MMO Updates

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• The Road to Mordor: Saying goodbye to Casual Stroll to Mordor
• WRUP: Ducks cannot do advanced math edition
• The Daily Grind: Are group finding tools a necessity?
• Betawatch: June 22 - 28, 2013
• MMObility: Puzzle Pirates is perfect on the iPad, but Fleck falls
• Star Trek Online dev blog takes us through episodic content creation
• Firefall's Kern: 'I look at WoW and think what have we done... We killed a genre'
• RIFT offers early access to a new dimension
• Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking for corporate troubleshooters on the test server
• Star Citizen 24-hour livestream happening now, new Avenger ship revealed
• Tamriel Infinium: Immersing yourself in The Elder Scrolls Online
• Making music together: An interview with Anthymn

The Road to Mordor: Saying goodbye to Casual Stroll to Mordor Posted: 29 Jun 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Interviews, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Road to Mordor If you're a Lord of the Rings Online player, then chances are that you've heard of Casual Stroll to Mordor. The husband-and-wife team of Merric and Goldenstar have been podcasting and blogging about LotRO for four years as they played together, and their insight and guides have become quite sought-after in the LotRO community. I was saddened to hear that CSTM is shutting down today after 200 episodes and countless blog posts. It's a lot of hard work and time running a fan site like this, and while I don't begrudge their decision to step down, they will be missed. I struck up a friendship with both of them several years back, and we've since been in the same kinship, hung out at conventions together, and podcasted together. I reached out to ask Merric and Goldenstar if they'd like to share some final words about LotRO and being a big part of the fan community. From running a fan site to thoughts on the direction the game's taking, it's all there after the jump! Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Saying goodbye to Casual Stroll to Mordor The Road to Mordor: Saying goodbye to Casual Stroll to Mordor originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Ducks cannot do advanced math edition Posted: 29 Jun 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous For the past three weeks, I've been running an experiment to see if ducks can do advanced math. The practice is simple. First, I place several ducklings into a room with a calculus problem worksheet and I tell them to complete the worksheet. Then, I release several angry barking dogs into the room. For a control group, I place several graduate students into a room with the same worksheet, tell them to complete it, then release several angry barking dogs into the room. Thus far, I've discovered that ducks cannot do advanced math, graduate students cannot do advanced math, and blowing most of your research budget on angry barking dogs is a poor investment. None of the Massively staff members is a dog, but several of us are loud and angry. We're also playing video games over the weekend, hence this week's WRUP. See what we're up to past the break, and let us know your own plans down in the comments! Continue reading WRUP: Ducks cannot do advanced math edition WRUP: Ducks cannot do advanced math edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Jun 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Are group finding tools a necessity? Posted: 29 Jun 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Dungeons In Guild Wars 2, there's no interface for you to queue up and immediately flash over to a group from anywhere in the world. On the one hand, this means that you have to actually go to dungeons and interact with people willing to take on the challenges. On the other hand, this also means that you need to hurry up and wait in order to gather your fellow adventurers, a problem that's only exacerbated when something goes wrong and you all have to die and respawn. World of Warcraft's dungeon finder tool is sometimes seen as the greatest way to jump in and experience dungeon content, while at other times it's seen as an effort to tear apart server communities and trivialize the experience of working together to clear something. So today we turn the question over to you, our readers. Are group finding tools a necessity in this day and age, or would you prefer to play games without them? 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: Are group finding tools a necessity? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Jun 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Betawatch: June 22 - 28, 2013 Posted: 28 Jun 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Betawatch, Miscellaneous This week has been pretty quiet for games going into or leaving beta, but EverQuest has started testing its Heart of Fear update, which apparently involves players riding on giant disembodied hands used as mounts. So that makes everything bright and wonderful within the world again because you can't say that isn't hopelessly awesome. Beyond that, MU Rebirth is allowing signups for its closed test. Arena of Heroes has opened up for everyone who enjoys cross-platform MOBA play. Firefall is readying the last bit of its pre-open beta, WildStar is teasing us with patch notes, and Final Fantasy XIV is getting more beta teasers. It's a pretty normal week, in other words. But there's also a huge list of games past the cut! Is that normal? Yes, yes it is, even if it might be missing a few games that we've removed (like Broken Realm, The Mummy Online, Lunaria Story, Scarlet Blade, Smite, Aurora World, Born to Fire, Dragon Crusade, Living After War, Maestia, Traveller AR, and Xulu Universe) for various reasons. Take a look for more games in testing, and if you notice something that's crept into launch without calling it that, by all means let us know in the comments. Continue reading Betawatch: June 22 - 28, 2013 Betawatch: June 22 - 28, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

