I haven't played Dungeon Runners (aka "Diablo and Search for the Grail get drunk and make a game") in a while, so when I decided to update it, I noticed they've got something new coming to the test server soon-ish. Okay, this is new, I thought things came to a stand-still a while ago! So, a little searching on their forums produced this from back in May...
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I know we've been MIA recently. As for me, my absence from the forums and community is purposeful. I've got a real problem with speaking the truth on things even when I shouldn't. That can get me into trouble sometimes. Let me share what I can.
Our new microtransaction system is done. Our new website is done. Lots of new content is done. They've been ready for over two months now. We're waiting for permission to deploy our recent changes.
You see, after the failure of Tabula Rasa, major changes have happened in NCsoft Austin. As of now, there is no game development happening in the Austin offices. The DR team is the only game development team still working for NCsoft in Austin. I use that phrase loosely because we're currently in a holding pattern. Let me clarify that. We are sitting on our hands while upper management figures out what to do with us. It's this "figuring out what to do with us" that I can't elaborate on too much.
Rest assured that we're working as hard as we can on getting a resolution to our situation. The development team wants to get back to work. Really we do.
So, why can't we release our updates? We have no QA resources. The local QA team was fired / relocated to Seattle to work on other games. Since we have no QA resources assigned, we are not allowed to deploy any updates. It's my opinion that we should utilize interested players to test our updates before release. However, in the current climate, that's not gonna fly yet.
My last posting was that we were waiting on more information. Well, as you may have recently read, our US CEO has changed positions -- with a new CEO coming in from HQ in Korea. This change has caused all manner of delays in getting the status of DR resolved. As of last Thursday, our communication issues with HQ have been resolved. We are finally making some tangible progress in finalizing the future of DR.
We've been asked to provide more information to Korea about our plans for the game. We did so as of Friday afternoon. I expect we'll hear more about what's being decided next week. Although, there's no guarantee. These kinds of things can take quite a bit of time to turn around.
Is the future of Dungeon Runners certain? Nope. It's possible that we could all get fired and the game could be shutdown. However, you don't want that. And the development team doesn't want that. And upper management for NCsoft West doesn't want that. We have a plan that we're trying to implement... and we need to convince the deciders in Korea that this plan will work.
What's that plan?
1. Make Dungeon Runners a streaming download that can be played directly from a website. This is complete already.
2. Change the game from a monthly subscription to a microtransaction model. This is complete as well.
3. Make the game playable from within Facebook. This is on the way.
If we can get management to give us their blessing on our plans then we will be able to move forward. It's killing us that we haven't gotten movement on this yet. We really feel that progress is being made on the decision from management.
I will post an update at least once a week on where things stand.
My apologies for being MIA so long.
steve
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Which is interesting since Dungeon Runners was originally slated to be free with micros instead of free-mium with ads like it currently is. I had applauded NCSoft, on both counts, for trying different revenue models, different games, and for just producing a different game than what's normal. DR is humorous, casual, and has free-form character development (ie, no preset ****s) which I find to be pretty neat.
I like the upcoming changes, particularly the Facebook integration. I might have more than a few friends I'd play with. Likewise, I hope they work that particular change into Exteel as well. Giant mechs go boom! 
Magic the Gathering - I like this so far. For the price of a starter deck or so I can just futz around with Magic: The Money Sucker and have fun. Granted, my real cards go a little unloved as a result, but I rarely play anyhow. Bonus? Online play. Haven't tried that yet; still getting whipped around by the computer.
Puzzle Fighter HD - fun enough. More of a "play with friends" title for me.
Worms - same as Puzzle Fighter. I loved that game on PC, though
And needless to say, I'm looking forward to playing Mark of the Wolves when it comes out. Hopefully the don't try altering the graphics... SNK games need their pixilation! Its part of the style!
1. My new video card (MSI Radeon 4670 w/1g ram) is in. A nice little performance boost all around. While not revolutionizing my gaming or anything, I have seen gains in Demigod, City of Heroes and Left4Dead. Its a LOT quieter too - instead of getting a lawnmower starting up when I turn on my PC, its nice and quiet. Likes Windows 7, too.
2. Plants Vs Zombies. Fun game. Silly game. Go download the demo.
3. EA Sport Active. My brother got this from Costco. Monday I tried a workout and it murdered me. Only got halfway done before going "oh to hell with this." Today? After some recovery I started the 30-day Challenge program, selected low-intensity, and made it through. Hot, sweaty, tired, but made it. I like it more than Wii Fit. Worth noting because...
4. Had my follow up physical. Weight is down, good. Bad cholesterol and blood sugar went the wrong direction. Doctor has ordered 150 minutes of exercise per week. Also, a childhood friend, "exercise induced asthma" has returned. So, got an inhaler, got a plan for exercise/diet, and *hopefully* will have better results next go 'round.
Games are great and fun, but so is having a good quality of life when I'm older!
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