MMO Updates |
- E3 2012: Hands-on with World of Warplanes
- WRUP: Ice planet edition
- Phantasy Star Universe will blink out for good in September
- The Daily Grind: If a game's gotta merge servers, how should it go down?
- Champions Online dev diary details Power Armor review process
- SOE to bring back Station Cash subscription purchases -- for a week
- Betawatch: June 2 - 8, 2012
- EVE Online posts financial data for the past several months
- Guild Wars 2 increasing population limits for the beta weekend
- More details on Diablo III's real-money auction block
- Star Wars: The Old Republic community Q&A talks 1.3, clarifies existing features
- MMObility: RuneScape dev details new combat, hotbars, and critical hits
- Storyboard: The problem in your group is you
- E3 2012: Hands-on with Core Blaze
- E3 2012: Age of Wushu dresses to impress
| E3 2012: Hands-on with World of Warplanes Posted: 09 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Screenshots, Events, real-world, Interviews, New titles, Free-to-play, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, World of Warplanes  World of Warplanes is one title out of three that Wargaming.net is proud to show. For the unfamiliar readers, Wargaming.net launched World of Tanks last year, and its booth at E3 2011 wasn't quite as large as this year's. Continue reading E3 2012: Hands-on with World of Warplanes
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| Posted: 09 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  Are you looking to find out what the Massively staff is up to this weekend? If so, have you properly considered reading this week's installment of WRUP? Every installment tells you what the staff will be up to over the weekend, and this specific one talks about what we thought of this year's E3 offerings. Click on past the break to read all about us, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments. Continue reading WRUP: Ice planet edition
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| Phantasy Star Universe will blink out for good in September Posted: 09 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous  SEGA noted that the decision to close the game was not an easy one, but that the company was preparing to "provide [players] with new opportunities and new experiences." The company thanked all of the players who have supported the game over the years and assured that any who have an active Guardians license following the final date will have their pro-rated subscription refunded. GM Edward also revealed that a number of server-wide bonuses have been added and that plans were in the works for some celebratory events so that the Universe could go out with a bang. [Thanks to BGO for the tip!]
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| The Daily Grind: If a game's gotta merge servers, how should it go down? Posted: 09 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Studios know that the term "server merge" can be seen as a herald of doom, so modern devs have taken to using terminology like "trial servers" and "free transfers," letting players move of their own free will rather than dumping them unceremoniously on some other realm with some other name. Even if you know that merges are going to be good for the health of the game in the long run, the way a merge is conducted can still tarnish your affection for the title. Let's assume your game of choice plans to announce server merges of one flavor or another tomorrow. What's the best way the team can go about making it happen?  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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| Champions Online dev diary details Power Armor review process Posted: 08 Jun 2012 07:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Champions Online, Dev Diaries  After seeing a certain summer superhero film, some people may have been overwhelmed by the urge to fly around in an awesome high-tech armor suit that makes things go boom. Unfortunately, we can't all be Tony Stark, but Cryptic is here to help with a detailed post on the recent additions to Champions Online's Power Armor powerset. The post outlines the entire process behind designing and implementing the myriad improvements while highlighting some of the new abilities being brought to the table. The process begins with the gathering of community feedback, after which the developers sit down and hash out ideas based on power designer Matt Danuser's "vision for the set, including any new power or mechanic fixes... it needs." Then the designers, artists, and programmers kick into high gear by implementing the powers in the game, creating graphics for them, and making sure that there are no glaring imbalances in the mechanics. Then it's off to the public test shard for more community feedback. For Danuser's full blog on the subject, head on over to the Champions Online official site.
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| SOE to bring back Station Cash subscription purchases -- for a week Posted: 08 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Business models, MMO industry, Free-to-play  "I'm sorry we didn't do a good job of messaging this. It was handled while we were at E3 and that was bad. Very simply put, we pulled the non-recurring subscriptions because we want a closer look at the numbers and how our overall pricing of subscriptions is impacted by it. I don't want anyone thinking they were pulled because of double SC promotions or anything like that.
