Tag Archives: MMO

Train2Game News: MMOs represent “toughest part of the game industry” says SWTOR lead designer

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MMOs are the most difficult genre for game developers to be successful in. That’s the view of Star Wars: The Old Republic associate lead designer Emmanuel Lusinchi.

“The MMO is the toughest part of the game industry without a doubt and we live in tough economic times in general,” he told PC Gamer.

“We have a very large development team still, definitely one of the biggest in the industry, and we have a very complete and detailed plan for the rest of the year.” the BioWare man continued.

“The players don’t really care about all that, behind closed curtains, but they want what they’re paying for which is a service with new content, new systems, that’s what they’re asking for and we listen to them. That’s what we mean to deliver.” he added.

Train2Game spoke to Emmanuel Lusinchi last year, in an in-depth discussion which covered development of Star Wars: The Old Republic, what his role as associate lead designer involves, and advice on getting into the games industry. Read it here on The Train2Game Blog.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest Star Wars: The Old Republic news.

Do you agree with Lusinchi about MMOs being the hardest games to develop? That said, would you like to work on one in future?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: Guild Wars 2 beta tests taken “very seriously in terms of development strategy”

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Beta tests are very important when it comes to deciding development strategy for Guild Wars 2. So says ArenaNet lead producer Chris Whiteside on the announcement of a second beta test weekend for the upcoming MMO.

Guild Wars 2 beta weekend 2 takes place from Friday 8th June to Sunday 10th June for those who’ve pre-ordered the game.

“Your participation is even more important when you consider that we take our beta events very seriously in terms of our development strategy.” wrote Whiteside on the ArenaNet blog announcement, detailing the ways it helps game development.

“At ArenaNet, “beta event” means exactly that—it’s a development-centric event in which we test our systems, discover new and exciting bugs, and get pivotal feedback from our testers about what is going in the right direction and what isn’t.” he continued.

“We have listened intently to all of your feedback from our first Beta Weekend Event, and we’ve made great strides toward resolving many of the issues you’ve helped us identify. These include party movement into overflow servers, chat functionality, key bindings, server stability, performance, and many more that we will detail in the near future.” added the Guild Wars 2 lead producer.

There’s more about the next Guild Wars 2 beta event over on the ArenaNet blog.

There’s more beta testing news, and information on how it’s useful to developers and Train2Game students, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on ArenaNet’s view on beta testing? Will you be taking part in the Guild Wars 2 beta weekend?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game News: World of Warplanes closed beta begins 31st May

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Train2Game students can apply to take part in the World of Warplanes closed beta which begins on Thursday 31st May.

World of Warplanes is a flight combat MMO from Wargaming.net, the developer of the popular free-to-play title World of Tanks.

World of Warplanes”will feature a wide range of warbirds, each of them unique in their effectiveness and behavior. Virtual pilots will choose from three main warplane classes — single-engine light fighters capable of engaging enemies in close dogfights, heavy fighters with their deadly straight attacks, and ground-attack aircraft, the fearsome threat for ground targets.”

Train2Game students interested in applying to take part in the World of Warplanes closed beta can sign up on the official website.

Get a taste of World of Warplanes in the teaser trailer below.

For more on beta testing, how it’s useful for Train2Game students, and opportunities to get involved with it, keep reading the Train2Game blog.

Will you apply to take part in the World of Warplanes beta? Are you a fan of World of Tanks?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Free-to-play “the only sustainable option” for MMOs say Turbine

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Train2Game Blog readers will have noticed how many MMOs have switched from being subscription based to a free-to-play model, including Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeon and Dragons Online.

And Turbine has told games.on.net that free-to-play might now be the only sustainable model for MMOs.

“The great thing about F2P is that it makes it a lot easier for players to check out the game or even come and go from another game,” said the unnamed interviewee.

“We continue to have hundreds of thousands of players in DDO every month and I doubt that could be the case if we were in a classic subscription model. It also allows different players to spend more or less in the game and everyone can contribute to the community in different ways and we can focus on improving the service for everyone. Overall it was and continues to be a great change for our game.”

