Many AAA-game developers I have met seem to think so. While games like Modern Warfare and Battlefield owe their success to the fact that their games play out like movie-fare, sometimes…gameplay suffers as a result.

Recently, at least one influential developer has spoken out against this trend. We discuss this topic and wonder aloud whether developers should put the “game” back in gaming, or whether they should continue to evolve the digital arts until it overtakes movie-going audiences in both numbers and in terms of artistic merit.

To discuss this and many other topics, we have brought on a new roundtable member, he’s a former producer for KAOS Studio’s Homefront, Edmar M. — the last person I interviewed on BASH, is making his first FBS appearance. As usual, we also have our good friend from fpsadmin.com, Jim (aka Rudedog).

Stories ruin gaming?

I have to be honest, I’ve always thought that the game should come first and the story second in any video game…but I have always felt that I was in the minority. Many of you, will only buy a game for its story, just look at the heavily scripted Call of Duty as an example of how popular the “story as-a-game” can be. So, I know that I’m swimming uphill on this one.

It is no surprise then, that I was elated to hear that God of War creator David Jaffe recently lectured his colleagues on the appropriate use of narrative in video games during D.I.C.E. 2012 in Las Vegas. As I am nowhere near as eloquent as Jaffe in expressing my wish that developers should prioritize gameplay, I’ll be quiet and let Jaffe express his arguments here:

Note that Jaffe isn’t saying that we shouldn’t ever have storylines, he just cautions against turning a videogame into an ebook.

Ravaged

In addition to giving us insight into the world of game development, Edmar also alerts us to a really interesting indie vehicular-shooter that is currently being worked on. The name of this new game is called Ravaged and it is being designed by 2Dawn Games.

Ravaged takes place on a post-apocalyptic Earth that has been devastated by natural disasters caused by solar flares from the sun.  The main conflict in the game sees the so-called “Resistance” fighting the “Scavengers” for territory and resources. A “Mad-Max” style art design is employed and you get a really good feel for the game when you take a look at some of the gyrocopter action in this new pre-alpha teaser:

Here’s a Trike Vehicle vid that came out in a 2Dawn developer diary a few months ago:

Blacklight: Retribution

Blacklight: Retribution is a F2P FPS developed by Zombie Studios. It’s yet another in a myriad of sci-fi F2P shooters and has elements of Brink, CoD and just about all other run’n'gun games out there.

Blacklight: Retribution’s core gameplay are nearly identical to Zombie’s Tango Down, their previous game. Tango, which came out on multiple platforms, was well-received and provides a good base on which to build on.

Just about all the questions you could think of about the game are answered here.

It’s currently in Closed Beta and was to be released sometime in 2012.

Comments:

• Comes with PunkBuster anti-cheat.
• Unreal 3 Engine and has DirectX 11 compatibility.
• Somewhat gimmicky, the game evokes Splash Damage’s Brink…and that ain’t a good thing.  Lots of talk about “customization”…that’s a huge red-flag for me.
• I was really looking forward to this game as the graphics are quite nice for a F2P; however, the gameplay is not as dynamic as I expected and it frankly feels like I’ve done all this before. For that reason my enthusiasm has been dampened somewhat.

My interest level:  ••••• / 10

Hedone

This is a sci-fi F2P online multiplayer first person shooter (FPS) from Acony Games. Acony says the game is AAA quality. I’ve already talked about this game at length, you can read the details here. The game was supposed to have a late 2011 release; however, it’s still in Beta.

Official Website

Comments:

I don’t see much here that will capture my interest. Graphics appear far from AAA-quality and the whole future-gladiatorial high-concept idea strikes me as being too high-concept and its execution somewhat half-hearted.

Having said that, for those that have tried A.V.A., you might want to try Hedone, as it promises to be similar in quality and in gameplay (that is, pure run’n'gun).

Release date: Sometime in 2012?

My interest level:  ••• / 10

PlanetSide 2

Another F2P sci-fi MMO shooter, Sony Online Entertainment’s  PlanetSide 2 will apparently allow battles between “thousands (of troops); with air and ground vehicles slugging it out alongside.” The original PlanetSide came out in 2003 and was also created by Sony Online Entertainment.

Planetside 2′s game engine will be the new Forge Light, which will feature a new PhysX API that will provide the capability of complex movements and even character face expressions.

Official Website

Comments:

• The shear scale of what is promised in this game has me interested.
• To get the numbers of players into the “thousands”, I’m assuming the graphics will be dumbed down to seriously brain-dead levels. But again, that’s OK by me, as long as the gameplay is worth it.
• Another plus is that Sony has stated that any real money transactions will simply buy you customization, not wins.

Release date: Sometime in 2012.

My interest level:  ••••••• / 10

Hawken

Potentially, one of the prettiest looking F2P releases, Hawken fits the category of “mech”-shooter. It’s being worked on by Adhesive Games, an indie studio led by Khang Le who is Adhesive’s CEO and the game’s Art Director. The games’ artistic direction is certainly a consequence of Khang’s wonderful work.

• Impressive graphic quality and design.
• The mech-battle concept is new to me, but to anyone who has ever played MechWarrior, it will all seem very familiar.
• The lack of one-hit kills in the game should make for epic, pounding battles.

It went something like this:

BM verabschiedet sich – zumindest vorerst! BM says “Goodbye”!

I quickly clicked over to the BlackMonkeys.de site and looked for the inevitable end-times post. The impenetrable German prose tripped me up. I’d forgotten…I don’t speak German, so I Skyped Xiao and asked him if it were true. Was he, the main ringleader behind the band of German modders, mappers and FPS enthusiasts, calling it quits? Was the headquarters of the ex-CoD group who brought us community handiwork like the Apesgorod map and one of the greatest CoD mods of all time, Galactic Warfare shutting down?

Another ex-CoDder

Xiao’s FPS roots began in Call of Duty and his first taste of community came from playing and interacting with clanmates. As his circle of friends grew, he began to communicate with others in ever increasingly larger circles of FPS clans in Germany. Sharing ideas, information and community, that’s how the idea for Blackmonkeys (BM) was born. Since 2006, the BlackMonkeys offered admins, gamers, modders and mappers a virtual club that allowed everyone to pool knowledge and share some fun.

Xiao and the BlackMonkeys organized events like “Friday Fight Fever” and the tournament “Monkey Mania”.  These tourneys and events were the basis of friendships with many members of the CoD modding community.

Galactic Warfare

After a while, the relationships forged between modders, mappers and hardcore gamers in servers playing each other soon translated into a joint mod project. The group united to their favorite game, CoD4: MW with their favorite movie, Star Wars. A total conversion mod was born. The BlackMonkeys team combined a lot of the known battlegrounds, characters and weapons of Star Wars with the fantastic gameplay of the COD4-Multiplayer. You could realize your childhood fantasy of fighting as either an Imperial Trooper or as a Hans Solo-wanabee Alliance Rebel. The Galactic Warfare mod took years to make but when it was released, the CoD community reacted with near unanimous slack-jawed awe. The mod was downloaded two-hundred thousand times and its official YouTube page accumulated over a million and a half hits.

