MMO Updates

• The Road to Mordor: A day in LotRO's Forochel
• Mark Jacobs on the coming F2P apocalypse
• WRUP: Quiet, we are watching our stories edition
• The Daily Grind: Are there MMOs you would play offline?
• Betawatch: April 6 - 12, 2013
• Storyboard: Profession discussion - the Builder
• New reputation in Star Trek Online takes the fight to the Tholians
• Why I Play: Villagers and Heroes
• Hearthstone video pits mage against shaman
• Hacking ring infiltrates Trion, Nexon, and Neowiz game servers
• Camelot Unchained update outlines RvR dungeon stretch goal
• SWTOR dev blog details new GSI faction
• WildStar explains how MMO servers work
• Second Wind: Champions Online
• MMObility: Dragon Eternity shines on the iPad

The Road to Mordor: A day in LotRO's Forochel The snow crunches angrily beneath my boots. It's a hard snow, beaten down by the winds and the constant sub-arctic temperatures. On top of it is a light powder that stings when it is whipped into my eyes. Fortunately all is calm and quiet at the moment, and I move on. I'm a pioneer in Forochel, or so my title tells me, but I still feel as if I don't know this untamed land. It's the roof of the world, or so they say, with odd peoples, strange languages, and frozen ruins. I see sights there that I never would anywhere else in Middle-earth, and it almost feels like an alien world removed from all I've known because of that. I walk toward a distant fire while the snow falls behind me and covers my footprints. Too often I think of how far away I am from the safety and warmth of home, and it frightens me. Am I a fool to forge into this land? To go in the opposite direction of the One Ring? Or is this my destined path?

Mark Jacobs on the coming F2P apocalypse Mark Jacobs isn't jumping on the free-to-play bandwagon like most of his MMO-making contemporaries. The Camelot Unchained developer and former Dark Age of Camelot head honcho predicted a F2P "apocalypse" in a recent interview with VG247. You know, free-to-play is just another model, and just like every other model in the industry, it will hold its special little place for a while but then there will be consequences. Those consequences in a few years will be a bit of an apocalypse. You're going to see a lot of developers shutting down, and you're going to see a lot of publishers going, oh yeah maybe spending $20 million on a free-to-play game wasn't the best idea ever. That's part of the reason, but the other reason is equally as important, that if you go free-to-play, you really have to compete with every other free-to-play game out there. Camelot Unchained, which recently passed the halfway point of its $2 million Kickstarter goal, will be a "niche subscription game," which Jacobs says will allow his studio to focus on creating content for a more desirable audience. The subscription model "allows us to focus our game on the people who want to pay for it, and are willing to pay for it," Jacobs explains. "I'll take a smaller subscription base that is dedicated, is energized and is excited to play our game, and to work with our game, than ten times that base where I have to deal with a lot of people who really don't care." Source: VG247

WRUP: Quiet, we are watching our stories edition Keep it down, now. We here at the Massively offices are watching our stories. These stories are very important to us. They contain a large number of cast members, and it is vitally important that we keep up with each and every one of them. During our story time, we don't want to hear about how RIFT is shutting down or World of Warcraft is launching an expansion about narwhals or Camelot Unchained is actually just Super Mario World with a few new sprites. We're watching our stories. If you're so bored you can just read this week's installment of WRUP, which contains all of the Massively staff's plans for the weekend. Well, the plans of those not too involved in watching our stories to reply. These are really important, you see. Here, just sit down and watch with us. Or read our plans past the break and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments -- that works too.

Are there MMOs you would play offline? In theory, a lot of us are perpetually online. In practice, connections go down, routers get fried, network cards go kaput. Not even broadband is faultlessly reliable. So we deal with games that can be played without any connection required, and life continues. But are there MMOs that you wouldn't mind playing in an offline mode? Speaking personally, I know I would be happy to tool around in Star Trek Online as an offline playground. It has its faults, but it's a nice little dose of thematic space adventure, certainly something fun for whiling away a disconnected afternoon. Some elements would have to be tweaked for an offline mode to work, but that's not the point. So what about you? Are there MMOs you would play offline if you had the opportunity? Or are you more interested in the social aspects and not interested in just playing the game itself as a stopgap?

