Sick of elves, orcs and high fantasy?  Aliens, spaceships and warp drives got you down?  Normal people doing weird things bore you?  Would some good old-fashioned tank-based destruction liven this party up?  WarGaming.net certainly hopes so, because the company announced an all new F2P MMOG based on that very premise.

World of Tanks will band 30 players together and task them with achieving victory on the fields of PvP battle.  The game is to feature over 150 armored vehicles, ranging from slow, infantry supporting pre-WW2 tanks to the blitzkrieg machines of WW2 and the versatile war machines made up to and including the Korean War.  The vehicles come from the top three tank creators, the United States, Germany and Soviet Russia.

Fear not, you will not have to stick with just one mechanic means of destruction.  Players can house an “endless number” of vehicles in their garage, and all of them can be upgraded.  Turrets, chassis, guns, engines, radios, ammo types and even crew members can be upgraded.

Unlike WarGaming.net’s tactical Massive Assault Network, World of Tanks is set to offer fast-paced battles.  Modes include mini-campaigns steeped in history, tournaments, and massive Clan Wars (the end game) that span “hundreds of provinces.”

“A wise gentleman once observed that men had the same relationship to tanks, as women to SPA treatments: an all-eclipsing love, hardwired into the genes,” says Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net, “That’s why we are coming up with Panzer MMO.”

World of Tanks is expected to release in fall 2010.

Seems like some PR person realized how successful Global Agenda‘s marketing strategy was.

I’ve had my beef with many a company, from Comcast to Cryptic Studios, and there’s nothing I enjoy more than seeing these companies prove me wrong.  I don’t want the hassle of finding a new games, a cable provider or what have you.  I want the service provider in question to win me back.  Naturally, the best way to prevent me from getting upset with a company is to treat me, and the rest of the customers, right.  Offer us incentives to stay on board, give us information on upcoming products and keep us informed – even if it’s PR fluff.

That’s exactly what the maker of the recently launched Global Agenda did yesterday.  Even though the game has had a relatively smooth launch, Hi-Rez Studios is extending the free 30 days through March.  That’s your incentive.  Todd Harris followed that announcement up by explaining what’s in store for the Commonwealth’s immediate future.  Based upon early community feedback the company will be adding the following features by the end of February: a Friends/Ignore list, the ability to chosePvP queues, Repair Kits (gear is currently unrepairable), and new AvA zones timed for other time zones.

There’s many more issues that Hi-Rez has to deal with in the game – window mode optimization, being removed from missions on disconnects/crashes, thus losing XP, etc – but the communication so far has been superb.  Further ahead Hi-Rez promises additional content of all types (PvP, PvE, AvA), tweaks and overhauls to crafting, loot and prestige.

I mentioned in my “Champions Online" href="../2010/02/06/why-i-quit-champions-online/">Why I Quit Champions Online” post that I believe MMOG companies and players live in a symbiotic relationship.  By giving the companies money to fund the entertainment we want we are providing services to each other.  It’s still early, but Hi-Rez has my trust, and thus my money, for now.

Icarus Studios’ little experiment known as Fallen Earth, LLC, and its MMORPG Fallen Earth have been bumped up to version 1.3 today.  The developer continues to surprise the MMOG sector with Fallen Earth by putting out additional content quickly.  The new patch’s highlights include raising the level cap (only by one level), a new Sector Three base camp and a (much needed) revamp of the Sector One starter town area.

“Our goal for this project was to make gameplay more enticing and challenging for new Sector One players as well as our veterans in Sector Three who have reached level 45,” said Project Manager, Colin Dwan.

Dwan reveals that some of the content in the new patch acts as a setup for v1.4. “The purpose of Deadfall Point is to encourage players to assist in pushing back the radiation boundaries, acquiring access to the Deadfall territory, which mysteries will unravel later this year with patch v1.4,” said Dwan.

