MMO Updates |
- Dawntide development officially on hiatus
- RaiderZ alpha test coming March 14th, new trailer released
- The Firing Line: Blacklight: Retribution open beta impressions
- The Daily Grind: What MMO have you recently deleted from your hard drive?
- The MMO Report: Where the mobs raid you
- Star Wars: The Old Republic announces economic adjustments
- Ask Massively: Format changes for big questions
- War Witch conjures up a new producer's letter for City of Heroes
- Producer Dan Stahl answers the newest round of Star Trek Online community questions
- The Guild Counsel: New game, new guild, cold feet - now what?
- EVE Online nukes over a thousand botters from orbit
- Line of Defense gets gung-ho in its latest trailer
- DC Universe Online braces for the Battle for Earth
- Shin Megami Tensei transferred to Atlus in North America
- LotRO paddles down The Great River in a canoe fashioned from patch notes and dev diaries
- Pathfinder Online measures up player housing
- SWTOR's lead PvP designer answers community questions
- The Summoner's Guidebook: It's time to get serious!
- Super Hero Squad trading card game to feature bonus MMO content
- Trion launches RIFT's Carnival of the Ascended anniversary events
| Dawntide development officially on hiatus Posted: 02 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Dawntide, Sandbox  According to an update on Dawntide's official website, that hiatus is now going to last quite a bit longer because the dev team has run out of funding. "We're still working on finding new investors, but this will take time. In the meanwhile, we have officially stopped all development," the announcement says. "We hope to be able to resume it in the not too distant future, but as of right now we cannot say when that will be or whether it indeed happen at all." [Thanks to Mersault for the tip!]
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| RaiderZ alpha test coming March 14th, new trailer released Posted: 02 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play  If you missed the E3 announcement, RaiderZ features a "responsive real-time battle system" that necessitates evading and blocking as well as striking and destroying. The game also boasts more than 350 skills and a classless advancement system designed to let players make their own way across its extensive open world. You can register for the alpha at the official RaiderZ website, and don't forget to take a look at the new trailer after the cut. [Source: Perfect World press release] Continue reading RaiderZ alpha test coming March 14th, new trailer released
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| The Firing Line: Blacklight: Retribution open beta impressions Posted: 02 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play  Buh-what? Yeah, it is strange to think that the company responsible for Rusty Hearts, Ether Saga Odyssey, and about 20 million other free-to-play MMOs has finally jumped onto the FPS bandwagon. While PWE is publishing Blacklight: Retribution, though, design and development of the spiffy sci-fi action title comes courtesy of Zombie Studios. Continue reading The Firing Line: Blacklight: Retribution open beta impressions
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| The Daily Grind: What MMO have you recently deleted from your hard drive? Posted: 02 Mar 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Whatever the reason, most of us have made that choice to delete MMOs from our hard drive when we no longer play them. With so many choices out there today, the decision to sever ties gets easier and easier. So what's the most recent game you've deleted from your hard drive? Let us know in the comment below!  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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| The MMO Report: Where the mobs raid you Posted: 01 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Interviews, MMO industry, Humor, RIFT, The MMO Report, Miscellaneous  Eavesdrop on Casey's tour in the HD video after the break! Continue reading The MMO Report: Where the mobs raid you
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic announces economic adjustments Posted: 01 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Economy, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Economic upheaval is coming to the galaxy in Star Wars: The Old Republic's patch 1.1.5. A series of rumors and announcements from major organizations across the galaxy have been published on the official site in order to give players some insight into the upcoming changes. From all of the delicious lore tidbits, we find out that the speeder manufacturer Korrealis is retiring its Sovereign, Prince, Baron, and Commander speeders, while the Tirsa Industrial Consortium has quietly removed its Prime model speeders from the market. As a result of this decision, all of the aforementioned models are now steeply discounted, so grab them while they last. Meanwhile, the Republic Senate's Committee on Transportation and Public Safety has decided to lower the cost of speeder licenses. Speeder purchase taxes, however, are being raised in response to this move. The Imperial Transportation Authority recently passed a similar law. To top it off, the Republic has recently come into possession of some previously Empire-owned purple color crystals, and both Republic and Empire merchants have some into possession of some very rare -- and very expensive -- white color crystals. Market speculators, start your engines; there's money to be made!
