MMO Updates |
- King of Kings III's Moon Goddess patch adds dungeons, raises level cap
- Riot releases new art and screenshots for League of Legend's Graves
- Glitch developer says mobile gaming is dominating the games industry
- BioWare Mythic isn't playing favorites with free-to-play and subscriptions
- MV Guide: October 24-20, 2011
- The Daily Grind: Will Pandaren lure you back to WoW?
- MMO Week in Review: BlizzCon 2011
- EVE Evolved: The human casualties
- RuneScape celebrates 'bot-nuking day' this Tuesday
- League of Legends turns two this Thursday, celebrations planned
| King of Kings III's Moon Goddess patch adds dungeons, raises level cap Posted: 24 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons  If that's not enough to wet your whistle, how about a level cap increase from 140 to 180? Let's see, there are also four new dungeons, including an Angel Arena wherein players will battle six celestial henchmen before squaring off against the fearsome Gabriel. Daily dungeons are also available, and they offer "big-time action without all the build-up skirmishes." This means you can skip the trash mob grind and go right into a series of boss fights. Head to the official King of Kings III website to learn more and to download the game. [Source: gamigo press release]
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| Riot releases new art and screenshots for League of Legend's Graves Posted: 24 Oct 2011 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Free-to-play  The one constant in all the shots -- aside from various versions of the BFG9000 -- is damage, and whether the new champion is throwing smokebombs, spraying cone nukes via his buckshot ability, or chasing down other champions who've decided to run away, he'll be pumping out a lot of damage (and he'll look good doing it). You can learn more about Graves at the official League of Legends website, and be sure you check out the art and screens below. [Source: Riot press release]
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| Glitch developer says mobile gaming is dominating the games industry Posted: 24 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, Mobile, Miscellaneous  With the newest editions of smartphones outpacing their predecessors and coming out much faster than the next console generation, Srivastava thinks it's not surprising that mobile gaming has momentum in the industry. "That pace of change is why mobile devices are going to be the console of the future. The way player interaction and player needs are changing, it's much faster than the five to seven years [of console development] that we're talking about," she said. She points to BioWare's comments that the studio would be looking into mobile versions of its established franchises as an example of this shift.
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| BioWare Mythic isn't playing favorites with free-to-play and subscriptions Posted: 24 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic  With Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes in beta testing, BioWare Mythic is testing the waters of free-to-play while preparing for Star Wars: The Old Republic's massive subscription launch. "We often got asked about taking our old games free-to-play, and in the case of Warhammer, we felt there was a different way of doing it," he opined, going on to say that the Mythic branch was learning a lot about polish and quality from the BioWare team. Evans commented on the observation that the widening global market means that no one business model is guaranteed to work in every country: "We're all still figuring out what free-to-play means, what the best way to monetize is, and how to run it as a business and engage players in ways they're prepared to accept."
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| Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively meta, Livestream, Miscellaneous, MV Guide  MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively's Livestream channel. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of titles to take a look at. During livestream events, you can participate in the live chat, ask questions to learn about the game, and simply spend some time with Massively staff and readers. (Of course, livestream events are subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) It's no surprise that we're heavy on the Halloween festivities in this week's MV Guide. Nearly every game out there is partying with the ghosts and goblins, from the newly discovered Little Horrors (pictured above) to the familiar Free Realms. Our livestream team is going to spend plenty of time checking out events in various games. If Halloween's not your thing, don't worry -- we've got plenty of regularly scheduled gameplay as well, so follow along after the jump for this week's lineup! Continue reading MV Guide: October 24-20, 2011
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| The Daily Grind: Will Pandaren lure you back to WoW? Posted: 24 Oct 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Classes, Expansions, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Races  But on WoW's official forums, existing players aren't exactly united in praise for BlizzCon's reveals. While some fans are happy for the new race, class, and zones, others complain of cute-overload and yet another massive do-over for talents. And on non-WoW sites like Massively, gamers are already suggesting that the expansion is jumping the shark. What do you think -- are Pandaren Monks, a new Asian-inspired setting, and new dungeons enough to lure you back to WoW? Or is there nothing Blizzard can do to win you over?  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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| MMO Week in Review: BlizzCon 2011 Posted: 23 Oct 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Massively meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous  BlizzCon owned the week with details of World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion Mists of Pandaria, Diablo III teasers, and the re-reveal of Blizzard DOTA (with which we even got a hands-on). We know Massively's often a haven for people who want to play something other than WoW, but some of us can't help but be excited anyway. Pandaren! New character models! Monks! Pandaren! New zones and dungeons! Pet battles! Pandaren! Scenarios! New talent systems (again)! Pandaren! Now all Blizzard has to do is release it before we're old and grey. Check out the best stuff from the con along with this week's other top stories just past the cut. Continue reading MMO Week in Review: BlizzCon 2011
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| EVE Evolved: The human casualties Posted: 23 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, World of Darkness, EVE Evolved, DUST 514  Following the CEO's recent letter of apology promising a refocusing of development on in-space EVE features, news of highly requested features due for inclusion in EVE has gone a long way toward restoring confidence in CCP as a developer. With the return of ship spinning earlier this week and news of updates from hybrid turret rebalancing and implants being added to killmails to the release of the player-designed Tornado battlecruiser, the process of refocusing on EVE is well underway. Unfortunately, the good news of upcoming gameplay updates has been marred by the sobering reality that over 20% of CCP's worldwide staff have been laid off as part of the refocusing effort. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the human casualties of the recent EVE drama and speak to an insider at CCP about what's going on within the company. Unless quotes or facts in this article are specifically attributed to this insider, they are my own views and opinions based on publicly available information. Continue reading EVE Evolved: The human casualties
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| RuneScape celebrates 'bot-nuking day' this Tuesday Posted: 23 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, MMO industry, Patches, RuneScape, Free-to-play  In a new community update this week, Jagex Chief Executive Officer Mark Gerhard announced the release of a new doomsday weapon in the war on bots. In an upcoming patch on October 25th, Jagex will be "launching our most formidable bot-busting weapon in our history, targeting what we believe to be 98% of the bots seen in game." This update permanently prevents reflection bots from working and the effects should be immediately visible in-game. To celebrate "bot-nuking day", Tuesday's patch brings four days of events and minigame bonuses for regular players. [Thanks to David for the tip!]
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| League of Legends turns two this Thursday, celebrations planned Posted: 23 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, News items, Free-to-play, Not So Massively  To help celebrate reaching the two year mark, Riot has released an interactive development timeline page showing the game's development from launch day all the way up to last week's Graves patch. The timeline shows when each of LoL's champions was implemented, as well as major developments like the Twisted Treeline 3v3 map, the player-mediated banning tribunal and the recent release of the Dominion game mode.
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