In a move to help its next-gen console better rival the service options offered by the Xbox 360, Sony Entertainment has been trying to make its PlayStation a little more “homey” for users. The electronics giant recently announced that more than 20 different companies have signed on to have their own slice of “Home.”

Some of the partners that will offer content on PlayStation Home have been confirmed as Activision, EA, Capcom, Disney Interactive Studios, Namco Bandai and Ubisoft. Gamers with access to Home can create their own 3D avatars to navigate the world, customize their experience and check out the content available to them.

The Home concept has been in development for several years and entered beta in late 2008. While it looks splashy, many wonder if it’s a little too little a little too late. With the success of Xbox Live and its ever-expanding offerings, it just may be.

I have to admit, however, Home does look pretty spectacular. The Sony site shows avatars worthy of Sony Online Entertainment’s MMORPGs. The 3D aspect is quite striking. The company has, in fact, put together a great lineup of content providers.

As Home shapes up, it will be interesting to see if it helps pull users away from the tried and tested Live or if it, like the console that backs it, will languish as the slow runner in the next-gen race.

Nods to 1UP

Related
PS3 May Get A Price Cut

Labels: playstation home, soe, sony, xbox 360, xbox live

If you can’t beat them, join them. That’s the tactic Sony Online Entertainment has taken when it comes to gold farmers and item traders.

Although it already facilitated trades of virtual items, the company has upped the stakes with Station Cash. This system is now available in both EverQuest and EverQuest II. It allows players to buy virtual items for cold, hard cash.

To use the system, players of both EQ and EQII simply use their credit cards to load up on Station Cash. This, in turn, can be used to purchase things within the game world.

What Station Cash does is cut down on the potential profits gold farmers are making by offering an in-game, sanctioned way to purchase things. Rather than the farmers making the money, SOE does.

Recently launched, Station Cash can be purchased in the Marketplace for use in the game. The Sony-based virtual currency is non-refundable and non-transferrable. SOE is working on options to enable gifting of Station Cash, however.

As a long-time player of both EQ and EQII I have mixed feelings on this recent launch. While it’s nice to see Sony taking a bite out of farmers’ action, it feels a little seedy. I’m one of those purist players who has tried to avoid “cheating” in every game I play. Someone else leveled my character in Age of Conan through its final half-level to 80 and I lost all interest in the game. I didn’t do it myself, so the sense of accomplishment was gone.

Evidently, I’m a rarity in the virtual world, however. With a gold farming industry that’s now worth an estimated $1.8 billion a year, the market for gold and trade is strong, according to Live Gamer.
Who knows? Maybe Sony can recoup some of its financial losses that have cost thousands of jobs?

Labels: everquest, everquest II, live gamer, soe, sony

Breaking the glass ceiling in the video game industry might not be as difficult as it is in the American White House, but that doesn’t mean the task isn’t daunting. My hat is off to Sony Online Entertainment for recognizing this and trying to do something about it.

Torrie Dorrell, SOE’s senior VP of global sales and marketing, recently called on members of the International Game Developers Association to stand up and support the Gamers In Real Life (or G.I.R.L.) scholarship. Money given to this fund helps pay for college educations for women who want to enter the gaming field in such areas as design, creation and production.

"Today, I am challenging everyone to take action to help level the playing field for women pursuing a career in video games,” Dorrell said. “By donating to the G.I.R.L. scholarship, we can encourage diversity in development and make a difference, hopefully creating more opportunities for women and ultimately making more video games women will want to play."

Link

Dorrell called on industry leaders to each make $10,000 donations toward the cause.

My congratulations go to Sony, and Dorrell, in particular for making an issue of the obvious, but often overlooked reality women gamers face. While there’s no denying we exist, all too often were aren’t taken as seriously as we should be. And, the simple truth is a lot of games aren't designed with us in mind - at all!

I’m not a bra burner by a long shot, but it would be nice to see a woman’s touch in some titles – especially in MMORPGs where it seems a lot of the action and design work is geared solely for male players. Conan’s anatomically correct women are fine, but it sure would be nice to not have characters look so perfect!

Here’s hoping the effort to get a few more women actively involved in the behind-the-scenes creativity will result in titles that are at least slightly more balanced for the sexes.

Labels: age of conan, girl, soe, sony

Sony Online Entertainment officially unveiled its EverQuest Seeds of Destruction expansion today, marking the 15th expansion of the trend-setting game. Initially launched in March 1999, EverQuest raised the bar for MMORPGs and paved the way for other blockbuster games like World of Warcraft, Warhammer Online and Age of Conan.

Seeds of Destruction offers players of this classic title plenty of room to grow and explore. The expansion opens up some 20 new zones, raises the level cap to 85, introduces new spells and raiding content and even builds on the alternative advancement possibilities.

“With EverQuest rapidly approaching its 10th anniversary next March,
the legacy of the franchise continues to grow along with the amount of new
content offered," Clint Worley, EverQuest senior producer, was quoted as saying. "Seeds of Destruction will take players back in time where they can discover new storylines, adventures and zones."

The new expansion is available via digital download at Everquest.com and is now in stores. Its suggested retail price commands nearly $40. The price of admission, however, gives new players access to all 14 previous expansions.

As an original player of EverQuest, I have to admit I’m amazed SOE has managed to keep this title going strong for such a long time. It’s hard to conceive the game is on the cusp of its 10th anniversary.

While I’ve moved on to other games and personally can be found slaying mobs in AoC nowadays, I can’t help but remember the wonder of cracking the very first EverQuest box and starting to play. Never before had I seen a game that was so rich in content, engrossing and full of depth. The title remains one of my all-time favorites.

