All Posts by GFulls

Mark Kern of Red 5 Studios talks with MMORPG.com. See what Mark has to say about his past, present, and upcoming future with Red 5 Studios.

Mark Kern was the Team Lead on Blizzard's gargantuan hit, World of Warcraft. Now, he is the President and CEO of Red 5 Studios. In this interview, Mark answers Garrett Fuller's questions about his past, future, and the direction of the MMO industry.

MMORPG.com: Great to talk with you Mark. Can you tell us how you got started in video games and more importantly MMOs?

Mark Kern: I wrote my first computer game on a TRS-80 computer so I've been at this for some time now! I knew I always wanted to make games, but it wasn't until college that I started to think about online games. I played a commercial mud called Gemstone on the Genie bulletin board service back when you paid $5/hour to play. I was absolutely hooked, and nearly flunked out of school until one day I quit cold turkey. But even though I had quit, I kept thinking about designing the ultimate text-based MMO. Things have changed now, but I'm still trying to create teams and make the best games possible. And if you look very, very closely, you'll see some Gemstone influence in World of Warcraft today.

Read the entire Interview here.

Blizzard Entertainment announces BlizzCon 2007. Get your best Tauren costume ready and book that flight to California!

A year and a half ago, Blizzard hosted the first "BlizzCon," a convention celebrating the Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo game universes and the amazing community of players who contribute to their continued popularity. Today, Blizzard announced that BlizzCon will once again open its doors on August 3, 2007. Highlights for this year's BlizzCon will include: * Discussion panels with Blizzard game developers; * Competitive and casual tournaments, including a World of Warcraft TCG tournament; * Costume, machinima, and character sound-alike contests with great prizes; * Live orchestral performances of music from Blizzard games; * And many more exciting activities to be announced soon at www.blizzcon.com!

Read more here.

Sony Online Entertainment names David D. Christensen as Vice President of Business Development & International Operations.

Sony Online Entertainment, (SOE) a global leader in the online gaming industry, today announced the appointment of David D Christensen to Vice President of Business Development & International Operations. In this newly created role, Christensen will be responsible for generating strategic global growth opportunities and securing key business alliances for SOE, with an emphasis on the European and Asian markets. In addition to his business development responsibilities, Christensen is tasked with managing SOE's international operations group. Christensen will be based in SOE?s new Los Angeles studio and will report to John Needham, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President for Sony Online Entertainment.

Christensen is a veteran of the video games industry with a broad range of business experience, including development partnerships, acquisitions, licensing and business affairs. Prior to joining SOE, Christensen served as Vice President of Business Development for IGE where he drove the company's relationships with the massively multiplayer publishing community. Prior to that, Christensen served as the Director of Business Development for Vivendi Games. He was instrumental in leading negotiations on licensing and development deals for several critically acclaimed and commercially acclaimed successful franchises including Crash Bandicoot, The Incredible Hulk, Lord of the Rings, Riddick and Spyro.

"David brings a wealth of experience to his new role within SOE," said John Needham, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, Sony Online Entertainment. "His exceptional knowledge and insight into the global online gaming market will be an integral part of our expansion strategy moving forward both domestically and in key international markets."

Christensen studied taxation at the Georgetown University Law Center and received his Juris Doctor from The John Marshall Law School. He earned his Bachelor's degree at the University of Illinois.

Read more here.

NCSoft announces the release of Lineage II's Interlude in the North America and Europe. This free expansion offers some new material for players to explore. Read the details below.

NCsoft® today announced the release of Interlude, an expansion to the massively multiplayer online PC game Lineage® II in North America and Europe. Interlude is the next step in the evolution of Lineage II, forming a bridge between The Chaotic Chronicle and the game's next chapter, The Chaotic Throne. The Interlude expansion is free to all current Lineage II subscribers.

Lineage II, the gaming market's premier player-versus-player (PvP) massively multiplayer online game, has reached more than 17 million players worldwide since its launch in late 2003.

