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Posted November 2nd, 2009 by Ethec

#1,199 - November used to be the month of expacs... what changed?

Welcome to the 1,199th edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.

November used to be the month of MMO expansions, now it seems like every developer is angling for their own spot on a crowded release date calendar. What's behind a mostly expac-less month this year? Is December the new November? Thoughts on this topic, plus links to Brad McQuaid and Star Trek Online interviews you don't want to miss in today's Loading... Expansion Month?

The Pulse

You vote with what you view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the result is the Ten Ton Pulse (What is The Pulse?).

Here's today's top 5 Pulse results:

Biggest movers today:

Torchlight (UP 9 to #12)
Star Trek Online (UP 9 to #11)
DragonAge: Origins (UP 8 to #19)

Recent MMO Releases

8/25 - CrimeCraft (release date)
9/1 - Champions Online (release date)
9/9 - Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited (release date)
9/15 - Runes of Magic "The Elven Prophecy" (expansion)
9/22 - Fallen Earth (release date)
9/22 - Aion (release date)
10/8 - Cities XL (release date)

Upcoming Releases

11/3 - Dragon Age: Origins (release date)
12/1 - LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood (expansion)
12/1 - EVE Online: Dominion (expansion)
12/2 - DOFUS 2.0 (release date)
12/15 - EverQuest: Underfoot (expansion)
Early 2010 - APB
Feb. 2010 - EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate (expansion)

Loading... Daily

Welcome to November, which is Pancreatic, Diabetes, Lung Cancer, Alzheimer's, and Crohn's Disease Awareness Month, as well as National Novel Writing Month (it's a short month so we'd better get started), and the month that the Roman Catholic church as dedicated to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Perhaps that last one was why, once upon a time, MMO gamers used to view November as "expansion month." Containing the launch date anniversary of EverQuest, EverQuest 2, and World of Warcraft, for a time developers made a habit of throwing their titles a birthday party with retail expansions. Other games, like Dark Age of Camelot, regularly followed suit with November expansions, and Lord of the Rings Online got in on the action with a November release of Mines of Moria last year.

November release dates made sense for a few reasons - it's the holiday season, and what better gift for the gamer in your life than more loot, levels and replayability? November also has that most coveted of gamer possessions - a built-in long holiday weekend. I remember picking up a few EQ expansions before heading home from college for the Thanksgiving holiday - what better way to spend a post-gluttenous stupor than in Velious? Plus, the majority of highly anticipated PC and console titles ship by early November (DragonAge and CoD Modern Combat 2 will round out this year's offerings by Nov. 10th), leaving the more introverted MMO titles with a brief window for marketing impact.

But Blizzard broke the anniversary tradition with a January release of Burning Crusade, and this year Turbine and SOE elected to launch expansion later in the season. LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood, EverQuest: Underfoot, and EVE Online: Dominion are slated to launch in December and EverQuest 2: Sentinel's Fate has been given a fuzzy date of February 2010. The other Pulse Top 10 expansions on the radar, Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, haven't set a release date at this time.

Why the de-Novemberization of MMO retail expansions? With already thin profit margins and blistering expectations from players and investors, it's entirely possible that MMO developers and marketeers found it too hot in the holiday ramp-up kitchen. Pre-orders and account-based download only expansions complicated the mix for non-gamer gift-givers, taking some of the holiday-ness out of expansions. But the simplest explanation is probably the best one - once the industry lost its rhythm, once there was no reason for a November push, everyone opted for what they saw as a clear spot on the marketing schedule. The danger is that MMOs, on the whole, might lose ground against "less online" games in the battle for your gaming time and dollar

Do you miss the days of regular November expansions? Are you playing more non-MMO games this holiday season than you did a year or two years ago? Sound off in the Loading... forums!

Shayalyn's Epic Thread of the Day

From our Articles, News & Events Discussion forum

Fallout MMOG Project V13 - Concept Art

Lawsuits be damned, Interplay has released some concept art from the Fallout V13 MMOG. How are gamers receiving the idea of a Fallout MMOG? Opinions seem to vary, as the epic quotes below demonstrate. Head over to our news forum to view the concept art and have your say.

==============================
Awesome Quotes from the Epic Thread

"No good can come of this."

- kitsunegirl

"They have Masthead Studios working with them on it. Shouldn't be hard for them to produce something pretty amazing as Earthrise sounds like it is going to be excellent."

- bobfish
==============================

Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell us!

