MMO Updates |
- The Perfect Ten: Guild Wars 2 gravestone epitaphs
- Glitch swaps out XP for imagination, tweaks UI
- Latest Xsyon patch adds player-made quests, tweaks skill gains
- New CCP interview recaps recent EVE turmoil, looks forward
- Aion offers rewards in new Broken Alliance PvP event
- Red 5 Studios CEO denounces consoles and publishers
- WildStar to support and encourage addons
- The Daily Grind: Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing?
- MechWarrior Online reveals the first in-game screens of the Catapult
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: What City of Heroes needs for its ninth year
- Star Trek Online puts its featured episodes into reruns
- Matt Higby discusses PlanetSide 2's progression and customization
- Diablo III's Wizard rebels against the system
- Choose My Adventure: Taking a right at Paragon City
- Why I play Star Wars: The Old Republic
- Wizard101 invites players into the mythical realm of Avalon
- Free for All: Why social gaming could destroy MMOs and how we can fight it
| The Perfect Ten: Guild Wars 2 gravestone epitaphs Posted: 03 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Humor, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous  Outside of Divinity's Reach in Guild Wars 2 is a graveyard. It's the type of place that you run through quickly on your way to more lively settings, unless a zombie attack emerges. It was the type of place that I was running through quickly during the previous beta weekend when I realized that the gravestones could be examined -- and each and every one of them had an interesting epitaph to read. Some crazy ArenaNet writer sat down one afternoon and wrote out dozens and dozens of gravestone inscriptions on the off-chance that any of us would slow down enough to read them. It paid off in my case. This may be one of the most trivial Perfect Tens I've ever done, so forgive me with being absolutely fascinated by the epitaphs that came up during my explorations. With an absolute economy of words, each gravestone tells a complete story. Some are funny, some are dark, some play into the lore, and some actually managed to be quite moving. Here are my 10 most favorite that I found. Maybe they'll haunt you as they do me. Continue reading The Perfect Ten: Guild Wars 2 gravestone epitaphs
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| Glitch swaps out XP for imagination, tweaks UI Posted: 03 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Sandbox  What the heck is imagination? Well, glitches now have imagination (iMG) instead of XP. You gain iMG by questing, crafting, and collecting (i.e., by playing the game), and you can spend it on upgrades and various other gizmos still in the works. In short, iMG allows you to "create, grow, and customize the world and your character." It also serves as a nifty way of explaining new game abilities as opposed to boring old XP. TinySpeck has authored a FAQ on the imagination changeover. Give it a read-through before you log in, as both the level curve and your character's accumulated XP have undergone significant changes. [Thanks to Halldorr for the tip!]
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| Latest Xsyon patch adds player-made quests, tweaks skill gains Posted: 03 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Xsyon, Sandbox  Players may also create quests for one another. Doing so rewards both the quester and the creator with XP upon successful quest completion. Overall experience gain has been adjusted to reward players per action and via quests, which should lead to a marked reduction in the grinding necessary to gain skills. These are just a few of the improvements, too. Have a look at the patch notes for the full list.
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| New CCP interview recaps recent EVE turmoil, looks forward Posted: 03 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, DUST 514, Sandbox  The "their" Lander refers to is the game's playerbase, of course, and he tells GamesIndustry.biz that despite the turmoil of the last 12 months, the EVE property is none the worse for wear (and in fact it may be getting stronger due to a design re-focus and the imminent arrival of DUST 514). Ultimately the interview brings no new information to the table, but it does serve as a handy recap of recent EVE events. It also offers up more than a few juicy quotes from both Lander and lead game designer Kristoffer "CCP Soundwave" Touborg.
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| Aion offers rewards in new Broken Alliance PvP event Posted: 03 May 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Promotions  Players who rift into enemy territory will receive reward items, as will those who log at least one PvP kill. Three players per faction will be selected to receive a special Cirruspeed mount prize (though it's worth noting that said mount expires after 30 days). Finally, the devs will be spawning legendary raid monsters on Sundays. Full details on the promo events are on the Aion website.