Betawatch: April 6 - 12, 2013 Have you eagerly anticipated the start of WildStar's beta testing? Good news for you, then -- it has started. The bad news is that odds are fairly good that you aren't in it, but at least now you can look on longingly from behind glass. Of course, the beta news of the week hasn't just been about big names. Genia: Brain Storm is currently looking for beta testers interested in a game of wits, and Yitien is just what you've been looking for if you're looking for a high fantasy browser-based MMO. Neverwinter is gearing up for one of its last beta weekends before the open beta test at the end of the month. Looking for more testing goodness? Take a look at the full list past the break. If you notice anything missing that's in testing, feel free to let us know about it down in the comments.

Storyboard: Profession discussion - the Builder Human beings like to make stuff. It's in our nature, presumably because the humans who liked making things were able to create important inventions like clothing and weapons and homes and portable DVD players. That stuff gives you an edge over the guy hunting with a rock and a decent pitching arm. A lot of jobs and hobbies alike revolve around making things or changing existing made things into new made things. The Builder isn't just someone who enjoys making things but someone who lives by making things. Our previous professions have all focused around providing something, but the Builder is the person responsible for making those things. This is a profession that's all about creating, something near and dear to most roleplayers to begin with. But it's also a profession that has a bit more to it than simply being the guy down the road who puts cabinets together at a discount.

New reputation in Star Trek Online takes the fight to the Tholians Nukara Prime is not a pleasant place in Star Trek Online. It's covered in Tholians, for starters, and it's got all of the charming amenities of a warzone. Then it gets even worse when you realize it's a Class Y or "Demon" planet, and you don't get a nickname like "Demon" for being ideal beachfront property. So naturally players will be expected to head there when Legacy of Romulus launches in May, and they'll have plenty of extra incentive with the new Nukara Strikeforce reputation. The new reputation will work much like other reputations in the game, giving players a variety of new ground and space item sets to earn in exchange for Nukara Marks. Players can also look forward to existing endgame activities involving Tholians to start giving out Nukara Marks, and they'll have the opportunity to exchange old rewards for large piles of marks as well. So your bridge crew probably won't be happy that shore leave is on Nukara Prime, but your captain will have plenty of new rewards to pick up. Source: Nukara Strikeforce Reputation overview

Why I Play: Villagers and Heroes Villagers and Heroes, formerly called A Mystical Land, surprised me. I had gone several weeks if not a few months without logging in to the game for longer than a half an hour, so you can imagine my surprise when I realized that the game not only had been improved but had added systems that I thought it never would. In other words, the game was suddenly a world, a fully realized browser-based MMORPG. Despite my feeling that the game was going to languish in state of semi-completion, suddenly it had housing, more crafting, a better UI, and a fully stocked cash shop. I've streamed the game before, but now I find myself logging in a lot more than ever. And now, after hosting a livestream with associate designer Cameron England (embedded after the cut), I'm really having fun with the game and have noticed that it offers a lot more than games that are much more well-known. This is why I play Villagers and Heroes.

Hearthstone video pits mage against shaman If you're interested in Blizzard's upcoming Hearthstone CCG and have about 10 minutes to spare, your time could be put to worse use than by watching the following video. Said video features a match-up between a Mage player and a Shaman player as they duel with all manner of nasty cards, totems, and surprises. A narrator attempts to give a play-by-play as the action flows thick and furious, giving us a deeper insight into how Hearthstone plays and what strategies players might use in the future. Give it a watch after the break, and don't forget to read our own hands-on with the title!

