MMO updates

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• Duke of Mount Deer - Development costs breakdown
• Wizardry Online - A brief walkthrough Part 2
• Wizardry Online - A brief walkthrough Part 1

Duke of Mount Deer - Development costs breakdown Posted: 17 Jun 2011 09:48 PM PDT In order not to overshot the frame size, the game's title has been cut short from the full name, "The Duke of Mount Deer Online". Developed by Chinese MMO giant ChangYou over a period of 4 years, "industry veterans" have taken the unusual step of announcing rough estimations of the various costs required to develop the game. I wonder if it is just a PR thing though as this article wasn't posted on the official website. Over the past few day, I have been playing for a few hours in the Closed Beta. I thought Forsaken World has tons of features. I was wrong, so stay tuned for a short preview tomorrow. Let's get back on topic! First, the cost of the China-based team working on the title. This team is responsible for translating the original novel by Louis Cha into the online world and adding some original ideas to it as well. Top talents are recruited in various departments, including art, programming, production and more. The average annual salary is 120,000 Chinese Yuan, hence the 400-strong development team over the period of 4 years costs around 192,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 26 million). Factoring in other benefits including insurance policies and bonus, the amount could rise up till around 210,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 32.5 million). We are still missing the facilities and equipment costs here! Second, the cost of the ChangYou Korea team. An additional 200 staff, they are responsible for creating the new elements in Duke of Mount Deer Online, which means the content not found in the original novel in order to expand the game world and lore. Headed by NCsoft's former art director, members of the team hail from various developers including NCsoft and Nexon having worked on huge titles including the Lineage series and Aion. The average annual salary is thrice that of China's at around 360,000 Chinese Yuan. Hence, over the last 2 years, a total amount of 144,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 17.7 million) was spent on human resources. Adding in facilities, equipments and other misc costs, the final amount is around 160,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 24.7 million). Third, industry veterans hired to produce up till 260 hours of in-game 3D animations, mostly serving as cut scenes in quests etc. ChangYou's CEO commented that the animations found in the cut scenes are comparable to those found in console games such as the Final Fantasy series. The price tag in China is around 5,000 Chinese Yuan for every minute, hence 260 hours will cost around 78,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 12 million). We are not done yet. Next is the post-development costs. Tasks such as implementing new systems and hiring a renown martial arts master for motion capture were done. Factoring in the costs of equipments, the fee for the overall motion capture stands at around 8,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 1.2 million). Not forgetting the hiring of some of China's biggest entertainment stars to contribute to the game's voice overs and theme songs, the cost here is around 10,000,000 Chinese Yuan (USD 1.5 million). The cost for developing Duke of Mount Deer Online stands roughly at USD 71.9 million now! Adding in various other miscellaneous cost factors, the total amount could rise up till USD 80 million. Some costs not added include the massive amount poured into marketing the game. An example includes the upcoming movie based on the game, Dreaming of Duke of Mount Deer where one of China's biggest period actor, Hu Ge, is roped in to helm the titular character, Wei Xiaobao aka Duke of Mount Deer. It does not end here! There are also several partnerships with various companies involve, in this instance Hewlett-Packard (HP). The official Duke of Mount Deer themed laptops were just revealed recently, with even more licensed merchandise bound once the game starts officially. I am actually stunned at the development costs of the game! While the English version is imminent (the teaser website seems down at the moment), the Chinese server has gone into Public Closed Beta (with no more data wipe) recently after prior to a 2 months testing period. You can read up more about the game in my previous posts. Once again, a short preview will be shown tomorrow (if I manage to upload all the footage to YouTube), so stay tuned!

Wizardry Online - A brief walkthrough Part 2 Posted: 17 Jun 2011 10:07 AM PDT (Source) Yeap, there is a Part 2 for this brief walkthrough of Wizardry Online. The main reason being me not wanting to cluster all the screenshots into 1 single post. Separating them into 2 will give me more post counts as well... Jokes aside, here is the continuation for Wizardry Online, currently sending fear through gamers' spine due to it permanent death system. Once again, this is translated online based on the original article posted on Japanese gaming website, 4Gamer. ↑ Rampaging through a skeleton on the ground... ↑ ... gives a chance for player to get some helpful items. In this case, a half-portion map of the dungeon. ↑ There will be many traps as players advanced. In this case, fire traps players have to dodge. ↑ As hard as the tester tried, but he eventually ran into one of the tougher mobs around... ↑ And died. This time, he failed to resurrect at level 2. Apparently this is just for the test version. I can't imagine how players will feel if the failure rate to revive starts to get tough at this level in the live servers... ↑ Back to the character selection screen, only the information of the dead character can be seen. ↑ Players will have to manually delete characters which failed at reviving (meaning permanent death). ↑ A rather "fun" feature. PKers will be sent to this prison facility if caught in town by the NPC guards. Normal players may pay the guards to visit this prison. Once inside, players may activate the switch show above to trigger an explosion inside the holding cell. This does damage to the PKers and might kill them too. No specific mention on how this feature will be balanced.

