MMO Updates |
- Age of Conan prepares to pillage 2012 with basketweaving
- Want to be Massively's next Guild Wars columnist?
- Flameseeker Chronicles: What lies ahead
- New TERA IP blocking policy contradicts previous En Masse tweets
- MV Guide: January 30-February 5, 2012
- The Daily Grind: Do you skip dialogue?
- MMO Week in Review: Popcorn
- EVE Evolved: Could EVE Online go free-to-play?
- Amateur documentary tackles online game addiction
- Rise and Shiny recap: Urban Rivals
- SOE's Matt Higby talks PlanetSide 2 resources, territory control, and more
- En Masse outlines policy for TERA IP blocking
| Age of Conan prepares to pillage 2012 with basketweaving Posted: 30 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Previews, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  According to the update, the team felt torn between adding more content to the game and going back to rework and tweak systems that needed it: "Our problem there in 2011 was that with so much content to support, the majority of the systems time was consumed by the creation of everything that is needed for the content itself." As a result, the first half of 2012 looks to be light on the content side of things -- although with new tier-four raids, it won't be non-existent. Instead, the team will be reworking the tradeskill system this summer to make it more involving and complex than the modern "point and click" setup. Other improvements on the way include enlarging bank space, a dual-specification system, class balancing, and single-server development. Following these projects, the team will shift back into content-creation mode, starting with a new adventure pack for later this year.
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| Want to be Massively's next Guild Wars columnist? Posted: 30 Jan 2012 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  That's where you come in. After learning that our own Rubi Bayer will be whisked away by an as-yet unnamable job offer, we're in desperate need of someone to fill her weekly Guild Wars columnist spot on the site*. Follow along after the jump for the full details! *Keeping us in line and making "that's what she said" jokes optional. Continue reading Want to be Massively's next Guild Wars columnist?
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| Flameseeker Chronicles: What lies ahead Posted: 30 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, Flameseeker Chronicles  We've got lots to talk about, so hit the jump and let's dive right in. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: What lies ahead
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| New TERA IP blocking policy contradicts previous En Masse tweets Posted: 30 Jan 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, TERA  It turns out that En Masse said it wouldn't engage in foreign IP blocking four separate times via its TERA Twitter account before reversing course with its support post over the weekend. Is the new policy going to prevent you from playing TERA? Tell us what you think! [Thanks to Stilllove for the tip.]
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| MV Guide: January 30-February 5, 2012 Posted: 30 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Livestream, Miscellaneous, MV Guide  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 our streamed 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, streaming is subject to the whims of outside forces like server-side gremlins once in a while.) Follow along after the jump to see what's on this week's schedule! Continue reading MV Guide: January 30-February 5, 2012
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| The Daily Grind: Do you skip dialogue? Posted: 30 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Roleplaying, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Miscellaneous  So 'fess up -- are you wearing out your spacebar key skipping through dialogue, or are you drinking in every last line?  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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| Posted: 29 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous  NCsoft made headlines this week twiceover. First, the company confirmed that Guild Wars 2 will indeed be launching in 2012 and will see several periods of public (but not open) betas, though Amazon.de's June 30th launch date seems premature. Second, NCsoft has lodged yet another lawsuit against En Masse Entertainment and Bluehole Studios, alleging that former employees now working for En Masse repurposed Lineage III assets for use in TERA, due out this May. En Masse has vowed to fight the suit. We have stocked up on popcorn. The rest of this week's top MMO stories are tucked just behind the cut! Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Popcorn
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| EVE Evolved: Could EVE Online go free-to-play? Posted: 29 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, EVE Evolved, Sandbox  There's no sense in trying to deny it: The market is changing, with microtransaction-supported free-to-play games producing far more money than subscription titles. Hybrid models that give players the choice between microtransactions or a regular subscription have turned the industry on its head. When Turbine first implemented a hybrid model in Dungeons and Dragons Online, not only did profit shoot up from the free players but subscriptions rose. When the studio gave Lord of the Rings Online the same treatment, profits tripled almost overnight. The money is firmly in microtransactions, and it would be disingenuous to assume CCP won't chase that kind of financial reward. But could EVE even support a free-to-play business model, and what alternatives are there? In this week's EVE Evolved, I ask whether it would be possible for EVE Online to adopt a free-to-play business model, and I suggest a simple alternative model that could really work. Continue reading EVE Evolved: Could EVE Online go free-to-play?
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| Amateur documentary tackles online game addiction Posted: 29 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, Culture, Guilds, News items  Titled IRL - In Real Life, the film takes a largely light-hearted look at Anthony's past but still manages to tackle the big issues. "I used to wake up early, log on, play all day, and then go to sleep," Anthony recalls, adding the sobering note that this was his routine "for over 400 days of my life." Most of us can sympathise with people who feel isolated in the most social type of game there is, or who feel like running a guild is a full-time job. Anthony tackles these issues and talks about how he dragged himself out of them. The film's high production quality and authentic voice offer a glimpse into a world to which we can all relate. Check out the full video after the cut. Continue reading Amateur documentary tackles online game addiction
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| Rise and Shiny recap: Urban Rivals Posted: 29 Jan 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Video, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Trading card games, Rise and Shiny, Livestream  Other than that, I found some neat design in the game. I didn't find anything that would just blow us away as gamers, but it has some cool ideas and artwork all the same. There's also the mobile version of the game to consider -- a universal app for the iPhone or iPad that allows for gaming anywhere. Continue reading Rise and Shiny recap: Urban Rivals
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| SOE's Matt Higby talks PlanetSide 2 resources, territory control, and more Posted: 29 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2  Higby and the AGN crew covered a lot of territory relating to Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming MMOFPS. Topics included the Engineer class, urban combat, and the territory and resource control systems. Higby also had plenty to say about the general philosophy behind PS2, and how the dev team is focused on refining the gameplay of its predecessor rather than reinventing the wheel. "One of the things that we're trying to do with the game is reduce downtime, reduce a lot of the maintenance things that you had to do that were kind of inconvenient. We're not removing logistics or strategy [...] but trying to lessen those maintenance tasks that are less enjoyable as much as possible," Higby explained. Continue reading SOE's Matt Higby talks PlanetSide 2 resources, territory control, and more
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| En Masse outlines policy for TERA IP blocking Posted: 29 Jan 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, TERA  The firm will block IP addresses based on region, and Asia, Africa, Russia, and the Middle East are currently included on the company's block list. "While we appreciate that there are players in these regions who would enjoy playing on En Masse servers, it's unfortunate that the vast majority of internet traffic we see from these regions is from cyber-criminals relating to account theft, gold-farming and other hacking behavior," the company says. En Masse will not initially block proxies, but "a proxy or server host will be blocked if it becomes a popular tool for criminal behavior," according to the release. [Thanks to Stilllove for the tip!]
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