MMO Updates |
- CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services
- The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games
- WoW's Mists of Pandaria beta download surfaces on Battle.net [Updated]
- The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited
- Get some hands-on time with The Secret World at PAX East
- EVE Online's 2012 Fanfest kicks off with free livestreams
- The Daily Grind: Would you buy a system for one game?
- Star Trek Online puts you in contact with your duty officers
- MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs?
- The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression
- Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free
- End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements
- Vanguard going free-to-play this summer, beefs up dev team
- The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions
- Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two
- Explore Vinland and Rome with Uncharted Waters Online's latest update
- Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos
| CCP shopping EVE Online to cloud gaming services Posted: 22 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Casual, Sandbox  "We are in dialogue with both companies and others," CCP marketing guru David Reid says. "We think it's a really important way to not just play the core Eve Online gameplay -- that you do play today principally on the PC and on the Mac -- but also to add new sorts of experiences." What sorts of new experiences? Well, Reid mentioned EVE's planetary interaction mechanics, and he said that CCP could see PI finding its way "to tablets and mobile devices." It's still very early in the process, though, and Reid clarified that CCP has nothing to announce as of yet.
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| The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games Posted: 22 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook  In Dominion, single players don't contribute quite as much, in general. However, there is an exception: the bottom lane. You'll be hearing me talk about the bottom lane in Dominion a lot. In most games, it's the most important element of the entire map. One player generally holds and controls the lane solo, and his ability to do this job well has more of an outcome on the game than any other individual's skill. A team that wins the bottom lane usually wins the game. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Carrying Dominion games
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| WoW's Mists of Pandaria beta download surfaces on Battle.net [Updated] Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, News items  WoW Insider continued updating its news post as the night wore on, and interestingly enough, Mac users were indeed able to download the patch (no such luck for PC folk, though). Blizzard also published a beta character copy page on Battle.net where players got a good look at all the test servers ready and waiting for a slew of avatar imports. [Updated]: MoP beta is live.
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| The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited Posted: 22 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Star Trek Online, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous  Random loot from mobs is a reward mechanic that is bordering on archaic, having been supplanted by dependable quest rewards and barter vendors that give us the gear we so desire. Of course, now we've come around the weird circle to the point that dropped lockboxes hold interesting loot, but we've got to pay for the privilege of seeing what's inside. But let's not go there today! Instead, I'm going to share with you the 10 general types of loot that still get me excited while playing. They will shock, amaze, and radically reshape your life, as long as you've had a recent brain wipe and are awaiting brand-new neural instructions. Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Types of loot that get me excited
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| Get some hands-on time with The Secret World at PAX East Posted: 22 Mar 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World  The full Templar faction starter experience as well as the haunted town of Kingsmouth will be on display, and all the action happens at booth 260 on the show floor. Funcom is also giving away 10,000 Illuminati, Templar, and Dragon dog tags, each of which contains a key code that grants access to TSW's beta weekends. PAX East runs from April 6th through April 8th in Boston, Massachusetts, and more info is available at the event's official website. [Source: Funcom press release]
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| EVE Online's 2012 Fanfest kicks off with free livestreams Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:50 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, DUST 514, Livestream, Sandbox  For EVE players, Fanfest is more than just a party with some reveals thrown in; it's a place to meet players as enraptured with the game as they are, to share epic stories of battles won and lost, and to be a part of a truly global game community. Fanfest is three days of living in a world where the virtual universe of New Eden is real and the online exploits of its inhabitants are legend. Last year, Massively attended the EVE Fanfest and brought you in-depth first-hand coverage of the event, but this year we take a back seat to the live reporting of EVE TV. Live streaming of the event has just begun and will continue for three full days. A full list of the talks, panels, speeches and events that will be streamed is available on the official EVE TV schedule. Each day's events will also be repeated during the night for those viewing from the US. Head over to our official Fanfest livestream page to watch the action!
