MMO Updates |
- Gamer drops $16,000 on Age of Wulin virtual sword
- Wargaming.net talks World of Warplanes features and functionality
- Blizzard hiring Diablo III network engineer to work on consoles
- The Daily Grind: What's the fastest you've ever burned out on an MMO?
- Reid on Reddit: SWTOR fans ask him anything and everything
- Choose My Adventure: Post-Christmas update
- Videos document player battle with ArcheAge's Kraken
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: 2011, year of freedom
- BioWare's docs: Free-to-play can't invest and create at our level
- Free for All: The first annual Frindie Awards
- BioWare's Erickson talks about creating MMO story
- MMO Family: LEGO Universe, autism, and heartbreak
| Gamer drops $16,000 on Age of Wulin virtual sword Posted: 29 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play  He wasn't alone in throwing large sums of money at an unreleased game, as the devs also auctioned off a spear sheath for $2,500 and something called a Hook of Departure for $1,600. Age of Wulin is currently undergoing a Chinese beta test, and gPotato has plans to bring the game to European audiences sometime in the future.
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| Wargaming.net talks World of Warplanes features and functionality Posted: 29 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Historical, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, War, Free-to-play, Community Q&A, World of Warplanes  The free-to-play World War II aviation title is shaping up to be an action-heavy game with a casual playstyle that is similar to World of Tanks. Over the course of 30 questions, Wargaming.net covers a lot ground including joystick controls (available but not required), cockpit views (not available), and airborne vs. ground spawn points. "Aircraft will be spawned in the air at the beginning of the battle. As an option, you will be able to land the aircraft at the end of the battle and a successful landing will give you additional experience. An unsuccessful landing will break the plane and will [incur repair costs]," according to a post on the official WoWP forums.
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| Blizzard hiring Diablo III network engineer to work on consoles Posted: 29 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Consoles, Rumors  According to a job posting on Gamasutra, Blizzard is hiring a "Senior Software Engineer Console Network" to work on the Diablo team. It's a full-time position that will be in charge of designing and working on network systems for a console title. One of the requirements for the job is that the person have worked on a major Xbox 360 or PS3 title and have a good amount of experience with PSN and Xbox Live. While this is not the first indication that Blizzard is working on a console version of Diablo III, it certainly lends credence to the notion that the company is actively working on it. The studio previously said that the title "is probably coming to consoles."
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| The Daily Grind: What's the fastest you've ever burned out on an MMO? Posted: 29 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Star Wars: The Old Republic  While I love the class stories, the rest of the game is pretty bare-bones, and I'm returning to greener and more feature-rich pastures. I'm a notorious game-hopper, though, and this isn't so much an indictment of TOR as it is an inevitability. That said, I did tire of BioWare's Star Wars opus sooner than expected, and that leads into today's Daily Grind question. What's the fastest you've ever burned out on an MMO?  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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| Reid on Reddit: SWTOR fans ask him anything and everything Posted: 28 Dec 2011 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Launches, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A  While Reid certainly hedges on issues that BioWare is not quite ready to address, he doesn't shy away from direct answers when applicable. The compiled Reddit thread lists dozens and dozens of Q&As, including the much-asked-for guild housing ("on the list for future development"), the ability delay issue ("we'll talk about it publicly soon"), and an upgraded Galactic Trade Network ("improvements will come to the GTN in time, definitely"). In response to the request for non-mechanical (read: animal) mounts, Reid said, "Maybe -- it's a technical challenge, I've been told." He's most excited about the upcoming legacy system reveals, but he's not allowed to talk on it just yet. Amidst the probing questions of the newly launched title is a personal query about what it's like for him to be at the helm of SWTOR community management. "What's it like?" Reid responded. "Bewildering and overwhelming and exciting and demanding, all at once, all day long (and often into the night). I had some idea what I was getting into, but it was bigger than expected. I'll stay as long as I'm wanted."