MMObility: Puzzle Pirates is perfect on the iPad, but Fleck falls Posted: 28 Jun 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Screenshots, Game Mechanics, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Browser, Casual, Miscellaneous, MMObility, Player-Generated Content, Sunsets It's been a week of ups and downs for me. The mobile MMO market is the often-ignored stepchild of the greater genre, so when a great new MMO comes along, I rejoice. And when a fun, older MMO closes down, I feel like weeping. As the mobile market begins to take over all of creation (and will probably make time travel possible as well), it's so good to see a game like Puzzle Pirates finally make its way to mobile devices. Sure, it's just iPads for now, but an Android version is marked for release this summer. This is a game that has been begging for a mobile release for some time now. Meanwhile, Fleck is an odd little MMO by Self Aware Games that I have covered in the past but that is soon closing down. I love the look and feel of it, but its real-world-based gameplay might be too odd for many to enjoy. Still, it had issues finding its footing. Let's talk about both in today's MMObility column. Continue reading MMObility: Puzzle Pirates is perfect on the iPad, but Fleck falls MMObility: Puzzle Pirates is perfect on the iPad, but Fleck falls originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Star Trek Online dev blog takes us through episodic content creation Posted: 28 Jun 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play, Dev Diaries Have you ever wondered how Star Trek Online's episodic content comes together? Well, now you can go behind the scenes with Cryptic's dev team thanks to a new blog entry that outlines much of the creative process. Lead content designer Scott "Goatshark" Shicoff is your guide to everything from conceptualization and basic narrative framework to the mission map whitebox and bug-fixing and polishing stages. It's a lengthy read, but an interesting one if you're into STO and/or game development. Check it out on the game's official website. Star Trek Online dev blog takes us through episodic content creation originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Dev blog

Firefall's Kern: 'I look at WoW and think what have we done... We killed a genre' Posted: 28 Jun 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Crafting, Firefall Firefall head honcho and former World of Warcraft dev Mark Kern asks if MMOs have become too easy in a guest blog at MMORPG.com. It's basically a rhetorical question, since he goes on to outline "the creeping casualness" that defines the genre in 2013. He aims plenty of disparaging remarks at WoW's accessibility formula and its mandate to acquire casual players by streamlining or omitting traditional MMORPG systems. "And it worked. Players came in droves, millions of them," Kern writes. "But at what cost? Sometimes I look at WoW and think 'what have we done?' I think I know. I think we killed a genre." Kern goes on to lament the lack of difficulty inherent in post-WoW MMOs, and naturally he says that Firefall has found just the right balance between accessibility and challenge. He also says that the game's crafting system is "one of the deepest and most complex of any MMO, having more in common with the well-loved crafting system of the original Star Wars Galaxies than the simplified crafting systems of current MMOs." Firefall's Kern: 'I look at WoW and think what have we done... We killed a genre' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMORPG.com

RIFT offers early access to a new dimension Posted: 28 Jun 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, News Items, Free-to-Play, RIFT, Promotions If you're enjoying RIFT's free-to-play model, you're probably also enjoying the game's various Dimensions. This means that you're no doubt excited about the upcoming launch of a new Dimension, Three Springs, complete with its own unique Dimension items. But you don't have to wait for its full release, as the development team is offering a select few players a chance to get early access to this Dimension. How do you manage that? By being awesome. On July 9th, the owner of the top weekly rated Dimension on each server will receive a special early access key to Three Springs and the associated items on a character of the owner's choice. That means you'll need to have the most awesome Dimension on your server during voting from July 3rd through the 9th to try it before you can buy it. So what are you waiting for? Crack your knuckles and get decorating -- there's a new space to create! RIFT offers early access to a new dimension originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Get Three Springs early!

Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking for corporate troubleshooters on the test server Posted: 28 Jun 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, Previews, Endgame, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic Sometimes, being a corporate troubleshooter means that your job is identifying weak points in a company and strengthening infrastructure. Other times, such as in the Star Wars: The Old Republic update available on the test server, it means that your job is shooting trouble. Seems that Czerka Corporation has sort of lost control of an important test moon, and that means that player characters will need to visit a new daily hub as well as two new level 55 Flashpoints. These Flashpoints aren't the usual fare; they feature both a Hard Mode and a Story Mode, with the latter allowing any combination of roles to clear the flashpoint for shorter queue times and a more relaxed experience. You've also got two new reputations to explore, one for the daily hub and one for the upcoming Bounty Broker event. If you've done all there is to do on Makeb, the patch means you'll have plenty more to do soon. There's also a new Companions 101 piece on Corso Riggs, but really, a new patch is a bit more interesting. Star Wars: The Old Republic is looking for corporate troubleshooters on the test server originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 2.3 on PTS, Companions 101: Corso Riggs

Star Citizen 24-hour livestream happening now, new Avenger ship revealed Posted: 28 Jun 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Livestream, Sandbox, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play Cloud Imperium is in the midst of its 24-hour Star Citizen livestream. The dev team is broadcasting live on Twitch from its Los Angeles- and Austin-based offices. Founder Chris Roberts as well as nearly every member of the dev team has meandered in front of the cameras at this point, and more importantly for fanboy informational purposes, the firm is revealing something new about the upcoming space sim on a quasi-hourly basis. Just a bit ago it was the Avenger, a sleek new ship intended for bounty hunting and boasting a very different aesthetic from previously announced designs like the Aurora and the 300 series. Cloud Imperium also unveiled Star Citizen's new website earlier today. As of press time, the site is still getting hammered by early adopters in their quest to migrate accounts and soak up new info, though, so you might have better luck scoping it out as the day moves on. CI did indicate that it has doubled the number of web servers in order to handle the increased load. Star Citizen 24-hour livestream happening now, new Avenger ship revealed originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: RSI Twitch

Tamriel Infinium: Immersing yourself in The Elder Scrolls Online Posted: 28 Jun 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Lore, New Titles, Opinion, Roleplaying, The Elder Scrolls Online, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium Throughout my time as a gamer, I have seen game designers struggle with immersion because not everyone views immersion the same way and every designer wants his game to pull you in. The more you play one designer's game, the more likely you will buy his or her next game. In the case of MMOs, the greater the immersion, the greater chance you will spend more money on subscriptions or in the cash shop. Some gamers find first-person views with in-your-face action immersing; some, like me, find rich lore and a solid storyline immersing. The Elder Scrolls Online faces perhaps the hardest task. Not only does this game strive to immerse the already existing divisions between the RPG crowd, but it also has to contend with the different platforms on which it's releasing. Our commenters on this site are heavily divided on the console-vs.-PC subject. To top it off, some have already been turned off by Bethesda's shying away from calling the game an MMO. Today, I face head-on some of game's immersion pitfalls and tackle the divisive comments from last week's Tamriel Infinium. Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: Immersing yourself in The Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel Infinium: Immersing yourself in The Elder Scrolls Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Making music together: An interview with Anthymn Posted: 28 Jun 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Music It's safe to say that many of us on the Massively team were seduced by the promise and potential of Anthymn when we first saw its Kickstarter campaign. The concept of an entire fantasy MMO that revolves around music instead of swords and sorcery is a refreshing approach in this day and age. The folks at String Theory Entertainment are downright passionate about bringing the power of music to online games. While Anthymn is still in an early stage of development, the idea behind it stretches back a decade or so. The developers aren't just using music as a quirky feature for the sheer heck of it, either; this is a studio full of musically talented folks who know how infectious and bonding a song can be. We sat down with the creative leads behind Anthymn to get a better feel for the project and the future of the game, with or without Kickstarter's help. Check it out after the jump! Continue reading Making music together: An interview with Anthymn Making music together: An interview with Anthymn originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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