MMO Updates |
- World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy
- The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition
- The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup
- Perfect World demoing Neverwinter and RaiderZ at PAX East
- The Daily Grind: What MMO would you bring to the proverbial desert island?
- EVE Online declares war (more efficiently)
- The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition
- World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow
- DC Universe Online makes Legendary members even more legendary
- Spirit Tales introduces the Lunar Fox and Maned Dragon tribes
- RIFT developers answer a new round of community questions
- Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition
- NCsoft explains NA and EU Collector's Edition price difference [Updated]
- EverQuest Online Adventures slays its final dragon
- WAR40K devs laid off, game will no longer be an MMO
- The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny!
- The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes
- Zandagort indie MMORTS features 'finite servers'
| World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy Posted: 30 Mar 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Video, New titles, Humor, World of Warplanes  I'll just let that line sink in a bit before I continue. Yes, they're adding dragons; there's a video and everything (included past the cut). According to the release, "The initial tech tree will include 12 dragons and will eventually expand to more than 60 creatures. Each mystical animal will have its own peculiarities and strategic employment. Players can upgrade several key characteristics including fire intensity level, color, number of claws, horns, wingspan and skin thickness." Now, I should remind you what this Sunday is, so you can put two and two together, but it's an interesting thought nonetheless. Will we see more early April Fool's jokes today? Stay tuned! Continue reading World of Warplanes is adding dragons for that extra kick of historical accuracy
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| The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition Posted: 30 Mar 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Economy, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, DUST 514, Sandbox, The Firing Line  This week's Firing Line is all DUST all the time, thanks to the massive info dump at last weekend's Fanfest 2012 event. I didn't get to go to Iceland for the hands-on, unfortunately, but I did log into PlayStation Home for the keynote livestream (which is archived after the cut in case you missed it). And I'll go ahead and beg your forgiveness for my fanboy breathlessness in advance this week. I've been an EVE Online player for a number of years now, so I'm already enamored of both the DUST universe and CCP's propensity for sandbox mechanics. What I didn't know prior to Fanfest, though, was just how deep the rabbit hole's going to go. Continue reading The Firing Line: DUST 514 newsplosion edition
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| The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup Posted: 30 Mar 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous  I was in high school when I discovered a love for simplified tabletop games. I'd long been fond of the absurdly detailed and baroque structure that you could find in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, going so far as to purchase all of the various little add-ons that allowed you to reinvent the game systems in dizzying density. And I can pinpoint the moment when I decided that all of that was for the birds. Specifically, it was the moment when I sat there with Skills & Powers open to one page, the Player's Handbook open to another, and the Complete Psionics Handbook open to yet another. It was when I stared at three separate passages and realized that I was on the second hour of making a character that resembled nothing so much as a math project. On that day, I understood intuitively why designers would look at the whole thing and advocate sweeping the mess away altogether -- just like what many, many MMOs do as they grow long in the tooth. Continue reading The Soapbox: Mechanical buildup
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| Perfect World demoing Neverwinter and RaiderZ at PAX East Posted: 30 Mar 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, Giveaways  At Perfect World's booth (#736), both Neverwinter and RaiderZ will offer demos so that players can see for themselves if these are games worth anticipating. As if the early glimpse wasn't enough, participants can discover special loot while they play that will transform into real-world prizes. Perfect World will also hold raffles for the chance to win gaming equipment. Senior Vice President and General Manager of Game Publishing Yoon Im sees these two games as the most exciting of Perfect World's future lineup: "We are proud to showcase RaiderZ and Neverwinter at PAX East. Our strong partnerships with developers worldwide have allowed us to expand our diverse portfolio of impressive free-to-play games and strengthen our position as a leader in the business of online games. Both RaiderZ and Neverwinter are looking spectacular and we can't wait to show them off." Massively will be on location at PAX East with an in-depth look at these games! [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
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| The Daily Grind: What MMO would you bring to the proverbial desert island? Posted: 30 Mar 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Would you hedge your bets and go for a sandbox with a boundless amount of content? Would you pick something you've never played to minimize the been-there-done-that factor? Would you pick a classic themepark and set yourself to grinding up a thousand alts? You only get one, so choose carefully: What single MMO would you want handy if you were stranded on a desert island?  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 Online declares war (more efficiently) Posted: 29 Mar 2012 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  According to a new EVE dev blog, the system wasn't exactly broken, but it was underutilized and wasn't always working as intended. As a result, the team took the system apart, examined it thoroughly, and put it back together with a few improvements aimed at making the act of declaring and waging war between corps clearer and easier to understand. These improvements to War Declaration include modifying how costs are calculated, eliminating automatically retracting wars, and putting a time limit on conflicts. Wars will go on for a week, after which the declarer can choose to pay to prolong it or end it right then and there. An informative War Report will help players understand the forces engaged, losses sustained so far, and the history of a corp's past wars. The blog ends with a FAQ on the changes culled from the recent Fanfest.
