MMO Updates |
- Massively's E3 2011 awards and impressions
- Do the shopping cart: Prius Online opens item shop
- Richard Garriott to deliver Game Developers Conference Europe keynote
- Eden Eternal rides into open beta today
- The Daily Grind: Does PS3 exclusivity affect your enthusiasm for DUST 514?
- Final Fantasy XIV's latest producer's letter shows off auto-attacks
- APB gives closed beta testers in-game appreciation packs
- EVE Online services restored
- The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online
- Community Detective Issue #24: Need for Speed World
- Steam now offering F2P MMOs
- One Shots: It just keeps going and going and going
- MMObility: Just how mobile was E3?
- EVE Online server offline due to DDOS attack
- The Soapbox: A violent scene
- Hyperspace Beacon: Find the Force
| Massively's E3 2011 awards and impressions Posted: 15 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Galleries, Events, real-world, Opinion, Massively meta, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage  This year, we had more staff members on hand than ever, which allowed us more coverage from the floor and more hands-on time with the demos. As with last year's awards, we're happy to present the best of the best, straight from those of us who were there. Award categories include Best Booth, Best Trailer, Best Newcomer, MMO of the Show and Most Anticipated Project. Plus, we decided to say a few additional words about some categories that weren't awarded, like Best Presentation, Biggest Surprise, and Best of the Rest. So follow along after the gallery for more on what we thought of E3 2011. Continue reading Massively's E3 2011 awards and impressions
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| Do the shopping cart: Prius Online opens item shop Posted: 15 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Free-to-play  The item shop will hold an attractive array of fun and useful goods, ranging from costumes to mounts to all manner of helpful trinkets. To celebrate the shop's opening, Prius Online is handing out a free Leaf of Oblivion to players who log in between June 15th and 19th. The Leaf is capable of resetting one's skill points -- including your initial job choice -- in order to respec into a better build. Prius Online went into open beta earlier this month, and any interested parties can check the game out by visiting the website and signing up!
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| Richard Garriott to deliver Game Developers Conference Europe keynote Posted: 15 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, News items, Miscellaneous  Are you planning to venture to the wilds of Europe for the upcoming Game Developers Conference Europe? If so, you're in for a treat, as the father of Ultima will be delivering the keynote speech. That's right, the one and only spacefaring game developer Richard Garriott will give a presentation at the conference discussing social gaming, its future, and what mark it may leave on the gaming industry as a whole. Garriott is perhaps known best for being the creator of the Ultima series (and the victim of assassination in the early days of Ultima Online), but his most recent foray in the industry came in the form of Portalarium, a social gaming company. As Frank Sliwka, event director of GDC Europe, notes that "there are few developers with Richard Garriott's history, pedigree and vantage point, having been a defining force in the realm of traditional hardcore games, birthing the RPG and MMORPG genres, to now helping lead the way within the world of social games," so the speech will almost certainly be enlightening for anyone with an interest in the subject. GDC Europe will be taking place from August 15-17, so if you're looking to make the journey to gaming mecca, go ahead and start making plans!
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| Eden Eternal rides into open beta today Posted: 15 Jun 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Free-to-play  The open beta will be accompanied by a new patch, although the devs won't have open beta rewards added to the game until next week. To help get the word out about the beta, Aeria Games is sponsoring an Eden Eternal "Signature Invasion" that could net you some nifty in-game items if you participate. So far, this colorful MMO has proven popular in the beta circuit, and if you're curious what we thought about it, make sure to check out our first impressions from last week!
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| The Daily Grind: Does PS3 exclusivity affect your enthusiasm for DUST 514? Posted: 15 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, New titles, Opinion, Consoles, MMOFPS, DUST 514  What does matter is player reaction to the news, and when we say player, we mean EVE Online veterans and curious bystanders alike. For today's Daily Grind, tell us your thoughts about CCP's New Eden-based shooter. If you've got a PS3, will you be playing DUST? If you don't have one, do you plan to get one now? In short, how does the Sony exclusivity impact your decision to try the game?  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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| Final Fantasy XIV's latest producer's letter shows off auto-attacks Posted: 14 Jun 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV  The one piece of bad news in the letter is that the patch is going to run a bit later due to the extra balance issues introduced, overshooting the previously stated window of mid to late June. Yoshida estimates a roughly two-week delay, putting the patch in early July. Still, Final Fantasy XIV players should be happy with the contents of the letter, especially the preview of auto-attack combat (embedded just past the break). Continue reading Final Fantasy XIV's latest producer's letter shows off auto-attacks
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| APB gives closed beta testers in-game appreciation packs Posted: 14 Jun 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: News items, Free-to-play, All Points Bulletin, Crime  All Points Bulletin: Reloaded beta testers, lately you've been working hard to make San Paro a better, more bullet-riddled place. The folks at GamersFirst recognize your dedication and announced today that they would be sending out a small in-game thank-you package to show their appreciation for their closed beta testers. The Closed Beta Appreciation Package arms APB players with a shiny new JG 840 Lifetime shotgun that "will quickly rip a target apart at short range," making it a lovely gift for anyone who likes to be up in the thick of battle. Also included in the package is an additional character slot and a unique air guitar emote, so you can shred the strings while you shred your enemies. The studio also notes that it's working to give additional recognition to veterans in the future, and it will let players know when that feature is implemented.