While the BM were known as modders, BlackMonkeys.de, their home, was also a very well known German FPS community news site. Since the disappointment of Modern Warfare 2, the BM site moved out of the CoD orbit and began to sample franchises like Battlefield and Homefront.

The BASHandSlash connection

A few years ago, Xiao made his first major mistake and teamed up with us here at BASHandSlash.com. What came out of that collaboration was surprisingly fruitful: numerous BASH episodes, a VO appearance in Galactic-Warfare by me, the German-language podcast MonkeyBiz and finally FBS.

All good things

Alas and alack…Xiao confirmed the hiatus.  Everything comes to an end and inevitably, another ex-CoD site, the BlackMonkeys will close its doors — at least for a little while.

Hopefully Xiao will take this break from FPS and recharge. He will continue to appear on FBS and he has assured me, that he will continue expand his PC-gaming horizons.

In fact, as I am writing this, Xiao is dodging flaming balls of fire in Skyrim. He’s currently hunting dragons and hangin’ with his Werewolf crew, eschewing his fave BF3 gun (the M416), for a longbow — Xiao was a CoD Modder like you, then he took an arrow to the knee.

On behalf of the ex-CoD community and the current FPS one, thanks Xiao…to you and all those who graced BlackMonkeys with their presence.

See ya buddy!

If you had previously been playing the Beta, but did not log in since Thursday, you will find that you will now start with the basic loadout in the game and you will only have the Soldier, Pathfinder and Juggernaut classes unlocked. Any Gold you may have bought or spent will be refunded and any XP or Tokens you may have earned will be returned as well. Post patch, HiRez will be combining Tokens and XP into a single currency (two were confusing tbh) using the exchange rate of 1 Token being equal to 8 XP.

Major Changes

• There is a new UI for all the front-end menus. Many aspects of the new UI are still a work in progress, so please forgive any issues or quirkiness.
• The class and purchase systems have undergone a major overhaul. The new system allows greater customization within a given class. Among the highlights:
• There are now 9 classes instead of 12 (Pathfinder, Sentinel, Infiltrator, Soldier, Technician, Raider,  Juggernaut, Doombringer, Brute).
• New players receive the Pathfinder, Soldier and Juggernaut classes for free.
•  Each class has a default loadout associated with it that includes your Armor (Light/Medium/Heavy), a Primary Weapon, a Secondary Weapon, Belt item, a Pack, and two Perk Slots.  You may unlock alternate weapons for each slot, using XP or Gold.
• The class specific skill trees have been removed and replaced by a weapon-centric and armor-centric upgrade system. Upgrades are still unlocked using XP.
• Perks have been overhauled. With this patch, there are 18 perks in the game — nine assigned to Perk Slot 1 and nine assigned to Perk Slot 2. You now unlock Perks using XP or Gold. Once a perk is unlocked, it can be used on all classes.
• Perks now have upgrades that can be purchased with XP, and contain additional functionality. (Example: The Pilot Perk gives +10% vehicle health, and has upgrades that provide +10% more health, with a final upgrade giving Ejection Seat).
• 16 new weapons have been added to the game.
• A new Crossfire Team Deathmatch map has been added. This map is an early iteration and is not in its final intended artistic or design state.
• Several new Rabbit maps have been added (using previously released Team Deathmatch maps as their base).
• Tokens have been removed from the game, and all purchases previously made through Tokens can now be made through XP (see CONVERSION NOTE).

A full list of changes in the upcoming patch can be found here.

The trailer includes the FW-56 Goshawk trainer, the famous BF-109G Messerschmidt fighter, the FW-57 fighter-bomber and the never-built butterfly-tail ME262 HG III jet fighter.

Note the mix of prop and jet aircraft.

The American plane trailer came out a bit earlier:

Known knowns

There’s a considerable amount of info on this game already in the public domain. Here is a brief summary:

Accounts

• WoT and WoWp accounts are to be unified.  XP and gold can be transferred between your Wargaming accounts.

Gameplay

• Each round will start with players spawned in the air.  At the end of the round, if you are still alive, you can try landing your bird for additional XP.
• You will be able to use both a Mouse and a Joystick to control your aircraft.
• Rounds will consist of 15 v 15 player battles.
• WoWP will have more gameplay modes than WoT. There will be a TDM of course and Escort missions (probably with  non-player controlled bombers) which devs have already hinted at.
• Maps will be approximately 15 km x 15 km in size. Note that WoT maps are approximately 1 km x 1 km. The new maps will actually contain bits of the old WoT maps within them. Devs have already stated that, for example, the WoWP map El Hallouf will contain parts of WoT’s El Hallouf and Sand river.
• Flight sims can’t really make use of text chat in dogfights and thus Wargaming will implement voice chat for wingmen.
• As mentioned, there will be non-player controlled vehicles in the air with you. Most notably, the devs have announced that heavy bomber formations will consist of these NPC’s.

Damage models

• Your pilot cannot be killed, however he can be injured and piloting will be difficult and view range will be reduced. Injured NPC gunners in your aircraft will not shoot.

• Developers have stated that mid-air collisions will be implemented. A mid-air will reduce your health (HP). The amount of reduction will depend on a number of damage parameters (aircraft speed, weight, damaged equipment). You will be able to try and deliberately ram the enemy and chop off their tail with your prop…not unlike documented instances during WWII when pilots ran out of ammo.
• If fuel tanks are shot up, you will need to land, else you will run out of fuel, crash and then face a big repair bill.

Flight Models

• Aircraft will consist of models flown between 1929-1950s. That means that the top tiers in the game will probably feature the F86 Sabre and the notorious Mig 15.
• There will be 10 Tiers.
• German (Luftwaffe), U.S.A. and Soviet (VVS RKA) planes will be first out, followed by British, Japanese and probably Italian models.
• The flight model is being developed based on a realistic physics; however, there are slight arcade overtones: you can’t spin the plane for instance. You will be able to stall the plane. In fact, you will be able to conduct most popular combat maneuvers: barrel rolls, low-yo-yos, etc.

System Requirements

• Multi-core support has been confirmed.
• Devs indicate that if you can run WoT, you’ll run WoWP.

Check out what the devs have to say about the game on the official forums here.

Current Status

WoWP will be coming out of  closed Alpha testing very shortly and enter into Closed Beta Testing within a month or so. Given its mix of arcade-like action and physics-based graphical realism, I think it will be a smash hit.

