MMO Updates

MMO Updates

Firefall art lead builds battleframes

Posted: 12 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT

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Firefall isn't being marketed as a traditional MMO, and in fact there aren't many traditional MMO staples in this Red 5 Studios creation. For instance, the class system is series of battleframes. These are armor sets that any player can wear, and they define what role he plays in a group.

Another way Firefall is attempting to carve its own gaming niche is found in the art style behind this third-person shooter. Art Lead Adam McMahon takes a few moments in the latest Firefall dev blog to talk about the evolution of the battleframe design. Some of the original designs for the battleframes conjured up scenes from Alien or Starship Troopers. But the art team quickly realized that it was "making a game for the global market," and therefore, as McMahon explains, "the art needs to be special and it needs to appeal to that broad audience." At that point, the design took a totally different direction and eventually became the look you see in the promo art now and you will see in the game.

If you'd like to read more about how McMahon and the Firefall team inspired the look of the game, be sure to read the whole developer diary. While you're there, take a moment to sign up for the beta.

Gallery: Firefall battleframe design

MassivelyFirefall art lead builds battleframes originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Chat: Surprisingly not all about E3 edition

Posted: 12 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT

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Welcome to this week's Global Chat! We love hearing what you have to say at Massively, and we love it even more when we can share the best comments with all of our readers. Massively staffers will be contributing some of their favorite comments every week, so keep an eye out every Sunday for more Global Chat!

Sure, we spent a lot of time on E3 last week, and it certainly dominated the news scene. Our readers found time to ponder non-E3 general gaming talk in addition to E3 talk, so follow along after the jump to see some of what they had to say this week.

Continue reading Global Chat: Surprisingly not all about E3 edition

MassivelyGlobal Chat: Surprisingly not all about E3 edition originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What do you find the most fun in MMOs?

Posted: 12 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT

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"Fun" is one of those wonderful properties that every single game tries to capture, and whether or not a game succeed is completely subjective. Some people find the freedom and constant tension of free-for-all PvP to be fun; others find it limiting and an open invitation to grief. Some people like having a clearly delineated quest experience to enjoy; others find it restrictive, arbitrary, and ridiculously narrow. It's that gap between personal tastes that allows us to have so many different options in the MMO field, from Ultima Online to Vindictus and everything in between.

We ask a lot of broad and sometimes abstract questions here, but let's boil this one down to something very basic -- what experiences in MMOs do you find really fun? Large-scale raiding with friends? Acquiring new equipment? Making off-beat characters? Roleplaying? Do you like skill-based action systems like Global Agenda's to let you prove how good you are, or do you like slower group combat as found in Final Fantasy XI to let you flex your mental muscles? What do you find to be most captivating and enjoyable?

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!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: What do you find the most fun in MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Vault releases Mortal Online Dawn features list, new videos

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 08:00 PM PDT

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Mortal Online's first expansion was announced a while ago now, and players are still waiting on the mammoth patch to make it to the game's live server. Star Vault is no doubt anxious to placate its ravenous PvP-centric customer base, and the company has released a lengthy changelog on the game's official forums.

The listing outlines many of the features forthcoming in the Dawn expansion, but as post author (and Star Vault CEO) Henrik Nystrom writes: "This note may not be final." It's probably a good representation though. As such, let's take a quick look at what Dawn brings to the table. We've got new mechanics including the gene system, task/transport system, and housing friend system. We've also got new mail functionality, dynamic mounts, alchemy and cooking, and a load of bug fixes that we haven't the space to list.

You can check out the full changelog on the Mortal forums, and be sure to watch the one-year anniversary and Dawn preview videos after the cut.

Continue reading Star Vault releases Mortal Online Dawn features list, new videos

MassivelyStar Vault releases Mortal Online Dawn features list, new videos originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not So Massively Extra: League of Legends reveals three new champions

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 06:00 PM PDT

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Massively was on the floor at E3 this year to get the low-down on League of Legends' new spectator mode and find out how successful the player-moderated banning Tribunal has been. There was so much information from the League of Legends team at E3 that it has spilled over into this Not So Massively Extra. In a special E3 reveal, Riot Games released the full details of LoL's next three champions. Yorick the Gravedigger, Leona the Radiant Dawn and Skarner the Crystal Vanguard are scheduled to go live over the coming weeks and are sure to provide a great deal of combat variety to this ever-growing game.

Gallery: League of Legends


Skip past the cut for a run-down of the three new characters, their abilities, and what they look like.

