MMO Updates
MMO Updates |
- Ankama releases new Vulkania zone for DOFUS
- ASTA showing off its CryEngine3 visuals at Gamescom
- The Secret World's Tornquist talks truth, pain, and non-combat gaming
- CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online and DUST 514 in Japan
- RuneScape's Clan Citadels puts game design in the hands of players
- Ask Massively: Canada Day edition
- The Daily Grind: Do you have departed friends from old games?
- Final Fantasy XIV outlines changes to the enmity systems
- Funcom reveals new Secret World cinematic
- Watch SOE Fan Faire address live on Gamebreaker, or listen in-game
- Massively Speaking Episode 155
- Powersets are spreading the love in City of Heroes
- Free for All: EVE drama due to bolster waning TV soap schedule
- Age of Conan's hardcore PvP ruleset releasing tomorrow
- Wizard101 to hit 20 million user mark this week
- Battlestar Galactica Online sheds "beta" tag
- One Shots: Both cute and functional -- it's a win-win
- Star Legends launches beta on Verizon's V CAST
- Choose My Adventure: I da popular ork
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine misconceptions about Freedom
- Ragnar Tørnquist discusses The Secret World's history, factions, puzzles, and more
- Enter at Your Own Rift: Creature comforts
- Elsword bringing new class content, maps, and more
| Ankama releases new Vulkania zone for DOFUS Posted: 07 Jul 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Dofus, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  The isle features varying terrain including white sand beaches, tropical jungles, craters, and various caverns, not to mention strange wildlife. Among the new monster species are the sauroshell family and a pet/mount called a madreggon. According to an Ankama press release, "Vulkania is also home to Grozilla and Grasmera, two terrors who are back to shake the World of Twelve once more!" The release also provides a concise summary of what we can expect from Vulkania aside from its monsters, and amenities include 40 new quests, 13 new equipment items, and 3 new titles. Check out the official DOFUS website for more.
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| ASTA showing off its CryEngine3 visuals at Gamescom Posted: 07 Jul 2011 10:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items  Assuming you can make it to Cologne, Germany, for this year's Gamescom (August 17th through the 21st), you'll get another opportunity to see ASTA in action since NHN will be offering visitors "a first look at the captivating world [...] as well as the opportunity to chat with the developers and learn more about character development, guild evolution, competitive play, and many other features," according to a new press release. ASTA is being developed by Polygon Games (which includes a core group of designers who previously worked on Rohan: Blood Feud), and it takes place in a world inspired by Asian myth. Gameplay elements include realm vs. realm, PvE questing, raids, and crafting.
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| The Secret World's Tornquist talks truth, pain, and non-combat gaming Posted: 07 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World  Today's installment talks about everything from Tornquist's recurring real world/hidden world motifs, to the endings of Lost and Dreamfall, to unfulfilled fan expectations. As you might expect, the interview errs heavily on the side of the philosophical rather than delving into gameplay specifics. Everything from the nature of truth, to Funcom's Secret World agenda, to the reticence of the gaming industry to evolve beyond kill-everything-that-moves is up for discussion. On this last point, Tornquist hints at the challenges inherent in designing non-combat gaming experiences. "It's difficult. You can't sacrifice fun. But then of course the idea of fun is ambiguous. Does it always have to be fun? Can't it be painful too?"
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| CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online and DUST 514 in Japan Posted: 07 Jul 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Launches, MMO industry, News items, DUST 514  Unlike EVE's Chinese release, the Japanese client will connect to the main Tranquility game server. Nexon will add the game to its portal website and use its own billing system for Japanese subscribers. As we've seen with EVE's sizeable Russian playerbase, it's likely that entire alliances and communities will build up within the game once it hits the shelves in Japan. While the language barrier between players from different parts of the world can limit social interaction, it turns out that everyone understands the language of smashing internet spaceships to bits with lasers. The PC release of EVE Online in Japan will appear later this year, and will be followed by a localised release of DUST 514 in 2012.
