MMO Updates |
- Enter at your own Rift: Want to play RIFT for free? Now you can!
- Turbine shows off new locations from DDO's Web of Chaos
- See League of Legends' Ziggs in action -- he'll blow you away
- The Daily Grind: What do you like to see on MMO websites?
- 'RIFT Lite' announced, makes first 20 levels free to all
- Hyperspace Beacon: Wretched radio of scum and villainy
- EverQuest Mac fans fight for survival; SOE responds
- CNN observes the migration habits of the elusive wild gamer
- The Soapbox: Give indie a chance
- BioWare: All our devs play SWTOR
- Ultima producer's letter teases 2012 content
- Dutch Supreme Court declares RuneScape theft a real-world crime
- Bigpoint surpasses 250 million registered users
- Allods Online cheekily promotes Game of Gods expansion
- DDO 'prequel' update prepping community for the expansion
- Anarchy Online's new game director details early 2012 plans
- The Game Archaeologist dials up Phantasy Star Online: The highlights
| Enter at your own Rift: Want to play RIFT for free? Now you can! Posted: 01 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift  Continue reading Enter at your own Rift: Want to play RIFT for free? Now you can!
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| Turbine shows off new locations from DDO's Web of Chaos Posted: 01 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons  Update 13 is scheduled to go live later this month, and today we have the first screenshots which focus on a cult called the Lords of Dust. Check out the gallery below for a look at their dungeon base as well as a glimpse of their Rakshasa cult masters. The content features new quests, new items, and the ability for veterans to start a character at level seven. [Source: Turbine press release]
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| See League of Legends' Ziggs in action -- he'll blow you away Posted: 01 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Classes, Previews, Free-to-play, MOBA, League of Legends  As part of the Ziggs celebration, there are two new skins for him in the store -- Major Ziggs and Mad Scientist Ziggs -- as well as a special skin for Poppy (Scarlet Hammer Poppy). Check out the Champion Spotlight video after the cut and make sure to read up on Ziggs in our previous coverage of this new character! Continue reading See League of Legends' Ziggs in action -- he'll blow you away
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| The Daily Grind: What do you like to see on MMO websites? Posted: 01 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  But enough about my journeys -- I want to hear about your own thoughts on MMO websites. What do you like to see when you visit one? Are the aesthetics important to you, or are you more concerned with specific features? Are these websites more for first-time visitors curious about the game or should they cater to players looking for news and updates about their favorite titles? For bonus points, provide a link below to (in your opinion) the best-designed MMO website!  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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| 'RIFT Lite' announced, makes first 20 levels free to all Posted: 01 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Launches, MMO industry, Patches, News items, RIFT  In the press release, RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman, who told fans last November that Trion had "absolutely no plans whatsoever" to turn RIFT F2P, stated that his company believes "a Lite edition with no time limit is the best way for players to see what an amazing experience RIFT continues to be." Diet RIFT launches today in conjunction with the latest patch, Carnival of the Ascended, which brings player weddings, dungeon overhauls, and PvP tweaks to Telara.
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| Hyperspace Beacon: Wretched radio of scum and villainy Posted: 31 Jan 2012 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Interviews, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon  This week, I appeared on the site's weekly broadcast, and in exchange, I sat down to interview three of the leads for the site: Executive producer Zach Brown, MER co-host and producer Evan Lewis, and producer of Alan Shot First and guild leader Alan Nauman. We talked about everything -- what has happened since launch, what they think of the game so far, and what they see for the future of the site and the game itself. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Wretched radio of scum and villainy
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| EverQuest Mac fans fight for survival; SOE responds Posted: 31 Jan 2012 05:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, Culture, Events, in-game  EQMac fans have begun to stage a campaign to save their favorite game, but it looks like there will be no budging SOE's mind on the matter. SOE President John Smedley took to the forums today to answer specific questions about the shutdown. "It breaks my heart to have to do this," he laments, before admitting that it's a done deal. Smedley cites the fact that the codebase is so ancient that only one SOE programmer knows how to work it, the player population is too small, and SOE was never that "proud" of the version. However, Smedley promised that he will run a poll to see if there's enough interest in a Mac port of the current version of EverQuest. If the response is big enough, he says, the company will consider doing it. Meanwhile, the game will be available for current players free of charge until the March 29th shutdown. SOE has a celebration planned for its final hurrah. EQMac came out in 2003 and was unique for remaining "frozen in time" in the years since, receiving no further active development or expansions. We will be covering this game and its shutdown more in-depth in a future Game Archaeologist column, so stay tuned.
