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EA's Earth and Beyond MMOG To Shut Down
Zonk writes "The announcement came down yesterday that Electronic Arts' space-based massively multiplayer online game Earth and Beyond is to close this September. There is a detailed official FAQ page regarding the transition to 'Sunset', including dates, content additions, and information about billing. Commentary can be found via Terra Nova and over on Waterthread. Sigh... another one bites the dust."
There was a space-themed MMOG?
CMDRTACO CHECK YOUR EMAIL!
I know it wasn't for everyone, but I've really enjoyed playing this game Guess it's time to switch over to Duke Nukem Forever!
It's not because of the monthly fee. It's things like this. I can still go back and play Quake 1, as long as I can get it to run on my computer I can play it. And I do get the urge to do so once in a while. But with MMOGs they're only playable for as long as the company can make money supporting them. I can't depend on the game being around forever, so I don't want to get interested in the game at all.
I find it interesting that they're offering free copies of Ultima Online and The Sims Online to all of the Earth & Beyond subscribers. First time I've heard of a closing MMO offering a sort of 'severance package'.
I tried the demo, and I didnt find the game very compelling as a MMOG, as there was little incentive to interact with other players.
It actually made me wonder why they didnt just make this into a single-player game.
They make it abundantly clear that the game will be running until September, but how is it a game if they're not going to be adding content for the next 6 months?
This makes no sense to me. Why not kill it now and save money on the server costs? Everyone is going to leave way before September anyway. With no future for the game, actions have no meaning and the (already stale) content will have no appeal.
Of course, they likely have a clause in the EULA that states that they have to give sufficient warning of the game closure.
Regrettably all Around.
If you dig/dug Earth and Beyond, I know some folks who like Eve Online.
I also have some commentary on this sort of thing in my editorial today on MMORPGDot, as well as at my own site.
I don't think a sigh is really warranted. The game wasn't that compelling, and the market is oversaturated with MMORPGs with little sign of letup. A couple more need to bite the dust. Or, if you don't agree with that, maybe you'll agree that a lot more are /going/ to bite the dust.
It's a cool concept and a shame it's shutting down. It was one of the mmorpgs I wanted to play when I finally got a chance to play. It looked alot cooler than many of the others.
...fails to cross my face.
"...so I don't want to get interested in the game at all."
I didn't find this to be a real danger with E&B. It's the first MMPOG I'd dabbled with since Asheron's Call. I played for about a month, but found it very difficult to bond with my spacecraft.
As avatars go, rather hard to empathize with. And since the humanoid avatar was only really a shopping and manufacturing interface, well, again, no big surprise it's closing down.
Now, WoW...that's another story. Must...resist...urge to throw life away on pretty game.
What were you expecting?
Did anyone play this game? What was your impression of it. Which parts of its potential was realized, which parts weren't?
Go Gusties
i played the beta, never subscribed. Anyone care to sum up how the plot played out?
Winter 2010: With Glowing Hearts
If they released the server side as a download so people could open their own E&B server. Maybe a stipulation that they couldn;t charge for it or something...
I'm pretty surprised it lasted as long as it did as a pay-to-play service. If EA were to release something similar as a single player game I would surely pick it up.
I played this game for about 2 months, and became bored quickly, althought a few of my friends maxed out their characters and thought it was a lot of fun. I just felt the game was too limited due to the fact that you were always in your ship. If there was land based content (aside from the space stations) I think it would of been more succcessful.
It should be interesting to be logged on during those last days in September. On September 1st at 11:59PM (or whatever the exact down-date is) maybe all the remaining players will have one last battle-royale, or maybe just a virtual champagne toast, fight together for something fun, and then watch as they all "die" simultanously...
I was in the beta for E&B and i just wasn't in the least bit impressed. They took the route that alot of deveolpers did in trying to copy the sucsess of EQ and yet dumb it down to apeal to the masses. The game lacked any real content or interaction, it could have made a decent single player game but as an MMORPG it really lacked. Now EVE-Online...that is one excelent game...i've been playing now for 2 months and its steadily growing...they hold the worlds record in players in one world enviroment...i think its like 7,800 or so... excelent game with a wonderful complex enviroment!
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This is MY galaxy...go find your OWN!
I know this is off topic, so I'll start by saying that this isn't necessarily a bad thing that E&B is gone. As with any competitive environments, MMO companies are still trying to develop the killer app that will keep people glued to their PCs. Only, PCs are losing popularity compared to consoles, which is why I think they won't succeed until a very good console MMO comes out. So the MMOs will weed themselves out for a while, expect others to follow, and don't be surprised if someone hacks together a server or they release the code. Wouldn't that be an improvement?
