MMO Updates |
- GamersFirst's Fallen Earth account transitions begin today
- Nexon unveils Vindictus' EU website
- ARGO Online celebrates new ranking system with contest
- Tinkerfest returns to EverQuest II
- ArenaNet revealing Guild Wars 2 PvP and customization at Gamescom
- Firefall blows up bugs in the new gameplay trailer
- The Daily Grind: Have you ever dressed up as a game character?
- Massively Exclusive: Elsword Online community Q&A, part deux
- Scout out Gods and Heroes' patch 1.0.38.3
- Mythos Europe adds PvP features and new levels
- The Perfect Ten: MMO mascots
- Rusty Hearts closed beta goes live; new trailer and screenshots released
- Captain's Log: Dining with the devs
- New LotRO dev diary outlines future itemization improvements
- One Shots: Worth the wait
- NCsoft's Carbine Studios to reveal new MMO at Gamescom
- Behind the Mask: You wouldn't like me when I'm angry
- Ask Massively: Early access pre-order hooray edition
- MapleStory chills out with Ice Knight Battle mode
- Asda 2's first content update goes live
- The Guild Counsel: Why I learned to love the parse
| GamersFirst's Fallen Earth account transitions begin today Posted: 29 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic  When the server comes back up, players will need a free GamersFirst account to log in, and they'll also be prompted to merge their old Icarus accounts with the new account before continuing. Credit card payment information will automatically transfer, but Paypal users will need to manually update their info on the account settings page. Finally, ClickandBuy will no longer be an option for subscription accounts, and the Fallen Earth team is inviting former users to continue their subs via Paypal or traditional credit card payments. Icarus also points out that today's migration has nothing to do with either game content or the impending free-to-play conversion (i.e., subscriptions will still be required for game access after today's merge is complete).
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| Nexon unveils Vindictus' EU website Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Vindictus  The gorgeous website boasts both English and German language options, has an overview of the game and characters, and is prepared to inject fans with screenshots, wallpapers and a rocking trailer to keep the excitement level high. Players looking to put in for extra credit may sign up for the game's newsletter and Facebook page as well. Seeing as how incredibly popular Vindictus has been in both the Asian and North American markets, Europe should prepare to fall in love with the fast-paced action MMO. Vindictus will launch in Europe sometime in the fourth quarter of this year, and is prepared to make a splashy appearance at next month's Gamescom in Germany.
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| ARGO Online celebrates new ranking system with contest Posted: 29 Jul 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Contests, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic  'Tis true, dear readers; ARGO Online is rewarding top players with in-game AP worth hundreds of real-world dollars. This giveaway is part of a promotion to celebrate ARGO's brand-new ranking system, in which players can compete to see who accumulates the most XP in each level tier. There's also a second ranking ladder that lists players according to wins and losses. During this month, alaplaya is tallying up the initial pack leaders and will be rewarding the best of the best with in-game currency at the end of the 30 days. Lowest level characters have a shot at $50 worth of AP while level-capped folks can compete for $150. In total, alaplaya is giving out $500 just for players giving ARGO their all, which is a pretty sweet deal for those already into the game. If ARGO Online is an unknown entity to you, check out our first impressions and see if it's up your alley!
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| Tinkerfest returns to EverQuest II Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play  If you can pull yourself away from EQII's double XP weekend, it's well worth running a few of the festival quests if you're into gnomish collectibles and decor. In addition to the news blurb on the official EQII website, several fansites have exhaustive guides and picture galleries available to help you make sense of all your Tinkerfest options.
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| ArenaNet revealing Guild Wars 2 PvP and customization at Gamescom Posted: 29 Jul 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2  In a new post on the company blog, Martin Kerstein gives us an idea of what we can expect from the NCsoft demo booth. The playable GW2 build will include all seven professions revealed thus far, the complete Charr starter experience, and a mid-level demo featuring powerful Orrian enemies (and Sylvari and Asura playable characters). Last but not least, gamers will finally get their hands on Guild Wars 2's character customization system as well as its PvP component. Hands-on PvP experiences will be available, and players can also watch exhibition matches between developers and select European players.