The Interlude expansion offers a variety of new challenges to players, including the new Primeval Isle, which is home to many new creatures making their first appearance in Lineage II. These include Wild Striders, Pachycephalosaurus and the deadly and powerful Tyrannosaurus Rex. Primeval Isle is a lush and beautiful zone, but in the tradition of Lineage II, offers tough tests and is not a zone for those unwilling to take on great challenges. Mastering the beasts on Primeval Isle will require strategy and teamwork from players and clan members.

Enhanced single-player elements such as the new dueling system will enable players to challenge friends to one-on-one fights or party-versus-party battles. By dueling, players can understand the nuances of their character better than they ever have before. In addition, there are no penalties for defeat in Lineage II?s dueling system, so players are free to let loose and test their mettle.

Also available for mid to high-level players are more than 150 new bonuses to enhance and customize weapons. Lower level players can take advantage of the new Shadow Weapons, a "try before you buy" service offered by the village weapon vendors. This new feature makes weapon selection more effective and simple.

"I'm very excited about what Interlude offers," said Adam Davidson, the North American producer of Lineage II. "It introduces elements of the game's next evolution, The Chaotic Throne, as well as unleashing dinosaurs. Who doesn't like taking on a T-Rex? Interlude also demonstrates the open-ended nature of Lineage II and shows off NCsoft?s ability to deliver features that give the game its signature depth and never-ending challenges."

Interlude also marks the three-year anniversary for this franchise in North America, where it has been steadily growing and reached a platinum status in November of last year.

Read more here.

Hi All,

this discussion is going very well...feel free to continue on with the ideas.

I believe that the end game scenarios we currently see in MMOs are only the tip of the ice berg.

Cheers,

Garrett

Online Game Development Conference announces Virtual Job Fair. Interested in working in online games, perhaps this is the place for you.

The Online Game Development Conference (OGDC) has just added a new dimension to its agenda of speakers and exhibitors, with a powerful tool for both game industry jobseekers and recruiters. Evergreen Events has partnered with the leading recruitment software solution firm CreativeHeads.net to offer companies attending this year's OGDC, taking place from May 10th - 11th, an online Virtual Job Fair.

The Virtual Job Fair represents a tremendous opportunity for OGDC 2007companies to advertise their participation at the conference and jobsacross the entire CreativeHeads.net 17-site Job Board Network. Thisbroad network reaches 2,000,000 creative professionals monthly working in the the video game, the animation & VFX / TV & film, software/tools and web/wireless industries.

Read more here.

Earth Eternal adds three new races. It looks like players will be intorduced to the Anura, Tuskians, and Lisians in the coming months. Check out the details below.

Iron Realms Entertainment announced the results of its Pick-a-Beast contest in which fans could pick the 14th race for release. Finding it difficult to choose just one, Iron Realms announced that they'd choose three races, thus increasing the number of races at release from 13 to 16.

The new races will be the Anura (frog folk), the Tuskians (boar-people), and the Lisians (gecko people).

Matt Mihaly, lead designer on Earth Eternal, said of the contest, "We got hundreds of submissions ranging from the races of Beast that won to walrus-inspired people, swan-people, and more obscure animals such as mudskippers. I had a genuinely hard time deciding which to go with but chose these three because Boars just rock and I decided I'd like to have a couple Beast races inspired by amphibians and reptiles."

Concept art and production of the new races will begin in late April.

Read more here.

Gods and Heroes unleashes its latest trailer on gamers. Check out the details of this action packed ancient MMO.

God & Heroes latest trailer is out and showing all over the Internet. Check the link below to see it here at MMORPG.com

Read more here.

Red 5 Studios announces the hiring of Scott Youngblood. Scott brings a strong background to a company already with some serious industry veterans.

Red 5 Studios, a growing MMO development company founded by key members of the World of Warcraft team, announced today that Scott Youngblood, acclaimed lead designer of StarSiege: Tribes, Tribes 2, and alternate-reality game Majestic, has accepted an undisclosed position at the Aliso Viejo, California studio.

