MMO Updates

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• The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in August
• WRUP: Bonus goat edition
• The Daily Grind: What game would you play for a job?
• PAX Prime 2013: Hands-on with The Crew
• PAX Prime 2013: Dragon's Prophet adds frontier system, new zone, and mounted combat
• Betawatch: August 24 - 30, 2013
• Lawsuit against Curt Schilling and 38 Studios allowed to proceed
• New Allods subscription server detailed
• Final Fantasy XIV dev talks new servers and access restrictions
• Ascended crafting and account magic find set to shake up Guild Wars 2 economy
• Storyboard: Making a challenging character
• MMObility: Dragon Eternity's Sea Battles promise glory (if you get in)
• WildStar kicks off webcomic series Tales from Beyond the Fringe
• RIFT's Ffinch hopes Trion gives the game 'as a gift to the community'
• The not-so-friendly skies: Hands-on with World of Warplanes' open beta

The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in August Posted: 31 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EverQuest, Lineage 2, PlanetSide, The Matrix Online, News Items, Opinion, Ultima Online, Vanguard, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous How few players do you need to have before operating an MMO becomes ridiculously unprofitable and in need of closing? In the case of The Matrix Online, we found out that the magic number was 500. I wouldn't have even guessed that so few people were in that game when its shutdown was announced, especially considering the vocal anguish that arose when SOE lowered the boom. I guess it goes to show that we're often quite clueless what goes on behind the curtain. There's always this balance between the number-crunchers (who need players and money to justify continued operations) and the passionate creators (who are often developers putting in the effort because they simply love the game and its community). If nothing else, it reinforced my belief that SOE does bend over backwards to keep these games running as long as possible, much longer than some other studios would in a similar situation. So what other news regarding classic MMOs happened this past month? It's time for another one of my patented roundups, complete with archaeological commentary! Continue reading The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in August The Game Archaeologist: Classic MMOs in August originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Aug 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Bonus goat edition Posted: 31 Aug 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous Thank you for reading this week's installment of WRUP. To show our appreciation, we have given you a goat. It's right inside your home this moment, munching on your shower curtain. Go ahead -- peek in the bathroom. He's not a domestic goat, either, so you get to have an exotic pet! An exotic and wild pet with no respect for the rules of human beings and a history of being both aggressive and stubborn. We hope you enjoy your new goat. Now that goat-related matters are settled, please, settle back and enjoy WRUP, wherein the Massively staff shares its plans for the weekend. You can also let us know what you'll be up to over the weekend, but if your plans involve removing unwanted goats, we'll send you more. Look, we've got several thousand goats and a transportation device that works only on goats. We're doing what we can with the tools we've got. Continue reading WRUP: Bonus goat edition WRUP: Bonus goat edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Aug 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What game would you play for a job? Posted: 31 Aug 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Today we're going to offer a thought experiment, of sorts. Pick a game that's currently operating, any game. Now imagine that it's your job to play this game five days out of the week, eight hours a day, with occasional time in the middle for lunch. What game would you pick? Keep in mind that this isn't about working as a tester, but still working a job. You would be told what you need to do for eight hours along with daily responsibilities, and it would be up to you to accomplish those goals. Not that those goals would necessarily be logical or even possible within your shift, but that's not the point here. Hardcore raiders from back in the days of World of Warcraft's original launch will likely remember being in a similar situation, but you don't need to have that environment. Maybe you're just playing economics in EVE Online full-time, or perhaps your job is crafting in Final Fantasy XIV. So what game would you play for a job? 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 game would you play for a job? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Aug 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX Prime 2013: Hands-on with The Crew Posted: 30 Aug 2013 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Real-Life, New Titles, Previews, Opinion, Hands-On, First Impressions, Events (Massively's Coverage), Miscellaneous I originally learned about The Crew from friends rather than from gaming hype. "Ask them if we can walk around on foot!" they hounded me. They're all anticipating The Crew, and when I showed up to Ubisoft's PAX Prime booth earlier today, I realized they aren't alone: Hordes of people were lined up to play Ubisoft's MMO racer. Naturally, I decided to try my luck. But sorry, guys -- you can't walk around on foot. Continue reading PAX Prime 2013: Hands-on with The Crew PAX Prime 2013: Hands-on with The Crew originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX Prime 2013: Dragon's Prophet adds frontier system, new zone, and mounted combat Posted: 30 Aug 2013 08:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Launches, Patches, Previews, Free-to-Play, Events (Massively's Coverage), Dragon's Prophet The timer only has a few days left until Dragon's Prophet emerges from its beta cocoon and becomes a fire-breathing butterfly. Does that phase the devs? Not so much; they're quite excited to take this dragon-taming MMO to the big leagues. You might think you know everything about Dragon's Prophet from our hands-on impressions, although that's just part of the story. The team is adding a serious amount of new content and fixes for launch day that nobody's seen yet... and we've got the full scoop. Continue reading PAX Prime 2013: Dragon's Prophet adds frontier system, new zone, and mounted combat PAX Prime 2013: Dragon's Prophet adds frontier system, new zone, and mounted combat originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Betawatch: August 24 - 30, 2013 Posted: 30 Aug 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Launches, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous Some weeks, there's so much going on with beta testing you can barely account for all of it. This week was not one of those weeks. Heck, the biggest news remotely related to betas was Funcom's dipping into LEGO MMO waters. It's not in testing, but it should provide a test to look forward to for LEGO Universe fans. However, that has given us time to scour the list of a few games with live cash shops, games that have effectively soft-launched. So we can wave farewell to Anno Online, Dragon's Prophet, Eternal Saga, The Missing Ink, and Legend of Edda: Vengeance. Ambiguously launching-but-not-launching games is all the rage these days, apparently. Despite these removals, the list past the break still promotes a variety of titles that we could not conclusively identify as having functioning cash shops, so they still count as betas. Check out the list past the break, and if we've missed something, feel free to let us know in the comments. Continue reading Betawatch: August 24 - 30, 2013 Betawatch: August 24 - 30, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Lawsuit against Curt Schilling and 38 Studios allowed to proceed Posted: 30 Aug 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, News Items, Legal, Miscellaneous According to a report in the Boston Globe, a Rhode Island judge has ruled that the state's lawsuit against baseball star Curt Schilling and his merry band of 38 Studios execs will continue, in spite of the defense's movement to dismiss the case outright. The suit, which began in May, was filed by Rhode Island's economic development agency, which alleges that 38 Studios' representatives knew the studio was financially unsound and effectively defrauded the state when it accepted its $75 million state loan three years ago. The studio was working on MMO Project Copernicus before it imploded and defaulted on that loan. Schilling has rejected those accusations and previously called Governor Lincoln Chafee a "dunce of epic proportions" in a daring bout of real-world smacktalk. So what's in it for Rhode Island? Aside from saving face, nothing much, just the reclamation of a cool $75 million in bonds it doesn't want to absorb plus triple in damages from Schilling and other executives. But let's not get ahead of ourselves, Rhode Island; the judge did rule that RI can't sue for the whole package just yet. Lawsuit against Curt Schilling and 38 Studios allowed to proceed originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: The Boston Globe

