MMO Updates |
- The Road to Mordor: Why LotRO's classes need a shakeup
- WRUP: Not now, I have a headache edition
- The Daily Grind: Is farming ruined forever?
- Betawatch: September 22 - 28, 2012
- MMObility: Mobile devices might breathe new life into older MMOs
- Storyboard: Making character relationships work
- Firefall devs talk about dynamic events
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Galactic Encyclopedia due out October 12th
- MMO Blender: Eliot's online brother from an offline mother
- Some Assembly Required: The newer-is-better fallacy
- CCP announces new tournament with a prize pool of $10,000
- Age of Conan dev letter talks new content, scheduling
- Hard work, not magic, is key to Blizzard's success
- Get The Secret World for half price this weekend
- New Darkfall Unholy Wars screenshots released
| The Road to Mordor: Why LotRO's classes need a shakeup Posted: 29 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Opinion, Free-to-play  For this I have two words in response: hear, hear! I've been thinking about this a lot since last week's imaginary restart scenario and even before. There's a reason that rerolling a character in Lord of the Rings Online has such appeal, even with a mountain of content behind it. It's a character that actually develops noticeably before your eyes, not slugs through content. Today I want to examine why I agree with Holiday about the stagnation of high-level classes and how the devs can shake up the status quo to make character development exciting once more. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Why LotRO's classes need a shakeup
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| WRUP: Not now, I have a headache edition Posted: 29 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  You don't have some ibuprofen I could cage off you? Better yet, some Excedrin? I hate having a headache. All right, all right, I'll just focus on WRUP. This week's installment is about whether or not the F2P switch of basically every game in the world gives you added financial headaches compared to the old style of subscription games. Oh, and it covers what we'll be playing over the weekend. So check out our plans past the break, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments. Continue reading WRUP: Not now, I have a headache edition
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| The Daily Grind: Is farming ruined forever? Posted: 29 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous  Think I'm talking about FarmVille? Nope. Lord of the Rings Online, actually. And Ultima Online and Glitch and hopefully, someday, ArcheAge. MMOs actually implement farming so much better than the social game that seems to have redefined it. In UO, I can grow decorative plants and buff petals; in LotRO, I can mass-produce crops that are used by cooks to make food; and in Glitch, I grow flowers and herbs used by tincturers. I suppose even in Star Wars Galaxies, I was farming up corn and tubers in my oversized industrial extractors. But I have to wonder whether the FarmVille-induced stigma attached to farming as a gameplay concept has ruined it for MMO fans forever. Even when we discuss ArcheAge's amazing farming system, we can't help but crack jokes about tractors, jokes we wouldn't make about big, burly, angry Orcs practicing their fine tailoring skills in World of Warcraft. What do you think -- is farming in MMOs ruined forever?  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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| Betawatch: September 22 - 28, 2012 Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  So I guess it was a pretty good week after all! Clicky clicky for the complete Betawatch roundup. Continue reading Betawatch: September 22 - 28, 2012
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| MMObility: Mobile devices might breathe new life into older MMOs Posted: 28 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, Business models, Culture, Opinion, Ultima Online, Mobile, MMObility  When I interviewed the Ultima Online team during a livestream this week, I asked Producer Bonnie Armstrong about a mobile version of the game. After all, I've played games, like Conquer Online, that look almost identical to Ultima Online, so I know it can be done. Her answer? I would love to, personally. I think it would be pretty cool. I think somebody kind of joked around and said you know when somebody's 90 years old, they're going to be in an old folk's home playing UO on their phone. [...] That kind of sums us up.There are many MMOs that I could see offering a mobile version. Would it be better or worse for these classic titles? Continue reading MMObility: Mobile devices might breathe new life into older MMOs
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| Storyboard: Making character relationships work Posted: 28 Sep 2012 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  Unfortunately, some of those relationships can feel a bit... forced -- as if you're trying to find a connection where none exists, or as if you've jumped past some important elements of characterization that would make everything seem clearer. In short, a lot of your relationships feel as if they were cut from the Star Wars prequels. I harp on verisimilitude a lot in this column, but that's precisely because roleplaying depends on the illusion of reality in each interaction. If your relationships in roleplaying feel real, it does wonders for grounding the characters and their interplay in reality and giving substance to everything else you do. So I think it's worth noting some obvious stumbling points and some ways to help relationships feel more organic. Continue reading Storyboard: Making character relationships work
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| Firefall devs talk about dynamic events Posted: 28 Sep 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, Dev Diaries, Firefall  Just how dynamic is Firefall? Not dynamic enough, according to Red 5 Studios. In an effort to up the dynamism of the game, the development team is introducing some changes -- specifically, dynamic world events are going to be added to the world. They're so dynamical, it's even part of the name. These new events come in two big categories: local and global. Both the local and global flavors can be world events, which are automagically activated by the game, or on-demand events, which are triggered by players. Global dynamic events are meant to reinforce the large themes of Firefall, while local events are all about what's going on in a specific region. The team is developing events to be engaging, varied, accessible, cooperative, and connected to the story of the world and regions in a meaningful way. For a look at the type of events the team is working on, hit up the official blog post.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic Galactic Encyclopedia due out October 12th Posted: 28 Sep 2012 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Culture, Lore, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Clocking in at 352 pages, the hardcover volume is penned by several members of the SWTOR writing team and explores the nuances behind the universe as presented in the game. The book is set to feature a full timeline and a number of pages on important events, useful for piecing together the full story from somewhat fragmented in-game lore. It can be pre-ordered now on Amazon and should be more than worth the value for roleplayers or dedicated lore hounds. Take a look at the trailer just past the cut. Continue reading Star Wars: The Old Republic Galactic Encyclopedia due out October 12th
