From Codemasters:

It is with much sadness that today we announce our intention to close the European and North American RF Online game servers operated by Codemasters.

Our licence for RF Online is due to expire shortly and unfortunately, despite several weeks of negotiations with CCR, the Korean developers of the title, we have not been able to reach an agreement to renew the contract.

This means that Codemasters will no longer have the right to operate the service in the Western territories it currently provides service in and therefore we are obliged to shut down all associated game services before the licence expires.

The last full day of service will be 9th November, 2008. All RF Online world servers will shut down on the morning of Monday 10th November, UK time.

The purchase of credits is now no longer available to ensure all players have the opportunity to spend their remaining Novus credits in game. Likewise, the creation of new RF Online game accounts/subscriptions is now disabled. For further information, please see our RF Online Closing Down FAQ in the forums.

RF Online was Codemasters Online's first MMO service and we have been very proud of its development and success during its three years of existence. It was also one of the first Eastern-style MMORPGs to ever make it to Western market and do well and it's with much fondness that we look back and remember these achievements.

We'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who declared their allegiance and gave us their support with RF Online over the past few years and especially, to thank all the players who spent countless hours with us in Novus.

The Codemasters Online Team
www.codemasters.com

RPG Vault catches up with Chris Dye, the Community Manager for RF Online.

Jonric: In terms of the gameplay, is there much content for users who prefer to solo? How about for those who enjoy questing, or crafting?

Chris Dye: RFO doesn't hide the fact that it is a hardcore PvP and RvRvR game; it makes a point at being aimed towards group and guild activity. Whilst you could easily enough play on your own, you really would be missing out on the very heart of the game - the core reason and biggest fun-giver for playing RFO - which is the regular race battles every eight hours. There are PvE elements and quests, but these are really just a means to get characters to a level where they can begin to participate in the PvP / GvG / RvRvR elements of the game.

Crafters exist in RF Online, and play a strong support role with abilities not only to craft weapons, armor and ammunition in the field, but also special ones, from resurrecting fallen allies to getting certain unique ammunition... depending on which race is picked.

WarCry catches up with Chris Dye and Kyle Rowley from the RF Online team.

WarCry: You have recently announced that you will be doubling the drop rate for loot. This is the second time in the last year. Can you tell us what made you decide to do this?

Chris 'Ulric' Dye: Recently we launched the biggest update ever seen in the RF Online (RFO) world: Episode 2 'Pioneers of Novus'. This huge update has brought players a ton of new content and game play changes. In addition to this, it also made some significant changes to the way loot drops were calculated - meaning players get more loot per kill than ever before. Whilst this wasn't changed for the Korean version, it was clear from our player feedback that this would be an important Westernisation change, enabling players to focus more on exploring the RFO world than raising funds.

David Solari talks to MSN about the decision to switch RF Online to a micropayment model.

David Solari, the vice president of Codemasters Online, the company behind LotR, not only believes that people are looking to other ways of paying, but has recently re-released two key games titles that can be played for nothing but which rely on micro-payments from the players for gear or trinkets to make its profit.

 

“We kind of wanted to go free to play from the start with RF online and Archlord but we decided to go down the box product route,” confesses Solari to Tech & Gadgets.

 

“It was a good decision, a sensible decision that we made I think, but we always felt that these games were good candidates for a micro-payment model.

 

“I firmly believe that certain games suit a subscription method of payment like Lord of the Rings Online or World of Warcraft, but there are others that suit this micro-transaction route.

It seems that the move to a free-to-play model may have benefitted RF Online with the announcement from Codemasters of a new server being launched.

Codemasters Online today announced that an all-new world server has been opened for the popular 100% free MMORPG RF Online. The new world “Lumen” opens as demand for the game hits an all time high with thousands of new players joining the service every day since the switch to free-to-play last week.

“The opening of a new game world marks a key milestone in the ongoing development of RF Online. Since the switch to free-to-play last week we have already experienced hundreds of thousands of downloads and an increase of active players of over 300% playing the game each day,” commented Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online. “The demand for RF Online has never been stronger and we are preparing yet more servers to come online in the coming days.” commented Ed Relf, Director of Marketing, Codemasters Online.

Codemasters has announced the launch of a new RF Online server.