Continue reading Not So Massively Extra: League of Legends reveals three new champions

MassivelyNot So Massively Extra: League of Legends reveals three new champions originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not So Massively: E3 was full of interweb games

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT

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Welcome to Not So Massively, our weekly roundup of the top news from popular multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) and other multiplayer online games that aren't quite MMOs. Published every Saturday, the column covers games such as League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Defense of the Ancients, Bloodline Champions, and more.

E3 2011 was packed full of news from the wide world of gaming, with an absolute ton of new information on upcoming MMOs. Not all the online games showcased at E3 fall neatly into the category of MMO or non-MMO, but Massively was there to get the scoop on them nonetheless.

Last week, we got to grips with League of Legends' new champion Orianna and took an in-depth look at Heroes of Newerth's completely overpowered new hero Amun Ra. We also introduced the Rise of Immortals 3vE map layout and Realm of the Titans' new hero Abraxas, then we highlighted Karma Online's upcoming closed beta.

In this week's Not So Massively, we chatted to devs on the floor at E3 to bring in-depth looks at popular free-to-play MOBA League of Legends and upcoming sci-fi action game Vorp!. Realm of the Titans has also added a new Crystal upgrade system this week, which allows for permanant character upgrades that persist between matches. Finally, Petroglyph's community manager joins the MOBA Champions podcast to give some inside details on the development of Rise of Immortals.

Continue reading Not So Massively: E3 was full of interweb games

MassivelyNot So Massively: E3 was full of interweb games originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mog Log: Grounded

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT

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After last week's column, I mentioned that I was pretty energized to give some of Final Fantasy XI's other additions a try. Chief among them, naturally, was the addition of Grounds of Valor, which is essentially Fields of Valor with special sauce. Said special sauce is a stacking buff for each successful regime completed, meaning that staying in one zone and working your way through training regimes is even more rewarding than it was before.

Well... in theory, anyhow.

Rather than just subsisting on the basis of theory, I decided it was high time for Rhio to continue in the experimental process she had engaged in long ago. So after donning a Destrier Beret and making sure she had her fair supply of grotesquely powerful anniversary rings, I set out into the wilds to try my hands at the new grounds system. The results were... well, I'd like to say they were surprising, but mostly they were just a reminder of a universal truth about Final Fantasy XI.

Continue reading The Mog Log: Grounded

MassivelyThe Mog Log: Grounded originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trion Worlds takes players on a tour of RIFT's upcoming Hammerknell raid

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT

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Ia! Ia! Akylios f'htagn! You may have (read: should have, and if you haven't go do so now) seen our hands-on impressions article covering the new raid coming with RIFT's patch 1.3, Waves of Madness. The instance takes place inside of the abandoned Dwarven city of Hammerknell, where Akylios -- the Dragon of the plane of water and the object of worship of the Abyssal Cult -- has long been imprisoned. The cult has now breached the ancient stronghold and is in the process of awakening its aquatic master.

In a new walkthrough video from Trion Worlds, VP of Development Russ Brown gives RIFT players a sneak-peek at the world event that will accompany the opening of Hammerknell's long-sealed doors. Once the doors have been opened, we're treated to a tour of the halls of the city itself, where the ghosts of fallen Dwarves and Abyssal cultists alike stand to prevent Telara's heroes from interrupting Akylios' awakening. The video shows off four of the raid's bosses, including Akylios himself, so those of you wanting to avoid spoilers can consider yourselves warned. Russ also takes some time to stop and admire the hauntingly lovely architecture and lighting of the deserted city, which is truly stunning. Any RIFT players who don't mind a few minor spoilers and who want to get a look at the upcoming content can click on past the cut for the full video.

Continue reading Trion Worlds takes players on a tour of RIFT's upcoming Hammerknell raid

MassivelyTrion Worlds takes players on a tour of RIFT's upcoming Hammerknell raid originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall dev blog talks armor system updates, roles, and PvP viability

Posted: 11 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT

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The latest Darkfall dev blog update has an interesting new Q&A session dealing with the game's armor system (and ongoing attempts to balance it). Aventurine devs collected a sampling of related questions from users on the sandbox title's official forum, and Tasos Flambouras has a pretty lengthy list of answers that should be of interest to Agonian veterans and newbs alike.

Aventurine's goals for the upcoming revamp are threefold: more diversity in terms of the number of combat roles available to the player, a reduction of the time it takes to become viable in PvP, and retaining the ability for players to freely select, combine, and change roles at any time.

Flambouras also spends a bit of time explaining Aventurine's stance on Darkfall physics, particularly bunny-hopping. "It's a fun way of using physics," he says, "but we never intended for players on foot to be able to keep up with mounts." Head to the official Darkfall website to see the changes coming to Agon in the near future.

MassivelyDarkfall dev blog talks armor system updates, roles, and PvP viability originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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