come january 1st 2009? doesn't that mean it should have shut down by now?  :P

awe... now what overly cliche MMO can I mock?

This is a sad day, I never got swept up in Dungeon Runners, but it was the epitome of MMOness.

 i am very very sad about that..

i didnt play it allday..

but it was god damn fun to play..

it was a very very NICE thing.. it was cool for that time.. to play so cool game 4free.

it was amongst the first f2p mmorpgs in western areas.. so i am really sad about the dead of this kind of artwork!

good by when u r dead DungeonRunner.. i loved you.. (i dont like tow down view, i dont like grinding, i dont like silly names, i dont like plastic graphics, i dont like nonsense quests.. but dont ask me why.. i LOVED dungeonruner so much though ;D)

 thanks for the nice times!

  xbot7

I loved Dungeon Runners. I'm truly sad to see it go. This would be a perfect game for NCSoft to open source IMHO.

I tried this game out but could not get past the general silliness and comedy; it became old very quickly for me.

I was also very put off by the limited top-down camera view.

It'll be interesting to see whether similarly designed games on the horizon -- Mythos and Torchlight come to mind -- are able to make a more successful go of it.

the most interesting "no sky" games for ME at the moment are DRAGONOATH (damn.. i like it.. why?) and the very very interesting "WARRIOR EPIC".. u dondt see the difference to many other games in the beginning.. but there are many very interesting things inside ;D

What?!?!  Another NCSoft game shutting down? LOL @ these guys more and more every day. Of course this was totally expected from these losers.

I'm suprised it took them this long to shut it down. It was fun for awhile but as they said it wasn't cutting the mustard. I would love to play another NCsoft game but Aion isn't for me and they really don't offer anything of interest for me except Guild Wars.

I'm surprised aswell, the game admittedly was very shallow and was meant to be something you enjoyed for very short play times, but even after 5 minutes I got totally bored with the whole thing, and the updates where extremly rare, so the game stagnated.

Yet another NCSoft game shut down. I'm definitely staying far away from their games. They really don't stand behind their releases. They only keep the big winners who add to their bottom line in a significant way. If it's not drawing in the huge numbers, it gets dropped very quickly. If they were more interested, they would support all of their titles and continue to breath life into them.  All of the perceptive gamers who are observing these shutdowns are not feeling particular secure in picking up a new game from NCSoft. What if the game revenue is kind low for a year? You run the risk of seeing your game get shut down before it can really have the chance to grow.

I loved the weapon names and classification system.  I remember my first run through there being all Whisky Tengo Foxtrot.

I'd inspect every weapon as soon as I picked it up and the humor was more entertaining than the gameplay.  Hopefully I get one of those cards and a digital download.  Always wanted to check out CoH.

Well when every dungeon is based on the square it gets very boring fast.  Heck even decades old Diablo did not do that and different layouts for areas. 

This game was destined to die from the moment it was designed.  It reminded me of something put together as class project.

Well I guess i can add that whopping 15 bucks every 3 months back to the budget. I enjoyed it when I had a very rough day and didnt want to think just beat on things. Bling gnome was a tad annoying but not that bad. but then again I still have all 6 games of Leisure Suit Larry lol. oh well back on the hunt for a parody game.

PS if someone finds one drop me a line :D

This game should be re-released as a free online multiplayer game, it's a good fun RPG, shame to see it go, it didn't work as a MMO, but as a traditional online RPG with modding ability, it'd do well?

Originally posted by jawapet

awe... now what overly cliche MMO can I mock?

If you were mocking it for being overly cliche then it simply means you didn't get the joke. :)

I was just thinking of starting the game the other day and said to myself "I have a feeling this is going to shut down soon" :( Sad to see it go.

NCsoft shuts down games that either made them successful or made them lots of money. Or they dont like.

NCsoft is a terrible company to have publish your mmo.

Personally, I thought Dungeon Runners was a great game for what it was, a funny, casual time-waster.  I definitely think it suffered from a sorely lacking budget, adequate and effective marketing and perception.  Those are all issues I feel belong to NCSoft, not the actual developers, who were fantastic about getting the community involved in making "their game". 

Of all of those issues, perception seemed to be the biggest one, in my mind. Players would see Dungeon Runners on a site like this, assume it's a full-fledged MMO and then be upset that it wasn't. That's a big problem. Coupled with a fairly complicated, albeit very generous F2P system (one of the most generous, IMO), many players passed it by or gave up on it shortly after trying it.

