| Rise and Shiny: Eldevin Posted: 15 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Video, Game Mechanics, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Browser, Hands-On, Casual, Roleplaying, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Sandbox Sometimes, this column scares me. I eventually had to learn to play the games I write about week after week ahead of time, else I could end up with a really boring, crappy or broken game that I have to suffer through for a week. Occasionally I cannot vet a game and go old-school R&S by jumping into a game without looking. If I'm lucky, I stumble across a real gem. This week, I took a chance on Eldevin, a browser-based MMO by Hunted Cow Studios (maker of Fallen Sword and other titles), and I got lucky. Really lucky. It turns out that Eldevin is a great example of good indie development. Sure, the game isn't perfect, and many modern or younger players might be initially turned off by its older looks and isometric camera, but for those of us who enjoyed Ultima Online or RuneScape, Eldevin is a fantastic title. Heck, it should be a good game for anyone who gives it a chance. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Eldevin  Rise and Shiny: Eldevin originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: Breaking news Posted: 15 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Age of Conan, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Culture, One Shots, Humor, Champions Online, Miscellaneous This just in! We've received reports that caped crusaders are beating the ever-loving crap out of a villain literally 12 feet in front of us! Seriously, if we could just turn these news cameras a little to the right, you'd see the whole thing, but for now you'll just have to take our word for it. Sponsored by Doritos. Reader Sean submitted this particular gem: "I used to play quite a bit of Champions Online from closed beta through about four months after launch. Before the dark times. Before the patches. Here I am laying the smackdown on Foxbat during his 15 minutes of fame -- surely not what he had in mind." Ha ha! Surely not there, Sean! Now for a word from our sponsors, and by that we mean more excellent player-submitted screenshots. Continue reading One Shots: Breaking news One Shots: Breaking news originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Dec 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: What NPC factions are a total joke? Posted: 15 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous That picture right up there is a perfect summation of the Orochi Group in The Secret World. Pretty much whenever you encounter them, they will have crashed, been blown up, been cut in half, been fried, or otherwise have decorated the landscape with their corpses. It's kind of hard to take the Orochi as anything other than the game's ongoing butt monkeys. But they're not alone, are they? I'm quite fond of mocking the death-prone and general ineffectual nature of Lord of the Rings Online's Grey Company, and I'm sure that there are more. Today, let's poke a bit of fun at NPC factions that are a total joke. Which ones do you like to mock, if only in your head?  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 NPC factions are a total joke? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Dec 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 1 - 14, 2013 Posted: 14 Dec 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, New Titles, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, Crowdfunding, Make My MMO If it seems as if crowdfunding's gone into a turkey coma lately, you aren't just imagining things -- at least as far as funded games are concerned. News on that front has seemed scarce compared to the deluge of some other two-week spans, but the current campaigns are trying to make up for it. Life is Feudal canceled its Indiegogo campaign, but devs vowed to "survive according to Plan 'B'," so we'll keep an eye out to see whether it moves into personal funding as other games have done. (That route is working for Neo's Land, whose donations keep creeping higher.) Similarly, Novus AEterno scrapped its second Kickstarter campaign, but in a twist, it's already restarted another with a lower goal. Outer Worlds Online, however, just didn't make the funding cut. On the successful side, manners and dinner parties will be coming to an MMO near you; Ever, Jane got an invitation to join the funded club. A few other funded titles also saw some progress, and still others joined (or re-joined) the race for your support. And topping all that, we also bid farewell to Elite: Dangerous, who leaves Make My MMO for Betawatch now that its alpha has started. You can catch all the updates below. Continue reading Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 1 - 14, 2013 Make My MMO: Crowdfunding December 1 - 14, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Dec 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Norrathian Notebook: The EverQuest franchise through the ages Posted: 14 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Expansions, MMO Industry, Patches, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Mobile, Consoles, Events (Massively's Coverage), The Tattered Notebook, EverQuest Next, Norrathian Notebook Our notebook is tattered no longer! We've filled so many pages over the years that it is time to set the dog-eared, fraying sheets aside and take up a fresh new notebook with plenty of room for all the upcoming adventures. And on this fresh new slate, you will see a slightly different focus from that of its predecessor. As you may have noticed, over the past few months, The Tattered Notebook dipped into coverage of more than just EverQuest II. As of this moment, it is official: Our notebook now chronicles Norrath, in all its shapes and forms. These pages will fill with all things EverQuest, from the original game to the next incarnations. On top of the franchise focus that includes four major titles, the notebook is moving back to a weekly time slot every Saturday, so you'll get your Norrathian news more frequently. To kick things off, let's a look at the history of Norrath, from start to sequel to sandboxes, and everything in between. Continue reading Norrathian Notebook: The EverQuest franchise through the ages Norrathian Notebook: The EverQuest franchise through the ages originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Dec 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: Arkbreaking in Defiance's DLC Posted: 14 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Expansions, Game Mechanics, PvE, Opinion, Hands-On, MMOFPS, Post-Apocalyptic, Livestream, Defiance, The Stream Team, Buy-to-Play Defiance just released a brand-new DLC called Arkbreaker, and it allows players to actively bring Arks out of the sky! Want to see how it works? Check out Beau Hindman's next stream as he jumps into the shooter to see just how many times he can get shot. Join us live at 4:00 p.m. EST! Game: Defiance Host: Beau Hindman Date: Saturday, December 7th, 2013 Time: 4:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Arkbreaking in Defiance's DLC The Stream Team: Arkbreaking in Defiance's DLC originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: Preparing for patch 2.1 in Final Fantasy XIV Posted: 14 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, PvP, Endgame, News Items, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Subscription All right, everyone, the time is nearly upon us. Final Fantasy XIV is about to unleash its first big patch. Please remain calm and take everything slowly. If necessary, painkillers may be consumed to reduce swelling. Anti-anxiety medications are not recommended. A friend of mine noted on Twitter that the presentation for this patch reads more like an expansion than just a patch, and I have to agree. There is a lot being added to the game with this patch, more than you would expect. I haven't been playing around with it on the test server thanks to the lack of a test server, but we've still seen enough information to have some idea of what comes next. So let's talk about patch 2.1. When it finally goes live, where will you go? What will you do? How can you get the most out of Final Fantasy XIV's major drop? Continue reading The Mog Log: Preparing for patch 2.1 in Final Fantasy XIV The Mog Log: Preparing for patch 2.1 in Final Fantasy XIV originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Dec 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: Tackling Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons Posted: 14 Dec 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Vanguard, Free-to-Play, Massively Meta, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team With over 80 dungeons to choose form in Vanguard, sometimes Massively's MJ gets paralyzed with indecision: Which one this time? Well, she's solved that dilemma for good; she'll just start at the first one and do them all from there, in order! And so the very first Dungeon Tour begins. We kick off our tour on Thestra with the lowest of low dungeons in the racial starting areas. First up: Rindol Storehouse on Thestra with an extra trip to Oathbreaker Caves! Join us live at 1:00 p.m. EST for the a look into the dungeons available for players under level 10 on Thestra, and stay tuned for more as the series continues. Game: Vanguard Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Saturday, December 14th, 2013 Time: 1:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Tackling Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons The Stream Team: Tackling Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Google and Intel have been sharing similar strategies for a while now, though that might be getting ready to be taken to the next level. Reports from 
