MMO Updates |
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's endgame progression is leveling up
- Death knell sounds for RaiderZ EU
- Massively Speaking 256: Still flying
- ArcheAge gives import progress report
- The Daily Grind: Did you buy any MMOs on Steam this year?
- Not So Massively: Path of Exile's Twitch integration, Prime World's open beta, and Elite's IPO
- Hands-on: Infestation: Survivor Stories, aka War Z, is worse than actually being killed by zombies
- Captain's Log: Interview with Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl, part one
- Gazillion trumpets 1.5 million registered Marvel Heroes users
- Chaos Theory: Nursery tales and TSW's issue #7
- Massively Exclusive: Episode 4 of Mabinogi the Saga: Iria
- Guild Wars 2 ramps up for the first Invitational Tournament
- Age of Wushu to feature castration mechanic
- RIFT 3.0 will increase level cap, possibly introduce PvP dimensions
- RuneScape 3 goes live
| Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's endgame progression is leveling up Posted: 23 Jul 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles, MMORPG, Buy-to-Play  I don't like Guild Wars 2's Ascended gear. I've never liked it. My initial response to the controversy surrounding it was "wait and see," but after the details came out and the first pieces were implemented, my opinion of it settled somewhere between frustrated disappointment and apathy and has lived there ever since. While I didn't have much of a problem giving ArenaNet the benefit of the doubt where its desire to avoid a never-ending gear treadmill was concerned, what did bother me was how reactionary and rushed Ascended's inclusion seemed. When I thought of all the cool things the developers could have done to provide players with ways to continue progressing our characters after level 80, a new tier of gear with slightly higher stats and largely time-gated acquisition was not even on the list. I'm sure it was on the very top of some people's lists, because I remember reading several of their comments and thinking, "Wow, I could not be less excited for this, but at least somebody likes it." Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Guild Wars 2's endgame progression is leveling up
|
| Death knell sounds for RaiderZ EU Posted: 23 Jul 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), News Items, Free-to-Play, Sunsets  The game is being shuttered because, "The success of RaiderZ did not meet our expectations and as we saw no other potential alternatives to the discontinuation of the services, unfortunately we were left with no other alternative than to take this step." In response to the announcement, players noted a lack of updates and content surely had some bearing on the lack of interest in the game. The servers will remain open until August 30th, at which time any players who wish to continue to play the game will have to move to a different publisher (i.e. Perfect World) and start from scratch. [Thanks to Skurvel for the tip]
|
| Massively Speaking 256: Still flying Posted: 23 Jul 2013 08:00 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 256: Still flying
This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| ArcheAge gives import progress report Posted: 23 Jul 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Dev Diaries, ArcheAge  Nichols reported that the team is tackling several hurdles, including connecting the game to Trion's billing system, setting up the server architecture, and translating over a million words for those of us that don't speak Korean. He said that players should expect any changes to the Korean version to be "very minimal," so players shouldn't expect huge new features or differences. He urged patience for those looking to beta test ArcheAge: "We're just as excited to get to the point where we can invite external testers, but expect the closed testing period to last at least a few months." [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
|
| The Daily Grind: Did you buy any MMOs on Steam this year? Posted: 23 Jul 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Promotions, Miscellaneous  Well, maybe you wouldn't be. Maybe you're completely satisfied with your current lineup of MMOs and saved all of your money for one of the millions of other titles on sale this summer. So with the annual money drain finally out of the way, we have to ask you -- did you buy any MMOs on Steam this year? Or did you spend your rent money on a vast array of single-player titles instead?  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!
|
| Not So Massively: Path of Exile's Twitch integration, Prime World's open beta, and Elite's IPO Posted: 22 Jul 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Video, Business Models, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Patches, PvP, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, Mac, MMOFPS, MMORTS, Dev Diaries, Not So Massively, Sandbox, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III, Crowdfunding, Star Citizen, Elite: Dangerous, Path of Exile  Diablo III developer Wyatt Cheng revealed on the game's forums that a sizeable nerf may be incoming to lifesteal, life on hit, and life regeneration as part of an ongoing effort to reduce the spikiness of incoming damage. Path of Exile embraced its livestreaming popularity with the release of full in-game Twitch integration that includes Twitch chat in game chat. Massively sat down with Firefall developer Red 5 Studios this week to discuss its open beta and fan concerns on keeping pay-to-win items out of the cash shop. League of Legends gave players a second chance to transfer to the new Russian server for free and introduced a great new change to Baron coming in the next patch. Dota 2 prepared for its $2.6 million US world championship tournament with new features added to the tournament's digital compendium. Heroes of Newerth released a new devblog on upcoming Patch 3.2 and its plans to completely revamp underused Djinn hero Saloman. Russian MOBA Prime World announced that its western open beta will kick off this week on July 26th. And after rebranding the game as a MOBA, End of Nations' developers argued that the game hasn't actually changed much at all.
|
| Hands-on: Infestation: Survivor Stories, aka War Z, is worse than actually being killed by zombies Posted: 22 Jul 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Video, Opinion, Hands-On, Post-Apocalyptic, Sandbox, MMORPG, Buy-to-Play  It should come as no surprise, then, that some studio somewhere would attempt to piggyback on the success of DayZ, Dean Hall's ridiculously popular mod for Arma II. The title, which drops players into a dangerous, zombie-filled open world and challenges them to survive, resonated so immensely with gamers that a clone wasn't so much probable as it was inevitable. But Infestation: Survivor Stories, formerly known as The War Z, is more than just a clone of DayZ. It is a charmless, cynical, and craven rip-off packaged with one of the most sinister microtransaction models ever implemented into a game, and it's developed by a company that has on multiple occasions proven itself to be only shades away from a dedicated fraud factory.