A challenger on the Horizon

The only thing that might come up and challenge WoWP’s aerial supremacy is yet another F2P air-to-air MMO shooter, also made by a Russian developer (Gaijin Entertainment), called World of Planes. Talk about confusing. Both games are Russian. Both are called “World of …..” and both feature WWII aircraft. Here’s Gaijin’s entry, for comparison:

I’m going to be in the Beta for both games, so stayed tuned, I hope to review them in the future!

Here is SeanPwnery’s take on the French Tech Tree:

The French Tech Tree

What to consider before taking the plunge – by SeanPwnery

With the release of World of Tanks 7.1, WoT players have been given a taste of French haute-cuisine, armored-warfare-style. The French tech tree release was only a few weeks ago and is currently incomplete. Therefore, if you do decide to dive into French tanks, be aware that it will eventually lead you into a limited  “end game” because, as it stands, the road stops at only two tanks:  the Tier IX Bat Chatillon 25t and the Tier X AMX 50B Heavy.

Currently, the 7.1 release features a tech tree with only two branches:

• Light/Medium
• Medium/Heavy

You can see this branch in this figure:  WoT Preliminary French Tech Tree

Note that the full Tech Tree should actually look something like this: WoT French Tech Tree (full)

While the tree has not been fully fleshed out, there are a lot of interesting tanks to choose from. French equipment looks, feels and fights differently from the other three main WoT national armored vehicles. Here’s what you should know and consider before starting to grind French equipment, especially if you’re already well-established in one of the other three trees:

Autoloader Technology

Before the onset of WWII, the French were one of the most technologically advanced creators of Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFV’s). Their innovation is clearly shown with the advent of the “revolver autoloader system”, which is featured in most of the post-war AMX-series of tanks (beyond Tier V). The autoloader is one of the most dramatic technological innovations brought about through the introduction of the French Tech Tree.

While the autoloader sounds like a world-beating feature, it actually is a double-edged sword (epee?). It only works well if you’re the type of player who loves using hit-and-run tactics. In a nutshell, you can lay waste to an enemy tank with the autoloader’s incredible rate of fire. Imagine firing four or six shot volleys with only 2.5-3 seconds ticking off between each round.   Once you’ve depleted the revolver, you will need to reload. Most of the Lights and Mediums get 6-shot autoloaders, heavies get 6 in lower calibers and 4 in the higher ones.

Tip: You do not need to completely empty the revolver to reload it, just press the “C” keybind and the revolver will empty and begin the reloading process. Like CoD-like titles, you do not lose the unused ammunition in the revolver but you now have an “uneven” amount of rounds left in total (your last reload could only be 2 or 3 shots since that’s all you had left, for instance).

Another Tip: Be sure to invest in a Gun-Laying Drive to speed up aim-time ten percent.

French tanks have no designated loader: there’s no room for one to sit in the diminutive turret (smaller turret-harder to hit and knock out the main gun). For this reason, the reload times for the revolver are PAINFULLY slow, so plan accordingly. When fighting, be sure to always give yourself at least one exit route, preferably two, just in case your primary needs to be abandoned due to heavy flanking. Load times vary between 35-50 seconds as far as I can tell. During this time, you’re basically a vulnerable and defenseless target. Use the buddy system and try to work with either another French tank to stagger shots to take up the slack during your reload. Even better, tag along with a Tank Destroyer (TD) to drive the final nail in the target’s coffin.

Lower Tiers

The French tanks in the upper tiers rely on their speed and maneuverability to achieve combat success. This is NOT the case in the first four tiers. You have to remember that most tanks in the lower tiers are also some of the oldest models (pre-war or early WWII variations). Most of the tanks of this period were considered “Infantry support tanks,” which as the war waged on, proved to be an obsolete role for the tank, especially when facing the advent of machines like the Wehrmacht’s Henschel Tiger (Tiger I in the German Heavy Tree) and its superior firepower and armor.

The lower-tiered medium and heavies are well-armored against like-tiered tanks. Their smooth contours (as found in the AMX40) or the angled armor (as seen in the AMX38) give them an incredible defensive advantage against other tanks in the same tier. Trying to kill an AMX40 with another AMX40 is a lot like the unstoppable force versus the immovable object. It can be done, but it’s really not economically viable, considering how you’ll have to unload most of your ammo just to kill one tank. Generally, I leave these low-tiered French tanks to the lower tiered TD’s to make short work of them or let the artillery have a field day with them.

Tip: Help out your arty by “tracking” the French tanks (aim for their tracks) and leaving them vulnerable sitting ducks for the SPGs.

These tanks are also very slow. You should really plan ahead on where you want to position yourself and calculate where you want to be at what time.  The word “rush” did not appear in the French tank-designer’s vocabulary. Patience will be your watchword as these lower-tiered tanks will get there eventually.

Heavies

Contrary to what anyone tells you, the French Heavies are not brawlers.

Let’s look at an example. While it may not be good in a toe-to-toe fight, the French Heavy AMX 50-120, is fast. The ’50 is the Stiletto knife of tanks. It’ll get in there quickly, cut the enemy to shreds and then disappear in a flash. Up against a Tier X Maus,  the French tank will fire off its load before the German can even begin turning its turret to engage.

Tip: As I said, these tanks do not take punishment well. Don’t try trading shots.

Armor – or lack thereof

In the post-war years, the French became enamored by Soviet tank design doctrine which favored slippery and speedy designs. You can see this manifested in the French trend toward powerful engines, angled or curved armor and resulting high rates of speed. Like the Soviets, the speed and maneuverability came at the cost of armor. For the French designs, this downside was even more obvious.

Higher-tiered tankers in the French tree are constantly teased about having armor made out of “hopes and dreams” (the AMX M4 1945, for instance).

Tip: Get in, wreak your havoc, and get out. French heavies make decent “snipers” at long range, and their speed also makes them very effective flankers. Jagdtigers can wreak havoc on French heavies, but then again, you can do equal damage to them with a well-executed flanking maneuver.

Gun Elevation/Depression

Gun Elevation and Depression is supposed to be the French Tree’s secret weapon. Many heavy AMX tanks have a hinged “casemate” design for elevation and depression, sounds good but it is frankly terrible. Most of the lower tier tanks do not have this so when you finally get into, say an AMX 12t for the first time, you may be in for a bit of shock. These “hinged” tanks will require you to really make use of the terrain to dial in your shots. Maps like El Halluf, with the huge downhill center valley, will drive you nuts. Try to keep this in mind and keep the enemy tank in as flat of an orientation to your tank as possible.

Tip: Try to avoid areas of the map with lots of elevation changes.

Where are the TD’s?

As there are no French Tank Destroyers or Artillery pieces yet in place, I can’t really comment on them. All I can say is, they’re coming. But, even as a SuperTester for Wargaming myself, I can’t tell you when.