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| The Daily Grind: Would you buy a system for one game? Posted: 22 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Events, in-game, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox  Nonetheless, a couple of my EVE Online bros will be joining me, one of whom is a long-time PlayStation connoisseur and the other of whom went out and bought a PS3 this week specifically for DUST. And that brings us to today's early-morning question. Would you buy (or have you bought) a console or a PC system primarily for one game? Which one?  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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| Star Trek Online puts you in contact with your duty officers Posted: 21 Mar 2012 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play  Some of the assignments offered within your ship are new, while others allow you to further focus your efforts on a given commendation category. Almost all of them involve seeking out and speaking to the appropriate part of your duty roster, meaning that your Engineering officer will be in charge of a plethora of Engineering-related assignments. It's a great chance to get to know your crew as more than just piles of stats, and it should give you just a bit more of that ever-important Star Trek feel.
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| MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs? Posted: 21 Mar 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Kids, MMO Family, Family, Miscellaneous  The only thing that helps parents get through it is the knowledge that they get a respite once they get home. Not so anymore, though, because there's a second front that's opened, and the new battleground is taking place on our computer screens. Those high-pitched appeals that echo throughout the store aisles are now filling our family rooms, kitchens, and dining rooms. And while many people are singing the praises of the free-to-play model in MMO games, it's actually the biggest contributor to the begging-battles at home. Let's take a look at why free-to-play and kids MMOs are not a match made in heaven. Continue reading MMO Family: Is free-to-play bad for kid-friendly MMOs?
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| The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, The Secret World  Regardless of what your character has unlocked, you'll be limited to seven active abilities and seven passive abilities at any given time, thereby ensuring that more experienced characters will have more options rather than more raw power. The video also talks about templates to help guide new players and the game's equipment system, all of which emphasize the role of players in determining how they want to play. If this sounds right up your alley, take a look at the full video diary just past the break. Continue reading The Secret World offers up a video diary on freeform progression
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| Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free Posted: 21 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Aion, Business models, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play  Christensen explains that the primary motivating factor behind the removal of subscriptions was a simple need for players to have a larger influx of other people to group with -- the game plays best with other people, and making the game free-to-play would secure a larger number of people. He also opines at length about features such as housing and the new dungeons coming with patch 3.0. The full video is just past the break, and if it piques your interest, clear a little time away around April 11th to give the game a shot. Continue reading Aion producer talks about 3.0 and being truly free
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| End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer Posted: 21 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Previews, News items, War, Free-to-play, MMORTS  Not in the mood to wait for a closed beta slot? Hoping for one but not trusting your luck? That's all right -- open beta is set to start in the summer, giving everyone a chance to get in on the large-scale persistent tactical battles. Past that, players can expect the game to launch completely free-to-play, most likely sometime in the fall. The announcement video just past the cut also promises that players can look forward to a lot more in the way of news updates, something that should help contribute to the overall good feeling of any MMORTS fans. [Source: Trion Worlds press release] Continue reading End of Nations closed beta to start in spring, open beta in summer
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements Posted: 21 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter, Crafting  Lots, as it happens, because last week didn't touch upon dual Enhancements or Inventions, both of which cover the same ground and take into account the specifics of Enhancement Diversification and so forth. So for those of you wondering why I didn't talk about IOs, those still trying to get a handle on the system, or those just morbidly curious about how the game works, it's time to start in with the enhancements that broke the entire system in half more or less the second they were introduced: Inventions. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Digital Enhancements
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| Vanguard going free-to-play this summer, beefs up dev team Posted: 21 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Vanguard, Free-to-play  While specifics about the F2P conversion are hazy at the moment, SOE says that players should look to its work with previous MMO F2P adaptations (such as the recently relaunched EverQuest) for an idea how things will go down in Vanguard town. It's not just going to be a token change for this mostly forgotten title; SOE says that it has assembled a new team of Vanguard-loving devs to generate more frequent updates, including "general improvements and new content." The game's previous update was this past December. Coming on board to shape the future of the game are Director of Development Andy Sites, Creative Director Salim Grant, and Technical Director Todd Schmidt. The announcement concludes with a promise for team spotlights, more information on F2P, and development discussion to come in the near future.
