MMO Updates

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• Leaderboard: What classes do you want in EverQuest Next?
• MMO Family: Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures at SOE Live
• Choose My Adventure: Beyond Bree-land
• A look at the current endgame for Blade & Soul
• Massively Exclusive: Jake Song introduces Civilization Online
• The Daily Grind: What MMO would be great on tablets?
• SOE Live 2013: PlanetSide 2 highlights Hossin and more
• Webzen puts Arctic Combat on ice
• Peek behind SOE's EverQuest Next development curtain
• SWTOR's Titans of Industry patch now live
• Jukebox Heroes: RuneScape 3's new sound
• Pirates of the Burning Sea fine-tunes engagement odds
• Six new Age of Wushu faction trailers sighted in the wild
• Lord of the Rings Online answers 20 questions about Big Battles
• SOE Live 2013: Dragon's Prophet on what makes it so metal
• SOE Live 2013: DCUO's Sons of Trigon DLC and beyond
• Guild Wars 2 discusses upcoming arena changes
• Flameseeker Chronicles: Crashing Guild Wars 2's anniversary bash
• Hyperspace Beacon: Five quick and dirty tips for SWTOR update 2.3

Leaderboard: What classes do you want in EverQuest Next? Posted: 07 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Sandbox, Leaderboard OK, I know what some of you are thinking. That damn Massively! Just milking the heck of out EverQuest Next! And yeah, I guess we kinda are since we've had several SOE Live features, a Daily Grind, and now a Leaderboard focused on SOE's upcoming fantasy sandbox over the past few days. But you know what? We're not apologizing! It's an exciting time to be an EverQuest Next fan, even though we have as many questions as answers after last week's reveal. Speaking of, SOE has thus far mentioned but five of a reported 40-plus classes. We don't know yet if these will be starting classes, advanced classes, or really anything else about them other than that they're called Rogue, Warrior, Tempest, Wizard, and Blademaster. With that said, what other classes or class types would you like to see? 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 classes do you want in EverQuest Next? Leaderboard: What classes do you want in EverQuest Next? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

MMO Family: Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures at SOE Live Posted: 07 Aug 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Free-to-Play, Free Realms, Events (Massively's Coverage), Kids, MMO Family, Family While we've heard lots of news this past weekend about SOE's lineup of titles for the adult audience, there's an ever growing presence of children at the convention thanks to the popularity of Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures. They might not have as many years of experience gaming as the "grown-up" crowd, but they still had lots of questions and insight to share with the developers of both games. To meet that demand, there were two panels for SOE's kid-friendly MMOs; one focused on the art of the games, while the other talked about some of the ways that the team designs their games around a younger audience. And there was some exciting news about what's planned for the future as well. Read on for the highlights! Continue reading MMO Family: Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures at SOE Live MMO Family: Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures at SOE Live originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Choose My Adventure: Beyond Bree-land Posted: 07 Aug 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Choose My Adventure This week in my Lord of the Rings Online journey, it's all about making that big choice to go further east of Bree-land into the desolate Lone-lands or to head north through Trestlebridge and see what the North Downs have in store. With last week's vote pointing me toward a final destination of Everswim... er, Evendim, it might make the most sense to head north. But I had to make a little detour at the Forsaken Inn first. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Beyond Bree-land Choose My Adventure: Beyond Bree-land originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

A look at the current endgame for Blade & Soul Posted: 07 Aug 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Endgame, News Items, Blade & Soul, Dungeons If you're looking forward to playing Blade & Soul when it finally comes to this side of the pond, you probably want to know what to expect from the endgame mechanics. Fortunately for you, the game has just released its newest endgame dungeon, and a preview is available of the final boss fight within that dungeon as well as the process for gaining and powering up loot from bosses. Which is... ornate, for lack of a better term. The short version is that everyone present for the kill gets a loot box containing a weapon. You can either pay money to ensure that the weapon is right for your class, or you can buy an ordinary key and take your chances. Once you've gotten the right weapon (with the right stats) after however many trips, you can start leveling it up... but in order to really advance it, you'll need to get two more weapons and level those up. Take a look at the full preview for details on boss mechanics and the weapon upgrade process. [Thanks to Steparu for the tip!] Continue reading A look at the current endgame for Blade & Soul A look at the current endgame for Blade & Soul originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Steparu