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| RuneScape's Clan Citadels puts game design in the hands of players Posted: 07 Jul 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Expansions, Game mechanics, Guilds, News items, RuneScape, Free-to-play  The new floating castles act as meeting places for clans, and will contain exclusive skill-training areas for woodcutting, mining and other skills. Working on the clan's skill plots will add resources to upgrade the castle and pay for its upkeep, but may provide slightly less experience gain than traditional skill-training areas. Customisable clan battlefields provide a sandbox map editor tool, letting clans design and build their own battlegrounds and minigames. Players will be able to design their own arenas and gameplay for the first time in RuneScape's ten year history, creating anything from capture the flag style matches and monster hunts to basic clan versus clan PvP battles. Perhaps the most exciting part of the feature is the ability for clan members to invite other players to try their games and challenge rival clans to competitive battleground matches. The expansion launches on 26th July. Skip past the cut to watch the official clan citadel trailer and get a sneak peek at the castle's in-game visuals. Continue reading RuneScape's Clan Citadels puts game design in the hands of players
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| Ask Massively: Canada Day edition Posted: 07 Jul 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business models, Lore, Opinion, Races, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous  Seriously, let's hope BioWare gives us a Star Wars: The Old Republic holiday for Canada Day. I would be thrilled. As you've probably guessed, this week's edition of Ask Massively is just a wee bit subjective, and considering that our questions tackle the issues of humans in game stories and microtransactions in MMOs, we really saw no way around it. Got a question of your own for a future installment of the column? Mail it to ask@massively.com, or leave it in the comments below. Continue reading Ask Massively: Canada Day edition
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| The Daily Grind: Do you have departed friends from old games? Posted: 07 Jul 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Play a game for long enough, and you'll no doubt find old friends that move on even while some stick around. So what friends do you remember from the games of yore that you no longer play alongside? Were they former real-life friends that gradually became game friends until you lost touch, or are they just people you met while playing EverQuest II? What sort of memories do you have about the departed, and have you ever managed to reconnect with an in-game friend you thought was gone for good?  Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
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| Final Fantasy XIV outlines changes to the enmity systems Posted: 06 Jul 2011 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV  Monsters will be gaining a new indicator for enmity, allowing each player to effectively judge whether or not to hold back on attacking based on enmity. Similarly, the process of accumulating, holding, and dispelling enmity will be significantly streamlined. Final Fantasy XIV players fond of taking on the tanking role will want to take a look at the breakdown, which promises to make threat that much easier to hold on to.
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| Funcom reveals new Secret World cinematic Posted: 06 Jul 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Trailers, Video, Lore, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World  The two-minute trailer starts off innocently enough, as a forlorn-looking barfly fond of cigarettes and strange tricks with pocket change makes his way from a bar stool to the nearest bathroom. It only gets weirder from there, and before the clip's running time is up, we've seen a sackcloth man-creature having trouble with a urinal, lots of icky tentacles, and some sort of multi-eyed horror from the depths of hell. None of this phases our ice-cold protagonist of course, and he even takes the time to zip his fly while disposing of the baddie in fine supernatural style. See for yourself after the cut, or head to GameTrailers. Continue reading Funcom reveals new Secret World cinematic
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| Watch SOE Fan Faire address live on Gamebreaker, or listen in-game Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Livestream  Gamebreaker is teaming up with SOE to provide live pre-show coverage beginning July 7th at 7:00 p.m. PDT. SOE bossman John Smedley's community address will happen an hour later and if you can't check it out on Gamebreaker because you're playing EverQuest or EverQuest II, you can listen in by joining the Vivox-powered Station Voice service. For EQ users, it's as easy as enabling voice chat and clicking on the event button in the UI. For EQII, type: /vcjoinuri confctl-3583@e2p.vivox.com Fan Faire. If you're planning to watch the Gamebreaker livestream, you'll need to register and claim your virtual ticket. Head to the official SOE forums for full instructions.
