MMO Updates |
- Funcom's Craig Morrison on background, story, and immersion
- SOE's Fan Faire 2012 moving to the Fall
- Massively Exclusive: Maplestory Age of Triumph trailer
- Planet War closed beta launches today
- Ether Saga Odyssey's Future's End update coming next week
- Guild Wars 2 video talks Sylvari background and design
- Massively Exclusive: Referee Ruby shows off Free Realms' housing
- Namaste Entertainment charts the history of MMOs [Updated]
- Perfect World Entertainment completes acquisition of Cryptic Studios
- TERA integrates technology to combat gold farming for North American launch
- The Daily Grind: Which MMO are you sorry you missed?
- New Guild Wars 2 blog post discusses the Sylvari Soul
- Massively Exclusive: Elsword community Q&A, part the third
- Star Vault partners with OnLegends for Mortal Online distribution
- City of Heroes explores the process of making missions
- Earth Eternal pushes the do-over button as it goes into open beta
- Massively Exclusive: Jim Lee talks Batman, canon, and DCUO
- One Shots: Dodging booty traps
- Star Trek Online's Dine with the Devs event details -- Vegas edition
- MMObility: More new games and news from mobile MMOs
- The Soapbox: Be here now
| Funcom's Craig Morrison on background, story, and immersion Posted: 10 Aug 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Dev Diaries  While you might think that story is all about narrative and characterization, Morrison opines that a sense of place and attention to world-building details like societal structures are equally important. Quest text can be crucial too, and while gameplay is obviously a big deal, Morrison says that it's only part of the equation. "Sure, a game can be good on its own mechanical merits, and first and foremost a game must be a compelling gameplay experience... but those truly great games? Those are the games that also create a sense of place for the player. A world they can believe in," he writes.
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| SOE's Fan Faire 2012 moving to the Fall Posted: 10 Aug 2011 10:30 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items  Participants can select between the weekends of September 13th through September 16th, September 27th through September 30th, or October 18th through October 21st. In a post on SOE's official boards, Linda "Brasse" Carlson explains that the bump is mostly due to the availability of the venue, which in turn keeps costs down and enables SOE to continue hosting the fan-friendly event.
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| Massively Exclusive: Maplestory Age of Triumph trailer Posted: 10 Aug 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MapleStory, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  The video highlights the three main features coming up in this patch: The new PvP game Capture the Flag; footage of the new Silent Crusade story line, a full-length quest for players level 37-110; and even the new Crusader Codex, a book highlighting the various monsters that roam Maple World which players can add to after defeating new monsters. Click past the cut for a look at these upcoming features in Age of Triumph. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Maplestory Age of Triumph trailer
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| Planet War closed beta launches today Posted: 10 Aug 2011 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Browser, MMORTS  Don't take our word for it, though. The closed beta is currently underway, and YooGames is accepting new testers via their website registration form. Planet War also boasts a special gift event for closed beta players who are present for the unveiling of the Bellona server. Each individual will receive a VIP code that grants resources, coins, a point voucher, and five in-game construction robots. Head to the official Planet War website to learn more about the game, and don't forget to view the trailer after the cut! Continue reading Planet War closed beta launches today
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| Ether Saga Odyssey's Future's End update coming next week Posted: 10 Aug 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Ether Saga Online  New world bosses are the order of the day, including the aforementioned phoenix and the fearsome Astral Overlord. That's not all, either. A new glyph system and the new Dragon Lord and Genesis gear are some of ESO's best and most desirable equipment, and of course there's Future's End itself. The titular adventuring area is intended for levels 106 and up and features mobs that are "much stronger than anything that players have ever experienced." You can view the Future's End trailer after the cut, and be sure to log in starting today, as PWE is rolling out the double XP from August 10th through August 17th. Continue reading Ether Saga Odyssey's Future's End update coming next week
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| Guild Wars 2 video talks Sylvari background and design Posted: 10 Aug 2011 08:45 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Guild Wars 2, Races  In the three-minute video, Ree talks about the origins of the Sylvari from a story viewpoint, explaining the history of the tree that bore their race, and how that forms the basis for who they are. ArenaNet artist Kristen Perry provides a counterpoint from a design perspective. She talks in depth about her desire to design a creature in keeping with the Sylvari race's unusual origins and background as described by Ree: "I didn't want to just make a painted human with pointy ears." Jump past the break to take a look at the full video for Sylvari Week. Continue reading Guild Wars 2 video talks Sylvari background and design