Massively Exclusive: Jake Song introduces Civilization Online Posted: 07 Aug 2013 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Galleries, Screenshots, Classes, Game Mechanics, Interviews, New Titles, Previews, PvP, War, Crafting You might have heard about a little project called Civilization Online, a new MMO in development based on the popular Civilization series of turn-based strategy games. You also might have heard that XL Games CEO Jake Song, of ArcheAge and Lineage fame, is overseeing the project as Executive Producer. But chances are, that's really all you have heard. Until now, that is. We had the opportunity to sit down with Song, XL Games Senior VP Jung Hwan Kim, and Producer Garrett Bittner from 2K Games to get the scoop on the project. Follow along for all the juicy details about building up civilizations in a new open world environment, including crafting, PvP, and more! Gallery: Civilization Online Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Jake Song introduces Civilization Online Massively Exclusive: Jake Song introduces Civilization Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What MMO would be great on tablets? Posted: 07 Aug 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Mobile, Miscellaneous Ever since receiving it as a gift last Christmas, my iPad mini has been a constant companion of mine at bedtime. It's the perfect way to unwind after a day, although I do wish that more MMOs would be created for it or ported over to it. It's good news that we have Ultima Forever and RuneScape 3 to look forward to, but where's the rest of the flock? I'd love to see some of these older games make the transition to tablets. I think it was genius to bring Puzzle Pirates to tablets a little while back, because you get the benefit of years of development without the worry of being a performance hog. Ultima Online might make a great tablet MMO, as would a pared-down version of World of Warcraft. Let's turn our imaginations loose today. What MMO would be great on tablets? 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 MMO would be great on tablets? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Aug 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

SOE Live 2013: PlanetSide 2 highlights Hossin and more Posted: 06 Aug 2013 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Interviews, Patches, PvP, Free-to-Play, Events (Massively's Coverage), PlanetSide 2 This year's SOE Live event saw the largest showing of PlanetSide 2 fans to date, and those fans were treated to a heaping helping of fun and facts over the weekend. With plenty of panels, a tournament (with impressive cash prizes), and even their own keynote address, the convention had more things dedicated to the game they love. And between all those avenues, a good amount of information was disseminated about current projects, future updates, and more. Add to all that our chance to speak personally with Senior Art Director Tramell Isaac and Creative Director Matt Higby! We've learned about (and seen, in what has to be the funnest presentation ever) the new zone of Hossin and the battle island Nexus, heard about upcoming player-generated missions and base ownership, and even got an update on the newly implemented Player Studio. Continue reading SOE Live 2013: PlanetSide 2 highlights Hossin and more SOE Live 2013: PlanetSide 2 highlights Hossin and more originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Webzen puts Arctic Combat on ice Posted: 06 Aug 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, Sunsets Longevity in free-to-play games is odd. Some seem to last forever while others barely make it to one year. Arctic Combat was well on its way to the one-year mark after launching in December of last year, but Webzen has announced that the game will be closed completely as of September 2nd. The gradual shutdown started on August 2nd, with the item shop and downloads disabled, but service will continue for players still in the game until September. Players looking for compensation will receive money for use in other Webzen titles and are eligible to pick up special compensation packs in several other titles, including MU Online and Allods Online. Direct refunds are not offered. Our consolations go out to all players and staff members affected by this shutdown. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Webzen puts Arctic Combat on ice originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Shutdown notice Via: MMOCulture

Peek behind SOE's EverQuest Next development curtain Posted: 06 Aug 2013 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next Remember that meany-pants teaser vid for EverQuest Next a couple of weeks back? Of course you do. Who could forget the sight of senior producer Terry Michaels about to open the door to the SOE inner sanctum only to be thwarted by a quick cut to black? Well, SOE has finally aired the rest of that video, and it's basically a quick five-minute tour through the offices where EQN is currently taking shape. Along the way there are interviews with key team members, including creative director Jeff Butler just before he dons an Oculus Rift device, as well as some glimpses of art and in-game vistas. See for yourself after the break. [Thanks Paul!] Continue reading Peek behind SOE's EverQuest Next development curtain Peek behind SOE's EverQuest Next development curtain originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

