Festivities kick off at 9 PM Central Time, ending at midnight, and are scheduled to include "all sorts of nutty things." Have fun, guys. Rest in peace, Auto Assault.

Auto Assault News [Official Site]

NOTICE: 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. There will be more announcements coming soon regarding the shut down of Auto Assault and its impact on current accounts. Please check back at www.autoassault.com for more information.

The thing is while Auto Assault never managed to totally hook me, it did enough things differently that it was worth a gamer's attention. I suspect it was this innovation that probably kept the game from succeeding. Don't get me wrong, it had some significant issues, but the real problem lay, I think, in the fact that it was a bit too different from all of the other mainstream MMOs out there.

I sort of suspected this was coming. When I was at the NetDevil Anniversary in June several of the developers referred to Auto Assault in the past tense, one even said that they never wanted to spend that much of their life working on something only to see it fail. I was sort of shocked at the time to hear a developer talking about their still running game as a failure, but it makes a lot more sense now.

What I hope happens is that other developers, and certainly NetDevil, do a post-postmortem on the game and try to figure out why it failed. I suspect top on the list will be the overly complex crafting system and the high-end PC requirements.
Important Notice [Auto Assault]

Found amidst memo stickie pads, ballcaps and the countless other useless crap that fills a CompUSA bargain bin: Auto Assault.

Wow, I still say the game is fun, it just suffers from terminal bad-timing syndrome. If it has come out before World of Warcraft or perhaps next year, it would have done much better. Brian Crecente

For those of you who are playing Auto Assault and actually care about added content, you're in luck, because you're getting added content. The rest of you should move on to the next post. I think Ashcraft's posting pictures of his wife playing with a cat. All gone? OK Steve, Bob, here's what NCSoft has for you soon in Update 3:

Four new instances called The Tower, Scav Uprising, La Leche Madre, and Malachite Detention Center. The first is for four level 80s, the others for level 18s. There's also two new loot sets coming in the form of the Warmonger Set and The Tower Set. They're also a Ground Zero Token System:

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.

I'm not sure about this game. Seeing as I'm of Asian descent, if I wanted to kill people with my car I'd actually go out and drive. Jason Chen

Other reading: Auto Assault Halloween Event [Auto Assault]

I really just can't get on board with the whole Rockstar Table Tennis. Maybe if there was an unlockable Forrest Gump from the All American Ping Pong Team character or something.

Don't forget to post away today for your chance to win. I will be randomly selecting a post tonight, as I will every day this month, and then deciding which comment about the post was the funniest, most insightful or interesting and hand out a prize to the poster.

Check back a bit later today to see who won Saturday's comment contest and an Auto Assault Dickies button-up shirt, t-shirt and a copy of the game as well as what we are giving away today. Brian Crecente

Note: If you're having trouble logging in to post comments. Try this: Login as usual, and then when it brings up the same login boxes hit the refresh key. Think of it as Kotaku's own secret handshake.

The good news is that NetDevil and NCSoft are still developing new content for the game and certainly seem to have a vested interest in keeping it going.

From the site:

Since the launch of Auto Assault, we have been pleased to find a community that is vocal, helpful and truly passionate about this game.

While we continue to work on adding much more content to Auto Assault and fine tune its many systems, we've also heard an overwhelming request from the community in both North America and Europe to merge the servers so the players have greater incentives to use the game's social functions. We agree with their assessment.

The merge takes place on July 13.

This raises an interesting question. With the incredibly high cost of developing a sophisticated massively multiplayer online game and the expectation that such a game will survive, if not thrive, for years, exactly how does a company decide when to pull the plug?

Obviously, MMOs aren't the same as other video or PC games. You don't just develop it, send it out the door and then wait for a big wave of cash to come back. There must be a constant evaluation going on to weigh the development costs and costs of keeping the game alive, which have to be significant, with the potential for earnings.

I suspect that with the advent of World of Warcraft and the flood of MMOs that have hit the net in the year surrounding the game's launch, these type of games suddenly have an upward battle when it comes to survival.
I may be totally wrong here, but I think WoW has made it much harder for an MMO so survive. What do you think? Brian Crecente

EU&US Server Merge [Auto Assault]

Spokeswoman Janna Bureson declined to drop any official subscription numbers for the car-themed massively multiplayer game.

"We are still assessing Auto Assault's performance and can't comment much further on that with respect to the recent reorganization," she said. "We can say that these sorts of changes are a result of many factors in our business, all of which are constantly being checked and rechecked as part of our regular assessment process. While it is a difficult process, this is a normal part of the games industry."

She did say that reports of the game only have 10,000 subscribers were way off.

