MMO Updates

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• New Blade & Soul video tours White Blue Mountain Range
• The Perfect Ten: MMOs that died in development hell
• The Guild Counsel: Taking the reins and dealing with discipline
• New WildStar video is all about smooth moves
• The Daily Grind: What quest or questline is the most memorable?
• Arcane Saga triggers its beta test
• The Art of Wushu: Understanding the Meridian System
• Making friends and recruiting officers in Star Trek Online's expansion
• See RuneScape 3 revealed to the world
• World of Warcraft loses over a million subs since February, now down to 8.3 million
• A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine reasons for nine years of City of Heroes
• Neverwinter counters Foundry exploit by nerfing XP rate
• Introducing HEX, the MMOTCG by Cryptozoic
• Choose My Adventure: Framing my first foray in Darkfall
• Diablo III gold dupe bug fixed with no rollback
• Clone Wars Adventures not (immediately) affected by EA/Disney deal

New Blade & Soul video tours White Blue Mountain Range Posted: 09 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, New Titles, Previews, News Items, Blade & Soul It's no secret that many folks like to see what they are getting into... or in the case of MMOs not yet available in all markets, what they'd like to get into. So those looking forward to playing NCsoft's martial arts fantasy Blade & Soul should appreciate this newly released visual tour of the White Blue Mountain Range area. Although lacking any English subtitles, the video contains over six minutes of footage from various locales. From verdant vistas to wintery caverns, quaint villages to majestic cities, get a taste of the ambiance and architecture of the White Blue Mountain Range region in the trailer after the break. Continue reading New Blade & Soul video tours White Blue Mountain Range New Blade & Soul video tours White Blue Mountain Range originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Video tour Via: MMOsite

The Perfect Ten: MMOs that died in development hell Posted: 09 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Humor, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous If you know me, you probably know that I have a weird fascination with alternate history. You know, the daydreams of historians when they're not rewriting the past to suit the latest trends. "What if?" my mind wonders, especially when it comes to MMOs. You see, for every game that actually makes it to launch, there are several that die gasping and alone in the bowels of development hell. Sure, many of these are pathetic creatures that didn't really stand a chance anyway, but there are some that could have made an impact on the industry if they had reached release and been halfway decent. We'll never know what a world would look like with these games in them, but we can always muse, "What if?" Continuing Perfect Ten's recent dark streak, here are 10 MMOs that died in development hell; it's to our eternal loss that we'll never get to play them. Continue reading The Perfect Ten: MMOs that died in development hell The Perfect Ten: MMOs that died in development hell originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Guild Counsel: Taking the reins and dealing with discipline Posted: 09 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous It's hard enough for any guild leader to enforce rules and take on problem players. But it's even harder for guild leaders who have stepped up to take over for one who has retired. Comparisons are made between how the old leader did things and how the new one is handling it, and some members might challenge a new leader's authority in order to "test" him. This week's column is a reply to one Massively reader, who wrote, My main commander has retired from the game, and I am struggling filling his role. Our biggest issue is dealing with discipline, either in Teamspeak or in following commands. I read your column on managing mistakes, but I am still finding it hard without being the bad guy. I know it's part of who I am; I am not an aggressive or "Bad Cop" guy. Is there a way I can develop discipline without having to totally change my personality and relationship with the guild? This is a great topic because it's a situation that many new leaders find themselves in almost immediately after taking on the role. In this week's Guild Counsel, let's look at some ways to deal with the challenge. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Taking the reins and dealing with discipline The Guild Counsel: Taking the reins and dealing with discipline originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

