Vale Gods & Heroes Vale (Or is it Valete?)

Hey, it's been a while since I've taken Latin okay. (Yes, I'm old enough that they still taught Latin in school.)

Anyhoo, it's now official! "Gods & Heroes" is dead dead dead like a deliciously plump, Chinatown duck. MmmMMmmmMmm. SO DERICIOUS!! Oh wait, side-tracked!

Per G&H's Community Page:

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears...

Loyal and faithful community members and Beta testers, thank you for your support, help, and understanding during the Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising development process.

The development team established some very lofty and ambitious goals when the initial work was started on Gods & Heroes. Recently, we took a step back to evaluate the competitive landscape, the game's current state, and the overall goals for our organization. And while we are truly proud of and pleased with what we have created in Gods & Heroes, we also realize that achieving the level of quality and polish that we are committed to will take a significant investment.

The Perpetual team is faced with a unique challenge of simultaneously developing both Gods & Heroes and Star Trek Online in addition to growing our Online Game Platform business. After assessing all of Perpetual's opportunities, we have made the decision to put the development of Gods & Heroes on indefinite hold.

I want to express my overwhelming gratitude to the community, engineers, designers, artists, animators, and the game services team for the support and effort that has gone into Gods & Heroes.

Moving forward, we're shifting our collective focus, resources and development efforts to Perpetual's Platform Services division and Star Trek Online, thereby ensuring that the game lives up to the high level of expectation set by the dedicated Star Trek fan base.

Again, I would personally like to thank all of the Gods & Heroes supporters who have been with us from the beginning. Hopefully, your continued support will be as valuable to our future endeavors as it was with Gods & Heroes..

Vade in pace,
Chris McKibbin

I guess Trekkers > Joseph Campbell.

Rest in Perpetual Pieces G&H!

Breaking News: Gods and Heroes Canceled

Breaking News: Gods and Heroes Canceled
by Dana Massey, 9 Oct 2007 4:43 pm

Perpetual Entertainment has indefinitely delayed (essentially canceled) Gods and Heroes. The company will continue work on their development platform and Star Trek Online, and continue its operations in the same San Francisco studio under the same management. Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising, though, is no more.

Our source tells us that the majority of the Gods and Heroes development team has been let go as part of the move, which comes only a few weeks after they had downsized and pushed back the release date. The Star Trek Online team, those who worked on the Perpetual Platform (which was recently licensed to BioWare) and a small number of people from the Gods and Heroes team will be remain with the company.

WarCry will bring you more details as the story unfolds.

Update 8:28 PM EST: We originally reported that Perpetual Entertainment had been acquired by another firm, but according to further sources at Perpetual this not in fact the case. It will continue on as described above with new investors.

I can't say I'm surprised after having tried this a while back. It was...just ugly.

An Interview with John Smedley

*snickers*

This is an excerpt from a 3 page interview on Warcry from John Smedley, the CEO of SOE.

That other lesson is the infamous "New Game Experience" the team put into Star Wars Galaxies in 2005. On that, he was completely frank.

"With the NGE, I'm sorry about the mistake we made," he told us. "We screwed up and didn't listen to the fans when we should have, and it's not a mistake we're going to make again."

The NGE completely altered Star Wars Galaxies, a game that had launched in cooperation with LucasArts over two years before. Classes disappeared and the game fundamentally changed in almost every way. It came as no surprise to observers that this change was massively unpopular among the playerbase.

And what was the mistake SOE made that Smedley is sorry for?

"[The mistake was] to not just think we know the right direction without bringing the fans into the mix," he explained. "We made the cardinal sin of not listening, but assuming and we were wrong."

He went on to point out that after two years, the game is once again stable and growing. They continue to update the game with new content and those fans, old and new, who enjoy the current incarnation of the game are being listened to. The old game won't come back - to change now would be as unfair as the first time they did it - but he believes SWG still has a solid future.

Damn right you're sorry.

Anyhow, here is the full article by Dana Massey. Enjoy!

An Exclusive Interview with John Smedley, SOE CEO

Gods and Heroes: Beta Code Give Away!!

WAHOOOOOOO!!!

My endless stalking of various MMO websites has paid off!

Visit the following link for a guaranteed Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising Beta Key IF YOU REGISTERED FOR THE FORUMS BEFORE AUGUST 3RD, 2007:

Gods & Heroes Beta Code

Per Andrew James, the Jr. Community Manager:

Hi Everyone!

We are conducting stress tests this weekend so we need as many new testers as possible! Click the link below and fill out a quick registration form and you will receive a beta code for Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. This is a genuine beta code, you can log into the game as soon as you are done downloading the client.

There are plenty of codes this time, they should last at least 24 hours so please tell your friends, family, enemies, co-workers, everyone! We are conducting server stress tests this Saturday at 2pm (PST) so if you are available to log in and help us crash the server it would help a ton!

Please note that you will need to be registered on these forums to receive a beta code. You will be asked to put in the same email address you used to register for the forums. You will need to have been registered for these forums before August 3rd, 2007 in order to receive a beta code. After all the codes have been given away the page will be closed and you will not see a form to fill out. Also note that your persona names are Case Sensitive.

Good luck!

http://community.godsandheroes.com/closedbetacodes/

FAQ:

-When will the next beta code giveaway be?
We will be doing more of these beta codes in the near future and at different times to insure that everyone has a fair chance to get a beta code.

-Why do I need to be registered before August 3rd, 2007?
To prevent possible exploits of the system. New comers can take heart in knowing they will be given a chance during our next beta code give away.

-How soon can I use my code to get into beta?
Right now! You can apply the beta code, download the client and be in-game as soon as you receive the code!

-How do I install the client and apply the beta code?
Instructions for client download and to register your beta code will be included in the email you receive.

-Will you still be using other methods of distributing codes?
Yes! We are experimenting with a variety of ways to distribute the beta codes.

-Will I have access to the beta tester forums?
Yes! You will now automatically be registered for beta forums when your account is flagged for beta access.

-How long does this beta code last? Will I be able to play after this weekend?
Yes! You can play as long as we are in beta!

I just got mine and am downloading as we type!