MMO Updates |
- Captain's Log: Season Four launch recap
- Meet LotRO's latest Big Bad: The dragon Draigoch
- The Perfect Ten: Best in-game maps
- Ask Massively: I'm very sorry about the events of last Friday edition
- The Daily Grind: Would you keep playing if your character was wiped?
- RIFT patch 1.4 arriving on test servers tomorrow
- Eden Eternal update bringing raids, dungeons, and adorable mouse-people
- Black Prophecy launch-day interview
- Massively Speaking Episode 156
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: In the case of archetypes
- Masthead releases first Earthrise expansion, reactivates old accounts
- Exclusive community Q&A with the Elsword crew
- One Shots: Under the Arisen sun
- Enter at Your Own Rift: Are rifts in danger of collapsing?
- Retired RIFT players, come back for free July 13-19
- Choose My Adventure: Ork in da wild
- Celebrate Massively's 10,000th Twitter follower with a gaming prize package from Massively!
- SWTOR writer talks economy, endgame, and polish
| Captain's Log: Season Four launch recap Posted: 14 Jul 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Expansions, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Captain's Log  Hello, computer (and players)! As I mentioned in last week's Captain's Log entry, Season Four: Crossfire is now alive and kicking on Star Trek Online's Holodeck server. Based on past experiences with major content and code pushes, I feel that this was the smoothest to date with virtually no server issues or overload. While there have been a few snags along the way with some bugs making it past Cryptic's "white-glove" QA process, the update was a success and players are having more fun than ever before. As discussed in one of my past log entries, Season Four was to bring many updates to the game, including the acclaimed ground combat 2.0 system, which would make it an even better Trek experience -- in all honestly, Cryptic delivered. STO is more active than ever and the fleet that I am in is having multiple newbies sign up each day; it is an exciting time to be a player and your weekly columnist. What I would like to do this week is revisit what I let you know was coming to the game and let you know some of my thoughts on them now that I have been experiencing them for myself. Ensign, warp 12! Oh yeah, we are taking this to a whole new level... Continue reading Captain's Log: Season Four launch recap
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| Meet LotRO's latest Big Bad: The dragon Draigoch Posted: 14 Jul 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Previews, Free-to-play  This piece of art depicts Draigoch, the giant dragon who will be the big bad boss of the expansion's 24-man raid. Turbine says that Draigoch is one of the most powerful creatures in Middle-earth, and after getting a look at him, we're inclined to agree. Reportedly, he'll be so big that players will only be able to fight his head. Rise of Isengard is slated for a September 27th release, and can be pre-ordered now to gain spiffy bonuses and cosmetic gear.
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| The Perfect Ten: Best in-game maps Posted: 14 Jul 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, Aion, EVE Online, Fallen Earth, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Warhammer Online, Humor, Wizard101, RIFT, Perfect Ten  In MMOs, maps are one of the most important tools in your user interface. They help orient you, direct you to your next quest objective, allow you to plan a journey in the safest possible manner, and tantalize you with the potentials of unexplored areas. I started to think about how much we rely on a good in-game map when I was reading the Star Wars: The Old Republic dev diary on how that team is implementing their map system. I've found that in-game maps can be a mixed bag, depending on the game you visit. Some may look great but be functionally useless. Some may be uglier than dirt but hit the spot nevertheless. But the best are the ones that marry good aesthetics with practicality, and those are the ones I want to spotlight today. So without further ado, my favorite in-game maps from MMOs! Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Best in-game maps
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| Ask Massively: I'm very sorry about the events of last Friday edition Posted: 14 Jul 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Humor, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous  Assuming we can put all of this behind us, it's time for this week's edition of Ask Massively, in which we take on the question of why we can't just play an MMO offline whenever the urge strikes us. If you have a question that doesn't involve the incident mentioned above, mail it off to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Continue reading Ask Massively: I'm very sorry about the events of last Friday edition
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| The Daily Grind: Would you keep playing if your character was wiped? Posted: 14 Jul 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind  Aventurine recently hinted at character wipes in conjunction with Darkfall 2.0, and while front man Tasos Flambouras hasn't said definitively that there will be a fresh start, he also hasn't said there won't be. For today's Daily Grind, we'd like to know your thoughts on character wipes. Whether it's a game like Darkfall or any other sort of progression-based affair. Would you keep playing if your progress was reset?  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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| RIFT patch 1.4 arriving on test servers tomorrow Posted: 13 Jul 2011 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Previews, RIFT  Patch 1.4 follows 1.3's Waves of Madness world event, Hammerknell raid and guild banks with even more high-profile goodies. Probably one of the most-requested features, the ability to look for groups across servers, will be part of the update. This will allow the LFG tool to draw from a wider range of potential dungeon runners. Also included in the testing process is an alternative gameplay mode for the Whitefall Steppes PvP warfront. Players will have to collect and hold Sourcestone at their base to activate powerful rune cannons to obliterate the enemy. Instructions on how to participate in RIFT's public test server can be found over at the site.
