Despite its impressive settings and gameplay mechanics, NetDevil and NCsoft had to shut down the servers of MMORPG Auto Assault back in August of this year due to its lack of subscribers.

It seems that some parts of the world, however, such as Japan's Akihabara district, are either still in denial or haven't received the shutdown notice. One store in Akihabara is still selling Auto Assault time cards for a discounted price of 980 Yen (US$ 8.86). Read more about this after the jump!

Over on Tobold's personal MMORPG-dedicated blog, one reader commented that he is 100% sure that the upcoming MMO Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa from NCSoft Austin is using the codes of NetDevil's now-defunct game Auto Assault. The reader said:

The character models are the same, the UI elements are the same, some of the music is even the same! I looked at some of the quest rewards in Tabula Rasa, and they even use the same exact item fonts that they did in Auto Assault!

Former NCsoft Community Manager Jeremy Dalberg was able to picked up the comment and went on to say that the two are independent projects even though NCSoft used to published Auto Assault. Then Dalberg added:

The similarities may or may not be there - I would not call it a fact that elements were shared though. But regardless, I don't see what the point of this supposed similarity is? Is NCSoft accused of stealing NetDevil code and assets?

Is NetDevil accused of stealing NCSoft code and assets? If there is some sharing of assets and it is all legal, is that a bad thing in that case and why?

We have to keep in mind that Auto Assault is a shooter MMO that featured cars while Tabula Rasa isn't. Tobold himself commented that there's a big possibility that the developers wanted to "salvage" some source code from AA hence the similarities.

Games Industry recently got the final word on the shutdown of Auto Assault and, luckily for people looking forward to other games in NCSoft's stable, it won't affect the company's other upcoming intellectual properties one bit.

Said an NCSoft spokesperson regarding the closure of Auto Assault, "Over the past months, player numbers have decreased to a point where the company has made the decision to close the servers." Not to worry though, as the spokesperson also mentioned that it won't affect any future titles currently in development.

For those wondering what that means, it's a reassurance that Tabula Rasa and the Guild Wars expansion will definitely be on track. Let's just hope they don't go the way of Auto Assault and ride off into the sunset.

 

It's always sad news to see a game go, but the economics of MMORPGs today makes it very tough for all games to survive. Thus, it seems gamers must bid a fond farewell to NCSoft's Auto Assault, the car combat online game.

Here's the official statement from the Auto Assault website:

Today NCSoft is announcing that it will be closing down service for Auto Assault at the end of the summer. The service will close at midnight on August 31, 2007. As of today, any player currently in the service with an active billed account will not be billed again. If players have previously purchased time via multi-month billing or time cards that extends their service past July 31, NCsoft will reconcile these accounts appropriately.

NCSoft said there would be additional announcements regarding the shutdown of the game, presumably to explain why it's going to be taken down, as well as what happens to the folks with game accounts.

NCSoft announced today that they will be releasing another free content expansion for their hit MMORPG, Auto Assault. As y'all know, this will be the fourth one to be released by NCSoft and will include tons of new goodies to further enhance your gameplay experience.

So, what's new with this one? The installation of an auction house, the introduction of new vehicle chassis, a new tournament schedule, and quality of life system improvements, to name a few. According to NCSoft, the auction house will be the most important addition to the game because it will add depth to the game and makes profiting from loot drops a lot easier. The profits made from the auction house can then be used to acquire the two new vehicle chassis.

Balance between races will also be improved such that PvP combat will be based on skill rather than faction-based advantages. Skill building has also been made easier to understand. And it doesn't end there, in-game tournaments will also be sporting new built-in reward system as well as a new schedule.

Auto Assault is already available at retail stores all over North America and Europe, as well as at the NCsoft online store. For those who have just gotten into the groove of the game, you should know that upon purchase, the game will have the first month of online game play, after which you'll be charged with a monthly subscription fee of US$ 14.99.

The Central Wastelands might be a bleak place full of terrors lurking behind every corner, but that's no excuse to not have some form of Christmas celebration. NCSoft is having a contest for the holidays, and you've got to squeeze out your creative juices in Auto Assault.

The contest is simple: create a friendly holiday greeting card inspired by anything of the Central Wastelands. There's a sample on the left. Your card can be anything, from humorous to something more traditional, and the winner gets a BFG Technologies AGEIA PhysX physics accelerator card.

Brush up on your photoshop skills and train your eyes for some good screenshots to capture. They're going to be accepting entries only until January 2, so better act fast.

For learn more about the contest's rules and mechanics, click the "Read" link below.

The recent release of Update 3 for Auto Assault signalled the start of better things for this action type MMO. Much has been said regarding the update, beginning from new weapons to new challenges, and even the inclusion of new bosses. Despite these, however, we still haven't heard anything on how developer NetDevil feels about the game's current status.

Co-Project Lead Matt Schaffer explained that they tried to keep their vision in line with reality. Of course, there are a lot of things they wanted to include but they have to consider the preference of the players. According to Schaffer:
 

The reality is people will always come up with ways to play the game that you never thought of. This means that we have to be able to adapt quickly and be continually evaluating what is in the game, what needs to be in the game, and what needs to be adjusted or changed.