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| Red 5 Studios CEO denounces consoles and publishers Posted: 03 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Interviews, MMO industry, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, Firefall  Kern said that the pressure that publishers put on studios are death to the industry, resulting in either "an indie game or... a massive AAA, IP-backed sequel with derivative gameplay." He thinks that there's no middle ground, and it disturbs him how many studios fire staff right after a game launches. Instead, the man behind Firefall believes that the free-to-play model puts the power back in the hands of the developers who then can concentrate on making games without having to kowtow to the publishers and distributors. "Look at Riot Games and League of Legends. They have more users than World of Warcraft does. That's crazy. And they don't have a publisher," Kern said. Citing the expense and sluggish reaction of console development, Kern also predicts that mobile and PC gaming are on their way to take over the field. "Something has to change," he concludes. "Consoles, I believe, are dead."
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| WildStar to support and encourage addons Posted: 03 May 2012 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Previews, Dev Diaries, WildStar  Wiesman previously worked at EverQuest's Verant and is currently the driving force behind WildStar's UI engine. He reports that not only will players be able to change the look and layout of the UI from the get-go, but WildStar will support Lua to allow for addons and mods. He assures that creating such addons won't be a frustrating experience devoid of proper instruction and support: "If you can program at all, I promise you'll be able to make an addon for our game. Our commitment is to make sure the process is documented, clear, and accessible. Promise." [Thanks to Bill for the tip!]
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| The Daily Grind: Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing? Posted: 03 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Daily Grind  Morrison's response: "Not everyone wants a new player and a two-year veteran to be on equal footing. Many want that to count, aside from knowledge." By "that," Morrison meant time spent playing the game and paying your character dues, as it were. This brings up an interesting debate, since MMOs have a reputation for rewarding geared players over skilled players in both PvP and PvE. What say you, Massively readers? Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing?  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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| MechWarrior Online reveals the first in-game screens of the Catapult Posted: 03 May 2012 05:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, MechWarrior Online  Fans familiar with previous games in the MechWarrior franchise or the BattleTech board game will know the Catapult quite well. It's just barely into the heavier weight class. sporting jump jets and medium lasers to help it move out of dangerous engagements or disable lighter units. And, of course, there are its twin missile banks, effective as a direct-fire weapon or for use as artillery with an assisting spotter unit. The game's screenshots also show off the classic variant replacing the missile banks with PPCs, high-powered energy cannons designed to fry targets at extreme range. [Source: Piranha Games press release]
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: What City of Heroes needs for its ninth year Posted: 02 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Culture, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter, Anniversary  What does that have to do with City of Heroes for its next year of development? Almost everything. I've talked about how the game has two obvious and direct competitors in the superhero genre, but now they're all competing with the same business model. They all have the same initial outlay, instead of City of Heroes being the oldest, most respected, and cheapest option. In order for a game to be successful, and it no longer has to convince players that it's worth $15 a month for a few months -- it just has to convince you that downloading it and giving it a shot is worth the effort. That means flash, fun, and a quick dose of what you're looking for. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: What City of Heroes needs for its ninth year
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| Star Trek Online puts its featured episodes into reruns Posted: 02 May 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play  May 3rd through the 9th will feature the Spectres series, followed by Cloaked Intentions from May 10th through the 16th, The 2800 from the 17th to the 23rd, and Cold War from the 24th until May 30th. All of the special rewards are still unique, so if you already have one, you can't get it again. But if you weren't playing the game at the time or just missed the chance, this month offers a chance to go back and catch up. [Thanks to The_Grand_Nagus for the tip!]
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| Matt Higby discusses PlanetSide 2's progression and customization Posted: 02 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, New titles, News items, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2  The game's overall progression path is meant to be one of options, not straight power. That's the case for classes as well as advancement; Heavy Assault characters will play distinctly from other classes, but they'll have a variety of unique abilities that players can choose among. The interview also sheds more light on what players can expect from the game's overarching persistent elements, which set the game and its factions apart from standard FPS fare. The game still has a long way to go in development, but what's been shown thus far is definitely an encouraging start.
