MMO Updates |
- Want to freelance for Massively? We want you!
- MMO Family: First impressions of Little Space Heroes
- Free for All: The real damage of botting, in the words of a botter
- Richard Garriott blames Blizzard for ignoring the social gaming field
- The Daily Grind: It's our 4th birthday and our wish is to hear your stories!
- Dungeons & Dragons Online to launch Update 12 on November 9th
- Perfect World introduces The Trials content update
- Cryptic posts Champions Online's November state of the game
- New interview with Tony Park talks about Firefall's post-release path
- EVE dev video shows work on engine trails, custom ship skins and more
- The Game Archaeologist and the Classic MMOs in October
- Hyperspace Beacon: Social gaming
- The Soapbox: The battle for story
- NCsoft releases brief Lineage II F2P trailer
- Burning Dog announces cross-platform plans for Origins of Malu
- Perpetuum dev blog talks MMO complexity, implementation
- DCUO's free-to-play rollout has begun
- Pick up a GhostX Ultimate gift pack from GameKiss and Massively
| Want to freelance for Massively? We want you! Posted: 02 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Massively meta, Miscellaneous  So to help alleviate that problem, we're looking to assemble a team of writers to cover these press events, tours, and conferences from their own backyards. These freelancers wouldn't be regular part-time or full-time staff, but only called upon for special events local to them. Read on past the cut for complete details on what areas we're looking for and how to apply. Continue reading Want to freelance for Massively? We want you!
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| MMO Family: First impressions of Little Space Heroes Posted: 02 Nov 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, New titles, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, First Impressions, Kids, MMO Family, Family  At first glance, I wasn't sure whether I'd even be able to get my two young "testers" interested in the game. They've tried similar-looking games like Club Penguin but never seemed to stick with them for very long. Surprisingly, not only did they enjoy it, but they pretty much took over, and my little space alien hero was shoved aside as we spent most of our time playing their two characters. Read on for some first impressions! Continue reading MMO Family: First impressions of Little Space Heroes
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| Free for All: The real damage of botting, in the words of a botter Posted: 02 Nov 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business models, Economy, Opinion, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Browser, Free for All  The saddest thing is that cheaters honestly think that what they do cannot possibly result in much harm for the game they are botting in, cheating at, or hacking up. It's sad because the truth is that a cheater, as one person, might not have much of an impact on the game. Add up several thousands of these scam artists and the results are mindboggling. Drive by your local dump to see just how much trash can pile up, one person at a time. I want to shine some light on just how damaging botting can be. Click past the cut. Continue reading Free for All: The real damage of botting, in the words of a botter
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| Richard Garriott blames Blizzard for ignoring the social gaming field Posted: 02 Nov 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual Talking to Industry Gamers, Garriott accused Blizzard and EA of dropping the ball when it came to social gaming, which Zynga has since explored and exploited. "The only reason Zynga exists is because people like EA, people like Blizzard, failed to step in," he said. Garriott sees these small start-ups as having great potential in the near future. "I think within a few years, you'll see that's not really the case," he said. "I think you'll see that the quality level that comes up through the casual games will rival the quality of traditional massively multiplayer games and then, because it's not something you have to subscribe to, because it's something that virally spreads, and especially because, as people churn out of a big MMO they've got to go somewhere." Garriott's Portalarium is currently working on an upcoming project that is "much more like Ultima Online than people might expect."
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| The Daily Grind: It's our 4th birthday and our wish is to hear your stories! Posted: 02 Nov 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, Opinion, Massively meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Normally we'd tell our own tales, or feature an article about our own experiences, but this time we want to showcase you, the readers. What was your favorite news post on Massively over the last four years? Favorite feature? Favorite column? Favorite blogger? Favorite community event? Favorite Editor-in-Chief? Hey, whatever favorite you have, we want to hear about it in the comments below!  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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| Dungeons & Dragons Online to launch Update 12 on November 9th Posted: 01 Nov 2011 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Classes, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  Not your speed? That's all right; there are plenty of other features listed on the official update page, including the new Challenges system, armor appearance kits, and new hirelings that outclass your character's raw level. It should bring quite a bit of entertainment to both subscribers and free players alike, so if you've been awaiting this patch with bated breath, best mark your calendar.