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| Ask Massively: Format changes for big questions Posted: 01 Mar 2012 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Massively Meta, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous  "As a contributor to a gaming site that involves keeping up with many, many, many MMOs, do you find it harder to commit to a single game than before being forced to be exposed to so many?"Naturally, I could have answered the question simply for myself. But we're a diverse bunch here at Massively, with different tastes and opinions and experiences. Any answer I gave wouldn't reveal the whole picture, so I turned to the rest of the team and posed the same question. The resulting column was so big that I had to steal an entirely different feature's format just to make everything easy to read. (Hopefully the guy who does it won't mind.) As always, if you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment, mail it along to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited for brevity and/or clarity. Continue reading Ask Massively: Format changes for big questions
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| War Witch conjures up a new producer's letter for City of Heroes Posted: 01 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play  Masterminds can look forward to a new powerset, Beast Mastery, hitting the Paragon Market at some point in March. Everyone can also look forward to new temporary powers and minipets as well as the conclusion of the current featured story arc. There's also a teaser about something else exciting coming along for the summer, although the letter remains mum on what the next two major patches will bring for the game. Fans will no doubt want to read closely between the lines to see if they can tease out any other nuggets of information, but it's clear that the team at Paragon Studios has plenty of irons in the fire.
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| Producer Dan Stahl answers the newest round of Star Trek Online community questions Posted: 01 Mar 2012 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Community Q&A  One of the obvious questions relates to the game's planned release of only two Featured Episode series. Stahl explains that the real issue isn't how many series are released; it's the fact that the game needs a steady pipeline of content, something that the team is examining closely. He also discusses future goals for Fleets and the possibility of voiceover for dedicated bridge officers. As with previous installments, there's no shortage of questions, so fans are likely to find something to get excited about within the answers.
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| The Guild Counsel: New game, new guild, cold feet - now what? Posted: 01 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  The same is true for many new guilds. If you consider the size of the Star Wars: The Old Republic pre-launch guild database, for example, there were over 78,000 guilds signed up to deploy, but the total number of guilds still active today is undoubtedly only a fraction of that. In some cases, guilds that signed up probably never got off the ground, but in other cases, it's possible that the guild soured on the game. Now, it's one thing if you're just one individual who gets cold feet, but it's much more complicated when you're the guild leader and you've got a roster full of members tagging alongside you. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll consider what you should do you do when you've made a guild in a new game and then realize the game just isn't your cup of tea. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: New game, new guild, cold feet - now what?
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| EVE Online nukes over a thousand botters from orbit Posted: 01 Mar 2012 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  Look upon CCP's works, ye botters, and despair! EVE Online players recently noticed "by virtue of reading various shady forums" that the CCP team has suspended or banned a large number of botters. CCP Sreegs stopped by the official site today to respond to some of the community reactions to the mass bot-nuking. Many fans seem to believe that the bannings are a publicitity stunt to drum up interest in the upcoming Fanfest. CCP Sreegs responds that, of course, this isn't the case. He notes that during CCP's recent periods of turbulence, there was no team responsible for "handling the technology responsible for nuking botters," but now that there's a full team once more, "[CCP has] now thrown the switch again and turned on the catching bad guys machine." Other players are crying out that the current three-strike system is too soft-hearted. Sreegs respectfully disagrees, citing the fact that, of all players that go on to receive two strikes, only something like 3% go on to earn a third. But what's to stop these problem players from transferring their characters to a new account and carrying on as usual? Sreegs also announced that a new system is being put in place that will indefinitely revoke the character transfer privileges of any suspended players, no matter how many strikes they have against them. For the full story as well as a bit of insight as to how CCP deals with botters and cheaters, just click on through the link below.
