MMO Updates

MMO Updates

New summer events on tap from Angels Online

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT

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Angels Online recently added a new server and now the team at IGG is gearing up for a series of special summer events designed to bring players more content. First up is a leveling contest that runs from June 23rd to July 21st. The six players who attain the highest level on the new Nyx server by 1:00 a.m. EDT on the 21st will walk away with some significant rewards including a grand prize level 100 armor set and 100,000 in-game coins.

IGG is also hosting a double XP event that runs from June 23rd through June 30th on the new shard. Finally, the new Summer Breeze promotion features fruit-themed outfits that "let you show off your summer style and take advantage of huge power boosts," according to an IGG press release.

Angels Online is free-to-play play, and you can download the game at IGG's official website.

MassivelyNew summer events on tap from Angels Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom reveals three new monsters of The Secret World

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT

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Good things often come in threes and when it comes to The Secret World, scary things do as well. Funcom has just released a new monster information triple-pack for its horror-conspiracy MMORPG, and the official TSW website has the goods on the wendigo, the deep ones, and the ak'ab.

The wendigo are apparently descended from a tribe of humans who went cannibal, and Funcom's intro blurb cites their cursed metabolism and describes them as "more sickness than species." No less chilling are the deep ones, fearsome inhabitants of the Atlantic Ocean who are known to "drag victims into a death-dive until the unfortunates are crushed into more edible material." Finally we have the ak'ab, and Funcom's website quotes H.P. Lovecraft to help set the mood for describing these "cold, pale things of native myth" that do the nefarious bidding of sorcerers and necromancers.

MassivelyFuncom reveals three new monsters of The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GamersFirst welcomes World of Warcraft to 'the free-to-play revolution'

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:30 AM PDT

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Sarcastic, genuine or merely self-promoting? An open letter sent to media outlets from GamersFirst's Joshua Hong to Activision-Blizzard's Bobby Kotick following World of Warcraft's surprise move to an indefinite free trial could be all three. "I wanted to congratulate you on taking your first big step to join the Free2Play(R) revolution," Hong writes.

He certainly isn't shy in expressing what he sees as GamersFirst's great accomplishments in the market: "Having created this market in the western hemisphere, it's very encouraging for us to see the last bastion of the subscription-only online gaming business joining the Free2Play movement... Given our recent success in reviving APB Reloaded, which launched as a subscription-based game we transitioned to Free2Play, we know that the first steps are often the hardest. But the proof is in the metrics, as APB now has more than three times the active player base than when it initially launched as a subscription product. We also plan to repeat this success with Fallen Earth."

Hong continues the letter by "extending [his] friendship and support" to Blizzard, invites Kotick to the free-to-play party at Gamescom, and hopes that the company's entire library will be made free in the future.

MassivelyGamersFirst welcomes World of Warcraft to 'the free-to-play revolution' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA: '200 hours of gameplay per class' in SWTOR

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT

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For most single-player video games, eight to 20 hours of gameplay is currently considered "sufficient." For Star Wars: The Old Republic, those numbers are merely a prologue to the main event.

In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Electonic Arts' Frank Gibeau said that players should expect around 200 hours of core gameplay per class, not including side activities like PvP and raiding. He was responding to a question about the game's allegedly high budget, which Gibeau says is worth the investment: "It's vast. It's a gigantic game. And that costs money. But when you get one of these launched they persist for a long period of time."

Gibeau also commented on the decision to exclusively release the digital version of SWTOR through EA's Origin service: "In the case of Star Wars we're trying to build an audience for Origin. And it's also an opportunity for us to better manage the downloads and how we bring people over from the beta and that sort of thing. For a lot of reasons it made sense for an MMO, which is a highly complex deployment."

MassivelyEA: '200 hours of gameplay per class' in SWTOR originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Online Entertainment issues an official response to Star Wars Galaxies petitions

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 07:00 AM PDT

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The news that Star Wars Galaxies will soon be shutting down has been met with quite a bit of sadness from the players, for understandable reason -- the game has just recently hit its eight-year anniversary and remains a large and unique game in many respects. Players had banded together to start a petition to save the game, one that got large enough to merit an official response from Sony Online Entertainment. But we're sorry to say that this isn't something to get excited about -- the official response is, essentially, that the decision is made.