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| Perfect World introduces The Trials content update Posted: 01 Nov 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Perfect World International, Patches, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Dungeons  Ready yourselves, Perfect World International players, because great trials are coming your way. The latest update to Perfect World Entertainment's trademark title brings players a new zone, known as Elysium Village, which will provide new quests and content for players level 100 or higher. But the main attractions of the new update are the new Faction Trials, which are "a set of nine teamwork-based missions that will challenge even the most powerful faction." Up to 100 players can take part in each trial, and the ultimate goal of said trials is to prevent the ominously named Grand Demon Lord from breaking through to the Perfect World. These aren't the only new features being introduced with the update, so head on over to the game's official site to see the full details, and don't forget to check past the cut for a new trailer. Continue reading Perfect World introduces The Trials content update
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| Cryptic posts Champions Online's November state of the game Posted: 01 Nov 2011 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Classes, News items, Free-to-play, Champions Online, Dev Diaries  The SOTG covers the pair of new archetypes, the Halloween event, new costume sets, and the archetype roation promotion before briefing players on the upcoming comic series 2, called Whiteout, which will "take your Hero on an adventure that is unique and exciting." The (apparently still growing) team is also working on the Alert system, the Winter event, two new frameworks (Earth and Wind), and tweaks to the Infernal framework and the Nemesis. And as promised, this month's UNTIL Field Report fills in the details of these development nuggets and more.
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| New interview with Tony Park talks about Firefall's post-release path Posted: 01 Nov 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Video, Interviews, New titles, News items, MMOFPS, Miscellaneous  Among the more interesting takeaways are the addition of a new class in the roster (the Dreadnaught) and talk about potential future e-sports participation within the game. Considering the activity level of e-sports in the eastern gaming world, it certainly makes sense that the team would have its eye on that as a potential future element of gameplay, especially with the game's setup lending itself to competitive play. While the release is just around the corner, it looks as if the game will still have plenty for players to anticipate even after launch arrives.
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| EVE dev video shows work on engine trails, custom ship skins and more Posted: 01 Nov 2011 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Dev Diaries  The latest In Development video shows that CCP is currently working on engine trails, custom ship skins, a new cyno effect, a new warp tunnel, and graphical upgrades for every single ship in the game. It's a tall order, one that's unlikely to be fulfilled in the winter expansion despite developers' recent laser focus on delivering new features. The video gives a sneak peek at the models for the Amarr and Caldari tier 3 battlecruisers, which were selected from fan-submitted entries to last year's design contest in a similar manner to the already revealed Minmatar Tornado and Gallente Talos. Read on to find out why custom ship skins are more work to implement than most of us realise and to watch the new video in HD. Continue reading EVE dev video shows work on engine trails, custom ship skins and more
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| The Game Archaeologist and the Classic MMOs in October Posted: 01 Nov 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Video, Dark Age of Camelot, EverQuest, Culture, Star Wars Galaxies, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous  I won't just be regurgitating news here; I'll also peek at the various official forums to see what the community is talking about and highlight discussions and debates that are of interest. Not every classic MMO will be featured every month in this space, as I'll try to rotate around to make sure they all get their fair share of mentions. October was an interesting month for classic MMOs in that several of them produced extremely newsworthy stories that got front-page mention on Massively. On a special note, I won't be covering Asheron's Call today as we're prepping a special anniversary tribute for later this month! Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the Classic MMOs in October
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| Hyperspace Beacon: Social gaming Posted: 01 Nov 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Culture, New titles, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon  The social dynamics have always been a byproduct of MMOs. However, few online games give direct rewards for being social. In fact, there was a time shortly after the Combat Upgrade when Star Wars Galaxies actually punished players for grouping up by giving less XP. Perhaps the reasoning was that the larger the group, the more mobs players could kill in the same amount of time, but at the time the solo XP far outweighed the loss in group XP. Thankfully, that was eventually fixed. In my recent venture into the SWTOR beta, I noticed several different social activities for which the game rewards players. Follow me past the cut and we will discuss them. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Social gaming