Redefining Strategy

French tanks definitely do bring a completely new dynamic to what was considered the “norm” play style of the current map rotation. Having a Tier VII French light tank with the revolver and large caliber gun puts other Tier-V lights like the VK2801, Chaffee and the T-50-2 to shame. The French tanks’ speed and high rate of powerful fire have redefined how a map should be played. For example, the fast and hard hitting AMX 50 heavy tank will definitely make a presence on the Clan Wars conquest map, being such an effective flanking tank.

The upper-tier lights are like the current lights but on steroids. The ARL-44 feels like a proper mid-tier heavy tank, like you’d play in the German or US trees. The AMX 50-100, AMX 50-120 and AMX 50B give you the intoxicating speed and the firepower you wish you had in your King Tiger or T-29, but at the expense of ultimate armored security.

Either way, if you’re considering whether or not to take the plunge, chances are, there’s a tank somewhere in the current tree setup that will work for you.

Personally, WoT appeals to my love of military history and technology. Regardless whether you love the tank-genre, you just have to admire the accurate, richly detailed combat armor models in this game. That detail of course doesn’t just stop at skin level — it extends right into the interior of each tank itself. After the latest patch, Wargaming reworked its damage-model to account for the vulnerability of numerous critical components inside the tank to penetrating shells. Incoming rounds can now take out individual sub-systems, cripple engine components and even worse, kill or wound the tank operators.

All of this dev-love gives the 18 million+ registered WoT tankers like me a very realistic and challenging gaming experience. Recently, I took a valuable time-out from grinding my next medium tank on the new French Tech Tree, to reach out and talk to the developers who have provided us gamers with that experience. In this case, it wasn’t just any developer, I got a chance to speak exclusively to Sergey Burkatovskiy, Wargaming.net’s Lead Game Designer.

BS: Sergey, can you tell me a little about Wargaming.net?

Sergey: Wargaming.net is an award-winning online game developer and publisher mostly famous for the armored action MMO World of Tanks.  Since 1998, we’ve shipped 13 titles, including the Massive Assault series, Order of War published by Square Enix and three add-ons for Blitzkrieg II.  With the development center in Minsk, we have offices in America, France, and Germany, and are looking forward to establishing a Korean presence. Our team has recently grown to 700 people who are hard at work on the aforementioned World of Tanks and the new upcoming titles: World of Warplanes and World of Battleships.

BS: When did you join Wargaming and what is your role there?

Sergey: I was among World of Tanks’ pioneers and joined the team in an early stage of development. They needed a man with deep knowledge and true passion for tanks, and that’s where my experience turned very helpful for the project. We’ve done — and keep doing — great work on World of Tanks game design, from fight balance and up to the core game mechanics.

BS: World of Tanks is an impressive experience. I think you started developing it in 2008, but can you tell me how it started? Who had the idea for the game? What was the inspiration?

Sergey: The idea, indeed, appeared in 2008, but we started working on the concept as early as 2004. We just realized we had been moving in a slightly wrong direction. The idea of making tanks the central point simply dawned on us one day: why rack our brains when we can develop a game dedicated to what most of us enjoy. Here, in Wargaming.net we really have an affection for military warfare, the history of WWI and WWII. We are a bit addicted to all war things, I would say. So we decided to focus on tank-on-tank combat and a multiple genre game. We wanted to work out a unique blend of action, strategy, RPG and simulators and garnish it with high-quality graphics and audiovisual effects.

BS: What advantages are in the Free-to-Play/Freemium model versus the standard pay model. Why did WoT go in the F2P direction?

Sergey: Wargaming.net had shipped a dozen “box” games that received high praise from players and critics, before we switched to the MMO genre, which was an entirely new experience for us. Normally, you put a box on the shelf, release an add-on or two — and that’s it, that’s what the player gets for quite a big sum of money as the life cycle of the game comes to the end.

With free-to-play, there’s, first of all, no $50 or $60 payment wall that prevents millions of players from even trying out your game, secondly, in order to draw new users and keep the old ones playing, developers are always eager to add new free content that extends a game’s life cycle to years making players’ experience more enjoyable.

Unlike many MMORPGs that require playing hours upon hours daily just to keep up, a free-to-play game is more flexible and convenient for casual gamers to play without worrying of being left behind. Besides, the free-to-play model makes it possible to try the game first and then decide whether to join it or not.

Another advantage is a flexible budget: players don’t have to pay any money to get into it but their progress will be slightly slower. To avoid this issue, we’ve managed to tune up the gameplay, so that low-level tanks are as fun to play as top-level ones.

Players might also choose to pay ‘micropayments’ which allow access to additional armour protection, better ammunition, etc. Hardcore gamers might spend ‘gold’ to get prestige tanks or special gear for your tank that gives you small boosts. Gold can also convert earned experience on a tank into ‘free experience’ that can be spent on any tank even allowing you to explore the tech tree without buying each one along the way.

BS: The detail in the game is incredible as it is historically accurate. Who is responsible for doing all the research for the game? They should be congratulated.

Sergey: Thank you! We’re grateful to our team of historical consultants who made all the research for World of Tanks. Here I should mention that our historical consultants aren’t some ordinary paper-pushers. For instance, the leading historical consultant, Yury Pashalok previously worked at the National Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War . Also, he is the one who repaired the Panther (PzKpfw V) for the Kubinka Tank Museum and transported damaged Japanese tanks from the Kuril Islands. In other words, our colleagues do know something about tanks.

BS: Your community is one of the best mannered groups I’ve ever seen online. They are also incredibly knowledgeable about the subject of tanks. Does it put a lot of pressure on the developers of the game, knowing that any mistake in depicting these historic tanks will be immediately caught by the community?

Sergey: We’re glad to have such a close-knit and educated community. For sure, their opinion means much to us and we are always grateful for their feedback, as it gives us aspiration to implement changes and correct mistakes. We are not the best tank specialists in the world. When millions investigate on the same subject they’re likely to find some slips unnoticed by the developers. We’ve never claimed we are perfect and prone to making mistakes.

BS: BTW, is it possible for you to create a “dead-chat” switch, like most other MP games? That is, when/if you are dead, you cannot chat to other players. This would allow those in the game to talk to each other and communicate and not have to deal with the (few) trolls that are dead in game.

Sergey: We’ve been thinking about that option, and World of Tanks might indeed get a “dead-chat” switch. However, comparing it with other important features we still need to implement, we have to postpone it, unfortunately.  In other words, it’s not among our top priorities right now. Besides, living trolls are sometimes even harsher than the dead ones!

BS: French tanks have been introduced into World of Tanks at version 7.1. Why didn’t these tanks come out at version 7.0?

Sergey: Initially, we were planning to introduce the French (tree) as a part of what could have become the huge update 7.0. It would include the camos, the new maps, horns, and, among all these things, the new tank line. However, the most crucial innovation we were working on was the multicluster system that allowed us to vastly increase our overall server capacity. By November 2011, our Russian cluster would carry more than 250,000 concurrent users, which is what our network technologies were capable of. We had to put a strict limit for 250,000 PCCU, so that our servers wouldn’t crush.

