General Gaming Article

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• Game Developer’s Average Salary Down From 2012, According to Gamasutra Survey
• Intel Launches Business Class Solid State Drive Pro 2500 Series
• Newegg Daily Deals: Samsung 840 Evo 1TB SSD, Intel Core i5 4690K, and More!
• Bragging Rights: PC Gaming Market Maintains Sales Lead Over Consoles
• Asus's RT-AC87 is Industry’s First Wave 2 802.11ac Consumer Router
• ARM Strengthens Bottom Line Through Licensing Expansion
• Sony's Walkman ZX1 Growing in Popularity Despite $700 Price Tag
• Nvidia Shield Tablet Revealed

Game Developer’s Average Salary Down From 2012, According to Gamasutra Survey Posted: 22 Jul 2014 02:16 PM PDT Results cover indie and salaried game developers If you have been wondering whether or not becoming a game developer is a career path worth pursuing, you might want to take a look at what the average pay is like. Gamasutra has posted the results of its annual Game Developer Salary Survey, with some interesting statistics based on the response from 4,000 developers worldwide. The survey was conducted in May 2014 and covers game developers over various disciplines that include audio and design for 2013.  According to Gamasutra's findings, the average yearly pay for a salaried game developer, across all disciplines in the U.S., was around $83,060 in 2013, which is down 2 percent from 2012. Meanwhile, Canadians were up 9 percent, with an average of $71,445 USD, whereas European developers remained flat at $46,232 USD. Breaking it down to the various jobs in the U.S. saw people in business and management earn an average salary of $101,572, audio professionals earned $95,682, programmers $93,251, producers $82,286, artists and animators $74,349, and quality assurance testers were paid an average of $54,833. The survey also covered the indie side of things, on a worldwide basis, which revealed that non-salaried, solo indie game developers earned an average of $11,812, which is down 49 percent from 2012. On the other hand, individual members that were part of an indie team averaged $50,833, which is up 161 percent.  If you are interested in reading all the results from the survey, then you can view it over at Gamasutra (PDF).  Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Intel Launches Business Class Solid State Drive Pro 2500 Series Posted: 22 Jul 2014 12:01 PM PDT Affordable storage packed with advanced security features Intel announced a new addition to its solid state drive (SSD) family, though it's not intended for home consumers. Instead, Intel's new SSD Pro 2500 Series is intended to bring security features and lower cost of ownership to businesses in need of the kind of "blazing fast" performance SSDs afford. They'll get that with SSD Pro 2500 family, which comes in capacities ranging from 120GB to 480GB. Performance teeters on the upper end of the spectrum with sequential read and write speeds rated at up to 540MB/s and 490MB/s, respectively. Random 4KB read performance checks in at up to 48,000 IOPS, while writes ramp up to 80,000 IOPS, Intel says. In addition to respectable performance metrics, Intel says the SSD Pro 2500 Series offers five low power modes for long battery life. The lower power states can reduce idel power consumption by more than 90 percent compared to a typical mobile hard disk drive. The drives also feature hardware-based 256-bit AES encryption and come in both M.2 and 2.5-inch form factors, all backed by 5-year warranties. No word yet on price. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Samsung 840 Evo 1TB SSD, Intel Core i5 4690K, and More! Posted: 22 Jul 2014 11:43 AM PDT Top Deal: Back in the day, just the thought of a 1TB solid state drive would send wallets into hiding. Luckily for the enthusiast community, NAND flash memory pricing fell off a cliff, and nowadays there's no reason to pay anywhere near $1 per gigabyte, let alone way over that amount like it used to be. Now that prices have settled considerably, you might find yourself in the market for a large capacity SSD. If so, check out today's top deal for a Samsung 840 Evo 2.5-inch 1TB MLC Internal Solid State Drive for $400 with free shipping (normally $470 - use coupon conde: [EMCPCHH232]). It's not just capacious, it's also fast -- up to 540MB/s sequential read and up to 520MB/s sequential write performance! Other Deals: Intel Core i5-4690K Haswell Quad-Core 3.5GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor for $240 with free shipping (normally $240; USD $20 Promotional Gift Card w/ Purchase, limited offer) Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell Quad-Core 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor for $295 with free shipping (normally $310 - use coupon code: [EMCPCHH23]) EVGA SuperClocked w/ ACX Cooling GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card for $320 with free shipping (normally $340 - use coupon code: [EMCPCHH29]; Free Watch Dogs w/ purchase, limited offer) WD Green 2TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch Internal Hard Drive for $75 with free shipping (normally $85 - use coupon code: [EMCPCHH229])

