Features

Recently, WarCry had the chance to talk to Acclaim CEO Howard Marks. We received an update on his company's quest to bring the Eastern MMO business model to Western shores and got a peek at how 2Moons, 9Dragons, BOTS!! and Dance! Online have fared on the open market.

9Dragons

What "free-to-play" really means is that all Acclaim's games are free to download and can be played without the player ever laying down a dime. In 2Moons, for example, the company makes money through in-game advertising that appears in the user interface. In 9Dragons, players can play for free, but also can buy upgrades and customization items securely through Acclaim.

Marks emphasized through that the company is committed to actual free-to-play. One common consumer complaint with the model is that while some games advertise their games as such, many build in an artificial gameplay wall where a player basically is forced to buy items or coin to progress in the game. He says that none of Acclaim's games do this, nor will there ever be any artificial walls.

Read more after the leap.

Today we're pleased to debut 9Dragons on WarCry and to celebrate, we took some time during our trip to San Francisco to catch up with Howard Marks, the man who brought Acclaim back to life as an MMO company. In the first of three articles based on this interview, we learn about 9Dragons as it approaches commercial service in April.

"The game is doing well, it's a niche game as you know," Marks told me when asked about the progress in beta. He alluded briefly to a plan that he thinks will "make heads spin" to improve the game's content prior to launch.

He also emphasized the company's belief in consumer feedback. Earlier this year, they commissioned a large survey of questions about 9Dragons. These spanned from gameplay to economics to presentation and with the results in, the team have been hard at work bringing these suggestions to the players. The full results of this survey are available on their website.

You can read more at the link below.

During our time in San Francisco we took some time to catch up with Howard Marks, the man who brought Acclaim back to life as an MMO company. In the first of three articles based on this interview, we learn about 9Dragons as it approaches commercial service in April.

"The game is doing well, it's a niche game as you know," Marks told me when asked about the progress in beta. He alluded briefly to a plan that he thinks will "make heads spin" to improve the game's content prior to launch.

He also emphasized the company's belief in consumer feedback. Earlier this year, they commissioned a large survey of questions about 9Dragons. These spanned from gameplay to economics to presentation and with the results in, the team have been hard at work bringing these suggestions to the players. The full results of this survey are available on their website.

You can read more at the link below.

Steven-Elliot Altman, 9Dragons' Lead Writer, and Howard Marks, the CEO of Acclaim, took the time to answer some questions we had on the game that went into Open Beta today. This martial-arts MMORPG will be the first major title released by the resurrected Acclaim.

WarCry: Are you worried that the far more famous Shaolin or Wu-Tang Clans will attract far more people than the others and hurt the game's balance?

Steven-Elliot Altman: Actually, it's Wu-Tang Clan (the noble clan of peerless swords) and Heavenly Demon Clan (the sinister clan of demonic sabers), who passionately hate one another, that seem to draw the most disciples in-game. As a balance to that, those two clans are actually much more difficult to join, requiring a far greater degree of training and skill. Female players playing female characters dominate Sacred Flower clan, as expected, and Shaolin has an equal number of male players playing Shaolin Monks. The League of Beggars has that great drunken monkey style Kung Fu appeal, and The Brotherhood of Thieves has that Sopranos mentality and some of the coolest wardrobe items. We could let you check our server stats yourself... it's surprisingly well balanced among the six starter clans.

You can read more below.

Steven-Elliot Altman, 9Dragons' Lead Writer, and Howard Marks, the CEO of Acclaim, took the time to answer some questions we had on the game that went into Open Beta today. This martial-arts MMORPG will be the first major title released by the resurrected Acclaim.

WarCry: Are you worried that the far more famous Shaolin or Wu-Tang Clans will attract far more people than the others and hurt the game's balance?

Steven-Elliot Altman: Actually, it's Wu-Tang Clan (the noble clan of peerless swords) and Heavenly Demon Clan (the sinister clan of demonic sabers), who passionately hate one another, that seem to draw the most disciples in-game. As a balance to that, those two clans are actually much more difficult to join, requiring a far greater degree of training and skill. Female players playing female characters dominate Sacred Flower clan, as expected, and Shaolin has an equal number of male players playing Shaolin Monks. The League of Beggars has that great drunken monkey style Kung Fu appeal, and The Brotherhood of Thieves has that Sopranos mentality and some of the coolest wardrobe items. We could let you check our server stats yourself... it's surprisingly well balanced among the six starter clans.

You can read more below.