And this is what took us most of our time — to prepare and launch the proper multicluster system. If we did it earlier, the 7.0 would have seen the French. But it wouldn’t have seen new maps and camos, had we stumbled on finishing the multiclusters.

BS: In your opinion, what do you think the most interesting/exciting change is in version 7.1?

Sergey: It’s the French, definitely. We’ve been waiting for so long to balance them up and insert into the existing gameplay as smoothly as possible, and now that we feel that they are ready to go, it’s time to finally introduce them to our tankmen. They will be hard to tame but very exciting to drive, so I reckon players will spend some good time playing them.

As for the previous update, I’m excited about camouflage, as we have had enough of monotonous similarly coloured tanks. Although, the camo is true to the era — no pink bunnies or rainbows.

BS: What if any, premium French tanks are coming out? Which would you recommend I look into if I want a medium tank, that’s quick and fun to drive and has some power?

Sergey: So far, we’ve introduced only the first part of the French vehicles, which doesn’t include the premium stuff. With the second part including tank destroyers and SPGs, we’ll add several premium machines. As for you preferences, I would say the Lorraine 40t will be the best solution. It’s very fast, it has tons of agility, and the semi-automatic gun will make your enemy think twice before going for a head-to-head duel. You should bear in mind though that it has no armor at all comparing to its direct counterparts, like the T-44 or the Pershing. So you’ll need to adjust your style to its very unusual behavior.

BS:  I’ve been hearing a lot about the French Tier X AMX-50B. Apparently, it packs a huge punch…specifically, it comes with an auto-reloader that load multiple rounds. Can you talk about that feature?

Sergey: This is a truly unique top heavy. Imagine a 60-ton beast with a top speed and agility of the T-50-2, its gun with penetration and damage numbers of the Maus, which can deliver several shells in a row within a couple of seconds. As an attacking machine, the AMX is indispensible. But, again, its armor can’t be compared with other tier X tanks, so you’d better be careful with your bravado.

BS: I’ve been hearing that the French tanks will have high accuracy…on par with German tanks, can you comment? What are there any general characteristics of French tanks relative to German, Russian, British tanks. For example, the French tanks seem to be poorly armored, but have quick firing and deadly cannons. Is this an accurate characterization?

Sergey: I would say, it’s half accurate. You see, looking back at the history of WWII, we can see that all the stuff the French designed can be divided into two periods. During the pre-war period, they came up with strong-armored, slow-paced machines that had rather mediocre guns. There were many innovations in their tanks though — you can still find people arguing about whether the sloped armor of the T-34 was purely Soviet design or the engineers borrowed the idea from the early French designs.
Then there’s the post-war period, which had an absolutely opposite approach. Just as you’ve said, these tanks have thin armor, powerful guns, and huge speed which makes their gameplay highly unusual, as opposed to more classic Germans and Russians. Americans are somewhere near, but even they will seem too conservative against the French.

BS: I think you are using the BigWorld game engine? Has it been modified for use with WoT?  I have to admit, I would love to see more destruction in the game (I would love to see you guys get the Frostbite  engine from DICE)…are you limiting the destruction in the game due to gameplay reasons, or is it a technical issue?

Sergey: Indeed, we’re using the BigWorld game engine which features a great online capacity. Certainly, our developers team had to remake it for the World of Tanks needs, as initially the engine had been framed for orks and elves.

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to add more destruction to the game as servers’ power is quite limited. Consequently, complete destruction will reduce online capacity by 10 times and cause technical problems. Moreover, indestructible elements are widely used in gameplay.

BS: What is your favorite tank tech tree in WoT? What do you normally use in-game? What tank do you like best? What tank is the scariest to face in-game?

Sergey: It depends, I would say. As far as I’m pretty much keen on fast raids to the enemy base, my in-game research started with USSR medium tanks. Now I’ve switched to German heavy tanks and the Tiger is my favorite one. It’s a strikingly powerful vehicle and I respect its abilities. I also have a couple of “all-time favorites” — I play them from time to time and never ever get bored. Those are the Soviet T-44 and the American Sherman. It’s not easy to pick the scariest machine as well. A skilled tanker knows that, for example, arty must beware both light and medium tanks. If I choose a heavy tank I will definitely watch out for tank destroyers and, also, I always try to keep off the American Heavy T-30 with its superdamage.

BS: I cannot wait for World of Warplanes and World of Battleships, both are genres that I would love to play in an MMO environment. Is there any word on a North American release for World of Warplanes?

Sergey: For the time being, we can’t announce the date of the World of Warplanes release. All I can say is that we are the closing stages of the closed alpha, with the closed beta to begin this winter.
BS: Do you ever see yourselves making a first-person-shooter (infantry) game? Or a Sniper game?

Sergey: In the near future, Wargaming.net doesn’t plan any sniper projects, but thank you for giving us food for thought. Maybe, we’ll bring it to life some day!

I’d like to thank Sergey for this interview and his energy and infectious enthusiasm for his work. World of Tanks is a result of his passion (and that of the Wargaming.net’s entire dev team) for tanks and for gaming.

Here’s an audio interview with Sergey, understandable if you can speak Russian…you can spot him at 1:04.

A cute (unofficial) vid showing the staff of Wargaming.net and some of the team is shown below:

Source

@Ckrawl Not a huge Halo fan and Ascend looks too much like it. I’ll give it another look see tho. Thanks. Do you intend to play it?

Recently though, I saw some of my online buddies playing the game, so I thought, why not…let’s give it a try. What follows are my experiences and what I learned about the game.

Powered by UE3

In my original Tweet, I compared Ascend to Halo. That’s not quite right…let’s say that if Halo, Quake Live and Global Agenda had a three-way, the ensuing baby would look like Tribes: Ascend.  Given that none of the former games managed to keep my attention for very long, I didn’t expect to be interested in an amalgam either. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mean to suggest that Ascend is a knock-off of any one of those games. In fact, the Tribes franchise was a unique IP that has had long and successful history that actually predates many of the games I mentioned. In fact, Tribes traces its roots back to November of 1988 when the original developer Dynamix released Starsiege: Tribes.

The Tribes franchise produced two important releases, the original Tribes and Tribes2. And like most franchises, the third in the series proved to be its undoing. Tribes: Vengeance, as the third PC-based installment was called,  struck a discordant note with many of the game’s players and the series hit the rocks. In 2010, Hi-Rez Studios in Atlanta, the same studio that gave us the F2P Global Agenda,  came to the franchise’s rescue and bought the rights to the game. Hi-Rez then immediately stated it would create an MMO called Tribes Universe; however, it soon changed its mind and it decided to put the MMO on hold and instead developed a F2P variant based on the Unreal Engine 3. That variant was called Tribes: Ascend.

