MMO Updates |
- Jukebox Heroes: Wrath of the Lich King's soundtrack
- Guild Wars 2's The Secret of Southsun will end culling, add WvW features [Updated]
- Sneak a peek at various vessels in World of Warships
- Massively Speaking Episode 247: TransMMO synergy!
- The Daily Grind: What abilities do you find the most fun to use?
- Massively Exclusive: New Aion RvR Guardian General event starts May 8th
- Not So Massively: MOBA patch week, Star Citizen hits $9 million, and Diablo II ladder reset
- Captain's Log: Playing with Legacy of Romulus characters in Star Trek Online
- DUST 514's Uprising update is now live
- The Elder Scrolls Online answers all your questions, assuming they're about lore
- Collect all the things in Star Wars: The Old Republic's 2.1 patch
- World of Darkness 'years away' from launch
- Chaos Theory: Player projects enhance The Secret World experience
- Leaderboard: What's your favorite player-generated content tool?
- First Impressions: Forge
- EVE Online smashes PCU record during anniversary celebrations
- LotRO Update 11 brings five new areas on May 13
| Jukebox Heroes: Wrath of the Lich King's soundtrack Posted: 07 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Opinion, Jukebox Heroes, Music  The score was composed and arranged by Russell Brower, Derek Duke, Matt Uelmen, Neal Acree, and Glenn Stafford. As to be expected by that name sandwich, the score features a lot of variety. While there are epic chants and the like that are to be expected from WoW, there's also a lonely, savage feel to the music that represents these far-off lands. There's also a lot of blowing wind that segues between tracks if you listen to the album straight through, and if that doesn't make you envision a snow-blasted landscape, I don't know what would. The liner notes say that "this is the music of ice and despair, a dirge and a call to arms." I couldn't put it better myself. Let's dive into my picks for the best tracks from this score, shall we? Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Wrath of the Lich King's soundtrack
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| Guild Wars 2's The Secret of Southsun will end culling, add WvW features [Updated] Posted: 07 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Lore, Patches, PvP, News Items, PvE, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play  The Secret of Southsun also brings an end to culling in the rest of the world (it was previously only disabled in World vs. World) and introduces two improvements to WvW -- traps and an improved award system. Traps will remove supply from enemies and players will gain reward for a wider range of activities in the Mists, such as destroying siege weapons, escort missions, and repairing walls. Players can also try their hand at a new crab toss mini-game. On top of the update annoucnement, ArenaNet has recently posted additional lore expanding the story of Rox, the Charr. Read on to see where her latest adventures lead. [Update: It seems ArenaNet let some of this info out before they intended to, as detailed in this forum post. So the WvW changes won't be in just yet.] [Source: ArenaNet press release]
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| Sneak a peek at various vessels in World of Warships Posted: 07 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, World of Warplanes  While the screenshots show a variety of vessels, the renderings draw attention to the USS New Mexico, a battleship that served the US Navy for decades and was a force to be reckoned with during World War II. Get a glimpse of some of the giant warships setting sail in WoWS in the gallery below. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
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| Massively Speaking Episode 247: TransMMO synergy! Posted: 07 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Massively Meta, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous  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: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes. Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 247: TransMMO synergy!