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| MMO Blender: Eliot's online brother from an offline mother Posted: 28 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Miscellaneous, MMO Blender  Obviously Massively's writers like us some online games. I am no exception to the rule. But I also started playing video games back when the internet existed only in its most nascent form. I started out by liking video games, period, and the online component came much later, with a lot of benefits, to be sure, but I still love some offline action just as well. I don't feel the need to bring every game into the online arena. There are games that just don't work as well in a multiplayer environment. But there are also a lot of offline games that translate quite well to an online space, and I'm not just talking about ones that play like MMORPGs stripped of the first three letters. Today's MMO Blender is taking inspiration only from games that do not have a primary online component. Let's see about making a nice big MMO from single-player offline offerings. Continue reading MMO Blender: Eliot's online brother from an offline mother
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| Some Assembly Required: The newer-is-better fallacy Posted: 28 Sep 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox  I've an inkling that the folks espousing this idea have little experience with the old-school games they purport to be evolving beyond. This doesn't stop them from claiming that old-schoolers are in love with a time period instead of a game, though, which in turn intimates that old-schoolers' minds are too muddled to know exactly what they do and do not prefer. Regardless of how you feel about old vs. new, sandbox vs. themepark, or world vs. game, it's easy to see that conflating someone's personal preference with nostalgia results in a perspective that's of limited usefulness at best. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: The newer-is-better fallacy
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| CCP announces new tournament with a prize pool of $10,000 Posted: 28 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Contests, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  EVE Online is getting its first cash tournament. After the tremendous success of the Alliance Tournament X in July, own3D began talking about possibilities for a new tournament with the fine folks at CCP. Rather than focusing on Alliances as all previous EVE tournaments have done, this tournament will be team-based. Each team will have between eight and 24 players, and there will be a total of 32 teams in the tournament. Teams will have to be created on the official signup page (which will open October 12th) and enter through an online auction. Players may only belong to one team, regardless of how many accounts they own. A team may accept multiple characters from one person, but that person joining multiple teams is prohibited. If you're interested in joining, be sure to read the full blog post for information about ship bans, tournament rules, and the modified double-elimination system.
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| Age of Conan dev letter talks new content, scheduling Posted: 28 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Dungeons  The near future will bring an update to the Amphitheatre of Karutonia aimed at level 80 players. Tweaks for the Conqueror and Bear Shaman classes should make the cut as well. After that it's on to The Secrets of the Dragon's Spine updates, which Morrison says will release in stages over the end of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013. The long-awaited tradeskill update also falls into this release window. Finally, Funcom is planning to revamp several of AoC's old-world dungeons as well as add a new PvP minigame and a new raid. More updates are in the planning stages, too, but you'll need to head to the official AoC website for more details.
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| Hard work, not magic, is key to Blizzard's success Posted: 28 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items  The article discounts the magic secret formula hypothesis and attributes Blizzard's success to hard work, aggressive utilization of player activity data, and a focus on the casual player instead of hardcore endgame types. The piece noted that Blizzard essentially provides players with a whole new game with each expansion by changing systems dramatically. It further stated, "Blizzard... sees its successful game as a moving target, and uses data to allow it to make bigger gambles and more drastic changes."
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| Get The Secret World for half price this weekend Posted: 28 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, News items, The Secret World, Promotions  That's $24.99 if you're looking for specifics, and it also includes 30 days of gameplay. If you haven't been following TSW lately, it's worth noting that Funcom has recently released the second and third major content updates which in turn have added dozens of missions to the base game. New avatar customization options are also available, as is an improved lair system and a new weapon (the rocket launcher). [Source: Funcom press release]
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| New Darkfall Unholy Wars screenshots released Posted: 28 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, Sandbox  Players interested in returning to the game or checking it out for the first time can do so at a discounted sub fee during Darkfall's Ultimate Promotion. The promotion, which also includes increased drop rates and skill gains, ends when Unholy Wars launches. [Aventurine press release]
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