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| Massively Exclusive: Referee Ruby shows off Free Realms' housing Posted: 10 Aug 2011 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, News items, Free-to-play, Consoles, Casual, Free Realms  All right, Free Realms fanatics, it's time for another visit from the fabulous Referee Ruby. Today she's focused on Free Realms' housing options. After giving viewers a small sampling of the housing lots available to players (as well as a... toilet theme park?), she shows us how a player can take their creative masterpiece -- such as, Ruby suggests, a theme park dedicated to a certain referee -- and share it with the rest of the world. To watch the full video, and maybe get some ideas for your own Free Realms lot, jump on past the cut! Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Referee Ruby shows off Free Realms' housing
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| Namaste Entertainment charts the history of MMOs [Updated] Posted: 10 Aug 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Galleries, Culture, MMO industry, Massively meta, Miscellaneous  During her research into user-generated content in MMOs for Storybricks, Namaste Entertainment's Kelly Heckman built a giant graphic to get a handle on how games developed over the years. She not only plotted them by year released, but also lumped them in with their respective genres and showed which games inspired others. The end result gives the viewer a bird's eye view of the industry as it's grown in the past decade and a half. "It turned out so well we made the movie with it and plan to release the source so anyone can make a movie with it," Heckman said. You can walk through this giant infographic in the gallery below, and make sure to hit the jump to watch the accompanying video that makes use of the chart. [Update: Here's a direct link to a much bigger version of the infographic.] Continue reading Namaste Entertainment charts the history of MMOs [Updated]
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| Perfect World Entertainment completes acquisition of Cryptic Studios Posted: 10 Aug 2011 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Star Trek Online, Champions Online, Miscellaneous  A couple of months back, we announced that Atari was in the court to sell off Cryptic Studios, and that Perfect World Entertainment had stepped up to the plate to take the studio off Atari's hands. Well, as of now, the sale is complete and Cryptic is now firmly in the grasp of free-to-play leviathan Perfect World Entertainment. According to reports, the sale cost Perfect World a staggering $49.8 million, and $30.7 is said to be going straight toward paying off Atari's existing debt. As for the projects Cryptic was previously working on -- namely Star Trek Online, Champions Online, and the upcoming Neverwinter -- it remains to be seen what will happen, but you can be sure we'll bring you the latest as soon as we get word.
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| TERA integrates technology to combat gold farming for North American launch Posted: 10 Aug 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, TERA  According to the official release, the platform is based around a steady analysis of player behavior, looking for erratic patterns and unusual behaviors to flag potential abuses. In theory, this will allow En Masse Entertainment's support staff access to easy data at a glance, allowing any attempts at gold farming to be detected and stopped before the point that the money gets put up for sale. How successful that will be is going to depend on the implementation, something we won't know about until the game's launch in spring of next year.
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| The Daily Grind: Which MMO are you sorry you missed? Posted: 10 Aug 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  And since we're speaking of time: If you spend enough of it reading and talking about our favorite genre, you'll inevitably come across a game that sounds right up your alley. If you're lucky, said game will still be available to you. If not, well, you might have the answer to this morning's Daily Grind question. Which MMO(s) are you sorry you missed?  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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| New Guild Wars 2 blog post discusses the Sylvari Soul Posted: 09 Aug 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Races  "I love how their virtue blends with their innocence and then contrasts with the darkness of the world surrounding them. This disparity illuminates the sacrifices, gallantry, and tragedies of Tyria's war with the dragons," Design team member Angel McCoy writes. She delves into the lives, loves, and duties of the Sylvari race, answering several questions that fans have been asking, such as how they're born, the intricacies of their emotional attachments, their view of the world around them, and much more. This entry follows the fashion of previous GW2 race weeks and includes several audio clips to flesh out the text, so be sure you give them a listen. The blog post and audio clips can be found at the ArenaNet blog.
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| Massively Exclusive: Elsword community Q&A, part the third Posted: 09 Aug 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  Part three of Elsword's Massively-exclusive dev diary is now available for your perusal. This time around, the devs talk about their long-term goals for the game, character favoritism, and the relation between Elsword and fellow side-scroller Grand Chase. Dash on past the cut for their answers. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Elsword community Q&A, part the third
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| Star Vault partners with OnLegends for Mortal Online distribution Posted: 09 Aug 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Mortal Online, Sandbox  The release also states that Mortal has attracted over 170,000 players thus far despite the lack of any marketing presence, and OnLegends seems enthusiastic about Mortal's place in the expanding MMORPG pantheon. "We strongly believe that Mortal Online can play an important future role on both PC and console MMO markets and we expect Mortal to be one of the trendsetting next-gen titles," said OnLegends vice president Julian Migura.
