MMO Updates |
- Breaking down Guild Wars 2's character creator
- The Secret World's lead designer explains abilities, skills, gear, and more
- Making the 'jump' from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2
- MV Guide: March 26-April 1, 2012
- An outsider's look inside Guild Wars 2
- The Daily Grind: Are MMO players tired of beefcake?
- EVE Evolved Extra: Revamping PvP in Inferno
- EVE Evolved: New info from Fanfest 2012
- MMO Week in Review: Panda express
- Learn about the Warrior in the newest Lime Odyssey development blog
- Rise and Shiny: Realm of the Mad God
| Breaking down Guild Wars 2's character creator Posted: 26 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Lore, New titles, Guild Wars 2, Races, Roleplaying, Massively Hands-on, Guides  In just the few minutes that it takes to traverse the 10 screens of Guild Wars 2's character creation process, I'm left with one overriding thought: This game looks ridiculously good. Ludicrously so, even. And I didn't even enter the game world yet! I always love a good, in-depth character creation system, as there's a joy in spending a good amount of time making exactly the sort of character you want to play. Unfortunately, most MMOs have stripped this process down to the bare basics, which is why I'm pleased to announce that it's actually a mini-journey in and of itself in Guild Wars 2. The point of this process isn't just to make a character but help you grow attached to this person and get to know him or her through it. What are this character's motivations? What branch of his or her profession is the most appealing? How did you become a hero? What obstacles do you have to overcome? Instead of playing the game itself, I took some time over this beta testing weekend to dissect every step of the character creation system and bring my findings back to those of you who want to start building your character in your mind. Continue reading Breaking down Guild Wars 2's character creator
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| The Secret World's lead designer explains abilities, skills, gear, and more Posted: 26 Mar 2012 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Professions, News items, The Secret World, Crafting  You'll probably want a couple of caffeinated beverages for this one, because Bruusgaard has a lot to say about The Secret World's abilities, skills, gear, progression, and crafting systems. We would try to summarize it for you, but we'd still be typing this time tomorrow, so suffice it to say that basically every mechanical question you have about the game is at least touched on in this post. There are plenty of interesting tidbits too, like the fact that TSW is shaping up to be one of the more non-linear experiences to be found among the latest crop of AAA MMORPGs. "The players are free to go wherever they want from the beginning, but they will most likely get their ass handed to them in the more difficult zones," Bruusgaard explains.
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| Making the 'jump' from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2 Posted: 26 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Business models, Classes, Economy, Game mechanics, Guilds, Lore, Previews, PvP, Endgame, Hands-on, Guides, Dungeons, Crafting  Guild Wars 2 is on the way (when it's ready), and classic Guild Wars players probably understand that soon they'll be competing with a younger sibling -- a smarter, more attractive one who's sure to get more of mom's attention. And while we're sure that some of the more stalwart Guild Wars 2 fans are also Guild Wars players, not all veterans of the first edition are dedicated to licking up every drop of sequel info squeezed out of blogs, conventions, and betas. Those veterans might just be wondering, what exactly can Guild Wars 2 offer them, other than Hall of Monuments tie-ins? What's changed? What's the same? What will they love, what will they hate, and what could possibly make them jump ship to the new hotness? The first and most important thing you must know is that yes, you can jump in Guild Wars 2! Seriously, though, jumping is more than just a thing you do with your spacebar when you're bored; it's a symbol of boundlessness. Guild Wars 2 itself is trying to jump a lot higher than its elder brother, and probably the essential difference between the games is that feeling that the walls have come down and gravity is letting loose. That alone should urge classic players to take a peek, but if that's not enough for you, fire up your Jeremy Soule soundtracks (yes, he's onboard for an encore!) and read on... Continue reading Making the 'jump' from Guild Wars to Guild Wars 2
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| MV Guide: March 26-April 1, 2012 Posted: 26 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, 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: March 26-April 1, 2012
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| An outsider's look inside Guild Wars 2 Posted: 26 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, Professions, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play, Hands-on  My Guild Wars 2 beta weekend started off with a whimper instead of a bang. As I fired up the client and got a load of that sexy 2/dragon logo prior to character creation, one of the video cards in my gaming tower decided to give up the ghost. I didn't know this at the time, and as I slogged through the game's opening sequence, I wondered why it was running like pure Charr poo even with the settings dialed down. I could barely move around the starter village, and after 15 minutes or so, I closed the client in disgust. Later I fired up EverQuest II on that same system and experienced similar subpar performance, so I quickly downloaded the GW2 beta to my laptop. Ah, now that was more like it. Here was the Tyria I'd glimpsed via screenshots and video over the past few weeks, and I rolled up an Engineer to help determine whether ArenaNet has anything to offer a crusty old newb. Continue reading An outsider's look inside Guild Wars 2