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| Posted: 08 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Massively Meta, Betawatch, Miscellaneous  It's been a big week for Betawatch! C9, Maestia, Dragon Crusade and Renaissance Heroes have joined our closed beta list, while 8Realms departs to the MMO graveyard. The Secret World will stay on the roster a bit longer as its launch has been delayed until July 3rd. Upcoming Roguelike Path of Exile has set an open beta estimate for August, whereas we learned at E3 that Final Fantasy XIV aims to send the game's massive overhaul into alpha come September. We also now know that sandbox Origins of Malu is shooting for a beta starting on September 30th. Mark your calendars! Finally, earlier today Guild Wars 2 kicked off its second beta weekend event for pre-purchasers. If you can tear yourself away from that, then enjoy the full Betawatch roundup post-break! Continue reading Betawatch: June 2 - 8, 2012
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| EVE Online posts financial data for the past several months Posted: 08 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, News items, Sandbox  In short, following the announcement of loot drop changes, several players stockpiled minerals for resale after the change. This wound up dovetailing with the player-run Hulkageddon event, which resulted in several mineral stockpiles and a dearth of ongoing mining operations. The overall outlook is still positive, but mining operations are still recovering from these effects, meaning that movement will likely be tepid for a while.
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| Guild Wars 2 increasing population limits for the beta weekend Posted: 08 Jun 2012 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Bugs, Events, in-game, News items, Guild Wars 2  Of course, the game is still in beta, and that means that not everything in the game is fully polished. Want to make sure that there's actually a problem and not just an issue with your computer? Check the updated known issues thread, which has an extensive set of understood issues. Perhaps most globally relevant is the fact that the game is apparently very heavily bottlenecked by the CPU; if you're having performance issues, lowering the video settings may not help you for this round of testing.
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| More details on Diablo III's real-money auction block Posted: 08 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Previews, News items, Diablo III  Community manager Kaivax has also chimed in on the real-money auction house, noting that it's possible that the feature will launch with only item-trading functionality rather than allow players to buy and sell commodities. This is largely based on trying to ensure that the latter market remains active and fair for all players, and if the team decides to go this route, the commodity functionality will be added at a later date.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic community Q&A talks 1.3, clarifies existing features Posted: 08 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A  It's time for yet another Star Wars: The Old Republic community Q&A. This time around, the devs asked players to move away from asking about far-future content (which often garners unspecific, uninformative answers) and instead ask about current features and the philosophy behind certain design decisions. As a result, there are a number of questions about the additions of the upcoming patch 1.3, such as the group finder and ranked warzones. In addition, game designer Jason Attard takes the time to explain exactly what Presence does and the benefits and detriments to its use. Efficiency bonuses for crew skills are also mentioned, with the dev clarifying that efficiency, which grants a speed bonus when crafting items, increases in proportion with that crewmate's affection for you, up to a max of 15% efficiency. For the full Q&A session and all the juicy details therein, head on over to the game's official site.
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| MMObility: RuneScape dev details new combat, hotbars, and critical hits Posted: 08 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Screenshots, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, Patches, Previews, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, MMObility  Don't get me wrong; this system is great for grinding out experience by killing monster after monster, but in higher-level combat or PvP, a player's "skill" is determined by how much she knows about the UI, rather than how much she knows about her enemy's weaknesses or which skills to use. This is all about to change, thanks to what is being called one of the largest updates in the entire decade-plus history of the browser-based giant. I sat down with an interview with Mark Ogilive, lead designer from Jagex, to find out just how large the update will be and how it might affect players. Continue reading MMObility: RuneScape dev details new combat, hotbars, and critical hits
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| Storyboard: The problem in your group is you Posted: 08 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  Unfortunately, there's a problem that comes from analyzing everything other than yourself: Sometimes, the real problem is you. Maybe you've been trying to fix all of the problems in your group without realizing that the real pot-stirrer was the jerk trying to fix everyone else. Maybe you've been trying to enforce a specific standard that no one else wants to adhere to. Heck, maybe you're just playing a character that you like a lot but everyone else loathes. Whatever the reason, you aren't the solution any more; you are the problem that needs to be fixed. And that means figuring out what to do when you find out that you have seen the enemy and he is you. Continue reading Storyboard: The problem in your group is you
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| E3 2012: Hands-on with Core Blaze Posted: 08 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, First Impressions, Massively Event Coverage  Rain drops bead and run on your monitor. River water looks refreshing enough to drink. The game's day/night effects are slick too, and to hear Gamania's reps tell it, the cycle (along with inclement weather) determines the effectiveness -- or ineffectiveness -- of certain attacks. Continue reading E3 2012: Hands-on with Core Blaze
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| E3 2012: Age of Wushu dresses to impress Posted: 08 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Business models, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Guilds, Previews, PvP, Endgame, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage, Dungeons, Crafting  We got some hands-on time with the game at this year's E3, so follow along after the cut for our impressions. Continue reading E3 2012: Age of Wushu dresses to impress
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