SWTOR's Titans of Industry patch now live Posted: 06 Aug 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Trailers, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic Star Wars: The Old Republic's latest patch day has brought us Game Update 2.3. Better known as Titans of Industry, the content dump features a new story arc and two new level 55 Flashpoints alongside a handful of fixes, tweaks, and quality-of-life niceties like a new companion pet and the game's first animal mount. BioWare has also released a Titans of Industry teaser trailer which you can view after the cut. Continue reading SWTOR's Titans of Industry patch now live SWTOR's Titans of Industry patch now live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Jukebox Heroes: RuneScape 3's new sound Posted: 06 Aug 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Opinion, RuneScape, Free-to-Play, Jukebox Heroes, Music Amid all of the hoopla surrounding the third major iteration of RuneScape was a notice that many readers may have skipped right over: Jagex authorized the audio team to go ahead and build a new sound engine for RuneScape 3 and record high-fidelity music with a full orchestra. As a result, RuneScape now has over eight hours of ear-blowing awesomeness thanks to composer James Hannigan and the Slovak Symphony Orchestra. I'll be giving RuneScape the traditional Jukebox Heroes treatment in an upcoming column, but today we're going to talk with Jagex Audio Lead Stephen Lord about the enormous effort it took to overhaul the music for RuneScape 3. We've got the inside perspective on making RuneScape's new sound as well as several pieces from the new soundtrack, all after the break! Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: RuneScape 3's new sound Jukebox Heroes: RuneScape 3's new sound originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Pirates of the Burning Sea fine-tunes engagement odds Posted: 06 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Patches, PvP, Free-to-Play, Sandbox It's never fun to be the one on the bottom of a PvP dogpile, and the folks at Pirates of the Burning Sea understand that. The developers have been making adjustment to their open sea engagement rules to find the right balance to make a memorable encounter. While the team initially restricted confrontations so that ganking by player mob couldn't happen, the devs admit that the end result wasn't what they had hoped: "That adjustment went too far, and the fights since have by and large been less dynamic." So to bring back some of the unpredictability in encounters without making it a gankfest, the devs will be tweaking engagements so that at maximum they can only be two-on-one fights. They also vowed to keep an eye on these fights going forward, particularly in regard to the reinforcement timers. Pirates of the Burning Sea fine-tunes engagement odds originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Open sea engagements

Six new Age of Wushu faction trailers sighted in the wild Posted: 06 Aug 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Expansions, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Sandbox, Age of Wushu Age of Wushu's expansion is hitting the game's Chinese servers in a couple of days, bringing with it six new factions. MMO Culture has posted teaser trailers for all six, including one for the infamous Rootless Clan that features in-game castration as an entry requirement. There's also a seventh trailer for players who opt to remain faction-less. Click past the cut to see the new videos. Continue reading Six new Age of Wushu faction trailers sighted in the wild Six new Age of Wushu faction trailers sighted in the wild originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMO Culture

Lord of the Rings Online answers 20 questions about Big Battles Posted: 06 Aug 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, Free-to-Play, Community Q&A As Lord of the Rings Online's storyline moves to Helm's Deep, the designers faced a problem. None of the game's existing models for content really fit the scale of the battle, and it just didn't feel right to have a large-scale war shoehorned in to skirmishes or raids. As a result, the team put together a new sort of content, tentatively named Big Battles, and has answered 20 questions about how this new format will play. Players will be able to participate in the content solo or in several group sizes, with each experience tailored for the specific group size rather than simply scaling health values for enemies. Rather than focusing on specific boss encounters, players are going to be part of a larger tactical environment, working toward a large objective instead of pursuing small ones independently. As this style will be replacing traditional instance progression, veteran Lord of the Rings Online players will want to take a close look at what the system entails and how they can work within it. Lord of the Rings Online answers 20 questions about Big Battles originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 20 Questions - Big Battles

SOE Live 2013: Dragon's Prophet on what makes it so metal Posted: 06 Aug 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Game Mechanics, Guilds, Free-to-Play, Events (Massively's Coverage), Dragon's Prophet One of the more eye-raising moments this weekend at SOE Live came when President John Smedley showed off the newest trailer for Dragon's Prophet. The video, which we highlighted here at Massively earlier this summer, made an appearance at the keynote and left many in attendance curious about what makes this title so #supermetal. As the game approaches its launch date of September 18th, the development team at SOE took some time this past weekend to give a progress report of how the game is coming together and show off some big changes and additions that are sure to please fans. And if that isn't enough, the team unveiled a new dragon that EverQuest fans will surely appreciate! Continue reading SOE Live 2013: Dragon's Prophet on what makes it so metal SOE Live 2013: Dragon's Prophet on what makes it so metal originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

