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Conquer Online taking itself on to the iPad

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Previews, News items, Free-to-play

Conquer Online took the step toward cross-platform play options not so long ago with the release of a Mac client, but it's moving forward yet again. The game is going to be launching on the iPad as well in the very near future, complete with a touch-based interface and all of the game's existing free-to-play content. While the iPad has seen its share of MMO-style games since its introduction, this is the first time an established game has been ported over to the platform.

And make no mistake, there are a lot of features available to players, as evidenced by the game guide for players planning on moving in to the iPad version. Take a look past the cut for a trailer previewing the gameplay and mechanics on the tablet, and keep your eyes peeled for the exact release date. It's not quite the World of Warcraft demo someone managed to run on the iPad a few years back, but it's still quite interesting.

[Source: Press release]

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Conquer Online taking itself on to the iPad originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Sep 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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US free-to-play MMO market oversaturated?

Seraphina Brennan — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play

With new free-to-play titles, like Earth Eternal, in development while other titles are being ported over from Asia to the US at a rapid-fire rate, the question of oversaturation is being spread amongst the lips of the industry. Are we looking at a market too filled with low-budget free to play titles?

The answer is yes, if you're speaking with Reality Gap's J. Mark Hood, co-founder of the company specializing in free-to-play MMOs. Thanks to a AAA game market mostly locked down by the immense budgets of Blizzard and EA, the small developers turn to the F2P market as a place to compete. However, the market is now crowded with all sorts of titles not only developed here, but also many titles ported from Asia.

The Asian titles, however, don't seem to strike the same chords here as they do in Asia. Our market is more focused on gameplay, while theirs can be focused on a number of other different options.

"Things that are more important here are actually how the game plays, getting yourself more advancement and skill," Hood said to Gamasutra. "So, it is really different."

For Hood's full comments, check out both his thoughts on free-to-play MMOs and the entire Gamasutra interview.

US free-to-play MMO market oversaturated? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Teleportation/flights versus other travel

William Dobson — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind

The trend with online games has been to loosen up on some of the more hardcore traditions of previous generations. The endless grinding of older MMOs is nowhere near as prevalent as before, with full quest progression offered in many current titles. Another area that's seen a change is the way we travel around our online worlds. In the early days of EverQuest if you didn't have a friend to port you, you might have walked through countless massive and often highly dangerous zones to get to a boat, then actually sit through a whole boat ride (don't go AFK and forget to disembark, or you'll do the trip twice!), simply to travel to another continent.

These days you've probably set up a bind point in a central location, with easy access to flights or ports. EverQuest itself later introduced a hub zone that offered free ports. A game like Free Realms even allows players to just click on any major area on the map to instantly teleport. This ease of access has its benefits -- it undoubtedly saves time and boring repeat journeys. But is there something to be said for the lost immersion that was once had when traveling the world on foot, learning the geographical features and absorbing the environments? Does it take away from the scale of the world for you? Give us your thoughts on travel in MMOs in the comments section.

The Daily Grind: Teleportation/flights versus other travel originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why do publishers import so many older MMOs?

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, New titles

Richard Aihoshi posed this question over at MMORPG.com in his most-recent article entitled "Richard Aihoshi's Free Zone: Why Publishers Import Older MMOs". The curiosity stems from the fact that we're beginning to see many more MMOs that are simply imported and localized for a western audience, rather than publishers taking that risk to create an entirely new IP. Of course there are exceptions, but for the most part, we can't help but wonder if it is in fact easier, and if easier is better.

In Richard's article, he interviews Gamepot's Thomas Lee about their recent launch of the western version of The Legend of Mir 2. Thomas has some interesting insight into the typical business model of these imports that caught our attention, "I don't think people will play something just because it's free. It has to be fun; otherwise it's eventually going to fall on its face." Thomas goes on to discuss that common point that clearly defines the MMO mania happening with eastern MMOs and how they're perceived in the western world, "Sure, four million registered players would be nice. However, I'll take a few hundred thousand loyal, happy players any day."

Check out the complete article for more from Thomas Lee and Richard Aihoshi on the wave of older eastern imports to hit western shores.

Why do publishers import so many older MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pirates to get more RvR love from Flying Lab Software

James Egan — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP

Pirates are always the underdogs in MMOs, aren't they? That seems to be the case in Pirates of the Burning Sea, where the Pirate nation has been at a disadvantage with the game's Conquest system. While their ports can't be controlled (permanently) by another nation, they're likewise unable to keep the ports they conquer. The latest devlog from Flying Lab's Lum is titled Pirates and Conquest and addresses this disparity between the Pirate nation and all other nations in the game.

One solution they plan to implement is increasing the four points that Pirates gain by capturing a port to five. Lum explains, "Currently, Pirates get four points every time they Raid a port, while Nationals get 10. This means that for a Pirate to keep pace with Nationals, they have to win three port battles in order to get the same amount of points. Since every nation can only attack three ports at a time, this means that Pirates would always have to have their maximum amount of attacking ports at all times, and then they have to win all of those battles." Ouch. However, by increasing their capture points to five, Pirates will only have to win two battles and won't need to maintain constant port attacks to stay on par with other nations.

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Pirates to get more RvR love from Flying Lab Software originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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