Bragging Rights: PC Gaming Market Maintains Sales Lead Over Consoles Posted: 22 Jul 2014 10:40 AM PDT PC gaming hardware is a $21.5 billion market At the end of the day, we realize it doesn't matter if you get your gaming fix on a PC, console, tablet, or whatever -- we'll fist bump any gamer, regardless of platform. That said, we're of course partial to PC gaming ourselves, and as it turns out, our platform of choice is still the dominant one. According to Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the PC gaming hardware market is more than twice as large as the console gaming hardware market. JPR defines PC gaming hardware as personal computers, upgrades, and peripherals used for gaming. With that mind, the PC gaming hardware market stands at $21.5 billion, which is big enough to lap the console gaming hardware market, and then some. "We continue to see a shift in casual console customers moving to mobile. While this is also occurring in the lower end PC gaming world, more money is being directed to mid and high range PC builds and upgrades by gamers," says Ted Pollak, Senior Gaming Analyst at JPR. "Committed PC gamers are generally not interested in pure content consumption platforms. They are power users and pay thousands for the ability to play games at very high settings and then do business, video/photo editing, content creation and other tasks with maximum horsepower at their disposal in a desktop ergonomic environment." Moving beyond dollars and cents, the PC platform has an obvious power advantage. If you assemble a machine with an enthusiast grade CPU, high end GPU, SSD, and fast memory, it will "absolutely trounce the computing power and gaming capabilities of the newest console generation," Jon Peddie says. And he's right. While the newest consoles are still pushing pixels at 1080p, high end (and ultra expensive) PC platforms are pushing the envelope at 4K. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Asus's RT-AC87 is Industry’s First Wave 2 802.11ac Consumer Router Posted: 22 Jul 2014 10:15 AM PDT Hello faster speeds and MU-MIMO After teasing the industry with a preview earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Asus today officially launched its RT-AC87 dual-band wireless router. It's the first Wave 2 802.11ac router for consumers and it's powered by Quantenna's QSR1000 4x4 Multi-User Multiple Input Multiple Output (MU-MIMO) chipset, which gives your home network a bit of future-proofing. What's special about MU-MIMO is that it allows for multiple streams to be beamed to multiple clients simultaneously, up to eight in theory though Quantenna's QSR1000 chipset supports 4 spatial streams. This is a boon for crowded networks, which pretty much applies to everyone these days -- think about a typical family of four, each with a PC, tablet, and smartphone, plus whatever other devices you have connected wirelessly. The rub is that you need compatible adapters to take advantage of the technology, but you have to start somewhere. Asus equipped the RT-AC87 with four external antennas and Universal Beamforming support for added range and signal reliability. The AC2400 designation translates into up to 1.73Gbps on the 5GHz band in 802.11ac mode and up to 600Mbps via 802.11n. The RT-AC87 will be available "shortly" for $270 MSRP. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