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| The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition Posted: 29 Mar 2012 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Humor, Miscellaneous  All this and some tips on Icelandic cuisine in the video beyond the cut! Continue reading The MMO Report: Horsesteak edition
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| World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:30 PM PDT Filed under: Patches, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks  The World of Tanks is about to get just a bit bigger with the advent of the game's patch 7.2, which will hit the servers tomorrow morning. The update adds two new maps, 22 new crew skills and perks, and a number of new tanks (and some adjustments to existing ones). But hey, why settle for words when you can have sweet, explosion-filled video? Wargaming.net has released a new trailer to get players excited about the new update. So while you (im)patiently await the patch's arrival on the live servers, why don't you grab yourself some popcorn and have a look? [Thanks to Pharaoh for the tip!] Continue reading World of Tanks' patch 7.2 locks and loads tomorrow
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| DC Universe Online makes Legendary members even more legendary Posted: 29 Mar 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, News items, Free-to-play, Consoles, DC Universe Online, Promotions  So what will you get? PC players will receive a monthly stipend of 500 Station Cash, while PS3 players will see a similar influx of 500 Loyalty Points for use in a new in-game store. For both platforms, you'll get the ability to unlock rare lockboxes for free and a full set of Replay Badges every month. Replay Badges allow you to reset all of your instance lockouts, giving you a chance to play back through content more frequently -- and with 150 of them free each month, your exploits as a Legendary member will be the stuff of... well, you can guess.
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| Spirit Tales introduces the Lunar Fox and Maned Dragon tribes Posted: 29 Mar 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, News items, Free-to-play, Races  If you are allergic to stupefyingly adorable things, you may want to look away now. If you're not, you may be interested in KoramGame's upcoming free-to-play title Spirit Tales. Fans of fluffy wittle animal-people with eyes the size of some small galaxies will find themselves right at home with the two newly announced tribes, the Lunar Fox tribe and the Maned Dragon tribe. Each tribe has its own unique classes available to it; the Maned Dragon tribe sticks to tradition with the mainstays of Warrior (which plays the role of defender) and Archer (which supplies ranged DPS), while the Lunar Fox tribe bring some magic and cunning (and lots of DPS) to the table with the Sorcerer and Assassin classes. The full details on each tribe and its respective classes can be found over at the official Spirit Tales forums.
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| RIFT developers answer a new round of community questions Posted: 29 Mar 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, RIFT, Community Q&A  That doesn't mean it's all bad news, however. The developers are looking into more ways to allow cross-faction interaction beyond the mercenary PvP system. There's also some talk about the next big raid and player feedback, which according to the answers is largely positive. There are also plans for more Souls in the future, which should provide RIFT players with even more options to custom-build a character.
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| Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition Posted: 29 Mar 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous, Crafting  This week's Ask Massively has nothing to do with combining one thing with another thing. Or maybe it sort of does, seeing as how it's all about crafting and gathering instead of killing stuff. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment, send it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity. Continue reading Ask Massively: A confluence of awesome edition
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| NCsoft explains NA and EU Collector's Edition price difference [Updated] Posted: 29 Mar 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2  Many European Guild Wars 2 fans have been left scratching their heads over the pricing discrepancies between the U.S. and European Collectors' Editions of the title. As followers of the game are probably aware, the U.S. edition is being sold for $149.99 US while the European version is being sold for £129.99/€149.99. The problem, of course, is that with the current exchange rates, £129.99 is closer to $206 US and €149.99 is just under $200 US, making the European versions of the game considerably pricier. NCsoft explained to PC Gamer today that the reason behind this discrepancy is that "currency fluctuations, distribution costs, taxes and market conditions in addition to the cost of goods are all contributing factors when setting pricing. These vary dramatically between NA and EU and our pricing is competitive and adjusted accordingly." As the article notes, this might make sense if we assume that the CE of the game is manufactured in the U.S., but even with the extra shipping costs, it's a pretty hefty addition to an already sizeable price tag. [Update: NCsoft points out that the EU pricing includes VAT taxes (20%), while the North American pricing is pre-tax.]
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| EverQuest Online Adventures slays its final dragon Posted: 29 Mar 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Everquest Online Adventures, Consoles  Instead of spending its final days in sorrow, the EQOA community joined the dev team for a series of epic battles against marauding dragons this past week. Players have filled the forums with posts about their favorite in-game memories over the past nine years of gameplay. To compensate players for the loss of their game world, SOE gave EQOA subscribers three months of gold-level status in EverQuest and EverQuest II. EQOA came out in 2003 on the PlayStation 2 and was one of the first generation of console MMOs. For those Massively readers feeling nostalgic or curious about it, definitely check out our series on the game: part 1, part 2, and part 3.
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| WAR40K devs laid off, game will no longer be an MMO Posted: 29 Mar 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Warhammer 40k  Today, though, our sister site reports that Dark Millennium Online will axe the online portion of its lengthy moniker and the company will be producing the title as a single-player game going forward. A substantial number of jobs have also been cut, with 79 Vigil Games employees and 39 Relic Entertainment employees receiving pink slips.
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| The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny! Posted: 29 Mar 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Time for a mutiny!
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| The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes Posted: 29 Mar 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook  "Annoying" is the first word I'd use to describe him, and this is what Shaco wants you to think. He doesn't want you to know his weaknesses, so he keeps you on your toes, constantly afraid of jack-in-the-box traps and invisible backstabs. However, he has weaknesses, and this week, we're going to talk about how to put the killer clown back in his toybox. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: I hate Jack-in-the-boxes
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| Zandagort indie MMORTS features 'finite servers' Posted: 29 Mar 2012 10:30 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, MMORTS  What's with the name? Zandagort is a malevolent alien ruler who serves as the game's antagonist, and he's also a literal bit of endgame, according to the game's website. The title features something called finite servers, and "Zandagort arrives at the end of each server to destroy mankind. Players who were enemies before have to collaborate to prevail," Zanda says. If that sounds interesting, give it a whirl and let us know what you think. Don't forget to tip us about other indie MMO projects while you're at it. [Thanks to Jergis for the tip!]
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