Wizardry Online - A brief walkthrough Part 1 Posted: 17 Jun 2011 10:07 AM PDT (Source) I am sure by now most of the people visiting my blog would have heard of Wizardry Online developed by Gamepot Japan. It was also on show earlier at E3 2011 with a really neat press conference. Top Japanese gaming website 4Gamer was given a sneak preview just before its next test phase starts later and here is a brief walkthrough of the game. The text is translated online, not by me (I just improvise the words for better understanding). ↑ Race selection screen. As you can see, most races are crossed out and unavailable for this test phase. I am skipping the customization phase as there is nothing to be wowed about. ↑ After choosing a class (Warrior here), there will be 3 different stat builds to choose from. ↑ The first glimpse of town. I shall be skipping the tutorial quests and head straight to the dungeon. ↑ Entering the very first dungeon in Wizardry Online. ↑ And the very first death. Rofl. ↑ The dreaded permanent death system. Luckily, the force is strong (pun intended) and being a newbie entitles players to 100% revival chance. But the rate will drop as the character gains levels. ↑ Can you see the glow at the far-end corridor? It might be a trap for all you know. ↑ There are recovery fountains in the dungeons. Pretty much like Diablo 2. ↑ A shallow drain. If the drain is any deeper, players might suffer damage if they fall below. Or death if it is located at a higher position in advanced dungeons. ↑ There will be pedestals like this to give players hints. ↑ Pressing the "F" key will allow players to open closed doors. But be prepared on what kind of horror is hiding behind...

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General gaming

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• InFamous 2 Review
• Former Infinity Ward Heads' Activision Lawsuit Likely Headed to Trial
• Xbox 360 Skype Support Now Just a Matter of Time
• Crysis Developer Denies Knowledge of an Xbox 360 Successor
• This Week in the 1UP Community 6/14/11
• Transformers Dark of the Moon Review
• 13 LEGO Games We Want to See
• Call of Duty Elite Announcement Timing Questioned by EA Chief
• Games We Wanted to See at E3 Drawn in MS Paint
• Tomb Raider and the Reinvention of Lara Croft

InFamous 2 Review Posted: 17 Jun 2011 07:07 PM PDT InFamous 2 is the game where Cole MacGrath finally conquers his greatest obstacle. I'm not talking about The Beast (a titan of ash and fire that literally stomps its way across the Eastern seaboard throughout the course of InFamous 2's plot), nor am I talking about the multitude of mercenaries, militia, and mutants that populate the streets of New Marais. In the same way that Professor X's (of X-Men fame) greatest foe is actually different than the safe assumption of Magneto, Cole's greatest foe turned out to be: chainlink fences. They provided the "I can climb everything except this?" paradox in the first game, and so it's eminently satisfying to press X near a chainlink fence, watch Cole grab onto it, and see the "Don't Fence Me In" Trophy pop up on your screen. The above is a little example of the kinds of tweaks and changes that InFamous 2 brings with it to improve upon InFamous. Developer Sucker Punch, for the most part, has made sure that InFamous 2 still retains many of its predecessor's qualities while tidying up its weaknesses. Not only can Cole climb up chainlink fences, but he can do things like string together melee attacks to rebuild his energy meter; swing in the air via a lightning tether (a la Spider-Man or Nathan Spencer -- pick whether the influence comes from comics or games) to scale vertical spaces much more efficiently; and finally even upgrade his radar/minimap to see where a far-off blast shard is. The D-Pad can be used to quickly cycle through a huge array of powers rapidly (which is useful, since many foes require specific types of attacks to deal with). Heck, your inane sidekick from the previous game, Zeke, is actually less annoying (and part of a somewhat agonizing moment depending on your alignment at the end). And it even rewards me for swinging my Amp (a powered-tuning fork that Cole uses for melee combat) at those annoying street performers who spend their days pretending to be statues.