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| City of Heroes explores the process of making missions Posted: 09 Aug 2011 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play  Penned by Matt Miller, the installment explains some of the thought processes that go on during mission development. For example, as Miller explains, the main reason that level bands restrict available enemy groups is simply plausibility -- if you're still seeing Hellions at level 50, it implies that the Rikti are essentially equivalent to punks in red jackets. Miller also talks about the importance of finding little quirks to help the mission feel unique and memorable, an important element in a game that allows you to flash back to older missions at almost any time. It's sure to be an interesting read for longtime fans interested in seeing how the team goes about taking a broad concept and turns it into a playable arc.
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| Earth Eternal pushes the do-over button as it goes into open beta Posted: 09 Aug 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Contests, Free-to-play, Earth Eternal, Kids, Post-Apocalyptic  Players interested in seeing what the new and revised version of Earth Eternal looks like are encouraged to sign up for the beta on the website and jump into the game post-haste. Testers will not only get to see the newest features in the game, but will receive a nice in-game goody bag with a banner, helmet and XP boost. There's also a special reward for those who hit level 30 or higher during the beta period. This unique MMO combines a hodge-podge of seemingly contradicting flavors -- including a post-apocalyptic setting, sentient animals, and magic across Europe -- and melded it together into a delightful concoction. If you're interested in what we think about Earth Eternal, you'd do well to check out Beau's Rise and Shiny impressions of the title!
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| Massively Exclusive: Jim Lee talks Batman, canon, and DCUO Posted: 09 Aug 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Culture, Interviews, Lore, MMO industry, DC Universe Online  OK, you got us. We sat down with Jim Lee because he's Jim Lee, and we're unabashed Batfans who will jump at every opportunity to talk to the artists behind the cowl. In any event, Lee did have some interesting things to say about MMOs in general, canon in particular, and his experiences with SOE and DCUO. Join us after the cut to read all about it. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Jim Lee talks Batman, canon, and DCUO
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| One Shots: Dodging booty traps Posted: 09 Aug 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, One Shots  Lord of the Rings Online's new Inn of the Forsaken instance is, by developer admission, heavily influenced by the movie The Goonies. It takes place in caves under an inn (similar to the film), where many traps await (ditto), culminating in a giant waterslide that leads down to an abandoned pirate ship (yup). Here you can see the ship as it prepares to sail out of the cave and into Middle-earth. What adventures lie in store for One-Eyed Willy and his crew? Only time will tell.We're celebrating pop culture in our MMOs this week. Developers sneak references in all over games, whether it be via NPCs, quests, or items, and we want to see your favorites. Grab a screenshot, tell us a bit about what it is, and send it to oneshots@massively.com. We'll be featuring the best of these all week.
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| Star Trek Online's Dine with the Devs event details -- Vegas edition Posted: 09 Aug 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Events, real-world, Star Trek Online  Priority One, the STO podcast for which I am Executive Producer, is proud to be hosting another Dine with the Devs event this Saturday evening, August 13th. While not affiliated with Massively, the casual meet-up will be within walking distance of the convention. As we dine, the devs will be answering players' questions and talking more in depth about some of the projects they have been involved with. It is important to note that each attendee's expenses are their own responsibility. For more information, including location and time, visit the event's information page.
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| MMObility: More new games and news from mobile MMOs Posted: 09 Aug 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: New titles, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Browser, Mobile, Casual, MMObility  They're out there, but the faucet is at a slow drip. It must be hard to make mobile games, especially MMOs, especially in a market that is not only new but such a niche. Granted, titles like Order and Chaos Online and Pocket Legends have shown that great success is possible, but in this columns, I like to highlight the little guys and the hidden gems. So click past the cut and I'll share with you a few updates on some of my favorite lesser-known mobile MMOs. Continue reading MMObility: More new games and news from mobile MMOs
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| Posted: 09 Aug 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous  Games die. It's an unpleasant reality but a reality just the same, with the highest-profile death on the horizon being Star Wars Galaxies. Business decisions get made, and unfortunately, sometimes those decisions boil down to "this game is no longer worth the money to keep it running." If you're lucky, the announcement comes with a great deal of time for you to wrap up what you've always wanted to do in the game; if you're unlucky, you might have a couple of weeks before the servers go dark. So what do you do as a player? How do you cope with the fact that the game is shutting down? There are a lot of approaches, but I think it's unfortunate that most of the reactions seem to center around some last-ditch effort to save the game from oblivion. It's entirely missing the point to try and pull the game back from the brink of death, and it does a disservice to both the game and the players when you spend your last days desperately fighting a foregone conclusion. Continue reading The Soapbox: Be here now
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