Before joining Red 5, Scott worked at Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) where he was the lead multiplayer designer on Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror. Scott joins other well-known designers at Red 5 including Ed Stark, creative director for Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 and 3.5, and David Williams, lead designer of the hit collectible card games (CCG) Legend of the Five Rings, Doomtown, and City of Heroes CCG.

"Scott is exactly the caliber of team member we're looking for at Red 5," said Mark Kern, president and CEO of Red 5 Studios. "We founded this company on passion and vision, two qualities that Scott has embodied throughout his career as a top-tier game designer. Scott's vision directly complements ours, and we're excited about having him join our growing team."

"When Mark asked me to join Red 5, I was blown away by the vast and vibrant world they're creating and by the company they're building," said Youngblood. "It's a combination I couldn't refuse."

Read more here.

Wanted Posters!!!!

GENIUS!!!!!

That is such a good idea!!! DEVS ARE YOU READING THIS!!!!

Guild Wars opens new Hero Ladder. Read up on how players are doing in this new ranking system.

You can now track how players are doing on the new Guild Wars Hero Battle Ladder. The ladder displays the topmost 1000 players ranked via a weighted win/loss record and is offered in your choice of eight languages.

Read more here.

Lord of the Rings Online free world tour of Middle Earth begins today. The game is open to players leading up until the April 24th launch. Check out the details below.

Turbine, Inc. announced today that the World Tour of Middle-earth has officially begun! Over one million North American gamers are planned to be invited to this unprecedented event where they can experience The Lord of the Rings Online(TM): Shadows of Angmar(TM) for FREE from April 6th until its scheduled launch on April 24th. Even more exciting, the World Tour also serves as a head-start for pre-order customers, allowing them to roll their characters into the launched game.

"The only thing better than adventuring in Middle-earth is being able to adventure for free!" said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "The World Tour is a unique opportunity to try The Lord of the Rings Online for yourself before the game launches."

During the World Tour, players will be able to advance up to level 15 and experience the most authentic online persistent recreation of Middle-earth ever created. Players should visit www.lotro.com/worldtour to get more information on how to obtain a World Tour key.

Players can still pre-order The Lord of the Rings Online at www.lotro.com/preorder or at select retail stores nationwide until April 24th to take advantage of the exciting Founder's Program. The Founder's Program is available for a limited time and rewards all players who pre-order the game with the following benefits:

Two special membership options: $199/lifetime or $9.99/month

Unique in-game bonus items

Ability to roll World Tour characters into the launched game

Read more here.

Guild Wars announces monthly torunament series starting in May. Up to $100,000 in prizes will be shared by players.

ArenaNet has announced the 2007 $100,000 Guild Wars tournament series. This online tournament series provides high-level, competitive opportunities for individuals and guilds to win their share of over $100,000 in prizes while playing Guild Wars in online events.

Starting in May 2007, Guild Wars' automated tournaments will provide players and guilds the opportunity to qualify for exciting monthly championships where more than $10,000 worth of prizes are awarded to the winners.

Previously, ArenaNet ran championships in exotic locations that were exciting for the small number of players who attended. However, the old tournament format limited the amount of players who could win as well as reduced the opportunities for high-level PvP challenges for the rapidly growing Guild Wars player base.

With the new, online automated tournament system and single play competition mode, ArenaNet will be offering many more times the number tournaments and will award real-world prizes to more than ten times as many players compared to the old tournament format.

More frequent and easily accessible tournaments will translate into more fun and prizes for more players. The larger the pool of skilled individuals and guilds, the more exciting the competition becomes for participants and for viewers. By developing a solid competition infrastructure and supporting a deeper pool of competitors, this will enable ArenaNet to build the foundation for bigger and larger future events.

The prizes offered each month will vary and details on May's prize pool will be coming soon.