New Allods subscription server detailed Posted: 30 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Allods Online, Subscription Remember earlier this month when developers for Allods Online announced that the free-to-play fantasy MMO would be opening a subscription-only server? Well, it wasn't a dream, as the team has now added a page to its website detailing the shard's ruleset. Among the changes are a lack of runes, incense, and cursed items. Experience gain also gets a 30 percent boost while stat points are awarded at twice the customary clip. There's also, of course, no item shop, and you can now earn mounts "by taking part in game activities." It's crazy, we know! In other Allods news, gPotato says that the game's Everlasting Battle update is scheduled for September 4th. New Allods subscription server detailed originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Final Fantasy XIV dev talks new servers and access restrictions Posted: 30 Aug 2013 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, News Items, Final Fantasy XIV, Subscription, MMORPG It's no secret that the long-awaited re-launch of Final Fantasy XIV hasn't gone very smoothly. In fact, the servers are taking such a beating that Square Enix has temporarily shut down online sales of the game. Despite the game's current woes, the FFIXV team wants fans to know that it is working overtime to get things running smoothly. In a lengthy forum post, producer and director Naoki Yoshida (aka Yoshi-P) outlined what steps have been taken to stabilize FFXIV's game world. Yoshida noted that all Final Fantasy XIV servers now have login restrictions to prevent a flood of logs and re-logs from causing them to crash. Login restrictions are most likely to be implemented during peak times, which Yoshida says are between 9:00 p.m. and midnight. Each server can support a theoretical maximum of 5,000 concurrent players. Continue reading Final Fantasy XIV dev talks new servers and access restrictions Final Fantasy XIV dev talks new servers and access restrictions originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Forum Post

Ascended crafting and account magic find set to shake up Guild Wars 2 economy Posted: 30 Aug 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News Items, Guild Wars 2, MMORPG, Buy-to-Play ArenaNet's resident Guild Wars 2 economist John Smith and game designer Linsey Murdock posted a detailed dev blog today outlining big changes to the game's magic find and crafting systems. The first big change comes in the form of account magic find -- Magic find will be granted only by guild buffs, utility infusions, and consumables and will be account-wide and permanent (up to 300%). Magic find on existing items will be replaced with the option to select stats for that item. Ascended weapon crafting is the second big change. Players will be able to level their crafting skills to 500; the professions that produce weapons will make use of a new refinement system and ascended inscriptions to create new ascended weapons. Ascended armor crafting is due later this year. Both changes are expected to have a big impact on the Guild Wars 2 economy, with Fine and Masterwork salvaging items seeing increased importance due to account magic find and the value of weapons and armor fluctuating thanks to ascended crafting. Smith noted that ArenaNet doesn't intend to apply such big modifications to the Guild Wars 2 economy very often but that some features are worth adding due to the value added for players. Ascended crafting and account magic find set to shake up Guild Wars 2 economy originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Dev Blog