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| Eden Eternal update bringing raids, dungeons, and adorable mouse-people Posted: 13 Jul 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, News items, Free-to-play, Races  Today, Aeria Games announced the first content update to its free-to-play MMO Eden Eternal. We've already taken a look at one of the new additions coming with the update, the adorably ingenious Zumi race, but now we have more information on what else will be coming to the charming little MMO. The update will add eight-player raids to the mix alongside Heroic Dungeons. The first of many planned Heroic Dungeons will be Angor Quarry, which players will recognize as the first dungeon they encounter on their journey, and it will provide Eden Eternal players with "new challenges, new items and new crafting recipes." And for those of you with a competitive streak, the game will be introducing ranking-based rewards, which will track the top players and guilds on each server and reward the top percentage with rare and unique rewards. To jump into the game yourself, head on over to the official Eden Eternal website.
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| Black Prophecy launch-day interview Posted: 13 Jul 2011 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, Launches, News items, Free-to-play, Black Prophecy  Reakktor Media's space-faring MMO Black Prophecy saw its North American launch today, as well as its first major content update. We've already provided you lovely readers with a launch-day roundup for your perusal. To commemorate the game going live, we have a launch-day interview with gamigo's Executive Board Member Patrick Streppel. So strap yourselves in, kick your thrusters into overdrive, and jump past the cut for the full interview. Continue reading Black Prophecy launch-day interview
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| Massively Speaking Episode 156 Posted: 13 Jul 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, News items, Opinion, Massively meta, Humor, Massively Speaking  Since Rubi will be gone next week, let us know which Massively writer you want to hear on the show. An old favorite? A fresh voice? Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to shawn@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes.  Massively Speaking is the official podcast of Massively.com. Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Shawn Schuster and Community Manager Rubi Bayer, Massively Speaking takes on the week's biggest news and dev interviews with plenty of opinion, rants, and laughs thrown in for good measure. Join us every Wednesday afternoon to listen in and see what we'll say next!Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 156
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: In the case of archetypes Posted: 13 Jul 2011 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Classes, Game mechanics, Opinion, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  Oh, well. I might not be able to go back and edit all of the columns to accommodate all the upcoming changes (well, not credibly, anyway), but I can at least talk about the process and my thoughts behind the overall focus. And even if the columns won't quite stand the test of time, methodology matters, right? So let's get on with it and take a look back over the ten core archetypes, talk a little more about the epic archetypes, and even glance at the future of each given set. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: In the case of archetypes
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| Masthead releases first Earthrise expansion, reactivates old accounts Posted: 13 Jul 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Earthrise  The big kahuna in terms of new content is the Territorial Wars functionality, and the patch notes mention new zones with bases ripe for the capturing as well as the ability for guilds to construct various economic and military structures. Speaking of guilds, leaders can now make use of a new ranking and permission system, and Earthrise now sports both friend and ignore lists in addition to improved client performance. The patch also brings a laundry list of weapon effect changes, combat re-balancing, and bug fixes, all of which are viewable via the patch notes on the official Earthrise forums. If all that's not enough to whet your appetite, consider that Masthead has reduced the initial client cost by 40% as well as gifted all previous account holders with 10 days of free play.
