Mortal Online creates exclusive guild leader forum

It's no secret that certain members of MMORPG communities are quite determined in their push to influence a game's direction. Whether it's early adopters jockeying to get their ideas heard while a game is still in development, or the leaders of large and influential endgame-oriented guilds that garner developer attention via their content-clearing prowess, it's not uncommon to see small groups of customers attempting to rub elbows with decision makers. Rare individuals have even parleyed these relationships into professional careers.

What is unusual is when a game company publicly endorses such behavior. Star Vault, the independent developers of the PvP sandbox title Mortal Online, has set up an invitation-only forum called the Council of Patriarchs, wherein guild leaders (and only guild leaders) can interact with developers regarding larger game matters. While it isn't unusual to solicit player feedback, it is interesting that the forum is not visible to most paying customers. Whether or not it was Star Vault's intention to open up an "us versus them" can of worms, discussion on the official boards is currently trending towards the divide between solo and group/guild players.

Mortal Online isn't the first game to dip its toes into the exclusive forum club. Some of you may recall that Matrix Online had a private retreat known as the Champagne Room, which, while similar in catering to a small subset of players, was not publicly advertised by the developers.

Reader Comments (25)

Woot! Hoping our guild leader make a great work :-P

I like MO, I have subbed for 6month and the game still growing!

Tizio your the biggest fanboy of this game. You will defend it even if they were caught stealing money from their customers.... wait that did happen when they signed up people to auto-renew when they pre-ordered it a YEAR before!

God I love fanboys and their dedication to making sure they let everyone know how AWESOME crappy games are....

Good job fanboy! =)

Tizio, your game sucks dude, just accept it and move on, it's simple. Possibly worst game ever created by amateurs who ask money for a lame ass game that can't even make their own fucking launcher (the launcher right now is made by a fan). NO THANKS.

Lol, that there is actually true, they didn't even manage to code their own launcher right and had a fan doing it.

it isnt guild leaders you should read it again. its 2 elected representatives from each guild, decided by the guilds themselves

"...has set up an invitation-only forum called the Council of Patriarchs, wherein guild leaders (and only guild leaders) can interact with developers regarding larger game matters."

It is guild leaders only, the guilds don't elect people from the guilds themselves.

i am part of this group and we get all kinds of new tips about when they will fix a dupe so our guild can exploit it before they close it! this is best thing ever and my guild is awesome because we are awesome!

I have to tell you guys the truth, this is one of the worst games ever. They need guild leaders in this "elitist" group as if any of the guilds leave due to boredom and constant bugs and server crashes, they can kiss their game goodbye. Its already in debt, this is just another example of how its going to shut down.

Funny how the writer of this article used Matrix Online and that game is already gone...

This game is a pathetic joke and it will shut down very soon, you can count on that.

Lol, I love this fake troll comments hahah

its two representatives. http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/51284-council-patriarchs-house-commons-chat.html

I hadn't realized this MMO had actually launched, it's been keeping a very low profile.

If you had preordered it last year you would have realised, even if you decided the game wasn't for you and never played after October 2009 they have activated your subscription for you and charged your credit card for a recurring subscription.

Charging without authorisation is theft.

@Jay
Chances are the 20 page document you agreed to when you pre-ordered authorized them to activate your subscription. But even still, it is poor form for a business to not specifically and obviously inform you when you will be charged.

Beautiful, that's how MMO's work. Curse you, themeparks!

What better GOAL, better end-game, better achievement than a "chair" with those who make changes? It's coherent with pure PvP, and it's natural roleplay politics too.

What naturally follows is that every player should be able to vote such leaders.

I am assuming this game company is group oriented and not worried about a larger player base? Seems they are satisfied with the small population they have. I tried it a couple weeks ago, lots to like though even more to dislike, for me anyway, like my being kos because i refused to join a guild. On the lighter side lots of good jokes as they stomped on me and took my milk money.

Not my cup of tea that mechanic, forced groups. This is EVE on the ground, they should merge and create that planet experience on the cheap. Setup a player landing base and your set! :)

So... who plays this game? Did they fix the bugs, the teleporting weasels? Are naked thieves still running rampant? Do rabbits gang bang you 20-1 when you attack one? Is it fun now?

I played the Beta, was unimpressed, saw it launch, and then it promptly fell off the face of the Earth. I wish we'd hear some more of this, since it actually has some non-standard ideas worth considering.

Yeah there are still problems with it but the devs are fixing everything so quick. The teleporting mobs and naked thieves have been fixed and it is generally fun.

Although it lacks that certain something that makes you want to log in again and again... For me anyway.

Logically it seems great and really fun whenever I play, but there isnt the carrot-on-a stick yet.

I am subbed for 6 months and will re-evaluate my position on my sub, but so far I am definitely keeping it considering the progress they are making even after release.

Hope that helped :)

I love how how Star Vault went through all the people who pre-ordered Mortal Online late last year and started their months free time without permission, but then to cap it off took the credit card details from the pre-order and used it to create a recurring subscription.

My ticket is close on three weeks old so far in an attempt to get them to let ME decide when I want to activate my free game time - at the moment I am a little too busy to start playing the game, I was saving it for later.

Very poor showing of this company, and in my eyes a little bit criminal to do what they did. I need to ask myself if I can trust such a company now, a company who pretty much steals.

This game still breathing? Its in a pretty sad state. I remember this funny lie by the companies community manager (Maerlyn). There was a pretty serious dupe bug, which was not fixed for weeks despite being reported as long back as IN BETA, and it made it into release. When someone posted about the bug in public on forums, it became obvious that this bug was abused for a long time.

What did SV say? "For a couple of HOURS it was possible to dupe, not it is fixed". Most shameless lie I seen by a gaming company.

Not to mention their scam of selling you an account without recurring subscription and then enabling it close to release without proper warning by email.

This game should still be in beta tbh, it is raw, got NO PVE whatsoever except for one short dungeon (That's right, no epic bosses they promised or anything the like) and no goals. Just a mindless gank.

Let us not forget that this is the same company that has YET to send working DVDs to their customers that purchased the "Boxed" version. Back in January they got a box.. with nothing else in it but a DVD that didn't work. They were promised that "at launch" new DVDs that actually worked and were upto date would be sent. Well, it's almost 2 months after launch and no such DVD has been received.... and they stopped answering questions about it on the forums.

Wasn't Seraphina going to review this "game"?

i think that this information s more important that the new forum ¬¬..if they do all of this list i will susbcribe.
2nd of August:
• Thievery balances and fixes
• Combat balances and fixes
• Emotes (including "sit")
• Player crafting recipes
• Upkeep for buildings (re-)enabled
• Guild tags, toggleable identification
• Change to war decleration system

9th of August:
• Deployable extracting
• Deployable camping sites
• Mount equipment (bags and armor)
• Combat special moves
• Player vendors
• Banners & Guild Tabards
• Destructible spawners

16th of August:
• Territory control
• Rare boss spawn (not an epic creature)

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Mortal Online creates exclusive guild leader forum

Reader Comments (25)

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