MMO Updates |
- Massively Exclusive: The sweet and sour of ArcheAge's third closed beta
- Moving Day: LotRO EU players begin transfer to Turbine's global service
- Funcom building a bridge between the real and the fantastic in The Secret World
- Shadow Cities launches on iOS App Store
- Trion Worlds teams up with DeviantArt for colossal contest
- Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios
- The Daily Grind: Do you need breaks from MMOs?
- Fallout Online's future in jeopardy as Interplay's finances suffer
- Lost Pages of Taborea: Tinkering with standard classes and my Priest/Rogue
- The Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp
- One Shots: Press 1 to charge, press 2 to breathe fire
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Whatever shall I wear?
- Secret World dev diary talks story, context
| Massively Exclusive: The sweet and sour of ArcheAge's third closed beta Posted: 31 May 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Hands-on, ArcheAge  Curiosity, for sure, and maybe just a hint of desperation. As the MMORPG genre moves farther and farther away from the types of It's been quite some time since I've glanced out my window to see the sun rise while playing an MMORPG through the night, and ArcheAge definitely has its claws in me at this point. Is it the next great sandbox, though? Is it even a sandbox at all? Can XL successfully meld two design philosophies (sandbox and themepark) that are, in many ways, polar opposites? Those questions are difficult to answer, but join me after the cut and I'll give it a shot. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: The sweet and sour of ArcheAge's third closed beta
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| Moving Day: LotRO EU players begin transfer to Turbine's global service Posted: 31 May 2011 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, Free-to-play  Once the transfer is complete, all LotRO players will fall under Turbine's global service umbrella. As part of the move, Turbine is offering EU players a limited-time chance to sign up for a year's worth of VIP status (which includes 500 Turbine Points a month) for £79.99 (or approximately $131.94). Currently the game is down for European players until the process is complete, which Turbine estimates will take between two to three days. Details about the account transfers can be read in the LotRO EU Account Migration FAQ.
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| Funcom building a bridge between the real and the fantastic in The Secret World Posted: 31 May 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries  Bylos, who also served as a content designer on Funcom's Age of Conan expansion before moving to The Secret World, says that the game aims to capture the essence of the modern era while adding a supernatural and conspiratorial twist to places you think you know. "Above ground, New York looks just like the New York you have visited in real life. If you really wanted to, you could find the exact same area depicted in the game on Google Maps. But beneath the streets sprawls the corporate-industrial juggernaut of the Illuminati, known only as the Labyrinth," Bylos explains. The dev blog goes on to mention the game's mission system as another tool for grounding the narrative in reality. Whether you're burning zombies, performing an exorcism with a vacuum cleaner, or chasing ghosts with mirrors, The Secret World looks to use the mundane as a window into the fantastic. Check out the game's official website for the full dev blog.
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| Shadow Cities launches on iOS App Store Posted: 31 May 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic  Taking the best parts of real world alternate reality games (ARGs) and MMOs, Shadow Cities casts you in the role of a mage who is fighting dark forces while simultaneously striving to control chunks of territory. Instead of staying home, Shadow Cities forces players to travel physically to different places around their neighborhoods to cast spells against other players and NPCs. Players can join one of two factions which struggle for ultimate domination amid an unsuspecting populace. Shadow Cities hit the top of the charts in Finland when it was released there, and Grey Area hopes that it will do the same worldwide. If you'd like to learn more about this immersive title, make sure to read up on our Shadow Cities tour from GDC!
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| Trion Worlds teams up with DeviantArt for colossal contest Posted: 31 May 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, News items, RIFT  "You're traveling through Telara as a bright light appears. A massive rift opens up and monsters start invading. Your team fights to protect their land. As they continuously battle the invading monsters, a massive, 10-story colossus appears." This is Trion Worlds' introduction to its newest contest, which challenges artistically inclined RIFT players to create a colossal creature that would look right at home stepping forth from the planar rifts of Telara. The rules for the contest itself -- which is being run in partnership with the ever-popular art gallery website DeviantArt -- are fairly simple: Choose a planar theme (from Earth, Fire, Water, Air, Death, or Life), whip up some concept art for a gargantuan creature that fits with the theme, and submit it to DeviantArt. Semi-finalists will be chosen by the DeviantArt staff, and from those, the top three will be chosen by none other than members of Trion Worlds' creative team. Prizes -- including rather sizable cash prizes, Wacom tablets, DeviantArt Premium Memberships, and of course, copies of RIFT -- will be awarded to the finalists. So if you wield a brush or pen with the same aplomb as your Telaran counterpart does a sword or staff, you can go to the contest page on DeviantArt's official site and join the competition.
