Posts Tagged ‘all points bulletin’

Realtime Worlds’ Creditors Put Out APB On Developer

17 August 2010 | No Comments » | iTZKooPA

Last week, rumors began to circulate that Realtime Worlds, developer of  Crackdown and All Points Bulletin was in a wee bit of trouble.  Actually, the rumors indicated that the company was in dire straits, laying off all of its employees for newly announced MMOG MyWorld and cutting dozens from other projects.  The gossip also whispered that All Points Bulletin, the just-released, open-world, player-created content MMOG would be put up for sale.

We laid off the report after reading a statement from the company addressing the concerns.  In short, the company stated that “we had to restructure the company to make it so that we can focus totally on APB. APB is still going strong and we fully intend to support 100%.”  Some MyWorld employees had been laid off, but the company said the APB staff was untouched and that development would continue.

Someone was blowing smoke, because GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that the company has indeed entered Administration Mode.  That’s not some kickass multiplayer mode or debug menu.  It means that the company is now legally allowed to duck calls from creditors as it attempts to right a sinking ship.

Begbies-Traynor Group is advising the restructuring process and is expected to release a full statement later today.

I guess the character creation and customization wasn’t enough gameplay to keep the game from hemorrhaging subscribers.  Or to get them to pay for “action” time.

Snarky comments aside, our hearts go out to those that have lost their jobs.

Lore Hound MMOcast 14: Betas are Underhanded Demos

17 July 2010 | 4 Comments » | LHStaff

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Join iTZKooPA, Amatera, and Juggynaut as they discuss the latest news in the MMOG world. Topics for the week include:

  • League of Legends Season One Is Upon Us
  • Fallen Earth July State of the Game
  • Jagex, the creator of RuneScape, announced Stellar Dawn, a browser-based sci-fi MMOG. Closed beta apps now accepted. 2011 release date, no details announced.
  • Star Trek Online Season Two previewed
  • “Rumor” has it that STO is going to join DDO and LotRO in going from premium to free-to-play.
  • CCP, EVE Online developer, doesn’t mind if Dust 514 has an anemic launch.
  • APB overhauling key aspects of “action” gameplay.
  • Discussion (inspired by KIASA): When in beta or alpha, do you believe the developers actually heed many community concerns? What about after the game goes live?

Click the player above to listen, download the podcast, subscribe via RSS, or subscribe on iTunes.

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All Points Bulletin Beta Key Giveaway on Curse

16 June 2010 | 3 Comments » | Heartbourne

Interested in trying out All Points Bulletin, for free, and live in North America? The beta has been online for a while now, but now is a great time to jump in with an easy sign-up program from Curse.com. Just head over to Curse and request a key before they run out (they are at 47% as of the time of writing this post).

Curse highlights the following features:

  • Experience fast-paced third-person action in a persistent online multiplayer world
  • Earn money, clothing, weapons, and cars as you play
  • Customize your character to achieve a unique look
  • Master the radically different styles of gameplay; Criminal and Enforcer
  • Gain real-life celebrity through in-game displays of your characters and designs
  • Become known as San Paro’s premier car thief, clothing designer, “death theme” musician, or assassin.

More on Character Creation: When the Creation IS the Gameplay

14 June 2010 | 1 Comment » | pixiestixy

Character customization seems to be a hot topic here on Lore Hound as of late. In the week before last’s MMO Cast, my fellow Lore Hounds and I were discussing the topic — how important it is to the game, what level of customization should be required, etc (hear the full conversation in Episode 10 of the MMO cast). Then, in the past week we’ve seen some awesome videos showing the customization options for FFXIV and All Points Bulletin.

Well, I have a confession to make. During the podcast, I had a fabulous example of a game that gives a huge amount of freedom when creating a playable character, but I failed to give it.

Partially, this was because I was second-guessing which game it was that I was recalling, but also because it’s an example that highlights the absolute girliest side of my personality — which I don’t mind doing from time to time, but I don’t want that to be my cliche, either. Anyhow, iTZKooPA, in particular, seemed to love my example, so I thought others out there in the Lore Hound nether might, as well.

This particular example comes from beyond the realm of MMOGs, or even RPGs. Two summers ago, Soul Calibur IV (I played the PS3 version) rocked my world with its extraordinary character customization features. The player controlled everything — hair style, body features, height, clothing, weapon (and therefore fighting style). And of course, the colors of each custom feature also could be completely overhauled to your liking.

Read on for more on this delicate balance between customization and gameplay.

Continue Reading

All Points Bulletin Character (and Other) Creation: Badass.

