| Rise and Shiny: Tynon Posted: 24 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Business models, Game mechanics, New titles, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Humor, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Miscellaneous Ah, social gaming. Some call it Facebook gaming or even casual gaming. Honestly, I don't like any of those terms, at least not most of the time, simply because there is so much variety and so many different player types when it comes to these games that no one term can cover them all. This week I am covering a casual -- er, social -- game. I was told that there are MMOesque mechanics in the game, and there are, but Tynon is not an MMO. Forgive me; call it my contribution to Not So Massively. Instead of debating the good and bad of the social, Facebook, or casual market, I would rather take the neat parts of Tynon and explain how MMOs might benefit from them. It's important to note that my playtime was a press-only beta of sorts, so the cash was flowing and I grew rather fast, without really noting much about how I grew. Either way, let's get to it. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Tynon  Rise and Shiny: Tynon originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Previously on MV TV: The week of June 16th Posted: 24 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Aion, EverQuest II, PvP, Opinion, Vanguard, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Free Realms, Kids, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Family, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Dungeons, Previously on MV TV Ah, livestreaming: the pastime of kings. And queens, obviously! You'll feel royally blessed this week by watching the livestreams you might have missed. If you want to keep up on the streams so that you don't have to listen to my silly jokes each week, be sure to bookmark our livestream schedule page and check back every week. You can also go to our livestream page, click on "more videos" at the bottom, and knock yourself out. You might be surprised at the streams you find! This week, we have the ever-charming Psykopig PvPing in Star Wars: The Old Republic; MJ pulling off some streams in EverQuest II, Vanguard and Aion; and my taking some time to help fight back the Gloam invasion in Free Realms! Cool stuff! Click past the cut, grab a batch of Chex mix and a root beer, and enjoy! Continue reading Previously on MV TV: The week of June 16th Previously on MV TV: The week of June 16th originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Should players be rewarded for playing alts? Posted: 24 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Miscellaneous Star Wars: The Old Republic is rolling out a big improvement to its Legacy system on Tuesday... at least, a big improvement if you play a lot of alts. If you generally stick to one character, most of the new perks won't actually help your gameplay in the slightest. Which is a bit disappointing if you're not really a fan of playing alts. Altaholics and their close kin will argue that most MMOs actively discourage alts, some with great vigor ( Final Fantasy XI makes an alt almost wholly undesirable at every turn). Having some extra perks for those who like leveling alts is a welcome change. But at the same time, for players who dislike having dozens of characters, it's awful restrictive when you can only get some rewards by doing things you dislike. So what do you think? Should players be rewarded with some extra perks if they play a lot of alts? Or should playing an alt be its own reward, without any attendant in-game benefits?  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!The Daily Grind: Should players be rewarded for playing alts? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jun 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Repopulation devs: Crafting system is similar to UO and SWG Posted: 23 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Economy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, PvE, Sandbox, Crafting Most modern-day MMORPG crafting mechanics are, shall we say, uninspired. With the marginalization of the sandbox and the rise of the combat lobby, crafting and meaningful economic gameplay has taken a back seat in all but a handful of titles.
The Repopulation is one such title, and the dev team has released a new video that shows off the sci-fi sandbox's crafting mechanics. Fortunately for starving tradeskill fans everywhere, the game hearkens back to the days of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies. In those titles, "players were able to exist completely as a crafter, harvesting their own materials and then using them to create things," according to the game's website. "We have designed our system in a mold similar to those games. If players do not wish to partake in combat, they can still be a successful crafter," the devs explain. The new Repopulation tradeskills video gives us a good look at recipes and recipe customization via ingredient filters. There's also a brief bit about creature resource extraction, so check out the full nine-minute clip after the break. [Thanks to J.C. for the tip!] Continue reading Repopulation devs: Crafting system is similar to UO and SWG Repopulation devs: Crafting system is similar to UO and SWG originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: Starting fresh in Final Fantasy XIV, pre-2.0 Posted: 23 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log So you're interested in Final Fantasy XIV version 2.0. You're not alone; really, a lot of people are. But you don't want to be the guy struggling to catch up when the change happens. No, you're buying your copy now and heading into the game, figuring that anything good you accomplish now will be well worth the effort after the end of the world. And truth be told, you're probably right, since you'll be free to bask in all of the newfound glory of the updated game with plenty of money and resources to start. Of course, none of that helps with the fact that you're jumping in to a game that doesn't make the road easy for a new player. It's not like other MMOs. It's a game that seems to have followed a wholly divergent evolutionary path, one that I've previously compared to a species of carnivorous dinosaur lumbering alongside modern tigers. So what would I suggest to someone starting Final Fantasy XIV right now? A lot of things. Let's cover some basic advice for new players who'd like to see the game as it is while they wait for the game that it will be. Continue reading The Mog Log: Starting fresh in Final Fantasy XIV, pre-2.0 The Mog Log: Starting fresh in Final Fantasy XIV, pre-2.0 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Tattered Notebook: EQII pays attention to PvPers and fighters Posted: 23 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Patches, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Tattered Notebook This past week, we learned that not only are we a long way from hearing details about EverQuest Next, but the handful of screenshots we got at the 2010 Fan Faire don't really represent what the game looks like anymore. I'm as excited as can be about EQ Next, and I'm rooting for big things for the game, but you can't fault me for having the urge to reach for the Tums as I recall what happened to another SOE game that lingered in development this long ( The Agency) and try to avoid comparing it to another recent title that generated buzz for this long without any tangible evidence of the project ( Copernicus). I still have faith! And as I post up these screenshots one last time for posterity, my concerns over EQ Next were tempered by more details about the upcoming update in EverQuest II, including big PvP news, adjustments to the fighter classes, and some interesting changes to gear. Let's look at a few highlights from the recent SOE Webcast with SOE Executive Director of Development Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson, EQII Lead Designer Akil "Lyndro" Hooper, and Associate Designers Brian "Omougi" Ferguson and Mike "Xelgad" Ganz to see what impact the changes might have on the game. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: EQII pays attention to PvPers and fighters The Tattered Notebook: EQII pays attention to PvPers and fighters originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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During my many years of covering technology I've seen all sorts of horror stories when it comes to the fallout of malware, but this one left me scratching my head. Malware authors usually set out with the goal of stealing private information, enslaving your machine, or perhaps forcing you to click popups, but printing hundreds of pages of junk? 
Software patents, to put it mildly, are a bit of a mess. Its difficult for us to say that innovation which happens in bits, rather than hardware shouldn't be protected, but naturally a line must be drawn if progress is to be made. On Friday US federal Judge Richard Posner 
Mozilla isn't a company that I typically associate with grandstanding, so when their official Twitter account announced 
