MMO Updates |
- Tornquist: The Secret World's combat 'radically different'
- Pirate101 to harness 'the Pixar effect' for a multi-generational audience
- The Daily Grind: If all MMOs were completely free, would it change your gaming habits?
- Jukebox Heroes: Aion's soundtrack
- EU ruling forces digital distribution to allow game transfers, may lead to legal account sales
- Hyperspace Beacon: Four reasons you should come back to TOR for 1.3
- MechWarrior Online to hold community day in sunny Santa Clara
- The Soapbox: League of Legends is the new World of Warcraft
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Slow news week for Guild Wars 2
- Diablo III players say Linux app got them banned, Blizzard rebuts claims
- LotRO devs show off its mounted combat system
- Free-to-play details for Vanguard released
- ArenaNet explains golden rules of Guild Wars 2
- Massively Speaking Episode 207: The late night double-picture feature show
- EverQuest II's Qeynos revamp goes live July 24th
| Tornquist: The Secret World's combat 'radically different' Posted: 04 Jul 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World  "Have we been traditional in some ways? Sure," Tornquist says. "But I think those who say that our combat is like WoW's combat, they really haven't gotten beyond the surface. At the beginning maybe it feels like that. But if you play for 12, 15, 20 hours, it's quite clear that it's radically different." Tornquist also muses on non-combat gameplay, of which TSW has a fair amount. In a nutshell, though, conflict is what drives games, and so combat will always be a primary focus. "I think solving puzzles all the time, it's not going to last hundreds of hours. I think people would get bored a lot quicker," he says.
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| Pirate101 to harness 'the Pixar effect' for a multi-generational audience Posted: 04 Jul 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Pirate101  What is the Pixar effect? KingsIsle VP of Marketing Fred Howard points to the success of the Pixar movies like Toy Story and explains, "They were successful because not only do they cater to what would be a younger core audience but very much to an adult and more mature audience." Pirate101 will incorporate elements that will appeal to the different generations, including a good story, professional voice acting, and turn-based combat to equalize the playing field. And be on the lookout for various references and puns when Pirate101 launches later this year.
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| The Daily Grind: If all MMOs were completely free, would it change your gaming habits? Posted: 04 Jul 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business models, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  So let's take F2P to an extreme and tackle this hypothetical: Suppose every current MMO was completely free -- no box price, no subscription, no microtransactions, nada. Would the freedom from any sort of financial consideration change what games you play and how you play them, or would you pretty much be doing what you're doing now? Personally, I can't see it radically changing my gaming lifestyle. I play what I want to right now, as either subs or microtransactions are affordable enough to keep down to just a few bucks a month at most. But maybe that's just me. What about you?  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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| Jukebox Heroes: Aion's soundtrack Posted: 03 Jul 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Culture, Jukebox Heroes  Before we go into today's featured soundtrack, I want to establish two ground rules for this column and the discussion that may follow. The first rule is that even though many players turn off MMO music due to repetition, that doesn't mean that the score itself is forgettable. It's just that no music is good enough to listen to 1,047 times in a row. The second rule is that we're going to focus on the music itself without a larger commentary on its MMO. Good games can have terrible music and vice-versa, so it's important to divorce game opinions from musical analysis. Without further ado, I'm going to kick off this series by examining the latest MMO soundtrack I've acquired, Aion's. Aion is a gorgeous game to look at, and its music is just as -- if not more -- beautiful (and if you're not reading MJ's excellent Wings Over Atreia column, shame on you). Let's give it a listen. Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Aion's soundtrack
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| EU ruling forces digital distribution to allow game transfers, may lead to legal account sales Posted: 03 Jul 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Legal, Miscellaneous  While the precise wording might be confusing for those members of the audience not versed in legalese, the upshot is that services such as Steam must allow a way for users to sell their existing games to others, even if the EULA forbids it. This precedent could easily extend to resale of game accounts, since the key used to activate your Star Wars: The Old Republic account qualifies as a license enabling play of the game. No word yet on whether or not this will extend to the US, where many of the game companies in question are based.
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| Hyperspace Beacon: Four reasons you should come back to TOR for 1.3 Posted: 03 Jul 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Patches, PvP, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon  But that's not the only thing that keeps me playing it. In fact, I think I can safely say that I would not still play the class if it weren't for update 1.3, which is just one of the reasons I believe players should consider coming back to SWTOR. Whether you're an altoholic or not, update 1.3 has finally completed the game. If the game had launched with the features that now exist in game, I don't believe we would have seen such a sharp decline in subscriptions after launch. I'm urging you to try the game again, not because I'm being prompted to but because I think these quality-of-life additions really make this game what it should have been all along. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Four reasons you should come back to TOR for 1.3
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| MechWarrior Online to hold community day in sunny Santa Clara Posted: 03 Jul 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Contests, Events, real-world, News items, Free-to-play, MechWarrior Online  Do you love beer and pizza? Do you love MechWarrior Online? Do you love it enough to write up to 100 words about how much you love the game and deserve to attend a special event celebrating MWO? You do? That's so weirdly convenient because on July 27th, Nvidia will be hosting an invite-only MWO Community Day, and the only way to to score an invitation is to write 100 words or less about why you are so very special and should totally be part of this event. Each entrant has to be at least 21 years old, available on the July 27th, and able to travel to and stay in Santa Clara, California, on his or her own dime. If you fit those qualifications and are selected to be an attendee, you'll enjoy a chance to meet with the development staff, view demos, learn more about the tech behind the mechs, fight in-game for a chance for prizes, eat pizza, drink beer, and be merry. Interested? Check out the official forum thread for full details on the community day and contest.