12 June 2010 | 3 Comments » | pixiestixy

My fellow Lore Hound, Heartbourne, tipped me off about this awesome BFF Report episode posted this week on ZAM. In the video, host Mike B shows a whole bunch of customization options from the beta version of All Points Bulletin. Now to be honest, I didn’t know much about the MMO-FPS, or think I would really care, until seeing this video. The customization options look brilliant, and as he concludes, it looks like the best customization options available in ANY MMO today.

iTZKooPA already gave us some great analysis and description on his own run through and opinions for the options back at PAX East, and now we have some video visuals to back that up.

Look for yourself and let us know what you think. Also, check back in a few days for more analysis on character customization and how it effects our in-game experience.

Unusual Pricing Model For All Points Bulletin; Release Date & Pre-Order Incentives Inside

3 May 2010 | 3 Comments » | iTZKooPA

In the early days of the Internet nerds were actually charged per hour for access to the tubes.  Some of you were probably still having your diapers changed when this occurred (looking at you, Heartbourne).  Me, well, I was beginning to realize that girls don’t have cooties!  I digress.  A paradigm shift in Internet monetization happened thanks companies like CompuServe and AOL.  These start-ups began offering a bajillion free hours of usage as incentive.  Finally, the numbers were trashed and the service became unlimited, but with a monthly cost.  This is the same format that many MMOGs have used since the ‘internet’ stopped being a capitalized word.

Everyone (in the West) was happy with a subscription model initially.  Then more publishers and developers began paying attention to the lucrative genre.  As time has rolled on, additional companies have attempted to make a mark, from AAA endeavors to niche games with dedicated fans.  Us consumers began having to make hard choices.  Do we subscribe to MMOG A or MMOG B?  Both?  But then we run the risk of not getting our “worth” from the subscription fees.  What to do…

Electronic Arts and Realtime Worlds is taking the high ground for All Points Bulletin.  Subscription-minded players can do just that for only $9.99 a month (discounts for three and six month packages).  Interested in making APB your second, or third MMOG?  Then the pay-as-you-go method is for you.  Additional 20 hours chunks will run players $6.99.

APB will not offer 30 days of free play.  Realtime Worlds changes the payment game again by including 50 hours of “action game time” as part of the initial purchase.  That’d be your questing, maiming, murdering and bounty-hunting time.  Taking a page out of Global Agenda’s book, the customization and social aspects described in the PAX East preview are free, forever. It looks like we’re finally seeing a divergence arise in payment structures for mass-market MMOG, niche and AAA alike.

APB will be available June 29. Early adopters receive a bonus ten hours of action play, access to pre-launch events and exclusives emotes, decals, clothing, even a vehicle.  Beta sign-ups are still open.  APB is available for pre-order at Amazon now.

Tempted by having options and the segregation of content?

Rumor Barn: 2K Planning Bioshock MMO

14 April 2010 | No Comments » | Amatera

I can't wait to play a tank in Bioshock Online!

As far as secret sources go, this is about as mysterious as you can get, so break out your shaker of Morton’s. But upon consulting one of their very own “Deep Throats,” Destructoid learned of a rather interesting rumor: 2K Games may be developing an MMO set in the Bioshock universe.

Now, normally I wouldn’t report on something like this, because to anyone who has actually played Bioshock, the idea seems absolutely preposterous. In fact, though I align myself with those who enjoyed it, there are still plenty of fans out there who feel the sequel was unnecessary, let alone some crazy-sounding bollocks like this.  But it got me thinking, wondering how could something of this sort actually work? Is there enough meat left on the bones of Rapture to create something of this scope and magnitude?

Let’s rap for a second. What’s in the game already? You’ve got your classes (varieties of Splicers, Big Daddies, possibly “normal” humans from the surface), you’ve got your selection of special abilities (Plasmids), talent trees (Gene Bank), professions (hacking), resurrection points (Vita Chambers), and so on. Of course, many of these elements are simply part and parcel of the action-adventure genre these days. What game doesn’t feature some latent RPG or character-building aspect to keep players hooked? And even if the parts are there, that doesn’t mean that they would necessarily fit into the same framework as a game like World of Warcraft.

I mean, Rapture’s a big city, and you could easily make the different districts into neatly-crafted zones, but it just reaches a point where that’s not enough. Most of the city is in complete disrepair and its been almost completely destroyed several times. To grow over time, an MMO needs space to breathe, and I don’t think there’s any left in this air-tight metropolis.

Of course, MMO doesn’t have to mean MMORPG. Continue Reading

The Lore Hound “Other MMO” Podcast: Episode 1

3 April 2010 | 4 Comments » | LHStaff

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That’s right, this week we have not one, but two podcasts for you. We decided to split up the content and let listeners pick what they want, so listen up this week as the Lore Hounds launch the “other” MMO podcast by chatting about a bunch of MMO news from tons of games including Global Agenda, Stargate Resistance, Final Fantasy XIV, APB, and Fallen Earth. Check out the new format and let us know what you think!

Click the player above to listen, download the podcast, or subscribe via RSS, and leave a comment to let us know how you liked it!