Schaffer then discussed how Update 3 came about. According to him, NetDevil one day revisited various aspects of the game and tried to rediscover "fun and playability." If you're wondering what these words mean to them, the explanation is easy: a system geared more towards player skill as opposed to mashing the same buttons over and over or in a specific sequence.

True enough, the official then went on to give a blow by blow detail of the different changes put in effect for the skills system (Click the Read link below for more details). Rather than just enumerating all of these changes, it is always better to know the mindframe and the objectives that governed them. To this, Schaffer had these parting words:

Update 3 is taking Auto Assault down a new road - a road where player skill is more important than player luck, where players can fine tune their character to fit their play style, and where different tactics are needed to approach different obstacles. Human, mutant, and biomek, are only the first of your choices.

NCSoft has released the third update of Auto Assault which features new weapons to use, new challenges to undertake, and new bosses to defeat. Since the game's launch in April, players have been getting new content free of charge - a good enough reason to keep playing the game, as well as enticing gamers who are shopping around for their second or third MMO.

If smashing through virtually everything doesn't register a high enough number in the mayhem meter, perhaps you'd find better use for that pent-up aggression by facing Momma Bite and The Tower. If and when you successfully defeat these two bosses, you'd end up with a unique loot. If you're lucky, you'll get a new set of weapons or equipment deemed the most powerful in the game.

Mid-level players will also be given the chance to beat the hell out of two other bosses, Pike Kingpin and Mammon. To get to these menacing bosses, players would have to race through new areas: Scav Uprising (Human), The Temple of La Leche Madre (Mutant) and The Malachite Detention Center (Biomek).

Aside from the new content, players will be given tokens for holding outposts for their race as well as PvP kills. These tokens can be used to buy items from the newly-added Warmonger weapon set.

The team behind the MMORPG, Auto Assault, has announced that their anticipated Update 3 is now available on the game's test server. As promised, Update 3 will have four more instances that you can take advantage of regardless of your level. As we have mentioned in our last report about the game, they are The Tower, Scav Uprising, La Leche Madre, and Malachite Detention Center.

Update 3 promised to be big and from what we can see and read from the release notes, they lived up to that promise. So with that, let's go over the release notes.

Release Notes for Update 3
ADDITIONS

• Beware! Darkbite's mother has taken offense at the wanton death of her offspring. It is now possible that she will show up on occasion when he dies… and could be carrying some new goodies to boot.
• Added new Outpost Token Store "Warmonger" items and boss-specific loot drop items from the new Level 80 instance boss "The Tower”.
• Added 4 variant friction tank treads, shared across all factions (now found available in stores at Levels 24 and 48).
• Added new warning message to outposts in Ground Zero. When a turret or infantry defender is damaged, the owning race will receive a warning message.
• New Level 18 instances. These each require a group to complete. Human: Scav Uprising missions (speak with Houston in Militia Base). Biomek: 5 Detention missions (interact with Terminal-bastion-26 in Winston). Mutant: 5 La Leche Madre missions (commune with Warren in Bordertown).
• Added new Meks for display in Hazard Mode area.
• NOTE: The Power Dump feature is *NOT* active in this build.

CHANGES

• Removed restrictions on deflection and resists in PVP.
• There are two ways to get Outpost Tokens in Ground Zero now. Tokens should never be awarded in any other map except the contested layer of Ground Zero. The first way is by holding Outposts (this is identical to the way Tokens were given at release, but the payout has changed). After holding an Outpost for ½ hour, you get 1 Token. After holding the Outpost for another ½ hour, you get 1 more Token.
• Whenever you kill an enemy, there is a chance that they will drop a Token. Two factors modify this chance: the number of Outposts your race holds, and the population of your race.
• Added UI component on the bottom left portion of the HUD that shows the percent chance of a Token dropping from your current target.
• Added a new warning message to Ground Zero Outposts. The messages will alarm the owning race when a turret or infantry defended is damaged.
• NPC's that have core missions to offer are now distinguished by yellow pillars instead of white pillars.
• Xeno Darkbite Dinged! He should now be a bit more fun to farm.

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. Head on over to the Read link to read the complete release notes for Auto Assault's Update 3.

  

You may have been enjoying Auto Assault for quite some time, and it has been quite a while since we've heard any news from the developers at NCSoft, so you'll welcome the new content coming to the raving mad car-bashing action game. The upcoming Update 3 will have four more instances; no matter what level you are, you'll be able to take advantage of it. The Four new instances in question are named The Tower, Scav Uprising, La Leche Madre, and Malachite Detention Center, with the first being for four level 80s, the others for level 18s.

Update 3 is set to be big, with not just the four new instances on the way. There's also two new loot sets looming from NCSoft, with those being Warmonger Set and The Tower Set. There's also a Ground Zero Token System, which is quite a large change to what system you're used to. Here's what NCSoft said:

"In this change to game play, Ground Zero tokens will no-longer be given out for capturing an Outpost. Instead, you'll receive tokens for PvP kills. Furthermore, your chance to receive a token is based on population. For example, if Humans are heavily outnumbered, they have a greater chance than their Mutant and Biomek opponents to receive a token."

If you want to go out and kill someone with a car, just make sure you stick to the virtual world of Auto Assault, and stick to the highway code on the real roads! Explosions aren't as fun in real life.