mo mo's Podcast

Interview Between MMORPG and MapleStory Maker
Carolyn Koh from MMORPG.com dropped by the studios of Nexon America, the makers of MapleStory on E3. They talked about the success of MapleStory and the most recent update.

Founded in 2005, Nexon America’s first launched title was the very popular MapleStory, which is recognized as the most successful Korean MMORPG to be ported to the US market. MapleStory boasts 72+ million users worldwide and in the US alone, it gained over 2 million registered users in the first year. MapleStory is a free to play game that monetizes by micro-transactions. You can buy consumables as well as cosmetic items and one of the most popular items in their item mall is a 2x XP card. Yes, some people just love that leveling treadmill!

Nexon America is in Los Angeles, and they were kind enough to invite me to meet with them at their studio. I first met with Nexon America’s Director of Games Operations, Min Kim at the Ion Conference where he was on a panel moderated by Jason Wonacott titled: Creating a Global Marketplace for MMOGs: Can East and West Really Play Together? MapleStory is THE game that made Western game developers take a second look at a business model other than the monthly subscription. With some one on one time during E3, I was able to ask the question I’ve always wanted to ask. Why is the game called MapleStory? Both Min and Product Coordinator, Sheloman Byrd had different stories.
"Back in the mists of time…" started Min, "Long, long ago, in a galaxy far, far… oops, wrong story…" said Sheloman. After we stopped laughing, the truth came out. Nobody really knows. The favorite reasons for the name lies between someone liking the Maple Leaf and the availability of the domain. Although Sheloman assured me that in the lore, there really is a Tree of Life that is the Center of the Universe, and that the American team has put in items such as maple syrup and maple leaves.
"We just like to confuse people," Min quipped, tongue in cheek. "We call Sheloman a Product Coordinator – that’s equivalent to Producer in other game companies."

MapleStory is targeted at the teen market, but in Taiwan it attracted the elementary market, and in the US, it resonates with the older teen crowd. Their main demographic is 17 – 18 year olds. I've asked Min before why MapleStory was so popular in the US when so many Korean MMOGs have failed. He often laughs and says he doesn’t know, but the more he elaborates, the more information we receive. When it was launched in 2005, there were few competing products. Then, also, they had Nexon America and a localization team. MapleStory is whimsical, fantastic and very much about Pop Culture. In America, that's American Pop Culture.

"MapleStory was created as the ultimate avatar customization game," said Min, "and the fact that it’s free to play really had something to do with it." True enough, most teens have little disposable income, but plenty of time. MapleStory's financial success can be firmly pinned on the launch of the pre-paid card in 2007. In keeping with their motto that they are a service company, MapleStory is heavy with live events, quests, content releases and special events are created around special days such as Valentine's day, Halloween, Saint Patrick's day, 4th of July and the like. For the launch of the pre-paid card, there were two in-game quests that showed players where the cards were available. Seven Elevens and Target department stores were created for those quests...

Full article here

Turbine and WarnerBros cooperate for LOTRO: Mines of Moria
Recently, Turbine has announced the partnership between Warner Brothers and Turbine, Interactive Entertainment for distribution of The LOTRO: Mines of Moria, the first expansion for the award-winning title which recently celebrated it's first anniversary.

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WESTWOOD, MA – July 31, 2008 - Turbine, Inc. announced today its partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to distribute The Lord of the Rings Online™: Mines of Moria™ in North America. As part of the announcement, Turbine unveiled its fall product lineup which includes two titles that will be available at retail, The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Complete Edition and The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Collector’s Edition, as well as a digital only title for existing subscribers, The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Digital Expansion.

“We are excited to self publish The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria and to partner with Warner Bros. to distribute the title at retail this fall,” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “Mines of Moria introduces breakthrough content and features including our Legendary Item system that will revolutionize the way players advance and customize their unique heroes.”

The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria expands the online world of Middle-earth™ to let players continue the ultimate interactive adventure in the largest and most dangerous online underground environment ever created. Players will be able to explore the ancient underground cities of the dwarves, battle epic characters in the depths, face off with the Watcher, be a part of the fateful release of Durin’s Bane and more. In addition to the Legendary Item system, The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria features groundbreaking dual height map technology that creates a seamless, vast, and epic environment that brings Moria to life like never before. The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria extends the challenge to new heights with two new classes, ten additional levels and hundreds of new quests.

“Turbine has an impressive track record of creating and publishing high quality massively multiplayer online games,” said John Quinn, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “We look forward to working with Turbine and we will leverage our experience in distributing successful premium titles with the launch of The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria this fall.”

Check out more for newly released concept art and more content of this

WOW, Starcraft, Diablo Bring Great Achievements
According to a report on MTV Multiplayer, Blizzard is planning a new “Blizzard Accounts” system that will allow players to have a single identity across the company’s entire new games portfolio.

