One game ends, another begins

Taken from Allods Online International CBT

It wasn't too long ago that Philippine game publishers were adding new games at a rapid clip. It seems that these days they've developed a plan of closing one game and adding a new one a few weeks after. A good example would be eGames closing Supreme Destiny and opening the (ALSO currently closed) ZXOnline. With the addition of Allods Online into the Levelup Philippines list of MMORPGs, it looks like the cycle has been broken (IF Hello Kitty Online opens on Oct 2010).

ZXOnline Closes on August 13

eGames closes ZXOnline (Zhu Xian Online) on August 13 (Previously it was set to close July 31--giving notice of closing for only 5 days).

Reason for closing ZXOnline

Their reason? Their contract with Perfect World was terminated. It wasn't stated who wanted it terminated, whether it was Perfect World or eGames, but it doesn't matter now.

The announcement is stated below:

Due to this event, eGames has once again gone under the microscope. Based on the forums, a lot of players have been disheartened in playing in other eGames-published MMOs fearing that it may close as well. Although closing unsuccessful games are the norm in any business, the way they are closed means a lot to the players. It wasn't as bad as what happened to Lineage 2 SEA, but considering that ZXOnline hardly went over two years before it closed gives the gaming public suspect to the publisher's way of managing their games.

Massive exodus to Jade Dynasty

After reading the forums, the large consensus seems to be that instead of transferring to another eGames-powered MMO, they've decided to go to the international version: Jade Dynasty and play in the Billows server. No doubt this will be a boon to both the community and management over there as they will be receiving a lot of experienced players.

Jade Dynasty (ZXOnline) New Race: The Athan

With Perfect World getting a new race with two classes, Jade Dynasty / ZXOnline aren't far behind as they've got their new race: The Athan.

Ubuntu for the Philippines

Some of the reasons why most computer users in the Philippines don't even want to touch Linux is because it's too hard to learn and that they can't play their favorite games on it. All I can say to that is poppycock!

I want to convince the internet shop owners and business owners out there that you don't need to resort to paying huge amounts of money to Microsoft or resort to practicing installing hacked Windows (that are just as dangerous since they hardly get updated and thus open to security and malware problems) just to get online or use a computer.

• MS Office vs. Open Office/Google Docs: Both MS Office and Open Office are virtually the same in every aspect that the only difference between the two is the price: paid vs. free. Even the updates are free, so no more buying the next MS Office update...

• Getting online: some people are still scared whether Ubuntu will get them online, but I promise you, it's even easier and faster to get online with this OS than it is with Windows. Regarding browsers, there's a Linux version of it whatever may it be.

• Typing in commands: some users I know suddenly get squeamish at the first site of the Terminal. I admit I was one of those folks but you get used to typing in commands. Plus, there are a lot of resources out there that provides step by step instructions on how to deal with the Terminal, so don't fret.

• Games: A lot of people are afraid of losing their games when they switch to Ubuntu and that's understandable. Not all games can be played with Ubuntu, but those that are worth it does! For example, I have been playing the following MMOs since I transferred to Ubuntu:

• Perfect World Ph
• Zhu Xian Online (Jade Dynasty)
• Red Cliff
• EVE Online
• Guild Wars
• World of Warcraft

I'm planning to try out Runes of Magic Ph on Ubuntu as soon as it goes to CBT.
To see the complete list of other Windows games that play on Ubuntu via Wine better check out this database.

Here are just some online guides on my current fave ph mmorpgs:

Perfect World on Ubuntu:


How to run Zhu Xian Online (ZXO/ Jade Dynasty) on Ubuntu

So there you have it. I hope to see more Ubuntu users in the future!