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| The Daily Grind: What abilities do you find the most fun to use? Posted: 07 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous  We've all got certain abilities that we just like making use of in MMOs. Sometimes they're not really beneficial to our builds, and sometimes they're not even all that useful, but darn it they're just plain fun to trigger. So what abilities do you find the most fun to use? Silly cosmetic tricks? Certain impressive storms of particle effects? Or are you just fond of abilities that work well from a mechanical standpoint with no concern for silly elements?  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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| Massively Exclusive: New Aion RvR Guardian General event starts May 8th Posted: 06 May 2013 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events (In-Game), PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play  As the clock ticks down to the June release of Aion's big 4.0 update, NCsoft is ramping up the event machine. First up: an all-new RvR event dubbed the Guardian General Showdown. Running from May 8th, 2013, through May 22nd, 2013, this event will take place in Jotun Square in Silentera Canyon (necessitating that Daevas be level 50 and over to participate). There, each faction will fight to defeat the Guardian General of the enemy while simultaneously protecting its own. The Guardian Generals -- Furious Dux for the Elyos and Furious Stalari for the Asmodians -- will spawn support mobs to join in the fray every 30 seconds. Once one general is defeated, both (and all accompanying mobs) will disappear and the 12-hour countdown to repawn begins. The league that contributes the most to defeating the other faction's Guardian General first will earn the Guardian General's Treasure Chest, which will provide every member with one mithril medal, one special manastone box (grade II), and one major ancient crown. [Source: NCsoft press release]
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| Not So Massively: MOBA patch week, Star Citizen hits $9 million, and Diablo II ladder reset Posted: 06 May 2013 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Trailers, Video, Game Mechanics, New Titles, Patches, PvP, News Items, Opinion, Hands-On, Casual, Dev Diaries, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III, Anniversaries, Crowdfunding, Star Citizen  Star Citizen celebrated hitting $9 million US in its ongoing crowdfunding campaign, and to celebrate, developers controversially gave all current backers free lifetime insurance on their ships. The title's success has also spurred EVE Online developer CCP Games to show off its own virtual reality dogfighter called EVR that uses the upcoming Oculus Rift headset. Diablo III's first anniversary is just over a week away; details of any celebrations haven't yet been released. Developers confirmed that the PlayStation 4 version will not be getting mouse and keyboard support and that the PC version won't be getting support for analog controllers. For those of you up for some oldschool dungeon-crawling, Diablo II also announced that its ladder will be reset on May 14th this week and all players will start the game fresh again.
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| Captain's Log: Playing with Legacy of Romulus characters in Star Trek Online Posted: 06 May 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Patches, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Hands-On, Captain's Log  I've had the opportunity to jump into the Star Trek Online's test server, Tribble, to catch a few glimpses of some of the character works in progress. With more material being pushed to Tribble on almost a daily basis, there should be lots to see in the next couple of weeks! Continue reading Captain's Log: Playing with Legacy of Romulus characters in Star Trek Online
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| DUST 514's Uprising update is now live Posted: 06 May 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox  The official launch of DUST 514 is planned to go live later this month on -- what else -- May 14th. But judging by the latest CCP dev blog, players can expect a whole bevy of new features before the game launches thanks to an update by the name of Uprising which, as it happens, went live today. For starters, the skill system is getting totally revamped in order to "make it more intuitive and deep." CCP is also introducing three new dropsuits to the game, along with a new assault dropship. As if that weren't enough, the studio has "done major rebalancing on weapons, dropsuits, modules, and vehicles." In light of all of these changes, players will be receiving full skill respecs and market refunds. Uprising will also include the addition of the new starmap, new UI and graphics features, and adjustments to the faction warfare system. But that's not all. When the game officially goes live on the 14th, CCP will introduce DUST's planetary conquest system, which means that DUST players will be able to take part in the great territorial control battles that will tie the game into EVE Online. The launch will also bring a few new weapons and a new game mode (Domination) and new maps over which players can vie for supremacy. If that's not enough to look forward to, then we're not sure what to tell you. For the full details on Uprising and DUST 514's official launch, go on and check out the full dev blog on the game's official site.
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| The Elder Scrolls Online answers all your questions, assuming they're about lore Posted: 06 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Lore, Previews, News Items, Community Q&A, The Elder Scrolls Online  There are some other answers in the mix as well. Players will have to guess about the abilities of their opponents in PvP to some extent, since the armor system will not allow you to guess at abilities by appearance. Players can also expect to find puzzles in the game rather than pure combat encounters, although no details are given. So while you'll find the most meat if you're looking for lore, even more system-focused players will find some relevant answers in the full set.
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| Collect all the things in Star Wars: The Old Republic's 2.1 patch Posted: 06 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Once you've obtained an item on a character, that item will be marked in your collection, allowing you to recreate that item for that character. Pay a few Cartel Coins and that item unlocks for every character in your account, including characters on other servers. The system will include mounts, armors, and pets, with more room for special promotions and the like in the future. So now you don't have to worry about who gets the special mount -- everyone can get the benefit.