Speed is life

Set in the far future, Tribes: Ascend is a fast paced combat shooter game that uses a variety of sci-fi weaponry and vehicles. The maps are huge and feature hilly, but nearly-tree-less, uncluttered landscapes. Normally, the lack of cover in an FPS game would be rather worrisome. After all, how will you stay alive?

Well, the answer to that question becomes obvious once you begin playing and the answer is speed.  The game is played on the ground and in the air. To  stay alive you will need to learn to motor in all three directions: left, right, front, back, up and down. As well, in comparison to traditional shooters, Ascend is a very, very fast game. Possibly not as quick as the original, it nevertheless is faster than most current shooter games. While at one time, speed games like Tribes and Quake were the norm in the shooter-world, photo-realistic FPS’s like MoH, CoD and BF changed tastes and relegated the ultra-twitch-shooters into a small niche. Many of today’s young gamers will be taken aback by just how quick you have to think, aim and shoot in this game.

Skill is rewarded

True to its Tribe roots, Ascend’s gameplay rewards those that are skillful. The skillset you will need to be successful similar to but different than those you would need for “slow” shooters.

• Aim.
  Today’s FPS’s really only require you to be able to aim in one dimension: left, right. Possibly one reason for this trend is that game companies want to simplify aiming for all those console-gamers out there using their clumsy controllers.  Contrast the rather boring aim mechanic which evolved in CoD (CoD:UO’s aim requirements were much more difficult than, say CoD:WW’s or Black Ops) with that of Tribes’ where the enemy can be anywhere in space. This translates into having to develop really good aim in two-dimensions. Speaking of CoD, I can’t think of any shooter franchise that has helped dumb down the importance of aim. In CoD, you put your crosshair on the target and kapow…you hit it. That is not true in Tribes. Projectiles have arc and targets are moving up/down and left/right on your screen and are exceedingly difficult to track.
• Movement
  Tribes is all about energy management. In this respect, it is more like a Combat Flight Simulator than it is an FPS. While some games give you some taste of energy management, CoD for example gives you a limited sprint capability, Tribes takes it to another level.  In this game you are constantly trying to maximize your forward momentum. Gravity will increase that momentum and rob it from you if you have to climb. A jet-pack strapped to your back will help you climb and a frictionless “ski” mode will aid you on the way down. If you run out of energy you will be pounced upon like a wounded gazelle in the Serengeti. There are two ways to keep your energy (and hence speed) up in the game:
• Jet packs. Strapped to your back, they propel you forward and upward. Your jet pack charge lasts only a few seconds, after which it needs to replenish itself using internal stores of fuel. Once those are gone, you need to replenish your supply. Jet packs allow you to gain potential energy and are typically used to quickly scale hills. The interface in Ascend has not evolved much beyond the original. Jet packs can’t be will boost you in the direction you are running. Alas, it would have been quite interesting if there was a way to use vectored-thrust.
• Skiing – frictionless, gravity-assisted sliding, skiing will let you attain breath-taking velocities.

I would have thought that disc-jumping (aka Rocket-jumping) would have also been a significant movement technique in this game, but disc-jumps do not seem to benefit much (then again, I may not be doing it right). Hi-rez has stated that they will be improving this capability.

While jet packs and skiing are used as individual modes of transport, the game also employs vehicles. The three I have seen in game are:

• The Beowulf can have a two person crew. It has a machine gun on top of the turret as well as a slot for a driver.
• The Grav Cycle also can have two riders. It’s very fast and is useful for catching flag runners.
• The Shrike has a high-damage primary cannon and it benefits from a limited-use afterburner.

• Timing
  Timing your motion is important in any shooter. If you play too linearly, your enemy will be able to predict your movements and he will lead you and you will get fragged. Frankly, doing anything in a predictable way in FPS games will get you fragged. This is no different in Tribes, but the game has its own rhythm and you really have to practice to get good at being able to manage your own momentum and be able to predict the enemy’s motion. One of the goals in any one-versus-one combat is to deplete your enemy of energy, get him down on the ground where he becomes slow and you can finish him off.

Beta

Currently, Tribes: Ascend is in Beta. The basic game appears quite stable and lots of fun.

You will need to get yourself a Beta key to play. These are actually found rather easily around the net.  You can try getting a key from the game’s homepage:

Tribes Ascend

Once on the homepage, you can download the game and sign up for a beta key. Rather than wait for a key, you can get one immediately over at Alienware Arena. There are hundreds available. Link

Primer

I first have to say that this game is a throwback to the old days of PC FPS gaming. Back then, you were either a noob and you sucked, or you were good. This game tends towards those days. In this game, you don’t get stroked for being able to color within the lines like you do in other FPS’s. For that reason, you need to have patience and a bit of a thick skin — noobies will get owned. There are quite a few really good Tribes players in the Beta servers and the pros are obvious.

You start off as a Ranger class or a Soldier playing under either the Blood Eagle or Diamond Sword flag. As a Ranger, you will get Medium Armor, an Assault Rifle (it has a fast rate of fire and is effective at close range), the Thumper DX (similar to a grenade launcher) an Energy Pack and an Anti-personnel Grenade.  Soldiers get Medium Armor, the Spinfusor, the Eagle Pistol and an Energy Pack.

I would start with the Soldier class and the Spinfusor as it is the most common weapon in the game. The Spinfusor launches explosive disc-projectiles. Given how difficult it is to target anyone in the air, it is not uncommon to see Spinfusors being used against targets near the ground. You aim near the enemy as he descends and the splash damage as the disc hits the turf is typically enough to do significant damage. Aside from the basic Spinfusor, there are Light and Heavy variants.  I did say “splash damage”, but there is nothing spammy about this weapon. It is quite hard to hit someone with it.

Classes: There are three classes (light/med/heavy) and twelve individual types (more classes will come in the future). This vid shows each class:

Gameplay: This little vid is an excellent primer on gameplay.

Gametypes: Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag and Rabbit Chase modes. Deathmatch is obvious, as is Capture the flag. Rabbit Chase mode simply requires you to capture the flag and keep it as long as you can. As with CTF, the flag runner does not regenerate health.

F2P?

Real money does have its rewards, but it can’t make you better. We are told that Gold will only short-circuit the grinding process, it won’t create a pay-to-win experience. Spending that money on in-game gold will allow you to unlock classes, skills and perks at a faster rate (currently, US$49.99 will get you 5500 in Tribes Gold). You can also get a VIP account. VIP Status increases XP by 50%, gives you more tokens after each game and access to VIP only servers. You can get VIP for $7.95 for 10 days or pay $14.95 for 39 days. And yes, that seems staggeringly high.