Storyboard: Making a challenging character Posted: 30 Aug 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous You don't build muscle by lifting weights that don't challenge you. Once a given set of weights doesn't challenge you any longer, you need to move on to something heavier or you're going to stop getting stronger. It's a pretty simple principle: Challenging yourself makes you stronger all around. So long as you play the same roleplaying character, you're not going to improve as a roleplayer. For some people, this is fine. Roleplaying is something you do, you're happy playing one sort of character, and that's what you do. But for others the point is being able to shift into different characters, to come up with something new and exciting and then wind up with more interesting stories to experience. You want to get better, to make even your more familiar characters feel different. That's why you give yourself challenges. And when done right, challenging characters can force you to grow in new ways and make for a better roleplaying experience for everyone. Continue reading Storyboard: Making a challenging character Storyboard: Making a challenging character originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

MMObility: Dragon Eternity's Sea Battles promise glory (if you get in) Posted: 30 Aug 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Browser, Mobile, Humor, MMObility, Dungeons Dragon Eternity is a unique multi-platform MMO that promises some epic content. It's epic, sure, but hard to get to as well. Even with a press account and a character that already had some decent gear and cash-shop funds on him, I found myself struggling to keep up with the grind of the game. The fact is that the game can easily be defined as a grinder, a game that pushes players through piles of monsters in the hope of killing even more monsters in the eventual hope of gaining a level or a new piece of loot. It's not as hopeless as it sounds. The game is actually quite fun and great to look at. I love its painted-scene-styled atmosphere. A player can zoom out and see that she is actually inside a painting that acts as a zone. Monsters and NPCs wander around the painting, and there are even clickable events and nodes for gathering. The music and sound are top-notch, and everything works across every platform I tried it on: iOS, Android, and browser. Continue reading MMObility: Dragon Eternity's Sea Battles promise glory (if you get in) MMObility: Dragon Eternity's Sea Battles promise glory (if you get in) originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WildStar kicks off webcomic series Tales from Beyond the Fringe Posted: 30 Aug 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, News Items, WildStar, Subscription, Buy-to-Play Hey! You like comics, don't you? Of course you do, you're on the internet. Would you like to read a comic about WildStar? That's less of a given, but the team at Carbine Studios certainly hopes you'd like to take a look at the first issue of what promises to be an ongoing comic series. And because the creators know what webcomics are like, the first issue focuses exclusively on somewhat amusing sociopaths. The first installment of Tales from Beyond the Fringe is focusing upon Victor Lazarin and Mondo Zax -- or if you prefer titles, the maniac that accidentally cursed the entirety of the Mordesh to a perpetual undeath and the Chua so cleverly sadistic that he heads the Dominion's research division. You can take a look at the comic on the game's official site, with more slated to arrive on a weekly basis. [Source: Carbine Studios press release] WildStar kicks off webcomic series Tales from Beyond the Fringe originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

RIFT's Ffinch hopes Trion gives the game 'as a gift to the community' Posted: 30 Aug 2013 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, RIFT RIFT likely has a long life ahead of it, but if senior design director Simon Ffinch has his way, Trion's fantasy themepark will never die. "So this is probably going to get me into all sorts of trouble, but I would hope that when that day comes, as we've talked about -- many years in the future -- I would hope that Trion shows that it's the company that I truly believe it to be and gives RIFT as a gift to the community," Ffinch recently told GamerZines.com. "That would be the way I'd like to see RIFT go. It's like, 'guys thank you for playing for the past 20 years, here's the server code. Run it if you wish.'" [Thanks Andy!] RIFT's Ffinch hopes Trion gives the game 'as a gift to the community' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: GamerZines

The not-so-friendly skies: Hands-on with World of Warplanes' open beta Posted: 30 Aug 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Historical, Real-Life, Previews, PvP, War, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, World of Tanks, World of Warplanes Wargaming.net is the reigning king of free-to-play, with its flagship title World of Tanks sitting pretty at 60 million registered users and holding the world record for player concurrency. One wouldn't necessarily expect MMO gamers to be drawn to a game where the only physical manifestation of the player is a massive tank, but World of Tanks has surged into popularity and left more than a few industry assumptions crumpled under its treads. Fueled by this success, Wargaming.net now seeks to expand its legacy by releasing two new games based on the World of Tanks formula. One is the mysterious World of Warships, which has yet to make any sort of official appearance, and the other is World of Warplanes, which is winding down its extended beta phase and soaring ever-closer to its September 26th release date. Together, the three games will theoretically form a perfect union of land, sea, and air combat steeped in historical accuracy and intense action. We hopped into the World of Warplanes beta to see how the aerial portion of Wargaming.net's vision is shaping up, and to find out once and for all if we were truly ace material. Continue reading The not-so-friendly skies: Hands-on with World of Warplanes' open beta The not-so-friendly skies: Hands-on with World of Warplanes' open beta originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Aug 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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