ARM Strengthens Bottom Line Through Licensing Expansion Posted: 22 Jul 2014 09:44 AM PDT More than 1,100 companies license ARM technology While AMD and Intel were watching from the sidelines as the market transitioned to mobile, ARM was busy "earning and burning, snapping necks and cashing checks," to borrow a line from Step Brothers. It's a bit more competitive today, though ARM was able to gain a foothold in the mobile market and continues to ride the momentum. As such, ARM said it added 41 licensed customers to its portfolio, bringing the total number of licenses signed to more than 1,100. ARM reported total revenue of $309.6 million in the second quarter of 2014, up 17 percent from the $264.3 million it collected in the same quarter a year ago, and up 9 percent year-on-year. That resulted in a profit of $86.7 million for the quarter, and $126.7 million for the first half of the year. "Our continued strong licensing performance reflects the intent of existing and new customers to base more of their future products on ARM technology. The 41 processor licenses signed in Q2 were driven by demand for ARM technology in smart mobile devices, consumer electronics, and embedded computing chips for the Internet of Things, and include further licenses for ARMv8-A and Mali processor technology," ARM CEO Simon Segars said in a statement. "This bodes well for growth in ARM's medium and long term royalty revenues." As more manufacturers jumped into mobile, ARM saw its licensing revenue jump 42 percent compared to last year. The company also shipped 2.7 billion ARM-based shipped in Q2, up 11 percent versus the same quarter a year ago. Shipment growth has been especially strong in enterprise networking and microcontroller markets, ARM said. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Sony's Walkman ZX1 Growing in Popularity Despite $700 Price Tag Posted: 22 Jul 2014 08:42 AM PDT This isn't the Walkman you grew up with Sony can be considered a pioneer in the portable music player business, and if you lived through the cassette tape era, then there's a good chance you owned a Walkman. Believe it or not, Sony continued to manufacture cassette-based Walkmans in several different markets all the way up through near the end of 2010. While nowhere near as popular as they were in the 1980s an 1990s, Sony's Walkman brand is seeing a bit of a resurgence courtesy of its NWZ-ZX1, a high-resolution audio player for consumers with deep pockets. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Sony's ZX1 is a premium gadget that, despite its heavy $700 price tag, is selling relatively well in Japan, which is not something that can be said about Sony's previous high-end electronics. It quickly sold out after making a debut in Japan and has since launched in Europe and other parts of Asia. No launch date has yet been set for the U.S. "The message for our designers and engineers was: please create a good product without worrying about the cost," said Kenji Nakada, Sony's sound product planner. Sony's ZX1 is a comparatively heavy device at 139 grams. It has 128GB of internal storage and plays 24-bit, 193kHz FLAC audio files. It also boasts a 4-inch touchscreen display with an 854x480 resolution, 5-band equalizer, dynamic normalizer, and more. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Nvidia Shield Tablet Revealed Posted: 22 Jul 2014 06:01 AM PDT 8-inch tablet, Wi-Fi Direct controller, and Tegra K1 After many rumors of a new Shield device, Nvidia has revealed its new Shield Tablet. Powered by Android, the 8-inch gaming tablet succeeds Nvidia's original Shield handheld gaming device, which is now dubbed the Shield Portable.  Introducing the Nvidia Shield Tablet At the heart of the tablet is the company's new top-tier mobile SoC, the Nvidia Tegra K1. The quad-core ARM chip features 192 CUDA cores with a 2.3GHz max clock speed. K1 supports a variety of APIs and features which include OpenGL ES 3.1, AEP, OpenlGL 4.4, DX12, Tessellation, CUDA 6.0. Nvidia claims that the K1 can do all of this while consuming less than two watts of power.  Play the video above to see an Nvidia rep give us a demo of the Shield Tablet. For the display, the Shield Tablet uses a 1900x1200-resolution IPS panel. In terms of content, Nvidia has created a new Shield hub which allows you to access your game library, purchase more games, or to launch other media apps. You'll also be able to stream PC games through the hub. The Shield tablet will support both Nvidia GameStream (local PC streaming) and Nvidia Grid (remote PC streaming). In addition, Nvidia has partnered up with Twitch to allow you to stream your Shield gameplay sessions to the social gaming site.  Lots of users said they wanted a bigger screen on the Shield so Nvidia decided to detach the screen from the controller. Of course, all of this wouldn't sound the least bit appealing if you didn't have a controller to game with (because playing real games with tablet controllers is just…eww.). Luckily, the Shield Tablet is not only compatible with Bluetooth controllers, but Nvidia is also making a new Wi-Fi Direct controller for the device. The company claims that the Wi-Fi Direct has 2x lower latency than Bluetooth and offers more bandwidth. What will this extra bandwidth allow you to do? For starters, you'll be able to plug in a headphone into the controller. Secondly, you will be able to connect up to four Shield controllers to the tablet. This is ideal for when you plug the Shield Tablet into your HDTV via HDMI while in "Console Mode."  While you could use the device as a console of sorts, it is first and foremost a tablet. If you're out and about watching movies, Nvidia says you should be able to expect 10 hours of battery life. Five to six hours is what the company claims you should be able to get out of the device when gaming.  What's interesting about the device is that unlike the first Shield which used fans for active cooling, the Shield Tablet is passively cooled. To get away with this, Nvidia installed a thermal shield (pun not intended) to dissipate more heat. This adds about a millimeter of thickness to the device, but fortunately the Shield Tablet isn't unbearably thick to begin with.  The new Shield controller features a touchpad at the bottom and is much lighter and more comfortable to hold compared to the original Shield. Other features of the device include two 5MP cameras (one on the front and one on the back), an included stylus, an SD card slot, and support for 4K output at 30FPS.  In terms of pricing, the Shield Tablet will come in two flavors. The 16GB version will retail for $299, whereas the 32GB LTE version will retail for $399. Unfortunately the controller will be sold separately and will retail for $59. In addition, there will also be a $39 Shield Tablet cover which can also act as a stand.  The Shield Tablet launches July 29th in the US and Canada, will release in Europe mid-August, and other regions in the fall.  Expect a full review of the tablet soon after we get one in. Are you intrigued about the Shield Tablet? Let us know in the comments below!

