MMO Updates

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• League of Legends discusses jungling changes in patch preview
• WRUP: Now I can show you this screenshot edition
• The Daily Grind: Do you play any mobile MMOs?
• The MMO Report: GW2 field trip edition
• Betawatch: November 19 - 25
• Runes of Magic now featuring new raid content, Tergothen Bay zone
• This Week In MMO: It's a Secret World to everyone edition
• Some Assembly Required: Happy birthday Perpetuum!
• Storyboard: There are no bathrooms on Coruscant
• SWTOR's Friday update features a Jedi Consular video
• Black Friday deal for EVE players: 50% off EON Magazine and ISK Guide
• The Firing Line: A look at World of Tanks
• EVE Online shows off new Crucible engine trails
• New Archeage CBT4 clip shows expanded character options
• Treat yourself to a freebie from Spiral Knights for Black Friday!

League of Legends discusses jungling changes in patch preview Posted: 26 Nov 2011 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Video, Patches, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, MOBA If you've been following the recent updates on League of Legends, you know that the Riot Games staff has been working to diversify the current metagame with updates to the mastery tree and a complete overhaul of the dodge mechanic. The Riot team is now looking to continue the trend toward improving jungling with the Volibear patch. A whole slew of changes aimed at lowering the skill and rune requirements for jungling and making jungling decisions more complex are slated for the next patch. In addition, the dev team is planning a total rework of Sivir (probably at least partially because of the planned dodge changes). Check out the video after the jump for more specifics! Continue reading League of Legends discusses jungling changes in patch preview League of Legends discusses jungling changes in patch preview originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Now I can show you this screenshot edition Posted: 26 Nov 2011 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous With the drop of the NDA for Star Wars: The Old Republic, I can finally share with you this screenshot. As you can see, in it, my Bounty Hunter is cheering the arrival of a Mandalorian Air Whale, represented for beta purposes by our mascot Samuel. Are there actually things called Mandalorian Air Whales in the official universe? I seriously wouldn't be surprised -- they call bone-plated lizards Vine Cats for some reason or another. Speaking of that NDA drop, I think it's actually germane to this week's installment of WRUP because this week's bonus question for the Massively staff members was whether or not their impressions of Star Wars: The Old Republic were changed by post-NDA testimonials. The main question, of course, is the same as always: What will we be playing over the weekend, and what's our favorite Thanksgiving food? Find out past the break, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments. Continue reading WRUP: Now I can show you this screenshot edition WRUP: Now I can show you this screenshot edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Do you play any mobile MMOs? Posted: 26 Nov 2011 05:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Daily Grind, Mobile, Casual A guildie of mine and I were discussing phones this week, and we came to the joint conclusion that for us, mobile gaming, especially the mobile MMO market, is no draw at all when it comes to our phone selection. Unlike Beau, who writes Massively's mobile gaming column, MMObility, I don't relish the thought of playing any serious MMO while peering at a tiny screen or trying to make a character run around with an awkward swipe of my finger. I'll play a little single-player time-waster to, well, waste time, but deep gaming is reserved for a big comfy chair and a jumbo-sized screen. I certainly wouldn't tailor a phone or slate purchase around gaming. And yet the mobile gaming market is exploding, so someone out there must be playing these wee little MMOs, like Pocket Legends, shown in tablet form in the above screenshot. In fact, these games might just be the perfect snack while you're trying to surreptitiously get your game on at family holiday events or while waiting in an endless shopping line. So are you a mobile MMO gamer? And if so, what mobile MMOs do you play? 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! The Daily Grind: Do you play any mobile MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 26 Nov 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The MMO Report: GW2 field trip edition Posted: 25 Nov 2011 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Events, real-world, Guild Wars 2, Races, Humor, The MMO Report This week on The MMO Report, Casey treks to Burbank, California, to check out Guild Wars 2's voice-acting studio and interview ArenaNet lead writer Bobby Stein. Stein tells the crew that his team has been working on GW2's voice-overs for three years, resulting in approximately 70 or 80 times the amount of voice work for Guild Wars 1's final installment, Eye of the North. Casey also interviews a trio of women portraying female Charr characters, but it just wouldn't be an MMO Report field trip if Casey hadn't given the voice acting a try himself. Rising to such stage directions as "he's a cat" and "now try it drunk," Casey receives a hard-earned standing ovation from the sound booth. All this and more in the MMO Report video tucked behind the break! Continue reading The MMO Report: GW2 field trip edition The MMO Report: GW2 field trip edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: The MMO Report

