Category: General

Marc Laukien responded to some emails regarding the reasons for the end of Wish and what may happen to the code over on Stratics:

Wish has been shut down because with the data we gathered during the first 10 days of our Beta 2.0 test, even with our best-case projections for player numbers, we could not have reached enough subscribers for Wish to sustain itself.

This is the reason that I already gave to several fan site managers, and it is the only reason. There have been no technical problems out of the ordinary, we have not been bought out, and neither is there any truth in any of the other rumors that are being spread in the Internet.

This reason is hard to accept for some fans of Wish, and I can understand that. There has been a very loyal and dedicated community around Wish. But it is simply not large enough to support a group of over 32 full-time game developers, plus many others that worked as consultants.

And later:

It is very unlikely that the Wish source code will be released under some form of open source license. The code depends on several commercial products, so you couldn’t just use the code as it is. Furthermore, you would need a large and highly experienced development staff to actually use the code, plus a lot of support from the original authors, something that most likely would not be possible. I’m really sorry that I cannot give you any better news, but knowing the complexity and required efforts of development, I’m afraid that Wish as a community project is not feasible.

So there you have it. They did not think the number of potential subscribers would keep the game afloat. The code is tied up in a bunch of 3rd party rights. The end?

I quote my own predictions for 2005: Wish: I wish this one would go away, and I may see my wish come true.

Here you go:

Dear friends of Wish:

Unfortunately we have bad news.

After careful consideration of all the facts and analyzing all the data
which we have gathered from the Wish Beta 2.0 test so far, we have decided
to cancel the Wish project.

Our Beta test will end this evening at 6pm EST, and at this time our Beta
forums will close as well.

We enjoyed working together with our fans very much, and we are very sorry
about this development. We wish you the best of luck in the future, and hope
that you continue to enjoy online gaming, even with Mutable Realms and Wish
not being available anymore.

We also wish the best luck to our competitors, and hope that they will not
suffer the same fate as us.

Best regards,
Your Mutable Realms Team

World of Warcraft: Will continue to dominate the casual playerbase. Hardcores will move on. Will become the number one MMOG in the USA.

Asheron’s Call 2: Won’t make it to 2006.

Everquest 2: Completely gives up on the casual player market and focuses on the powergamers, thus raping Everquest.

The Matrix Online: I’d be shocked if this one ever gets released.

City of Heroes: Will continue to be strong. City of Villians will be very big for them.

Guild Wars: I hate to call this an MMORPG, but what else can I call it. Will be rather popular but will not be able to remain free of monthly charges. I predict they will find a way to charge people other than the planned “expansion” idea.

Wish: I wish this one would go away, and I may see my wish come true.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: This one has good potential except for one thing: Turbine. Can they erase the stain of AC2?

Middle Earth Online: Same problem as DDO, but this one is already getting the rumors of cancellation (again). As much as I’d like to see this one and give it a try, I’m not hopeful. Turbine, what went wrong?

Tabula Rasa: Square Enix and Richard Garriott. That’s two pretty good things going for you. Won’t be out in 2005 however.

Final Fantasy XI: Will remain strong outside of the USA.

Lineage 2: Suckage will continue.

Asheron’s Call: Will remain a soft spot in many players heart’s, but most will refuse to play it unless they update the graphics.

Anarchy Online: Free game play can be good for the exposure, but it does not help the bottom line. Was one of my favorites and I hope it can get more players. It will hang around for another year.

EVE Online: Will remain popular with math geeks and scam artists.

Star Wars Galaxies: Space expansion a little too little, a little too late. Will hang around but it’s chance for glory is long gone.

Everquest, Ultima Online, Horizons, Shadowbane: Meh, I just don’t care. Go to hell.

What am I forgettting? Planetside. Yes, I forgot Planetside. Thankfully.

Beta 2.0 for Wish is now going on. Not only don’t I care, but it has a tough road ahead of it with everyone and their mother playing WoW.

So I watch with a yawn as Wish passes off of my radar screen for what may be the last time.

Happy New Year!

It’s 2005 now. Feels a lot like 2004. I hope it is better than 2004 though, it was not a pretty year in general.

This goes out to my good friend Inhibit who would rather play Meh because “he can login” than play WoW because … well I guess because it might have some launch issues or something, who really knows. Well, bud, if you really are enjoying that game I guess you can keep savoring it’s bland, tasteless, ordinary dullsville. But really, there are no good reasons not to partake in the amazing bounty that is World of Warcraft. It’s done, it’s polished, it was made with love, it has a great sense of humor, it works, it’s all about questing. It’s made to solo (any class) but you can and will group on occasion because it is fun and easy to do. It looks great, it’s full of lore, it has like 2,550 quests. Seriously. You don’t do any of them twice either.

Yeah sure, it has a few teething problems. What game wouldn’t if 100,000 people all wanted to play it at the exact same time? Fact is, I do not recall a better launch success of any MMOG short of CoH (which did many things right but gameplay was not one of them). And your precious game had one of the worst launches ever, if not #1. One of the many reasons I left that game was because I had problems logging into the game when I wanted to play well over a year after the launch. That and the bugs and shitty CS.

Truth of the matter is, I have been able to play WoW 98% of the time I wanted to. Only once did I have the situation like last night and I fully expect it to be the last time. After all, the game has been live all of 4 days or so.

So anyway, I’m having steak and lobster over here boy. How’s that cheese sandwich?

A bloke I met in Midmotheringhay
Was half an orc and half…can’t say
A cask he tapped and our flagons filled
And singing proud his mead we swilled!

A lad met I last Mostmotheringrath
Was half an orc and orc by half
A cask he stove and our flagons topped
And singing loud his mead we quaffed!

Progress Quest

My character is currently a level 54 Half Halfling Mage Illusioner. With his +37 Dancing Serrated Halberd and +40 Custom Banded Tower Shield, he is a killing machine.

The World of Warcraft open beta test has now come to a close. During the beta test, over 500,000 players adventured through the lands of Azeroth and helped World of Warcraft on its way to becoming one of the largest massively multiplayer online games in the U.S.! The beta test community has been a tremendous source of information and feedback for the development teams, and we wish to thank our beta testers for participating in the beta test process. When the final version of World of Warcraft hits stores on November 23rd, you’ll see the culmination of your hard work. The entire World of Warcraft team is now focusing on a smooth launch, and we look forward to hearing your thoughts about the game. Thank you again for your continued support with this project; we look forward to seeing you on in Azeroth.

End of beta was good fun, fighting all the named mobs and dieing a lot. What a treat. Can’t wait for retail. Nice work Blizzard.

I wrote earlier about the lawsuit Marvel is bringing against Cryptic Studios. Cryptic has issued their response:

As reported by The Associated Press, Marvel Enterprises Inc. and Marvel Characters, Inc. have sued NCsoft Corporation and Cryptic Studios. The complaint is meritless. Cryptic Studios is confident that the District Court will reject all of Marvel’s claims and fully vindicate Cryptic Studios in all respects.