MMO Updates |
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The fight to save City of Heroes
- Why I Play: RIFT
- Ryzom allowing players to keep subbed characters
- Phase two of Elsword Awakened update brings dungeon changes [Updated]
- Massively Exclusive: DK Online shows off the Shadowmage
- New Secret World Digging Deeper video details tomorrow's update [Updated]
- Enjin offers guild recruitment system
- The Daily Grind: Which two MMOs would you like to see crossover?
- Former EVE CSM member Vile Rat reportedly killed in Libyan bombing
- Hyperspace Beacon: TORWars gets candid for its 100th episode
- Path of Exile is holding a stress test this weekend
- The Soapbox: There's no such thing as pay-to-win
- Final Fantasy XIV service fees to discontinue on September 29th
- World of Warcraft hiding information in screenshots
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Your Guild Wars 2 mileage will vary
- 38 Studios loan could impact state elections
- BioWare commits to six-week update schedule for SWTOR
- Massively Speaking Episode 215: Red sunset
- Jukebox Heroes: World of Warcraft's soundtrack
- World of Warplanes fifth dev diary discusses design goals and historical facts
| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The fight to save City of Heroes Posted: 12 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  I didn't stick around for the costume contest, mostly because it turns out I didn't have a slot for Melissa Bianco with a crab backpack. The protest was the brainchild of TonyV, who is also the organizer behind the entire movement to save City of Heroes via a special message board dedicated to keeping the community organized. And considering what I've said in the past regarding other games that have shut down, you probably knew I would have something to say about this movement. It's something I support, but there's more nuance to it than just that. So let's talk about the fight to save the city. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The fight to save City of Heroes
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| Posted: 12 Sep 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, RIFT, Why I Play  When World of Warcraft first launched, it was difficult to explain just how astonishing the game really felt. The innovations that it brought to the table have become so commonplace over the years that we forget how stunning they really were. And when I first logged in, I had visions of what the world could support, the things that could be done, and the ways that players would get to explore hidden vistas and small corners of the world. As it happened, World of Warcraft went along quite well for several years, but somewhere along the line the magic faded for me. I can point to exactly when, but that's not the goal because RIFT seems to catch a lot of those dropped promises and put them into the game. And it's a game of extremes, with summits and valleys aplenty, but there's enough to like that I don't mind the bad so much. Continue reading Why I Play: RIFT
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| Ryzom allowing players to keep subbed characters Posted: 12 Sep 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Ryzom, News items, Free-to-play  To facilitate this change and give players more time to win starter packs, the server merge has been postponed for a week and will now occur on Saturday, September 29th at 6:00 p.m. EDT. You can read more about the server merges in Massively's exclusive interview.
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| Phase two of Elsword Awakened update brings dungeon changes [Updated] Posted: 12 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons  In celebration of the update, players can participate in numerous pirate-themed events inspired by "Talk like Pirate Day," including banding together to repel bands of invading pirates. Folks who work together as a team can earn free pirate costumes and accessories. Players can enjoy the Elsword Awakened update for free by downloading the game from the official site. [Update: Trailer of Velder's Hallucination dungeon added] [Source: Kill3rCombo press release] Continue reading Phase two of Elsword Awakened update brings dungeon changes [Updated]
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| Massively Exclusive: DK Online shows off the Shadowmage Posted: 12 Sep 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, New titles, News items, Massively Interviews, Dev Diaries  If this class sounds more your style than the Warrior, Paladin, or Sorceress, jump past the cut for a more in-depth look, including a dev blog, exclusive interview, and video. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: DK Online shows off the Shadowmage
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| New Secret World Digging Deeper video details tomorrow's update [Updated] Posted: 12 Sep 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, The Secret World  You've heard about the new rocket launcher weapon, of course, but did you know that it also comes with seven auxiliary abilities that necessitate a brand-new auxiliary ability wheel? The rocket launcher is also the tip of the iceberg in terms of new weapons going forward. Tomorrow's Digging Deeper update also brings us new avatar customization options. Travel to Ockham's Razor in London or The Modern Prometheus in New York City to check out all the new makeup, facial hair, and hairstyle options (Funcom is doubling the total number of available hairstyles with this patch). New missions are on tap too, including a continuation of the Kingsmouth Code investigation series. Get a good look at all this in more in the clip after the break. [Update: Apparently the Digging Deeper update is now coming tomorrow instead of today. We've changed the wording of this post to reflect that.] Continue reading New Secret World Digging Deeper video details tomorrow's update [Updated]
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| Enjin offers guild recruitment system Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: Guilds, News items, Miscellaneous  The recruitment list is sortable by category and includes an MMO-dedicated section. Using the system, guilds can post a lengthy introduction letter to convey its purpose and history, where it's located, how many games it's a part of, and what voice communication (if any) it uses. At the time of this writing, Guild Wars 2 has the most recruitment ads, followed by World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic. [Source: Enjin press release]