Former Infinity Ward Heads' Activision Lawsuit Likely Headed to Trial Posted: 17 Jun 2011 05:07 PM PDT After being fired from their positions at Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward early last year, Jason West and Vince Zampella filed a lawsuit against Activision for wrongful termination. They were allegedly let go for insubordination, among other things, but the two claim Activision was scheduled to pay them "substantial" royalties shortly after they were fired. Activision has its own lawsuit that describes the duo as "self-serving schemers who attempted to hijack Activision's assets for their own personal gain." EA was later added to Activision's complaint, calling the rival publisher a "co-conspirator." A California judge allowed Activision's lawsuit to continue in March, and the same happened this week with the lawsuit against Activision. The Hollywood Reporter reports a Los Angeles Superior Court judge made the decision on Tuesday deeming that West and Zampella have "sufficient claims against Activision." This means the case is likely to go to trial at some point, although that probably won't happen for at least several more months. There's also the possibility of a settlement being reached before that can ever happen. West and Zampella's attorney, Robert Schwartz, told USA Today, "That can't be good for Activision. They can't be happy about this."

Xbox 360 Skype Support Now Just a Matter of Time Posted: 17 Jun 2011 03:31 PM PDT Microsoft announced in May that it would acquire VoIP service Skype for $8.5 billion. In order for the acquisition to actually go through, it first needed to receive antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commission. Sure enough, the FTC announced today that said approval has been granted, giving the two sides the go-ahead to complete the deal. Part of last month's announcement made mention of Skype support for both Xbox and Kinect, along with other Microsoft devices. Now that the company is allowed to make the purchase, it's only a matter of time before Skype is integrated with the Xbox 360's dashboard. Skype support is currently offered on the PlayStation Portable. "Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms," a statement said last month, presumably indicating that PSP support will continue. It's the sensible thing to do, as it would only hurt Microsoft and Skype to start removing supported devices for a service that's currently losing money.

Crysis Developer Denies Knowledge of an Xbox 360 Successor Posted: 17 Jun 2011 03:06 PM PDT Contrary to a report earlier this week, Crytek claims it doesn't have any details on the successor to the Xbox 360 or when it will be announced. A source within Crytek had reportedly indicated Microsoft's new system would be revealed in the next year, "likely" at E3 2012. "Relating to the recent rumours, Crytek do not have any next generation hardware from Microsoft, nor do we know when Microsoft may announce future hardware or what that hardware will entail," a statement from the company reads. The source also said Crytek UK (formerly Free Radical Design) was working on a CryEngine 3-powered TimeSplitters 4. That particular point wasn't addressed by Crytek, which instead highlighted what it's already known to be working on.

This Week in the 1UP Community 6/14/11 Posted: 17 Jun 2011 02:53 PM PDT It's been a crazy week of E3 2011 postmortems and Duke Nukem Forever debates, but let's step away from those topics and see what else has been going on in the community. I'm glad to report that this week has been full of original content in terms of art and musical pieces. Also, 1UP members have written telling blogs analyzing the progression of technology in society and fighting games, including a strategic tell-all about choice Pokemon to use in White/Black. There's much more interesting content to catch up on, so check it out for yourself and read on.

Transformers Dark of the Moon Review Posted: 17 Jun 2011 02:45 PM PDT Gamers were treated to a decent Transformers video game last summer. Seriously, it was pretty damn fun and entertaining with a deep multiplayer mode as well as offering three player online co-op through the single-player campaign. High Moon Studios, the developer that made Transformers: War for Cybertron (WFC), was again tasked with creating another Transformers game -- this time for the upcoming movie Dark of the Moon. I won't kid you, though: it's not that good of a game, and the results bear the markings of a title rushed through development to coincide with the movie's release. It's a shame too, because beneath the graphics clipping, long load times, lack of features, and lag-filled multiplayer, one could almost see the inklings of another decent Transformers game in the making. They just ran out of time to make it a worthwhile experience. As one could surmise from the title, Transformers: Dark of the Moon is related to the upcoming movie and is designed to chronicle the events that lead up to the film. The game's mash-up of a story never amounts to anything meaningful or groundbreaking, and the single player campaign is pretty short -- clocking in around five hours or less. Additionally, the level design is rudimentary. For most of the game you guide your Transformer down a linear path to a small arena, fight waves of nameless enemies, and then continue down to the next arena -- rinse and repeat. There are a few times in which the game tries to mix this up with instances like a stealth section of a level when playing as Laserbeak, or an air combat level with Starscream, but these are brief and against the norm of the game's overall simplistic design. It's worth noting that there is no online co-op, but seeing how the levels are structured, it's hard to imagine it working well even if it this feature did exist.

