MMO Updates |
- GDC 2012: The Secret World's crafting, combat (and cutscenes) revealed
- Linden Lab's Second Life "extremely profitable," company looking to expand
- Kickstarting the future of game publishing: An interview with Brian Fargo
- 38 Studios announces the addition of more industry vets to the team
- Diablo III launches May 15th
- Wizard101 creators to present the Digital Kids Conference opening keynote
- The Daily Grind: Do exclusive in-game event items annoy you?
- TERA cracks open Akasha's Hideout to the viewing public
- WildStar Wednesday: Shiny hover bikes
- Free for All: Free-to-play MMO versions of your favorite Nintendo games
- Why I Play: Star Trek Online
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Some Enhancement evening
- Pathfinder Online goes time-traveling in latest dev blog
- Enter at Your Own Rift: Revisiting anonymity in our games
- Center your sights with MechWarrior Online's latest dev Q&A
- Win a year's subscription by making a blockbuster City of Heroes poster
- Defiance beefs up its TV cast with big-name stars
- CCP announces EVE Online Fanfest 2012 livestream
- Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week one
- Win Lottery > Design MMO > ??? > Profit!
- Aeria Games unveils third racial cinematic for Lime Odyssey
| GDC 2012: The Secret World's crafting, combat (and cutscenes) revealed Posted: 15 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Economy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, News items, Opinion, Hands-on, The Secret World, Massively Event Coverage, Dungeons, Crafting  Once that was complete, we got an eyeful of some opening cinematics, and I do mean an eyeful. If you've never watched a lesbian makeout scene alongside a half dozen sweaty male game journos (and a couple of pretty PR girls), well, let's just say that it's hilarious to think about now and fairly awkward to actually experience. Continue reading GDC 2012: The Secret World's crafting, combat (and cutscenes) revealed
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| Linden Lab's Second Life "extremely profitable," company looking to expand Posted: 15 Mar 2012 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds, Miscellaneous  Former Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon vacated the throne in June 2010, and veteran developer Rod Humble took over at the beginning of 2011. Since then, the EverQuest and The Sims veteran has been working hard to bring a bit of structure to Second Life's virtual sprawl and in the process, reinvigorate what was one of the first MMORPG media darlings. "I was taken aback by just how big Second Life was," Humble says. "To be honest, it had fallen off my radar until I got the call offering me the position. And I looked at their numbers; this is a world that has got 1 million people logging in every month, generating well in excess of $75 million a year -- it's extremely profitable." Humble spent much of 2011 refining the product, and everything from the sign-up process, to the UI, to world transportation received some attention. The result was a 40 percent uptick in new users, and now Humble is bent on expanding Linden Lab's offerings beyond Second Life. "Linden Lab has been very successful with one innovative product, but I want to stretch the company out again, to make it a really exciting place where people can't wait to find out about the next unusual title we're going to release," he said.
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| Kickstarting the future of game publishing: An interview with Brian Fargo Posted: 15 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Video, Interviews, Opinion, Massively Interviews, Post-Apocalyptic  Fargo has always been an iconic figure to me. I regularly name my MMO characters Faran Brygo (a name he used for an NPC in the original Wasteland). I'm certainly not alone in my love for Wasteland (which I have labeled for years as my all-time-favorite RPG), but I think it's safe to say that many gamers who enjoyed Wasteland always wondered why there was no sequel. Fallout 1 and 2 were "spiritual successors" to the game, but for copyright reasons were never actually labeled as true sequels. Fargo tried to make a true sequel for 20 years, but was always met with brick walls from publishers who weren't interested in resurrecting such an old game. Enter Kickstarter. After the wild success of Tim Schafer's Double Fine crowdfunding campaign, Fargo got the idea to try this out for himself. The timing was right with the current nostalgic gaming scene, the popularity of the post-apocalyptic genre, and the fact that most of Interplay's original fans are now in a position to where they make a little more income than that of household chores. We sat down with Brian Fargo to discuss his views on the potential of Kickstarter, the future of Big Brother game publishers, and Wasteland 2. Continue reading Kickstarting the future of game publishing: An interview with Brian Fargo
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| 38 Studios announces the addition of more industry vets to the team Posted: 15 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, MMO industry, Massively Interviews  Continue reading 38 Studios announces the addition of more industry vets to the team
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| Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Diablo III  According to our fine friends at Joystiq, you can pre-purchase the game immediately via Battle.net, and doing so will ensure that you're "ready to play the minute the servers go live." Blizzard would also like to
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| Wizard101 creators to present the Digital Kids Conference opening keynote Posted: 15 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, News items, Wizard101, Family  Wizard101 creators Todd Coleman and Josef Hall will be opening the upcoming 6th annual Digital Kids Conference with a keynote address about their experience with engaging the youth market. The KingsIsle Entertainment duo will talk about their transition from hardcore gaming to creating a critically and commercially successful family-friendly game and (one can hope) the secrets of their genius. Wizard101 launched back in 2008 and has since grown in popularity to the tune of 25 million players spread throughout the Western hemisphere (with plans for near-future expansion into China). It is that recognized success that's made Coleman and Hall ideal candidates for the keynote, with the hopes that they'll spur others to greater heights. The conference (formerly the Engage! Conference and Expo) will feature speakers from as disparate venues as the NFL, Cartoon Network, and Ubisoft, all focusing on interactive content to connect with kids in the digital world. The Digital Kids Conference covers the use of mobile apps, social games and media, and virtual worlds to better understand creating and promoting products and content for a younger audience.