The thing that always killed me was that Dungeon Runners was essentially a spiritual successor to Diablo. It had much of hte same fun mayhem and mad looting, but in a more modern package in persistent non-lobby world, fantastic group mechanics, bright, playful graphics and a wicked sense of humor. Sounds like a winner, except that it wasn't all that well embraced. Why not? After all these years, Diablo is still played widely, is still sold in stores as part of the Battle Chest and now D3 is eagerly anticipated. So why don't those same people like playing Dungeon Runners? Is it because all those folks are still playing for free on outdated machines, are too used to hacks and mods to play it the way it was designed, are so anal about the "atmosphere" of the game, that theyre unable to enjoy the actual game play (talking about the D3 color controversy)? I wish I knew..

Over the last few years, I've become personal friends with some of the people who have worked on Dungeon Runners. All but Steve are now working on different projects for different companies and I wish them well. We'll get together for more dinners and drinks sooner than later. Steve's staying with Dungeon Runners to the end, which I respect.

in the last several months, there was an unfortunate chain of events that basically led to this happening.  It's not my place to share them.  Maybe one day Steve or Mark will write a post mortem.  Who knows? It is what it is. I would have loved to see the game launched from within Facebook and playable in a browser-instantiated window a la Fusion Fall and Free Realms (something the devs were working on).  That and the convenience-item based cash shop could have make Dungeon Runners extremely successful. 

Over on the official boards, there's a lot of moaning and gnashing of teeth.  I'm glad there are players who are passionate about the game, but it is just a game.  It was fun while it lasted and will be fun until the end, when Townston blows up.

 ~Ripper McGee

Another game disappearing into the ethers....sigh.  I wonder if these MMO companies have thought that instead of just Killing the game people have paid for (initial Cost or Subscription), they could release a patch on closing day that turns the game Single player/LAN-able so people who did love the game can still play with friends.  Tabula Rasa was a game i loved to play with friends for example and it would have made a brilliant LAN game.

Oh well prolly just wishful thinking on my part

That's sad. I subbed to this game for a few months. It was fun but I guess I'm too anal of a gamer and want seriousness in my game so DR didn't hold my attention for too long.

R.I.P Dungeon Runners

Great game. Sad end.

I think the problem is that no matter how funny and amusing it may have been, DR was just a piece of satire. How long can you play a piece of satire?

My paid sub lasted 1 month. It was fun, though. A game I will not forget.

I brought the game yesterday for $50 and install it and played it .

Originally posted by lorddeath202

I brought the game yesterday for $50 and install it and played it .

 

Shenanigans?

1. They turned off the ability to add membership/redeem the serial codes prior to making the announcement.
2. The MSRP for the retail box at release was $20, but could recently be found for as little as $5.  You definitely didn't buy the game from an authorized reseller if you bought it at all.

~Ripper

Oh wow, Ncsoft closing another game?

Not that  strange ... just affraid how many time aion srvers will stay opened ...

Who will be next?

Exteel maybe??

 ARRRRRGH!!!!!

OK that's out of the way.

It is convient that it ends when my 6 months end.

and finally Who's next like famous people these things come in Threes.

1.....Archlord (Codemasters) 

2....Dungeon Masters

3.......?

Stop being ignorant and hating on NCSoft. I really did enjoy Dungeon Runners, I tried to spread the word to my buddies to play with me but had a tough time. The game was good mindless fun for short periods.

But if you look at it logically, the game just wasnt picking up steam. The devs tried and tried to get things going, but the player numbers were ridiculously small. The servers at most times of the day didnt even go over 500 players. Not to mention some of those people wont even be paying for the game. Then drop in the fact that companies are having to make cut backs for obvious economical reasons.

Its quite simply just logical to drop the game. It can't have been making much money, and major changes require financial backing which more than likely may not pay off in whats a very crowded market. So hating on NCSoft is a very small minded thing to do. Like I say I really did enjoy DR and hate to see it go but when you look at it logically it just makes complete sense. NCSoft is a business not a charity, we would all do the same if we were in their shoes. Lets hope the devs go on to make more awesome games.

Originally posted by rhinok

Personally, I thought Dungeon Runners was a great game for what it was, a funny, casual time-waster.  I definitely think it suffered from a sorely lacking budget, adequate and effective marketing and perception.  Those are all issues I feel belong to NCSoft, not the actual developers, who were fantastic about getting the community involved in making "their game". 

Of all of those issues, perception seemed to be the biggest one, in my mind. Players would see Dungeon Runners on a site like this, assume it's a full-fledged MMO and then be upset that it wasn't. That's a big problem. Coupled with a fairly complicated, albeit very generous F2P system (one of the most generous, IMO), many players passed it by or gave up on it shortly after trying it.

