Stephen Nichols announces that Dungeon Runners will shut down its servers on January 1, 2010.

September 16, 2009

Yes, that's right. Dungeon Runners is shutting down on January 1, 2010. The full scoop follows.

Dear Dungeon Runner,

Have you ever had to give bad news to someone before? Sure you have! I've found that the best way to give bad news is to make a "crap sandwich" out of it. You know... you say something nice, drop the bad news bomb, then say something else nice. Sound like fun? Let's do it then!

First, something nice! I've really enjoyed working on Dungeon Runners for the past three years. I've come to know many of you personally and have, without a doubt, had the best time in my nearly 20 year game development career working and playing with you guys! You are dedicated, passionate players that have really helped us to make Dungeon Runners what it is today. Awesome players for an awesome game! Kudos!

Now, it's time for the bad news. Dungeon Runners just isn't cutting the mustard. If she were a ship, she'd be taking on water. Yeah, she's been taking on water for a long time now. Are my cryptic references too hard to decipher? The game just isn't profitable. And, the first rule of business is to be profitable! Man, I must have missed that day in business school... but I digress.

We've been trying to figure out how to fix things for some time now. And, that's where things get sticky. We've got some ideas that could work. But, they're expensive to implement and pretty risky. Those two facts, coupled with the recent loss of some key developers, make achieving the success we seek pretty much out of the question.

As things stand now, we're a three man team. Yeah, we lost two of our five man team recently. Not nearly enough manpower to get where we need to be. Rebuilding the team isn't really an option for various reasons. So, where does that leave us? Can you guess? Yes, that's right, we're going to be shutting Dungeon Runners down at the end of 2009. New Year's Eve to be exact.

Okay, now that the bad news is out of the way, let's get some more good news to make the sandwich complete. NCsoft has worked with us on a plan to compensate Dungeon Runners players. I think we've come up with a nice package for all players with paid memberships as of today (9/16/2009). You'll be getting a 30 day game time serial code and digital copies of City of Heroes Architect Edition and Guild Wars Prophecies. FREE games FTW! I know, it's not Dungeon Runners... but it's still frigging nice! Of course, any of you guys that need refunds for multiple-month membership purchases will be taken care of. And, as always, our helpful support staff will be available to help you with any issues you have.

Wait, there's even more good news! While we may be going out, we're going out in style, with a few changes to the game for the coming "End Time". Mythic loot will drop much more frequently. We're significantly reducing the cost of expensive King's Coin vendors. We're also quintupling the rate of XP gain to help you finish the game before year's end! Finally, we're adding a huge nuke to Townston that will blow up on New Year's and take the game down with it. There's more, but what fun is there in spilling all the beans? Oh, its gonna be a fun time till the end of the year! Loot finding, leveling madness. I may finally make it to level 100 myself now...

So, try not to be sad. It may be the end of Dungeon Runners, but it's not the end of the world! I'll still be working on the game until the very end. We can chat, reminisce and play DR until the lights go out.

See you in the game!

Stephen Nichols
DR's Producer & Lead Programmer

A less than glowing review of the retail box of DR by Gamespot's Kevin VanOrd.

Unfortunately, the entertainment value wears off far too quickly. The dungeons have the usual visual themes you'd expect (fire, ice, forest, and the like), and because there's no real lore or story, you just scour the levels looking for better loot. It's not uncommon for experienced players to invite neophytes to higher-level dungeons in an effort to help them quickly level. In these instances, you can reset the dungeon over and over, which lets you attack the same group of monsters ad nauseam. Of course, you don't need to exploit these possibilities if you don't want to, but even if you level in a more legitimate manner, the end result is the same: slog through endlessly boring caverns while quaffing health potions and clicking. This might entertain most folks for 10 hours or so, but even with a good group, you'll be ready to move on sooner rather than later. The price of the inexpensive retail box includes a six-month premium membership, but the title simply doesn't have enough staying power to keep you involved for half a year. Considering you can download and play a less robust version of Dungeon Runners for free, you're not getting much value with the retail product, even at its low cost.

NCsoft announces retail pack coming later this year with details of it's latest 'chunk'.

“It is important that the membership level players get great value from their financial commitment to Dungeon Runners, regardless of the fact that anyone can be a monthly Member for the cost of a latte,” said Stephen Nichols NCsoft’s producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. “Dungeon Runners continues to great game to play for free because of its robust content features you would find in most full-priced MMOGs, and with this Chunk, we have more great content coming out including quite a few highly requested PvP improvements and a set of fun and funny skills. This Chunk is also is paving the way to the cool features coming up this summer with the release of the Dungeon Runners retail pack which will include the enigmatic Bling Gnome.”