For example, if you were not keen on grinding the Juggernaut class (Heavy Armor, Fusion Mortar/Spinfusor MKD/Regen Pack and Super AP Grenade), you could simply pay money to unlock it for 260 Gold or 900 tokens.

During the open Beta, you can purchase the Tribes: Ascend VIP Starter package, which is a bit more of a deal:

The Tribes: Ascend VIP Starter Pack (29.99 USD, 24.99 EUR, 19.99 GBP) includes:

• 3,000 Tribes Gold (Value: $30 USD)
• 30-Day Booster (Value: $15 USD)
• Lifetime VIP Status
• Admission to Beta

Should I play?

This game will definitely challenge FPS gamers who have come on to the scene recently and have not been exposed to fast-action shooters. This game is definitely a throwback to old-school PC gaming. While it is not as hardcore as some old Tribes-franchise players would like, I think it is a valuable game and one that could begin to start pulling our community back to its roots.

I have been in the Open Beta for a few weeks and never played the original franchise. I initially did not like the rather sparse graphics and minimalistic scenery, but I have learned to appreciate why the game cannot have dense landscapes. The pace of the game is so high that you simply would end up having laggy play as low-end machines could not keep up with the rendering. As I learned to play the game, I realized that all my focus was on the gameplay and not the surroundings. Shazbot! That’s what I have been begging for forever and here’s a game that met my requirements.

While I could pick up any CoD and play it well within minutes, I have not acquired a competent level of skill in this game even after a week of play. That to me is the sign of a great game. It keeps bringing you back because you want to get better. What was the last game you played that made you think that?

Should you play?

If you are more of a slow-paced gamer that likes tactical realism, you might answer with a resounding no. On the other hand, if you want to play something that is lightning quick, requires considerable hand-eye coordination, accentuates team play, heightens the importance of skill and is a throw-back to the glory days of PC competitive gaming…then yes!

While the game will definitely appeal to the younger guys out there (and the young of heart), I have been so far amazed at how nice everyone in the Tribes’ servers have been. For example, you don’t often see server trolls spamming “you suck” in the chat window –something you see regularly in CoD and in many F2P games. Whether that is a function of the speed of the game (you just don’t have time to type) or whether the community is much more polite will be something to watch, especially as the game gets more popular and attracts ruder non-ex-Tribes newbies.

The only things I do see getting spammed are “Shazbot!” (type VGS in chat) andWoohoo! (VGW).  For me, the game has been a learning experience and fun. I have not came anywhere near learning its nuances and that’s the basis of a great PC shooter.

Tribes Ascend is definitely Woohoo!

VGCG

Competitive Gamers

Tribes is a perfect fit for competitive gamers. Hi-Rez has already reached out and snagged a tournament organization to feature the game. NASL has stated they will be playing Ascend in their Season 2 Finals of the North American Star League (NASL).  Here is more information: Source.

Links

Official site

VGS: Tribes’ in-game comms tool

Excellent Tribes beginners guide

Hardcore Tribes gamer gives his opinion of Ascend

Aeria Games, a subsidiary of the Japanese Aeria Inc.,  also an Internet gaming portal, has historically focused on MMORPG’s. Aeria’s corporate successes so far have come from sticking to its mission statement: providing Asian MMO’s to an American audience. That success will undoubtedly continue after it swallows up ijji, which sees its player base to over 35 million users world-wide. Yes, 35 million!

Note that NHN has not completely cut its strings to A.V.A.  By spinning ijji off, NHN  has commited to providing Aeria with exclusive game content and it has given them an (undisclosed) investment as well.

Here is AGE’s press release (Source):

SANTA CLARA – January 5, 2012 – Aeria Games, a leading destination for free-to-play online multiplayer games, today announced it has acquired ijji Games LLC, a popular free-to-play online gaming portal, from NHN Corporation as part of a strategic agreement that gives Aeria Games the first right with preferential treatment to publish NHN online games worldwide outside of Asia. Under the terms, Aeria Games also received a financial investment from NHN to further fuel growth as a global MMO market leader. The agreement boosts the company’s fast growing player base to over 35 million unique users worldwide while adding complementary titles including the popular shooters Alliance of Valiant Arms (A.V.A.) and Soldier Front to Aeria Games’ robust portfolio of free-to-play games for mid- to hard-core players.

Aeria Games is a global leader in producing high quality online free-to-play games in North America, Latin America, and Europe. The company publishes titles that cater to players looking for a deeper and more immersive multiplayer experience with active community support. Aeria Games’ rapid growth comes from its expertise in delivering highly profitable freemium experiences to what it terms “power players”—hard-core and medium-core players whose average per day play sessions reflect four hours or more. Aeria Games hosts a diverse and rapidly growing portfolio of over 30 critically-acclaimed MMO titles spanning action, roleplaying, shooter, real time strategy, and racing games. The company is recognized for standout games including the MMO Eden Eternal, the popular MMORPG Shaiya, the supernatural MMOFPS Wolf Team, the expansive strategy game Golden Age and the upcoming action shooter Repulse.

“The acquisition of ijji Games further enhances our market leader position in the rapidly consolidating free-to-play sector of mid- and hard-core gaming,” said Lan Hoang, Chief Executive Officer, Aeria Games. “In addition to outstanding new content such as the popular A.V.A. and Soldier Front games and other quality titles from NHN going forward, NHN’s investment—which is our first external funding—will provide resources to facilitate our continuing growth and business expansion in multiple areas.”

With 300 employees worldwide, the California-based company continues to invest in emerging markets such as Latin America, Eastern Europe and Russia while growing its active community in the US and Western Europe.  With its focus on first-person shooters, ijji Games adds over 10 million hard-core gamers to Aeria Games’ publishing platform for a combined user base consisting of over 35 million unique power players. Using advanced analytics and committed worldwide customer support, Aeria Games is able to bring quality games to market quickly with full local language support. In turn, Aeria Games’ community fuels development with extended play sessions and in-game purchase levels that are much higher than those yielded by typical online and social network games.

With content partnerships from top game companies such as Electronic Arts and NHN, as well as a host of independent developers from around the world, Aeria Games continues to add high-quality content to its portfolio. The publishing organization offers developers all the necessary tools—from a large established player base, a single virtual currency, data warehouse and analytics, optimized payment options, to local marketing and customer service—to quickly and efficiently distribute games to key fast growing Western markets. As consolidation continues in the dynamic free-to-play sector, Aeria Games will utilize the additional resources from NHN to strengthen its position as a truly device-agnostic platform for mid- to hard-core gamers by expanding its content and platform offerings and growing its international footprint.

Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. For more information on Aeria Games, visit http://www.aeriagames.com.

Not a surprise

The takeover of ijji Games does not come as a surprise. Rumblings of a massive shift in the company were being heard during A.V.A.’s IESF tournament in South Korea. Further speculation came when key community-interface people began to leave the company. As well, ijji’s level of service to A.V.A.’s community was severely questioned. A.V.A. players found ijji to be somewhat non-responsive and game support, it has been felt, suffered when compared to the level of service that is seen in Asia.