New WildStar video is all about smooth moves Posted: 09 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, WildStar Movement is always important in MMOs; you can't get into arguments about who's standing in the fire if everyone is rooted in place, after all. Since WildStar is promising active combat, it needs to have even more movement than normal so that you can find new and exciting ways not to stand in new and exciting sorts of fire. And the newest DevSpeak video is all about that. "That" being movement. Not new and exciting sorts of fire. It's still pretty much normal fire. Some elements will be immediately familiar to anyone who has played a video game on a computer within the past decade. Some elements are a bit more uncommon, like double-jumping or giving every class access to a quick dashing roll. And some elements, like switching positions with a target by tearing a hole in space itself, are pretty well unique. Take a look at all of them just past the break. [Source: NCsoft press release] Continue reading New WildStar video is all about smooth moves New WildStar video is all about smooth moves originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What quest or questline is the most memorable? Posted: 09 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, PvE, Opinion, The Daily Grind MMO quests are old hat by now, and the vast majority of them are some slight variation on the standard kill-10-rats or FedEx mission. Some are unique, though, in terms of both their rewards and their mechanical presentation. I'm thinking of EverQuest II's betrayal quests here, which allow you to switch factions, home cities, and in some cases, even classes. What MMO quests or questline do you find the most memorable and why? 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: What quest or questline is the most memorable? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Arcane Saga triggers its beta test Posted: 08 May 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Free-to-Play The MMO formerly known as Prince, er, Prius Online has gone into beta in preparation for its relaunch. The newly titled Arcane Saga represents a reworking of Prius' old content to include new features and content. Netmarble Head Project Manager Joe Kim invites you to check out the changes: "With the start of the beta phase today, players will finally get to experience for themselves all of the improvements we've made to the world of Prius over the past year." Assuming all goes well in the beta, Arcane Saga is scheduled to launch in the next couple of months. In the meantime, check out our interview about the re-launching of this title. [Source: Netmarble press release] Arcane Saga triggers its beta test originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Art of Wushu: Understanding the Meridian System Posted: 08 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Guides, Age of Wushu, The Art of Wushu, MMORPG Age of Wushu is not the most accessible game. It is full of confusing systems that are hard to decipher, and a large part of the "skill" in the game is being able to wade through the mess of gameplay elements and produce an optimized character. Meridians are one more extremely confusing system to handle. There are nine meridian lines, advanced characters can activate four of them, and even training them at all is pretty confusing. Training the correct ones adds another layer of complexity to an already confusing game. I'm not a huge fan of the system -- it causes a number of metagame problems, particularly due to the increased HP inherent to everyone who trains a meridian line. However, it's there and we have to make the best use of it. How do we do that? Read on! Continue reading The Art of Wushu: Understanding the Meridian System The Art of Wushu: Understanding the Meridian System originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Making friends and recruiting officers in Star Trek Online's expansion Posted: 08 May 2013 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play When Star Trek Online rolls out its Legacy of Romulus expansion on May 21st, you'll be playing a Romulan (or Reman) captain on a Romulan ship. But you will be allying with either the Klingons or the Federation, and so you might worry that you'll be surrounded by distinctly non-Romulan officers. Never fear, as the latest development blog makes it very clear that Romulan characters will be able to access a unique pool of Duty Officers and Bridge Officers unavailable to the other factions. While Klingon or Federation characters may occasionally earn a Reman or Romulan Duty Officer, these are rare recruits that can only be obtained after exceptional effort. Actual Romulans will be able to recruit new officers of these races with unique traits simply by visiting New Romulus. They will also have access to recruitment from their allied factions, ensuring that the ship may have a mix of races while still remaining Romulan at its core. Making friends and recruiting officers in Star Trek Online's expansion originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Romulan bridge officers

See RuneScape 3 revealed to the world Posted: 08 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, RuneScape, Free-to-Play The secret is out and can't be shoved back in the box: RuneScape 3 is coming. Of course, we already knew that, but there was a time not so long ago that the world was ignorant of this fact. If you wondered how the global reveal of this title went for those who were there, then Jagex has a neat behind-the-scenes video showing how and what the press saw when the studio went live with the info. In addition to the pomp and circumstance of the event, the team also used the video to reveal the first new skill of the game: Divination. What does it do? Well, the devs were not as keen to share that. Speculate away! Check out the reveal video after the jump. Continue reading See RuneScape 3 revealed to the world See RuneScape 3 revealed to the world originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: RuneScape 3 global reveal

World of Warcraft loses over a million subs since February, now down to 8.3 million Posted: 08 May 2013 02:41 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Subscription The world's most popular MMO has gotten a bit less popular in the last few months, it would seem. During today's quarterly investor call, Activision-Blizzard announced that World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers are down to 8.3 million. While that's still nothing to thumb your nose at, it does represent a significant decline from the 9.6 million subscribers the game was reported to have last February. World of Warcraft loses over a million subs since February, now down to 8.3 million originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 16:41:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Activision-Blizzard first quarter 2013 earnings report Via: Joystiq

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine reasons for nine years of City of Heroes Posted: 08 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Culture, Opinion, Free-to-Play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter This is not timed perfectly to coincide with what would have been the ninth anniversary of City of Heroes. It couldn't be, honestly; trying to do so would have resulted in a worse column. There's also the simple fact that the ninth anniversary did not actually happen, the game was gone before then. Sanctifying the date will not bring the game back, nor will it assuage the fact that it's not there any longer. Despite all of that, I liked the thematic structure put forth on the Titan boards, nine reasons for nine years. But since I'm incapable of doing things any way but the wrong way, I'm approaching this in my own style with my own nine reasons that I wish we'd had a ninth year. Even if the game comes back tomorrow in some form, it's never going to have the life that it should have had, and here's my nine reasons why I wish that weren't the case. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine reasons for nine years of City of Heroes A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Nine reasons for nine years of City of Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Neverwinter counters Foundry exploit by nerfing XP rate Posted: 08 May 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Patches, Free-to-Play, Neverwinter, Player-Generated Content Cryptic is cracking down on player-created missions that utilize certain exploits to gain XP faster than normal in Neverwinter's Foundry. While the studio temporarily banned authors for making these missions in the Foundry, it looks as though a recent patch has addressed the situation by "tweaking" the amount of XP that a player can gain within a set period of time. Apparently some Foundry authors had been creating missions designed to pay out the maximum amount of XP by allowing near-nonstop combat. The patch has slowed that rate down by allowing players to earn only so much XP in five minutes before turning off the XP spigot altogether until the time limit is up. Players have been reacting to the Foundry nerf with dismay, particularly non-exploit-using authors who feel as though they are being punished with the rest of the class by the XP nerfs (though "legit" farming maps appear to have escaped deletion so far). One player noted called this situation an "endless cat and mouse game" that has happened in other similar systems. [Thanks to Zaph for the tip!] Neverwinter counters Foundry exploit by nerfing XP rate originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Patch notes