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| Exclusive community Q&A with the Elsword crew Posted: 13 Jul 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Free-to-play, Casual, Community Q&A, Dev Diaries  Q: How do the developers come up with new content? Do you guys sit around and throw out ideas? Or do you have certain developers come up with their own designs then present them to one another until everyone can agree on one thing? A: There's a game design team within the development team that's responsible for planning and proposing game content. Often, one of the game designers will present his or her ideas to the team and get feedback to help refine the feature. They'll also freely discuss their ideas on our internal message board, a very similar tool to the forum. Every member of the development team has a chance to voice their ideas about new content they'd like to see or how to improve existing content. We also have a team specially dedicated to developing Elsword for North America. The team updates the Korean Elsword content so it's tailored for North American gamers. Everyone on the team has a chance to offer ideas to create a more fun experience for players in North America. Continue reading Exclusive community Q&A with the Elsword crew
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| One Shots: Under the Arisen sun Posted: 13 Jul 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Free-to-play, One Shots, Allods Online  This is my level 30 Fire/Lightning Arisen Sorcerer in Allods Online. Here I'm at Edge of Eternal Night in the Eljune zone, riding my Indigo Wolf Mount. I love the atmosphere here.We've taken a look at all of your accessories over the past few weeks on One Shots: weapons, armor, mounts, and pets. But now it's time to turn the spotlight on the star of the show. We want to see you -- well, your character. Snap a screenshot of your favorite character in your favorite MMO. Let us know about him or her by sending the screenshot, your name, and some information about the character to oneshots@massively.com, and we'll feature it here on One Shots!
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| Enter at Your Own Rift: Are rifts in danger of collapsing? Posted: 13 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Warhammer Online, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift  One of the interesting things I've noticed is that the event's daily quests have subtly shifted our focus from single-player activities to group ones. In phase one, it was all about boring solo quests: find hidden invaders, collect eggs, defeat a few underwater baddies. But just when we started to get used to (and bored from) the routine, the successive phases have moved us toward the game's dynamic content. Namely, rifts, rifts and more rifts. I think this is brilliant, because we're now given a solid reason why we should participate in rifts above the mere rewards. I've been worried that Trion's letting its focus on dynamic content slip as it's been rushing to get other game features and endgame raids out the door, and RIFT without people playing rifts would be sadly ironic. Today we're going to look at just how much RIFT depends on its titular feature, and what Trion should be doing to ensure that it doesn't become another nice yet abandoned idea. Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Are rifts in danger of collapsing?
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| Retired RIFT players, come back for free July 13-19 Posted: 13 Jul 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, News items, RIFT, Promotions  A lot has happened in the world of Telara since RIFT's launch, and now Trion Worlds is inviting retired players to come back to see what's new. Beginning today, July 13th, and ending on until Tuesday, July 19th, players can come back to RIFT without paying a single red cent. It's the perfect time for former players to jump back into the game to take part in the ongoing world event and to see everything that patch 1.3 has to offer. For more information on this limited-time offer (call within the next fifteen minutes!), head on over to the official RIFT site.
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| Choose My Adventure: Ork in da wild Posted: 13 Jul 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Choose My Adventure  Last week's polls both indicated that I should follow the WAR Report around the map, and they also indicated that people would really like to roll up with some Massively warband action. So we're going to make an event out of it, based on the best details and planning I can provide. Click on past the break for a recount of Klurgind's most recent adventures in Warhammer Online, plans for the meetup on the weekend, and the new set of polls. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Ork in da wild
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| Celebrate Massively's 10,000th Twitter follower with a gaming prize package from Massively! Posted: 13 Jul 2011 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Contests, Massively meta, Giveaways  We're closing in on 10,000 Twitter followers this weekend, and we want to celebrate the occasion by giving one of those followers a surprise gaming package from Massively. Want to be in the running? Simply follow us on Twitter right now, retweet our tweet of this contest any time from now until Friday at 12 p.m. Eastern, and we'll randomly select a winner from among those retweeters. We'll then announce the winner and present the prize pack on Friday afternoon. Good luck -- we'll see you on Twitter!
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| SWTOR writer talks economy, endgame, and polish Posted: 13 Jul 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Game Reactor has just released a 15-minute sit-down with Erickson from this year's E3, and the discussion ranges from story, to endgame, to the possibility of an open beta in the near future. "It's our launch year," Erickson says, "so I finally get to quit saying -- for the most part -- I can't talk about that." Head to Game Reactor to see what Erickson can talk about, including blurbs on the player economy, raiding, and polish, and don't forget to let us know what you think in the comments. [Thanks to Petter for the tip!]
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