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| The Daily Grind: Do exclusive in-game event items annoy you? Posted: 15 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Sandbox  Sony Online Entertainment does something similar for its annual Fan Faire shindig, and I remember tons of exclusive items on display in the virtual homes of Star Wars Galaxies fans who made the annual pilgrimages to Las Vegas. It's bad enough that I never made it to Fan Faire, but it was infinitely worse that I wasn't able to get my collection-obsessed paws on rare no-trade paintings and whatnot (yeah, first-world problems, yada yada). What about you, morning crew? Do exclusive in-game event items rub you the wrong way?  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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| TERA cracks open Akasha's Hideout to the viewing public Posted: 14 Mar 2012 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, TERA, Dungeons  En Masse Entertainment has released the second part of its dungeon video series, this time giving a brief overview of some of the boss monsters awaiting adventurers in Akasha's Hideout. Akasha is the goddess of pestilence, who has holed up in Fyrmount with her prize. What could that prize be? We don't know, but it must be something pretty incredible to risk life and limb trying to recover it! You can check out Akasha's Hideout after the jump! Continue reading TERA cracks open Akasha's Hideout to the viewing public
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| WildStar Wednesday: Shiny hover bikes Posted: 14 Mar 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, News items, Dev Diaries, WildStar  Everybody's favorite extraterrestrial bunnyfolk make an appearance in this week's WildStar Wednesday. While the blog is light on text, it makes up for that with some lovely shots of a female Aurin tooling around on the hover bike we've all come to know and envy from WildStar's first cinematic. A couple of the shots show off the game's lovely scenery while the Aurin performs what would be a wheelie if the bike ever had two wheels on the ground to begin with. Dreaming of the day that you, too, can nab a joyride on this beast of a hover bike? Hop on over to the blog page to check out all the shots, or browse our WildStar gallery to get an eyeful.
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| Free for All: Free-to-play MMO versions of your favorite Nintendo games Posted: 14 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Opinion, Free-to-play, Races, Casual, Humor, Kids, Free for All, Family, Miscellaneous  Stylistically, the games have left a mark on the genre. Many of those same titles still sell as well, some of them reaching so many variations that I lost track a long, long time ago. I thought it might be fun to list off some free-to-play MMOs that remind me of those old classics. See what you think, and leave any suggestions in the comments section! Continue reading Free for All: Free-to-play MMO versions of your favorite Nintendo games
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| Posted: 14 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Why I Play  I started to follow news releases about Star Trek Online from Cryptic Studios the moment I found out the game would not be based on the re-booted franchise of J.J. Abrams' film but would actually be set in what most Trekkies refer to as the "Prime Universe," the timeline in which all of the television series were set. I'm not going to lie to you -- I'm a huge Trekkie. I support fan-made productions; I own every episode! I own reference books, technical manuals, Klingon Language books, action figures, and posters. I read Trek novels, attend conventions, write fan-fiction, and belong to several Trek community forums. I've written a blog and columns and opinion pieces for numerous Trek-related and general science-fiction sites. So at the beginning, I thought that STO would be just another avenue for me to express my fandom without having to worry too much about having the manual dexterity to wield a console controller. It ended up being quite a bit more for me, however, and here's why. Continue reading Why I Play: Star Trek Online
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Some Enhancement evening Posted: 14 Mar 2012 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  Unfortunately, the Enhancement system is also really, really complicated. I don't say this lightly; in fact, I say this specifically after a conversation with a fellow Massively staffer who has never fully understood how this system is supposed to work. Said staffer is an intelligent man, but the system is rife with corner cases, strange rules, exceptions, and several elements that are never really explained in full. So for all of the newer free-to-play people or old hands at City of Heroes who never really got the system, here's a primer on how Enhancements work. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Some Enhancement evening