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| The Soapbox: The battle for story Posted: 01 Nov 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Lore, Opinion, Roleplaying, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous  When I was in grad school, one of my favorite classes spent a couple of sessions talking about the use and importance of story in teaching. It opened my eyes to the fact that stories are one of the most universal elements of the human experience, from antiquity to modern times, ranging from a little kid playing with toys to an adult penning a novel. We simply love to tell and listen to stories -- they grab our attention, spark our imagination, teach us valuable lessons, and create lasting memories. But somewhere along the years, something went horribly wrong when it came to MMOs and stories. MMOs were always supposed to be the ultimate platform for storytelling, as both developers and players could pitch in to weave epic sagas, and for a while that seemed to be the case. Lately, however, I've seen a movement that is thrashing hard against stories in MMOs, typically using one of the following two statements: "Get your stupid story out of my game!" or "Stories are better left to other forms of entertainment." It's made me a sad panda to realize that MMO storytelling is under attack by the very players who should embrace it, and often they're acting as if they're being dragged, kicking and screaming, into future MMOs where story is placed as a priority. Make no mistake: The battle for story is on, and the stakes have never been higher. Continue reading The Soapbox: The battle for story
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| NCsoft releases brief Lineage II F2P trailer Posted: 01 Nov 2011 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Business models, Expansions, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play  The company did unveil a new trailer that clocks in at just under a minute in length, and it boasts of 400 hours' worth of gameplay and optional leveling and quality-of-life enhancements from the L2 store. There's also a new section of the Lineage II website devoted to the "truly free" marketing campaign. Other than that, though, there are still more questions than answers, and your guess is as good as ours when it comes to release dates for the long-awaited Goddess of Destruction content and the business-model switcheroo. In terms of additional info, ZAM recently interviewed NCsoft bigwigs and wrangled some pricing-related details out of them (most items are in the one dollar range, with some as high as $15 depending on whether or not they're time-limited). We'll keep you update with more L2 F2P news bits as they happen.
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| Burning Dog announces cross-platform plans for Origins of Malu Posted: 01 Nov 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Sandbox  As it turns out, the Origins team is aiming for both PC and Mac clients, and some sort of mobile/tablet functionality is in the works as well. We'll keep you up to date on that as we learn more, and in the meantime you can head to the Origins website to read up on the game. Before you go, be sure and check out Massively's exclusive interview with the dev team.
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| Perpetuum dev blog talks MMO complexity, implementation Posted: 01 Nov 2011 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, MMO industry, News items, Perpetuum, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  We suggest a read-through of the latest Perpetuum dev blog, as it's a real eye-opener when it comes to the complexity that goes into seemingly simple fixes. Avatar Creations walks us through an example of the ricochet effect that can result from changing a single integer value, and while it's not light reading or intended for those of us whose eyes glaze over at the thought of anything technical, it's nonetheless an interesting peek behind the curtain. The dev blog also illustrates the Perpetuum team's allow-anyone-to-fix-anything-they-can mantra, and you can read the full text at the game's official website.
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| DCUO's free-to-play rollout has begun Posted: 01 Nov 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, Launches, News items, Free-to-play, DC Universe Online  It's incredible to see all this excitement surrounding Free to Play! We are still in the process of transitioning our systems and appreciate everyone's patience. We will have more information for you soon and a brand new website full of information about DCUO Free to Play.PC players who want to get a jump on the download can do so through the SOE launcher. We'll keep you posted when the revamp of the game and site is live! [Thanks to Eric for the tip!]
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| Pick up a GhostX Ultimate gift pack from GameKiss and Massively Posted: 01 Nov 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Contests, Free-to-play, Giveaways  The team at GameKiss has given Massively a gift code to pass along to 75 of our readers. The code grants a VIP rookie package containing nanobot starter materials, double XP coupons, and some special equipment at levels 1, 7, and 15. To get a gift code, simply go to Shopping Town in the game, find the Gift Giver, and enter code MMORPG2436. The code will work for the first 75 people to apply it, so check out GhostX Ultimate with your new goodies, and have fun!
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