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| Diablo III's Wizard rebels against the system Posted: 02 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Diablo III  Diablo III's Wizards are described as "brilliant practitioners of the arcane arts who deftly wield the energies of fire, ice, lightning, and even time itself in the pursuit of their enigmatic goals." These Wizards are part of an underground rebellion that is seeking great power, and they are scorned by the mages in charge, yet they may be the only ones to save the world from the great new threat that's arisen. Check out the fire-and-brimstone action of the Wizard after the jump! Continue reading Diablo III's Wizard rebels against the system
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| Choose My Adventure: Taking a right at Paragon City Posted: 02 May 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Polls, City of Heroes, Opinion, Free-to-play, Humor, Choose My Adventure  The masses have spoken. For this leg of our Choose My Adventure journey, we will be parking ourselves in Paragon City, fighting the forces of evil, destruction, and movement keys! I must concede that Bree certainly knew her City of Heroes community -- ya'll voted just how she said you would. But Bree, you didn't predict the mask, now did ya?! Ha! It recently came to my attention that I could have easily queried you on the spandex issue, but come on -- what superhero doesn't have to shimmy into that painted-on suit? We want the full experience, right? Right. So let's get to it. All we have left to do to get this show off the road and into some action is whip up a character. But this is me we are talking about here! Thankfully, I am marching into this process armed with your decisions! I mean, how bad can it be? We have three days between close of the last vote and a new set of new ones, so it isn't like there isn't time. Here goes... Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Taking a right at Paragon City
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| Why I play Star Wars: The Old Republic Posted: 02 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Lore, MMO industry, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Why I Play  From the music to the action figures, I loved them all. I still have a picture of me at six years old riding an AT-AT. Yes, even at six, I knew exactly what an AT-AT was. And although I called a lightsaber a light-saver, I grew up with Star Wars entrenched in my psyche. It was only natural that when the video games revolving around the series came out, I would take up that cause. You guys remember the crazy wireframe Death Star trench arcade? You'd better believe I was there playing that. When Star Wars entered the MMO space, I was there with bells on. But it's not just this longing to recapture my childhood that propels me to that galaxy far, far away in Star Wars: The Old Republic. The spice addiction runs quite a bit deeper. Continue reading Why I play Star Wars: The Old Republic
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| Wizard101 invites players into the mythical realm of Avalon Posted: 02 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Wizard101, Family  Wizard101 players have been all over, from the lush jungles of Zafaria to the pyramids of Krokotopia, but as of today there's a whole new land for them to explore: the mystical land of Avalon. Avalon, as the name implies, is a land based in Arthurian legend, and it also happens to be the former home of Ravenwood's headmaster, Merle Ambrose. But all is not well in the usually idyllic Avalon. The nefarious Umbra Queen Morganthe and her minions are causing trouble, and it's up to the players to find and recover the legendary blade of King Artorius, the Sword of Kings, and put a stop to Morganthe's mayhem. Players who are level 70 or above and who have completed the quest Through Glass, Darkly can find their way to Avalon by speaking to Merle Ambrose, who will send them on a quest to the new zone. For the full details on the new update, magick your way on over to the Wizard101 official site.
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| Free for All: Why social gaming could destroy MMOs and how we can fight it Posted: 02 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Free for All, Miscellaneous  Has social media affected MMO gaming? It definitely has. Watch any smart developer's Twitter feed and you will see the community team interacting directly with players, answering questions, hosting contests, and helping players feel as though the developers are actual people. Social media has also changed how we connect to our games, MMO or not. All of this means that everything is social now. Going to the dentist? Share it with your friends. Defeated a boss monster on your Xbox? Tweet it. Just picked up that epic sword in Dark Age of Camelot? Post it to your Facebook. Heck, many MMOs now have a Twitter or Facebook option built right into the client. All of this instant connectivity is nice, but it's possible that the "massively" part of MMO will soon apply to any game. What will this do to the genre? Continue reading Free for All: Why social gaming could destroy MMOs and how we can fight it
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