I'm getting excited about an upcoming MMO release based on what I'm hearing as it's finally open for public testing. It sounds like they're doing some unique things with characters and story. There was a bit of controversy about the high price of their collector's edition, but I do have my eye on a special box. In this box are a number of very exclusive perks which the regular box did not include - an extra 40 days' worth of game time, and access to additional game systems that were not available to regular edition customers on launch day - these include greatly expanded UI customization options and a much touted "legacy" system which will grant your alts perks for each previous character you have leveled on that server.
The game in question is patch 1.2 for SWTOR, which is currently on the public test server and slated for launch next month. The extra perks aren't exclusive to some special edition - these are just what has been added to the game in patches in the game's first 3-4 months of release. The extra game time is an estimate based on $60 for a box at launch versus $40 or so online these days if you're watching for a deal. In short, I can get all of the above for doing what us grizzled MMO vets always threaten to do and fail to follow through on - waiting a few months before jumping on the latest hot game.
This phenomena is not new, and there are any number of names for it - price discrimination, enthusiasm tax, etc, but it's a problem whatever you call it. This particular new release managed to sell two million boxes without my business, and therefore has yet to fire the staff needed to develop the features that have just about lured me off the fence about the game. Meanwhile, with the recurring subscription fee, some of those customers have already been forced to decide whether the game is worth their continuing investment and chosen not to stick around. I'm sure the win-back campaigns will kick off in the next few months, but it's always a tougher sell to change a player's view of a game.
Every game has to launch sometime, and there's always going to be something that can improve. It just seems like the incentives for players - wait and see where things settle out - aren't necessarily sustainable for your average new release.
The Unprecedented Pandaria Beta
The Pandaria Beta has apparently begun, kicking off what may be an unprecedented event in MMO history. We've seen seven digit applicant/tester numbers for beta tests of several not-yet-released games, but this is an expansion pack to a game that is - theoretically - running a live subscription service. When all is said and done, one million players - at least 10% and probably more of the Western subscriber base - will be eligible for invitations.
I'm pretty sure that no MMO has ever fragmented its playerbase in quite that way before, especially if Pandaria does remain in beta for multiple months (which Blizzard games, unlike many competitors, have the luxury of doing). In just under two months, these same players, along with non-annual pass customers who are so-inclined, will go tromping off to Diablo III.
Meanwhile, Blizzard has published multiple "post-mortem" articles about the currently live expansion - the technical term would be vivi-section if the patient were not yet deceased, which one would ordinarily infer from the continued live subscription fee. It's going to be very interesting to see how events unfold in Azeroth as this beta proceeds.
(Aside: Blizzard apparently decided to axe the notoriously-leak-prone friends and family Alpha - realistically, I doubt they were gaining significant testing insight from the exercise, while putting legitimate fansites in an awkward position regarding breaches of the testing NDA. I'd speculated that they'd do this two years ago for Cataclysm due to the rise of keyloggers.)
I'm pretty sure that no MMO has ever fragmented its playerbase in quite that way before, especially if Pandaria does remain in beta for multiple months (which Blizzard games, unlike many competitors, have the luxury of doing). In just under two months, these same players, along with non-annual pass customers who are so-inclined, will go tromping off to Diablo III.
Meanwhile, Blizzard has published multiple "post-mortem" articles about the currently live expansion - the technical term would be vivi-section if the patient were not yet deceased, which one would ordinarily infer from the continued live subscription fee. It's going to be very interesting to see how events unfold in Azeroth as this beta proceeds.
(Aside: Blizzard apparently decided to axe the notoriously-leak-prone friends and family Alpha - realistically, I doubt they were gaining significant testing insight from the exercise, while putting legitimate fansites in an awkward position regarding breaches of the testing NDA. I'd speculated that they'd do this two years ago for Cataclysm due to the rise of keyloggers.)
The Tough 2012 Schedule Continues
I hadn't really planned on spending the better part of two months working on the level cap in Star Trek Online, which has probably another month or so left of content in the game between missions on my Federation and Klingon characters. This detour, marking the fifth MMO where I have a current level capped character - only drives home a point about how crowded the MMO marketplace is these days.
- In LOTRO, I'm still working on Enedwaith, the pre-expansion content prior to the Isengard expansion. Remaining in front of me are the entire Isengard expansion (which I already own access to) and the newly released pre-expansion content for this fall's Rohan expansion (which I would have to purchase with Turbine Points). I hate to skip content in this game given that it's both high quality and relatively limited in quantity compared to other games. That said, I'm already way over-level for Isengard as a result (currently 68 and climbing). I'd say that finishing all of this content before Rohan hits is a top priority so that I can do the next expansion at the correct level.
- EQ2 is rolling out a new zone next month with a two level increase to the game's cap. While I continue to have misgivings about the direction this game is going, this content is effectively free to me, as I have enough Station Cash to pay for unlocking the new gear that will mostly likely come with the inevitable gear reset.
- While I see no reason to be present for the inevitable week or so of bugs and issues with SWTOR's patch 1.2, that game remains high on my to do list. I'm also still waiting for a graphics card, but again, high on my list.
- Diablo III lands on May 15th, and, well-advised or not, I own access to this thing on launch day courtesy of the WoW annual pass. It also seems reasonably likely that the Pandaria beta will kick off at some point in the near future (less clear is how quickly annual pass customers will get in), though that was a comparatively small consideration in my annual pass purchase, and I never intended to spend large amounts of time on this. I do expect to continue to duck into Azeroth proper intermittently, and have a larger chunk of time penciled in for after the expansion launches.
- DDO's expansion lands in mid summer. Realistically, I don't own a max level character in DDO, and I'm not near owning a max level character in DDO, so this is relatively a non-issue, but the emerging hoopla only reminds me that this game continues to be somewhere on my to do list.
- Games where I have max level characters not yet mentioned in this post and no immediate plans include DCUO (where I have some shared Station Cash balance with EQ2) and Rift (where I have a pending time card).
- Free to play or newly free to play games currently on my radar include Lineage 2, Aion, Allods, and possibly Forsaken World (or one of the other Perfect World F2P titles). Major AAA releases scheduled for the remainder of the year include Guild Wars 2, Tera, Secret World, Wildstar, whatever they're calling Prime/Dominus these days, and Copernicus/Amalur.
Triumph of the Federation Flagship-class Cruiser
There are fancier versions available in the cash shop - science, tactical, and engineering variants at $25 each or $50 for the set of three, with a bonus set of consoles for those who want the bundle. While I suppose that special perks, like the ability to separate the saucer section or launch fighter minipets are amusing, nothing seems that deficient about the baseline model. It's a cruiser, which is the ship class I wanted to fly anyway, it has a highly flexible officer layout with a Universal Lieutenant Commander slot, and it even has an special ability doubling the time players can spend in "slipstream drive", a sprint feature used to travel more quickly across the non-combat sector map.
I've been naming my ships PVD-1 through PVD-5, but I decided on a whim - since perhaps this ship will be with me for a while - to give this one a more proper name. So was christened the USS Faydwer, NCC-190312 (i.e. 19 March 2012). Time will tell what tales lie ahead for the ship and her crew.
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