MMO Updates

---

• Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza
• This Week in MMO: Ohmigod SWTOR is almost here edition
• ArcheAge CBT4 videos show questing, hang-gliding
• Lucky fan gets a super-secret tour of WildStar's Carbine Studios
• The Daily Grind: Should characters always be wiped from beta to launch?
• EverQuest II grandfathers in established characters
• War of the Immortals' Slayers rock out with their blades out
• Spacetime announces industry-first cross-platform implementation
• Win a life-size Cylon statue from Bigpoint and Battlestar Galactica Online
• The MMO Report: Hangover edition
• Final Fantasy XIV adding market and player search improvements
• The Guild Counsel: Stop teasing me!
• MapleStory adds the Cannoneer
• APB retail edition to hit store shelves tomorrow
• End of Nations' Warfront 02 details large-scale battles, new comic
• Ask Massively: Inappropriate recollections edition
• First Impressions: Jagged Alliance Online
• Blizzard talks Mists of Pandaria talent tree tweaks
• LotRO gains +500 faction with players due to improved reputation system
• Behind the Mask: What does unbalanced even mean?

Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza Posted: 09 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox The sunsetting of Star Wars Galaxies. Beyond the obvious, that statement holds more meaning for me, something deeper and more personal. See, throughout my years in SWG, I would often stop whatever I was doing just to sit and watch the Tatooine suns set. Honestly. Just a simple act of sitting upon the plateau -- sometimes alone, sometimes with friends -- quietly watching one of the universe's greatest pleasures inside an MMO. It was amazing to me how vibrant this galaxy was, filled with so many little details that breathed life into it in a way that I think is still unmatched. Details such as sunsets made the world real, but what really made it "home" was the housing. Few, if any, games can claim the mastery of housing that Galaxies attained. Quite frankly, it is still the standard by which I measure housing. And there is almost no way to sum it up and do it justice in one short article. Despite this challenge, Some Assembly Required dedicates this 12th issue to immortalizing (and hopefully prodding future developers to emulate) one of the greatest housing systems ever and highlighting the very thing that made this great feature phenomenal: incredible player ingenuity and creativity. But don't just take my word for it. A number of readers joined in and sent in screenshots of and waypoints to these expressions of creativity. So step on over the threshold for our tribute in word and image to SWG housing and the player creativity it engendered. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza Some Assembly Required: SWG housing extravaganza originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

This Week in MMO: Ohmigod SWTOR is almost here edition Posted: 09 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Video, Lineage 2, News items, The Secret World, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic, TERA In this week's edition of This Week In MMO, Gary Gannon and Mike B. are all about Star Wars: The Old Republic. OK, well, maybe not all about it, but the game's head start begins in less than a week, so you can expect plenty of SWTOR commentary. The pair also take some time to talk about Funcom's newly announced zone for The Secret World, the Scorched Desert. The duo also spends some time ruminating on whether or not SWTOR may be the last subscription game we see as more and more games (such as Lineage II) go F2P. TERA's glyph system gets some air time as well, as does the announcement that Final Fantasy XIV is once again levying subscription fees from players. For the full video, click on past the cut. Continue reading This Week in MMO: Ohmigod SWTOR is almost here edition This Week in MMO: Ohmigod SWTOR is almost here edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: TWIMMO 73

ArcheAge CBT4 videos show questing, hang-gliding Posted: 09 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Patches, News items, ArcheAge, Sandbox ArcheAge's fourth closed beta test is officially here, and you can get a glimpse of it via three new videos recently uploaded at Steparu. What's new since CBT3? Quite a lot according to the patch notes (translated by fans at ArcheAge Source). Combat and UI changes abound, players can now interact with street lights, lamps, and candles in the open world, and of course the Hariharan race is now playable. Fifteen new zones and various new monster species are also included, and you can check out some questing footage (as well as one of those spiffy hang-glider backpacks) in the three video clips after the cut. Continue reading ArcheAge CBT4 videos show questing, hang-gliding ArcheAge CBT4 videos show questing, hang-gliding originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Steparu

Lucky fan gets a super-secret tour of WildStar's Carbine Studios Posted: 09 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Previews, WildStar Being given a full tour of your favorite MMO studio must be a lot like finding the Golden Ticket and getting a week pass to Disney World, all rolled into one. So if you feel a little jealous that WildStar Source got to poke around Carbine Studios, it's understandable. While the writer who was given the tour said that he had to "stay silent on 99%" of what he saw, there are plenty of juicy tidbits for WildStar aficionados to tide us over for a while. Apparently the studio is covered with gorgeous screenshots and art from the game, and the team is already busy collecting fan art to post in the hallways. The author did get some hands-on time with the game, during which he spent exploring the world instead of killing the local flora and fauna: "While I did not find a secret treasure or a portal to another dimension, I did find an attention to detail in both my character and the surrounding world that made me pause, several times, in appreciation... Even while playing as a spell-wielding bunny-woman who was trapped on a fictional planet, what I found most engrossing when I got my hands on WildStar was really the humanness of it all... as corny as that may sound." Lucky fan gets a super-secret tour of WildStar's Carbine Studios originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: WildStar Source