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When I spoke with lead “World of Warcraft” designer Jeff Kaplan yesterday about the game’s new Achievement system, he revealed that eventually players will have a Blizzard Account that shows Achievements from other Blizzard games they’ve played, including the upcoming titles “Diablo III” and “StarCraft II.”

“Eventually, our plans are for the Achievement system to become an account-based system,” he explained.

When the new Blizzard Accounts are active, a player’s ‘WoW’ points can be added to an overall score dubbed an account holder’s “Blizzard Level.” “It’s basically a gamerscore,” Kaplan said, when I made reference to Xbox Live’s Achievement system. “For now the points are just a ‘WoW’ character score. As we graduate to that Blizzard Account system, which is right on the horizon, it will switch over to a Blizzard Level.”

He added, “Your ‘WoW’ score would be just one factor that will go into your Blizzard Level. And rather than call it a ’score,’ we just wanted it to be like you’re leveling up on Blizzard games… You’ll have this Blizzard identity, and you’ll be able to see things like ‘Oh, this guy was great at Diablo III, but he never played Starcraft and he was mediocre in WoW.’ That sort of thing.”...

Source and full article on multiplayerblog.

AOC Stole Blizzard's WOW Players?
There is an article posted on Edge Online, that is about Activision Blizzard earnings call on last Thursday. Recently, in an Activision conference call Blizzard let flow some figures of their own in regards to AoC's subscribers.

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Blizzard president Mike Morhaime commented during an Activision Blizzard earnings call on Thursday,

"Age of Conan released with some initial success a couple of months ago, and we did see some of our players leave to try the game. However, we've seen about 40 percent of those players return to World of Warcraft."

In about a month's worth of time, Funcom's Age of Conan garnered 700,000 subscribers, according to the developer.

Morhaime said that players that leave WoW are often drawn back because of the content and service that Blizzard provides.

"Any massively multiplayer online game that launches today isn't just competing with the amount and breadth of content that we launched with back in 2004," Morhaime stated.

It also be supposed during the conference that another factor which brings many of the lost players back into Blizzard's grasp should be the launch of WotLK between October and December.

Read full article on Edge Online.

WOW is Behind the Lotro on PC Game Top 100
The folks over at PC Gamer have released the PC Gamer Readers' Top 100 site. And they have launched their online voting system to find out which are the top 100 games of all time.

Several of Codemasters' games have made the shortlist including The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Operation Flashpoint, DiRT, Race Driver GRID and Overlord. Half-Life 2 stands on the top, and the secondly is The Lord of the Rings Online, the World of Warcraft is behind the LOTRO that stands on the third.

Now we can see, the LOTRO is currently ahead of the mighty WoW so if you fancy helping keeping it above that behemoth, and if you'd like to go and make your vote count for your other favourites, then head on over to the PC Gamer Top 100 site and vote now. By the way, on this site you can vote without register.

WOW WofLK: WOW Insider New Discovery
WOW Inside news said that they found the familiar faces in Wrath of the Lich King. Details is as below:

While Northrend is a distant and strange land, there are a few friendly and familiar faces in Wrath to ease our pain. These range from joke appearances to lighten the mood, or more serious storylines being continued from WOW Classic and the Burning Crusade.

These familiar faces are spread all throughout Northrend, and we've collected a lot of them in a gallery for you to look through. A few of the returning characters are missing from the gallery for various reasons (like turning in an unfinished quest despawning all NPCs in the area) but we'll get those when we can, too. There's plenty of spoilers in this gallery, though not many of them are massive plot points. Still, if you want everything to remain a secret, I'd be careful.

Oh, before all of you spam the comments about it, no I did not forget 'the Scourge.' I thought that was a little obvious. Also, there are two massive zones and numerous dungeons not yet implemented. There are probably way, way more to come. We haven't seen Sylvanas yet.

Source here. Other links on Thepowerlevel:

WOW-EU Gold WOW-EU Powerleveling

WOW-US Gold WOW-US Powerleveling

Jay Leno in the Warhammer Online Greenskins
An article that is about the Warhammer Online Greenskins posted on Massively.com. Do you think Jay Leno really prefer being a Gobbo in Warhammer Online or is it just that Gobbos are the only ones with big chins? Let's read the details as following:

On first seeing this video, we're not entirely sure what to think. Does Jay Leno really prefer being a Gobbo in Warhammer Online or is it just that Gobbos are the only ones with big chins? We're guessing it's the chin. You're probably rightfully wondering why Warhammer Online is appearing on The Tonight Show. Well you're not alone. Our only guess would be that this is some sort of preemptive strike at cultural relevance before the game is even out. Everyone knows that once a game has cultural relevance it's just a matter of time until those subscription numbers start falling from the sky like nerdy rain.

It's also probable that this is just an honest-to-goodness case of The Tonight Show taking an interest in Warhammer Online. Paul Barnett is there on that video doing his "Crazy Englishman on Crack" bit that we love him for doing. Either way, it's a baffling video to watch and you'll probably find your palm firmly pressed against your face by the end of its short duration. It's after the cut, for those of you brave enough to watch it.