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| Massively Speaking Episode 155 Posted: 06 Jul 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Massively meta, Humor, Massively Interviews, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous  After that, we're treated to a very special interview with Working As Intended's CEO, Martin "Wiz" Anward. In it, he discusses the state of their sandbox MMO, Dawntide, and where they hope to go from here. Oddly enough, it's been almost exactly a year since we've last interviewed Martin, so we decided to get him on the podcast this time. Special thanks goes out to Grimbark for most of the questions I asked of Martin. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to shawn@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.  Massively Speaking is the official podcast of Massively.com. Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Shawn Schuster and Community Manager Rubi Bayer, Massively Speaking takes on the week's biggest news and dev interviews with plenty of opinion, rants, and laughs thrown in for good measure. Join us every Wednesday afternoon to listen in and see what we'll say next!Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 155
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| Powersets are spreading the love in City of Heroes Posted: 06 Jul 2011 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Classes, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  Aside from Dominators, every archetype is getting at least one new power set, ranging from the melee options that were always odd omissions (such as War Mace for Scrappers and Broad Sword for Brutes and Tankers) to sets that had previously been confined to a single archetype (Ice Armor for Stalkers, Poison for Corruptors). City of Heroes players looking to play a new flavor of an old favorite should take a look at the full rundown of upcoming proliferations, as it promises a lot of new options even without the new stuff.
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| Free for All: EVE drama due to bolster waning TV soap schedule Posted: 06 Jul 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Humor, Free for All  In fact, the recent drama -- hell, any EVE drama -- comes off as rather humorous. The same thing happened when World of Warcraft began selling the infamous sparklepony or when Lord of the Rings Online decided to sell a special skeleton steed in its cash shop (I was lucky enough to get one during the holiday event). Players screamed that they would be canceling, that they would protest in some form or another, and that they would never buy a product from the developer, go anywhere near anyone who shared the same name as any of the developers, or even utter the name of their poor, lost avatars again. Yet, here we are. Every time something like this happens, it happens for a few distinct reasons. Click past the cut and I'll fill you in. Continue reading Free for All: EVE drama due to bolster waning TV soap schedule
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| Age of Conan's hardcore PvP ruleset releasing tomorrow Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Free-to-play  The American and European servers are scheduled to receive four hours of maintenance, after which time two new shards, Deathwish (US) and Rage (EU), will be brought online. These aren't just any servers, either. The Blood and Glory ruleset features free-for-all PvP throughout the game world, corpse-looting, and one character per account. Age of Conan's PvP community has been very vocal in its disdain for the game's turn towards the PvE side of the MMO street in recent years, and the new ruleset will finally give the die-hards an opportunity to put their money where their mouth is. For more on the ruleset, check out our exclusive interview with Funcom's Craig Morrison as well as our Blood & Glory opinion piece. [Thanks to Blasius for the tip!]
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| Wizard101 to hit 20 million user mark this week Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Wizard101, Family  It's a magical occasion for KingsIsle Entertainment, as it announces that its popular MMORPG Wizard101 will reach 20 million registered users this week. The press release is careful to note that the 20 million does not include the European editions of the game. Wizard101, for the uninitiated, is a family-focused MMORPG that puts players in the robes and hats of elemental wizards. Players then engage in tactical combat using decks of magic spells while working together to find loot, complete quests, and learn more magic. If you wanna see what all of the fuss is about, head on over to Wizard101's official site.
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| Battlestar Galactica Online sheds "beta" tag Posted: 06 Jul 2011 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Battlestar Galactica Online  Bigpoint announced today that its game Battlestar Galactica Online has dropped its "beta" tag and is now wearing the big-boy pants of a fully launched game. Since its open beta release less than five months ago, the game has garnered over three million registered users, so it's probably safe to say the game is indeed ready to move out of beta. What does this mean for the future of the game? Well, it's simple really: It means that the BSGO team is shifting its focus away from optimization and patches and will instead be zeroing in on adding new content and features to the game. For more information about Battlestar Galactica Online, or to sign up to give the game a go for yourself, head on over to the official site.
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| One Shots: Both cute and functional -- it's a win-win Posted: 06 Jul 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Aion, One Shots  The Desert Naeda is quite possibly my favorite pet of all time. All they did was take an already-adorable little fox and crank all its cuteness values up to 11, and it works beautifully.Now it's your turn! Large or small, deadly or purely decorative, we want to see your favorite pet companion. Just let us know your name, the name of the game, and a little about your pet and how you acquired it. Send it all to oneshots@massively.com and we'll feature you and your pet on One Shots this week.