Betawatch: November 19 - 25 Posted: 25 Nov 2011 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Massively Meta, Betawatch, Miscellaneous While Star Wars: The Old Republic's final round of beta has dominated our headlines, this week's Betawatch has a few more nuggets to offer. Rosh Online joins our closed beta list this week, and on-again, off-again MMO Mythos returns as Mythos Global -- its latest closed beta edition will launch December 1st. MMOFPS Firefall and and MOBA Wrath of Heroes both offered closed beta updates as well. Finally, Iris Online celebrated its first birthday. Why is that relevant? Because it's still officially in open beta! "Beta" doesn't mean what it used to, folks. Hit the jump for the full Betawatch list. Continue reading Betawatch: November 19 - 25 Betawatch: November 19 - 25 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Runes of Magic now featuring new raid content, Tergothen Bay zone Posted: 25 Nov 2011 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, Dungeons Thanksgiving presents aren't really a tradition as of yet, but Frogster nonetheless gave its Runes of Magic faithful a gift in the form of the game's 4.0.5 content patch. The update is called Souls of the Past, and it brings a bit of new endgame stuff to the free-to-play fantasy MMO. First up is a new raid dungeon called the Tomb of the Seven Heroes, and it will challenge groups of 12 players with seven formidable boss battles. Frogster has also raised the level cap to 70 and is also offering up a entirely new content zone called Tergothen Bay. Here the players will find themselves taking part in the ongoing struggles between the region's ruling families, and the new content "paves the way to Chapter 5, which we are all very much looking forward to," says Runes of Magic producer Mandy Blumenthal. Runes of Magic now featuring new raid content, Tergothen Bay zone originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Souls of the Past

This Week In MMO: It's a Secret World to everyone edition Posted: 25 Nov 2011 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Video, Culture, Game mechanics, Previews, Opinion, The Secret World, Star Wars: The Old Republic, MechWarrior Online The game is still called The Secret World, but the newest installment of This Week in MMO is all about taking some of the secrecy out of the game. Gary Gannon, joined by Mike Schaffnit and Jason Winter, kicks the show off by talking about all the information found in the latest hands-on preview of the game and reacting to some of the more interesting decisions revealed therein. But as on a late-night television advertisement, just wait -- there's more. After all, Star Wars: The Old Republic just dropped its NDA, and since the show is already about removed bits of secrecy, it would be wrong not to talk about that. The show also digs in to the latest news out of MechWarrior Online; the cast debates whether or not the game will even deserve to maintain the "MMO" label without a persistent world. Click on past the break to see the full show in all its glory! Continue reading This Week In MMO: It's a Secret World to everyone edition This Week In MMO: It's a Secret World to everyone edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: TWIMMO #71

Some Assembly Required: Happy birthday Perpetuum! Posted: 25 Nov 2011 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Perpetuum, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox Welcome back to Some Assembly Required, dear readers. This week marks something of a milestone for Perpetuum, the sci-fi sandbox set in the distant future on a far-flung planet known as Nia. Yes, the mech-based MMORPG has survived its first year (without a free-to-play conversion crutch!), and more than that, it's even grown a little bit. That's no small feat for an indie title in today's overcrowded MMO marketplace, never mind a niche sandbox that's been called a ground-based EVE Online. Join me after the break for a recap of Perpetuum's first 12 months. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: Happy birthday Perpetuum! Some Assembly Required: Happy birthday Perpetuum! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Storyboard: There are no bathrooms on Coruscant Posted: 25 Nov 2011 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Lore, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous A couple of weeks ago, someone raised a very reasonable question about characters in EVE Online -- do they date? They're all clones, they're born pretty much just to pilot ships, and they have a culture that keeps them in some variety of ship pretty much all the time. So do they date? Do they even know what differentiated genders are all about? Would they be capable of having a child in the conventional sense? Would the concept even occur to them to try? The problem is that we look at these characters and see human beings because they are human beings. They behave, by and large, in ways that we understand human beings to behave. And yet there are some pretty huge obstacles in the path of their natural behaviors, things that the developers don't seem to address. When you start to think about it hard enough, not only does it seem like they shouldn't date, but it seems like they wouldn't even know where to start dating. And if the idea of dating doesn't exist, a lot of our assumptions fall apart. Continue reading Storyboard: There are no bathrooms on Coruscant Storyboard: There are no bathrooms on Coruscant originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

SWTOR's Friday update features a Jedi Consular video Posted: 25 Nov 2011 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic BioWare's PR team must've missed the memo about long Thanksgiving weekends, as there's a new Star Wars: The Old Republic video up for grabs on the game's official website. The Jedi Consular is the star of the day, and the class is "both a revered ally to the Republic and a dangerous adversary to the Empire," according to BioWare's marketing blurb. If you've been following the game for a while, the clip probably won't tell you anything you don't already know. For new and/or hopelessly addicted fans, though, there's a good amount of in-game footage and some glimpses of the class's advancement paths. SWTOR's Friday update features a Jedi Consular video originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Jedi Consular video