The Bling Gnome is a sidekick that will summon a gnomish gangster creature who can pick up all your gold for quick storage, and can even convert nearby loot into gold. However, the Bling Gnome will only be available for those that purchase the Dungeon Runners retail pack, which will be on store shelves later this year.

Dungeon Runners has been reviewed by MMORPG.com giving it an overall score of 7.9. The "Fun" factor received a 10 where as the "Roleplaying" factor received a less impressive score of 6:

In closing, you won't regret downloading Dungeon Runners. The download time isn't too bad, and let's face it the cost is right. It's worth mentioning again that this game is one of the most fun I've played. Simple, to the point, and with tons of humor laced throughout the game.

DRs' latest patch (build 110) looks fairly substantial and adds a new dungeon, skills, pvp changes, new items, permanent waypoints, UI improvements and bug fixes.

NC Soft has revealed details of what's in store for players of Dungeon Runners with the release of Chunk 2.  It seems that in-game advertising is the main component of the...uh...upgrade?

Tuesday 11th December/... BRIGHTON, 5th December, 2007 – NCsoft® Europe today announced the release of Chunk 2, the second content update for its successful free-to-download and play game, Dungeon Runners™.

This update includes in-game advertising in non-member worlds, more bank space for members, item trading, increased access to prime loot, and overall Player versus Environment (PvE) and Player versus Player (PvP) balance refinements.

Dungeon Runners is a free to download and play online multiplayer role playing game in a satirical, fast-paced sword-and-shield setting, where defeating monsters and evil enemy’s results in piles of loot, treasure, and non-stop fun.

The hallmark of Chunk 2 is in-game advertising which will help fund future development of the massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) and keep it free for players. The in-game advertising will be visible to non-members in loading screens and in a banner that sits on top of the game window during play. Dungeon Runners members, who can subscribe to the game for only $4.99 per month (equivalent to approximately £2.50), will not see any of the advertising.

Advertising in Dungeon Runners will open up new content and functionality for all players. Non-member players will gain access to new content previously unavailable to them, including dungeons and valuable items. Also, non-members will now have access to one page of bank slots, enabling them to store more items. Members will increase their bank storage space from one to three pages.

Also, by popular demand, a secure trade system has been added to Dungeon Runners. This new feature allows everyone to easily trade items (with the exception of gold) with other players through a simple interface.

“Chunk 2 unlocks an enormous amount of playable content for non-members that they didn’t have access to before thanks to the addition of in-game advertising,” said Stephen Nichols, NCsoft’s producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. “Our non-member players are very happy they can now use what was previously members-only loot, and our members are really excited about receiving additional bank slots to hold their items. These changes, plus our new secure trade system, make this update a win-win for everyone!”

Further enhancements include increased rare item drops and stackable potions for members and non-members alike, which lead to more success in this hack–and-slash game.

Dungeon Runners can be downloaded for free at http://www.dungeonrunners.com/join.html. Players can play for free or subscribe to the members version at any point for $4.99 a month. Members have access to such benefits as log-in queue priority, members-only servers, and the most powerful items, weapons and armor. Membership status also includes three bank pages for hundreds of loot items and the ability to stack potions in one inventory slot to save room for even more loot.

To find out more please visit the Dungeon Runners web site at: www.dungeonrunners.com.

Gameplay Monthly reviews Dungeon Runners and finds a lot to like about NCSoft's dungeon crawler.

* This game does a WONDERFUL job parodying WoW. Everything from the “!” and “?” symbols above quest givers to some of the spell names like ‘Shadow Word: Smackdown' and “Heal Thyself, not Others”. The game does a great job parodying the whole MMORPG genre itself, NPCs talking about certain dungeon runners being ‘overpowered' people collecting ‘D&D Figurines' and other great comedy awaits which is half the charm of this game in my opinion.

Gamernode talks to Mark Tucker, Lead Designer on Dungeon Runners, about NCSoft's free-to-play MMO.

So tell me, as a company, what made NCSoft go, "We should really make a game which people may never pay for"?

Well, it all started quite a while ago. This game has had several different names and different teams over its development lifespan. It has been shelved and resurrected multiple times as well. You might recall a game that NCsoft announced many years ago called Exarch. Well, that was a previous incarnation of Dungeon Runners that was never released. This game has been a pet project of our CEO Robert Garriott from day one.

He started looking at the free-to-play MMO market space and saw a great opportunity for NCsoft, and being fond of Dungeon Runners, he felt that it was the right game to launch as a Free-to play MMO.So, about a year and a half ago, he gave the go ahead to start building, yet another, development team to work on Dungeon Runners and finish it out. That's where we came into the picture.

