For those of you who play EQ or EQII, and have gotten sucked into Legends of Norrath, you now have a chance to test your skill in a tournament setting.  SOE has announced that the first Legends of Norrath Tournament will take place this weekend from the 22nd to the 23rd.

Join us this Saturday and Sunday (September 22nd - 23rd) for the first ever Legends of Norrath tournaments! We will be loading up the tournament queues this weekend and would appreciate your help. We’ll be giving out rewards to those that place well and some even for just participating. Please join us at the two following times this weekend!

Saturday, September 22^nd
Legends of Norrath Constructed Test Tournament
12:00 noon PDT (server time)
Entry Fee: FREE
Create your best deck using the cards in your collection and bring it to the tournament
1^st place wins a loot card of their choice
2^nd – 4^th place will each receive 3 booster packs
5^th – 16^th place will each receive 1 booster pack
One random participant out of every ten participants who complete the tournament will also receive a Legends of Norrath booster pack.

Sunday, September 23^rd
Legends of Norrath Constructed Test Tournament
12:00 noon PDT (server time)
Entry Fee: FREE
Create your best deck using the cards in your collection and bring it to the tournament
1^st place wins a loot card of their choice
2^nd – 4^th place will each receive 3 booster packs
5^th – 16^th place will each receive 1 booster pack
One random participant out of every ten participants who complete the tournament will also receive a Legends of Norrath booster pack.

*Be sure to be registered to play in tournaments. To do this just purchase at least a booster pack in the Legends of Norrath store!

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CoH made an announcement on 7/31 that they would be re-enacting their Character Name Policy for both CoH and CoV starting on 8/29.  This was designed to free up the names of characters level 6 and below on accounts that had been inactive for at least 90 days.  Well it seems they are finally done with that process, and players can now try and snag those hero or villian names they’ve always wanted, for only $10 or so.

City of Heroes Adds New Features and Frees Up Millions of Names

Two new features come to City of

Heroes: Character Transfer and Character Rename. Additionally, we have completed a sweep of un-reserving names of characters below level 6 on accounts that have been inactive and not subscribed for over 90 days. This has freed up millions of previously reserved names all for the taking with the new Rename feature, or for that new Hero or Villain you’ve wanted!

Both Character Transfer and Character Rename features are available from new buttons added to the Character Select Screen. Please keep in mind that these features cost $9.99 USD per use and require that you have a credit card on file.

I defintely like the idea - not sure about the cost associated with it.  I guess since I no longer play CoH it doesn’t really matter, but if you are actively enjoying the cape and tights scene (jokes are welcome), then you may want to check this out if you’ve had a favorite name you’ve been trying to get.  It may just be available.

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Legos are for kids.  Well…kids of all ages it seems.  MMORPG.com has an interview up with NetDevil about their mmo in development, Lego Universe.  It’s not a long video, and doesn’t really have a lot of information, but they do confirm that the game is targetted towards kids.  So it sounds like the aim is very much toward a younger audience, but is something that adults may enjoy if you liked Legos as a kid and still play around with them today.

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Great news for those of us still playing UO ten years after launch!  That’s all of us, right??  *crickets*

O.k…so maybe we’re not playing UO at this point, but apparently a very loyal and active fanbase still is.  And why play a game that uses stick figures for graphics, when you can have something much more up to date?  Well, the players asked for it and now it’s arrived - a new graphical update for Ultima Online titled Kingdom Reborn.

The official line from the main man, Mark Jacobs:

“As the tenth anniversary of Ultima Online’s launch approaches, Kingdom Reborn introduces an entirely new experience while preserving the spirit of the classic MMO,” said Mark Jacobs, VP and General Manager of EA Mythic. “Kingdom Reborn represents EA’s ongoing commitment to MMOs and Ultima Online’s dedicated and loyal community, some of whom have been playing the game since its launch almost ten years ago.”

I must admit, I never played UO, instead going straight into EQ when it launched.  But the new graphics do look spiffy next to the old stuff.  It’s good to see one of the “classic” MMOs still being actively played and supported.  We’re dealing with our MMO history here after all. 

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As I mentioned in my recap of Warhammer from GenCon, one of the devs had stated that the lighting system wasn’t in the game at that time.  Well, at Leipzig this week Jeff Hickman revealed several before and after shots of the lighting system which is now live in the beta test.  You can find the video here from our friends at mmorpg.com, and if you just want to get to the lighting sequence, skip to about 26:30 or so.  Otherwise you can hear all about the elves again. 

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I’m sure by now that most of you have seen the trailer for the new SOE game in the works, The Agency.  With its hip art direction, James Bond meets Alias atmosphere, and females with attitude, it certainly is a breath of fresh air to the MMO genre.  People are already pretty excited about this game, and the excitement may just grow with SOE’s announcement this week at the Leipzig Games Convention that The Agency will be free to play - no subscription.  Here’s the dirty details (emphasis mine):

At this week’s Leipzig Games Convention, the president of Sony Online Entertainment John Smedley held a talk on “Subscriptions vs Micro-transactions” in regards to MMO games. During the briefing, he indicated that Sony was looking at making their upcoming pc/ps3 spy-themed MMO a free play title, meaning there would be no subscription fee (unlike World of Warcraft). Instead, SOE would fund the title via micro-transactions and a ‘velvet-rope policy’ where certain area are only available if people pay for access.

Smedley acknowledged that consumers are used to the subscription based model (as is SOE, considering their long history of subscription based MMOs), but said that they “believe very strongly that this is the future of MMO gaming, but we also know that it is something that players have an issue with… There’s going to be an aftermarket, and we want to control it so that players don’t get duped into having something switched out from them.”

