2012 is gone, Synopsis...

2012 is gone!!! The gaming history books keep getting bigger and our list of games is a bit larger. A lot of things happened in 2012, some of them are important and some others are not. So I am only going to write down in this piece of paper the ones that I believe are the important ones.

The Secret World was released in July 3, after years of development, the classless game is out. The game was a bit controversial and received mixed reviews. Some people praised its uniqueness and some others bashed the sterile feeling of the game in some aspects.

In December, the subscription fee was eliminated, turning the game into some sort of B2P game with a cash shop and premium services.

SWTOR takes the F2P route… After so much drama around this game and all the population problems, the game finally takes the F2P route. Unfortunately it was seen by some people as some sort of cheap trick because the limitations in the free components are way too much.

Some people believe that SWTOR is a P2P game with some sort of unlimited free trial. Because playing the game with only 1 skill bar, is no game at all.

Planetside 2 was released as a F2P title. The highly expected shooter is finally here, a lot of fans and people around are playing the hyped shooter. After all is a great game, it’s not exactly a perfect title, but there is another year ahead. The massive PvP scale and the 3 fighting factions are probably the main feature of this game.

TERA, The Exiled Realm of Arborea was finally released in NA, the game was met with mixed reviews. The action gameplay is good, but the game is another grind-fest… Kill 10 rats, fetch this item, go to X place. It looks like this is the kind of game that you will love it, or you will hate it.

Another thing is that the game was made under the controversy of a massive corporate drama, full of lawsuits, business espionage and a few other nasties. The company as a whole was found not guilty of the charges but 3 employees were found guilty of different charges.

World of Warcraft: Mist of Pandaria, another expansion pack joins the numbers of WoW, it looks like the old cartoonish game keeps going, I know that the game is no longer what it used to be, but it looks like the game is going to keep it up for a few extra years.

No matter how hard we try to let WoW go away, Blizzard is always going to find a way to give the old mmo a small jolt of life. After all, if you enjoy it, play it!

Guild Wars 2 is in our hands… After years of waiting, we finally have Guild Wars 2!!! I have to be honest, in 2010, I thought that GW2 was a bunch of vaporware because Anet was taking so long to release the friggin game. It looks like all the waiting really paid off.

The game is fun and is not exactly more of the same standard WoW formula but at the same time is familiar enough to enjoy it if you like that formula. It contains a bunch of features and is by far one of the best games ever made.

Blade & Soul, is nowhere to be seen in NA, it looks like the developers of this game (Team Bloodlust) is having some issues and complications with the game localization. Who knows they need to redevelop half of the game to get the translation up and running.

I am a bit worried, if they are taking so much time with the localization, what is going to happen with the bug fixes and patches.

NCSoft close down City of Heroes, after 8 years of operation, the super heroes and villians mmo is put out of service in November 30, 2012. The game had a solid community and fans but apparently the game was no longer generating any revenue to the company and it was starting to get old, making any kind of marketing more difficult.

In conclusion, 2012 was a great year, we saw some new releases and some changes in the industry. The B2P and F2P models are taking over and the P2P is starting to crumble on its feet. Let’s see if 2013 turns out to be an even better year in gaming…