The thing that always killed me was that Dungeon Runners was essentially a spiritual successor to Diablo. It had much of hte same fun mayhem and mad looting, but in a more modern package in persistent non-lobby world, fantastic group mechanics, bright, playful graphics and a wicked sense of humor. Sounds like a winner, except that it wasn't all that well embraced. Why not? After all these years, Diablo is still played widely, is still sold in stores as part of the Battle Chest and now D3 is eagerly anticipated. So why don't those same people like playing Dungeon Runners? Is it because all those folks are still playing for free on outdated machines, are too used to hacks and mods to play it the way it was designed, are so anal about the "atmosphere" of the game, that theyre unable to enjoy the actual game play (talking about the D3 color controversy)? I wish I knew..

Over the last few years, I've become personal friends with some of the people who have worked on Dungeon Runners. All but Steve are now working on different projects for different companies and I wish them well. We'll get together for more dinners and drinks sooner than later. Steve's staying with Dungeon Runners to the end, which I respect.

in the last several months, there was an unfortunate chain of events that basically led to this happening.  It's not my place to share them.  Maybe one day Steve or Mark will write a post mortem.  Who knows? It is what it is. I would have loved to see the game launched from within Facebook and playable in a browser-instantiated window a la Fusion Fall and Free Realms (something the devs were working on).  That and the convenience-item based cash shop could have make Dungeon Runners extremely successful. 

Over on the official boards, there's a lot of moaning and gnashing of teeth.  I'm glad there are players who are passionate about the game, but it is just a game.  It was fun while it lasted and will be fun until the end, when Townston blows up. 

~Ripper McGee  

Well said Ripper and may I add as a fellow Dungeon Runner that I am both honored and priviledged to have played side by virtual side with you these last couple of years... :D

I'm not going to say "good bye" but rather "Be seeing you" to all my fellow players as we WILL see each other around the Gaming multiverse....

As far as Dungeon Runners is concerned, it's been a helluva run and like ALL good things do, it must come to an end sometime... Better to go out w/ a bang then a whimper!!

Stephen Nichols deserves a special commendation for his dedication and love for the game to gut it out to the end to watch his baby be taken off life support....

No one involved with the game from a Developer to a player standpoint should be sad or angry or upset that the game is ending, instead everyone should hold their heads up and be PROUD of what we have created together as this is a game that will likely never be able to be duplicated again with it's blend of humor and fanatical fans, games like WoW and Aion will wish they had players like we are....

How many other gamers in how many other games can say they've played side by side with the game's lead designer and game programmer?

I can....can you??

See 'yall in game for the last best runs yet!!

Respectfully,

Cthulhu

Dungeon Runners #1 & most loyal fan!

I would like to say to the Dungeon Runners team THANK YOU , THANK YOU, THANK YOU for all the hours of enjoyment you brought me and my friends. I havn't played for a while but still have very fond memories of the game and recommend it to everybody, damn, it even got my sister into playing mmo's and she doesn't even like games.

The friends I made in DR are with me to this day, no other mmo has been able to do that with me and even though we all play different games now we all still keep in touch with each other, DR had a great community and I havn't managed to find that type of community in any other game.

Vrdeath, Gutler and Nightforge saying thanks again guys, may you all have the greatest success in whatever you decide to do and don't ever lose that quirky sense of humour, gave me alot of well needed laughs.

Oh yes, sad sad news. DR is a really fun game at lunch break, or when days are boring like every days. Thx to DR team you did a really good job on this game.

Now to speak about NCSoft, why did they offer time for game on the deadline (both GW and CoX are 5 years old), why don't they offer something about AION ?

Yeah, it saddened me to know of its demise. It didn't get me hooked up but it was fun to play at times. I guess it lacked challenge - it was too much point-and-click. But great artwork and humor.

Perhaps if they had gone with an item-shop since the beginning... Those on-screen ads really annoyed me.

I started playing the game not long after it first came out, and it was fun. I left it when I discovered the moderators of both the game and the forums were a pack of complete Nazis, and when they started making things that were stylistically beautiful into muddy crap, and that covers both cosmetic things and the gameplay itself.

It started out as a beautiful game, and a bunch of stylisticly-inept Nazis ruined it, and that was pretty early on. I can only imagine how the game broke down in the years that followed. Will go back and read some of the forum entrys here and see if anybody either knows what I'm talking about, agrees with me, or both. Or something like that. Or whatever.

I was a paying customer, and that game seriously burned me.

This game was fun and hilarious. Problem is, there are SO MANY other gaming options for people these days, and a lot of people have limited time, so they have to choose. I played DR when I was taking a break from other games.