Why not try this with the Agency?  It’s already being billed as “something completely different”, so why not throw out subscriptions and go with micro-transactions?  The only question - does this strategy favor those with more money in RL - do they get to pull the “velvet rope” more?  What about those of us who are broke?  I guess we’ll have to see how expensive these transactions are.  I just hope I’m not headed to Prague with my team, only to be stopped by a bouncer at the sinister, underground headquarters who asks for my charge card before I can proceed with my mission.

As a side note, if you want to hear what some of our fellow bloggers think about current and alternative payment methods for MMOs, jack into episode 7 of Shut Up We’re Talking.

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If you never played the Fallout games (or Wasteland from long, long ago), you definitely missed out on a fun and refreshing rpg for the PC.  Now back in April there was an announcement that Bethesda had acquired the license to the Fallout IP for an MMO.  There was another tidbit on that front today, and it certainly sounds like it’s full steam ahead on a Fallout MMO.

“will play a key role in the future of Interplay”.  Not that they’re betting the farm or anything, but that sounds pretty signficant.  Let’s just hope they can secure funding first, as I”d love to see a Fallout MMO (but I’ll keep my eye on Fallen Earth until then).

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Funcom announced today that Age of Conan will be pushed back to Q1, 2008.  Here’s the info, text in bold is my emphasis:

Durham, USA – August 10th, 2007 – Funcom announce a new release date for ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’. The highly anticipated MMO is now set to release on the 25^th of March 2008. By setting a new release date for the game, Funcom can continue the focus on honing, polishing and improving the heralded qualities of the game, ensuring a fantastic MMO experience when it launches next spring.

 

“We naturally regret that we have to push back ‘Age of Conan’. However, after careful consideration, and analysis of recent Beta feedback, we believe that the new release date is in the best interest of the gamers, our company and our owners,” said Trond Arne Aas, CEO of Funcom. “We are fully committed to delivering games with absolute qualities, and in the current MMO marketplace we know that only the best is good enough to truly succeed. With the new release date we have therefore given ourselves more time to meet and deliver on the massive expectations for the game. We are certain that our choice will ultimately pay off, and that all ‘Age of Conan’ players will get a special online experience.”

 

”We are honored by the immense reception our game is constantly getting, with an astounding amount of positive press coverage, awards and magazine covers, but we still see that we need to polish some aspects of the game even further, especially when it comes to the entry barriers,” said Gaute Godager, founder of Funcom and Producer / Director on ‘Age of Conan’. “With the added development time we can now deliver something even more unique and powerful, something which is worthy of the incredible Conan legacy.”

There’s the “P” word that Darren has talked so much about.  VG scared the crap out of everyone and reminded all devs of the price of rushing a game to market when it’s not ready.  So I applaud Funcom for listening to it’s beta testers and not rushing this thing out the door.  I emphasize “entry barriers” because that’s been discussed recently as well.  With more and more “casual” gamers (use whatever definition you like) in the market, every game is trying to make those initial few moments in their MMO nice and smooth.  I haven’t played Conan obviously, so I don’t know what their current new player experience is like, but obviously they felt it needed to be streamlined, simplified, focused, or all three.

So go pop in one of the classic Schwarzenegger titles by the same name.  It’s the only Conan you are getting until next March.

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For those of you looking forward to Tabula Rasa, or just want to give it a test drive when it gets here, you will soon be able to pre-order.  From PlayNC:

 Austin, Texas, August 9, 2007—NCsoft®, the world’s leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announced that the pre-order bonus pack for Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa® has begun shipping to retailers. The pre-order box offers customers several perks, including exclusive in-game items and a three-day head start when the product launches this fall…

…Players who purchase the pre-order for Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa not only get a three-day head start on the live service, they also receive exclusive character emotes, exclusive in-game pets to accompany their characters, access to the beta test, and a DVD with the game client, bonus wallpapers and art…

“There is an amazing amount of anticipation for Tabula Rasa’s launch within our development team and the player community,” said Richard Garriott, executive producer. “The player feedback at this point has been extremely helpful and we’re putting the final touches on the game. This pre-order release truly marks the final stages in developing this epic adventure, and since owning the pre-order allows players beta access, it is a great way to try Tabula Rasa out before we launch the game.”

I don’t see this as a game I’ll play hardcore.  It may end up being one of those games I jump into from time to time to have some fun in a different setting, ala CoH.  I’ll probably snag a pre-order and jump into the beta to see how this title is shaping up.

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One of the MMOs I’ve been looking forward to the most since it was announced is the Marvel MMO being developed by Cryptic Studios.  I enjoyed my time in CoH, but quickly realized the game had some mind-numbing sameness to it after awhile.  I can only go through the same four warehouse maps a couple of hundred times before I break.  But beyond that, the super abilities were very fun and it had the atmosphere of the super hero genre.

 When I heard Cryptic was going to be making the Marvel MMO, I was pretty excited.  I grew up reading Marvel comics and love many of the books in their stable.  I’m hoping Cryptic will take the good from CoH, dump the boring stuff, stir in some sweet Marvel chunks of goodness, and come out of the oven with something downright delicious (no, I’m not a cook). 

 So it was interesting to see this article that shows Cryptic is bringing in some big guns to advise them on future strategy and direction within the “entertainment market”.  Sounds a bit broader to me than just MMOs, but we’ll see. 

“We are very fortunate to have such a high-calibre group of industry experts to advise Cryptic Studios as we continue our mission to deliver the best possible online gaming experience,” said Michael Lewis, president of Cryptic Studios.

“The knowledge and relationships held by this group are extremely beneficial to the continued growth of our studio in the years ahead.”

Anyhow, it appears this collection of uber folks is going to help Cryptic stay on course, make great games, and hopefully release a Marvel MMO worthy of several decades worth of comic history.

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