One of the most fascinating elements of the internet is the ability for
a consumer to step back in time. Like Marty stepping into the stainless
steel Delorean, a person can literally go to any news-oriented website,
click back through some archives and get a taste of what was occurring
during a particular period in time. If you don't believe me, just click
on our "
target="_blank">News" archive and hit the "
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/news?page=858" target="_blank">Last"
button. You'll be floored by what you find.
For this article, I've condensed our treasure trove of news articles
(there were around 1100!) between July and December down into this
fairly comprehensive list of the articles and headlines that I thought
were the most pivotal, farthest reaching, terribly intriguing or
saddest out of that entire collection. I warn you that this is a list
made by one man, but it should give the fair-weather MMO fan a nice
little glimpse into the last six months of MMO gaming. Tomorrow, I'll
post up my top news articles from the first six months of 2008 in Part
Two.
Frankly, I love taking a look back at my own predictions, attitudes and
concerns about upcoming games. I was head over heels for
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/aoc" target="_blank">
style="font-style: italic;">Age of Conan
and fell in love with the first thirty levels in the game. But that
love was whisked away faster than The Flash on amphetamines, and it was
readily apparent that AoC was having problems mere months after its
launch. Although I'm not giving out an award for the top news of 2008,
I was simply amazed at the amount of bad publicity AoC received from
July to December of 2008. I've highlighted just a portion of the
negative press that AoC has received, not to be mean, but to simply
show readers, fans and developers how certain issues can snowball out
of control.
The
Unfortunate Case of Age
of Conan:
Server Merger Delays - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/50833
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/33976">
src="/image/view/33976/preview"
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Age of Conan
had some negative press in 2008.
Eidos Caught in Ratings Scandal - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49974
Funcom Lays Off Majority of US Staff-
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49966
PvP Exploit, Experience Rollback -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49217
Admitting to Things not Living Up to Snuff -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/45918
Crafting Changes - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/45475
Gaute Godager Resigns/Retires - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44297
Funcom Security Woes - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/43193
Funcom CEO Sells Company Stocks - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/42636
Women Finally Equal in AoC - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/40166
Funcom Stock Prices Dip - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/39542
Emergency Downtime - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37499
AoC Claims #2 Spot in Rankings - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37298
July
WAR Cuts Four Classes for Launch -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38011
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/37991">
src="/image/view/37991/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">
Champions
Online was originally slated to be published by 2K Games.
2K Games to Publish Champions Online -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38170
Flagship Studios Shuts Down - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38303
NCsoft to Combine City of Heroes/Villains -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38382
EA's E3 SW:TOR Statement (Accident?) -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38472
Possible Lionhead MMO? - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/38767
Star Trek Online Announced - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/40936
NCsoft - Announces Blade and Soul -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/40173
August
Fury Shuts Down - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/40379
BlizzCon Tickets Sold Out! - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41081
FFXI Boss Takes 18+ Hours to Defeat -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41083
AoC Shows Off Dx10 - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41204
Mythic Not Crediting All Developers -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/41470
Gold Farming $500 Million Industry? -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/42640
Acclaim to Publish Spellborn in US -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/42775
Asheron's Call Gets 100th Update -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/42901
September
Wizard 101 Launches - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/43234
Buffy MMO Rises, Firefly MMO Drops Dead -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/43359
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/40609">
src="/image/view/40609/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">
WAR
experienced some trouble with the EU open beta.
WAR EU Open Beta Woes - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/43583
Dolby Voice Platform (Dolby Axon) Announced -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44108
World of Warcraft Cost $200 Million Since Launch -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44294
Warhammer Online Launches - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44351
Gamers Thinner than Average Americans -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44370
Formation of NC West - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44744
Fallout MMO Breaths New Life - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/44895
Jack Thompson Permanently Disbarred -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/45090
Wizard101 Announces Family Pricing Plan -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/45312
October
WAR Reaches 750,000 Subscribers - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/46653
Turbine Opens West Coast Studio - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/46655
EVE's CEO Discusses World Financial Crisis -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/46933
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47093">
src="/image/view/47093/preview"
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Star Wars:
The Old Republic was announced to much esteem.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Announced -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47080,
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47069
11 Million Subscribers in WoW - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47496
Mainstream Media Cover Zombie Horde in WoW -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47578
City of Heroes Goes to Mac - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47598
Atlantica Online Launches - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47612
November
Bill Roper Joins Cryptic Studios -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47725
Video Gaming Enter Politics - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/47756
Jumpgate Evolution Gets 150k Beta Registrants -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49218
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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49159">
src="/image/view/49159/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">
Jumpgate
Evolution's 150k beta sign-ups was an impressive feat.
Richard Garriott Leaves Tabula Rasa -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49256
Wheel of Time MMO Announced - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49271
Lich King Raids Defeated in Three Days -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49572
Huxley Delayed Until 2009 - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49574
Three MMO Retail Expansions Launch!
- EverQuest 2 - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49613
- Lord of the Rings Online -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49611 - World of Warcraft -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49365
Gamefly Preemptively Cancels the Agency -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49668
WoW Expansion Sets Single Day Sales Record -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49735
Print Magazines Facing Closure - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49814
Tabula Rasa Canceled - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49836
Ten Ton Turnip Issue #1 - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/49617
Obama Advisor Plays WoW - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/50070
The Agency to have In-Game Ads - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/50074
December
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December
isn't over yet, and we've already seen lots of news.
Cryptic Purchased by Atari - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/50919,
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/51939
Stargate Worlds Employees not Getting Paid -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/50624
Microtransactions HIt EQ and EQ2 -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/50929
Myst Online Going Open Source - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/51433
EA Puts WAR on Steam - http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/51829
WoW Hits 11.5 Million Subscribers -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/52035
NCsoft Singled Out in Patent Infringement Suit -
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/52131