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| The Daily Grind: Are MMO players tired of beefcake? Posted: 26 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  We usually focus on gender issues as they pertain to the portrayal of women in MMOs, so today I want to turn the tables and ask you about the portrayal of men. Are you annoyed when male characters MMOs look like they're hitting the steroids a bit too hard, and do you find such characters relatable or offensive? In other words, are you tired of beefcake in MMOs?  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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| EVE Evolved Extra: Revamping PvP in Inferno Posted: 25 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Expansions, Game mechanics, PvP, News items, EVE Evolved, Sandbox  The only people immune to wardecs will still be those in NPC corps, and all current loopholes like EVE University's infamous decshield will be removed. The number of wars the target corp is fighting will no longer be factored into the war cost, but the base cost is rising to 20 million and an additional 500,000 ISK will be added for every active member in the target corp. The number of wars the aggressor is fighting will still factor into cost, so you can sort of do a reverse-decshield by having alt corps wardec the target and waiting a week for his bill to recur. There are flaws with the system as presented, but those may have been at addressed at the roundtable, which was not streamed. In this special EVE Evolved Extra edition, I delve into the information revealed at Fanfest on revamping PvP as presented at those talks that were streamed live. Continue reading EVE Evolved Extra: Revamping PvP in Inferno
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| EVE Evolved: New info from Fanfest 2012 Posted: 25 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, Expansions, Game mechanics, PvP, News items, EVE Evolved, DUST 514, Sandbox  The theme of this year's Fanfest was unmistakably DUST 514 and its integration with EVE Online. Attendees got first-hand experience with DUST 514 and a free pass to enter the beta in April. There was even a live demonstration of the EVE-DUST link during which a battleship delivered an air strike directly into a DUST match in realtime. There were several talks on EVE's upcoming Inferno expansion and its PvP revamp, with details of new modules and gameplay designed to shake up the PvP landscape for the first time in several years. Players report leaving Fanfest this year with a very real sense that CCP is back on track and recovering from the aftermath of Monoclegate. In this week's colossal EVE Evolved, I piece together some of the information from EVE Fanfest 2012 and consider what it means for EVE players. Continue reading EVE Evolved: New info from Fanfest 2012
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| MMO Week in Review: Panda express Posted: 25 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous  When the embargo for World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria media event dropped last week, few of us had any idea that the expansion's beta itself was so near. In fact, an NDA-less beta launched on Thursday, complete with an exhaustive FAQ and access scandal. Our sister site WoW Insider attended the event and assembled a splendiferous guide to MoP, covering everything from pet battles and female Pandaren to dungeons and battlegrounds. If pandas -- I mean, Pandaren -- aren't your thing, stop fretting: Blizzard is already working on MoP's successor. And if WoW itself isn't your thing, then enjoy Massively's other top MMO stories behind the break! Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Panda express
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| Learn about the Warrior in the newest Lime Odyssey development blog Posted: 25 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  For those looking forward to the game, there's still no news on when the closed beta will begin, although development is continuing apace despite the game's trouble in its nation of origin. You can still sign up for the beta, however, and all signs point to a testing phase on the near horizon. If you just want to learn about playing a Warrior, just skip on down to see how to unleash maximum destruction with massive weapons. Continue reading Learn about the Warrior in the newest Lime Odyssey development blog
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| Rise and Shiny: Realm of the Mad God Posted: 25 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Events, in-game, Previews, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, Humor, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Miscellaneous  That settled it. I made a new account and jumped in, fully expecting to have an OK time but to come away knowing that this game was just for twitch-hooked kiddies. It turns out I was wrong, and now you know why it is a general rule of mine to always give a game a second chance. Or a third, of course. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Realm of the Mad God
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