First of all, the day after closure has been hell in terms of that empty heavy hearted feeling as those of us who really played the game at max level end game, deal with the loss. But part of the healing process in terms of dealing with the grief is moving forward (baby steps if needed). This entry is one of those baby steps.
Just because the game is now shuttered in KR/NA/EU, doesn’t mean I am going to stop writing about it (because there does need to be a post-mortem made by someone). Yes, there was a time in early 2017 after some in-game drama that I planned to and did stop writing about the game. That was then, this is now. Now, I need to consolidate all of these blog postings about the game, and put them into a proper format for my Devilian-Info site given that Trion is on a fast track with erasing all traces of its existence (they pulled their main site immediately after closure and the forums will close in 2 weeks).
They don’t want people to remember their part in mismanaging the title (which helped to push the player population out the door leading to this downwards spiral with player retention rates). That’s a lot of information that will only be available via caching or those (like myself) who are capturing that information. Part of my mission is to make sure that this game and its history isn’t forgotten.
Getting back to the subject of this post however, I get asked this question often; like if I knew of a private server or emulator for Devilian, and I will just cut to the chase. No, there are none because there has been no one with the technical know how that took interest in creating one. There was a time I considered capturing the packets between server and client just to have that data but creating a workable emulator is more than that. Now that the game is offline, that task has become much more difficult because any such emulation will need to be done completely from scratch.
Then there is issue with the client binary not running with Windows 10 past build 1709. Even if there were some partial solution (like just being able to create and load characters and walking around the game world), the client will need to be run in a pre-1709 environment.
And no, Bluehole will not make a local server binary version available (and obviously not providing a workaround for the client crash which probably requires a massive overhaul of the game client). Devilian is a game encumbered with lucrative intellectual property from TERA. And as such, they aren’t going to provide an official solution to being able to run the game offline in this manner. This isn’t unique to them though. If it were a popular option, Steam would have a larger number of game devs with online only servers, providing a local server for those who purchase it.
On a related note, I get asked often if there is any hope left in this franchise. I can’t really answer that one because I do not work for Bluehole. Giko has his Korean sources yes but there are certain things that aren’t going to be publicly divulged.
Let me put it this way though. This is a game that lasted only an year in Korea (changing business climate with mobile prioritization + an internal decision to reverse pursuing republishing in Korea due to Bluehole’s own financial issues at that time). The mobile version did not fare any better lasting around an year as well. Trion’s version lasted just a little over 2 years which makes the Thai server (running in maintenance mode since June 2016) the longest “running” one with a caveat; it has been offline due to technical issues more often than it has been up for the last 5 months. The game has a very small player base (the last time I was able to login, I would say 20 at most) and GoodGames take is to run the game as long as they have a license (and to date, Bluehole has made no moves to terminate that agreement even though there aren’t material revenues coming out of it).
With this kind of performance, it isn’t surprising why it has fallen to the bottom of the priority list for Bluehole. The NA/EU version that Trion Worlds ended up publishing, could have lasted longer with better earlier management (publisher being less concerned with cash grabbing the game and actually prioritizing getting major issues fixed and having a publishable roadmap of future content updates). All we got was lip service from the former program manager who was no longer employed with Trion by November 2017 (after responding to my open letter about the future of the game).
IMHO, it would be crazy for any publisher to pick this game up in its current state given there are no developer resources allocated to the game. It is also somewhat “damaged goods” now with it being shutdown in Korea, North America, and Europe. Sure, Bluehole could create a team for a price but lets be honest. This chopped up version (content wise) has a large number of things that needs to be addressed else it will just meet the same fate again. And all it takes is a publisher worse than Trion (like InselGames with Guardians of Ember), to really ruin it.
The biggest issue is the crashing issue with the game client with Windows 10 builds newer than 1703. It’s a low priority thing for Microsoft and as far as Bluehole is concerned, the fix on their end would require a huge rewrite of the game client (which makes no sense at all given the catch-22 that exists with the player retention rates).