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| World of Darkness 'years away' from launch Posted: 06 May 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Interviews, World of Darkness, Sandbox  McDonough did have good news to share, however. World of Darkness has a 70-person crew that is currently building the framework for the title, and according to the producer, they are "making phenomenal progress." The team plans to host the entire game on a single server where active combat and politicking between vampires will be the crux of the content. "We're making sure this is a next-generation MMO. It's very focused on movement and motion and capturing what it's like to be a vampire," he said. "People ask about our high level designs for World of Darkness, and we've called this a vampire simulator. What's it like to be a vampire. Not a superhero, but a super-powered individual. The way the characters move around the city feels very vampiric."
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| Chaos Theory: Player projects enhance The Secret World experience Posted: 06 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Video, Interviews, Opinion, The Secret World, Chaos Theory, Player-Generated Content, Buy-to-Play  In January, one TSW fan ran an Alternate-Reality Game (ARG) for fellow players. Using Twitter, the forums, email, and even in-game characters, this player orchestrated a full-on investigation for participants to work through. And just recently, a new site offering to immerse players more deeply into the game through imagery was beta-launched. Both projects further player involvement in the world of the game -- the stories, the conspiracies, the histories, and the surroundings -- beyond the actual game. Both received support from Funcom in their efforts to expand the fans' experiences. And both are definitely worth checking out, so I sat down with the creators to get the scoop on the why, the how, and the what's next. Continue reading Chaos Theory: Player projects enhance The Secret World experience
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| Leaderboard: What's your favorite player-generated content tool? Posted: 06 May 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, Leaderboard, Player-Generated Content  Assuming you've played around with a few of these tools, which one is your favorite? Vote after the cut!  Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!Continue reading Leaderboard: What's your favorite player-generated content tool?
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| Posted: 06 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, PvP, Opinion, Hands-On, First Impressions, Buy-to-Play  Unfortunately, Forge ended up being released far too early because of (as I understand it) a lack of funds, so many of the advertised features (such as a ranking system, matchmaking, and so forth) were conspicuously absent. So I figured I'd put it on the backburner and check it out once it had received some much-needed polish. So of course I was pretty pleased when Dark Vale Games announced that Forge had been "re-released" with many of the missing features in tow, but my initial worries about the game were far from assuaged, and I figured it would just be FURY 2: Electric Boogaloo. But man, do I love being proven wrong. Continue reading First Impressions: Forge
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| EVE Online smashes PCU record during anniversary celebrations Posted: 06 May 2013 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Events (In-Game), Lore, MMO Industry, PvP, Hands-On, Sandbox, Anniversaries, Player-Generated Content  EVE smashed its previous Peak Concurrent User total during the festivities by a clear margin, replacing 2011's record of 63,170 with a new figure of 65,303 players logged in simultaneously. Part of the reason for the record was the huge number of player-run events taking place that evening, such as the ever-popular Flight of a Thousand Rifters. The event saw almost 2,500 players join together to take down player Marlona Sky's expensive supercarrier. Most of the participants were in small frigates like Rifters and ended up being easy prey when a nullsec sniper Loki fleet turned up. The event was nevertheless a massive success and huge fun for those involved. Continue reading for a gallery of screenshots from the event and video footage from player Scott Manley. Continue reading EVE Online smashes PCU record during anniversary celebrations
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| LotRO Update 11 brings five new areas on May 13 Posted: 06 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play  The journey will take players through Writhendowns, The Fallows, Whitshaws, High Knolls, and Balewood where they will face Uruk-hai threats, marauding Warbands, violent Huorns, and Wood-trolls in an effort to protect the people and fight against growing evil and corruption. Update 11 also includes a mounted combat revamp, daily Silver Hobbit Presents for logging in, and improved VIP benefits including an improved bonus experience system. The Wildermore Quest pack is free to VIPs. Check out the adventure that awaits in the gallery below. [Source: Turbine press release]
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