Will Aeria bring better service? One worry in this regard is that A.V.A. will be a much smaller player in Aeria’s portfolio and hence will not be prioritized.  That definitely is a concern; however, at this time it appears that ijji’s A.V.A. squad will still be there, just being paid by a different master. Hopefully, by banding that squad and Aeria’s larger structure together, the net effect will be smoother, higher quality service.

ijji’s take

On the official ijji A.V.A. forums, we have their take (Source):

January 5, 2012

Dear ijji community,

Today we announced that Aeria Games, a leading publisher of free-to-play online games, has acquired ijji Games LLC from NHN Corporation. We are excited about the opportunity to combine Aeria and ijji into a single company that can better serve our community. Combined we will be able to offer more new industry leading games and a better gaming experience overall.

Below you will find our responses to questions that we anticipate users may have about this transaction. We are thankful for our players of both ijji and Aeria games, and we look forward to continuing to see you in our games and on our forums.

What will happen to my account with ijji?
For the next couple of months, your ijji account will work just the same as always. We do expect to move ijji accounts to the Aeria platform eventually, but we will provide advance notice to inform you of that migration and any necessary steps you will have to take. Your G-coin balance will transfer to Aeria’s currency (Aeria Points) at its cash value, and we will make the transition as simple as possible. Stay tuned!

What if I have accounts with both ijji and Aeria?
When we migrate ijji accounts to the Aeria platform, we will allow users to consolidate ijji accounts into an existing Aeria account. G-coin balances will transfer to Aeria’s currency (Aeria Points) at cash value.

What will happen to my G-Coin balance?
When we eventually move ijji accounts to the Aeria platform, your G-coin balance will transfer to Aeria’s currency (Aeria points) at its cash value. You can continue to purchase G-coin in the meantime and use it in ijji games.

What will happen to ijji’s games?
Aeria acquired ijji based on belief in the potential for ijji’s portfolio. Together we will continue to invest in the development of ijji’s portfolio of games.

Do I need to do anything different to keep playing my ijji games?
For the next couple of months, everything will work the same as always. If we make any changes that require any action on your part, we will let you know well in advance.

Will I be able to keep my characters on my ijji games?
All ijji games will continue running as they are for now, and when you transition from your Ijji login to an Aeria login, all characters and game gear will remain intact.

When will you start making changes?
For the next couple of months, ijji accounts and games will function just as they do now. Well in advance of any changes, we will communicate to ijji users about what’s coming and anything players need to do as ijji games migrate to the Aeria platform.

I love ijji… how do I know that Aeria will keep up the customer service on my favorite games?
Aeria publishes more than 30 MMO titles, and has a staff of 50 game masters in just our US office, providing best-in-industry customer service. The combined Aeria and ijji teams will work together to ensure that customer service remains uninterrupted. Aeria’s portfolio includes leading first-person-shooters including the highly popular WolfTeam, and the Sci-Fi FPS Repulse that is entering a beta launch on January 6. The Aeria team is looking forward to meeting players from ijji’s games over the next couple of months, and talking with you on the Aeria forums.

Where do I go for support on my ijji games, or to talk with the ijji community?
Please continue to use ijji customer support and the forums on ijji.com for help. We will provide advance notice before switching ijji games to Aeria customer support and forums.

Should I continue using ijji.com and the ijji forums?
Yes! We will move ijji games to the Aeria platform eventually, but we will provide advance notice before any changes to the website or forums.

Who is Aeria Games?
Aeria Games is a leading destination for free-to-play online multiplayer games. Aeria Games publishes and develops high quality online games in nine languages – English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Italian, Turkish and Russian. Aeria has a rapidly growing community of over 35 million core players and a deep portfolio of development partners. Aeria Games hosts a diverse and growing portfolio of over 30 critically-acclaimed MMO titles spanning action, roleplaying, shooter, real time strategy, and racing games. The company is recognized for standout games including the MMO Eden Eternal, the popular MMORPG Shaiya, the supernatural MMOFPS WolfTeam, the expansive strategy game Golden Age and the upcoming action shooter Repulse (formerly known as Genesis AD).

Why did Aeria acquire ijji?
Quite simply, the Aeria and ijji teams believe that our two companies are stronger together than they were apart. For our players, this means we are better positioned to bring you the leading global online games, and to give you a better gaming experience. As part of this deal, Ijji’s former parent, NHN Corporation, has made a financial investment in Aeria Games that will help fuel the company’s growth as a global leader in the MMO gaming market.

First order of business is to find out how he ended up being in the center of one of the hottest Internet memes going: The Ocean Marketing story.

After we deal with that tidbit, we go on to talk about the Spike TV VGA’s. Are they really all that important to gaming? The technological superior and critically acclaimed shooter Battlefield was shutout this year…so what is the true criteria for winning?

We then move on to discuss the PC platform, how will it do in 2012? After all, BF3’s loss at the VGA’s is not a good thing for PC gaming, at least on the AAA level. Does the MW3 win change the momentum PC platform gaming has had lately? Do you agree that the PC platform even had “momentum”? Some folks apparently think that PC gaming is doing really well. According to nVidia, for example (see reference) by 2014 PC sales will supplant console sales. PC games have been doing really well. League of Legends is one good example. With a reported 15 million gamers worldwide, there are more people playing it than World of Warcraft!

What are the major threats to the PC gaming platform going forward?  We know that console games take a front seat now, will mobile gaming platforms leapfrog everyone? Ben Cousins, who left EA’s Easy Studio and now GM at ngmoco Sweden recently tweeted this graph showing what he thinks the trend forward for performance (with performance should come popularity):  http://yfrog.com/oc4itp

Social gaming is definitely one threat. Mobile platform games in Japan are taking off. Publishers like GREE and DeNA (they own ngmoco) are multi-billion dollar companies with 40%+ profit margins.  In the states, start ups are trying to realize that success… e.g.  U4ia games, headed by Dusty Welch and Chris Archer in Bellevue Wash.

And finally, we talk about F2P. Wasn’t it only yesterday we were talking subscription models? Now it’s F2P. Is this a short or long term industry trend?

Again, we’d like to thank JD_2020 for taking the time to talk gaming with us! Remember to check out Aggregame.com and add JD_2020 on your Twitter.

On a personal note, if you like what we are doing here please help us spread the word about this cast to your friends/colleagues. We’re now on iTunes (link), so you can load the cast up on your iPod and listen whenever you want. If you’d like to write a review on FBS in  iTunes, please do so, we’d appreciate it. The more people listen to the cast, the more influential our community can be in getting the PC platform point across to developers and publishers. Again, thank you so much for listening.