That said, off topic I think EB Games is a pretty good haunt. Sure the games are overpriced but part of gaming is the joy of immediate satisfaction, which is the only reason I shop there. If you're looking for a deal go to amazon or ebay.
In any case, going to any game shop, you invariably run across the unfortunate side-effect of such establishments; the people who work there. They must be paid slave wages with commission because I inevitably get cornered (and keep in mind, these are small mall shops with barely an edge of breathing room) as they try and sell me on the things like the new Matrix. Yes. This happened, a guy tried to sell me the Matrix, and you could see the desperation in his eyes as visions of old ET landfills danced in his head. I remember asking a technical question on whether or not the Gamecube's broadband adapter works with NAT (I guess that is a tough one) and I just remember the complete blank look on the guy's face, like he wanted to sell me the broadband adapter but he knew nothing at all about it and was just caught with his pants down. I thought he might cry.
The sales types, however, will quickly run away if you give them a good stare. They pale in comparison to their partner, the 'comic book guy' who memorized every code and dual-plays EQ and DAOC 60hrs/week when he's not at work, treats every kid like shit and likes to inform you in a demeaning way that the new Defender is not nearly as good as the original Atari version even as you're buying it. Then he'll offer you five dollars of "in-store credit" for that new version of Mario Kart you had to resell to feed your starving children while he at the same time chides you for throwing away such a national treasure.
All I really want from a video game store is some space to look around and not be accosted. Why not make a video game store like a goddamn Barnes and Noble where you can play the games and drink coffee and sit down? I'm sure it's a business model issue, but I don't care that they've got a great new deal where you can trade in your playstation and 10 games and your mother and you can get a gameboy SP for $10 off. I just want to look around, I can read the fucking 'bargains' they've got pasted all over the place.
Ok, done ranting.
Unfortunately, of the 16 hours we spent playing the game total, only 1 of them was as a group- basically what we found was that it might as well have been a single player game with an IRC client built in so you can chat with other people on a channel devoted to the game. Maybe a little trading going on- mostly seemed to be "I'll give you a bunch of credits if you'll say I got you to sign up".
The concept was cool, but I think they did this without involving any actual MUD developers- Note to future MMORPG people, grab some people (especially women these days, if you can) with MUD experience for your dev team.
Any generalization is a stupid one.
This game was poorly designed and implemented. It made no attempt to break the levelling/mob farming treadmill, had no PvP, despite constant claims that it would be introduced, and suffered from a constant lack of content and innovation..
It's EA. They tried to introduce their big budget, highly advertised yet devoid of substance game model into the MMORPG market and it failed. Maybe this will make them stop and think about the importance of quality design the next time they move to absorb an independent studio
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I suppose that the 6 month notice is partly to the ability to purchase 6 months of game time. It seems like many EA games go down this road to failiure (I know a number of games done by EA that I could not stand). Compared to some MMOG currently in, 2 years really isn't that long. Just take a look at The Realm Online . It has been around since '96, or '97.
I beta tested it and it gave me such vertigo that I couldn't play it for more than like 2 minutes at a time :/
I was in the beta for a long while (right up until about a month before release), so I think i'm qualified to comment... though my memory may be a little rusty.
The Good:
For one, the universe. Seriously. It had an interesting backstory. Man reaches out to the stars and spreads his seed... and then history repeats itself and the whole place goes fucking nuts and trys to kill eachother. Things settle down after a while, but the whole galaxy is gripped by a cold-war style paranoia. And then... weird extra-dimensional shit starts showing up (and we all know thats NEVER a good thing). Throw in a few thousand psychotic mercenary-role players, and voila! Even the factions were cool. Ok, sure, they weren't anything new (anyone played Jumpgate? Same three factions, different names), but they were interesting. You had the mysterious, spiritual, hippy, crazies in the Jenquai. The thick-headed, warmongering, genetically modified warrior caste in the Progen. And then you had the ever random, unpredictable, money-grubbing Terran faction. The ballance between the three was pretty interesting sometimes.
Second off, E&BO had one of the best newbie zones i'd ever seen. You started off in a completely nonhostile zone that other factions couldn't enter, and spent your first 5 levels or so running through literal training grounds. After the beta started filling up, they even had seperate, load-ballancing instances of the newbie sectors (home zones). From there, new players wandered out into their factions directly controlled space and took on more difficult missions. After that, you started crossing through riskier neutral territory. Eventually you'd wind up in the middle of friggin nowhere as a high level player. It worked VERY well IMO.