Read more here.

Silkroad Online opens two new servers. Zeus ans Persia are now available to players.

New servers Persia and Zeus now open.

Read more here.

Easter event pits players against the boss. PLayers will be able to take part in this Easter event to fight off the Evil Boss.

Upon annual Easter Day, all the creatures will wake up as well as the Evil. After reliving, Evil Beast reaches his hand to the God blessed TOP World. (http://www.talesofpirates.com)

You can't believe it. Just in a flash, all pawns of Evil Beast revive. In this holy Easter all creature will be blessed by God. However, how can the Evil gain the God's mana? We can't wait to go through the dense fog. It is important to protect our village and resist the evil's invasion. Warriors, time for battle. Take along with your weapons, go and kill the Evil Boss.

Read more here.

Voyage Century to be officially launched on April 8th. Read the details below.

The 16th century is an era for great geography discovery. After the navigator Columbus discovered North America, more and more unknown regions were discovered, such as South America, Africa, Australia, etc. This is an age called Great Voyage Age, when adventurers used their own intelligence, abilities or even lives to obtain new place names marked on map and incomparable honor. And the brave were always looking forward to adventure, discover and create. You may feel you were not born at the right age and also want to live at the Great Voyage Age like story to have a contest with those historical celebrities.

Have you ever dreamt of driving a pure white latteen to the distant place? In the 15th and 16th century--the Great Voyage Age, many young men in their youth sought the dreamlike gold island and the legendary rich eastern countries desperately even though fatal storm or gigantic sea monsters might appear at any time to kill them. Maybe stacked mermaids would emerge from the sea surface after the rain or bright meteor shower like fireworks would run across the fine breezy night sky. Are you attracted? Do you want to live a free life to pursue dreams? Then, why not roam freely in the world of Voyage Century Online?

On April 8 (EST), Voyage Century Online will be officially launched and come into its Final Status. This Free game with top quality will represent the romantic 16th century to players. Besides, before its Final, the VCO official (http://www.voyagecenturyonline.com) will update it on some details in order to offer a more vivid and grand game world to players.

Read more here.

Lord of the Rings Online gives us their latest Developer Diary.

Middle-earth is a world filled with adventure and mystery. For some, drinking a pint at a Shire tavern or cultivating the finest pipe-weed passes their time. For others, it is pure exploration, or advancing through the main storyline that makes them happy.

For those who hear the call of dynamic, unpredictable battle, however, the Ettenmoors is the place to go. This is where battles against living, breathing opponents are fought. Players battle player-controlled Orcs, Wargs and other evil races. Although there is a great feeling of satisfaction gained by simply being involved in such conflict, there are many additional benefits to taking part in monster play in The Lord of the Rings OnlineTM: Shadows of AngmarTM (LOTRO). Have you ever seen a monster who looked like this?

Read more here.

World of Warcraft has updated the Expansion Factions page. When journeying through the Dark Portal there are lots of new races and factions to make friends with. Read the updated below.

We've just released an update for our expansion factions guide: reputation rewards for the Sha'tar faction of The Burning Crusade. Check out the new page now!

Read more here.

Bounty Bay launches closed Beta. Here is another Pirate themed MMO coming to the market. Check out some details below.

Launching immediately, the closed beta test for Frogster's MMOG, Bounty Bay Online, will give gamers the chance to set course for the fifteenth century. As sailor, tradesman or pirate, players can amass fortunes on the seven seas, become notorious for their battle prowess and discover new lands.

Frogster and co-publisher Yusho are allowing a strictly limited selection of 1000 players to enter the beta version of Bounty Bay Online. Further on, the publisher and developer will extend the exclusive circle of admitted beta testers. Interested gamers can register on the English language website www.bountybayonline.com.

In due course, an open beta phase will give all players the chance to be captain on their own battle or trade ship. Frogster intends to release the English language version of Bounty Bay Online in Europe within the second quarter of 2007.

Read more here.