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| The Soapbox: League of Legends is the new World of Warcraft Posted: 03 Jul 2012 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Culture, MMO industry, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Soapbox, MOBA, League of Legends  Every now and then, a game comes out of nowhere with such incredible financial success that it causes the games industry to completely lose perspective. All it takes is one game to start raking in the millions for developers, publishers and investors to stumble around with dollar signs in their eyes for years to come. Innovation grinds to a halt and everyone starts blindly copying whichever game just hit the jackpot. It's like some huge industry-wide superstition takes over and convinces people that if they do the same dance the same way, it'll rain again. World of Warcraft has consistently had this effect since shortly after its launch in 2004. To this day, several studios per year excitedly announce yet another fantasy MMO that lifts its entire feature set and every gameplay mechanic wholesale from World of Warcraft as if it were a model for automatic success. The same thing is happening again in online gaming today, not from MMOs but from MOBAs, a new genre based on the competitive gaming classic DotA. Developers are still chasing the massive money made by yet another hugely successful game, and this time it's League of Legends. Continue reading The Soapbox: League of Legends is the new World of Warcraft
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| Flameseeker Chronicles: Slow news week for Guild Wars 2 Posted: 03 Jul 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles  Release date, you say? August 28th, you say? Well then. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Slow news week for Guild Wars 2
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| Diablo III players say Linux app got them banned, Blizzard rebuts claims Posted: 03 Jul 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Diablo III  Players who were using a program called Wine to run Windows applications on Linux machines flocked to the Diablo III forums to report that they were finding their accounts banned. "I got banned last night as well," one player wrote. "Other than running under Wine, I can't imagine why. Level 30ish char and not so much as a gaming keyboard." A Blizzard CM said that the studio investigated the claims and found that this wasn't the case: "We've extensively tested for false positive situations, including replicating system setups for those who have posted claiming they were banned unfairly. We've not found any situations that could produce a false positive, have found that the circumstances for which they were banned were clear and accurate, and we are extremely confident in our findings. Playing the game on Linux, although not officially supported, will not get you banned -- cheating will." [Thanks to greaterdivinity for the tip!]
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| LotRO devs show off its mounted combat system Posted: 03 Jul 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  One of the concerns that Heaton addresses is how player classes will translate once on horseback. Campbell says that the team has created ways for those roles to continue, albeit in a slightly different form. One example given was how Guardians can taunt, except that on horseback, it means that the enemy will then start riding alongside of you. "You can bring them in and control the battlefield," Campbell says. Other points of discussion include how Fellowships work while mounted, the different stances (aggressive, utility, and defensive), the speed of combat, and situational awareness. The pair also gives us a first glimpse of mounted combat in action. You can watch the full dev video after the jump! Continue reading LotRO devs show off its mounted combat system
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| Free-to-play details for Vanguard released Posted: 03 Jul 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, News items, Vanguard, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  Vanguard is drawing steadily nearer to its free-to-play conversion, which means it's time for some facts and some FAQs. To that end, a set of answers to common questions has been posted, along with a handy chart outlining the differences that will exist between free and premium accounts once the switch to F2P is complete. Premium membership will cost $14.99 a month, which will buy you such perks as access to all of the races and classes (as opposed to only six and seven, respectively), extra character and bag slots, unlimited gold, full item access, and more. Along with the ability to create guilds (instead of only joining them) and full access to unlimited banking slots, fishing, and in-game mail, premium customers will also receive full customer support and no in-game pop-up advertising. Players with ongoing Vanguard subscriptions will find those accounts automatically converted to premium status; these accounts will become free once that subscription runs out. As a special thank-you to loyal players, anyone with a past or present Vanguard subscription will be able to play all of his or her characters (even if that character would normally be blocked from a free account) and will have 12 available character slots (even though free accounts normally have only four).
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| ArenaNet explains golden rules of Guild Wars 2 Posted: 03 Jul 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2, Dev Diaries  The first and most important rule is to make the world come alive and lay the foundation of the game's design philosophy. The world of Tyria has been thoroughly established, from geopolitical histories to cultural development to ecosystems. This kind of planned-out depth makes certain that game-world elements added in throughout the design process fit in the world being created and that the game has a consistent and coherent feel, which adds to its liveliness. The second rule, that cooperation is key, is behind mechanics like individually tracked resource nodes, a universal revival ability, and loot and XP rewards for everyone who helps kill a foe or complete an event. Continue reading ArenaNet explains golden rules of Guild Wars 2
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| Massively Speaking Episode 207: The late night double-picture feature show Posted: 03 Jul 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Podcasts, City of Heroes, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, The Secret World, Massively Speaking, TERA, Miscellaneous, Sandbox, City of Steam  Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes. Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 207: The late night double-picture feature show
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| EverQuest II's Qeynos revamp goes live July 24th Posted: 03 Jul 2012 10:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Races  The announcement also highlights other July plans for EQII, including a preview of the changes coming to PvP and the battlegrounds. There are also tidbits about the changes in class focus effects, notes about tweaks to the New Halas and Neriak starting areas, and a reminder that playing as your character in the dungeon maker should launch this month using the same level-agnostic gameplay as the battlegrounds. Complete details can be found in the official announcement. And for a more personal look at the revamp, check out The Tattered Notebook's tour on test.
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