The Funeral of WoW Gold

The bad news is that Tabula Rasa, the NCsoft developed MMO that drew on the experience of Richard “Lord British” Garriot, of Ultima fame, is closing down. The good news the publisher announced is that the game would be playable for free until then. Initially, the MMO was supposed to become free to play on January 10, 2009 but it seems that, as a sort of Christmas gift, NCsoft eliminated the subscription element, which means that anyone can now play the game, if only to see what’s all about before it closes down.

Tabula Rasa promised gamers a break from the fantasy MMOs that are dominating the market, with World of Warcraft ( Currency : wow gold  )from Blizzard as the most successful subscription based massive multiplayer experience in the gaming world. The story involved aliens, weird scripts and artifacts, while the fighting aspect of the game was supposed to be rather based on the reflexes of the players than on simple number crunching and mashing of abilities. It should have been an evolution on the mechanics employed by the MMOs of the moment.

When the game launched, most players found the universe to be only half finished, with some significant bugs affecting the experience and with little to do after the initial levels. NCsoft labored to increase the content offered by the MMO, yet the game never attracted a significant following, which made new players rather uninterested in getting involved in the universe.

With subscription revenue limited, NCsoft decided that the game would be closed down on February 28, 2009, with the official servers going offline. Meanwhile, anyone interested in the experience of a sci fi MMO can take Tabula Rasa on, even though motivation for progress might be limited by the nearing cut off date.

LOS ANGELES – A year ago, newly minted lawyer Shawn Foust approached a senior partner at his
Los Angeles firm with an idea: dedicate an entire practice to the video-game industry.

Today, the 26-year-old coordinates a team of 20 lawyers at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton. The group tackles mergers, licensing contracts and other deals that help make the burgeoning game business hum.

“I’m pursuing my lifelong dream of combining the two things I love – games and law,” Foust said.

Never a group to steer clear of the action, lawyers across California are retooling their entertainment practices to cater to the game industry. Video games are expected to generate almost $50 billion in global revenue this year, despite a slowdown in consumer spending, and sales have already surpassed old-line businesses including music.

As the game industry grows, so do its legal needs.

“There’s tax work, litigation, risk management, immigration, labor – the list goes on and on,” said Seth Steinberg, who last year left his position as general counsel of George Lucas’ video game publisher, LucasArts, to start a private practice in San Francisco specializing in the game industry.

Other firms have joined in. Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, the law firm of record for the likes of Tom Cruise and Warren Beatty, has cultivated a game practice led by Stephen Smith and Suann MacIsaac.

For Greenberg Glusker, billings from game-industry clients quickly sprouted from nothing to millions of dollars a year.

The firm’s first big case came in 2004, when one of its clients, Ubisoft Entertainment, was sued by MGA Entertainment Inc., the Los Angeles maker of Bratz dolls and toys. MGA sought to revoke a license it had granted Ubisoft to make games based on the Bratz franchise.

The game publisher countersued and won an arbitration award of more than $13 million in damages, including $2.5 million in attorney fees.

The increasing sophistication of video games and game consoles has generated technical problems, and class-action lawyers have jumped in to pursue claims on behalf of consumers.

Knowing how to play games – particularly complex online titles such as World of Warcraft – can be an asset. For these games, Foust said, the typical software end-user license agreements that limit a company’s liability and protect its intellectual property don’t work.

“Games aren’t like software,” he said. “People who play them feel a deep intimacy with the game. They feel very attached to the virtual items they acquire in the game through hundreds of hours of playing it. That presents some interesting twists in property law.”

Drop the fork and step away from the pie! Good. Now, very slowly, reach into your wallet, grab your credit cards and toss them into the paper shredder. Nice and easy! Finally, take that pack of cigarettes and crush them beneath your feet… no sudden moves! So maybe New Year’s resolutions can sometimes come off as a prison sentence, often presenting difficult aspirations for many Americans. But while these tests of fortitude might seem overwhelming, even cliché, the idea of bettering one’s self at the beginning of each year is a cultural and introspective tradition.

For members of the U.S. Army, New Year’s resolutions reflect a commitment to constantly improve upon each individual’s professional and personal goals. “New Year’s Day is the most active-minded holiday, because it is the one where people evaluate their lives, and plan and resolve to take action. Common of all resolutions is that on the first day of the year people take their values more seriously,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Morris, the deputy commander of
Camp Atterbury, a training site dedicated to training Army National Guard and Reserve Soldiers prior to deployment. “Soldiers live these values, and commitment to service and country every day,” Morris said. “Not just New Year’s Day; Soldiers know the words loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.