Patch v1.3, “the first of several developments planned for 2010,“ also includes some lesser additions, “more than a dozen new encounter areas and several creatures typically found in higher-level territories of Sectors Two and Three.”

Now is as good a time as any to sign-up for Fallen Earth’s 10-day free trial.

Ever wonder what it would be like to walk from a dinosaur-based zone to a moon colony without switching video games?  Well, that’s exactly the kind of crazy shenanigans that Lego Universe will allows players to participate in when it goes live.  If it’s in the Lego universe, then it will most likely make it to the MMORPG (licensed products not withstanding).

A Lego ID is required to sign-up for the Lego Universe beta, but the IDs are free, and even allow access to other Lego-based sites.  Head over to the beta sign-up page for further information on being one of the first to play with the multicolored blocks.  As with most beta sign-ups, your place in the game is far from guaranteed.

Lego Universe is being developed by NetDevil, makers of Jumpgate, Auto Assault and the upcoming Jumpgate Evolution, and is planned for release in Q2 2010.

[Update]

The site seems to have been hammered by all the excited gamers.  It keeps going up and down, much like the Myst Online sign-up page.

Reports of the demise of Cyan Worlds and Myst Online totally jumped the gun.  After laying off nearly all of its employees in 2005, and seeing Myst Online: Uru Live be taken offline in 2008, the company has returned with ownership of Myst Online.  Cyan Worlds has relaunched the title as Myst Online: ULagain (not a typo), and best of all is the price, free.

All of the Ages and most of Myst Online are now available on a server provided by Cyan Worlds.

The (incredibly difficult) puzzle and story driven game featuring robust atmospheres and an intricate story is available now for download.  Cyan hopes that it will be able to continue to produce further content through PayPal donations, although it does not require a cent to play.  Cyan Worlds has also released all of its tools under the open source model, asking players to play developer themselves.  There are no microtransactions currently planned.

Since the announcement the site has been bogged down by users creating new accounts, so the account creation system is currently down.  The developer is already working on the problem, and expect to have it fixed soon.  In the meantime, you can grab the client here.

I’ll definitely be jumping back in to Myst Online, if not to play, then at least to take a tour.

Even though I purchased the six month package for Champions Online I haven’t actively played the game in weeks.  I’ve kept the client up-to-date just in case, but since I reviewed Champions Online in mid-November I haven’t put in anywhere near the time that I had previously.  My absence from VioletPreston has nothing to do with being busy.  The holidays didn’t stop me from logging in, neither did other video games, or even other MMOG that I play.  I didn’t play Champions Online because of the game itself, no other excuses.

Plan and simple, Champions Online lost its hold on me.  I continued to dive into the game, move around the world, soak up the atmosphere, read about its future and most importantly, evaluate the content beyond my reach.  What I definitively learned, and I hope my review hinted at, is that the game lacks legs.  The atmosphere has always been incredibly disjointed thanks to the instancing of most zones.  Even though all of the settings make sense in the universe, they lack a cohesive flow.  And the multitude of characters aren’t employed effectively either. Because of these continued slip-ups through the middle to later levels, Champions Online gets boiled down to its diverse arcade-y combat.  In essence, it becomes a soulless experience.

Signing up for an MMOG to me is more than just playing a game, I am signing up as a partner to the company.  I expect certain things from the service provider, and when I don’t see those things I can get upset, annoyed and even downright angry.  Cryptic Studios has managed to make me feel almost all of these emotions.  I was expecting the cast of Champions characters to be used in an intriguing way.  I was hoping that the game would offer better grouping and dungeon experiences later on.  I maintained a desire to play alternate characters (perhaps CO’s greatest strength), but was hamstrung by being forced to do the same content over and over.  Instead of fixing these issues with content updates, Cryptic turned around and announced a premium content patch.  Adding content to the end game and charging for it – that was the last straw for me.

The tragedy of all of this is that my experience has made me incredibly stand-offish to Cryptic’s just released MMORPG Star Trek Online, a title I was originally excited for.  I’ll likely play it, but my experience and the handling of Champions Online to date, assured that I wouldn’t purchase an advance subscription, or even the game at launch.

