Will City of Wonder be next on Playdom's chopping block?

Poor City of Wonder. Playdom's medieval-esque city-builder on Facebook is really struggling, sitting at just 320,000 monthly active users. While the game and its Facebook fan page are still actively updated, such low user numbers cause me to speculate: could City of Wonder be the next game Playdom shuts down?
Back in November, the company announced the closure of Social City, which fell to 270,000 monthly players before the announcement was made. Do a bit of math, and we can see that the two games are only 50,000 users apart. Could those 50,000 users be enough to save this one, or should we all start saying our farewells to another game?

Furthermore, could City of Wonder's falling popularity be the reason that City of Might / Warfare is still unavailable? The last update for that game was back in November of 2011, when we were told that Playdom was testing the game in a closed beta. Still, we first heard about the game way back in June at E3, so what's the big holdup? With City of Might being a more militarized take on City of Wonder, we can't help but think that the delay has something to do with City of Wonder's recent state.

Either way (we are just speculating after all), we'll make sure to keep an extra eye on City of Wonder (and City of Might) and will let you know if things start to look up for either game.

Are you still a fan of City of Wonder on Facebook? Did you forget that City of Might was even in development? Sound off in the comments.

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E3 2011: Playdom's City of Might goes to war with Zynga's Empires & Allies this summer

by Brandy Shaul, Posted Jun 10th 2011 1:36AM

Don't they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery? I hope Zynga will feel mighty flattered then, as Playdom unveiled a new Facebook game at E3 this year - City of Might. During my limited demo of the game (I wasn't actually allowed to play, but rather was shown a scripted series of events), I learned that City of Might combines the city-building elements of City of Wonder with resource management and player-vs-player combat. Instantly, we're left with comparisons to Zynga's Empires & Allies which just launched days ago.

For City of Might, you'll need to collect resources to build more units, and can then use those units to plan and execute invasion strategies on other players. While combat is a bit interactive, it's mostly cinematic, and you'll only be able to place your units on the enemies' maps and then add more units mid-battle if your troops wind up defeated. From what I saw, it appeared that the rest of battle was automated, as each side shows their damage as small numbers that float rapidly up from the unit or building in question. If you don't succeed your first time in battle, you can call in the help of friends for a rematch. These friends will allow you to earn bonuses to your damage and armor stats, giving you a better chance at success. There are air and ground units to choose from, but this demo didn't make it clear as to whether naval units would complete the expected trio.

Where City of Might looks to have a one-up on Zynga is through the use of an in-game chat system, allowing you to interact in real time with other players, whether they are your Facebook friends or not. In this way, you won't have to have tons of personal friends playing the game on Facebook to actually play the game with other real people.

As for an expected launch, we can look to see City of Might drop its first bomb on Facebook later this summer. We know there are many more features still being completed that will eventually be added to the game, but details are heavily under wraps as of right now. You can see a small preview of what the game looks like at the top of this post, but we'll make sure to give you a more in-depth overview of the game as we get closer to launch.

What do you think of the idea of Playdom's City of Might? Do you think anything could have the power to defeat Zynga? Let us know in the comments.

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Tags: city of might, city of wonder, city-buildig, disney, e3, e3 2011, playdom, pvp

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Playdom’s Deep Realms Brings Classic RPG Play to Facebook

Though recent months have seen a flood of traditional MMORPGs inside the Facebook canvas, a true role-playing game has yet to break through. Social RPGs such as Frontierville, Ravenwood Fair and the like do include an avatar but the progression, stats, and choices that define an RPG are attached to the simulation not the character. Playdom’s upcoming Deep Realms looks to be the first to meet the textbook definition with the quality needed to succeed.

Described by Raph Koster and Alex Ou as having a “somewhat normal ‘something bad has happened in the world and it’s partly your fault and you just don’t know it…’” storyline, the title follows many standard jRPG tropes: it is isometric; exploration is tile based (visibly so); there is a collection system to create better items than can be purchased; areas are both replayable and scale; and there is character progression. The list goes on.

Character progression is achieved through five classes – warrior, thief, ranger, sorcerer, and priest – their attendant skill trees, and unique items.  Players are not locked into decisions; re-specialization is available. And after level 37 multi-classing comes into play.

Of special note is the elixir system. Along the skill tree is a class-specific bonus that appears as an elixir beginning with a 5% bonus. It is a permanent bonus to the player (I played a thief and received a bonus to my dodge ranged attacks skill). These same elixirs can be sent to friends who then receive the same bonus for 25 hours. If said friends receive one of elixir from all five classes, the effect is increased. Elixirs are not only particularly functional, but they also serve as a positive social incentive.

Unique among Facebook titles today, Deep Realms is built on a height map. Rather than build the world with an overabundance of obstacles to force the player to take the path “suggested,” the angle of inclination/declination is just made impassable. It also makes the world rather pleasing to look at.

With a complete inventory system, crafting/collecting system, store, allies (friends), maps, and personal statistics, the UI could quickly become cluttered. But this has been solved by placing most information inside only a few panels including a personal information view reminiscent of a collectable trading card.

The social aspect of Deep Realms is particularly important as the player’s allies serve a critical function beyond gifting both useful items and daily elixirs. Due to the exceptionally high health of boss monsters, allies are critical not just to winning, but to winning in a reasonable amount of time.

As a player explores each tile on a landmass, that tile becomes “used” or no longer explorable until the player reaches a certain level and the game begins to scale. Boss fights are the exception. Fought in rounds of seven attacks, if the boss isn’t defeated it retreats a few squares away. Energy is needed to activate each tile but in this case the tiles reset. What’s more, a third vital – courage – determines just how often you can fight the boss. Run out of courage and you will have to wait for it to recharge (or pay a fee for a potion).

This is where allies come into play. Through asking for help or via visual cues when a player logs on, allies are made aware of friends in need. Allies can aid in the attack of a boss by simply joining the fray. The attacks may be made concurrently or not, but if allies are fighting during the same round they can send messages to one another. Once the fray is completed the loot will even be split according to damage.

A final component is the arena. Intended as a player-versus-player option, it contains up to six opponents: two from three increasing levels of experience (determined by successive wins which give bonuses thereby making the player stronger). Choose an opponent and the player will compete in a turn-based combat. Win and the player will receive bonuses to help continue the climb to the next tier.

Like every RPG, Western or Eastern, Deep Realms has a story – or rather it claims to. It does a fantastic job at ensuring that upon first play there is at least an hour’s worth of gameplay if not more. Potions drop at a steady rate allowing the player to experience a full tutorial over an expanded time rather than a very short and inefficient instruction session.

But key to the jRPG genre is engagement in why the player should follow the journey. This is not the story of the player but a linear path to be followed. Story elements in that first hour are few and very far between. Deep Realms does many things right and just may be the first true RPG title to become successful on Facebook. Hopefully, by launch Playdom will have added a bit more of the RP into the RPG.

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