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| CNN observes the migration habits of the elusive wild gamer Posted: 31 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, News items, Opinion, Miscellaneous  We all know that one guy who flits between MMOs with the same attention span as an ADD goldfish on cocaine. Heck, we've probably been there ourselves a few times. Well, CNN's Geek Out blog has decided to take a look at the migratory patterns of the MMO gamer in his natural habitat, and the timing couldn't be more perfect. With the recent release of Star Wars: The Old Republic, gamers everywhere are deciding whether or not to migrate. The author of the piece takes a look at the comparative subscription numbers of major players in the MMO game, and speaks to Warner Bros. Entertainment's Jim Drewry and Adam Mersky regarding how the folks behind Lord of the Rings Online deal with MMO migration. It's really a rather interesting look into the culture, so click on through the link below to give it a read.
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| The Soapbox: Give indie a chance Posted: 31 Jan 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Humor, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous  It's a pretty cool thing to introduce readers to new games. It's especially cool when the new game I am showing them would otherwise have completely passed under their radar, mainly because they receive most of their gaming news from other sites or from the blueshirts at Best Buy. I find no greater satisfaction than when someone tells me, "I didn't think I would like a game like that." When a player who normally feels comfortable engaging only with standard mechanics like linear questing, class-based gameplay, or raiding finds himself obsessed with some odd browser-based strategy game, everyone wins. Once that player gets hooked on one of my favorite indie titles, most of the hard work is over. The real challenge comes a few steps before that: getting the player to actually try the game in the first place. I've tried a lot of different tactics over the years, from using guilt or shame to acting as though only cool people play the game in question. Unfortunately, it feels as though the audiences have become increasingly resistant. I have to think that the recent crop of easily digestible AAA titles has not helped the situation at all. Continue reading The Soapbox: Give indie a chance
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| BioWare: All our devs play SWTOR Posted: 31 Jan 2012 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  The rest of the wall o' text isn't quite as illuminating. Vogel starts by defining bugs and exploits, and he offers a few generalities in regards to BioWare's ability to quickly respond to both types of issues. It's worth a read if you're heavily invested in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and you'll find it on the game's official site.
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| Ultima producer's letter teases 2012 content Posted: 31 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Ultima Online, Sandbox  In all seriousness, UO grand poobah Jeff Skalski has favored the masses with a producer's letter, and he drops several hints about what's to come for the 2012 version of Sosaria. Publish 74 is officially live, and the dev team is already hard at work on its followup, which Skalski says will address "a handful of long overdue bugs" as well as further the game's dynamic story arcs. Skalski also tells us that the artwork for the enhanced client is still in the oven, and in fact the makeover has turned out to be "more challenging than planned." As a result, it's not quite ready for primetime, but rest assured that it is still a priority. As always, more info is available at the official UO website.
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| Dutch Supreme Court declares RuneScape theft a real-world crime Posted: 31 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Legal, Miscellaneous  The court recently upheld a ruling of a criminal case in which teens attacked another youth and forced him at knifepoint to relinquish his possessions in RuneScape, including an in-game amulet and knife. The incident happened in 2007, and a lower court convicted the two thieves in 2009. One of the defendants then appealed to the country's supreme court on the grounds that the stolen goods "were neither tangible nor material and, unlike for example electricity, had no economic value." However, the judges declared that these virtual items had value because they represented "time and energy invested" to acquire. The thieves were sentenced to 144 hours of community service.