Posted by Linda "Brasse" Carlson, the short response thanks players for their dedication and commitment to the game, but notes that the agreement between SOE and Lucasarts has been made after a great deal of discussion, and it's not going to be reversed. The letter closes by urging Star Wars Galaxies players to enjoy the game's twilight months by playing the game while it's still around -- good advice, but certainly sad news for those who had held out hopes for an eleventh-hour reprieve.

MassivelySony Online Entertainment issues an official response to Star Wars Galaxies petitions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Does summer vacation affect your playtime?

Posted: 29 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT

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Massively readers, being people of excellent taste in entertainment, know there's a lot of fun to be had sitting down and logging in to their favorite MMO for a few hours of fun. The problem with kicking back and relaxing like this for any period of time is that eventually real life is going to rear its head and you're going to have to step away. (This is a good thing, mind you.)

The summer months are here for much of the world, and that affects MMO playtime in one way or another for many gamers. Are you one of those gamers? Maybe school and studying have kept you busy and now you're free as a bird with more time to play. Maybe you're a parent, and now that the kids are out of school, they're keeping you hopping. Do you have a job that changes according to the weather or seasons?

Hit the comment button and let us know how the summer months affect your gaming time!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Does summer vacation affect your playtime? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda patch 1.44 goes live tomorrow

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT

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Hi-Rez Studios has some goodies in store for Dome City-dwellers, as Global Agenda's patch 1.44 arrives tomorrow. It's a rather small patch, and it includes such details as the closing of Carter's Seasonal Accessories (with a new fashion store known as Burning Fashion opening up in its stead) and the grand-opening of Skyward Jetpacks for those who want to zip around in style.

The largest new additions with the update come in the form of two new maps opening up for players. The PvP Control map Magmarock graduates from beta to live status, becoming accessible for Mercenary PvP players, while a new PvP Payload map known as Haulin' Acid is added to the Beta Maps queue. For the full notes and more information on the patch, head on over to Global Agenda's official site.

MassivelyGlobal Agenda patch 1.44 goes live tomorrow originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Ultima Worlds Online: Origin

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 06:00 PM PDT

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Two months ago, we heard a rumor (which has since gone quiet) that a new Ultima Online sequel might be in the oven in Electronic Art's kitchen. As with any rumor, it was important to take it with a grain of disbelief, although a pinch of hope seems appropriate in this case as well. After all, Ultima Online's been begging for a sequel ever since the hit MMO started facing stiff competition in the form of 3-D worlds like EverQuest and Asheron's Call.

For some of us gamers, word of a UO sequel feels like deja vu, and rightly so. This wouldn't be the first time that EA embarked on a project to make a more modern Ultima Online, nor would it be the second time. Indeed, the saga of Ultima Online's canceled sequels is as torrid as it is steamy and lusty. Ignore the words in the previous sentence, as those are just to up the hits on search engines.

In our continuing series on the "what ifs?" of axed MMOs, we're going to head into a two-parter full of savage truth, dangerous decisions, and full-frontal nerdery. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the saga of Ultima Online 2.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Ultima Worlds Online: Origin

MassivelyThe Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Ultima Worlds Online: Origin originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyperspace Beacon: Post mortem

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 05:00 PM PDT

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When a company ends a project or when a theatre production ends, the producers and directors will usually do an analysis of the project. They will give a rundown of what performed well and what performed poorly. The idea is to ensure that the next project delivers better results than the previous one. Granted, we will not be able to sit in on the official post mortem meeting for Star Wars Galaxies, but we can do our own analysis of what happened.