As far as the existing content, the changes that need to be made basically amounts to revamping the core game design. For example, updating the difficulty of dungeons was always wrought with issues (like the wrong loot table for chests and how that difficulty interacted with parties including pre-made or looking for group). The entire current system is broken in that regards. This small aspect also dovetails into the dearth of content. Designing and producing fresh content (not the recycling that happened post level 56) does not come cheap but is a necessary.
There’s a point where IMHO, it is better off with a completely new engine since Gamebryo 2.6 (which is what Devilian uses) is really outdated tech wise compared to current day engines (and it is even further behind considering that Gamebryo 4.0 is the latest release as of 2012). And so we’re back at having to redo most everything from scratch again (amounting to creating a new game).
I don’t have to be employed by Bluehole to understand the cost benefit analysis aspect of this. This is why I just see this franchise going into limbo because it cannot in good faith conscious, be republished in its current state. It doesn’t mean it won’t happen. There are publishers out there whose business model is picking up the licensing of dead titles at a low cost and republishing them (sometimes under a different name). I think Bluehole Ginno learned a hard but valuable lesson when it comes to partners like Trion though and likely will not allow it to be licensed by a low budget publisher. The following goes off on a bit of a tangent.
This is what InselGames did when they picked up the publishing rights for Embergarde and launched it as Guardians of Ember as a B2P. It also happened with ELOA (Elite Lord of Alliance); an anime inspired 2.5D isometric game with ARPG style combat which was developed by Korean game studio NPICSOFT. Webzen initially published it but shut it down fairly quickly (this was hastened by Webzen having this thing for opening far too many servers at the start just like what they did with MU Legend in Korea, and then the global OBT) due to low player population. Gamengame then picked it up (after NPICSOFT peddled it to them) but that version was also closed down.
Notice the trend here with 2.5D style MMO-ARPG’s? None of them have had large traction or staying power. Even MU Legend in both the Korean version and current global OBT, has gone through dramatic population drops requiring server merges. Webzen is FINALLY merging the servers for their global version (4 down to 1 in both NA and EU regions). That is quickly how the population in these games fall off.
Hope springs eternal (endless optimism) comes to mind in wanting to see this franchise (Devilian) rebirth at some point. It’s a natural reaction to losing it in the first place. But I’m a realist. As time passes, people move on with their lives and interests (especially if they find something else that is more than a suitable replacement). For me personally, nothing else can truly replace this game because part of its personality came from the adaptation of race traits from TERA to create these characters in Devilian.
Lost Ark is an ARPG styled MMO so it shares that similarity. But it differs in the character area which to me, is also a factor along with aesthetics and satisfying combat that plays a role in whether or not I will really end up enjoying a game. And I had mixed feelings about that during my short time playing the CBT’s. If anything, Project TL (formerly Lineage Eternal) could be a suitable alternative (especially if it sticks to the darker environments). Again, it is an alternative and not a replacement.
And lets be realistic here; Lost Ark is based on Unreal Engine 3 and so it will be released as somewhat old tech by the time it hits actual release in Korea. It’s still a niche genre and will suffer the same retention problems as other 2.5D’s. Project TL may have a bit more of a fighting chance depending on how solid the content and game play is. Redoing it from scratch with Unreal Engine 4 is where NCSoft can really separate this title from anything else previously released in this genre. But it needs engaging content and immersive camera views of the game world in order to appeal to the players that prefer a third person view with moveable camera. But I also don’t trust NCSoft because they have a quick trigger finger for killing off games as fast as they release them.
Regardless, it will take massive interest and success in either one of these games to possibly stir Bluehole to do something with the Devilian franchise (rebuilding it from the ground up). So again, I expect the franchise to remain in limbo for awhile since Bluehole isn’t in the process of trying to find another publisher for the NA/EU version since they are doing fine for now with PUBG.
Digressing back to the subject matter, maybe there will be someone in the future who starts work on a Devilian emulator/private server. For now though, the only way to enjoy the game is from memories, from screenshots, and from videos (until GoodGames can resurrect their game server from the technical issues).