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| Bigpoint surpasses 250 million registered users Posted: 31 Jan 2012 01:30 PM PST Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Browser, Battlestar Galactica Online  The folks at Bigpoint must be feeling quite nice about themselves about now, as a new press release from the company has announced that the studio's games now have a total of 250 million registered users worldwide. Heiko Hubertz, CEO and founder of the browser-focused MMORPG developer, is quite pleased with the development, claiming that "since 2002, [Bigpoint has] strived to bring high-quality games and experiences to the widest possible audience... and we're not done." The press release goes on to make the bold claims that "Bigpoint introduced the concept of F2P games" and that "over the past decade, Bigpoint has radically improved the quality of... online games." The statement conclues that "the company is planning a series of new launches in 2012, including new titles that leverage world-class Hollywood intellectual property." We already know that Bigpoint is the studio behind the upcoming MMOs based on A Game of Thrones and The Mummy, but what else does the studio have up its sleeve? We'll just have to wait to find out. [Source: Bigpoint press release]
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| Allods Online cheekily promotes Game of Gods expansion Posted: 31 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Expansions, Free-to-play, Allods Online  We don't want to spoil it, so suffice it to say that it begins with an epic confrontation between an ogre and a hermit crab that might well go down in history as one of the most nail-biting battles of the minds. The trailer is a promotion for Allods' upcoming Game of Gods expansion and includes brief glimpses into the update's new features -- including the not-at-all prancing Bard. (Bards rule, by the way.) You can watch the full trailer after the jump! Continue reading Allods Online cheekily promotes Game of Gods expansion
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| DDO 'prequel' update prepping community for the expansion Posted: 31 Jan 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Expansions, Patches, Free-to-play  Update 13: Web of Chaos has a generous portion of goodies for all players in the form of three new free quests. These quests include tackling a uppity cult, freeing a prisoner from captivity, and battling the nefarious Spinner of Shadows itself. Also coming with DDO's next update will be a few additional store options, cosmetic pets, and the ability to unlock level 7 veteran status. The latter acquisition will allow you to make a new level 7 adventurer right out of the gate and can either be purchased with real money or in-game favor. You can read up on Update 13 and the expansion pack in our recent interview with Turbine.
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| Anarchy Online's new game director details early 2012 plans Posted: 31 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Anarchy Online, News items, Free-to-play  We haven't heard a whole lot from Funcom's old-school sci-fi MMO Anarchy Online since mid-December when the game's producer bowed out. Today, however, the new game director, Fia "Lindelu" Tjernberg, stopped by the game's official forums to give players a bit of an update on what they can expect from the first months of the new year. For starters, Tjernberg gives players a progress report on the game's upcoming shiny new graphics engine. She goes on to explain that "[Funcom's] artists have been preparing a couple of playfields to a standard that is very close to what we're aiming for," and adds that the first video of the new engine should hit sometime in February. Another large priority for the team for early 2012 is the new player experience, but perhaps most importantly of all is the "balancing act," as Tjernberg puts it, which (predictably) aims to bring the game's professions into balance "a little bit at a time." For the full details on Anarchy Online's plans for the next couple of months, just click on through the link below.
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| The Game Archaeologist dials up Phantasy Star Online: The highlights Posted: 31 Jan 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Expansions, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist  But perhaps the Dreamcast's greatest gift to the gaming world wasn't crazy taxis or space dancing but a surprisingly forward-looking approach to online gaming. In 2000, the Dreamcast took the first steps to bringing an online console RPG to market, and while it wasn't a true MMO, it certainly paved the way for titles like EverQuest Online Adventures and Final Fantasy XI. It was bold, it was addictive, and it was gosh-darned gorgeous. Ladies and gentlemen: Phantasy Star Online. Continue reading The Game Archaeologist dials up Phantasy Star Online: The highlights
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