Massively^™

Buddy Keys have been a long time coming, but they're finally part of Age of Conan. Funcom assured us last week that they'd be going live this week, and they've made good on that. This is only the first part of the program; wisely, Funcom have opted to deal with the Collector's Edition keys first. The Buddy Keys that were to come with the regular retail boxes will be added later.

Age of Conan Senior Community Manager Tarib tells us that 'Everybody who has purchased a Collector's Edition can now invite up to five friends, who can try the game for seven days without purchasing a retail box.' Buddies have the option of borrowing a set of disks to install the game with, or downloading the game directly, which won't come free - it'll cost them $2.99/€2.99. This option does, however, add 3 additional days of play time 'to cover the download time'.

NCsoft Europe announced that it has begun selling in the U.K. what it calls "starter packs" for some of its games - City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, and Lineage II. Tabula Rasa will follow later in the year. The packs cost £1.99 at retail, and come with all game content plus a two week trial subscription period, encouraging players to return to buy the game at retail when the period ends.

This is essentially your standard 14-day trial -- a staple in the industry -- made available through retail for would-be subscribers who might not come across such opportunities on the web. NCsoft hopes that this move will net some new customers -- especially for its struggling properties.

"In an ever increasingly digitally orientated retail environment, encouraging players to return to retail is a win-win for both outlet and publisher," said an NCsoft rep. We had heard that the whole digital download thing could be the saving grace of the PC platform, but whatever!

More than ever, it appears as though MMO developers are struggling to keep afloat using the traditional models for monetization. SAGA is a game that's had an interesting subscription model from the getgo, shirking the typical subscription fee model for a CCG-esque booster system. Once you've bought the client, the game is free to play. The only caveat is that you can only get additional troops for your army by purchasing "boosters" for an additional fee. It's really a pretty brilliant system, combining two types of games (CCGs and MMOs) that are independently addictive, and fusing them together into what one would have assumed was a license to print money.

We haven't really heard how the game has been doing since it's since it finally emerged from beta last week, but already Wahoo Studios is shaking things up in an effort to draw in players. Like a drug dealer looking to give clients a first taste to get them hooked, they're now offering a free version of the client to give would-be players a better idea of what's on offer. The free client is missing a few features, but a free something is always better than nothing. Unlike a trial though, there is no time limit on how long you can use the free client. Seems they're confident in their product. It's probably worth a shot if an MMORTS/CCG sounds up your alley!

[Via Warcry]

For anyone looking to maybe try out a new MMO or just wanting to kill some time, DDO has a brand spanking new 10 day trial page up and running with some nice screenshots for those of us who enjoy looking at shiny things. Of course, the trial itself is a "limited time" offer according to the website. It's been a couple of years since the game launched, so now may be the perfect time for some people to check back in and see what's happening. In fact, with the upcoming sixth module and live events happening here and there it seems like a great time to investigate the game.

It's really always nice to see a game doing well with the community it has. Hopefully this trial will give players who have been giving thought to buying the game a chance to try it out first. Don't forget that the two-year anniversary is coming up in February and it's likely that players can expect some fun and surprising events.

Unfortunately, just from the dearth of proper coverage, it looks like that Rags to Riches contest in EVE Online that we mentioned a while back kind of petered out. All of the participants were supposed to be blogging the task of creating a character from scratch and raising as much money as they could, but save for a few day one and day two blogs, there's naught to be found.

However, even though we don't know exactly who won, Wiseones has posted a very informative and interesting blog about how his character ended up after the 14-day trial ended. The grand total: 8.5 million ISK. Pretty impressive! And while he did a lot of things (piracy, mining, trading, missions) it sounds like he got the biggest haul from going to war-- he ducked into a space battle, looted a couple of nice T2 items from a wreckage, and got the heck out of Dodge. So if you want some quick cash in low sec, join up with an alliance, go to war, and scavenge from the shadows.

Other tips? Do all the tutorial missions (duh-- you should have already done that), buy as little as you possibly can (which means looting everything from rats), and seriously, pick the bones of wartorn ships clean, even if you have to make a deal with an alliance to do it. Wiseones says a guide to newbie money-making is forthcoming to the forums (send us a link!), but there are some nice tips if you want to make money fast in the inky void of space.

Word has it that, in response to the widespread use and abuse of trial accounts on the part of gold spammers, character-leveling outfits, and RMT humbuggery in general, Blizzard has eliminated the ability for users on trial accounts to invite party members to groups, which joins their recent embargo on broadcast communication in World of Warcraft entirely.

One can't help but wonder if there was a better way to go about achieving this same end of curbing the spammers. Perhaps they could have implemented more thorough standards for authentication prior to being given a trial key, or maybe implemented some sort of referral program where an existing player could "vouch" for a trial user and give them the full benefits they enjoyed before this hotfix. Trial users are usually the most vulnerable and least knowledgeable subset of newbies, and to remove their ability to communicate with the world around them just seems a bit cruel to me.

We all know the spammers are going to find another way around it, after all. They're quite the creative lot.

[Via WarCry]

For those who still find themselves without a three day trial code after the 'Recruit a Rookie' promotion, we've got some good news for you. Courtesy of MMORPG.com, all registered members can get a Tabula Rasa trial code to use for fun and profit. All you have to do is give them the vitals, click through a confirmation email, and you can be well on your way to experiencing the best sci-fi MMO to hit the market for a long time.

Though this method is considerably easier, and quicker, than the Recruit a Rookie method, we still advise lobbying friends, families, and co-workers who play the game for a trial code first, because that will net them a full free month of playtime -- a veritable Christmas miracle if you ask me. Of course, if you can't find anybody to snag a code from, the freebie is the most sensible option. So go ahead and trial it up - we look forward to seeing many new faces in-game!

We know that many gamers were finally seduced into Tabula Rasa's warm embrace with the recent deal that popped up on Amazon, where you could get the CE for half off the retail price, but we also know that MMO players as a whole are a jaded lot, and bargain prices alone aren't enough to to pull you away from your current games of choice. To this end, NCsoft is currently running a refer a friend promotion for Tabula Rasa that could net you a three day trial of the shooty sci-fi MMO. On the PlayNC site (under Account > Manage > Game Accounts > Tabula Rasa), subscribers can email a trial code to a buddy, which will allow them to download the client and give the game a spin.

For those who don't have friends who would be interested in receiving a trial, or who people looking for a code themselves, try one of the links below:

• Tabula Rasa Vault's Referral Thread
• PlanetTR's Trial Key Request Thread
• SciFi Massive's Recruit a Rookie Thread

In the event that you do choose the purchase the game after using a trial, make sure to use your game code to upgrade your account, not make a new one. Every time somebody upgrades their account from a trial to a full account, the person who made the referral receives a free month of play time. There is a limit of four referrals per account, but that's a potential four free months for the cost of sending a few emails. So hop to it.