Earth and Beyond: Earth and Beyond says Goodbye.

killerTwinkie

Earth and Beyond has decided to lay the servers to rest on Septer 22 2004.

"Starting September 22, 2004, Earth & Beyond will no longer be in service. After an amazing two years of galactic adventure, Electronic Arts has made the decision to close Earth & Beyond in order to focus resources on future games."

For more information, click Here!

- MMORPG.COM STAFF -

lumaan

 They can't do it....... But yet they can... I was about to get a accont again to EnB.... And it sad, cos I was betatesting the game and after that payed 1 year to play it... Well EA-games can do it cos they are so big.....

Lady Luna

Mcallen

it is indeed a sad day for enb players...hope to see them in another mmorpg soon

Teodric

So far the only MMO or MMO-ish games to cease operations have been Meridian 59, Majestic and Motor City Online, and now E & B (did I forget anything?). Of those, all but Meridian 59 are EA titles.

Does EA have any MMO title left? How long will it take before they dare to try another one?

Zhanghia

Meridian 59 is still alive.

As some things can be right and useless, can't some things be wrong and priceless? -Viktor Suikoden I

Teodric

There are servers to play on but it's not the same operation in one unbroken line from its origin - 3DO closed the game and it remained closed until Near Death bought the rights in 2001.

Zhanghia

I'm still sayin' it's alive.

As some things can be right and useless, can't some things be wrong and priceless? -Viktor Suikoden I

Teodric

Point is which ones have been closed, not which ones are open. 3DO judged the game dead at one point, and that sets the game apart in a group it shares with only EA titles. One particular EA title is the subject of the thread, and bringing up the group of MMO games that had (at some point) ceased operation was because of the question of where EA will go now. M59 isn't really relevant and I included it in the list only to avoid the "u forgot M59!1!!" posts.

So, after three times failing in their attempts in the MMO market, where will EA go now?

hulons1

UO is still going strong. Sims Online is still up, though not nearly the success EA envisioned. EA says it will still continue with development of UO-X even with the recent closing of offices in Austin. We'll see.

EA is about the bottom line. EnB is or was probably profitable for EA, but just doesn't fit into their "return on investment" goals.

I am an active subscriber to EnB. I'm very sad about this. it's been a lot of fun. March 21 will be my last day.

Teodric

Excellent point. EA continues to be the publisher of UO and Sims online. OU being what it is (I'm not going to speculate on the level of profitability of the game at this point in time) and Sims Online being for all intents and purposes if not a flop then at least a major let-down.

So where will they go next? Ultima X: Odyssey is the only EA-branded MMO title I'm aware of.

c4bloy

---

Originally posted by Teodric

So far the only MMO or MMO-ish games to cease operations have been Meridian 59, Majestic and Motor City Online, and now E & B (did I forget anything?). Of those, all but Meridian 59 are EA titles.
Does EA have any MMO title left? How long will it take before they dare to try another one?

---

Add "Rubies of Eventide" to the list.

Teodric

Ah yes.... Rubies of eventide... after less than a year in operation.

(ed removed rambling)

stulloz

 

I will just play EVE.

 

How about you ?

wizardpete

A shame they canned E&B and not Sims Online. I think Sims has less appeal than E&B has and in terms of gameplay a lot worse. In addition playerbases are about the same (30,000) and E&B has a lot more committed players.

I for sure will start playing EVE and some of my guildies will do so as well. Maybe we will try out some other MMORPGs when they come out. No real comparable games to EnB out there though, except EVE.

Dantes

Unfortunately, it's been a long time coming.  I was an early beta tester for the game (I still have my beta CDs) and played the game once it went live for quite a while.  I had very high hopes for EnB to become the definative space MMORPG but alas it failed.  I had fun playing it but after a couple months, the only thing that kept driving me to log on was the people I played with.  There were just too many things that the game lacked. 

I hope EA has learned something from the experience of running EnB and will apply those to future games.  EA made a good decision to change their focus from a game that was on life-support to that of upcoming games or current games.

 

lumaan

EVE Im going to play again. Was in beta and in 14 days Im in again whit a pay 2 play.....

 

Was menber of The Shadow (EnB) name LadyLuna/LadyDust/LadyBird.... are playing Shattered Galaxy at the moment......

Lady Luna

phazah

what a load of crap....

People are leaving the game in droves now, why pay $13USD for a static game, it would better to go out and buy a FPS game, you get the same effect.
i ditched my UO account of 5 yrs due to UO really getting lame lately and iffy like EnB was getting, many of the players had an inkling that it was coming, the dev updates were a joke, and several devs sneeking off to Sigil....