The Daily Grind: Should characters always be wiped from beta to launch? Posted: 09 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Who doesn't love a good beta? Right? Well, actually, lots of people don't like betas for several reasons, one of the biggest ones being the fact that your character's progression will usually be wiped clean before the game goes into launch mode. As you can imagine, this is a necessary evil. After all, betas are for testing, not for getting a head start on your leveling. But more recently, some studios have been allowing characters to stay from open beta to launch, essentially establishing that beta period as a headstart of its own -- often before the official pre-order headstart. This might just be another sign of that evolution of betas from a testing period to a marketing strategy, but we want to know how you feel about the character wipes themselves. Do you feel that erasing your character from beta to launch will stop you from playing in the beta, or do you see it as a fair part of the process? 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: Should characters always be wiped from beta to launch? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EverQuest II grandfathers in established characters Posted: 08 Dec 2011 08:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Business models, Classes, Free-to-play EverQuest II players got a pleasant surprise today, as Executive Producer Dave Georgeson announced that any and all characters created prior to Age of Discovery's launch would be grandfathered into the game. This means that any characters that were locked due to a player going from, say, subscription to free-to-play are now available. The company is also refunding any Station Cash points spent to unlock these characters following the expansion's release. From the full announcement on the EQII forums: But, we don't really want to force those decisions on returning players. It's not a fun experience to come back to something that seemed exciting (F2P) and then get hit with a bill as soon as you arrive, just for the privilege of using your current characters. So here's what we're going to do. *Every* character that was created before 12/06/2011 at 12:01 a.m. will be grandfathered in without race or class restriction. This means that regardless of your membership level, you will be able to play any character created before 12/6 without paying for race- or class-pack unlocks. For any player that previously subscribed to EQII Live servers, or as a Gold or Platinum member on EQ2X, we will also refund all the class/race pack purchases made after 12/06/2011 at 12:01 am and before the time of this posting (12/08/2011, 4:30pm) so that no one loses any SC due to this change. EverQuest II grandfathers in established characters originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: EQII forums

War of the Immortals' Slayers rock out with their blades out Posted: 08 Dec 2011 07:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Free-to-play As War of the Immortals continues the epic journey through beta, Perfect World Entertainment is trying its darndest to show that it plays no favorite among children. And by "children," we mean "classes." On tap for today is a spotlight on the Slayer class, which recently gave up knitting in favor of dishing out extreme pain and suffering. Wielding dual blades, the Slayer uses cunning tactics and sneaky magicks to get up close and personal before seeing how many tiny pieces it can make out of its enemy. On its off-hours, the Slayer likes to ride around on his direwolf mount and smash mailboxes with a baseball bat. You can see if the hyper-kinetic Slayer is your kind of fella by previewing the class trailer after the jump! [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release] Continue reading War of the Immortals' Slayers rock out with their blades out War of the Immortals' Slayers rock out with their blades out originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Spacetime announces industry-first cross-platform implementation Posted: 08 Dec 2011 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Mobile, Miscellaneous If you've ever wondered about the feasibility of cross-platform MMOs, Spacetime Studios is here to tell you that it's a reality. The company announced an industry first earlier today when it removed the barriers between players who use different devices and operating systems. The company's Pocket Legends and Star Legends mobile MMOs share a single global server, and access to said server is now open to users of desktops, laptops, smartphones, and tablets. "There have always been technical walls between players on different platforms," said CEO Gary Gattis. "Now, people are free to play on the device they choose with anyone, anywhere, anytime, whether they are at home or on-the-go." [Source: Spacetime press release] Spacetime announces industry-first cross-platform implementation originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Win a life-size Cylon statue from Bigpoint and Battlestar Galactica Online Posted: 08 Dec 2011 05:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Giveaways, Battlestar Galactica Online, Promotions Bigpoint's in the news again this week, and for once the company is steering clear of microtransaction controversies. It seems as if there's a giveaway afoot, and Battlestar Galactica Online fans will be pleased to note that they have a chance to win a life-size Cylon statue (settle down guys, it's a Centurion, not a Number Six). The browser-based sci-fi MMO also features 15 new paint jobs for Cylon and Colonial ships, each of which may be purchased with real money or in-game credits. Bigpoint says more color schemes are on the way, and oh yeah, if you want a chance at the statue, you'll need to log in at least five times during the month of December. Head to the official BSGO forums for the official contest rules. Win a life-size Cylon statue from Bigpoint and Battlestar Galactica Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: BSGO forums