Hacking ring infiltrates Trion, Nexon, and Neowiz game servers A China-based hacking ring has infiltrated servers belonging to "dozens of online video gaming companies and stolen valuable source code over a four-year period," according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The newspaper's website says that Neowiz, Mgame, Nexon, and Trion are among the companies affected. Moscow-based security firm Kaspersky Lab is conducting an ongoing investigation into the hacking ring's activities, but has not been given full access to infected servers. Some game companies reported the presence of malicious software which suggests that the hackers manipulated virtual currencies, according to the Herald. The group, named Winnti by Kaspersky, began its current campaign in 2009 and is still active today. The Herald reports that Neowiz "did not respond to requests for comment, while Trion and Nexon declined to comment. Mgame said it had no immediate comment." Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Camelot Unchained update outlines RvR dungeon stretch goal It's time for another Camelot Unchained Kickstarter update. There's so much to discuss that Mark Jacobs has broken today's video blurb into two parts. You can see the meat of the gameplay discussion in part two, where Jacobs outlines various project stretch goals. The first goal entails three new races and classes, one for each of the game's realms. The second stretch goal involves a potential RvR dungeon that hearkens back to Darkness Falls from Jacobs' Dark Age of Camelot. But wait, hasn't Camelot Unchained been sold thus far as PvE-free experience? Yes, yes it has, and if you want to know how Jacobs and company plan to keep that promise while integrating a dungeon into the game, hit the jump and watch the video. Source: Kickstarter update

SWTOR dev blog details new GSI faction BioWare world designers Steven Chew and Michael Ammer want you to know about Galactic Solutions Industries (GSI), a new faction that debuts in Star Wars: The Old Republic's Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion. The firm is a weapons research and manufacturing conglomerate, and you'll find its mission terminals scattered across multiple planets. When your GSI reputation level is high enough, you'll be able to purchase certain rewards from GSI headquarters on Nar Shaddaa's upper promenade. Full details are yours for the reading via the latest SWTOR dev blog. Source: Dev blog

WildStar explains how MMO servers work Welcome, class, to MMO Servers 101! Your professor today is Carbine Studios Lead Network & Database Engineer David Ray, and he's here to give a technical overview of how MMOs set up and run their servers. Please take notes. While Ray won't reveal all of Carbine's secrets, his explanation should be sufficient if you're curious as to how an average MMO sets up its backend. If you're expecting an article that reveals WildStar's server rulesets, specific regions, or other practical player concerns, then this is not for you. However, it is a frank and fascinating look at the guts of the ship that runs MMOs, and considering that Ray has worked on both the space shuttle and other MMOs, we suspect that there's a good chance he knows what he's talking about. Source: Let's talk about servers

Second Wind: Champions Online I remember playing and disliking Champions Online when it first came out. My wife and I had the same reaction when we both thought it looked funky and played oddly. It was as though the game was attempting to be some sort of kitschy '60s-inspired comic book game, so it was hard to take it seriously. It just wasn't that much fun. Granted, that was a long time ago, and since then the title has changed hands, been patched up, and been smoothed over. I've played it off and on since my first experience but always felt it lacked... something. I knew I needed to give it a second chance, and what better avenue to do it in than this very column? I've been really diving into it over the past few weeks, and I've discovered that the game is actually really good. And really fun. And that it looks good! I streamed it live just to double check, and sure enough, the game holds up well and made me so happy that I continued to try it out. I even subscribed! (Will wonders never cease?) So today, I want to tackle the game from a fresh, newbier perspective than the one taken in our weekly superhero column, A Mild-Mannered Reporter, where Eliot has been chronicling the playerbase's frustration with the game's content-update shortcomings. Be sure to check out the embedded livestream later in the article. It really shows off how fun the game can be, as well as covers some of its finer details. Gallery: Second Wind: Champions Online screenshots

MMObility: Dragon Eternity shines on the iPad Dragon Eternity has always been a pretty neat browser-based game that drew me in more with its mechanics and UI design than with its actual gameplay. Frankly, the game is a grind. You'll be sent on quest after quest that is basically kill-ten-whatever, with the occasional gather quest thrown in for good measure. I wasn't terribly thrilled with it before, but I did find myself occasionally enjoying it. The artwork in the game is beautiful. That alone is a reason to poke my head into the title once in a while. Now that a new iPad version has been released, I just had to give it another go to see if it felt the same as before. I have to say, how you interface with a game can really make a difference. Sure, the grind is still there, and the quests are generally the same at higher levels as they are at level one, but the iPad works awesome. That's not all, however. I also participated in PvP combat for the first time and found out exactly where the game shines.