Fantasy is so cliche. At least, that's what the developer of Dungeon Runners would have us believe. In this online role-playing game, genre standards are alternately mocked and embraced, and you'll experience a few snort-out-loud moments thanks to the game's snappy dialogue and humorous approach to item naming. Not only are those Jarring Unclear Crystal Gauntlets of the Unrivaled Beetle useful for absorbing damage, but they're a not-so-subtle parody of RPG mainstays (and by extension, RPG players themselves). And the merchant that sells you some of those wares? She'll send you off to squeeze mutant puker juice out of the local monsters, which is fortified with electrolytes and, like any good energy drink, is extreme.
The Good:
* Witty dialogue and equipment names
* Combat is enjoyable for a few hours
* Open-ended class system.
The Bad:
* Some basic features are missing, and others are derivative
* There's no story or lore to keep you interested
* The combat and humor get old after a while.
With the change in the new year, bid a fond farewell to Dungeon Runners, which shuffled off the Internets last night. It's always sad to see an MMO go, especially a wacky, fun, free-to-play title. Thankfully, Massively reader Ripper McGee was on-hand last night to capture this screenshot from the final moments.
Stephen Nichols, producer and lead programmer of NCsoft's free-to-play online RPG Dungeon Runners, has announced that the game is to shut down on January 1st 2010. Reason: it's not making money.
"Dungeon Runners just isn't cutting the mustard," Nichols confessed. "If she were a ship, she'd be taking on water... The game just isn't profitable."
NCSoft has shut down a lot of MMOs recently. Hence the reason why I'm skeptical on getting Aion or not.
Well, it was a free game that wasn't very fun to play. Aion is a different beast.
It's been two years since NC Soft released its tongue-in-cheek MMORPG-slash-dungeon crawler, Dungeon Runners, and now the self-proclaimed "Mother of all RPGs" is finally getting primed for a much-awaited cash shop. In keeping with DR's light-hearted tone, the ingame shops will be called TURDs, ostensibly an acronym for Townston's Universally Recognized Dollar which is also going to be the cash shop currency.