The MMO Report: Hangover edition Posted: 08 Dec 2011 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Video, MMO industry, Opinion, Humor, The MMO Report, Miscellaneous This week on The MMO Report, Casey stumbles in from the office Christmas party to report on Ubisoft's rumored triple-AAA Wii-U MMO, Marvel Universe Online's endless parade of character art, and the politics of Minecraft's design (psst... Minecraft -- sandbox? Yes. MMO? Not really!). He also jokes about Star Wars: The Old Republic's two million beta testers, suggesting that the number proves "nerds will flock to anything with a Star Wars or BioWare logo on the box." We're sure he speaks from personal experience. Finally, The Beard dips into Uncle Casey's Mailbag to recount some harrowing tales of MMO deflowering. Enjoy the full MMO Report past the cut! Continue reading The MMO Report: Hangover edition The MMO Report: Hangover edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: The MMO Report

Final Fantasy XIV adding market and player search improvements Posted: 08 Dec 2011 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV As the release of Final Fantasy XIV's next major patch approaches, more previews continue to go up for the various improvements it will bring. Two of the major promised features are the improvements to both the market wards and the introduction of a proper player search feature, both of which have been posted to the official site. The market wards will now include several pieces of functionality similar to the Final Fantasy XI auction house, including transaction histories and the option to buy direct from the search screen. The player search feature, meanwhile, will allow players to flag themselves as looking for a party, indicating preferred classes and activities. Searchers will be able to sort results by a variety of criteria to help identify potential teammates. It should make assembling groups for larger content much simpler than it currently is, which should in turn encourage the community to take part in more challenging content. Neither system might seem like a revolution, but there's no doubt that both improvements will have a definite impact. Final Fantasy XIV adding market and player search improvements originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Player search function, Improvements to the market wards

The Guild Counsel: Stop teasing me! Posted: 08 Dec 2011 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous Let's face it: As thrilling as it can be to slay a dragon or blow up a spaceship, MMOs all have their fair share of dull moments at times. And when guildies get together, they can often resort to pranks, teasing, and all sorts of jokes in order to liven things up. That's often when you have some of your best memories in game, and I think it's part of what makes MMOs great. But sometimes, jokes can fall flat, and what was supposed to be a funny moment ends up turning into major drama. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll take a look at joking around and how to avoid a joke gone wrong. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Stop teasing me! The Guild Counsel: Stop teasing me! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

MapleStory adds the Cannoneer Posted: 08 Dec 2011 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MapleStory, Classes, Patches, News items, Free-to-play Are you ready to solve all of your problems with the application of cannons? Up until now, MapleStory has allowed players to solve maybe a fifth of all your problems via the application of cannons. But the newest character type in the game, the Cannoneer, solves the vast majority of his problems via... well, you can guess. He also makes use of bombs and perhaps the odd aerial bombardment as well, just in case you wanted to diversify your problem-solving skills a bit. To show off this first update in the Legends patch, we have posted not one, not two, but three videos just past the break. There is, of course, a gameplay trailer for the Cannoneer and a trailer for the patch as a whole. But there's also the "audition" trailer for the Cannoneer as the staff at Nexon tries to decide on the next class to add to the game. Check out the videos just past the break, and get ready to open fire. [Source: Nexon press release] Continue reading MapleStory adds the Cannoneer MapleStory adds the Cannoneer originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

APB retail edition to hit store shelves tomorrow Posted: 08 Dec 2011 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Real life, Business models, News items, Free-to-play, All Points Bulletin Would you buy a box set for a free-to-play game? It might seem like an odd question, but GamersFirst is hoping that the answer to that question is "yes" once you see what's being offered with the APB: Reloaded boxed edition. With a suggested retail price of $29.99, the box is set to go on sale starting tomorrow, December 9th, and will be sold at Best Buy, Target, GameStop, and Walmart. And what do you get when you buy the game? Aside from an installation disc and manual, you get 30 days free of Premium account status and 500 G1 credits for use in the game's microtransaction store. You also get a faction-specific sports car and a special secondary weapon to help ensure that you're never without a holdout in a protracted firefight. Time will tell if this addition to the game's marketing proves profitable for the game under its current business model. [Source: GamersFirst press release] APB retail edition to hit store shelves tomorrow originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

