MMO Updates |
- Massively Speaking episode 185: Bree-to-play
- Derek Smart's Line of Defense shows off battle environments
- Studios join forces to form Gamer Safety Alliance
- CCP confirms keyboard and mouse control for DUST 514
- Battle.net Balance boots up
- The Daily Grind: Do you have too many alts?
- En Masse 'communicating directly with retailers' over TERA pre-order blunders
- Not So Massively: D3 cuts death animations and HoN releases another broken hero
- ChangYou reports record profits for the year
- Age of Empires Online ventures north with the Celts
- RIFT devs on Russian revolution, improved itemization, and solo success
- SOE announces in-game Valentine's activities
- Wings Over Atreia: The top 19 ways to get your dungeon crawl on
| Massively Speaking episode 185: Bree-to-play Posted: 07 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Podcasts, EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Star Trek Online, RuneScape, Massively Meta, Humor, Massively Speaking, Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, Miscellaneous  Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes. Continue reading Massively Speaking episode 185: Bree-to-play
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| Derek Smart's Line of Defense shows off battle environments Posted: 07 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO industry, Free-to-play, MMOFPS  Line of Defense takes place in the same game universe as Smart's Battlecruiser 3000AD series, and promises to deliver "open-world FPS mayhem" from the depths of the ocean to the heights of space and everything in-between. You can check out the new screenies in the gallery below, and make sure to catch up on our Derek Smart interview about Line of Defense if you haven't already! [Source: Evolve PR press release]
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| Studios join forces to form Gamer Safety Alliance Posted: 07 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, Miscellaneous  Nine major game companies have joined forces to form the Gamer Safety Alliance, an organization that seeks "to break down traditional competitive barriers and share information and best practices within the computer and video game industry." Participating firms include Electronic Arts, Microsoft, Turbine, NCsoft, Nexon, Square Enix, Sony Online Entertainment, MindCandy, and En Masse Entertainment. SOE leads things off with a lengthy article on how to protect yourself from account fraud.
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| CCP confirms keyboard and mouse control for DUST 514 Posted: 07 Feb 2012 06:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox  DUST is a sci-fi MMOFPS set in CCP's New Eden universe, and it is directly connected to the long-running EVE Online MMORPG. Players take on the role of ground-based mercenaries who fight for territory control and share the universal economy with EVE's capsuleers.
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| Posted: 07 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Business models, Miscellaneous  The new Balance system can be used to buy World of Warcraft game time (although you can't set up a recurring subscription with it), in-game pets and mounts, paid account services in WoW such as character transfers, digital copies of Blizzard titles, and the opportunity to buy and sell items on Diablo III's auction house. It's important to note that not all regions will be able to participate in Diablo III's real-money transactions, however. Once real money has been funneled into Battle.net Balance, it cannot be converted back into cash. Blizzard does state that in some regions, players will have an option to get cash back on Diablo III auction sales via PayPal. The company also mentioned that there is a cap on how much any player can have in his or her Balance account and that there are potentially region-specific expiration dates for Balance funds.
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| The Daily Grind: Do you have too many alts? Posted: 07 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Classes, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Daily Grind  There's so much choice, in fact, that it's occasionally difficult to decide what to do next. Take the aforementioned classes as an example. Thanks to the introduction of the Beastlord in last December's Age of Discovery expansion, the game now has a whopping 25 classes to choose from, and I have 13 of them sitting in various stages of advancement on my character select screen. Which one should I play? Should I make one of the other 12? These are the times that try men's souls! OK, not really, but it can be a tough call. What about you, Massively readers? Do you have too many alts?  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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| En Masse 'communicating directly with retailers' over TERA pre-order blunders Posted: 06 Feb 2012 07:15 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, TERA  In a nutshell, the En Masse website has been advertising physical collector's edition packages for the better part of a week, but when gamers go to the various retail partner websites listed on the page, the CEs are nowhere to be found. Some TERA fans are a bit anxious because pre-ordering guarantees a slot in the fast-approaching closed beta period, and the only alternative thus far is to buy a digital version of the game directly from En Masse.
