| WRUP: This prom date is going nowhere edition Posted: 06 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous After half an hour, I am disappointed at the progress that has been made on this prom date, and I've identified several key issues. The first issue is that I am nearly 30 and neither of us is attending high school. Second, you are apparently high on mescaline. Third and most importantly, this is not a high school prom but a boating enthusiast convention in the middle of Nevada. I probably should have noticed that when the tickets mentioned as much. For now, we can shuffle back and forth awkwardly to slow music in the center of the boating convention while everyone else looks at WRUP. That contains a full list of the Massively staffers' weekend plans as well as what character creation options they would like to see in MMOs. The readers may also leave their weekend plans in the comments afterwards. That should be fun for everyone not stuck on a horrible prom date. Continue reading WRUP: This prom date is going nowhere edition  WRUP: This prom date is going nowhere edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Do you want the option to have a pet? Posted: 06 Oct 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Classes, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous There are some people who really love the heck out of pet classes in MMOs. I am not one of those people. That's why I'm always happy about classes like the Guild Wars 2 Necromancer or all of the RIFT classes, which allow you to have a pet but just as easily allow you to never use one. Usually pet classes will have builds that focus less on your pet, but a Warlock in World of Warcraft always uses one even if he doesn't focus on it. Skill-based games usually don't restrict you from having a pet if you want one, but most class-based games have certain classes with pets and others without. Given the option, even if your class or build wouldn't make heavy use of it, would you like to be able to have an in-combat pet along with you? Or would you prefer to have some pet classes/builds in a sea of petlessness?  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!The Daily Grind: Do you want the option to have a pet? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| World of Midgard opens up Kickstarter campaign Posted: 05 Oct 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Mobile All right, so you've probably seen your fair share of Kickstarters for MMORPGs by now. Including ones aiming at being an old-school revival. And you've seen a lot of them offering to let you play on both mobile devices and on your desktop... Wait, that part is kind of new. And if it appeals to you, you should probably take a look at World of Midgard's new Kickstarter project. The game is currently running in a beta state, but the development team wants to move forward and complete the game in a suitable fashion. That means a need for money, and that's why the game is opening the doors to crowdsourcing. The project offers an exclusive mount for players who donate just up to the $15 level, with increasingly extravagant rewards for those who offer more. If it sounds like your cup of tea, take a look at the project and consider sending a few dollars along to help development. World of Midgard opens up Kickstarter campaign originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Betawatch: September 29 - October 5, 2012 Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Massively Meta, Betawatch, Miscellaneous It's been a big week for betas, with Pirate101 giving everyone a chance to jump in for a bit and MechWarrior Online dropping its NDA. There are also some upcoming test dates for both Final Fantasy XIV and The War Z, but right now neither game has an active beta. It's also the final beta weekend for End of Nations. Oh, and die-hard EverQuest raiders can sign up to get their guild into beta testing if they want a look at the next tier of content coming out with the expansion. Die-hard roleplayers, meanwhile, are yet again denied the chance to look at the next set of buildings to talk within. Next year in the expansion. In any event, jump on past the break for the full scorecard of what's currently in testing, both open and closed. And if you know of something that we've missed on the list, let us know in the comments so we can add it in for next week! Continue reading Betawatch: September 29 - October 5, 2012 Betawatch: September 29 - October 5, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Storyboard: Hobbyists Posted: 05 Oct 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous When was the last time that one of your characters did something fun? I don't mean something that amused you or a night of roleplaying that made you smile. I'm wondering about the last time that one of your characters got to cut loose and enjoy himself or herself. The equivalent of you having a night to just sit down and play your favorite game, except tailored for that character's particular interests. My guess is that it wasn't all that recently, partly due to the fact that you've probably never been terribly clear on what your high-level paladin likes to do for fun in the first place. And it's something I've mentioned in passing before, but generally hobbies take a backseat to personalities and relationships in roleplaying. Not that there's no merit to all of that... but there's a lot of merit to figuring out what your character finds fun and working it into your roleplaying. Continue reading Storyboard: Hobbyists Storyboard: Hobbyists originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Core Online says hello to the world Posted: 05 Oct 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, New titles, PvP We have a new MMO on the block, and its name is Core Online. Entwell introduced the fantasy title with a spiffy website that's unfortunately only in Korean at the moment. According to Steparu.com, Core Online's been in development for over three years. It boasts at least eight classes that fall in line with fantasy terminology, including the Magician and Warrior. Core Online will also offer a cross-server PvP battle system. We will wait and see how Core Online attempts to stand out in the extremely large crowd of gorgeous-looking Asian MMOs, but for now we'll have to be content to scope out the few screenshots below. Core Online says hello to the world originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Mists of Pandaria cruises toward first big patch Posted: 05 Oct 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, Patches World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is chugging along quite nicely, and while there are players content in the current journey to the new endgame, there are always those asking, "What's next?" For the latter crowd, Blizzard has announced that the first major post-expansion content update is heading to the test server soon. Patch 5.1 is slated to advance the storyline, add quest hubs and factions, introduce underground fighting rings in capital cities, improve the pet battle system, and allow players to upgrade gear with valor points. Blizzard says that the progress toward the patch's deployment is a sign that it is taking its commitment to faster content delivery seriously. Mists of Pandaria cruises toward first big patch originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SOE shows off new PlanetSide 2 Esamir video Posted: 05 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2 Yesterday we took you on a textual tour of PlanetSide 2's new Esamir continent. Today Sony Online Entertainment has released a new video so that you can actually see it for yourself. Beginning this weekend, the new landmass will be accessible to everyone via the game's external beta. SOE says that Esamir "shield generators won't be disabled as easily, so expect to run an overload process to secure victory." There are also new vehicle and weapon certifications available, as well as new empire-specific sidegrades. Check out the clip after the cut to get up to speed. [Source: SOE press release] Continue reading SOE shows off new PlanetSide 2 Esamir video SOE shows off new PlanetSide 2 Esamir video originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMObility: Finding the fun within the browser Posted: 05 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, PvP, PvE, Opinion, War, Free-to-play, Browser, Mobile, Casual, MMORTS, Humor, Post-Apocalyptic, Miscellaneous, MMObility Fun is an odd thing to define. I have to be honest and say that I don't often have fun when playing MMOs. I don't. I enjoy myself, sometimes to an amazing degree, but I don't have what I would call "fun." When I play a game like Wurm Online or Parallel Kingdom, I am not having fun but am having something closer to the feeling you get when you read a good book. You know the feeling: You're breathing deep, lying on the bed, possibly, very relaxed. OK, I understand how dirty that sounds, but you know what I mean. Playing a good MMO is often like playing chess. It's not really fun, but it is still a very good thing. Browser-based titles can often be enjoyable, but the normally limited graphics and sometimes click-and-wait gameplay means that I get more of a scratch-my-chin sort of feeling when I leap into Illyriad or other games. Of course, in-browser graphics are changing and becoming more and more like standard client-based MMOs. Thanks to Unity and other engines, we can play in immersive, three-dimensional worlds in our browser. Smartphones are becoming more tablet-like, and mobile games are quickly becoming more like standard gaming as well. So what do we play when we want to have simple fun? Continue reading MMObility: Finding the fun within the browser MMObility: Finding the fun within the browser originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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In an atypically terse post on the Building Windows 8 blog, 