13 LEGO Games We Want to See Posted: 17 Jun 2011 02:27 PM PDT ACTIVITY 13 LEGO Games We Want to See LEGO Harry Potter, Star Wars, Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean aren't enough! We want more. By Janine Dong, 06/17/2011       Share it: Tweet Page 1 of 13   VIEW AS: SLIDESHOWLIST Remember we asked the 1UP Community what they'd like to see turned into the next great LEGO game? Well, we had a point in doing that and now we can finally share with you the results. Here are some of the titles 1UP members would like to see get the LEGO treatment. "Lego Voltron...nuff said. - RojeSmith

Call of Duty Elite Announcement Timing Questioned by EA Chief Posted: 17 Jun 2011 02:25 PM PDT The way in which news was made public on Call of Duty Elite has resulted in a great deal of confusion within the community. Even though it's been made clear what it offers for free, there are still people who seem to be under the impression that they're being asked to pay to play online or for freebie services like stat tracking and social networking. We still don't have final details on how much the subscription service will cost or everything it will offer, which doesn't help the situation. Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello has stated he's unsure that Activision made the right move in announcing Elite so early. "I don't know what's in Elite right now," he told Industry Gamers, "but based on what I've seen, I think they might've been better off holding the Elite thing and been a little more careful and show up a month after they've launched Modern Warfare 3. 'Hey, we've got an expansion pack. It's going to be x amount of money, but if you give us y amount of money, you get extra stuff.' As opposed to leading with their chin." Subscribers will get access to all playable downloadable content for free. Map packs will still be sold independently, as they are now, but getting every new map is one perk that's been confirmed for those willing to pay a monthly fee.

Games We Wanted to See at E3 Drawn in MS Paint Posted: 17 Jun 2011 02:24 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Games We Wanted to See at E3 Drawn in MS Paint Our crack artists offer concept renders for E3's MIA games. By: 1UP Staff June 17, 2011 E3 has come and gone, but where was Half-Life 3, Doom 4, or Beyond Good & Evil 2? There were dozens of games that we wanted to see at the show that were conspicuously absent. We know for a fact or have good evidence that all these games are in development right now, and their absence in LA broke our hearts. We've waited long enough -- time to make them ourselves. 1UP commissioned its top artists and most advanced tech to create target renders for our most anticipated games that weren't at E3. 1UP users, submit your own creations in the comments below and you may be included in our next MS Paint gallery! Doom 4

Tomb Raider and the Reinvention of Lara Croft Posted: 17 Jun 2011 01:15 PM PDT This year's E3 stage demos were a particularly excruciating lot. Their wretchedness had nothing to do with the presumed quality of the games themselves, mind you. I mean, Battlefield 3 looks nothing short of excellent, but watching some guy drive a tank in a straight line through the desert for two minutes was quite possibly the most boring thing I've ever been forced to watch at a video game press event. Yet no press conference demo missed the mark quite like the one Microsoft hosted for Tomb Raider, next year's reboot of the series that catapulted heroine Lara Croft to fame. It's not that the demo was technically poor or that the game looked bad; rather, the five minutes Microsoft dedicated to Tomb Raider gave an incredibly poor impression of what the team at Crystal Dynamics is hoping to accomplish with the game. In the course of the Tomb Raider stage demo, Lara Croft was bound, burned, dropped, injured, assaulted, and generally abused by unknown (and seemingly violent) stalkers. Unlike the fearless Lara that most gamers know, she was clearly terrified out of her mind by the situation she found herself in and spent most of the demo trying to soothe her own anxiety by nervously talking to herself. There was no combat in the E3 stage demo for the game. Lara could only struggle desperately to break free of her captors, screaming in fear as filthy-looking men leapt from the shadows to drag her away to an unknown fate.

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MMORPG News

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• Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising: New Screens & Trailer Released
• General: PlanetSide Next: Big Announcement Planned for Fan Faire
• General: Luvinia Online Class Reveal
• Dungeon Fighter Online: Act X: Rebirth Coming June 29th
• Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: Game Cards Now On Origin
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: Post-Writing Polish
• General: HeroSmash: 1 Million Beta Players
• DC Universe Online: Ra's al Ghul's Revenge Detailed
• Rift: Father's Day Sale
• Metin 2: New Trailer Shows Off Patch Features
• General: Pokie Ninjas Hokage Village Update On Its Way
• 4Story: Aerial War PvP Map Coming June 22
• General: E3 2011: END Games Meeting
• EVE Online: Survivor Guy: Returning to Eve Online Part 3
• General: All Hyped Up
• Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online: From the Warp: A Warhammer 40,000 Summer

Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising: New Screens & Trailer Released Posted: 17 Jun 2011 01:13 PM PDT Heatwave Interactive has released seven terrific new screenshots from Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. Check them all out in our Gods & Heroes gallery.