Source here.

Codemasters Have Released Damnation trailer!
Codemasters, a developer and worldwide publisher of entertainment software appealing to all ages and interests. The Archlord is their product. Recently, Codemasters announced that they had released the first trailer for Damnation. Details is as below:

Today, we’ve released the first trailer for Damnation. The trailer gives an exclusive insight into the game’s dark world, where conflict has raged across America for 40 years. With resources exhausted, a new industrialist army haswept across the country destroying the shattered remnants of the remaining militia and mercilessly crushing the civilian population. You assume the role of a member of the Peacemakers, Rourke, and embark on an epic journey and adventure!

The video showcases the huge scale of the magnificent landscapes in the game, using both FMV and gameplay footage. The stunning open environments provide the backdrop for the frenetic combat, daredevil acrobatics and vehicle based stunts make for exhilarating, fresh and revolutionary gameplay. Engage in slick, high-octane gun battles with PSI troopers, the drug-enhanced regimented footsoliders of PSI ‘s forces and engaged in deadly acrobatic combat against the Revenant, a mysterious being able to leap huge distances wielding its deadly steel blade.

In addition to the single player experience, It’s also going to be an extensive multiplayer game that uses the towering scale of the levels to take multiplayer shooting vertical. For more information, and to catch a glimpse of what the future of gaming has in store, visit the Damnation website.

Sourece on Codemasters.

Chinese Publisher Shanda Leads $637 Million In Q2
There is a news posted on gamasutra.com said that Shandra Interactive Entertainment, the Chinese publisher of Dungeons and Dragons Online (among other games) game out on top for sales in the second quarter. Shandra got away with 20% of a $637 million dollar market (that's roughly 130 million).

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China's online gaming market raked in $637 million among all its operators in the second quarter of 2008 -- an 11 percent increase on the quarter and a 66 percent jump over last year, says China-based consultant Analysys International.

Shanda Interactive Entertainment has the highest marketshare in the region at close to 20 percent. Shanda publishes Ragnarok Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online and Three Kingdoms in China, among others, and most recently began work with THQ's new China office on a microtransactions-driven Company of Heroes for the region.

In second place is Journey to the West publisher NetEase, with 12.8 percent of the market, while Zhengtu Online publisher Giant Interactive comes in third with 11.4 percent. Giant recently invested $51 million dollars into social networking service 51.com with the aim of expanding its reach.

The remaining leading online game companies Analysys listed in order of marketshare are The 9 (10.9%), Tencent (10.5%), Sohu (7.4%) Perfect World (7.4%) 9You (5.6%), NetDragon (3.8%), Kingsoft (2.8%) and China.com (1.7%)

Business consulting firm Pearl Research said earlier this year that popular Chinese games earn $7 to $12 average revenue per user per month. According to Pearl, NetEase's Journey to the West is China's most popular title in terms of users, supporting 1.66 million concurrent users at its peak. Giant's Zhengtu Online, the majority source of the company's $209 million in revenues, clocked 1.52 million peak concurrent users.

Source here

NCsoft Announced the Update for Lineage II Gameplay
As we know the Lineage 2 Gracia – Part 1 has been launched. Now the Ncsoft team have announced that the NCsoft Ushers will be in a new age in Lineage II Gameplay.

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AUSTIN, Texas, August 13, 2008–NCsoft®, the world’s leading publisher and developer of online computer games, today announced major changes in its massively multiplayer online (MMO) game, Lineage®II. In an update from The Chaotic Throne™ series called Gracia™ – Part 1, players will find advancing in the game to be dramatically faster. This, plus a host of other changes to enhance the player experience, make this update much more accessible to newer players than before.

The increase in leveling speed is due in part to a new Vitality system, which rewards the player with an experience bonus for time either spent away from the game or in safe zones. New characters will start out with maximum Vitality, so they can begin improving their character’s advancement within minutes. An increase in rewards for accomplishing quests, battling boss creatures, as well as greater accessibility of items also enable players to increase their character’s level more quickly.

“Gracia represents a huge change to Lineage II,” said Tim Tan, NCsoft’s North American producer. “The increase in leveling speed allows players to create new characters and advance nearly twice as fast as before. This will allow players to experience the meat of Lineage II quickly, giving them the ability to visit new and exciting areas and cool high-level content much quicker than before. While this game is still a hardcore game, these changes with Gracia – Part 1 make the game much more accessible to new players. I hope gamers will take another look at what Lineage II has to offer.”

Continuing the storyline and changes brought with the earlier expansions, this first of three updates involving the land of Gracia, introduces a new terror with the strange dream-like inter-dimensional world of Kamaloka. Adventurers of varying levels can easily travel to Kamaloka and face a series of incredibly potent creatures that are tailored to the experience of the players. The expansion also offers a selection of new and improved skills, many new items, and improvements to the Cruma Tower, as well as other hunting zones.

Full news here.