EuroGamer's John Walker finds Dungeon Runners rather habit forming.

Something else came up while "playing it to review": I didn't seem to be getting around to reviewing it. I needed to just go into that sub-dungeon to collect the thermometers, and oh, going to level 7 of Algernon to kill that one boss, and I might as well head down to level 2 to hand in those two completed quests, and I'll just sell this loot, and, oh, there's a new quest available here which takes me back to Algor's Terror-Dome where I needed to go anyway... It's then 2am and I've not written anything after playing it for a week. But I do have the Intergalactic Wondrous Locker of the Insurgent Lobster.

WarCry revists NCSoft's Dungeon Runners while at E3 and shares a few impressions.

The gem of Dungeon Runners is its absurdity. DR knows what it is and an epic fantasy it is not. The weapons and items are at times patently ridiculous and it's great. One rare item a player can get their hands on is a sitar. Not that anyone will be making music, no, this is a two handed weapon.

GameZone reviews NCSoft's Dungeon Runners.

The game itself is a dungeon crawl that can be tackled either solo, or in groups. In that regard the game caters to everyone and allows for a customizable experience. The avatars are customizable as well. Not so much in the way they look – you have limited choices when creating the characters, and the main way to differentiate yourself from others is through armor and weapons – but in the way you build your character. You can multi-class, choosing from melee, ranged and magic skills. It does cost to train, but you will get coins from selling loot, gaining gold in combat drops and through accomplishing quests. You do start with a set class, and rudimentary skills, but what you do from that point on is up to you and your gold supply.

Ten Ton Hammer reviews NCSoft's mostly free-to-play MMORPG, Dungeon Runners.

And indeed, this is what makes Dungeon Runners a very good, fun game. You don’t have to put hours of thought into your decisions and strategizing about your character is almost pointless. However, most gamers may bore of the same sort of dungeon runs over and over and over again. Initially, a gamer may want a simple 10-15 minute spurt of gaming, but eventually he may have a couple hours to burn. He probably wouldn’t choose Dungeon Runners to be his game of choice at that time.

Frictionless Insight reviews NCSoft's free-to-play MMO, Dungeon Runners.

Dungeon Runners – the title says it all. What is there to do? Run through dungeons, gather loot and power yourself up to run through even more sinister dungeons. Dungeon Runners is a hack 'n slash romp that owes a deep debt to Diablo, sports colorful, stylized visuals reminiscent of World of Warcraft, and wraps it all up with an ironic, and often adolescent, wit.

NCSoft has made an official announcement regarding the release of Dungeon Runners, its free-to-play MMO.

Tuesday 29th May/...NCsoft® North America announced it has opened to the public its first free-to-download and play game, Dungeon Runners™, as the company continues to expand its online entertainment offerings. Dungeon Runners is an online, multiplayer role playing game in a fast-paced sword-and-shield setting where defeating monsters and evil enemies results in piles of loot and treasure.

Dungeon Runners, currently available strictly via free digital download, has a play-for-free tier where players can access large chunks of the game’s content, and a “membership level” for $4.99 per month where players are given, among other things, log-in queue priority and access to the most powerful items, weapons and armor. Membership status also includes bank storage for up to 220 loot items and the ability to stack potions in one slot to save room for even more loot.

In Dungeon Runners, there are a variety of character archetypes to choose from including fighter, mage and ranger in a classless RPG system where players are not locked into skills that are usually associated with their specific archetype.

Dungeon Runners focuses mainly on action and battles with limited death penalties and endless gold, weapons, armor and magic items available to claim after defeating hordes of monsters. The game also features a lighter side, with subtle and not-so-subtle humor sprinkled throughout the game including names of many items in the game. For example, one particularly dangerous sword is called “Shifty’s Crystal Sword of the Hypersonic Monkey” and a very helpful magic item called the “Pulsating Dragon Eye Amulet of the Thorny Donkey.”

“Dungeon Runners is a lot of fun and doesn’t take itself too seriously. But the game will take players into an action packed-adventure, where they blaze through a maze of dungeons, face fierce monsters and formidable opponents to become a hero,” said Stephen Nichols, NCsoft’s producer and lead programmer for Dungeon Runners. “Regardless if a player pays to be a member or plays for free, Dungeon Runners will deliver more than 200 hours of game play and a continually growing number of missions and quests. The game is also designed to appeal to gamers who have limited time to give to a game, but it will have the content to keep players adventuring for hours at a time.”

