| WRUP: Best of WRUP edition Posted: 06 Jul 2013 08:00 AM PDT |
| The Daily Grind: What game has the brightest future? Posted: 06 Jul 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous It's easy to be cynical and pessimistic about MMOs. At Massively, we know that very well, since hardly a week goes by without some bit of bad news coming out of a major studio. But there's also a time and a place to be optimistic, to look over the horizon and say that a game is doing well -- that what's around the corner is a good omen, not just another harbinger of doom. Today's question is simple. What game, in your opinion, has the brightest future? Are you psyched about the options in EVE Online? Thrilled at the thought of Final Fantasy XIV's re-release? Even just excited to keep playing World of Warcraft? There's no reason to disparage anything else. Today, we just want to know what game you think has the brightest future and why. Let's be optimists for a little while.  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: What game has the brightest future? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Jul 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMObility: Tynon forces players to come to grips with automatic gameplay Posted: 05 Jul 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Browser, Casual, MMObility It's been over a year since I last looked at Tynon, a browser-based pseudo-MMO that has been magically transformed into a much larger and more MMOish MMO. What a difference a year makes! Many of the key gameplay elements remain, meaning that you can still play the entire game (at least I have been able to so far) by clicking one or two buttons, over and over. So much of the game is played for you that it made me wonder -- as it did the first time around -- what the point was. Then it made me wonder just how much the gameplay in Tynon is like many of the more "standard" MMOs I have played, meaning that so many of them are the same one or two button chunks of gameplay, only wrapped in a three-dimensional exterior that features hotbars. I'm not making excuses for auto-play features, but I'm not making excuses for the mindless clicking that many MMOs feature, either. As with most things, the details matter the most. In Tynon, there are almost too many details to count. Continue reading MMObility: Tynon forces players to come to grips with automatic gameplay MMObility: Tynon forces players to come to grips with automatic gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Betawatch: June 29 - July 5, 2013 Posted: 05 Jul 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Betawatch, Miscellaneous If you can't get enough of vintage war machines blowing one another to bits, you can start blasting planes apart in World of Warplanes right now because it's in open beta at long last. Finally, you can enjoy the thrill of carefully lining up your shot only to be shot out of the sky by someone you never saw before you can actually pull the trigger. Most of the beta world was fairly quiet this week, possibly owing to the holiday. The people who soldiered on seemed to do pretty well by it, with Dragon's Prophet getting a big beta content bump and The Elder Scrolls Online sending out another wave of testing invitations. You want more? Well, take a glance past the break and see if there's another game to strike your fancy down there. As always, let us know if something managed to sneak under our radar. Continue reading Betawatch: June 29 - July 5, 2013 Betawatch: June 29 - July 5, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Is Epic hiring devs for a Gears of War MMO? Posted: 05 Jul 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Rumors GamesRadar reports that Epic has posted a job listing related to "an unannounced competitive online action game." Senior Systems Designer is the official position title, and it apparently requires someone with "a passion for building and/or playing shooters, MMOs, RPGs, or RTS games." Epic is advertising for one of two projects. The first is a tower defense title called Fortnite, while the other is an unnamed game that "includes player progression, heavy itemization, and a dynamic economy." GamesRadar notes that its Gears of War speculation is just that, but we have to admit that it sounds both plausible and interesting. Is Epic hiring devs for a Gears of War MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Storyboard: Happening before it's even happened Posted: 05 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous I've been doing something I almost never do as I prepare for the relaunch of Final Fantasy XIV: I've been planning ahead. Let me rephrase. There's always some planning that goes on beforehand, usually between Ms. Lady and me. But that planning is generally a bit more abstract, a vague set of character goals. I'm not only going in with vague ideas of what will happen now; I'm going in with an answer to one of my main character's central problems as soon as the relaunch starts. It is the exact opposite of vague in every way, shape, and form. There's something to be said for knowing what path you're taking before you go in, but there are also some pretty major drawbacks. Today, I want to look at the idea of planning roleplaying events and interactions before the game has gone live, preparing for things that will happen before they actually can happen. It's a road fraught with perils, drawbacks, and disadvantages... and a few advantages despite all of that. Continue reading Storyboard: Happening before it's even happened Storyboard: Happening before it's even happened originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Shroud of the Avatar team adds Starr Long to the mix Posted: 05 Jul 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Shroud of the Avatar Fans of the Ultima series should be happy to hear that Shroud of the Avatar has added Starr Long to its roster as executive producer. Don't recognize the name? You should; according to Richard Garriott, Starr Long is the reason that Ultima Online existed in the first place. As Garriott puts it, while there had been discussions about doing an online installment of the series, Long was the one who was insistent that Ultima Online needed to happen. He was so much the driving force behind it that Garriott points to him as the push that kept him working on the game. A formal announcement will be made on Saturday at RTX 2013 alongside a special demonstration of Shroud of the Avatar, which will be available via livestream. If you've been hoping to see some of the key players behind UO back together, it