My hat goes off to the folks behind EverQuest for setting the pace and keeping it going.

Labels: everquest, seeds of destruction, soe

It’s hard to believe eight years has passed since Sigil and Sony Online Entertainment unleashed EverQuest on the world. The MMORPG took the gaming world by storm, redefining the fantasy genre in a big way.

With multiple expansions and tons of new content added over the years, EverQuest has lived up to its name. Although considered an “old game” by gaming standards, EQ has a strong and loyal following that has stuck with the title from the beginning. It’s even managing to pull in new users as the expansions keep making the world of Norrath fresh and exciting.

While I no longer personally play this title, its expansive world, rich stories and incredible design will long serve as the measuring stick by which I judge other MMORPGs.

To celebrate the milestone anniversary, SOE has kicked off an array of anniversary promotions, including the release of an Anniversary Edition box set. Here is some of what’s going on in Norrath:

In-game events: Fabled Luclin NPCs have been brought back and there’s even a scavenger hunt going on. The promotions run through April 16.

Video contest: Players can have an item named after them if they manage to win The Fabled Adventurer Video Contest.

Festival of Time: This runs through March 26 and has NPCs traveling the world to “spread timeless tales of ancient history.”

For a full run down of the festivities, visit Sony’s site.

Related:
Child Named After EverQuest Elf
Sony Announces 2 EQ Expansions
Sony Offers Massive MMORPG Collection
Find more...
Comments >>

Labels: eq, everquest, norrath, sigil, soe, sony

As Sigil Entertainment and Sony Online Entertainment are busy touting the first big update for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, players are wading through the muck created by the game’s premature release.

With annoying bugs in abundance and little or no help from GMs other than some fairly rude comments and strict requirements for reporting said bugs, the game would better benefit from an exterminator right now. Instead, players will be getting update that includes new weapons, adventuring areas, NPC classes and most likely new and improved bugs, too.

Don’t get me wrong, Vanguard’s shaping up to be a good game. It’s well thought out. It’s beautiful. And, there’s enough content that solo players and groups can have an equal amount of fun. But as a player, I’d sure like to see what’s broken fixed before more content is added to the title. March 6 is way too early to be talking content additions.

Some of the persistent and annoying problems with the title right now include:

Missing mail
This still appears to be a problem. The check’s in the mail excuse is actually legit in Vanguard.

Broken world/quest locations
Some mobs that are supposed to transport players to different locations in the game to speak to NPCs send them instead to locations under the world, rending the quests useless. While there is a /stuck yes command to enable players to free themselves this command comes with a rather harsh (and somewhat rude) warning that all requests will be reviewed for abuse. (And probably go on your permanent record, too!)

Group bugs
Players invited into groups are being dropped spontaneously, only to find they cannot be invited again because they are “already in a group.” The only fix for this is time or a full log out.

Harvesting
Some players are still having issues with not gaining harvesting skill updates when they should.

Once all of these and a host of other problems are fixed or at least beaten back, then new content should be added. But, right now, adding more things to go wrong just doesn’t make sense and it could backfire and turn players off.

Related:
Vanguard Bugs Sony's Servers
Vanguard Wiki Up And Running
Vanguard Bugs To Watch Out For
Find more...
Comments >>

Labels: sigil entertainment, soe, sony, vanguard, vanguard:saga of heroes

If you’re among the thousands that have already signed up for Vanguard, or you hope to be, there are a few things players of the latest entry on the MMORPG market need to watch out for.

While the game is a whole lot of fun, these particular bugs can really take the wind out of an adventurer’s sails. Some of them can be avoided, others cannot. On the upside, based on GM conversations in game, it sounds like many of them are being worked on currently.

Confirmed bugs GMs are aware of include:

Mail not working
Be very careful what you send through the mail in Vanguard right now. The system works, but not all the time. Getting this one fixed on a player-by-player basis can be a mess, too. Players need to /bug report the issue and it’s best to have both the sender and the receiver do so. I have a set of enhanced horseshoes lost in the ether somewhere, so I’m speaking from first-hand experience here.

Harvesting skills not advancing
This one is really irritating and what’s worse, some of the GMs don’t seem to be aware of it. The harvesting primary and secondary skills on some characters refuse to go up, no matter what’s done. Keep in mind, you do have to have the right tools and training to harvest, but even when all that’s in order, some players are seeing no advancements. I understand from a GM conversation today that this is being addressed.

Other irritations:

Seamless seams
Vanguard is a “seamless” game, but watch out, when you hit what would normally be a zone, it appears as if your computer has locked up. This is a very minor irritation, especially when you get used to it, but the first few times the lack of a “Loading … please wait” message is very noticeable.

Missing mobs
Some of the mobs in this game ghost during battle. To reset them, move away. Otherwise, you might not be able to get a spell off to your detriment. Oh yes, ghosting mobs can still get you!

Customer service
It seems anything that has Sony Online Entertainment attached to it has this problem. The customer service overall is pretty darn slow. It took a few days to get answers about the harvesting issue. I had messages from two GMs. One was clueless. The other, thank goodness, seemed to have a handle on the situation.

Vanguard’s a very new MMORPG and bugs are to be expected. Overall the game play is great, the world is beautiful and the quests are mostly fun.

I’ll post up a starter guide in the next few days to help newbies get their feet wet. As much as SOE drives me nuts, I’ll have to admit, they tend to back very fun games.

Related:
Vanguard Bugs Sony's Servers
Vanguard Wiki Up And Running
Vanguard Has 7-Year Plan
Find more...

Comments >>

Labels: mmorpg, sigil, soe, vanguard