General: PlanetSide Next: Big Announcement Planned for Fan Faire Posted: 17 Jun 2011 01:03 PM PDT Jon Smedley has 'tweeted' that Planetside Next fans can expect a "big" announcement at the 2011 Fan Faire to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 7-9. There are no other hints as to what the news might be. Speculate!

General: Luvinia Online Class Reveal Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:50 PM PDT The Luvinia Online team has partnered with MMORPG.com to reveal a pair of classes that will be featured in the game. We have all the information you need about both the Paladin and the Necromancer. Check it out!

Dungeon Fighter Online: Act X: Rebirth Coming June 29th Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:47 PM PDT Nexon has announced that the Dungeon Fighter Online update, Act X: Rebirth will be deployed on June 29th. According to reports, the new patch will feature an overhauled item shop as well as a new 'selectable' avatar system.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: Game Cards Now On Origin Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:36 PM PDT EA has announced that game time cards for both Dark Age of Camelot and Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning are now for sale on the company's new game portal, Origin. Cards can be purchased in the 30-, 90- and 180-day flavors.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Post-Writing Polish Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:32 PM PDT In a new blog post penned by Bioware's Writer Ian Ryan, the process of polishing and refining the game's story is detailed. Ryan indicates that simply because the writing is finished, it doesn't mean it's complete. The writing team assists the art department to set the right mood. Ryan shows off a couple of examples of "before and after" art inspired by the writing team's suggestions.

General: HeroSmash: 1 Million Beta Players Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:15 PM PDT Artix Entertainment has announced that its latest MMOG, HeroSmash, has scored over a million beta beta players in its first eight weeks. HeroSmash, as the name implies, features epic battles between the forces of good and the forces of evil.

DC Universe Online: Ra's al Ghul's Revenge Detailed Posted: 17 Jun 2011 12:07 PM PDT The DC Universe Online team has revealed details of the next game update, Ra's al Ghul's Revenge. Ra's al Ghul is an international terrorist who teams up with Poison Ivy and Swamp Thing in an attempt to return the earth to its 'natural' state, namely it's state without humans.

Rift: Father's Day Sale Posted: 17 Jun 2011 11:51 AM PDT Want Dad to join in the Telara fun? If so, this is the weekend to get him that special gift. Rift is on sale for either $9.99 for the standard edition or $16.99 for the collector's edition. The purchase of Rift doesn't include any game time but the CE does contain some great in-game swag.

Metin 2: New Trailer Shows Off Patch Features Posted: 17 Jun 2011 11:30 AM PDT Metin 2 has been updated and the dev team is proudly showing off a brand new trailer highlighting, among other things, new mounts and hairstyles that give bonuses to hit-, stamina- or mana- points.

General: Pokie Ninjas Hokage Village Update On Its Way Posted: 17 Jun 2011 10:34 AM PDT Pokie Ninja is scheduled for an update in the near future. The update, "Chapter III: Hokage Village", players will be able to build and upgrade their own villages, visit and interact with friends' villages, release their own quests, and earn new titles to unlock abilities.

4Story: Aerial War PvP Map Coming June 22 Posted: 17 Jun 2011 10:01 AM PDT 4Story players will have a new PvP map to check out. It's called the "Aerial War" and features a faction-wide reward for all players: Kill the enemy faction's NPC and the entire faction reaps the benefit whether they were there participating in the battle or not.

General: E3 2011: END Games Meeting Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:54 PM PDT During this year's E3 convention, MMORPG.com's Richard Cox had the opportunity for a face-to-face chat with END Games developers to talk about Vorp!, the company's Facebook MOBA. Richard went in a skeptic and came out...well, you'll simply have to read it for yourself. Let us know what you're thinking in the comments below.

EVE Online: Survivor Guy: Returning to Eve Online Part 3 Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:46 PM PDT MMORPG.com's resident Survivor Guy isn't finished with EVE Online yet as part 3 of his Returning to Eve Online jets into the column line-up. Read more of Adam's continuing adventures in the EVE universe. Be sure to tell us some of YOURS in the comments.

General: All Hyped Up Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:30 PM PDT In today's Player Perspectives column, MMORPG.com writer Isabelle Parsley talks about the foibles of hype. Hype, that lovely beast that whips us into a frenzy and then deflates our delicate hopes. Check out what Isabelle has to say about hype and then let us know what you think!

Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online: From the Warp: A Warhammer 40,000 Summer Posted: 15 Jun 2011 05:15 PM PDT Fans of all things Warhammer 40,000 have a lot to look forward to with the arrival of Space Marine and Kill Team. While not MMOs, particularly, they are the forebears, the harbingers of Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online. In a new column here at MMORPG.com, From the Warp, Industry Relations Manager Garrett Fuller talks about the Summer of 40k. Check it out and let us know what you think.

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