Brad McQuaid's
Twitter feed offers
first details on
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, a new MMORPG that was
revealed before planned when fans discovered its Twitter account. In a series of
tweets following the discovery, Brad
shows off the
game's logo, says it will be
a minimum of
three years and a long beta period before it will be released, promises a
more open world,
with quests and stuff to do (but you don't have to do them all), promises
more soon on the
PantheonRotF Twitter
feed (which he specifies is not owned by Sony Online Entertainment), and
confirms the
"plan" to "Bring us back to the great days of MMOs." Thanks
Ten Ton Hammer.
Sony Online Entertainment announces some changes to how premium memberships are
handled in a couple of their MMOGs, replacing players' monthly Station Cash
allowance with a choice of premium items (thanks
Massively). There is a
2014 Membership Benefit Update on the EverQuest 2 Forums and a
Customer Service Announcement: Premium Membership on the PlanetSide 2 Forums
which outline similar programs for each game. Here's the explanation for
PlanetSide 2, their MMOFPS:
The week of February 3rd, 2014 we will be
making a very important change to the Premium Membership level in PlanetSide 2.
The current benefit of receiving 500 Station Cash (SC) monthly will be replaced
with a new program that allows you to select one single item valued up to 2000
SC each month. Nearly all items within the games’ Marketplace will be available
for this selection. Players Studio, bundles and additional exclusions may apply.
This new benefit must be claimed each month that you are a member as it will not
carry over to subsequent months.
We appreciate our customers, especially our valued members, and therefore are
excited to bring you this additional value.
Polygon - Battlefield 4 spotlights EA's inability to launch games, treat
players with dignity.
Is there any possible reality where EA and DICE didn’t know that the game
was non-functional when they shipped it? Can you imagine any other industry
that allows products this hobbled to be knowingly sold months after release?
There are no recalls, no refunds being offered. Instead we’re given strained
acknowledgements that a problem may exist, and the promise that it will be
fixed. DICE may enjoy taking little jabs at the more popular Call of Duty
series from time to time, but maybe it’s time for them to grow up a bit and
realize releasing a game that works will lead to stronger competition than
cheap shots on Reddit.
The reaction of EA and DICE hasn’t just been inadequate, it has been
infuriating. The attempts to hide behind corporate speak and mealy-mouthed
pseudo-apologies completely fail to address their customers, who have spent
$60 or more on the product, as human beings. You can argue about the
validity of EA being the worst company in the world, but it’s clear that
their marketing department has a tin ear when it comes to owning up to its
own mistakes.
My eyeball estimate that we had a foot of snowfall yesterday was pretty
exaggerated, we probably got about half that much. It also warmed up a bit by
the time I got to it, so while it was still no pleasure to shovel, it was not
the ordeal I anticipated. I'm going to celebrate the cold weather by making a
Bolognese sauce today. This will go well with the NFL playoffs that kick off
today, and here's a reminder that those who are interested can head over to
this page to
enter picks for
an NFL
playoff pool for some extra bragging rights.
R.I.P.:
Phil Everly Dead: Everly Brothers Co-Founder Was 74. The influence of the
Everlys is enormous.
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