" Like all the numbers that have been reported on certain blog and rumor sites, Auto Assault's rumored subscriber numbers are incorrect - and low," she said. "No doubt, Auto Assault is still finding its audience. The company recognizes that not every product can be a City of Heroes or a Guild Wars, and that's the chance you take when you push the envelope in your industry and create something totally different."

Bureson also pointed out that they recently released an update for the game and are working on new content. Brian Crecente

NCSoft Evaluating Auto Assault [Rocky Mountain News]

The association is hosting resumes for all of those recently laid off. So far it looks like about seven NCSoft former employees have taken them up on the offer. Looking at their resumes it looks like this very small sampling came from a mix of the companies games including City of Villains, Guild Wars, Dungeon Runners and, yes, Auto Assault.

If you're a developer looking to hire in the Austin area, perhaps you should check the IGDA first. Brian Crecente

Recently Laid off? Let IGDA Austin know [IGDA-Austin]

The company's prepared comment sought to cast the layoffs as a response to vagaries all publishers in the online space are subject to. "The online games industry is one that is continually changing with the scaling up and down of business based on product launches and product development schedules," the statement read in part.

But it also points to a more localized reason behind the layoffs—a slowdown in upcoming NCsoft launches: "As the company continues to grow its live products and prepares its next set of major online game releases for later in 2006 and 2007, the company sees a slowdown in its launch pattern and the need to streamline its business."

Site f13.net, which first reported on the firings, blamed the firings on Auto Assault. The site, quoting an unnamed developer-only message board, wrote that the car-themed massively multiplayer online game has less than 10,000 subscribers. That compares to City of Heroes and City of Villians, which has been at 150,000 subscribers for more than two years, according to NCSoft.

F13 goes on to say that the firings were mostly in the GM, tech support and QA departments. NCSoft denies the numbers reported on F13 were "not just barely wrong, but all wrong."

It's too bad that Auto Assault isn't doing better. Developer NetDevil is a Colorado-based company, but more importantly I think the game is quite well put together. I've met with the NetDevil folk numerous times, including on their gold day. The last time I spoke with them, Scott Brown told me that the game could make or break his studio.

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you guys.

NCsoft-Austin lays off 70 [GameSpot]

My Auto Assault package for the Rocky Mountain News ran today. It include some interesting factoids, a review of the game and a story about the future of the game's developer NetDevil.

NetDevil, a Colorado company, has only made one other game, another MMO called Jumpgate which is still up and running (I'm told it has a one person team keeping an eye on it.) NetDevil president Scott Brown told me he hopes to expand his company beyond the two games they are working on. He's also considering working on a non-MMO.

One of the other interesting factoids that came out was that the dev team is working to add an auction house to auto assault and different modes of play to the player-versus-player arenas. The game currently features a rather fun deathmatch map, which really plays like a stand-alone game. Brown told me they hope to at least add a capture and hold mode and also a few new maps.

Auto Assault a Perpetual Work in Process [Rocky Mountain News]

NetDevil's Auto Assault went live today. The mmo was open to pre-orders starting on Sunday, but today's the first day anyone can get into the game.

I spent a bit of time in the game on Sunday. It's kinda fun, I can't wait until I can build up my biomek high enough to be able to plunge through no-man's land and into one of the other territories for full-scale mayhem.

Is anyone else out there checking out this MMO? What are your thoughts on the game in its first week?

Auto Assault

Captain sends word of a new website he's created that is striving to become the Craigslist of the MMO world. Dawnmarket is essentially a site to place free classifieds for massively multiplayer online game items.

You just register, select the game and server, list the item and asking price and then when you get a buyer hook-up online to do the trade. So far the place is a virtual morgue, but I'm hoping people start listing the same sad, self-indulgent Missed Connections that made CL such a huge hit.

BIOMEK WITH MOHAWK IN SCRAP VALLEY I was in the pick-up with the turret-mounted mini-gun and nail studded hood. I noticed your Dune Buggy as I zipped down the shattered highway past a clutch of Pikes. You were roasting a zipgunner with your flamethrower. Your wheels were sexy.

If you remember me lets meet at Old Fort Logan.

Sexy!

Dawn Market

NCsoft is giving away slots for the closed beta of Tabula Rasa. The first 200 people to sign up for a monthly subscription for Auto Assault win entry into the beta. The contest runs from April 13 through May 14.

While it's cool NCSoft is giving away beta slots to Tabula Rasa, the truly amazing thing is that there must be some end in sight for the game. I was starting to think that Tabula Rasa, Richard Garriott's pet project for quite awhile now, was never going to come to fruition. Of course, they still haven't set a date for the beta.