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| Pathfinder Online goes time-traveling in latest dev blog Posted: 14 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  According to the venerable Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, time is an illusion, and lunchtime doubly so. MMO time is perhaps even more illusory, and that's the exact topic of today's Pathfinder Online dev diary. It's always tricky deciding on the ratio of real-world to in-game time. On the one hand, if time moves too quickly, it can be immersion-breaking; on the other hand, if time moves too slowly, it can lend a sense of stagnance, especially if other gameplay mechanics rely on the day/night cycle (such as mobs that only come out at night). In light of this, Goblinworks has decided on a 4:1 game-to-earth-time ratio. This means that four in-game minutes will pass in the span of one real-world minute, one in-game day will pass in the span of six real-world hours, and so forth. This will also influence the rate of travel within the game. The team is operating under the assumption that the average human moves at three miles per hour. In-game hexes are about three-quarters of a mile from edge-to-edge, which means that it would take a real person about 15 minutes to traverse one hex. When you take into account the game's chronological dilation, though, the same journey will take an in-game character less than four minutes (assuming he can travel in a straight line), which the team says passes a basic "sanity test when considering the travel times required to cross the zones in other MMOs." The full dev blog is chock-full of even more information than we can cram into this article, including details on how different variables (such as mounts, magic, and difficult terrain) will affect travel time and the perceived scale of the world, so if you're in the mood to have your brain addled by MMO chronomancy, head on over and give it a read.
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| Enter at Your Own Rift: Revisiting anonymity in our games Posted: 14 Mar 2012 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, RIFT, Enter at Your Own Rift  The intend was to integrate social media into Blizzard games, particularly Facebook, but it became a huge can of worms because it forced everyone who wanted to post on the forums to reveal their true names. But social media is continuing to grow, and there are lots of ways that game companies have made use of it. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift, let's look at Trion's approach and revisit the idea of anonymity in MMOs. Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Revisiting anonymity in our games
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| Center your sights with MechWarrior Online's latest dev Q&A Posted: 14 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Community Q&A, MechWarrior Online  MechWarriors, start your engines. It's time for another Q&A session with the fine folks at Piranha Games, the studio behind the upcoming free-to-play MechWarrior Online. Combat is the name of the game today, and developers Matt Craig, Paul Inouye, David Bradley, and Garth Eriam have taken some time to answer players' burning questions. The Q&A covers topics ranging from the game's reticle convergence mechanics to how exactly one goes about disabling an enemy 'Mech, and just as there's more than one way to skin a cat, there are myriad methods with which to bring destruction to your foes. Players will be able to bring down an enemy BattleMech by destroying the head, disabling the torso, or literally bringing the 'Mech to its knees by crippling its legs. But of course, that's much easier said than done. The game's reticle convergence system will require players to aim their shots well and time them even better if they plan to survive for long. The full details, for those interested in the mechanics of combat, are available for perusal at the official MWO site.
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| Win a year's subscription by making a blockbuster City of Heroes poster Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Super-hero, City of Heroes, Contests, Events, in-game, Free-to-play  The studio has launched a contest in which players are challenged to create a City of Heroes-themed poster worthy of a blockbuster marquee. If you're interested, you have to be 13 or older and use non-copyrighted material to make a good-looking movie poster on your computer. Submissions have to be turned in by April 10th, at which time Paragon will choose a first-, second-, and third-place winner out of the heap. Each winner will have a chance at seeing his or her poster put into the game itself, and all will win free subscription time (first place gets a full year, second place six months, and third place three months). This contest may be part of a larger plan for City of Heroes. In her latest producer's letter, Melissa Bianco wrote, "We're already on our final push for Issue 23 polish, in pre-production on Issue 24, and putting some exciting new content into place for the summer. You may have heard whispers, but it will be fun. Think: popcorn."