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MMO Updates

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• APB shames cheaters, talks usage and purchasing stats
• Defiance gets new TV show crossover content
• Skyforge defrosts the Cryomancer class
• Previewing WildStar's Daggerstone Pass PvP battleground
• Flameseeker Chronicles: Introducing Guild Wars 2's Dragon's Reach
• The Daily Grind: Do you play MOBAs?
• Valve scrapped an MMORPG at the dawn of the genre
• Not So Massively: Destiny's big beta, Dota 2's big tourney
• UemeU shows off concept video and screenshots
• Take a road trip through The Crew's beta features
• The Stream Team: A first look at Swordsman's beta
• The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Hunts are broken
• DC Universe Online highlights the creation of Batman
• LotRO's Summer Festival runs July 22 - August 5
• Tree of Savior introduces new classes in Q&A #9

APB shames cheaters, talks usage and purchasing stats Posted: 22 Jul 2014 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Real-Life, Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Dev Diaries APB Reloaded's latest dev blog post details the implementation of cheat detector FairFight into the MMO shooter. The update also reveals some pretty interesting stats related to cheaters as well as the game's overall performance. "The number of cheaters who log in to the game stayed pretty constant around 1.2 percent of all players (some of which were re-rolls)," wrote GamersFirst's Bjorn Book-Larsson. Surprisingly, 60 percent of those cheaters were paying players. Book-Larsson says that only about 10 percent of APB's monthly unique players make new purchases in a given month, while 30 percent of players have made a purchase at some point during their account history. Book-Larsson goes on to say that APB is the 19th most-played game in the history of Steam, just ahead of Borderlands 2 and just behind Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Finally, GamersFirst has publicized a list of banned cheaters for the month of July, complete with player and clan names and various other account statistics. APB shames cheaters, talks usage and purchasing stats originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: FairFight announcement