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| Not So Massively: D3 cuts death animations and HoN releases another broken hero Posted: 06 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Video, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends  Heroes of Newerth released its potentially overpowered new hero Berzerker this week, placing Artesia into the free hero pool for legacy accounts a week early. League of Legends introduced its updated AI, adding 40 champions to the bot roster for both Summoner's Rift and Dominion co-op games. Dota 2 released a new test version to trial experimental changes without interrupting balance testing, and dungeon crawler Path of Exile showed off two new screenshots of its upcoming 0.9.6 patch. Finally, Bloodline Champions increased all XP gains by 50% this week in patch 2.3 and has launched a hilarious new photo content that's sure to get some questionable entries. Continue reading Not So Massively: D3 cuts death animations and HoN releases another broken hero
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| ChangYou reports record profits for the year Posted: 06 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous  CEO Tao Wang says the company can thank a variety of games for its success -- the aforementioned Duke of Mount Deer, an expansion for Tian Long Ba Bu, and the browser-based DDTank. The success of the company in the online market is just part of the ever-expanding Chinese marketplace, which generated over $5 billion dollars last year alone. That's good news for ChangYou and its fans, since the company will enter the next year with plenty of money to generate more games.
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| Age of Empires Online ventures north with the Celts Posted: 06 Feb 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Trailers, Video, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, MMORTS, Age of Empires Online  Age of Empires Online has been bringing free-to-play RTS action to the masses since August of last year, but so far players have had access to just three civilizations: Greek, Egyptian, and Persian. All of that is about to change, though, so ready your shillelaghs as the Celts join the battle. This new civilization, which seems to draw inspiration predominantly from Irish and Scottish folklore, will bring players a variety of new units and strategies with which to drive the opposition to its knees. Whether you're wreaking havoc with the speedy Woad Raiders or sacrificing a deer with the druidic Augur, the Celts will certainly bring new twists to any playstyle. And of course, a new civilization also means new quests. The Celts' quests will have players battling it out in the frigid north, where the icy weather will slowly sap the health of any unit caught in the elements. The Celts will also introduce stealth missions, such as infiltrating an enemy fortress without waking the sleeping guards. To see the new civilization in action, just click past the cut for a bagpipe-filled teaser video, then head on over to the game's official site to get in on the action for yourself. Sláinte! Continue reading Age of Empires Online ventures north with the Celts
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| RIFT devs on Russian revolution, improved itemization, and solo success Posted: 06 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Patches, RIFT  Even as itemization improvements continue to roll into RIFT, the devs state that they're constantly monitoring damage output. For the next patch, Warriors will see a buff to their DPS as attack power will be tweaked to boost the pain. Hanlin promises that "soloable content is very important to us" and pointed at the success of Instant Adventures and the Chronicles of Telara as proof that Trion has responded to the desire for such content in the game. The devs touch on small details from the recent patch and their vision for expert dungeons as well.
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| SOE announces in-game Valentine's activities Posted: 06 Feb 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, EverQuest II, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Free Realms, Kids, Family  Norrathians will be celebrating Erollisi Day from February 7th through the 20th, and there are plenty of contests, quests, and love-soaked goings-on to keep everyone happy. Free Realms' Festival of Hearts lasts a bit longer (February 7th through March 8th to be exact), during which time players may partake of Valentine's Day-themed environments, quests, and reward items. Finally, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures is re-introducing a few Valentine's Day items to its StationCash markeplace, and you'll find more info on each game's celebration events at their respective official sites. [Source: SOE press release]
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| Wings Over Atreia: The top 19 ways to get your dungeon crawl on Posted: 06 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, PvE, Wings Over Atreia, Guides  They are... the instanced dungeon. There are actually 19 separate PvE dungeons currently in Aion where Daevas can get their dungeon crawl on. If you include the Fortress instances, you can add another 10 dungeons to this list. Adding PvP instances raises the number even higher. However, since fort instances are seriously lacking in lore and fort ownership is required (so availability is not assured), we will forego including them. We'll also omit the Dredgions and PvP arenas to keep the list PvE focused -- after all, there are times you really may not want to bother with fighting the enemy! This week, Wings Over Atreia explores the first half of the dungeon list for the benefit of both young whippersnappers and old-timer Daevas alike. Why would veterans need it? Because dungeons aren't just for certain levels anymore. For a change of pace or to break out of a rut, grab yourself some lowbies, mentor down, and check out one instance a day -- you'll pass two weeks before ever repeating. You might even have fun, meet new friends, and renew your enthusiasm for Aion. Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: The top 19 ways to get your dungeon crawl on
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