: No “Exit Game” menu option appearing at the end of some rounds.
Fixed: Flickering user rank icon (appeared as an animated gif) when user reaches rank 10.
Fixed: Flickering trees and “Red Box” on Laguna Presa
Fixed: User is logged out when failing to create a new soldier
Fixed: Zeus stationary weapon not appearing in stats
Fixed: Zu23 not appearing in stats
Fixed: BMD3 AA not appearing in stats
Fixed: Friend request displaying incorrect Veteran stats
Fixed: End of Round screen displayed incorrect “UAV_Station” – now displays correct localized text.
Fixed: K/D ratio displays in the Front End
Fixed: K/D ratio displays correctly when “comparing”
Change: Server browser now defaults to list via Ping first
Change: News Ticker font support for Spanish, Polish, Russian and Japanese
Change: New message for server full (reported as “I get no message when I try and join a server, it does nothing”)
Change: New message displayed for attempting to join a password protected server without providing a password (reported as “I get no message when I try and join a server, it does nothing”)
Change: Displays version number on Front End Legal Screen
Change: Display of weapon icon during loading screen