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| Star Legends launches beta on Verizon's V CAST Posted: 06 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, News items, Free-to-play, Mobile, Casual  If you're a mobile gamer who also happens to be a Verizon user, it seems that you're in luck. Spacetime Studios -- maker of the immensely popular Pocket Legends -- announced today that its new mobile MMO, Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles has begun beta testing exclusively on Verizon's V CAST. Fear not, because we have a spiffy trailer to help players get their space-legs. The game takes place in the far-off 41st century, and puts players in the space-faring shoes of one of three classes: Commando, Engineer, or Operative. Players then "quest for adventure, fame and fortune," but it won't be simple, as "players must battle harsh, alien environments, monstrous, unthinking aliens, and the greed and ambition of their rivals." Star Legends is free-to-play with microtransactions. If it sounds like your idea of a good time -- and if you have an Android phone on the Verizon network -- you can give the game a go on Verizon's V CAST, or check out more information at the official site. And don't forget to check out the trailer past the cut! Continue reading Star Legends launches beta on Verizon's V CAST
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| Choose My Adventure: I da popular ork Posted: 06 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Classes, Game mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Choose My Adventure  I don't know. But I do know that special thanks go out to Tsavonglah for some excellent in-game advice and a veritable wall of information in the comments, Daswagga for a large pile of Strength talismans, and the many people who gave me a wave or cheer for bring a touch of Massively WAAAAGH to the game. So read on past the break for talk about my adventures in the twilight of Tier 1, the dawn of Tier 2, scenarios, open RvR, and the general stages of the Choppocalypse. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: I da popular ork
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine misconceptions about Freedom Posted: 06 Jul 2011 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Business models, Culture, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  It's been two weeks now, and while I won't claim to have my finger on the pulse of the community (who the heck is Leonardo Leonardo?), I do think I've gotten a general idea of the biggest complaints about the upcoming change. Some of them are entirely accurate -- yes, you will have free players on your server, and yes, that will include the already-burgeoning Virtue. But other complaints are a bit inaccurate or stem from misunderstandings, so today I want to talk about the nine points that seem most frequently misunderstood about Freedom. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine misconceptions about Freedom
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| Ragnar Tørnquist discusses The Secret World's history, factions, puzzles, and more Posted: 06 Jul 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Interviews, News items, The Secret World  Funcom's Ragnar Tørnquist, project lead of the upcoming The Secret World, sat down with John Walker over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun to chat about everything TSW. The interview is delightfully in-depth, and is actually only the first part of the entire interview, so TSW fans have something to look forward to as well. In part one, Mr. Walker talks with Tørnquist about the history of The Secret World and how it arrived at the point it's at today. They also spend a bit of time discussing the game's three factions -- particularly the enigmatic Dragons -- and their potential motivations and interactions. And lastly, of course, they talk about the game's ARG-esque puzzles, which blur the line between game and reality for a more immersive experience. For the whole first part of the interview (which is really a must-read for fans of TSW), head on over to Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
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| Enter at Your Own Rift: Creature comforts Posted: 06 Jul 2011 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift  (Comment bait? Oh yes, I'm evil that way!) While adding nothing to my combat power nor helping me advance in the game, pets still hold purpose. They are fun to display, particularly if you have rare critters that others haven't seen, and they can give you a feeling of virtual companionship during your journeys. Unlike many collection items, pets have a use -- you can actually do something with them instead of tucking them away where they'll sit collecting pixelated dust. I was pretty pleased to discover that RIFT wasn't going to leave us high and dry when it came to non-combat pets, although it's interesting that they're somewhat harder to come by than in, say, World of Warcraft. If you're like I am, you're scouring the game looking to expand your menagerie, so it might be frustrating to be well on your way to 50 with only a paltry pair of pets to your name. Where is everyone getting all of these? How can I snag a few more? Join me after the jump as we examine six ways to collect crazy critters! Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Creature comforts
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| Elsword bringing new class content, maps, and more Posted: 06 Jul 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play  Elsword, Aisha, and Rena will be able to access their new jobs on July 6th, 13th, and 20th respectively, according to a new Kill3rCombo press release. Elsword's new job choices will enable players to become either a Lord Knight or a Rune Slayer upon reaching level 35, with the former class boosting melee abilities significantly while the latter focuses on supernatural and magic attacks. Check out all the details, and download the game for free, at the official Elsword website.
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