While NCsoft presents Dungeon Runners as a scaled down version of its other online games, Dungeon Runners is far superior to other “free with membership” type games due to the high standards NCsoft’s development team applies to all the products it creates, regardless of business model.
“Dungeon Runners is a bold leap into a new business model for NCsoft and it is taking us into a new direction in terms of the kind of games we can provide our customers,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “There are plenty of other ‘free’ games available for online RPG fans, but none that packs as many features as Dungeon Runners has or comes with the NCsoft stamp of quality. We expect that players will receive this game warmly because it is fast, fun and free. It is hard to beat that deal.”

Dungeon Runners is available to download and play for free at www.dungeonrunners.com/join.html.
Moreover, an exclusive Dungeon Runners promotion with bonus contents can be found on FilePlanet.com can be found at http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/mmoclub/dungeon_runners.aspx from now until July 4th 2007.

To find out more please visit the Dungeon Runners web site at: www.dungeonrunners.com.

As promised by NCSoft, Dungeon Runners is now freely available to all comers.  The official site has more.

MMORPG.com has updated its Dungeon Runners gallery with ten new screenshots. 

2404 talks to NCSoft about Dungeon Runners.

1. What is the background and setting for the game please?

The back story for Dungeon Runners is timeless.  You’re new in town and you’ve heard about dungeons where you can gain power and riches.  Sadly, there are monsters in the dungeons that stand between you and glory.  The result?  Kill the monsters and grab the loot!  Have you guessed that story isn’t a large part of Dungeon Runners?  In all honesty, there isn’t an overarching storyline or fiction for the world of Dungeon Runners.  However, many quests that you can undertake do present their own mini stories for you to enjoy.

It seems a bit early to be reviewing NCsoft's Dungeon Runners but this article at WomenGamers is clearly marked as such:

Overall Dungeon Runners looks good. So far and the best part is that it will be FREE! It is additive and there is little difference between this game and others that cost you the standard $50 to purchase. If you were a Diablo fan then you might be interested in this nostalgic MMO. I give it a score between "good" and" very good" and call it "pretty good" with a 7.5.

Half a dozen new screens from NCsoft's casual online game Dungeon Runners can be found at the official site.

MMORPG.com talks with Stephen Nicols, Producer and Lead Programmer on Dungeon Runners.

MMORPG.com: How is the Premium Service going to work? And how much will it cost?

Stephen Nichols: The basic game is free to download and play, and for $4.99/month you get access to members-only features. At present, those features are: access to weapons, armor and magical items above “blue” quality, more powerful stacking potions (take up less inventory space), login queue priority and access to an in-game bank to store loot.

Right now, you can pay for membership with a credit card and very soon, you’ll be able to use an NCsoft game time card. We’re also looking into other ways to pay.

Bluesnews is pointing out a new Dungeon Runners trailer on NCsoft's FTP site, available in Quicktime or .wmv formats.  Word from Blue's is the Quicktime version might be a bit dodgy so grab the Media Player version.

AtomicGamer has a preview of NCsoft's casual action/RPG, Dungeon Runners:

Unlike most clickfest Action RPGs, Dungeon Runners is an online-only game.  Even if you're just fighting alone, everything is done over NCSoft's servers.  You see, the reason for this is because this game has a revenue model that resembles some of the Asian MMORPGs from the last couple years.  You don't buy the game and you can download the client and play for free.  You'll notice early on, however, that you can only use the two bottom "tiers" of gear that you loot from monsters or buy from stores.  You'll also have a pretty limited inventory space if you decide to go with the free option.

So how does the subscription work?  "Members" pay $4.99 a month and can equip the better loot in the game.  That doesn't mean they get free stuff or that they can equip things they don't meet basic requirements for, but a majority of the really good stuff - the rare, legendary, and unique items - are all open for them to use.  Paying members also get a much-improved inventory with a lot more room, and they are able to stack their potions together in their inventories to take up less space.

Not only does NC Soft have a nice new website for Dungeon Runners, but an equally nice new referral program for the game to boot!

The Dungeon Runners Referral Program allows you to invite up to four friends at a time to play Dungeon Runners for free! Form a group with them and show them the torch-lit depths of the endless dungeons.

Each friend will actually receive three serial codes, so he or she can test out all the character classes.

You’ll be able to track each friend’s invite status by logging in to your PlayNC® Account Management page.

If your friend does not create a Dungeon Runners account after 2 weeks, you can invite someone else.

Once any of your four friends has become a player (or the invites have expired), you can invite additional people.

Bare in mind, though, that this whole concept of a free game does come with a few qualifiers. NCSoft is a company, and not a charitable organization after all. In order to make money off Dungeon Runners, NCSoft plans to charge a fee for various premium content in the game. This will largely come in the form of elite items that players can equip. What is unclear here is whether these items are consistently head and shoulders above monster drops in the game, or a mixture of super weapons, and cool looking items that only add aesthetic value to a player.