Win a Spot in the Tabula Rasa Beta

I've spent the week working on a feature package about Auto Assault for the Rocky Mountain News. I'm spending most of the day in the beta of the game checking out the other factions (I've been playing a human), player-versus-player and the game's crafting system.

Man, reviewing a massively multiplayer game is so very time consuming and no matter how much time you spend with it, it's rarely possible to encapsulate your experience in one article.

The NetDevil crew is holding a little meet and greet in Superior, Colorado on Wednesday.

The details:

Come out and meet the Auto Assault team and your fellow Central Wastelanders at the Auto Assault Meet & Greet! Win a door prize! Dazzle others with your Auto Assault trivia expertise! See real people in their natural habitat!

Date: Wednesday, April 5, 2006
Time: 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Location: Buffalo Wild Wing
404 Marshall Rd.
Superior, CO 80027
303-497-WING (9464)

Registration is not required, but if you plan to come, please reply to this thread so we can get an approximate headcount.

[Food and drink not provided]

Oh man, hot wings and computer games, sweet.

Someone hipped me to a funny little site up to promote the launch of Auto Assault. The ApocalypseIsComing.Com also has some great What to Dos in case Biohazards come stalking.

In case you can't read the image, here's some highlights:

Fallout will, from time to time, try and trick you into letting them into your home.
Fallout will sometimes try to challenge you to a dance-off. Don't back down and don't stop the body rock.
Fallout never takes the form of monkeys.

OK, I made up that last one, but I hear it's totally true.

The Apocalypse Is Coming

Massively multiplayer online post-apocalypse car combat game Auto Assault is going to feature ads.

NCsoft recently penned a deal with Massive Incorporated to pump in-game advertisements in the game.

"We ve been interested in the concept of in-game advertising for a long time, but only wanted to do it when it made sense for the product and enhanced the game world for our players, said Dorothy Ferguson, vice president of sales and marketing for NCsoft North America. This is a great fit for Auto Assault. Massive understands games and has the most seamless and sophisticated process for integrating ads that fit within the game environment. We share a deep commitment to the highest quality game experience for our customers.

Just how exactly does adding an advertisement for McDonald's or Axe make a game about the never-ending war between mutants, robots and humans more realistic? Perhaps they're warring over the Super Sized Fries?

I just hope this invasive advertising comes with a heft price drop for the players who are going to have to put up with the billboards.

The pack will come with an HS-150 headset by Creative to use with the game s built-in voice chat system, access to an in-game remote control car (think of it as a pet), all three starte packs for the Auto Assault Online Trading Card Game from Worlds Apart and an Auto Assault soundtrack CD featuring music created by Richard Dekkard.

I had a chance to check out the studios a few weeks back and meet Dekkard. He let me listen to a snippet of some of the music, it was very moody and fit quite well with the enviroment that it plays in.

The whole pack will sell for about $60 and NCsoft promises to clue us in on subscription pricing in the next few weeks.

NCSoft Europe have announced their Collector Edition pack for their new vehicle-based MMOG, Auto Assault. It's quite a package of all the game-related goodies/junk you could possibly want:

• 
  
• An in-game 'Pet' exclusive to the Collector's Edition a mini RC car!
  
• The full AA client on one convenient DVD
  
• Headset with microphone for in-game voice chat
  
• Manual - 96 full colour pages to help get you started
  
• Road Style Map - folds out to show the full glory of the Central Wastelands - 61cm x 45.7cm
  
• Soundtrack CD with 19 tracks by Richard Dekkard
  
• Explosive poster for your wall - 36cm x 60cm in size
  
• Engraved metal key ring
  
• Collectable Mutant, Human and Biomek postcards
  
• Exclusive bumper sticker
  
• Free Friend's Trial code for 14 days play in Auto Assault
  

Of course, nothing comes for free: this bumper pack's suggested retail price is 44.99 (approx seventy bucks!). Ouch.

Auto Assault Collector's Edition [Press release]

Pre-order Auto Assault Collector's Edition [Amazon]

It's going to be a sweet Valentine's Day if you pre-ordered Auto Assault. Dev Team and Colorado natives NetDevil is hosting an extended beta play test session for pre-order customers today.

The festivities kick off at 6 p.m. Central today and run through 6 p.m. Central on Thursday. The 48-hour Valentine's Day Massacre is the kick off of the MMO's priority beta access. From now on mid-week playtesting session will only be accessible to pre-order players. Other beta testers are going to have to hang on the weekends.

Go get your pre-order and napalm and report for duty.

Auto Assault [Official Site]