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| Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:45 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items  As noted in the letter, the shutdown was an immediate reaction to the threat of any security breach, taken in the hopes of staving off any serious threats to the game or its players. The company apologizes to players affected by the downtime as well as the lack of any subsequent notification, but most EVE Online players will just be happy that the game is back online and should remain so barring any unforeseen complications.
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| The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online Posted: 14 Jun 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist  Life would've been a lot better. Or worse. That's the problem with counterfactual history: We can make educated guesses, but we'll never really know. While it's sad to see MMOs shut down due to underperformance, it's especially maddening to contemplate MMOs canceled before they even made it to the starting gate. In a new periodic series here at The Game Archaeologist, I'm going to look at a few of the "what ifs" of prematurely terminated MMORPGs. And to kick us off, I'm tackling probably one of the most frustrating, painful subjects that still linger amongst potential fans. I'm talking, of course, of True Fantasy Live Online, the game that could've shown the true potential of console MMOs. Or, y'know, not. Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: True Fantasy Live Online
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| Community Detective Issue #24: Need for Speed World Posted: 14 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Real life, Sports, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Need for Speed World, Community Detective, Miscellaneous  This week I'd like to break out of that mold for a bit and examine a title based in the real world (or more accurately, Electronic Arts' approximation of the real world). To borrow a quote from dear old '80s cinema: I feel the need, the Need for Speed World. Continue reading Community Detective Issue #24: Need for Speed World
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| Posted: 14 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Global Agenda, Miscellaneous  So what, right? These games have always been free to download from their respective websites, haven't they? Well, yes, but Steam is offering exclusive in-game items (beginning tomorrow with Spiral Knights), and of course there's the ever-present achievement collection to consider. Boot up your Steam client and click the giant free-to-play banner, or head to the service's official website for more details.
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| One Shots: It just keeps going and going and going Posted: 14 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Guild Wars, Guilds, MV Guide  Are you ready to show off your guild? Gather up your best group shots of you and your guildmates. Whether you're hanging out, enjoying guild housing, taking out a huge enemy, or throwing a party, send a screenshot of your guild in action to oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game, and tell us about your guild!
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| MMObility: Just how mobile was E3? Posted: 14 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Massively Event Coverage, MMObility  And there were games. A ton of games. A bunch. A lot. Even then, I knew the feeling that was coming over me, the familiar feeling of stumbling into a toy store or comic shop to look for goodies. I was in hog heaven but needed to find my particular fix. I needed indie, tiny or strange games. Games that ran on a toaster but worked well, browser games that would impress me, or phone games that would continue to destroy the idea that immersive, fun gameplay cannot be done on a portable device. Did I find what I was looking for? Oh, hell yes I did. Click past the cut and I will tell you all about it. Continue reading MMObility: Just how mobile was E3?
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| EVE Online server offline due to DDOS attack Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items  CCP released an update on Facebook and Twitter stating that the issue is currently under investigation. "EVE Online and related services are currently offline and will return as soon as possible following investigation of some issues." CCP was unable to comment further on the outage but urges players to watch the EVE Facebook and Twitter feeds for further updates as they become available.
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| Posted: 14 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous  When Star Trek Online was first released, it had more than its fair share of critics, and one of the chief complaints was the fact that the game seemed to focus largely upon combat. Sure, Star Trek had always featured combat, but it had also featured negotiation and diplomacy and unknowable phenomena alongside human drama. The idea that the entire universe could be pared down to ships and ground teams firing disruptor beams at one another didn't sit well with a sizable portion of the fanbase. Of course, Star Trek Online is hardly the only culprit. MMOs have always had a heavy focus on combat as far back as Ultima Online -- the PvP that people look back on with fond memories wasn't a game of cards, after all. Sometimes it can seem as if we have a sea of games with nothing to them except fighting and killing things, without any other meaningful interactions with the world. In a genre that offers us such a wonderful tool for social interaction, why are our games so violent? As it turns out, for a lot of very good reasons. Continue reading The Soapbox: A violent scene
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| Hyperspace Beacon: Find the Force Posted: 14 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Game mechanics, New titles, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon  With E3 last week, I really considered devoting this article to opinions regarding the latest news for Star Wars: The Old Republic. Then I realized that Massively already published a ton of SWTOR related articles about E3 this week. During the show itself, Dan gave his impressions of playing the game, and all four of our attendees delivered impressions yesterday. It's good to read impressions from people who love MMOs but aren't necessarily die-hard fans of BioWare or Star Wars -- you'll get a different perspective than you would reading this column. So instead, this week I'll examine the announced abilities for the Jedi Consular class. The majority of this information stems from the advanced class page, but there is a little bit that comes from MMORPG's interview with Georg Zoeller. Hop past the break as we explore the abilities of this powerful Force-user. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Find the Force
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