The much speculated Blizzard announcement from Korea revealed that their next project is not a StarCraft MMO, but StarCraft 2 instead. The website looks great so far. What’s different from the original StarCraft?

StarCraft II will run on a vibrant new 3D-graphics engine that will be capable of rendering beautiful landscapes as well as massive individual units and army sizes.

We’re also introducing a number of distinct new units to the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg, and even some of the familiar units that return in StarCraft II will have new tricks up their sleeves, which will give the game its own unique flavor.

In addition, Battle.net will be overhauled with some new and exciting features to enhance online play and competition, while the story-mode campaign will also offer some unique aspects for players who enjoy single-player content. We’ll have more details on all these aspects in the months to come.

Though not surprised, I am slightly disappointed. I was looking forward to a StarCraft MMO

I wasn’t able to attend the first Online Game Developers Conference this year. Mainly because I found out about it too late. With launching The Lord of the Rings Online, I wasn’t really paying attention Now that OGDC 2007 has come and gone, I have been scouring the net for write ups. I found a particularly good write up by Brandon Reinhart from Spacetime Studios, centered around the Asian MMO market. I am looking forward to more from his notepad.

Another great recap is from Joe Ludwig’s Blog (Director of Development at Flying Lab), with broader coverage of various topics. Great read all around.

According to the latest blog entry from Rusty, Pirates of the Burning Sea will not be shipping in June. This sounds largely to be business and legal related.

Part of what has taken so long is that I’m 100% dedicated to maintaining control of the game. That’s a very unique position in this industry, and honestly, I don’t think a contract like this has ever been done, so there’s a lot of education that has to occur. And while I know that the length of time is frustrating to our fans, Pirates is a long-term project for us. We have a lot of long-range plans for the game after we launch and we intend to be working on it for quite a few years. So I’m not going to rush a contract in order to “get it done” – it has to be done right.

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It’s official, Tseric’s gone from WoW’s board. It’s a thankless job and apparently the community drove him away. This is part of his parting speech:

Posting impassionately, they say you don’t care.

Posting nothing, they say you ignore.

Posting with passion, you incite trolls.

Posting fluff, you say nonsense.

Post with what facts you have, they whittle down with rationale.

There is no win.

There is only slow degredation.

Take note. It is the first and only time you’ll see someone in my position make that position.

You can be me when I’m gone.

Even though WoW’s forums are notoriously bad, this is pretty much a given when you are a community person anywhere. You can vent in a private setting, but you can’t vent to the community like that. It’s not professional. Then again, we don’t know what else transpired within Blizzard, so no judgement shall be passed. I can only comment on his post. I hope Tseric find other opportunities that are better suited for him.

Funcom, maker of Anarchy Online and the upcoming Age of Conan, announced a new MMO, called The Secret World. It sounds to have a modern thriller conspiracy type setting. They are having a game before the game, where they release clues. When solved, you get presented with sneak peeks such as concept arts. The community seems pretty interesting. I will be following it closely in its development.

This creates an intriguing situation, as CCP Games, maker of EVE Online, merged with White Wolf a few months ago (press release here). One can only guess that CCP will be making a World of Darkness MMO. If that’s the case, that will be two modern setting MMOs from Europe competing with each other.

There’s an excellent read posted on MMOGNation.com, an interview with the Creative Director of Warhammer Online, Paul Barnett. It’s a very fun read and good perspectives from an industry veteran. It’s only Part 1. Part 2 will be posted tomorrow (which I will link as well). Great job MG!

UPDATE: Part 2 and Part 3 have been posted. Enjoy

From multiple reliable sources, the maker of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is being liquidated due to acquisition from SOE. Most employees were let go, with some expecting to be hired back by SOE.

Here’s the most widely circulated Blog post about this by F13.Net, and also a long rant about this at Grouchy Gamer, blaming all of Vanguard’s downfall to Sigil’s CEO, Brad McQuaid.

UPDATE: The official press release has been released. Also, a more personal announcement on the SOE forums by Smed. Finally, a Q&A on Gamespot.

UPDATE: An interview with an ex-Sigil employee has been posted on F13.Net. Also, a statement by Nino has also been posted on Fires of Heaven.

YET ANOTHER UPDATE: A phone interview with Brad McQuaid himself by F13.Net.

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