“Is it sustainable? We would argue that it might be the only sustainable option.” they added.

Of course, the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic and the continued success of World of Warcraft suggests there’s still some life in subscription MMOs yet.

There’s on free-to-play here on The Train2Game Blog.

What do you think is the future for MMOs? Will everything end up free-to-play? Or will there still be a demand for subscription based games?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Free-to-play shooter Tribes: Ascend gains over 800,000 players

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Train2Game students were among those that took place in the open beta for Tribes: Ascend, a multiplayer shooter from Hi-Rez Studios.

The free-to-play title officially launched on 12th April, and in just over 2 weeks has acquired over 800,000 players.  The figure was revealed to Gamasutra by Hi-Rez Studios COO Todd Harris.  The game lets players use experience or gold to unlock items.

Tribes: Ascend is downloadable for free here.

The impressive figures are yet another example of how the increasingly popular free-to-play model can result in success for game developers. Indeed, as recently reported by The Train2Game Blog, research suggests that 40% of free-to-play users purchase in-game items.

Earlier this year, Brawl Busters developer Rock Hippo told The Train2Game Blog that free-to-play allows them to reach a much larger audience.

There’s more about free-to-play and its impact on the games industry, here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on the initial numbers for Tribes: Ascend? Have you played the game? If so, what do you think?

Leave your comments on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Star Wars: The Old Republic gains 1.7 million subscribers in first month

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Star Wars The Old Republic Train2Game blog imageTrain2Game Blog readers will have seen plenty of recent posts about MMO’s going free-to-play, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for subscription based titles.

The Evidence? BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic has gained 1.7 million paying subscribers in the little over a month since the game launched.

The figures were revealed during an EA investors meeting, with other data including Star Wars: The Old Republic sees over one million unique log ins per day, with the average play session around the four hour mark.

“This great launch makes Star Wars: The Old Republic the fastest growing subscription MMO in history” EA CEO John Riccitiello is quoted by Develop in telling investors.

“We’re incredibly pleased to see this great game from BioWare off to a very strong start,” he added.

The Train2Game Blog spoke with BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka & Dr. Greg Zeschuk about the history of their studio  and how to get into the games industry towards the end of last year.

We also spoke in-depth to Star Wars: The Old Republic Associate Lead Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi during our trip to Gamescom last August. Train2Game students can find out the design process behind the MMO in this huge Train2Game Blog interview.

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news on Star Wars: The Old Republic and BioWare.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts on the initial success of SWTOR? Are you a paying subscriber? Will the success last?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Develop/Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: Star Trek Online is the latest MMO to go free-to-play

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Train2Game Blog readers may have read this piece earlier this week which argued that free-to-play games gives gamers a better experience than a subscription based MMO.

It’s timely then that now Star Trek Online from Cryptic Studios is the latest MMO to switch to the free-to-play model.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” said Cryptic Studios CEO “Anyone can download and play Star Trek Online at no cost. There’s no better way to see how sitting in the captain’s chair feels.”

Train2Game students who want to check out Star Treck Online now it’s free-to-play can do so here.

Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online and DC Universe Online are among a number of previously subscription based titles that have made a leap to free-to-play.

Last week, the Train2Game Blog reported that Ubisoft believe their upcoming free-to-play title Ghost Recon online will be AAA quality.

For the latest news about industry trends, including free-to-play, keep reading The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, will you be giving Star Trek Online a go? Or are too many MMOs going free-to-play?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: Free-to-play can “give your consumers a better experience”

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Train2Game students will have noticed the increasing trend for developers to use a free-to-play model in games.

Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online and DC Universe Online are among a number of previously subscription based titles that have made a leap to free-to-play.

And in his latest column for Gamasutra, games industry analyst Nicholas Lovell argues that this free-to-play model is better both for both consumers and developers.

“By enabling free-to-play games that allow people to play cool games for free, forever and choose – flexibly, with no commitment – to spend a little money or a lot of money on things that they value in the game, I believe that you give your consumers a better experience and make more money than you would with subscriptions.” said Lovell, who has previously spoken to The Train2Game Blog about industry trends including the free-to-play model.