Defiance gets new TV show crossover content Posted: 22 Jul 2014 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, Defiance Defiance players who have access to the game's Arkbreaker DLC pack can now "deploy ark spikes with a chance to pull new modules out of orbit," according to a news post on the game's website. Said modules feature "new Grid enemies and a Gulanee warrior in massive battles at the center of the arkfall." The new content is part of Trion's weekly tie-in to the Defiance television show, the second season of which is currently airing on SyFy. [Thanks Gaius Cavadus!] Defiance gets new TV show crossover content originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Skyforge defrosts the Cryomancer class Posted: 22 Jul 2014 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, Classes, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, Miscellaneous, Skyforge Obsidian and Mail.ru have just revealed Skyforge's Cryomancer, the latest addition to the playable roster of this class-switching MMO. As you might have guessed from the name, the Cryomancer is an ice mage, a "lord of ice and snow," who slows, immobilizes, and shatters enemies. Enjoy the full reveal, including screenshots, a class trailer, a partial spell list, and even a bit of lore. Continue reading Skyforge defrosts the Cryomancer class Skyforge defrosts the Cryomancer class originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Previewing WildStar's Daggerstone Pass PvP battleground Posted: 22 Jul 2014 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Patches, PvP, News Items, WildStar, Subscription, Buy-to-Play Before I talk about the upcoming PvP map for WildStar, I feel I should really defend myself for my usual performance in PvP. Here's the simple version: I am all right at PvP. I know enough about what I'm supposed to do to avoid completely shaming myself. I am not the best. But can I turn a ragtag group of other journalists into a fighting force capable of defeating preformed groups of people wearing PvP gear? Definitely not. Along with several other journalists, I took to the field with Carbine Studios staff members yesterday, boosted my fresh Exile character up to 50, and took on all comers in the rated version of the new Daggerstone Pass. We lost several times. On the bright side, we lost in such a way that I was able to get a better sense of the map and can talk about it with some confidence, so that's good. In my weak defense, I don't think we had a chance against a fully premade team in PvP gear anyway. Continue reading Previewing WildStar's Daggerstone Pass PvP battleground Previewing WildStar's Daggerstone Pass PvP battleground originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Flameseeker Chronicles: Introducing Guild Wars 2's Dragon's Reach Posted: 22 Jul 2014 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Lore, Patches, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles, Buy-to-Play Today's edition of the Flameseeker Chronicles is a little bit special. We've got the teaser trailer for Guild Wars 2's next living world release, The Dragon's Reach: Part One. We've got some sweet screenshots provided by ArenaNet to feast your peepers on: aw, yeah. And if that's not enough, I got the chance to chat with Associate Game Director Steven Waller about next week's episode. Check out the video, and then read on! Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Introducing Guild Wars 2's Dragon's Reach Flameseeker Chronicles: Introducing Guild Wars 2's Dragon's Reach originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Do you play MOBAs? Posted: 22 Jul 2014 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, PvP, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, MOBA We joke a lot on Massively about how there's a new MOBA released every day, but let's be fair: It's more like every other day. The first MOBA I ever played was Demigod, and that was back before the term had really become popular, before League of Legends had launched, and long before the deluge of MOBA clones had hit us. I had fun, but I pretty much knew the genre wasn't for me. I like a bit more persistence to my PvP, and I really prefer larger-scale battles and worlds. This is why I play MMOs. But the MOBA genre is young and evolving. Some MOBAs even seem to be trying to attract MMORPG players with cosmetic gear and first-person perspectives and even something that still looks a bit like personal housing. So here's the question for today: Do you, as an MMORPG gamer, play MOBAs? What would it take to get you to play them? 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: Do you play MOBAs? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jul 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Valve scrapped an MMORPG at the dawn of the genre Posted: 21 Jul 2014 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Video, Culture, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous Did you know that Valve was once hard at work on a third-person MMORPG called Prospero? Alas, the studio scrapped the project around 1997 in favor of a little tiny game called Half-Life, which "absorbed" the developers working on the MMO. Website Valve Time has dipped into the mysterious history of the game, said to be a "moody, literary" science-fantasy epic influenced by Myst with its focus on story and exploration. Though Prospero was canceled, some of its groundbreaking social and map features were eventually realized in Steam and Portal. The video also includes some wonderfully dated screenshots and quotes from developers who worked on the title. Continue reading Valve scrapped an MMORPG at the dawn of the genre Valve scrapped an MMORPG at the dawn of the genre originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Valve Time Via: The Verge

Not So Massively: Destiny's big beta, Dota 2's big tourney Posted: 21 Jul 2014 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Trailers, Video, Launches, New Titles, Patches, Previews, PvP, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, World of Tanks, Not So Massively, MOBA, Crowdfunding, Destiny, Shroud of the Avatar, Hearthstone, The Division Welcome back to No So Massively, where every Monday we round up the highlights from the past week in the world of MOBAs, roguelikes, MMOTCGs, and other games that aren't quite MMOs. Destiny's beta arrived on PlayStation consoles over the weekend; the game is offline for maintenance right now but will return on the 23rd. We also took a peek inside the special edition, learned why the game will have no cross-platform play, and bid farewell to one of the month's lamest memes. Meanwhile, Dota 2 continued to make history with The International tournament and its $10 million prize pool. Chinese "dream team" Newbee was crowned champion just a few hours ago. Hearthstone's Naxxramas expansion begins its rollout tomorrow; new cards were unveiled today. The Crew's PC closed beta earlier today. Vroom! Heroes of the Storm described its Garden of Terror map. Shroud of the Avatar prepped a major PvP update. Here comes another new MOBA: Gigantic is on the way. Nerd Kingdom spoke to us about the TUG/Yogventures debacle. World of Tanks delivered a big update for Xbox 360 players. Deadbreed, a new MOBA, is now in early access on Steam. Elite: Dangerous still plans to launch this year. The Division posted its E3 gameplay video. Warframe launched its Mad Cephalon update (thanks, Sorenthaz). World of Speed released a video of a race through Moscow. Zombies Monsters Robots is now in open beta (thanks, MetaDune). Continue reading Not So Massively: Destiny's big beta, Dota 2's big tourney Not So Massively: Destiny's big beta, Dota 2's big tourney originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