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| Line of Defense gets gung-ho in its latest trailer Posted: 01 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Previews, Free-to-play, MMOFPS  I guess that means it's time for your assignment of the day, which is to eyeball Derek Smart's Line of Defense trailer and let us know your professional opinion. It's a high-octane trip through the game's flexible combat locations, from drop ships to jeeps to parachutes to good old-fashioned ground firefights. You can see how Line of Defense is shaping up after the jump! Continue reading Line of Defense gets gung-ho in its latest trailer
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| DC Universe Online braces for the Battle for Earth Posted: 01 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, DC Universe Online  DC Universe Online heroes and villains better prepare for the fight of their lives because Sony Online Entertainment has announced the third DLC pack, Battle for Earth. The DLC will grant players access to a whole new powerset known as Earth Powers. It is what it sounds like, folks. In addition to the new power set, the studio is also adding a brand-new raid: Themyscira. Comic book fans will recognize this as the home island of Wonder Woman and her fellow Amazons. It's up to players to fight alongside a variety of mythical creatures in order to defend Wonder Woman's home against Chimeric Brainiacs. To top it all off, Battle for Earth's storyline will put players toe-to-toe with Brainiac's Prime Avatars before they go up against the big bad Brainiac himself. Heroes will be fighting, obviously, for the defense of Earth, while villains will want to take Brainiac out of the picture because, hey, why let someone else destroy the world when you can do it yourself? The new DLC pack will hit the Marketplace on March 13th, though it will, of course, be free to Legendary members. So hone your skills and prepare for the final showdown; the fate of the Earth is in your hands. [Source: Sony Online Entertainment press release]
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| Shin Megami Tensei transferred to Atlus in North America Posted: 01 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous  Gamasutra reports that Atlus views the forthcoming April move as a "homecoming" for the game, which was originally released in 2007. Prior to the move, Atlus managed the Japanese servers while Aeria handled the North American operations. Gamasutra says that "all characters and player data will be carried over automatically, although there will be a short period of downtime while this occurs."
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| LotRO paddles down The Great River in a canoe fashioned from patch notes and dev diaries Posted: 01 Mar 2012 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  One of the highlights of the new region is that The Great River will be home to the very first Rohirrim settlement: Stangard. Because of this, Standgard will feature unique visuals and architecture not found elsewhere in the game. In addition to providing new vistas to explore, The Great River will help players gear up further through quest rewards, a new reputation faction, and an elite area. For those interested in getting an idea of how Turbine puts together a zone like this, there's a terrific addendum that walks through the process. Preliminary patch notes are also up for Update 6, which is now on the test server. There's a lot to digest here, although it's interesting to note that Virtues will be increased to 14 (from 12) due to player demand. It's good to know that plenty of bugs will be fixed come this patch, including this one: "The sky objects will no longer vanish when you travel to certain instances and then return. Told ya; The sky is not falling. It was just...missing."
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| Pathfinder Online measures up player housing Posted: 01 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Crafting  While there will be three NPC settlements, player structures will be a significant presence in Pathfinder Online, Dancey says. Not only will a player be given the ability to create a persistent structure, but that structure will be vulnerable to destruction as well if not protected. Dancey says that the idea right now is for the world to have special spots that signify a suitable building location; this is to keep the density from growing out of control and also to put buildings near desirable sites or resources. Once a structure is built by a group of players, it can be transferred to new ownership, built up, or attacked. Some of the structures that the team is kicking around include hideouts, inns, watchtowers, forts, and settlements. Dancey also mentioned that players may be able to improve roads and docks in order to facilitate faster travel. The one downside to the logistics of this feature is that players might not be able to go inside these structures; instead, they'll to access housing abilities via menus. This could be changed after launch, Dancey says, but the demand on system resources would make it a difficult task.
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| SWTOR's lead PvP designer answers community questions Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Fan site Toroz.com cornered lead PvP designer Gabe Amatangelo for an extensive interview, the bulk of the questions for which came direct from the Oceanic community. The audio is spotty in a couple of places, but the questions have also been transcribed below the embed. Among the queries are bits about DPS meters, general thoughts on the state of warzones, and ongoing issues with kill-trading. Head past the break for the full interview. Continue reading SWTOR's lead PvP designer answers community questions
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| The Summoner's Guidebook: It's time to get serious! Posted: 01 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook  However, on Summoner's Rift, those terms actually have real meaning. You have different goals in the early, mid, and late game, and if you try to continue laning when you're in the midgame, you're going to run into huge problems, as the entire enemy team is probably ganging up to come and kill you. This week, we're going to talk about the flow of the game on Summoner's Rift, and when you should be switching up your game to accomplish different things. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: It's time to get serious!
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| Super Hero Squad trading card game to feature bonus MMO content Posted: 01 Mar 2012 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Super-hero, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Casual, Kids, Family, Super Hero Squad Online, Miscellaneous  The Super Hero Squad TCG features a 300-card base set chock-full of the usual Marvel suspects. Alongside the Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Captain America cards are special loot inserts with reward codes that unlock bonus items and exclusive playable characters in SHSO. Look for booster packs at your favorite gaming retailer on April 24th. [Source: Marvel press release]
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| Trion launches RIFT's Carnival of the Ascended anniversary events Posted: 01 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, RIFT  RIFT is a high fantasy MMORPG that features two opposing factions, dynamic quest content, and a customizable class system. More info on the one-year anniversary event, including images of many of the reward items, can be found at the official RIFT website.
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