He also did a video interview with Train2Game at The Eurogamer Expo, which can be seen here.

Lovell added that the rise of free-to-play means Star Wars: The Old Republic will be the last big subscription based MMO.

“I think that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be the last, massive, subscription MMO because new models have been proven to be better business, especially for games with a niche audience.” he said.

Last week, the Train2Game Blog reported that Ubisoft believe their upcoming free-to-play title Ghost Recon online will be AAA quality.

For the latest news about industry trends, including free-to-play, keep reading The Train2Game Blog.

So Train2Game, what are your thoughts? Is free-to-play better for both game developers and consumers? Is it a model you’d use?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Gamasutra]

Train2Game news: MMO Glitch goes back to beta testing

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Train2Game students may not have heard of Glitch, the casual MMO from Tiny Speck, but they’ve done something rather interesting with the games’ development.

Two months after Glitch was officially launched, it’s gone back into beta after Tiny Speck decided the game needed “radical changes”

“Two months ago we launched Glitch to the world. Now we’re unlaunching it,” said Stewart Butterfield, co-founder of Tiny Speck.

“There are two obvious and huge improvements we need to make: the first is to make the early game reveal itself more easily to new players so they can get into the fun faster.”

According to Butterfield, the second major change needed is to make it easier for players to create levels and buildings.

“Some fairly radical changes to core game mechanics are going to be necessary to make Glitch what it needs to be. And making radical changes to core game mechanics is something that’s a lot harder to do while the front doors are open,” he said.

For more detailed reasons as to why Glitch, the MMO which “takes place inside the minds of eleven peculiarly imaginative Giants,” is going back into beta, see the Glitch blog.

More information about beta testing, it’s importance to game development and how it’s useful to Train2Game students, is available on the Train2Game blog.

So Train2Game, what do you make of Glitch going back into beta? Is it a bold move for Tiny Speck? Or should the game have been more thoroughly tested before release?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

Train2Game news: There will always be subscription based MMOs say Star Wars: The Old Republic devs Bioware

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Train2Game students may be aware that many MMO titles are switching to a free-to-play model, one wherein revenue is made by microtransactions rather than monthly subscription fees.

However, while many games in the genre are going free-to-play, the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic – scheduled for release in December – is going to stick to the traditional pay monthly model.

And while many developers are switching to free-to-play, SWTOR developers Bioware believe that gamers will always be willing to pay a subscription fee for a quality product.

“I think there will always be a place for premium content at a premium price and that’s one of the differences,” Bioware co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Industry Gamers.

“Free to play is very much about trial, about ‘Hey, I don’t know what this is, I don’t have confidence that it’s any good, but I’m willing to take a look at it,’ versus ‘I know this is good, from a trusted source, and it’s the biggest license in the world.’ So it’s a different value proposition,” he said.

Fellow Bioware co-founder Ray Muzyka believes that increased competition from free-to-play titles is good for the games industry.

“There’s more competition for entertainment dollars now than ever before from social and play for free, and all sorts of entertainment, which I think is actually really healthy from an entertainment industry perspective”

However, he agrees with Zeschuk in that the subscription model will remain popular, but the games have to be worth it.

“But I agree with Greg that there’s a space for a certain number of premium products that are subscription based or whatever the premium pricing model is. But they have to merit it, they have to earn that from a consumer trust perspective and delivering and exceeding expectations.” said Muzyka.

Of course, he believes that Star Wars: The Old Republic is one of these games.

“I think The Old Republic is definitely in that triple-A premium category. That’s the feedback reading from the players and data testing.”

Earlier this week, the Train2Game blog reported on the importance of playtesting in the development of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

For an in-depth look at the development of SWTOR, read the Train2Game interview with Associate Lead Game Designer Emmanuel Lusinchi

So Train2Game, do you believe the subscription model for MMO still has a future ahead of it? Or will free-to-play titles become the dominant force?

Leave your comments here on the Train2Game blog, or on the Train2Game forum.

[Source: Industry Gamers]