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| The Daily Grind: Which two MMOs would you like to see crossover? Posted: 12 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  That said, what if there were a true crossover between MMOs? What if characters, mobs, or events could spill over from one into another? Maybe the rifts from RIFT would suddenly start threatening Middle-earth or the gangstas from APB would decide to hijack a few starships in Star Trek Online? What if Marvel and DC would allow a limited-time interaction between their two MMOs in the future for some epic superhero throwdowns? Today, only your imagination is the limit. Which two MMOs would you like to see crossover?  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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| Former EVE CSM member Vile Rat reportedly killed in Libyan bombing Posted: 12 Sep 2012 12:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, News items, Sandbox  Just a few hours ago, EVE Online alliance GoonSwarm released a statement that the US official killed was apparently GoonSwarm director and former Council of Stellar Management member Sean "Vile Rat" Smith. Players, CCP developers, and GMs have begun leaving their condolences on the official EVE forums. According to those who knew him, Vile Rat was a well-loved player and a respected leader whose actions indirectly touched the lives of every EVE player. Massively extends its own condolences to his family and friends.
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| Hyperspace Beacon: TORWars gets candid for its 100th episode Posted: 11 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Culture, Interviews, Opinion, Humor, Massively Interviews, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon  TORWars stands out among its peers because of its fun, honest, and dare I say, professional atmosphere. Not only will you find some of the most enthusiastic SWTOR articles on TORWars, but those bits of news and editorial content are released daily by quality writers. I wanted to get in on the site's celebration of its 100th podcast, so I asked hosts Jeff Hollis, Deirdre Hollis, and Brian Waggoner for an interview, to which they agreed after I bribed them with alcohol. We spoke for over two hours about the ups and downs of running one of the most popular SWTOR fan sites. Unfortunately, that's too much text for a single column, but I have grabbed the highlights, wrapped them up in a bow, and presented them here for you to enjoy. (The bribing with alcohol bit may or may not be true.) Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: TORWars gets candid for its 100th episode
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| Path of Exile is holding a stress test this weekend Posted: 11 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play  Starting at 2:00 p.m. EDT on the 14th, anyone with an account for the game can log in to the client and start playing. The focus is on stress testing to ensure that the game's servers can handle a heavy load of concurrent players, so some lag and choppiness is to be expected. If you're not deterred by this, you can head over to the official site and download the client now so that you'll be all prepped and ready when the doors open on Friday.
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| The Soapbox: There's no such thing as pay-to-win Posted: 11 Sep 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Lord of the Rings Online, Business models, Culture, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Trading card games, Wizard101, Battlestar Galactica Online, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous  I hate it when MMORPG players completely misrepresent this hobby. I cringe every time I find myself in the middle of a discussion about "MMOs" when most of the people chatting are pulling only from their experience as a World of Warcraft raider and nothing more. There are hundreds -- actually, thousands -- of MMOs in existence. Discussing MMOs without knowing about as many as possible is really talking about specific titles, not a genre. You wouldn't catch a group of "foodies" basing all of their passions on a few items from a handful of menus. The same should apply to MMO discussions if we ever want the genre to be taken more seriously by outsiders. MMO players love to pigeonhole titles. What are some of the worst descriptions? "Hardcore" is one. What does that even mean? Does it mean a title is hard to play? In what way is it hard? Does it mean that it takes time to play? How much time equals hardcore? "Facebook game" is another term that drives me crazy, and it's often used by many MMO fans to dismiss all sorts of titles. While I know that the term generally refers to FarmVille-style gaming, using the term literally reflects how little the person knows about the variety of games that actually appear on or are connected to Facebook. The term that drives me the craziest of all is pay-to-win. Continue reading The Soapbox: There's no such thing as pay-to-win
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| Final Fantasy XIV service fees to discontinue on September 29th Posted: 11 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV  Players with currently active subscriptions will be able to continue playing from September 30th up until the game shuts down on November 11th. (The last snapshot of character progress will be on November 1st, however, so the last 10 days of play will not be transferred to the new version.) Players whose subscriptions are already cancelled or will be cancelled after September 30th will not be able to play for free during this period, and the last day to reactivate a subscription or redeem any other codes will be the 29th. Read through the full dispatch for all of the details if you're not sure where you'll be after the end of the month, and keep your eyes peeled for more information as the relaunch draws closer.