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| Choose My Adventure: Post-Christmas update Posted: 28 Dec 2011 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Lineage 2, Opinion, Free-to-play, Choose My Adventure, Livestream  Random events, miraculously revived dead pets, more amazing scenery, and lots of killing are on deck in today's Choose My Adventure. It turns out that I am terrible at raising my pet wolf and even got into an accidental scuffle with another player that left her pet dead and me even deader. I returned to the Path to Awakening because that's what you voted for last week. I've also neared the end of the uber-fast leveling cycle via quests and am turning to grinding for the majority of my experience gain. The fun-level has yet to dip for me; there's higher level gameplay I'm really hoping to dip my dagger into, and I'm curious to see what level I can reach by the end of this trip. As always, check out the extensive gallery and livestreams, and tune in to MV Guide to see when my next livestream will be. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Post-Christmas update
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| Videos document player battle with ArcheAge's Kraken Posted: 28 Dec 2011 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Previews, ArcheAge, Sandbox  Sailing and ship combat is one of the lesser-utilized mechanics in the MMO field, so if ArcheAge can pull it off, then it might make waves. Figuratively speaking. These three videos document an encounter with the fearsome Kraken -- giant squid with an anger management problem -- and what happens to a fragile wooden boat that sails into its waiting tentacles. According to the video, the Kraken has nearly a million hit points and can smash entire armadas with impunity. The videos show a fleet trying to take on the fearsome underwater world boss, but the players are only able to make a dent for all their efforts. Conquer your fears of the unknown by hitting the jump and checking out this impressive beta footage! Continue reading Videos document player battle with ArcheAge's Kraken
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: 2011, year of freedom Posted: 28 Dec 2011 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Events, in-game, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  I will definitely say that last year seemed to have a larger number of stories that shook up the status quo in the game. In comparison to last year's various major changes, Paragon Studios took this year in a bit more of a low-key route, the huge shift in the game's business model notwithstanding. But it was still a year of changes, just like every year, so let's take a trip down memory lane at my picks for the top five stories. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: 2011, year of freedom
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| BioWare's docs: Free-to-play can't invest and create at our level Posted: 28 Dec 2011 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Interviews, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Zeschuk mentioned that it was simply a case of the right business model for the right game: "I'm not saying it's better or worse. It just doesn't supplant the other things. 'Cause we can do some things no one else can. The free-to-play people can't invest to the level we can invest, and can't create something of the size and scale of something we can create." Even with its love of the subscription model for Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare is open to free-to-play where it sees fit. Muzyka dropped a tantalizing hint as to the company's F2P aspirations: "We have some other stuff we haven't announced yet coming from our play-for-free team that I'm really excited about. It's gonna bring back some IP that people have a lot of fond memories around."
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| Free for All: The first annual Frindie Awards Posted: 28 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Free for All  So as you read my choices, bear in mind that these are based on my opinions from my year of gaming and from my list of favorites. It's also important to note that not all of my favorites were released this year. Some of them are downright ancient games compared to the rest of the young MMO market, but as long as they released a significant amount of content in 2011, I considered them. To me, expansions and a series of patches can equal a brand-new release. Some games release so much new content per year that they might as well have been released again. So click past the cut to see my favorites from the market of free-to-play, indie and browser-based gaming. Be sure to leave your picks in the comments section! Continue reading Free for All: The first annual Frindie Awards
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| BioWare's Erickson talks about creating MMO story Posted: 28 Dec 2011 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Erickson says that the world-building team uses "greybox" placeholders to connect story quests together while the technical and narrative details are ironed out, and there's a lot less room for error than there is in a typical single-player RPG. "You can teleport people around in a normal RPG, you can fake things, you can make it look like you went from one place to another because there's a secret room hidden in the wall - you can do all sorts of chicanery that, if you tried to do in an MMO somebody's gonna find that room, somebody's gonna teleport out. We have to cheat a lot less, and that takes more time," Erickson explains.
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| MMO Family: LEGO Universe, autism, and heartbreak Posted: 28 Dec 2011 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Casual, LEGO Universe, Kids, MMO Family, Family, Miscellaneous  There are also positive benefits to children as well, and while we've touched on a few in recent columns, this week we'll focus on the impact LEGO Universe has had on autistic children. Sadly, the game will be shutting down in a few weeks, and while many parents are thankful for how much it's helped, they're also concerned about what will happen once the game is gone. Read on for a bittersweet look at how this LEGO-based game is leaving behind a legacy. Continue reading MMO Family: LEGO Universe, autism, and heartbreak
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