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| Firefall blows up bugs in the new gameplay trailer Posted: 29 Jul 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, New titles, Free-to-play  IGN granted us a glimpse into this world of kill-or-be-killed with the Firefall gameplay trailer. The two minutes of pure action starts with dynamic squad missions, continues past player gear and abilities, and then launches you into epic world events. Blast past the break to experience the trailer for yourself, and don't forget to sign up for the beta on the official FireFall website. [Thanks, Dylan, for the tip] Continue reading Firefall blows up bugs in the new gameplay trailer
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| The Daily Grind: Have you ever dressed up as a game character? Posted: 29 Jul 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Real life, Culture, Events, real-world, Opinion, The Daily Grind  With various conventions like SOE's Fan Faire and DragonCon offering contests with prizes and at least a few minutes of fame, it's no wonder some people harness their creativity and pull out all the stops to create a costume. After all, you love your game, so why not be a part of it? From Ratonga to superheroes, player avatars to mobs, there seems to be no shortage of costume ideas and cosplayers strutting their stuff. Some ideas are elaborate and some are a bit less involved. But really, who needs a reason?! Whether for an actual event, just for your office party, or just in the safety of your own home (with friends carefully sneaking YouTube videos), have you ever dressed up as a character in a game? Which one? Fess up! If you haven't yet, have you considered it? And who/what would you be?  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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| Massively Exclusive: Elsword Online community Q&A, part deux Posted: 28 Jul 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Interviews, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  KOG Studios, developer of free-to-play hack'n'slash MMO Elsword, has unleashed the second round of an ongoing series of Massively-exclusive community Q&A segments for your enjoyment. A bit of backstory for the uninitiated: Elsword is a popular Korean side-scrolling MMO that saw its North American launch in May. The game puts players in the role of one of three characters as they face off against legions of manga-styled enemies, or against one another. This second Q&A session covers questions from the Elsword community regarding the hilarious mishaps of localizing the game for North American launch, the team's preferred style of play, and what games the team plays when they're not working (or playing) on Elsword. For the full Q&A, jump on past the cut! Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Elsword Online community Q&A, part deux
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| Scout out Gods and Heroes' patch 1.0.38.3 Posted: 28 Jul 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, News items  The newest Gods and Heroes patch from Heatwave Interactive is a doozy, so hang on to your galeas, folks. Alongside the variety of bug fixes, quest adjustments, and quality-of-life improvements that players expect, patch 1.0.38.3 brings a surprise: a spankin'-new class. Players can now jump into Rome as the wily Scout. These followers of Apollo or Diana use survival skills, stealth, and deadly aim with a bow to wreak havoc upon their opponents before they're ever spotted. Their knowledge of the wilderness also grants them the ability to scavenge up food and drink to keep their party nourished and fighting strong.
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| Mythos Europe adds PvP features and new levels Posted: 28 Jul 2011 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items, Mythos, Free-to-play  What's that? You're stuck at level 50? Well, not any longer -- level 51 has been added, allowing players access to new pieces of equipment and another notch of power. The full list of patch changes is quite extensive, including new rewards for clearing dungeons quickly, improvements to movement speed, and new stats that can be generated when items drop. Amidst all of the new doses of power, it's for the best that PvP is coming out in force. After all, why settle for crushing computer-controlled enemies when you could be hearing the lamentations of your opponents?
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| Posted: 28 Jul 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Anarchy Online, City of Heroes, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EverQuest, Guild Wars, Warhammer Online, Tabula Rasa, Humor, Free Realms, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous, Faxion Online  Yet when you think about it, MMOs have had a tougher time producing mascots than other video game genres, partially because unlike other games, you don't play as the mascots, and partially because when you have a cast of thousands of NPCs, picking out one to elevate above the rest is a difficult job. Difficult, that is, but not impossible. Today we're going to look at ten MMO mascots (MMOscots?) that studios have tried to promote as the face of these games, to varying degrees of success. Continue reading The Perfect Ten: MMO mascots
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| Rusty Hearts closed beta goes live; new trailer and screenshots released Posted: 28 Jul 2011 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, News items, Free-to-play  Perfect World Entertainment has announced that the Rusty Hearts closed beta has launched to overwhelming response. The fast-paced hack'n'slash MMO's servers reached maximum capacity within hours of the launch, forcing PWE to scale them up in order to accommodate the torrents of new players. Players outside of the United States will also be pleased to know that the IP ban previously instated has been lifted, allowing everyone to get on the cel-shaded fun. During the beta, players are given the choice of one of three characters and given free reign over the game's content up to level [Update: You can play up to level 20, not just 10 - Ed.] Continue reading Rusty Hearts closed beta goes live; new trailer and screenshots released
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| Captain's Log: Dining with the devs Posted: 28 Jul 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, real-world, Interviews, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Captain's Log  Hello, computer (and players)! Ahhh, the good 'ol developers! You follow them on twitter, you read every one of their forum posts, and you even stalk them in-game. But you know what? Developers are just like us, a fellow human being, right? Wrong! Developers are the key to the future, the hands that create our dreams, the molders that shape our gameplay. Okay, okay -- I'm going a bit overboard, but you have to admit, they are pretty dang cool! Luckily for us Star Trek Online players, the devs that are working on the game, as well as all of the other projects in development at Cryptic, are very transparent. More often that not, they let us know what they are working on and look to the community to see what we think about particular ideas -- we truly get to help influence what makes it into the game. Aside from posting in the forums, many of them also participate with the community by guest starring on podcasts and meeting up with players when they can. As I broke the news to you all last week, I was privileged to host a Dine with the Devs event that coincided with a visit of some of the STO devs to this year's San Diego Comic-Con. While this was not associated with Massively, I figured all of you would like to know what happened and what was said. So, without further ado, it's time to recap the event and fill you all in on the super-secret meeting minutes! Ensign, warp 10! Let's boldly go where most of you were not able to go... Continue reading Captain's Log: Dining with the devs
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| New LotRO dev diary outlines future itemization improvements Posted: 28 Jul 2011 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  In a new dev diary, the LotRO systems team lays out the path for itemization improvements, including where we've been in the game and where we're going with gear. Two of the biggest concerns that the team identified to fix were minute increments between gear upgrades and the inability to predict what combination of equipment players would use to hit the stat caps. Therefore, the caps will be removed and players should see more substantial gear upgrades with the expansion. The diary goes on to share how different segments of the player community will be able to access top-of-the-line gear in the future, including solo players, crafters, casual groupers, and raiders. Other interesting tidbits include desirable yellow gear, gear dropping in instance chests, and the addition of a non-gating stat called Finesse.