End of Nations' Warfront 02 details large-scale battles, new comic Posted: 08 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Video, News items, Free-to-play, MMORTS, Humor In this week's End of Nations Warfront, Cole Marshall takes a close look End of Nations' massive scale and the new End of Nations comics from DC. It even gives the community an opportunity to interrogate Community Manager Myll_Erik. Players are given a glimpse at the large-scale battles of End of Nations as Marshall talks about massive, planet-wide battles. He then announces the release of End of Nations #1 from DC Comics. The issue can be bought in stores or online at Comixology, and readers can pick up a small teaser issue, End of Nations #0, for free online. To top it off, the community is given the opportunity to "interrogate" Community Manager Myll_Erik. So head on over to the game's official Facebook page and interrogate away, but first, click on past the cut for the full video. Continue reading End of Nations' Warfront 02 details large-scale battles, new comic End of Nations' Warfront 02 details large-scale battles, new comic originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: End of Nations official youtube

Ask Massively: Inappropriate recollections edition Posted: 08 Dec 2011 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Culture, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous I have to be honest here -- the Templars destroy The Secret World for me -- not because they don't look cool (I'm kind of a sucker for this sort of thing) but because they remind me an awful lot of The Grail from Preacher. They've got the same color scheme, the same pseudo-military sense of things, the same trappings. So I look at these guys, and suddenly I stop thinking about The Secret World and want to go read some comics. Maybe if they all wore clown makeup, that would fix it. This week's installment of Ask Massively actually is fielding a question about TSW, so my desire to see the Templars in clownface is vaguely on-topic. Plus, our readers ask about Skyrim, which I hear is all the rage these days. So click on past the break for this week's questions, and if you've got a question for a future installment, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments. Continue reading Ask Massively: Inappropriate recollections edition Ask Massively: Inappropriate recollections edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

First Impressions: Jagged Alliance Online Posted: 08 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Screenshots, New titles, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, First Impressions A short time ago, I posted my thoughts on UFO Online, one of the most exciting titles I found while at E3 this year. While I was there, I was given a tour of Jagged Alliance Online during the same sitting. Both games were thrilling in a "tiny army" sort of way, and both seemed to finally get what makes tabletop gaming and strategy games fun. UFO Online was more complex in some ways, and I found the beta to be further along than Jagged Alliance Online's, but I have had fun in both so far. I'm hoping that gamigo, the publisher of both titles, keeps getting them both right. I still had some issues with Jagged Alliance Online, but it's hard to say whether these will be corrected during one of the following betas. So while it is my duty to report to you these issues, I want you to bear in mind the state of the current game. Fortunately the title seems far enough along that I got a real feel for what is coming. War is coming. Click past the cut and I'll give you the details. Continue reading First Impressions: Jagged Alliance Online First Impressions: Jagged Alliance Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Blizzard talks Mists of Pandaria talent tree tweaks Posted: 08 Dec 2011 12:30 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Classes, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items Blizzard lead systems designer Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street has penned a small novella on the official World of Warcraft website. The subject of the text dump is talent trees, and more specifically, how they'll be affected by the game's upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion. Street addresses 10 of the most common concerns that players have voiced regarding the changes, and some of his answers are more interesting than you might think. As an example, many WoW players have said that the talent revamp will result in fewer choices across the board. Street admits that this sentiment is "ultimately correct," though he does qualify that with an assertion that players will have more choices that matter. Head to Battle.net to read the rest of his explanations. Blizzard talks Mists of Pandaria talent tree tweaks originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Battle.net

LotRO gains +500 faction with players due to improved reputation system Posted: 08 Dec 2011 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Patches, Free-to-play Among the many quality-of-life improvements coming to Lord of the Rings Online with Update 5 is a significant change to the game's reputation system. Previously, players would assemble entire stacks of items to turn into vendors for point boosts, but this will soon change. Starting with Update 5, players can simply click on reputation items and get an instant point increase, similar to using any other one-shot item in the game. This change will render certain barter NPCs obsolete, with some being removed from the game entirely and others continuing to offer quests and tradable items. Turbine's also added special instant-reputation items to Moria to help with gaining faction with the esteemed Iron Garrison Guards and Miners. The changes to reputation items along with the many other features of this patch will take effect when Update 5 hits servers on December 12th. LotRO gains +500 faction with players due to improved reputation system originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: LotRO dev diary

Behind the Mask: What does unbalanced even mean? Posted: 08 Dec 2011 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Super-hero, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Champions Online, Behind the Mask One of the major criticisms of Champions Online is a lack of game balance. People claim that the phrase "your own hero, your own story" doesn't cover the fact that your hero might be a gimp compared to someone else's. Although archetypes have their own balance issues (even among themselves), this complaint most commonly leveled at the freeform game where there are millions of possible characters. However, I think that most armchair game theorists have a terrible understanding of what "balance" even means. Decades of competitive gaming (yeah, I'm that old) have given me a comprehensive understanding of what the term means, and I think it's worth looking at how CO stacks up. Continue reading Behind the Mask: What does unbalanced even mean? Behind the Mask: What does unbalanced even mean? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610