UemeU shows off concept video and screenshots Posted: 21 Jul 2014 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, New Titles, Previews, News Items, Miscellaneous, Sandbox If you want to roll your own game these days, you're certainly not lacking in tools to do so. UemeU is another game aimed at giving players the ability to do whatever they want, whether they'd like to build a huge, sprawling online game or just a nice house to settle down and call your own. The official reveal trailer past the break explains the goals of developer Omnigon Entertainment in detail: The game is meant as a sandbox allowing players to create their own servers, structures, rules, and settings as they desire. Lead developer Jeremy Hindle explains that the game will allow players to both create and play, with creation governed by a simple set of basic shapes that can be combined as players wish. Players will be able to create and modify abilities, change the rules for servers, and create a robust series of interactions via the use of action triggers. Check out the full video just past the cut if this sounds right up your alley. [Souce: Omnigon Entertainment press release] Continue reading UemeU shows off concept video and screenshots UemeU shows off concept video and screenshots originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Take a road trip through The Crew's beta features Posted: 21 Jul 2014 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Video, Free-to-Play, Miscellaneous The Crew's closed beta test began today and will continue through Friday, July 25th. Since there are plenty of features to this online racing title for testers to explore, the developers have put together a six-minute video to point players in the right direction. The beta features tour begins with story missions and continues through skill challenges, PvP missions, customization, free roaming, co-op connections, and a few more. You can get the full beta features overview after the jump. Continue reading Take a road trip through The Crew's beta features Take a road trip through The Crew's beta features originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

The Stream Team: A first look at Swordsman's beta Posted: 21 Jul 2014 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Video, First Impressions, Livestream, The Stream Team, Swordsman Are you in the mood for a MMO with an oriental flair? Massively's MJ is peeking into the open beta of Swordsman, a game based on the books of Louis Cha. What does this martial arts title have to offer players? Now is the time to come and see! Join us live at 5:00 p.m. for a look at MJ's first steps into this new world. Game: Swordsman Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Monday, July 21st, 2014 Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: A first look at Swordsman's beta The Stream Team: A first look at Swordsman's beta originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Hunts are broken Posted: 21 Jul 2014 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Patches, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Subscription It's been nearly two weeks since Final Fantasy XIV's patch went live, and I'm at once surprised and not surprised that we haven't seen anything really addressing the problem with Hunts. I'm not surprised because Square has a bad history of reacting to broken elements about as quickly as a narcoleptic sloth with poor motivation, and I'm surprised because players have been screaming about it for... about two weeks now? Yes, that sounds right. And not just screaming in the usual disorganized fashion. This is pretty targeted and logical screaming, helped substantially by the fact that Hunts are currently very, very broken and need fixing. So let's explain the mess that the game has made for itself and the numerous simple solutions that can be implemented really any time now. Not that I'm saying they're all easy, just simple. Straightforward. And no, increasing mark HP is not one of those solutions. Continue reading The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Hunts are broken The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's Hunts are broken originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

DC Universe Online highlights the creation of Batman Posted: 21 Jul 2014 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Video, Lore, News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, DC Universe Online It's been 75 years since Batman's creation, and that means everyone is talking about the Dark Knight. More than usual, even. DC Universe Online has gotten in on the action with a series of short videos exploring how Gotham's protector was brought into the game, what players can do to really feel like a part of the bat-family, and what the future holds for everyone's favorite nocturnal billionaire aside from beating up clowns. The videos feature artist Jim Lee, voice actor Kevin Conroy, and various members of the DCUO development team looking at every aspect of the character in the game. There are three different videos past the break, but each one is fairly short -- you can watch them all at once or take them in chunks, whichever you'd prefer. It's a great dose of bat-nostalgia for fans of the game. Continue reading DC Universe Online highlights the creation of Batman DC Universe Online highlights the creation of Batman originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