The brilliance of this game was the much needed and well deserved lampooning of almost every aspect of MMORPGS. From the beginning, starting out with cardboard weapons and armor (like when we were kids and were swordfighting with the paper towel roll) a satire of all the lousy rusty bent broken junk other mmos give you when you begin. And the names of those items, ROFLMAO! Flatulent Shotgun of the Hyperactive Beaver, priceless. I loved the NPC commentary, it made me laugh out loud many times. And the plot, medieval corporate espionage against energy drink smuggling rap artist rats, infiltrating their "Sqeakeasies", stealing all their flavor crystals. The people who made this game must have been high.

Beyond the silliness, I thought it had a good combat system with a myriad of skills (farting a poison cloud!), plus you could solo or group. PVP wasn't bad either. I don't remember crashing a single time or encountering any bugged quests or character abilities, which is something mainstream MMOs can't seem to accomplish these days. The game was well balanced too, it was hard to become overwhelmingly powerful, and you always needed more money.

Even though it wasn't very polished or deep, it was tons of laughs and short term fun. And playing this game helps you appreciate all the other MMOs for what they do better.

What ultimately threatened to kill  last year and this time did finally kill the game was revenue...or rather a lack of it... The Dev's tried to generate revenue through ad sponsorship from almost the beginning but no one wanted to advertise so that tanked. Then they tried increasing the perks for paying members and reducing them some for the f2p'ers but all that did was piss off the f2p'ers b/c they were getting 95% of what the paid members were getting for free so they HATED the change in drop rate percentages and loss of some in-game abilities....

Perhaps because of it's success as a 'casual' MMO it was also a victim of those same successes....being TOO casual might just have encouraged people to not care and play for free (or not at all) so at the end of the day, that's what NCsoft Korea is saying to this game's fans... "we don't care about this game or you any longer because we're tired of losing money off the lot of ya".

Stephen Nichols has promised great things over the next 100 days or so until the grand finale at 11:59:59 on 12/31/09 when a nuke strategically placed in the Hub "Townston" is set to detonate & no one but him really knows whats gonna happen!

Score for the players, what with getting Guild Wars and City of Heroes free.

Originally posted by Lydon

Score for the players, what with getting Guild Wars and City of Heroes free.

Yup, but there are still players bitching about what they're getting (or not, as the case may be), which also includes "easy mode"---even for free players--the next three months.  Crazy...

~Ripper

I was in the beta-test of this game.   I was impressed by the dedication of the developers but they didn't listen.   There were gameplay issues that could have easily been solved (mob balance etc) but they never were addressed.  

I didn't bother with the game on release.    I didn't care for the payment model and I hated the Bling Gnome - that was getting just too stupid.    They needed better writers to pull off the humor they wanted.  

No surprise seeing the game vanish.   It would have been nice if it could have been something better.  

Sounds like a fun game... too bad they didn't do better on the advertising because I've never heard of it.

Originally posted by RoxRocks

Sounds like a fun game... too bad they didn't do better on the advertising because I've never heard of it.

I think they advertised on this site.

Originally posted by mjkittredge

Originally posted by RoxRocks

Sounds like a fun game... too bad they didn't do better on the advertising because I've never heard of it.

 

I think they advertised on this site.

They've never really had any advertising or budget for it, unfortunately.  They did have few banner ads at one point, but they were so rare, you'd never see them.  About the only advertising done was news/video releases to gaming sites like this for the Bling Gnome Retail Box.

@ AlienOverlord - personally I loved the humor and the bling gnome, but I respect that you didn't.  Different strokes for different folks :)  Unfortunatley, Dungeon Runners wasn't hindered so much by talent, but by a lack of funds.  They just didn't have a big enough budget  to go nuts with what was essentially an experimental title. As an example, the game had to be cobbled together from the engine and assets of Exarch - a previously cancelled ttile from 2002, and work inherited by two previous development teams (the most recent of which is working for THQ on the Warhammer 40k MMO and Darksiders).  The engine was custom, incredibly hard to work with and was designed for RTS type play.  UI changes that would have been simple in other games were a pretty big hassle in DR.  The team did eventually license a new engine that allowed them to do some of the graphical updates (shadows, specular lighting, etc...) and it was, to my understanding, what was enabling them to attempt to port the game to the PS3, but that whole thing fell apart in August 2008 with all the internal strife in NCSoft.

Irrespective of  that, there were definitely things I woulud have like to see added or changed about the game (and believe me, I made a ton of suggestions over the last few years), but I personally liked the game for what it was  - something silly and fun that didnt' require a lot of time.   The things you didn't like--and I'm ok with that--were the things that appealed to me the most.

~Ripper