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| Defiance beefs up its TV cast with big-name stars Posted: 14 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, Miscellaneous, Defiance  Four new actors have been announced for the show. The first is Julie Benz (Dexter, Angel), who will be playing Mayor Amanda Rosewater, a leader of a small mining town. Stephanie Leonidas (MirrorMask) is Irisa, an alien warrior who's adopted by the lead's character and raised as his bodyguard and daughter. Finally, Tony Curran (Gladiator, Blade II) and Jaime Murray (Warehouse 13, Dexter) are coming on as an alien husband-and-wife team fleeing the destruction of their home world. [Source: Trion Worlds press release]
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| CCP announces EVE Online Fanfest 2012 livestream Posted: 14 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, News items, DUST 514, Sandbox  We're just over a week away from EVE Online's Fanfest 2012, but unfortunately it isn't always convenient for the game's worldwide fans to take a weekend trip to Reykjavik. The folks at CCP know this, and they've got it all under control. Players who aren't lucky enough to get to attend the event in-person will have the opportunity to be there in (virtual) spirit with thanks to a livestream of the event on EVE TV. CCP's Soundwave, Sunset, and Guard will be providing fans with a continuous stream of coverage of major events, panels, and tournaments, complete with commentary to help viewers navigate the treacherous depths of the Fanfest. Serious fans can opt to shell out 1 PLEX (or its real-world equivalent wherever they may be) for EVE TV HD, which will allow them to stream the entire event in high-definition. That 1 PLEX will also net players an in-game Fanfest 2012 t-shirt and a fancy-schmancy Iteron Mark IV Quafe Ultra Edition industrial ship. More casual players will probably be content with EVE TV Free. While it doesn't include the nifty bonus items and it isn't in HD, it will still provide the same amount of Fanfest coverage as the HD stream. Virtual tickets for access to the stream are on sale now on EVE Online's official site, so if you want to experience the joys of the EVE Online Fanfest from the comfort of your own home, this is your chance. And remember, Massively will have its own stream of the Fanfest right here on the site, so be sure to drop by and spend some time with your fellow spaceship-faring Massively readers.
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| Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week one Posted: 14 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Dark Age of Camelot, Classes, PvP, Races, Humor, Choose My Adventure  Seriously, folks, I don't know how it usually goes down in CMAtown, but I've never experienced a week of my life when I was literally watching strangers decide my destiny -- and go neck-and-neck in the process. After thousands and thousands of votes, it all came down to a difference of... three. Really. Three MMO communities caught wind of last week's poll regarding the game I'd be playing and writing up over the next several weeks. Dark Age of Camelot players fought valiantly against Anarchy Online fans for the privilege of this column's focus, often times trading spots for first and second place. The City of Heroes community got into the game late and racked up several hundred votes in an attempt to secure the win, but ultimately it came down to a last-minute brawl in which DAoC garnered three measly votes more than AO, which means I'll be heading off to Camelot starting next week. With the insane voting over a game at an end, today begins the real fun: You get to roll my character for me. Join me as I lay out just how this is going to work with DAoC's crazy setup. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week one
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| Win Lottery > Design MMO > ??? > Profit! Posted: 14 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, News items, Miscellaneous  If you won $27 million in the lottery, what would you do with it? Buy a new car? A new house? Maybe invest in the stock market? Psh, yeah right. You'd make an MMO and you know it, you filthy liars. As it happens, that's the idea of Ellwood Bartlett, who recently hit the big time with a rather sizeable lottery jackpot. Now he's taking to Kickstarter to build interest for his ideas. What ideas? Glad you asked. Bartlett wants to create an MMO where each server is its own unique world. For example, Bartlett says that "one will be a mostly water and all avatars will have underwater breathing. Another will be a volcanic world and your avatar will have a high resistance to fire." Players would be able to travel between servers in order to tackle "universal quests" and to participate in PvP. The goals are lofty, but one question remains: Why would a multi-millionaire take his ideas to Kickstarter? In short, he wants to gauge interest before he commits to the huge investment of time and money that is the development of an MMO. So far, he says, he has gotten "tons of positive feedback as well as negative." One way or another, it should be interesting to see how this one pans out.
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| Aeria Games unveils third racial cinematic for Lime Odyssey Posted: 14 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Trailers, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Races  Centuries ago, humans lived as nomadic seafarers. After running aground, they established the town of Blue Coral and grew prosperous through crafting and fishing among the vibrant plants and sea life. Many young Humans, however, retain their ancestors' adventurous spirit and set out to find their own fortunes. Besides exploring Baron Northpallor's Manor in the north they can also dive in and seek for treasure in the depths of the Beren Sea. For a look at the Humans, click past the cut to watch the new opening cinematic and also see some exclusive screenshots! [Source: Aeria Games Press Release] Continue reading Aeria Games unveils third racial cinematic for Lime Odyssey
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