SOE Live 2013: DCUO's Sons of Trigon DLC and beyond Posted: 06 Aug 2013 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Expansions, Interviews, Lore, PvP, Free-to-Play, Events (Massively's Coverage), DC Universe Online, Dungeons Just before the events of SOE Live actually got rolling, DC Universe Online's next DLC was announced. But that little bit of foreknowledge certainly didn't mean that folks had heard everything; it was, in fact, quite the opposite. Attendees were treated to an eye-ful and earful of Sons of Trigon goodness as well as some other non-DLC 8 related tidbits. We were on the scene to catch these announcements in the various panels for you, and we also got to speak with Design Director Jesse Benjamin, Producer Larry Liberty, and Creative Director Jens Andersen to hear their thoughts on DCL 8, see a preview of the new areas, and get a hint of what's coming in the future. Continue reading SOE Live 2013: DCUO's Sons of Trigon DLC and beyond SOE Live 2013: DCUO's Sons of Trigon DLC and beyond originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars 2 discusses upcoming arena changes Posted: 06 Aug 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Previews, PvP, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play Guild Wars 2 isn't always about stories or elections or even dynamic content. Sometimes it's just about players getting into an arena and smashing each other to pieces. Players fond of the game's Rated Arenas can look forward to some upcoming improvements and additions, starting with a split into solo and team formats rather than the current catch-all header. While the game mechanics will be identified as both, Solo Arenas are composed solely of people queueing up alone, thereby ensuring that both sides of a match are thrown into a random group rather than a premade team facing several assorted members. The arenas will also implement a 72-hour debuff for players who abandon their matches, with five stacks preventing players from queueing up again. The full discussion of these changes goes on to promise more map randomization, spectator mode, and new permanent finishers for fans of rated PvP. It's good news for everyone, unless you made a long habit of joining rated games and then leaving for no reason. Guild Wars 2 discusses upcoming arena changes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: A Look at Upcoming PvP Changes

Flameseeker Chronicles: Crashing Guild Wars 2's anniversary bash Posted: 06 Aug 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Lore, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Races, Flameseeker Chronicles, Buy-to-Play ArenaNet's latest release for Guild Wars 2, the Queen's Jubilee, takes place in the human capital city of Divinity's Reach. Not everyone is as giddy about this as I am. Humans are boring. Do we really need another festival-based event? Where's the real lore? However, Divinity's Reach is a hotspot for plot-based drama and intrigue, and setting an event there does more than just encourage players to return to the city for the sake of livening it up: it also sets the stage for ArenaNet to (hopefully) revisit some of the plot elements introduced at the launch of the game. The update will have gone live by the time this article is published, but chances are we won't know every bit of the story right away, so I'm going to take this opportunity to recap some of the pieces on the chess board which could make this event important to more than just humanity. This will necessarily include massive spoilers for the plot of GW2. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Crashing Guild Wars 2's anniversary bash Flameseeker Chronicles: Crashing Guild Wars 2's anniversary bash originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hyperspace Beacon: Five quick and dirty tips for SWTOR update 2.3 Posted: 06 Aug 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guides, Hyperspace Beacon, MMORPG This morning, the third major installment to Star Wars: The Old Republic since Rise of the Hutt Cartel hit the servers. BioWare calls Update 2.3 Titans of Industry; I call it Czerka, Czerka, Czerka. I've been on and off test center for the last few weeks, checking out not only the latest zone planet CZ-198 but also the Bounty Contract Week, and I figured that since you guys will likely be jumping right into this new content, I will give you a few tips of my own to help you better succeed in this new venture. Disclaimer: These quick and dirty tips are not endorsed by Czerka Corporation, the Galactic Republic, the Sith Empire, or their affiliates. The Hutt Cartel might endorse these tips, but seriously, when have you known Hutts not to be quick and dirty -- well, at least, dirty? Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Five quick and dirty tips for SWTOR update 2.3 Hyperspace Beacon: Five quick and dirty tips for SWTOR update 2.3 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Aug 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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