Introducing HEX, the MMOTCG by Cryptozoic Posted: 08 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Launches, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Crowdfunding Cryptozoic Entertainment has just revealed the Kickstarter for its upcoming MMO trading card game, HEX: Shards of Fate. Cryptozoic is claiming that the game "combines the amazing community and storytelling aspects" of MMOs with the "compelling collectible and strategic game play" of TCGs. Players will roll a character (from a selection of six classes and eight races), collect gear, explore dungeons and raids, join guilds, and do other stuff that you'd usually associate with an MMORPG. They'll also be able to unlock and utilize more than 350 cards (in the first set), socket those cards for customization, and compete in a manner fairly typical of TCGs. Each card tracks its own leveling bar (the completion of which will transform the card into its foil variant), a trophy case for showing off what you've won while using that card, card-specific achievements, and more. Cards can also be transformed mid-match, giving you the ability to, say, hatch an egg to produce a dragon to help you out during your fight. The Kickstarter project is trying to reach $300,000. Rewards start as low as beta access at the $10 level and go on up to the "producer tier" for the five people who first choose to throw $10,000 or more into the hat. Introducing HEX, the MMOTCG by Cryptozoic originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Kickstarter

Choose My Adventure: Framing my first foray in Darkfall Posted: 08 May 2013 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Polls, Screenshots, Darkfall, Opinion, Choose My Adventure, Sandbox Break time's over! Now it's time to roll up our sleeves and get back to work building our latest Choose My Adventure. The first order of business is to establish the framework for the rest of our Darkfall Unholy Wars (mis)adventures. Of course, we can't just build willy-nilly; we need to follow a plan. And as with any major construction project, we couldn't really move forward until said plan was OKed by the planning commission. So while we waited for the foundation to set, we sought approval for which type of structure to base our continuing adventures on. And as is wont to happen with committees, there was trouble coming to a consensus; even though the proposed models were all pretty similar, disagreement arose as to which to pick. However, after some debate (one proposal won by only one vote!), we finally got the go ahead: The final word was to build a Mahirim Deadeye. I'm on it, boss! Gallery: Choose My Adventure: Darkfall Unholy Wars Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Framing my first foray in Darkfall Choose My Adventure: Framing my first foray in Darkfall originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Diablo III gold dupe bug fixed with no rollback Posted: 08 May 2013 11:15 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, MMO Industry, Diablo III Oh Diablo III's auction house, you are the stuff of legends. Late last night, Blizzard took Diablo III's auction house offline to deal with a gold duplication bug that was discovered to be exploited by players. All gold trades were halted at the time, and Blizzard had a patch in place within 30 minutes. But it's the later update that concerned many D3 fans as Blizzard announced that it wouldn't be rolling back the server, but instead, dealing with each individual offending account on a case-by-case basis. This is more time-consuming for the dev team, but has much less of an impact on the community as a whole. Diablo III gold dupe bug fixed with no rollback originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Diablo III forums Via: Joystiq

Clone Wars Adventures not (immediately) affected by EA/Disney deal Posted: 08 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, News Items, Star Wars Galaxies, Free-to-Play, Clone Wars Adventures If you're a Star Wars fan, you've no doubt heard of EA's acquisition of an exclusive multi-year license for creating games based on the iconic space story, a license that spans multiple platforms. But what does that mean for current -- or even past -- Star Wars MMOs that aren't connected to that studio? Massively jumped on the case and contacted SOE to find out what, if any, effect this agreement between EA and Disney would have on its past and present titles. Specifically, we asked if Clone Wars Adventures would be forced to shut down when the current license expires. Of course, we also slipped in a question as to whether or not that deal prevented any possibility of a return of Star Wars Galaxies. As for CWA, the studio replied "Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures is fully armed and operational, and this week's announcement does not affect our current agreement with Lucasfilm." So the browser-based games appears safe -- at least for now. The studio, however, declined to comment on SWG. Clone Wars Adventures not (immediately) affected by EA/Disney deal originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 May 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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