|
| Captain's Log: Interview with Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl, part one Posted: 22 Jul 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Culture, Expansions, Interviews, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Captain's Log  Continue reading Captain's Log: Interview with Star Trek Online's Daniel Stahl, part one
|
| Gazillion trumpets 1.5 million registered Marvel Heroes users Posted: 22 Jul 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes  My reason for telling you that I'm a registered Marvel Heroes user is because Gazillion is also telling you something about registered users in its latest press release. Specifically, the company is crowing about the fact that its game has 1.5 million of them. What it's not saying is how many of those users, like me, have never spent and will never spend a) any money on the product and b) any time playing it. But, hey, 1.5 million is a big number! Gazillion also announced that the game's new Asgard zone will release this Fall. Finally, a series of planned summer updates will include PvP and endgame additions, a new tier of "ultimate" items, and a new currency. [Source: Gazillion press release]
|
| Chaos Theory: Nursery tales and TSW's issue #7 Posted: 22 Jul 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, Sci-Fi, Lore, Opinion, Hands-On, The Secret World, Chaos Theory, Buy-to-Play  While MJ got an advance tour of the issue, I purposefully remained ignorant of it so that I could experience it for the first time on the live servers. The whole affair begins with Who Horrifies the Horrors? in the Besieged Farmlands in Transylvania. The one-eyed Carmen told me that something's agitating the local werewolves, and when the scary beasties that you know are terrified, then it's probably not good all around. It turns out that the werewolves aren't being agitated; they're being hunted, ripped apart, and slaughtered. The alive ones practically trample over me trying to escape the area, but I'm not going to give them a free pass just because they're scared. A little cleanup with my trusty shotgun and those mongrels won't need to worry about fear any more. Continue reading Chaos Theory: Nursery tales and TSW's issue #7
|
| Massively Exclusive: Episode 4 of Mabinogi the Saga: Iria Posted: 22 Jul 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Trailers, Video, Lore, Free-to-Play, Mabinogi, Family  But wait -- only this missing Akule has the strength to train Millia? Not to worry, the crazed ex-shaman Lelach has a plan. But even as Shamala, Millia, and the player gain the help of the Elves and Giants to complete Akula's charm, dark forces gather together to thwart the ritual and plot to destroy the shamans. Watch the events of episode four unfold after the break. Then be sure to catch a special playthrough of this chapter Tuesday, July 23rd at 5:00 p.m. EDT on Massively TV. And watch for a Rise and Shiny recap of the adventures. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Episode 4 of Mabinogi the Saga: Iria
|
| Guild Wars 2 ramps up for the first Invitational Tournament Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, PvP, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play  The rules are fairly simple. Each team of five must register on the official site to take part in the Regional Qualifiers, which are July 27th and 28th for European players and August 3rd and 4th for North American players. The actual tournament is on August 31st in Seattle. Both tournaments are single match elimination, with the qualifiers playing for best two out of three and the invitational playing for best three out of five. If you've got a team ready to go, head on over to the official site and get ready to play for the prize.
|
| Age of Wushu to feature castration mechanic Posted: 22 Jul 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Sandbox, Age of Wushu  And yes, it's in the game. MMO Culture has all the details, including a gameplay video if you're so inclined. In a nutshell, prospective Rootless monks must obtain a special daily quest and then undergo the castration process, which features a dedicated health bar. "After around two minutes, the process will end," the site says. "However, the success rate of castration is still considered low at this time. If it is unsuccessful, the victim will still sustain significant damage." Click past the cut to see a snippet of castration gameplay for yourself. Continue reading Age of Wushu to feature castration mechanic
|
| RIFT 3.0 will increase level cap, possibly introduce PvP dimensions Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, PvP, Free-to-Play, RIFT  Rift Junkies translated a video from buffed.de in which Trion Worlds Senior Design Director Simon Ffinch dished out the juicy details. He confirmed that players will have five new levels to add, increasing the level cap to 65. He also revealed that the team is working on PvP player dimensions, although it's not clear whether this will be finished in time for 3.0. These will allow players to customize and operate their dimensions for PvP deathmatches. Ffinch said that while RIFT 3.0 is an expansion, it will only be offered digitally. It will also be free except for the new souls which, as with Storm Legion's souls, will be sold through the in-game store.
|
| Posted: 22 Jul 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Launches, RuneScape, Free-to-Play, Browser  RuneScape 3 isn't just about a graphical overhaul, although it would be sad to dismiss its visual improvements. The new version includes a customizable interface, six hours of new music, and lots of technical improvements. Jagex is kicking off RuneScape 3 with the Battle of Lumbridge and the Sixth Age, so get in and start kicking butt from minute one! This event will take place over the span of two months, during which players can ally with a faction and collect divine tears to contribute to their side's ranking. The studio recommends that players experience it with the Java client and not the still-in-testing HTML5 version. The team's also posted a comprehensive FAQ if you have any specific questions about the changes.
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