They understand what these values truly mean and what it means to live up to them.” Living up to New Year’s resolutions doesn’t have to be a lofty goal. Many Americans choose something common to improve on, such as losing weight, becoming active or quitting a bad habit.

“The most common New Year’s resolutions are to lose weight and get in shape, spend more quality time with loved ones, quit smoking, get organized, travel more and reduce debt,” Morris said. “Experts agree that you should have clear, concise and easy-to-implement ideas in mind.

Planning is also important.” Capt. Matthew McGowen, with the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Office here, said that many Soldiers at the beginning of each year resolve to change how they reduce stress in their daily lives. “It really comes down to stress and what we do to relieve it,” McGowen said. “A negative stress reliever, such as smoking or drinking, never improves your overall well being. Things like exercise and dieting obviously do a better job relieving stress, and you’re keeping yourself healthy too.” McGowen recommended a quid pro quo method for developing a New Year’s resolution. “Pick something you don’t like doing, like smoking, and replace it with something positive,” he said. “Every time you have the urge to commit that negative action, immediately do something else. In the case of smoking, try something that will keep your mind occupied, like going for a quick jog or solving a brain teaser.” Getting in shape may be one resolution, but trimming the fat from financial expenses is a huge goal for Americans because of current economics.

Capt. Michael Dick, a financial officer at Camp Atterbury, said that Americans can resolve to be more responsible with their money while still enjoying the fruits of their labors. “I still think people should go out to dinner and shop and things like that, but they need to prioritize,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with spending money and having fun, but you have to be responsible. Think about starting a retirement fund. Establish an emergency fund and create a budget for the new year. Contribute at least 10 percent of your pay to a savings plans, plus another 10 percent to the emergency fund. That’s definitely showing financial discipline.”

Dick said that preparedness is a solid resolution for planning for the rest of the years ahead. “You never know what’s to be expected next year, so you have to prepare for any type of curve life throws at you,” he said. “If you get into a bind, at least you have a contingency.” Resolving to relieve stress doesn’t have to revolve solely around physical or financial fitness, however. For Camp Atterbury Military Police Officer Spc. Tiffany Hempstead, a stress-free 2009 involves her friends and a video game called World of Warcraft. “My resolution is to get to level 80 with my Ork Death Knight,” Hempstead said. “I know it sounds dorky, but it’s nice to feel like a kid for New Years.”

Some even resolve to stop making resolutions. “I’m not making any resolutions, at least, not this year,” said Maj. Dave Rader, Camp Atterbury’s airfield commander. “I’m looking to improve myself all the time, so I don’t need New Year’s for that. Improving myself should be constant, not seasonal.” While many resolve to make individual goals, some agree that commitment to others yields the greatest results. “We need to constantly ask ourselves, ‘How can we improve someone’s life, at least one per day?’” asked Command Sgt. Maj. Anthony L. Edwards, the command sergeant major for the 205th Infantry Brigade here.

“What can we do for each individual Soldier and civilian for the next year? If I had to decide, I would have others resolve to make an impact on at least one new person, civilian or Soldier, everyday.”

The Guild is a comedy web show based around a group of MMORPG players known as The Guild. While a lot of the humor is clearly inspired by World of Warcraft ( Buy wow gold ), the name of the game the actors are playing is never mentioned, and the comedy should strike home for any video game fan, MMORPG players especially. Each show is about 5 minutes in length, which is great for those of us who have important video games that take up most of our time.

For its primary storyline, The Guild humorously examines what happens when online game players meet in real life. In season one, Zaboo, played by Sandeep Parikh, decided to show up at the doorstep of Codex, played by Felicia Day, after a misunderstood online message. So far, season two has Codex trying to rid herself of Zaboo’s company.

This is where the humor of The Guild does most of its work - in the meeting of the game world and the real world. For example, one of the funniest running gags is Zaboo’s constant use of the “‘d” construction at the end of words, as referenced in the title of the second Webisode. Zaboo uses phrases like “obvious’d” and “Kinko’d,” presumably references to “pwned” from the online gaming language ‘leetspeak’. Only, Zaboo uses this language in real life.

The climax of the first season came when the entire group decided to meet in person for the first time to discuss guild business. Again, this show is ultimately about the intersection of real life and gaming culture.

Of course, MMOs have been a ripe spot of humor for a while now, going back to things like Leroy Jenkins. But, more often than not, people are laughing at us MMORPG players and gamers in general. With The Guild, I think the creators are laughing with us, which is a refreshing change.

