| Aion helps player pop the question Posted: 20 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play Who says devs only want to beat us with a nerf bat? When a long-time Aion player decided he wanted to ask the most important question of his life using the game he and his beloved shared countless hours in over the years, devs jumped to his aid. To help make the experience memorable, Aion's devs provided a backdrop of cakes and musicians in Sanctum Square on the Israphel server where both resided. Then as the hopeful groom-to-be dropped to his knee in game, the heartfelt words he recited to her in real life also flashed across the game screen for all to see. When she gave her answer, the sky exploded in fireworks and everyone saw the message, "She said YES!!!" Congratulations to the happy couple, Jambo and Trisann! We're sure that's a proposal that will not be forgotten. And kudos to NCsoft for having the heart to be a part of one of the greatest moments in its players' lives. You can see more images of the event below.  Aion helps player pop the question originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Nexus Telegraph: Still moving in WildStar Posted: 20 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Opinion, WildStar, The Nexus Telegraph The downside to writing about WildStar in this stage of the game's lifecycle is that because of the very nature of beta tests, I'm going to be spending a lot of time speculating instead of talking about certainties. Last week, I speculated. I was wrong on some points, as I found out when I got a letter from Carbine clarifying some things that had previously been ambiguous enough for speculation. The upside to writing about WildStar in this stage of the game's lifecycle is that sometimes I get letters from development staff letting me in on valuable inside information. Aside from being able to clarify my previous incorrect speculation, I also have for you a number of other important bits of information regarding the game this week, including a brief discussion of whether or not the game will allow for flight on a regular basis. So since that's well worth discussing, let's go ahead and just make this column another dialogue about movement. Continue reading The Nexus Telegraph: Still moving in WildStar The Nexus Telegraph: Still moving in WildStar originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Obsidian and Allods team up to create Skyforge Posted: 20 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT |
| The Stream Team: Monocle Day edition, May 20 - 26, 2013 Posted: 20 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Polls, Massively Meta, Livestream, The Stream Team Two weeks ago, y'all had the chance to select a new holiday to help add some cheer to the otherwise bland weeks in the middle of May. The choices teased and tantalized you, but you're a discriminating crowd. In a race fraught with nail-biting suspense, only one ultimately prevailed. And so it is with further ado we bring to you: Monocle Day! This Tuesday, May 21st, has been selected to be the auspicious day of this most storied celebration. Why? Because 5/21 splits into 5 + 2 + 1, which of course = 8, and we all know that 8 is just two monocles stacked on top of each other! And as always, Massively TV is here to help you ring in the new holiday, with special shows throughout the entire week. Check out the full schedule of celebratory events hosted by The Stream Team after the break. Then let us know if you'll be wearing your own monocle in honor of the festivities. Continue reading The Stream Team: Monocle Day edition, May 20 - 26, 2013 The Stream Team: Monocle Day edition, May 20 - 26, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: When are rollbacks and wipes absolutely necessary? Posted: 20 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Business Models, Economy, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Diablo III, Neverwinter In the last few weeks, two big games we cover on Massively have been slammed with exploits that have injured their respective economies: Diablo III and Neverwinter. In Diablo III's case, a gold duping bug apparently pumped insane amounts of cash into the economy. Neverwinter's exploits run the gamut from Foundry abuses to negative auction hall bids that don't consume gold to classes that can one-shot bosses making farming trivial. According to these claims, NW exploiters are making off with thousands of real-life dollars when cashing out their ill-gotten funds. In both cases, players called for characters wipes and rollbacks, believing each exploit severe enough to merit a clean slate. But in Diablo III's case, while the studio dealt harshly with the exploiters, the developers disagreed with the need for wipes and do-overs, presumably having concluded that such drastic measures would impact the legit playerbase far more than would a dented economy. Neverwinter, on the other hand, chose to roll back the servers, causing widespread uproar. That brings us to today's question: Which studio was right? How bad does an exploit have to be before character wipes and server rollbacks are absolutely necessary?  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: When are rollbacks and wipes absolutely necessary? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Neverwinter returns with seven-hour rollback after exploit Posted: 20 May 2013 05:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO Industry, Neverwinter, Buy-to-Play Over the weekend, a massive exploit plagued Perfect World Entertainment's Neverwinter beta as players discovered a way to make billions off of the auction house and Astral Diamond Exchange. After initially closing the economy to explore the company's options, PWE decided to do a seven-hour rollback of the servers that affects the progress made between 8:20 a.m. EDT (5:20 a.m. PDT) and 3:20 p.m. EDT (12:20 p.m. PDT) yesterday for all players. "Rest assured, the issue has been corrected and we have taken appropriate action against all players who took advantage of the bug, including but not limited to enforcing permanent bans," the announcement reads. [Thanks to everyone who sent this one in!] Neverwinter returns with seven-hour rollback after exploit originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 May 2013 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMO Week in Review: Trion's tribulations and DUST's launch Posted: 19 May 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week, you've come to the right post. This week, Trion Worlds' announcement that RIFT will transition to a free-to-play MMO in less than a month was tempered by news that the studio was forced to lay off a large portion of its staff, though the RIFT team itself was unaffected. Meanwhile, CCP's console shooter DUST 514 officially launched; Massively's Jef Reahard delivered tepid impressions of the game. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories. Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Trion's tribulations and DUST's launch MMO Week in Review: Trion's tribulations and DUST's launch originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EVE Evolved: Fanfest 2013 video roundup Posted: 19 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Galleries, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Events (Real-World), Expansions, Game Mechanics, Lore, MMO Industry, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, Events (Massively's Coverage), EVE Evolved, DUST 514, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Anniversaries Last month saw the huge tenth anniversary EVE Online Fanfest, a three-day convention packed full of exclusive reveals, behind-the-scenes talks, and community events. This year's Fanfest was the biggest one yet, celebrating EVE's tenth anniversary with special guest speakers from the scientific community, the reveal of a new virtual reality dogfighter, DUST 514's launch, and details of the upcoming Odyssey expansion. Massively was there to bring you coverage of the big news as it happened, and CCP streamed some of the key talks and events live to viewers at home. This year's Fanfest sold out so quickly that many people who wanted to go didn't get a chance to, and only a select few talks were shown on the public livestream. With such a packed event schedule, even players in attendance couldn't be there for every interesting talk. Thankfully, CCP recorded over 30 of the most anticipated events and has now uploaded the videos to YouTube. Highlights include the Make EVE Real videos, the EVE keynote, the CCP Presents Keynote, and the talks on how DUST 514 integrates with the EVE economy. In this week's EVE Evolved, I round up all of the EVE Fanfest videos in a handy list. Continue reading EVE Evolved: Fanfest 2013 video roundup EVE Evolved: Fanfest 2013 video roundup originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Stick and Rudder: Why all the love for Roberts and Star Citizen? Posted: 19 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Culture, Game Mechanics, Lore, MMO Industry, New Titles, Opinion, Roleplaying, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Stick and Rudder, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play I was talking with a gaming buddy recently who missed the whole space sim experience in the 1990s. He's a Star Wars fan and a real-life pilot pushing 40, so it surprised me to learn that he'd never heard of Wing Commander, Freespace, X-Wing, and the like. My jaw really hit the floor as our conversation turned to current games and I began to evangelize about Star Citizen and Chris Roberts. "Who's Chris Roberts?" he asked, with a straight face. Continue reading Stick and Rudder: Why all the love for Roberts and Star Citizen? Stick and Rudder: Why all the love for Roberts and Star Citizen? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Exploits plague Neverwinter economy, PWE responds [Updated] Posted: 19 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Economy, News Items, Free-to-Play, Neverwinter Multiple Massively sources and forum users are reporting that a serious auction hall exploit involving negative bids has turned the fledgling economy of Neverwinter on its head. Perfect World/ Cryptic appear to be locking down forum threads on the topic and have posted the following in response to the exploits: We currently are in the process of taking action against a subset of accounts that were confirmed to have utilized exploits that affected the game balance or economy. These accounts may be banned, temporarily or permanently, depending on the severity of exploit utilization. Anyone who is affected by this will receive notification via email. [...] Thank you for your patience and support while we continue to do everything in our power to ensure that Neverwinter remains a fair and balanced game experience. The post also encourages anyone banned unfairly to contact customer support for resolution. A followup post by a Cryptic moderator from last night tells players that "there are no plans for another wipe at this time." And a message on the Neverwinter's German-language Facebook page suggests that the Neverwinter Gateway has been taken offline while the issue is investigated. We'll keep you posted as the story develops. [Thanks to Dan, J, Ehra, David, Dixa, Mike, xpac, Jan, and Zaph for the tips!] [Update: Cryptic has posted a new response to the latest exploit: "The Astral Diamond Exchange and the Auction House have been temporarily taken offline to resolve a high priority bug. At this time we are still investigating the details regarding the issue and will post more information as the situation progresses. As the issue involves in-game currency, we understand that there may be questions regarding the follow up actions needed to ensure that the economy remains fair and balanced. At this time we are still in the process of collecting the data, but plan to share details regarding follow up actions once the investigation concludes. Thank you for your patience and understanding while we continually smooth out issues during open beta."] Exploits plague Neverwinter economy, PWE responds [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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It's 'Game-on' between Sony and Microsoft.
More pixels than you can shake a MacBook Pro at.
Singing the BIOS blues.
Antivirus founder's wild ride isn't over.
Google-owned site is still growing.