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| Perfect World acquires Cryptic Studios Posted: 31 May 2011 06:15 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Super-hero, MMO industry, News items, Star Trek Online, Legal, Champions Online  Today, we know the answer. Perfect World Company has inked a deal to purchase Cryptic from Atari. Euro Investor has the full agreement between the two companies, which details the specifics of this $50+ million purchase. The Chinese firm, which already has a host of MMOs under its umbrella, is taking over 100% of Cryptic's equity from Atari. Perfect World's Michael Chi thinks that this will give the company more credence in the western market: "We are very pleased to sign the agreement to acquire Cryptic Studios. This strategic acquisition will add attractive game titles to our portfolio, which will help us further penetrate into the U.S. and global online game markets. More importantly, Cryptic Studios' highly reputable development team and its technology platform will further strengthen our well-established R&D capabilities. We deem this as another noteworthy achievement of our global expansion efforts." Hopefully, this deal will mean nothing but good things for Cryptic, which is also deep into development with Neverwinter. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
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| The Daily Grind: Do you need breaks from MMOs? Posted: 31 May 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Fortunately for gamers, there are usually a lot of alternatives beyond just endlessly killing the ubiquitous 10 rats. So do you need to take the occasional break from playing MMOs? Do you need to intersperse your playtime in World of Warcraft with regular single-player interludes? Or do you find that it's still just a game and you can log in or not as the mood strikes you with no real need for a specific break?  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!
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| Fallout Online's future in jeopardy as Interplay's finances suffer Posted: 30 May 2011 08:30 PM PDT Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, News items, Post-Apocalyptic, Fallout Online  There's a bad moon a risin' for all you MMO-playing Vault-dwellers out there. Fallout Online, the in-development MMO from Interplay, has been through some rough waters already, but it looks like the situation may be about to go from bad to -- pardon the pun -- apocalyptic. A recent SEC filing by Interplay indicates that the company is going through some rough financial times, which doesn't bode well for the Fallout Online's future. According to the article at GamePolitics, Interplay is skating on thin ice with "a cash balance below $3000 and a working capital deficit of $3 million." The company also states that if the financial situation doesn't change sooner, rather than later, it could be forced to declare bankruptcy or even sell the studio entirely. We here at Massively wish Interplay the best in hopes that someday we'll all be able to step out of the Vaults and into Fallout's uniquely retro post-apocalyptic wasteland.
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| Lost Pages of Taborea: Tinkering with standard classes and my Priest/Rogue Posted: 30 May 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, Lost Pages of Taborea  I've been running a Priest/Rogue for a while now and loving it. The selection of offensive spells, the Rogue's skills, and the weapons I can wield have me wanting to push the boundaries of typical class specifications. I'm building a hammer-wielding Priest that's specced much like I'd spec a Mage, but the class can also pump out adequate melee damage. In this week's Lost Pages of Taborea, I want to give you a run-down of the gear, weapons, and stats I'm choosing. It should serve as a good guide to some unique possibilities for classes in RoM. Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Tinkering with standard classes and my Priest/Rogue
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| The Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp Posted: 30 May 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Opinion, The Tattered Notebook  That's a tough but really fun question. Over the years, EverQuest II has added so many overland and instanced zones that there's no shortage of choices. A quick glance at the dungeon list at EQ2i shows well over 100 major heroic instances and open dungeons for groups. If you add in the list of minor instances, like the Splitpaw adventure pack instances or the Fallen Dynasty trials, it's easily over 120. In fact, there are so many group zones that it's nearly impossible to level up and see them all (I vote for a new in-game dungeon listing for the next UI revamp!). I've played through a good chunk of these zones and put together a list of the top five dungeons that deserve a makeover. Read on for the full list! Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Five zones that deserve a revamp
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| One Shots: Press 1 to charge, press 2 to breathe fire Posted: 30 May 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, One Shots, RIFT  In RIFT, players have an option of playing one of two separate factions -- the Guardians and the Defiant. It's been noted that Defiant have a heavy majority of the population on lots of servers, and people have been trying to figure out why for a while. It's been in front of everyone's noses all this time -- the mounts! Who wouldn't want to ride a silver robotic horse with a dragon's head for the hindquarters?While we have to agree that a robot horse with a dragon's head on its hindquarters is the very embodiment of awesome, we also know that there are more mounts out there that are just as awesome and/or unusual. Prove us right and grab a screenshot of your finest ride, be it hooved, feathered, wheeled, or otherwise. Send it to oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game, and tell us a little about what we're seeing and how you came by that particular mount. If you'd like a head-start on the following week, we'll be focusing on weird foes. Do you have a great shot of a dancing Abaddon in Guild Wars or a nose-picking foe from Gates of Andaron? Send those in too and we'll feature them on One Shots!
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| Flameseeker Chronicles: Whatever shall I wear? Posted: 30 May 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Flameseeker Chronicles  Well, the Engineer topic has bypassed "beating a dead horse" and is rapidly approaching "beating a small smear of glue," and Justin Olivetti is playing Guild Wars in earnest again. What does that last thing have to do with the price of tea in Cantha, you ask? Follow along after the jump and we'll find out! Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Whatever shall I wear?
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| Secret World dev diary talks story, context Posted: 30 May 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Video, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries  The trio highlights The Secret World's use of the real world as both location and character, with Bylos calling it "the greatest resource of all." The video shows a few new clips courtesy of the game's cinematics, but Tornquist is quick to point out that cinematics don't tell the whole tale when it comes to The Secret World's narrative. In spite of the fact that every character in the game is motion-captured and fully voiced, the story is "embedded into the world. You have to look for it, you have to search for it. The story is exploration and the story is discovery," Tornquist explains. Funcom also seeks to challenge gamers in ways that depart from the traditional MMORPG paradigm, and Bylos says that "we're not just asking them to click a mouse button over and over again, but to think about what they do." Put on your thinking caps and click past the cut for the full video. Continue reading Secret World dev diary talks story, context
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