Another thing was the graphics. For a space RPG, it was stunningly beautiful. I remember being totally blown away the first time I saw Saturn. It was this MASSIVE orangy-browinsh sphere that completely filled my screen, acompanied by a never-ending halo of tiny glittering rocks (the ring) tumbling through space. Toss in a gorgeous lense-flare from the sun, and I was ready to wet my pants. For its time, it definitly had some very pretty parts. (Too bad graphics don't make the game). Oh, and speaking of graphics... any other testers remember Megan? Your friendly neighbourhood holo-helper? And I don't mean that stupid silver-jumpsuited, anoerexic robo-whore that shipped with the game. I mean, the friggin smokin hot and button cute Megan they first had. Damn she ruled. And then they replaced her, because "it was just a temp". *Sigh*.
Now, the Bad:
Primarilly, their "three activities" sucked. E&BO tried to pride itself on giving players choices between three major activities: Combat, Trade, and Exploration. Too bad they were the worst parts of the game!
Combat. Combat sucked. Hard. It was the worst implementation of space-based combat i'd EVER seen. When most people (myself included), think of space combat, they think of things like TIE Fighter. Ships darting and dodging, diving and rolling, basically jousting for a tactical advantage. Now, as an RPG, I expected combat to be somewhat toned down, but E&BO was just rediculous. It was, quite literally, nothing more than a game "press the button lots till you win". There was no manuvering. No jousting for position. No zipping around trying to dodge your enemies fire. Nope, because it was all just a poorly-concieved cover for a standard fantasy combat system. Eg: Stand there, and hack away till it dies. Combat in E&BO was simply retarded to witness. It went something like this: Two ships (or a ship and a monster), fly towards eachother. They both stop, face eachother, and shoot their strongest weapon until someone dies. Thats it. Seriously, it was just stupid. No one flew bothered flying around because, one, you could NEVER get behind anyone (ships could turn waaay too fast), and two, it didn't matter anyways since all "to hit" rolls were done regardless of speed, position, or any
As for why they are not killing it now:
The End-User License Agreement guarantees that the player base will be notified a minimum of 90 days before they pull the plug on the servers.
As for why 6 months? probably so that the people who bought 6 month packages don't demand a refund for the 3 months remaining...
check out http://www.ebportal.com if you want to read what all of the players have to say...
-- Fareq
Last night on Netdevil's Jumpgate, a pseudo-physics based space-sim, we noticed a small influx of new players. We didn't ask them, but we think it has partially to do with this.
.. but I can ignore that for the most part.) flight model. Flying a cargo tow with several hundered units of Iridium is MUCH different than, say, flying a medium fighter with no cargo. Bring your joystick for this game, kiddies.
For you EnB'ers who are on the lookout for another space-sim, Jumpgate has a (free!) trial download, with 10 days free. It's also one of the cheapest MMPOGs on the market, at 9.95/mo.
It has a robust (while not quite realistic - even in space your ship has drag. It makes it easier to fly. Otherwise docking would be a nightmare. What I don't like about the model is that ships have hardcapped "top speeds"
PvP is a main aspect of the game, with guild warfare and pirate tools. If you don't like PvP, but still like combat, there are always the purple space creature menace, Flux, to eliminate. The other aspect is the realistic economy - from miners comes raw materials, which stations refine into processed materials, which combine into products like missiles and engines.
Artifact hunting is another thing to do, but I haven't looked much into it.
Granted, the graphics are slightly out of date - but it's not about the graphics... It's about the gameplay! If you're close-minded and simply want another point and click MMPOG, don't try this game. If all you've played are point-and-click MMPOGs in the past, take it for a spin. I think you'll be pleasantly suprised.
Disclaimer: I do not work for NetDevil, nor do I have any affiliation with them other than being a paying customer.
Now UT04 has hit with the mighty onslaught mode, could Planetside start feeling the pinch in the coming months?
The writing was on the wall a LONG time before they announced it. If they give you a free month and the FULL version that cheap (Or buy a bundled package with 5 other games for 19.99) I mean hell, when someone BUNDLES a MMOG in a economy pack, its just time to move on.
Ea had a winner on there hands with Motor City online a heck of a MMOPRG, that allowed you to build and race classic american cars against other people. The physics models where some of the best I have ever experienced. But they closed down even with 20,000 members at 20 a month. This engine could easily have spawned a Nascar or riceburner version that would have made EA more money but they closed it down and shelved it. Sure people wanted the server apps so indepencent servers could be created. But EA just developes and then kills before things come to full completion. Does anyone know how many subs E and B had?
---In a time of Chimpanzees I was a Monkey.