LotRO's Summer Festival runs July 22 - August 5 Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Events (In-Game), Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play There's no shortage of things to do in Lord of the Rings Online these days, what with the recent release of Update 14, Western Gondor, and the level cap bump to 100. If you're already burned through all of that, though, you'll be glad to know that the game's annual Summer Festival starts tomorrow and continues through August 5th. Events include keg races, horse races, fishing challenges, the Taste of Hobbiton, and the usual Ale Association vs. Inn League shenanigans. LotRO's Summer Festival runs July 22 - August 5 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Tree of Savior introduces new classes in Q&A #9 Posted: 21 Jul 2014 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, Community Q&A, Dev Diaries Tree of Savior, the upcoming MMO from Korean studio IMC Games, has unveiled its ninth Q&A about the game, revealing more classes, costume details, an explanation of the Chronomancer's time-travel skill, and some special hidden content. With an advertised 80 classes in the game, these four new class introductions just scratch the surface, but we do get some details and animations from the Thaumaturge, Archer, Pyromancer, and Centurian. Be sure to check out the video after the cut for more on the new classes. If you have any questions for the dev team that you'd like answered in the next Q&A, send them along to the game's Facebook page or the developer's blog. Continue reading Tree of Savior introduces new classes in Q&A #9 Tree of Savior introduces new classes in Q&A #9 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ToS dev blog Via: MMO Culture

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MMORPG News

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• Skyforge: Frosty Cryomancer Revealed in New Trailer
• World of Warships: First Public Debut at This Year's Gamescom
• Darkest Dungeon: Building an Old-School Roguelike with a Twist
• WildStar: Next Update, 'Sabotage', Slated for Later This Month
• Guild Wars 2: Tyria's New Threat Revealed in 'The Dragon's Reach' Video
• Trove: 2000 More Alpha Keys!
• Warframe: Latest PC Update, 'The Mad Cephalon', Released
• General: Lichdom: Battlemage Updated for Early Access Beta
• Shroud of the Avatar: Release 8 - Good Old Ultraviolance
• DC Universe Online: DCUO Celebrates 75 Years of Batman
• General: UemeU: "A Next-Gen Sandbox Experience" Revealed
• Elder Scrolls Online: The Future of ESO & Our Interview Matt Firor
• Destiny: Vanguard Armory Stars in New Video
• General: The Wrong Way to Do Free to Play
• General: Xeno Quest Enters Open Beta
• Guild Wars 2: The Importance of the Guild Hall

Skyforge: Frosty Cryomancer Revealed in New Trailer Posted: 22 Jul 2014 07:36 AM PDT My.com, the Allods team and Obsidian Entertainment have sent out a brand new trailer to show off one of Skyforge's playable classes. The Cryomancer, as the name implies, brings the power of cold to the battlefield with a wide array of skills to freeze the heart of even the most battle-tested opponent.

World of Warships: First Public Debut at This Year's Gamescom Posted: 22 Jul 2014 07:31 AM PDT Wargaming has announced that World of Warships will be making its first-ever public debut at this year's Gamescom to be held in Germany in mid-August. Fans will be able to play each of Wargaming's titles and be able to sign on for the opportunity to go behind closed doors to get a first hand look at World of Warships.

Darkest Dungeon: Building an Old-School Roguelike with a Twist Posted: 21 Jul 2014 04:28 PM PDT Today we'll be catching up with Darkest Dungeon, a game that first caught our attention at PAX East this year. Darkest Dungeon is an old-school rogue-like with a couple of twists. The first thing that grabs you is the art style, a very Gothic, dark style that looks like it was hand-drawn with a traditional crow-quill. Heavy black inking and rich colors give this game a really unique presence that absolutely suits the game's dark and somber themes.

WildStar: Next Update, 'Sabotage', Slated for Later This Month Posted: 20 Jul 2014 05:13 PM PDT Carbine Studios is ready to reveal first information about the next major WildStar content update. Called "Sabotage", the update is focused primarily on PvP action and will include mounts, airstrikes and explosives, all neatly packaged in the new PvP game mode that players can take part in starting at level 30. To give players a taste of what's to come, Carbine has released a new 'DevSpeak' to get the buzz started.

Guild Wars 2: Tyria's New Threat Revealed in 'The Dragon's Reach' Video Posted: 21 Jul 2014 03:58 PM PDT Guild Wars 2 Season 2 is in full swing and ArenaNet is ready to reveal more about Episode 3. Called "The Dragon's Reach", Tyria's latest threat is revealed in the form of the Elder Dragon Mordremoth. Attacks by minions of Mordremoth are taking place across the world that draw the attention heroes. Find out more about the dire threat in the video below, The Dragon's Reach Part I.