Black Friday deal for EVE players: 50% off EON Magazine and ISK Guide Posted: 25 Nov 2011 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, News items, Promotions, Guides, Sandbox Black Friday is upon us, bringing us countless offers on everything from online games to toasters. MMM Publishing announced an enticing offer today of 50% off issues of EON Magazine, the official magazine of EVE Online. The offer also extends to MMM's other EVE publications: The ISK guide, EVE Strategic Maps and a poster pack. These are all paper-based products that will have to be sent via post, and unfortunately the price reduction doesn't extend to postage. For details on how to get in on this deal, head over to the official EON blog. EON is published quarterly and has recently reaching its 25th issue. The magazine has a professional quality to it, and interestingly the only advertisements you'll see in it are for in-game EVE Online corporations and services. The Industrial Sized Knowledgebase is a professionally laid out print copy of the most comprehensive guide to EVE ever released. A basic version is available for free as a PDF, and the purchased product is an extended reproduction delivered as a colossal ring-bound reference manual. EVE Strategic Maps is an accurate map of New Eden ready to be filled with post-it notes on big finds, wars and travel routes. Black Friday deal for EVE players: 50% off EON Magazine and ISK Guide originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: EON black friday blog post

The Firing Line: A look at World of Tanks Posted: 25 Nov 2011 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Historical, Real life, Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion, War, Free-to-play, Hands-on, World of Tanks, Miscellaneous, The Firing Line I'm not the biggest tank fan in the world. Don't get me wrong; I'm a red-blooded American male who loves engines, horsepower, and most types of heavy machinery, but for whatever reason, I've never looked at a tank and come away particularly aroused. Imagine the surprise, then, when I loaded up World of Tanks a couple of weeks ago and found myself having a jolly old time. Wargaming.net's free-to-play action title is a deceptively simple shooter with a lot of depth under the hood, and despite what some players refer to as pay-to-win shenanigans, I highly recommend it. Continue reading The Firing Line: A look at World of Tanks The Firing Line: A look at World of Tanks originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Online shows off new Crucible engine trails Posted: 25 Nov 2011 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox Veteran EVE Online players will remember the joy of engine trails, a simple graphical effect that really added a feeling of speed to fast ships like interceptors or microwarpdrive cruisers. While the much-lauded Apocrypha expansion brought us countless new features, developers were forced to remove engine trails due to performance issues. We recently learned that engine trails will be making a comeback with the Crucible expansion, and in a new devblog today CCP Mankiller released details of the tricky work involved in getting the much-loved feature back into the game. Mankiller explains that the old engine trail effect actually needed to have its vertex buffer updated every frame, making it a massive performance hog. The new trails use a much less costly approach that generates the geometry inside a vertex shader using splines. For those who fancy themselves mathematicians, CCP Mankiller provides the gruesome details of the equations that had to be constructed and solved to program the new shader. The new technique has additional advantages, like no longer skipping around when you're lagging and the possibility of new effects like heat shimmer, light absorption and refraction. The new engine trails go live with the Crucible expansion on November 29th. EVE Online shows off new Crucible engine trails originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Devblog

New Archeage CBT4 clip shows expanded character options Posted: 25 Nov 2011 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, ArcheAge, Sandbox If the latest XLGAMES' video is any indication, there have been some significant changes to ArcheAge since the close of last spring's third Korean beta. A new clip recently uploaded to the development firm's YouTube account shows off a new login screen, new avatar models, new character creation options, and new music. Our experience of the game's CBT3 phase found the character customization a bit lacking (mostly because a ton of the options were greyed out), but it looks like XL is going to remedy that by adding a lot more functionality for CBT4. Have a look at the new clip after the break. Continue reading New Archeage CBT4 clip shows expanded character options New Archeage CBT4 clip shows expanded character options originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ArcheAge Online

Treat yourself to a freebie from Spiral Knights for Black Friday! Posted: 25 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Free-to-play, Giveaways Black Friday sales started ridiculously early for Americans this year, with stores opening at midnight on Friday and even 10:00 p.m on Thursday in some cases. Thanks to that, you've probably done your shopping, hauled your loot home, and recovered from the insanity as you read this. Alternatively, you avoided the insanity entirely because really, a cheap Blu-Ray player isn't worth the risk of death by trampling. In either case, if you're in the U.S., you're hanging out at home enjoying your day off work or school, ready to indulge in some gaming. The developers at Spiral Knights are right there with you and have whipped up a cool little accessory for your Spiral Knights characters. The Regal Parrying Blade is a decorative sword that you can get only here at Massively. All you need to do is visit our giveaway page to pick up a code, then log into Spiral Knights. Click on the "gear" icon in the top corner of your game screen, select "redeem code" from the options menu, and enter your code. Voila, you're the proud owner of a brand-new Regal Parrying Blade. Join us in thanking the Spiral Knights team for this gift, and have fun! Treat yourself to a freebie from Spiral Knights for Black Friday! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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