As I said above, the idea is to take what we learned from the previous project and apply it to the next one. In the eyes of a Star Wars MMO fan, the next project will be Star Wars: The Old Republic. Now to be fair, I already have a series of articles that feature the mistakes SWG made that we don't want to see in The Old Republic, so this time around, I figured it would be best to show off the good things SWG did that should probably be repeated in SWTOR. This is by no means exhaustive, but it's a couple of the big ones in my mind.

Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Post mortem

MassivelyHyperspace Beacon: Post mortem originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft's Rage of the Firelands brings indefinite free trial

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 04:15 PM PDT

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In a display of what can only be described as showmanship (given the fact that we can probably count on one hand the number of people who haven't dabbled in World of Warcraft at this point), Blizzard has announced that the coming of WoW's patch 4.2 will also herald the arrival of something known as the World of Warcraft Starter Edition.

That's right, now that the Rage of the Firelands is upon Azeroth, the Alliance and Horde are going to need all the help they can get. Thankfully, the free trial -- which previously spanned 14 days -- now lasts indefinitely, though trial players are capped at level 20 until they purchase the full game. Do note that the Starter Edition does not include Cataclysm content but does include some Burning Crusade content such as the ability to roll Blood Elves and Draenei. And for those who decide to upgrade, the World of Warcraft Battle Chest (which includes vanilla WoW and The Burning Crusade expansion) is on sale for a paltry $19.99.

And of course, there's more to patch 4.2 than the Starter Edition, and our sister site WoW Insider has your bases covered.

MassivelyWorld of Warcraft's Rage of the Firelands brings indefinite free trial originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interplay v. Bethesda deathmatch continues

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT

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The punches keep flying between Bethesda and Interplay in the battle for Fallout Online. A recent court filing from Interplay claims that Bethesda knew good and well that its in-development Fallout MMO would (prepare for a shock!) include elements from the Fallout universe, despite Bethesda's claims to the contrary.

The filing goes on to confront Bethesda's arguments that the MMO would lead to confusion amongst players of Fallout 3 due to plot conflicts between the two games. Interplay points out that this is a rather ironic statement, considering that "Bethesda contends Interplay should have created an entire game of incompatible story, characters, and art and labeled it Fallout only in name." Between this legal sparring and Interplay's financial woes, the future of Fallout Online remains to be seen.

MassivelyInterplay v. Bethesda deathmatch continues originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Guild Wars 2 dev diary details dungeon-building

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:30 PM PDT

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Following the recent blog posts on Guild Wars 2's underwater combat and dungeon-building, ArenaNet's William Fairfield stepped up to the plate today to give players another inside look at what goes into the creation of the game's dungeons. The post focuses on two dungeons that William has been involved with: the haunted Ascalonian Catacombs and Sorrow's Embrace.

It's a very interesting bit of insight into how one goes about building a dungeon for the game that claims to have done away with the fabled "holy trinity" of MMORPGs. Another interesting point is the focus that went into ensuring that GW2's dungeon mobs seem to work together in unison, rather than just being separate parts of a disorganized mob. There's far too much to cover in-depth in the span of a news post, so head on over to the official blog to get a delicious taste of dungeon-building goodness.

MassivelyNew Guild Wars 2 dev diary details dungeon-building originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE All Access pass goes live

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT

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Sony Online Entertainment has finally lowered its monthly all-you-can-eat MMORPG subscription plan. All Access (formerly known as the Station Pass) grants you unlimited time with all of SOE's titles for a single monthly fee of $19.99.

Games include DC Universe (sorry PS3 users, this is for the PC version only), EverQuest, EverQuest II, Vanguard, and Star Wars Galaxies. You also get premium access to free-to-play titles like EQ2X, Free Realms, and Pirates of the Burning Sea. The All Access service, which previously set you back $29.99 per month, returns to the price point enjoyed by SOE customers prior to the April 2007 rate hike.

The reduction follows the announcement that SWG will terminate services on December 15th and will be freely playable to recent subscribers beginning in the fall.

MassivelySOE All Access pass goes live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: Why so serious?

