ncsoft-europe posts

If you follow the MMO game scene at all you have likely heard stories of players who spend more time grinding levels and going on raids than they do in the real world. Now one player has decided to take his so-called "addition" for one MMO games personally and has sued publisher NCsoft.

Wired reports that Craig Smallwood of Hawaii claims that NCsoft failed to warn him that playing its fantasy MMO game Lineage II would be addicting. He says he played the game between 2004 and 2009 and during that time he claims he could not function in his real life including doing simple things like "getting up, getting dressed, bathing or communicating with family and friends." So far a judge made the decision to not dismiss Smallwood's case entirely which means a trial could be in the works. NCsoft has urged the judge to dismiss the case.

[Via Massively]

So ArenaNet is developing the MMO sequel Guild Wars 2. But there will apparently be more to do than just go on quest, kill monsters and collect items. The latest blog post on the ArenaNet web site reveals the game will offer up some rather unique mini-games to pass the time.

One of them is the bar brawl where people can fight each other with their hands and feet. The kicker is the several types of ale you can drink that can give you certain abilities such as "allowing the player to belch out a noxious gas cloud." Other mini-games include taking out targets in a shooting gallery and snowball fights. The ultimate reason for these mini-games? "We have created such a wide range of content and activities that you can find something to do regardless of your play style or mood."

We've been looking at concept artwork and descriptions of what Guild Wars 2 will look like for a long time. Now developer ArenaNet and publisher NCsoft are starting to release actual in-game screenshots from the long awaited MMO title as well as some gameplay footage.

The gameplay movies come via a new look at one of the game's professions, the Elementalist. The five brief clips show off some of the powers this profession can handle (it also apparently has the power to wear just a bra if it's a human female). There are also some new screenshots showing the Elementalist in action and some others illustrate the first part of a two part article that examines the game's combat and skills features. You can check out the Elementalist powers clips after the jump:

NCsoft will be spanning the globe this summer to show off their ever expanding MMO lineup. As we mentioned last week, they will be at the San Diego Comic Con (July 23-27, booth #5209) with stations up and running so that attendees can play the superhero themed City of Heroes, Richard Garriott's sci-fic epic Tabula Rasa and mech-mashing Exteel. Fanzine artist Dave Hamann will also be on hand to draw City of Heroes' character sketches for players.

A few days later, July 29 - 31 in Brighton, England, NCsoft Europe will be showing the media its highly anticipated fantasy, wing-sprouting MMO, Aion: The Tower of Eternity. This will be the first time western journalists will have seen Aion since the summer of 2007, and things have changed. Three weeks later (August 20 - 24) Aion will be on display again at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany (Hall 3, Booth B20).

The last stop on the NCsoft bus ride will be at the Penny Arcade Expo (booth #642) in Seattle, August 29 - 31. PAX has become a pretty significant gaming con, and for NCsoft to show up with many of the their games (Aion, Exteel, Dungeon Runners, CoX, Guild Wars, and Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa) says a lot. What's more, Guild Wars' fans will be treated to a special player tournament while Exteel and Dungeon Runners' teams will get play sessions in the special LAN area. There will also be speaking sessions in the auditorium for fans to learn more about their many MMOs.

Marc D'Souza, NCsoft Europe's creative director, wants everyone to know they don't make copycat games. In a recent interview with English gaming website develop, D'Souza made it crystal clear that while they appreciate and respect World of Warcraft, they will never use it as a starting point in creating a new game. Simply wrapping WoW game mechanics in different clothing doesn't add value to a game and shortchanges the consumer.

It would seem that NCsoft Europe has a different approach from the many developers who hoped to make a quick buck by jumping on the build-a-WoW clone bandwagon. Why? They intend to lead the MMO space in the same manner that Rockstar Games leads the single player space with the Grand Theft Auto series. The goal is to give players a novel game experience that's completely different "from a pre-existing" one. To do that they build everything from the ground up. First they identify a handful of game concepts that might be interesting, toss them into a blender (or an "incubation process" as D'Souza explains it) and see what game mechanics work, and what doesn't. It all boils down to one simple concept: "If it isn't fun, it goes into the bin."

And "fun" is something that a great many people in this industry seem to forget about all too often.