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| World of Warcraft hiding information in screenshots Posted: 11 Sep 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, Legal  The watermark is made up of several strips of custom bar codes, which can be decoded to reveal information from the game. While the revealed information isn't extremely personal, it does contain the server IP, player account numbers, and a time stamp. The account number is publically accessable through Blizzard's Armory site and cannot be used to hack accounts. WoW Insider says that this information is most likely used by Blizzard to take down private servers, rogue employees, and cheaters.
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| Flameseeker Chronicles: Your Guild Wars 2 mileage will vary Posted: 11 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvE, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles  There's been a good deal of talk, here in the early days, about the level and experience curve in Guild Wars 2. A great many people are tackling the game in a great many ways, which leads to a tremendous variety in folks' perception of the leveling curve. There are a few of ways that your experience gain might not match up to your desired or expected level. These ways mostly deal with feeling underleveled for storyline content and zone progression. As I said, everyone's moving through the game differently: Some folks made a point to run around major cities right of the bat to tuck a few safe levels under their belts, while others made a beeline for personal story content, and others still (and I count myself in this category) are stumbling this way and that through content with all the focus and willpower of a drunken goldfish. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Your Guild Wars 2 mileage will vary
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| 38 Studios loan could impact state elections Posted: 11 Sep 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: MMO industry, Legal, Miscellaneous  One candidate, Mark Binder, addressed the continued furor over the issue: "If I don't bring it up, other people bring it up. Everyone is infuriated. There's this game going on in Rhode Island right now called 'pass the blame on 38 Studios.'" While many of those directly responsible for voting the deal through have since resigned from their positions, the search to pin the fiasco on one of the state's leaders is still underway. Another 2012 candidate, Laura Pisaturo, said that the public is demanding more answers: "People read in the paper about 38 Studios and think 'we elect these people and expect they will lead and ask tough questions.'"
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| BioWare commits to six-week update schedule for SWTOR Posted: 11 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  What will those updates include? "Well we're committed to about every six weeks, doing a major update for the game -- which would be a new warzone, a new operation, a new flashpoint, a new event -- and to doing that on a really frequent cadence, every six weeks. So we're going to stick to that," Bromberg told AusGamers. BioWare is also looking at ways to sweet-talk former subscribers. The first such initiative takes the form of cartel coins which are in-game tokens earned for being a subscriber after the free-to-play conversion. The coins and credits will also be awarded retroactively to those who subscribed in the past.
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| Massively Speaking Episode 215: Red sunset Posted: 11 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Podcasts, City of Heroes, EverQuest, EverQuest II, MMO industry, Ryzom, News items, Massively Meta, Massively Speaking, RIFT, Miscellaneous, PlanetSide 2  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 215: Red sunset
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| Jukebox Heroes: World of Warcraft's soundtrack Posted: 11 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Opinion, Jukebox Heroes  Non-ironic wow, I thought. That takes me back. If you were one of the players who spent any amount of time in what's now referred to as "vanilla" World of Warcraft -- before the Burning Crusade released in 2007 -- then it's just about impossible to hear these tunes and not be transported back to those first couple of years of discovery and conquest. WoW's original soundtrack was composed by Jason Hayes, Tracy W. Bush, Glenn Stafford, and Derek Duke, each of whom brought his own take on this MMO version of Warcraft. I had a blast re-listening to all of these old tracks and wanted to share with you a few of my personal favorites. Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: World of Warcraft's soundtrack
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| World of Warplanes fifth dev diary discusses design goals and historical facts Posted: 11 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Video, Game mechanics, New titles, News items, War, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries, World of Warplanes  Although the game offers faster and more nimble aircraft than would participate in dogfights in real life, Wargaming.net is taking pains to make the experience as authentic as possible by considering different logistics including weight and resistance strength of bomb loads and underwing weapons. Although the types of aircraft are set and authentic, players will have the opportunity to customize their planes through modifications and even pin-up art. For full details, watch the dev diary after the break. [Source: Wargaming.net press release] Continue reading World of Warplanes fifth dev diary discusses design goals and historical facts
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