The Guild is a hilariously funny show and definitely worth the five minutes a week. In fact, you can still watch the entire first season in about an hour. The new season is available in HD on MSN Video, in the Zune store, on YouTube, and even on Xbox Live.

In some ways, the most exciting developments in Mac gaming in 2008 didn’t involve the Mac at all. The iPhone, with its Software Development Kit enabling game-makers to bring their wares to Apple’s hot-selling mobile devices, stole most of the Mac’s thunder during the past year. But a hardware development toward the end of 2008 could mean a Mac gaming revival in the year to come.

Still, mobile gaming ruled the roost this year. Even before the iPhone’s 2007 launch, game developers increasingly turned their attention to mobile games. Despite the low-graphics capabilities and small screen sizes, mobile gaming was a growing market.

Going mobile

With the unveiling of the iPhone SDK in March and the subsequent opening of the App Store in July, the iPhone emerged as an attractive option in the mobile game market, offering developers an adaptable platform, a bigger screen, and better graphic capabilities.

Ngmoco made a splash in 2008 with iPhone-exclusive games like Rolando.In just six month’s time, we’ve seen the iPhone take its first few steps into the world of mobile gaming. In addition to many quality games made by independent developers, big-name publishers such as EA, THQ, and Gameloft have launched games for the iPhone platform. These have debuted with mixed results-THQ Wireless’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed failed to impress despite some strong graphics and the Star Wars pedigree, while Asphalt 4: Elite Racing proved to be entertaining (if immature at times).

With heavy hitters taking the platform seriously and some, like the newly formed Ngmoco, even launching iPhone-exclusive games, the iPhone is coming into its own as a gaming platform. Titles such as Real Soccer 2009 and Freeverse Software’s Flick Bowling and Flick Fishing sports games have taken advantage of the iPhone’s tracking pad and motion sensors to offer new levels of game interaction.

Not just the iPhone

On the Mac gaming side, the year has seen some blockbuster titles make good on their promises while others disappointed. While Call of Duty 4 didn’t arrive on the Mac until several quarters after the initial PC release, the action-packed shooter delivered one of the most complete, cinematic, and engrossing experiences in recent memory.

While Call of Duty looked fresh, games like Prince of Persia: Two Thrones, Jade Empire, and Battlestations: Midway showed their age by coming out several months or even years after their initial PC releases. While these three titles provided solid platforming, role-playing, and action gameplay, respectively, the enthusiasm for each one among Mac gamers had faded by the time of their belated release.

The latest World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, proved that Blizzard’s massively multiplayer online game continues to get better.Still, other Mac games enjoyed simultaneous debuts on multiple platforms, such as the much-anticipated Spore and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King. WoW continues to get better and better, and players eagerly jumped into the new worlds and features provided by the latest expansion, some waiting in line hours for the chance to play.

Meanwhile, Spore can safely be called the biggest disappointment of the year. While wrestling with a PR disaster centered around the strict digital-rights management software included in the game, the game became the most pirated game on the Internet. The irony, of course, is that while the downloads (legal or not) have been numerous, the game has been slammed by critics for its shallow gameplay and limited strategy options. The latest expansion does nothing to address these flaws, and comes across-to use a popular phrase of the year-as so much “lipstick on a pig.”

Other relatively unknown developers scored big hits in 2008 with their latest releases. The beginning of the year saw the popular puzzle game Peggle Deluxe come to Mac, while 2D Boy’s World of Goo helped the year end on a high note with another quirky, original, and addictive puzzle game.

Graphics get better

If Mac gaming is to reassert itself in the coming year, a product release from Apple this past fall may turn out to be the driving factor. Apple’s consumer-oriented MacBook line finally got a graphics system worthy of the popular laptop.

The switch to Nvidia
9400M graphics in the new unibody MacBooks has improved things dramatically for gamers.When Apple switched to Intel processors, the MacBook suffered from dreadful graphics performance which made it unsuitable for games, thanks to seriously underpowered Intel-made integrated graphics processors installed on the motherboard. That changed in October, when Apple introduced a revamped MacBook lineup highlighted by the addition of Nvidia 9400M graphics.

Yes, the MacBook’s graphic processor still shares memory with the system RAM, but there’s a lot more to share (256MB, as opposed to 144MB in the older MacBooks). What’s more, it’s faster memory-the new MacBooks use DDR3 SDRAM. The end-result is improved graphic performance, particularly in games, where the latest titles no longer suffer from single-digit frame rates.

The fact that one of Apple’s most popular Mac models is a much-improved gaming machine gives us hope headed into 2009. We’ll take a closer look at more of the trends that figure to influence Mac gaming over the next 12 months in a future Game Room post.