looks as if you're in luck. [Source: Portalarium press release] Shroud of the Avatar team adds Starr Long to the mix originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Black Desert melding action combat with sandbox MMOs Posted: 05 Jul 2013 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Black Desert Pearl Abyss developer Daeil Kim recently spoke to MMORPG.com regarding the firm's upcoming Black Desert title. The fantasy sandbox is entering the home stretch toward its first closed beta test, after which Kim says the firm will publish in its native Korea and then look to sign on with a Western distributor. The interview touches on various gameplay aspects including PvP -- Black Desert is not an RvR game, according to Kim -- housing, and action combat. "Unlike other MMORPGs, we have attempted to facilitate greater variety in action combat sequences beyond simply pressing number keys," Kim explains, while also noting that he's a big fan of Street Fighter, Final Fight, and Samurai Showdown. "In action games, the timing of pressing a key and a mouse click, as well as a monster's reaction against the user's attack, is extremely important. We are trying to develop our game so that players must purposefully control their character and so that objects or monsters react in a more complex manner." [Thanks Dengar!] Black Desert melding action combat with sandbox MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Tamriel Infinium: The Elder Scrolls Online is more than just dungeons and dragons Posted: 05 Jul 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game Mechanics, Lore, New Titles, PvE, Opinion, Dungeons, The Elder Scrolls Online, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium Although many fans of The Elder Scrolls cheered at the introduction of The Elder Scrolls Online at E3, the divisions within the fanbase since then have morphed into warring creatures like Godzilla vs. Mothra, and this column is Japan. Although all of our buildings are being smashed by the battling brutes, it makes for great entertainment. I'm cheering both sides on. I love a good debate. Despite diligently scanning my spam folder every day this week, I am still without a beta invite. I think ZeniMax is playing hard to get. I promised I won't divulge any secrets; I just wanna make my Khajiit Nightblade. Is it asking too much to get a chance to explore the Tamriel dungeons? Obviously, it is. However, we did get a taste of ESO dungeons in a blog this week. And it looks as if we have an exciting combination of RIFT-style classes and Guild Wars 2 combat to look forward to. Hopefully, it's the best of both without the flaws. Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: The Elder Scrolls Online is more than just dungeons and dragons Tamriel Infinium: The Elder Scrolls Online is more than just dungeons and dragons originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Some Assembly Required: On MMOs and loss aversion Posted: 05 Jul 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox, Crafting I've been reading a book called Scorecasting lately. It's basically an academic exercise in statistics and human behavioral analysis as it relates to the decisions made in both individual and team sports. One of the chapters touches on a theory called loss aversion, which is a psychological phenomenon first attributed to Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. The theory is generally understood to mean that humans fear potential losses much more than they enjoy actual gains, and thus they often act in statistically irrational fashion to avoid said losses. We can also see principles of loss aversion at work in MMOs. In fact, I'd go so far as to posit that loss aversion is a large, if indirect, reason why many people play MMOs in the first place. It's also a major reason why sandboxes, virtual worlds, and games that feature some sort of tangible risk/reward mechanic have been in such dire straits since MMOs went mainstream. Follow me past the cut and see if you agree. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: On MMOs and loss aversion Some Assembly Required: On MMOs and loss aversion originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Repopulation's PvP explained Posted: 05 Jul 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, The Repopulation Curious about PvP in The Repopulation? Look no further than the latest dev blog by developer Joshua Halls. While the sci-fi sandbox features a significant amount of both PvE and non-combat gameplay systems, there's also "a lot in the way of PvP gameplay," according to the blog. The post delves into the game's nation system, it touches on sieging and contested regions, and there are some bits about PvP-specific roles. Halls also talks about The Repopulation's flexible combat system, which offers the ability to toggle between "simulated FPS-style combat" or a traditional RPG hotbar mode. Finally, The Repopulation will feature two distinct server rulesets. The specifics are still being finalized, but the "hardcore" version will remove safe areas and allow non-consensual PvP. The Repopulation's PvP explained originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Blizzard 'exploring' microtransactions in World of Warcraft Posted: 05 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business Models, Culture, Patches, News Items, Subscription Microtransactions are nothing new for World of Warcraft, but the game has never had an actual in-game store. You've had pets and mounts that toe the line, but the line still existed. Then a bit of datamining turned up an experience boosting item that looked as if it might be tied to an in-game store. But datamining isn't the same as actual confirmation, and thus much nervous hand-wringing ensued... until community representative Zarhym confirmed that yep, this is a thing that is happening. Zarhym's posts specifically state that Blizzard is "exploring the possibility" rather than definitely adding a microtransaction store, but it seems the most likely outcome. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but sooner rather than later. No word on what this means for the future of the game's business model or how much will change from the game's current system with an online storefront, but it's certainly surprising to see one of the last games without an in-game store taking steps toward adding one. Blizzard 'exploring' microtransactions in World of Warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Jul 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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