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| The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions Posted: 21 Mar 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Economy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, The Soapbox  The ArenaNet post about microtransactions in Guild Wars 2 reveals that the "gems" currency will be bought with real money and be available for purchase with in-game gold in GW2. But people seem to have forgetten that Runes of Magic's cash shop operated this way three years ago. I've been playing RoM since closed beta, and the cash shop is one of the reasons RoM is so different from other F2P MMOs of its era. Frogster eventually removed the ability to buy diamonds with gold because of fraud, so I'm curious to see how ArenaNet handles that issue. My time in RoM has shown me that there are other issues involved here, issues of security, players gaming the system, botting, and pay-to-win debates. In other words, there's more at stake here than whether cash shops sell gear or items toward gaining power. Continue reading The Soapbox: The hidden perils of Guild Wars 2's microtransactions
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| Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two Posted: 21 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Dark Age of Camelot, Hands-on, Humor, First Impressions, Choose My Adventure  The one thing I never did was actually play DAoC. Older MMOs can be quite intimidating; they have deep-rooted communities and tomes of updates and history, and they were more rough around the edges. Rough in their cores, too, if we're being honest. So the intimidation factor kept me away until this past week, when Massively readers sent me on a quest to Camelot for the first time in my life. Last week readers voted on the character I was to roll. An impressive 82% of you said to check out the realm vs. realm ruleset and roll a a Midgard (43.2%) beastly (40.8%) hybrid (43.3%) character. After reading some of the recommendations in the comments, I ended up making a female Troll Skald on a traditional server. She may be lumpy and bulky, but I took a shine to her right away. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week two
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| Explore Vinland and Rome with Uncharted Waters Online's latest update Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  Ahoy there, sailors. It's time once again to raise your sails, man your oars, and prepare for further adventures on the seven seas with Uncharted Waters Online. A new update to the game brings players a treasure trove of new content to explore, such as the new area of Vinland, which is inhabited by fierce vikings, and the grand city of Rome, where players can test out the freshly revamped ground combat system in new PvE challenges at the historical Coliseum. On top of that, the update is also introducing a brand-new banking system that will allow players to keep their loot safe from plundering (for a minor fee, of course). And finally, players will be granted access to three new vessels in which to make the journey to Vinland. The first is the Immigrant Bark, which is modeled after the historical Mayflower that carried some of the first English settlers to North America. The other two ships are the six-sailed long schooner and commercial long schooner. So choose your vessel, get all hands on deck, and set your course for Vinland by heading over to the game's official site. [Source: Netmarble press release]
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| Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic Posted: 21 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Why I Play  I don't need to extoll the virtues of that game, as people have been doing so pretty much since its release. BioWare had certainly released games in a similar vein before, but KOTOR was the one that finally compelled me to try something. My gaming world would be a far darker place without the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series. So what does this have to do with Star Wars: The Old Republic? I never would have tried any of that and never would have become a fan of BioWare were it not for KOTOR. And both Star Wars: The Old Republic and its antecedent had to overcome a very big impediment: my profound antipathy toward the Star Wars franchise. Continue reading Why I Play: Star Wars: The Old Republic
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| Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos Posted: 21 Mar 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Classes, News items, Free-to-play  Drinking and gambling go together like peanut butter and jelly, so it's only appropriate that today's new Wakfu gameplay videos set the focus on the Pandawa's Pint and Ecaflip's Coin classes. The Pandawa class, as its name would imply, is a class consisting entirely of anthropomorphic pandas with an affinity for bamboo milk and bar-room brawls. The Pandawa's Pint class "will lift both allies and enemies off their feet," but the distinction lies in how they go about putting them down. Meanwhile, members of the Ecaflip's Coin class take a page out of Harvey Dent's book and live life by the flip of a coin. Luck is the name of the game for these devoted gamblers, and they're more than willing to let their lives ride on the roll of the dice as long as a chance at victory is still in the cards, and when you make your own luck, it always is. To see these two classes in the heat of action, just grab a drink, take a seat at the table, and let the dice roll. Or, you know, just click past the cut. [Source: Ankama Games press release] Continue reading Drink, dice, and debauch with new Wakfu gameplay videos
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