5 New Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 5 in November! 2,077 in 2009!

Today's New Features & Guides

Managing Fan Expectations - An Interview with Vanguard Visionary Brad McQuaid
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76193
It’s inevitable--as any MMOG nears launch, excitement builds to a fever pitch and message boards, from official forums to fansites to network communities like Ten Ton Hammer, buzz with activity. But hype for a game about to launch can lead to an almost inevitable crash when expectations meet reality. Brad McQuaid, the man behind EverQuest and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, has learned a thing or two, sometimes the hard way, about keeping fan expectations in check. In one of the first interviews with him since the launch of Vanguard, McQuaid speaks candidly about fan expectations, and shares his thoughts about how to keep them in line.
Star Trek Online Space Combat Q&A with Exec. Producer Craig Zinkievich
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76232
The excitement continues to build as Star Trek Online entered closed beta less than two weeks ago. For part one of a two-part series on space and ground combat in Star Trek Online, Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich stopped by to specifically discuss how ship-to-ship combat plays out in the final frontier. What role will ship type, speed, maneuverability, and tactics play in battle, and can your friends join in your encounter or instance at any time? As importantly, how will Star Trek Online preserve the "bridge drama" and atmosphere that has made Star Trek space combat so compelling for generations? Answers to these questions and more in our latest Star Trek Online space combat Q&A with Craig Zinkievich.
DOFUS 2.0 Beta Key Giveaway
http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/dofus
NOTE - Ten Ton Hammer Premium Members only until late Monday, midnight US Eastern. More than four years after its release, Ankama reaches another milestone with DOFUS - the subscription-based isometric perspective MMORPG. DOFUS 2.0 is a complete rewrite of the award-winning free-to-play MMO, including all-new graphics and a client rewritten from scratch. December 2nd is the official release date for the new version, but Ten Ton Hammer viewers can experience the DOFUS 2.0 beta starting now!
DDO Unlimited Necropolis Screenshots
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76231
The Necropolis adventure pack is available through the Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited store, and it's a doozy. The adventure pack comes in four parts, ranging for adventurers levels 5-6, 8-9, 11-12 and 14-17. Depending on which part you select to do, the Silver Flame and Emerald Claw will send you to various areas to uncover the story. Today we have five screenshots to give you a little taste as to what awaits.
EVE Online – Ten Tips to Go From Noob to Noobtastic
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/76238
It can be argued that EVE Online has more depth and complexity than any MMOG on the market today. The game’s learning curve has at times been compared to an outwardly curving cliff face laced with deadly obstacles. Fear not though, true believers, because Eric “Dalmarus” Campbell has come up with a list of ten tips to help get you on your way.

Hottest Content:

Thanks for visiting the Ten Ton Hammer network!

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer team

Comments

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The reason behind the danger of holiday releases from expansions in the MMO world, is raising its ugly head everytime the online services or games become not availabe on those sacred few free days.

You pull those hasty baked expansion out from the oven and run in the likely danger that the crust is black and hard...
...speak, the servers need more downtime to fix problems that come from unexpected errors within the game expansion.

Gamers are a easy to anger crowd anyways and very unf...

Huh?

I have heen playing MMO's for a long time and never really noticed that November was a supposedly launch month for them. Too many MMO's launching at once spreads the gaming budget very thin. Don't think she who must be obeyed would appreciate video games as holiday presents. My crown jewels still are tingling from buying her a Kirby vaccum for Xmas. Learned my lesson, she likes clothes, perfume and such not gadgets.

I always enjoyed the November releases. Hearing you mention Velious really brought back a lot of great memories. I always looked forward to new expansions or releases along with the holiday time to play them. With the economy the way that it is its interesting to see how it is effecting the market at every level.

I'm looking forward to Sentinel's Fate, February will give me plenty of time to build my new reg. I'm also looking forward to hearing more about Everquest Next. As far as none SO...

Quote:

Originally Posted by zarlon

My crown jewels still are tingling from buying her a Kirby vaccum for Xmas. Learned my lesson, she likes clothes, perfume and such not gadgets.

I think the key word here is Vacuum not kirby... She might or might not like games. She won't like cleaning or cooking implements for gifts

I like expansions coming out in November. Gives something entertaining to do during the long snowed ...

I think its the economy. Everyone is afraid to release a major title even if its ready because they are afraid that sales will be down. Bad sales= angry investors. Its better to just hold off a few months and hope that things are better. If things aren't better by next summer, then they will release them regardless because they can't hold on to things forever, especially not in the world of computers.

Read all 7 comments and add your thoughts! »

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