After this, I will most likely not purchase another EA game, Eve is an option to replace the space MMORPG, but most likely take time off til City of Heroes is available.

now to keep EA from buying them out...

rudack

 This really sucks I have been playing for over 2 years oh well next mmorpg all I know is that I will never play a mmorpg created or even touched by EA.  FFXI looks like my next try.  Any idea's on great MMorpgs?

Dantes

I'm playing FFXI until after Lineage 2 comes out.  Whichever one is better is the one I'll keep.

Kenrich

 I have played enb since beta it also was my first experience in a mmorpg .

If they had to pull the plug on a game why not the sims  i mean does anyone realy wanna play a game based on the real world i spend enugh time there as it is.. but now i must find a new reality to call my home away from home.

SatansDisciple

meh, i like the sims better. enb was too desolate, even when on planets. and the warping waypoint thing... ugh. might as well go get the paper and eat some dinner before you get to your destination. those were the only major flaws though, seemed pretty good gameplay-wise. i played for only a month though...

sims online is lots of fun for people who have no real life

Devanchya

I remember beta testing EnB back during the prelaunch period.  I was an active DAoC player, EQ player and was willing ot give it a try.  I just got turned off immedatly at HOW repetive it was, wasn't really a friendly feeling... but I wonder if that was just because the only time you actually saw other people were in the station.

Personally I think EA just did what it's always done... supported a game for a few years, saw that it wasn't going to be popular for ever and moved onto something that could give more instant cash.

Jaqs

its not about the customer anymore really with EA theyve killed games with great potential MOC and now EnB Sim Online is a big flop Ultima is good but not the only one out there and need vairety. Things like this make and get peopel to other companys which right now are way better to go to since EA the suits have shown they cant commit thier screwin up thier online market.

They only see the short term atm not the long term. EA right now is like Microsoft or Borg except most sutff they assimalte the screwit up and dont make things better Hopefully EA someday gets back on track but atm wait and see.

It was online game so things can change could of been so kick ass after a while more

 

Elnator

Add Multiplayer Battle Tech 3025 (another EA title) to the list. That one never even made it out of beta even though it had 10,000 players just in the beta test. And they didn't even have any notices about that one anywhere. It got 10,000 players by word-of-mouth alone. They didn't even have a site that was easily discovered on the web because the page didn't come up when you searched for battletech.

I just read that JumpGate is offering a free 30 day trial to E&B players who send them their CD's... That is a great space sim MMO, better than Eve or E&B imo.... I will probably be re-activating my JumpGate account. EVE is colossolly boring.

Grocklon

Ahh.... to say that E&B was a great game would be a understatement, the thrill of the Fishbowl, or deep in dT, the memories of the Big Machine. And the infernal quests of those damn bogeril brothers, Zeke and Zach.. and those Missuns.. as they were called. Many an hour I have spent playing Earth and Beyond... from the Raven Guild.. with many a great friend, and to those that read this, I will count you all as friends, to Raven's Reborn, the Outcasts, and finally coming to rest at Static <watches other just shiver at the mention of the name> all those that I've flown with, come to know and consider friends.

Electronic Arts.. has failed once again to address the subscribers of what the process was, the only explanation I ever got was from Wraith, a E&B GM, that the decision was a very hard one to make, and I can only take that from Wraith, even tho' he was kept out of the loop. I will no longer support Electronic Arts, nor am I going to subscribe to there games again. This was like losing my best friend, or should I say friends, as most of them after almost 1.5 years are going to be sorely missed. Thanks EA for just taking a great game and flushing it down the toliet. I'll be there, the last night, in the last minute, just so I can watch a great game get flushed. Someone at another company, bring back my ship.. my DG.. my 2 GE's... and all my other toys.. just buy this game.. Oh well.. another random rant.. LOL..  I will miss E&B... and hate EA for a time.. or longer.. but that Madden 2005... ouch...

Oh well... time to sign off Grock.. wait! He'll live on here... LOL

 

XanderZane

Well I never played EnB. Didn't really interest me and looked kind of boring. Still there was still a bunch of fans out there who liked it. EA doesn't care about there customer though. They care about profit and $$$$$. If the game isn't making the dough, then its gotta go. I'm surprised the Sims Online is still alive. I believe that will be the next one to be canned by EA. I would love to see a BattleTech MMO game. The closest I've seen is MechAssault (XBox). That game is awesome. I'll like to see it on a grander scale though. Like 100 vs 100 mechs. Anyway the other game that went under was Mythica and Ninth Domain. Not a major lose if you ask me.

 

Xander