Codemasters Online are excited to announce, that due to high demand, a brand new world has been opened for new players beginning to enter the 100% Free to Play Online game, RF Online. The new world – Lumen – will sit along side the existing RF Online server Novus where players can enjoy all the latest features and new content that the recently released Episode 2: The Pioneers of Novus has to offer.

After taking a bit of a beating in early reviews, this latest critique of RF Online at Gameplay Monthly is quite positive with a grade of 'B+':

It is those fast and easy commands that allow you to adjust to the game rather quickly, and get you into the game right away. You will find that any player class and any race out of the three are fairly self-sufficient. You won't find yourself running around asking players for anything and getting frustrated when they ignore you!

So the game boasts player-versus-player combat. There are three races to choose from; Accretia Empire, the giant alien race of mecha robots that boast powerful weaponry and attack ability without the use of magic. Cora Alliance, which are powerful in magical ability and lacking in the physical, but not to be underestimated! Bellato Union is the race of intelligent self-perpetuating crafters and creators, this race provides all kinds of resourceful combat and mechanized creations including (but not limited to) giant robot armor.

It's been a while since we've posted anything about RF Online, but Gameplay Monthly steps up with a review .

Online games are plentiful, so if you are going to choose one to spend all of your time playing, it should be one that you actually enjoy playing with a mountain of people. RF Online just may be that game. Grinding and looting are the games main focus, because you will be doing a lot of that! However once you get to around level 30 the game really opens up. It should not take you more than two weeks to achieve this task.

It's not too often RF Online makes any sort of presence these days but Community Manager Kyle Rowley has popped up at WarCry for an interview:

Kyle Rowley shares some insight into his role as the Community Manager for RF Online in a developer journal at MMORPG.com.

I’m sure that a CM’s responsibilities will range from company to company, with some preferring a more hands-on approach to forum moderation / participation and others leaning more towards the delegation of such tasks to others whilst they take more of a PR role. Whatever the case – one thing is consistent throughout – is that it’s the CM’s job to ensure that the community that he/she is managing is happy, or at the very least, content with the game and how it is being operated. Obviously this isn’t always the case; actually more often than not it’s the other way around and CMs are seen to be putting out flames left right and centre – but the community are seen as representatives of the players who play the game and as such, should be treated well and with respect. So bearing that in mind, the rest of this article is entirely based on my own experiences within Codemasters Online Gaming… take it with a pinch of salt :D.

RF Online  is about to be bombarded by monsters one three seperate days in a multi-part event extravaganza called "The Queen of Winter". Part one unfolds on December 20th, while parts two and three take place on December 22nd and December 24th, respectively. Get ready to defend Novus...and reap the rewards, of course.

Stratics and MMO Site have teamed up for an exclusive RF Online trial key offer.  For the gist of it read on, for full details head on over to Stratics.

Do you like high tech combat? How about magic? Well RF Online might be a good choice for you.They have three races and four classes that include both magic and high tech powers. Want to try RFOnline, but don't want to buy the game?

MMO Site and Stratics have teamed up to give you 1,000 free 7 day trial keys to RFOnline.

RF Online explodes onto a new plateau with the next free Giga expansion
Codemasters Online Gaming has today released the second major content
expansion for RF Online, the epic sci-fi and fantasy MMORPG. The second Giga update is now available, free of charge, across all servers and will take RF Online to Giga 4.2.

Giga Final Part 2 offers new and existing players a wealth of new content, features and exciting PvP action.

GameSpot UK: Tell us about the new crafting system?

Hook Sun: The biggest new feature within the crafting system upgrade is that players now have the ability to craft the rarer A/B grade items. Players aren't always guaranteed to successfully make their item; as a result of this, there is always an element of risk involved when players choose to craft. It's these kind of dilemmas that make RF Online so interesting and fun to play.

I recall reading about Codemasters' acquisition of Rising Force Online, and actually having some interest in the title. With the standard fanfare and marketing enthusiasm, the press releases touted the game as the pinnacle of the genre, with innovative gameplay and so on and so forth. Having read nearly the same press release from nearly every other announced MMO, I was aptly skeptical but I still kept an open mind. I added the game to the mental list of titles I follow, and did a little more digging. What I found at that time was enough for me to get a little excited about the game. Unfortunately for Codemasters, that excitement was in no way justified, and they have a bit of a lemon on their hands.