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT

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Great gear doesn't only have to be about having the most intimidating weapon or the scariest armor. Sometimes it's good to take a walk on the lighthearted side and pick up some gear just because it's fun. Massively reader JK shows us an example of this very thing in Lord of the Rings Online:
The Beaver Mask in LotRO made me an unstoppable killing machine.
Ready to show off your gear? Send a screenshot of your favorite items to oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a paragraph or two telling us what your items are and how you got them!

Gallery: One Shots: 2011

MassivelyOne Shots: Why so serious? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MMObility: Staying desktop-free with Splashtop Remote and Warspear Online

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT

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Let's face it: If you are frequenting this site and specifically this column, you probably have a soft spot in your heart for gizmos, gadgets, and gear. I know I do. But all that cool stuff costs a lot of money. When I spent the first half of my life as a drummer, I was known as the "duct tape drummer" because I used it for everything from bandages to kick drum holders. I could achieve what I wanted at a fraction of the price mainly because I wasn't worried about how my drum kit looked or how new my gear was.

I bring that same mentality to my gaming. This column was born out of the need for gaming-on-the-cheap and more mobility, and today I wanted to give you two examples of how this mentality works in my life. Remember, the ultimate goal here is to have fun, and I have had more fun since I started this column than I have had in a long, long time.

Click past the cut and let me show you some new ways to game!

Continue reading MMObility: Staying desktop-free with Splashtop Remote and Warspear Online

MassivelyMMObility: Staying desktop-free with Splashtop Remote and Warspear Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Soapbox: Sandparks

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:30 PM PDT

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Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

The war between sandbox and themepark MMOs is being fought now, not just in the hearts and minds of players but in the simple matter of which project is getting funding for development. It's a war in which adherents to one design philosophy loudly decry the other, where both sides sling insults at one another and mourn how the other side has damaged the promise of MMOs or has no idea how to make a compelling gameplay experience. It's a battle of words and of subscription fees.

It's also really, really stupid.

Setting up the MMO sphere as a battle between two opposing design philosophies probably feels like a great chance to explore a two-faction system in real life, but it's also shortchanging not just MMOs but games on both sides of the nonexistent fence. It sells a number of games short, and it adds nothing useful to the genre as a whole. It's time to stop seeing the onling gaming sphere as a match of opposing forces and start seeing it as a varied and frequently awe-inspiring spectrum.

Continue reading The Soapbox: Sandparks

MassivelyThe Soapbox: Sandparks originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gods & Heroes outsells RIFT on Steam, claims weekend top spot

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT

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Well someone's certainly playing Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising, the newly launched fantasy MMORPG from Heatwave Interactive. It's a safe bet that said someones are playing via Steam, as Valve's digital download platform is reporting that the Roman mythology-flavored MMO outsold all challengers over the weekend.

Despite some predictions of a lukewarm reception due to the glut of fantasy MMOs and a hefty box fee (as well as a subscription model), Heatwave's game sold well enough to outpace RIFT as well as Guild Wars, DC Universe, and EVE Online, all of which could be had at or lower than Gods & Heroes' $39.99 price point.

Is it a case of a better-than-expected game or another example of how MMO players will buy anything and everything if it's new and shiny? Let us know what you think in the comments.

MassivelyGods & Heroes outsells RIFT on Steam, claims weekend top spot originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Square Enix to host Wakfu panel at Anime Expo 2011

Posted: 28 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT

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Do you like a little tactical strategy in your MMORPG? Are you planning on attending Anime Expo 2011 in Los Angeles? Then boy howdy do we ever have an announcement for you.

Square Enix, publisher of the upcoming turn-based tactical MMO Wakfu, is slated to host a panel at the massive California anime convention. Producer Franko Fonseca will be present at the panel to discuss the upcoming title and reveal new information on the game's development. To top it off, panel attendees will have a chance to win some adorable Wakfu plushies. So if you're looking to attend Anime Expo 2011, be sure to swing by the panel and let us know how it goes (and win us a plushie while you're at it!).

MassivelySquare Enix to host Wakfu panel at Anime Expo 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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