Trove: 2000 More Alpha Keys! Posted: 20 Jul 2014 08:24 PM PDT MMORPG.com has just been given a second batch of 2000 alpha keys for Trove. Get it while they last!

Warframe: Latest PC Update, 'The Mad Cephalon', Released Posted: 21 Jul 2014 04:18 PM PDT Digital Extremes has updated Warframe with a new "immersion" patch entitled "Update 14: The Mad Cephalon". The update brings significant changes to the new user experience and adds immersive elements to get players invested in Warframe's story line. In addition, new pets, a new warframe, and new weapons have been introduced into the Warframe open beta.

General: Lichdom: Battlemage Updated for Early Access Beta Posted: 21 Jul 2014 04:12 PM PDT Steam Early Access partners can now enter Lichdom: Battlemage now that it has entered its beta phase of development. Developer Xaviant has updated the game with several new or updated features including crafting improvements, UI and balance improvements, performance optimizations and the Sigil System. Lichdom: Battlemage is set for final deployment on August 26th.

Shroud of the Avatar: Release 8 - Good Old Ultraviolance Posted: 19 Jul 2014 08:25 PM PDT I rolled into Austin beneath dark and water-laden skies last week to see what the guys at Portalarium were cooking up for Release 8 of their Shroud of the Avatar. Thunder rocked the sky as I stepped from my truck and turned to see lightning striking across the menacingly named Greystone Building. The drama of the moment seems appropriate in hindsight, because I've now seen what the team has planned for their next release.

DC Universe Online: DCUO Celebrates 75 Years of Batman Posted: 21 Jul 2014 01:30 PM PDT Who'd think that the legendary Batman is now 75? To honor the Caped Crusader's 75th birthday, the DC Universe Online team has released a trio of videos featuring Jim Lee and the voice of the Dark Knight, Kevin Conroy alongside members of the development team. Check out the trio of videos and leave us your memories of Batman in the comments.

General: UemeU: "A Next-Gen Sandbox Experience" Revealed Posted: 21 Jul 2014 01:26 PM PDT Omnigon Games has unveiled what it is calling "a next-gen sandbox experience" in the form of UemeU (You-Me-You). The game features two different modes: Play and Build. In build mode, players become a gauntlet avatar that creates every portion of the game space. In play mode, a fully featured avatar experiences the world as created in build mode in each person's own sandbox, or in one created by another and experienced in multiplayer.

Elder Scrolls Online: The Future of ESO & Our Interview Matt Firor Posted: 20 Jul 2014 04:47 PM PDT ZeniMax Online Studios had plenty to say about The Elder Scrolls Online at this year's QuakeCon in Dallas. Seven members of the design team took nearly an hour and a half to regale the excitable crowd with enticing glimpses of the game's future, eliciting cheers and applause at the most dramatic reveals.

Destiny: Vanguard Armory Stars in New Video Posted: 21 Jul 2014 12:29 PM PDT The Destiny beta kicked off this past week to great success. Bungie has released a new video about the Vanguard Armory, a special pre-order trailer aimed at enticing folks to pre-order. The Vanguard Armory will be unlocked early for folks who pre-order Destiny, meaning that on launch (9/9), you'll get better gear faster from the Vanguard representatives.

General: The Wrong Way to Do Free to Play Posted: 20 Jul 2014 04:41 PM PDT Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade and the developers' decision to limit free players to the deliberately weaker Ork Boyz is a troubling precedent in the freemium game space. It's not unheard of for some games to limit your race choice based upon how much you are or aren't paying. This is the situation in the upcoming PvP-oriented game, and it's concerning.

General: Xeno Quest Enters Open Beta Posted: 21 Jul 2014 10:23 AM PDT NGames has announced that its multi-platform MMO, Xeno Quest, has officially entered its open beta phase of development. The open beta will be launching for Android and iOS gamers on July 30th and July 31st respectively.

Guild Wars 2: The Importance of the Guild Hall Posted: 20 Jul 2014 04:29 PM PDT Most players in an MMO band together to form guilds. Members of a guild can call upon one another for help, or to join in on a tough dungeon. I've made a lot of friends playing in guilds over the years, in several different MMOs. There's one game that really made the guild experience feel important, and that was the original Guild Wars, which had a nice feature called the guild hall... a feature that Guild Wars 2 is sadly missing.

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