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| Posted: 28 Jul 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Tabula Rasa, One Shots  I still marvel at the events in Tabula Rasa, especially after the objectives were met. In this case Irendas Colony had successfully been defended and people simply formed a line and waited their turn to be handed their rewards by developers, or sometimes even General British himself.Next week's One Shots theme is Some Assembly Required, and yes, it's a little nod to Massively's newest column. If you'd like to participate, send your best screenshot of content that you've created to us at oneshots@massively.com. It can be a house you built, an item you crafted, or anything you like as long as it came from your two (virtual) hands. Include your name, the game, and a little description of the image, and we'll feature it here on Massively!
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| NCsoft's Carbine Studios to reveal new MMO at Gamescom Posted: 28 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, New titles, News items  NCSoft announced today that Jeremy Gaffney, Executive Producer of NCSoft's Carbine Studios has confirmed that the studio's latest project is to be revealed next month at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. Gaffney has many titles to his name, having worked on Asheron's Call, City of Heroes/Villains, and a number of other online titles. What is this super-secret mystery project? Well, we don't know, otherwise we'd have already told you now, wouldn't we? However, the press release assures us that the reveal "promises to be different from the standard game project announcement," and will take place as doors open at Gamescom. Can't make it to Gamescom? Don't worry, the studio will also be strutting its stuff at PAX Prime this August where Massively will have its own presence to take a look at whatever this new project happens to be. Stay tuned and we'll be sure to let you know exactly what it is the second we know. In the meantime, you can check out Mr. Gaffney's inaugural blog post to get a taste of what the team is aiming for.
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| Behind the Mask: You wouldn't like me when I'm angry Posted: 28 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Champions Online, Behind the Mask  Focus is often scrutinized more heavily than Enrage, simply because DEX is a better stat than STR. However, because Enrage can be applied to ranged attacks, it has more potential for abuse. Focus is limited to melee attacks -- although some builds use ranged attacks to build Focus with Form of the Tempest, these builds inevitably close distance and strike with Dragon's Wrath, Dragon's Claws, or Ego Blade Breach. This week, we're going to look at Enrage -- ways to build and maintain it, and ideal ways to use it. Continue reading Behind the Mask: You wouldn't like me when I'm angry
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| Ask Massively: Early access pre-order hooray edition Posted: 28 Jul 2011 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Business models, Launches, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous  Before you ask, I got the regular edition. I'm not paying three times the price for a statue. Anyway, this week's Ask Massively is pretty heavily tied into the pre-order talk, what with questions about release dates and the state of no-trial launches. As always, you can feel free to ask a question for a future installment of the column via mail to ask@massively.com, or you can just toss your question in the happy comment field below. Continue reading Ask Massively: Early access pre-order hooray edition
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| MapleStory chills out with Ice Knight Battle mode Posted: 28 Jul 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, MapleStory, Patches, PvP, News items, Free-to-play  Nexon has cried havoc, and let slip the dogs of wa-- err, the Ice Knight, rather. Continuing with MapleStory's Chaos series of summer content updates, Nexon has unleashed a brand-new PvP gametype, called the Ice Knight Battle. The Ice Knight Battle takes cues from traditional king-of-the-hill gametypes, but with one exciting twist: One of the ten players, chosen at random, becomes the Ice Knight at the beginning of the game. This transformation grants the Ice Knight a huge power boost as well as a number of unique abilities that can be used as the Ice Knight fills his Ice Gauge. From there, the remaining players have seven minutes to bring down the Ice Knight, which is sure to be no mean feat. For some shots of the Ice Knight Battle in action, hit the gallery below.
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| Asda 2's first content update goes live Posted: 28 Jul 2011 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  GamesCampus.com announced today that its free-to-play MMORPG Asda 2 has received its first content update. The Flammio Update (where do they get these names?) brings "three new maps, the introduction of the coveted pet system, a new player versus player tier to challenge and new items and equipment for both PVE and PVP competitors." Also, for high level players, the update is adding the Infernos continent, which brings with it three new maps for players to explore, a wealth of new quests, and myriad new items. And those hundreds of new quests are going to come in handy, considering that the level cap has been raised from level 50 to level 55. Players can also get their hands on an adorable new pet which grows as it levels. Lastly, a new PvP Faction War tier has been added to coincide with the raised level cap, and players can now use their honor point at the Honor Shop in order to spruce themselves up with spiffy new equipment with which to better faceroll their enemies.
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| The Guild Counsel: Why I learned to love the parse Posted: 28 Jul 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel  In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll take a look at why parsers aren't as evil as they're made out to be, and examine how they can be used to make your guild more tight-knit and efficient. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Why I learned to love the parse
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