My Champions Online account is subscribed for another month plus, so Cryptic can do right by me.  But the outlook is grime for my Champions Online characters.  It just couldn’t satisfy me in the long run.

Today’s the official launch of Global Agenda, and what better way to get in the mood for some commonwealth destruction than an in-depth Global Agenda interview with the developers.  The two part interview covers lore, how players can be written into the game, game mechanics – including the lack of a headshot bonus, class decisions, and subscription options.

I was doing some house cleaning the other day, and I came across a few items that I’ve decided to give away.  My WoW TCG loot code giveaway via Twitter worked pretty well, so I’ve decided to follow that model.  During the course of this week I will be giving away a few items from various trade shows that I’ve attended.

Any players of interested in some in-game exclusives for Warhammer Online or Fallen Earth should follow iTZKooPA to be notified of the giveaways shortly before they happen.  The items codes are first come, first serve, so get those fingers ready.  Please @iTZKooPA when you claim a prize so everyone knows.

Actually, I’ll start the giveaway right now to benefit the RSS subscribers.  Here’s a Fallen Earth code for Brass Goggles: 72B5-56D2-7CAF

After the collapse of Flagship Studios in late 2008, the company’s pseudo-MMOG Hellgate: London had its servers shutdown by Namco-Bandai in February 2009.  HanbitSoft, the game’s Korean publisher, continued to run the game in Korea under the free-to-play model, later purchasing the intellectual property outright.

Shortly after the acquisition, HanbitSoft rechristened the title with an apt name, Hellgate: Resurrection, and promised to re-launch the title internationally.  HanbitSoft itself was then purchased by T3 Entertainment, who assured players that the game would still be returning.  Going so far as to promise its own development power to create an expansion, Hellgate: Tokyo.

Now you’re caught up on the situation of Bill Roper’s gig before Champions Online.

/me wipes brow

HanbitSoft announced a few days ago that Hellgate: Resurrection is still coming to North America, Europe and Japan, but a release in China and Southeast Asia are the first targets.  Hellgate: Resurrection continues to be F2P in Korea, and it’s likely that the game will remain that way for its upcoming re-releases.

In case you are wondering, HanbitSoft also owns Mythos, Flagship Studios’ other project.

 Global Agenda doesn’t actually launch until the beginning of February, but I received a nice treat in the mail the other week, the Limited Edition.  It’s not because I am some well known blogger, on a special list, or friendly with the developer.  The reason I received the game nearly two weeks before the servers go live is just because Hi-Rez Studios is smart.

Hi-Rez has spearheaded a multitude of issues by delivering the game to players early – I am not the only one to have the game in hand.  The most obvious is that the arrival of the game itself, and all of the extras included within, will create a bit of (hopefully positive) media buzz ahead of the official release.  That’s something all video games would enjoy.  The inclusion of beta access in the box only adds to this.  While waiting for the live servers I’ve taken the opportunity to get a handful of hours in with each character class.  Sure, I could have done that as part of the beta that’s been running, but I didn’t bother until the game was in hand for some reason.

Speaking of the beta process, I think it’s safe to assume that the developer is watching who’s in the beta, who’s a pre-orderer and who went from beta to having a purchased copy.  By doing so the company could estimate how many players are signing up for the game, as opposed to being beta participants.  Thus extrapolating what kind of server load can be expected on February 1, 2010.  Hopefully this negates any over or underpopulated server issues that can decimate a game’s launch.

Being ready for that fateful day may be the best perk of all.  By having the game already installed, patched and ready to go, everyone should be on the same playing field.  No shipping delays, missed UPS delivery persons or other shenanigans to force your friends to leave you behind, never to catch up.

/me cleans his gun, readies his jetback and polishes his mines in anticipation.

It’d be nice to see other MMOG getting in our hands a few days early, don’t you think?