Issue 3
Here are the latest MMO rumblings. This week is short but with the huge uproar over Real ID I felt it was time to send out the latest details from this week. enjoy.
Real ID – Is It The WoW-Killer? [UPDATED]
If you are a avid Blizzard gamer you have probably heard about the latest controversary to hit the internet. Blizzard announced that a new forums system will be released with StarCraft II, and ultimately with Cataclysm, that will display your full first and last name on all forums associated with Blizzard’s respective games. There is pandimonium running amuck. Here are a variety of links.
UPDATE: When I first wrote this the Real ID on the forums was still a reality, now that I am on the verge of posting this week’s email, a recent post has unveiled that Blizzard has backed down on this issue. I kept the original posts at the bottom for prosterity but also below is the link to the wow.com article which shows Michael Morheim’s offical response and retraction.
Blizzard Backs Down: http://www.wow.com/2010/07/09/mike-morhaime-real-names-will-not-be-required-on-official-forum/#continued
Official Announcement: http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/official-forum-changes-real-life-names-to-be-displayed/
Blizzard’s Responses: http://www.wow.com/2010/07/06/blizzards-responses-on-the-real-id-situation/
Massively’s Response: http://www.massively.com/2010/07/07/the-daily-grind-real-id-do-we-finally-have-our-wow-killer/
Another MMO Goes F2P
There is a new MMO called Monato Esprit, a game I have not heard of, but I only mention this post/link because its another example of another MMO switching to the Free-2-Play paradigm. The increasing trend definitely foreshadows an interesting future for MMO games.
http://www.massively.com/2010/07/06/monato-esprit-switches-to-a-traditional-free-to-play-model/
Areia Games Announces Legendary Champions MMO
Areia Games has released details of a new MMO coming out this summer. It is called Legendary Champions. Apparently its PvP heavy and your characters are famous figures from history. Below is the link to the Massively article and a link to the game website.
http://www.massively.com/2010/07/07/aeria-games-announces-newest-mmo/
http://legendarychampions.aeriagames.com/
SWTOR Uses Combat AI
This is a really interesting Hypterspace Beacon post (on Massively) about Bioware’s “Combat AI” in The Old Republic. The concept seems to be going over really well among fans that are in the alpha release of the game. See below for the link to the Massively article.
http://www.massively.com/2010/07/08/star-wars-the-old-republic-impresses-fans-with-combat-ai/