MMO Updates

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• Rise and Shiny: Vega Conflict
• One Shots: Ms. Rasa 2217
• The Daily Grind: Do you like a simple, complex, or customizable UI?
• Ragnarok browser game renamed for English market debut
• Prime World patch slips you some skins
• The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next roundtable roundup
• Japanese player earns $10K playing ArcheAge
• The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons
• Defiance state of the game promises improvements
• The Game Archaeologist: What I loved about Warhammer Online
• ArenaNet offers sneak peek at future Guild Wars 2 balance changes

Rise and Shiny: Vega Conflict Posted: 15 Sep 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, PvP, Opinion, War, Free-to-Play, Browser, Hands-On, Casual, Rise and Shiny, Livestream You might be familiar with Kixeye for many different reasons, but this week I am discussing one of the games from its line-up: VEGA Conflict, which is typical in many ways but can definitely be surprising when it needs to be. Many of my favorite MMOs are made up of mechanics we've seen before, but those mechanics are delivered so smartly that the end result is a game that is worth more than it should be. As far as browser-based MMORTS titles go -- and there are scores and scores of them -- VEGA Conflict is a fun and unique blend of strategy, city-building, and Gratuitous Space Battles. It implements none of its designs flawlessly, but the game is almost perfectly balanced between casual play and powergaming. I did receive a wad of coins from the developer shortly after I spent 10 dollars on some myself, and those coins bought me resources and sped up development and building. It's not directly a sell of power and is typical for the genre, but some might find it distasteful. The community didn't seem to mind the model much. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Vega Conflict Rise and Shiny: Vega Conflict originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Sep 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

One Shots: Ms. Rasa 2217 Posted: 15 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Screenshots, Culture, Tabula Rasa, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, The Secret World, Miscellaneous Sometimes some of you readers are actually crazy enough to respond to my weekly screenshot challenges for who knows what reason. Reader Joe got all excited when I put out a call for "pin-up" pictures and sent me a trio of his characters from the near-future (and dead past). I thought this one was the most striking. "Here's Tabula Rasa proving that you don't need to show a lot of skin to look good in armor," Joe wrote. "That's right, Jyo, you work that incendiary injector gun!" Will our kids learn about Tabula Rasa on the History channel some day? I can only imagine. Other amazing player shots await you in this week's column! Continue reading One Shots: Ms. Rasa 2217 One Shots: Ms. Rasa 2217 originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Sep 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Do you like a simple, complex, or customizable UI? Posted: 15 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Is it just me, or do MMO interfaces seem as though they're slimming down as of late? The bloated HUDs of the past are giving away to streamlined, almost minimalistic on-screen elements. Maybe that's just because I've been playing a lot of Guild Wars 2 as of late. Perhaps. But that's not really today's topic, now is it? I'm curious how you like your UI. Are you all about this sort of simple, streamlined setup? Do you adore a really complex interface that gives you scads of actions and information? Or do you just prefer it when a game allows you to modify it to your heart's content? 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: Do you like a simple, complex, or customizable UI? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Sep 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ragnarok browser game renamed for English market debut Posted: 14 Sep 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Browser A Ragnarok here, a Ragnarok there -- there are Ragnaroks everywhere! Last July we learned that Ragnarok Online was reinventing itself for browsers as Ragnarok Online: Prequel (which, by the way, is not any relation to Ragnarok 2). At that point, the browser version of the game, developed by Dream², was only available in China. Now, however, the company is bringing Prequel to the west and giving it a shiny new moniker to set it apart from the rest of the franchise. Ragnarok Zero, as the English version will be known, currently has its own website and forums up and running for fans to keep tabs on the game. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Ragnarok browser game renamed for English market debut originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMO Culture

Prime World patch slips you some skins Posted: 14 Sep 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Free-to-Play, MOBA Call out "New skins! New skins!" to the MOBA crowd and just watch as they come a-runnin'. Nival's added a bunch of new skins for Prime World with its patch 9.10, giving additional looks (and gender options) to familiar heroes. Patch 9.10 has a ton of changes beyond just the cosmetic. There are talent and skill changes, of course, as well as a search feature for co-op challenges, challenge quests, and new monsters. The team also explained a rather major change to the battle start UI: "In the future, we plan to add new features, like playing against bots in other modes, as well as new modes. The interface in its recent state was overloaded, and it was not wise to load it even more with new elements. The new interface, however, will spare us many troubles in the future." [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Prime World patch slips you some skins originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Patch notes

The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next roundtable roundup Posted: 14 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Classes, Game Mechanics, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Races, The Tattered Notebook, EverQuest Next, Sandbox, Housing, Player-Generated Content Back when EverQuest Next and EverQuest Landmark were announced, SOE President John Smedley made it clear that the two games were henceforth in "open development." That meant that the company would be soliciting feedback and opinions from players about myriad design decisions for the two games. Since then, EQ Next devs have thrown out new questions each week for players to vote on and discuss. Utilizing polls and forum discussions in a special section of the main site labeled Round Table, important topics like bearded female dwarves and armor appearance customization are delved into and player desires and feedback are gathered. After collecting the data, the devs respond, sometimes in video form. Today, The Tattered Notebook is going to round up all those roundtables, giving you a summary of which way the community is leaning on these different topics as well as the dev input. I'll even throw in snippets of their opinions as well! Of course, if you haven't added your thoughts to the mix and you'd like to, you still have time to do so as all the polls are still active. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next roundtable roundup The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next roundtable roundup originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Japanese player earns $10K playing ArcheAge Posted: 14 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Culture, Free-to-Play, ArcheAge There's that dream out there of getting paid to simply play games. You know you have it. We even have it. Well, a married Japanese man who goes by "Moru-chan" grabbed that dream and looted it to its fullest, as he earned over $10,000 (one million yen) in three months for playing the MMORPG ArcheAge. The money's on the up-and-up, in case you were thinking otherwise. Moru-chan was selected by ArcheAge's project management team to live in a one-room apartment and stream the game for 12 hours a day. He'd wake up at noon and start playing in the afternoon until the wee hours of the morning, streaming ArcheAge for all to see. Moru-chan also blogged about his experience and organized large-scale activities using his newfound fame. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Japanese player earns $10K playing ArcheAge originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 2P.com, Project blog

The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons Posted: 14 Sep 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Dungeons My interest in Final Fantasy XIV is not purely about racing to the endgame, but I am well aware there is an endgame. And while I'm easily distracted by the pursuits of other goals such as leveling Arcanist, I'd rather be on the early side to the party. There's nothing wrong with not being the first at endgame, but I'd prefer to beat the rush, if you know what I mean. So my playtime has been focused a bit more toward getting to the end of the story quick-like. This also means going through a lot of Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons. I'm not quite up to the last rush, but considering a lot of people I see are still moving into stuff I left behind a while ago, I'm still a bit ahead of the parabola. So let's take a look at the dungeons along the path from level 1 to level 50 after the initial set (which I covered back in beta). Continue reading The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's dungeons originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Defiance state of the game promises improvements Posted: 14 Sep 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Previews, MMOFPS, Dev Diaries, Defiance, Buy-to-Play Defiance Creative Lead Trick Dempsey is in the middle of his move to Trion Worlds' Redwood Shores studio, but he's paused to take the time to write a state of the game before he changes ZIP codes. The top priority for the Defiance team is fixing weapons -- all of them. Dempsey said that the team is examining the "core balance" of all of the weapons and sorting out rarity and bonus issues. "Higher rarity weapons will always be accompanied with celebration and never disappointment," he promised. The team is also looking to tweak and improve shields, inventory, objectives, the UI, and especially the chat system. Dempsey ends his letter teasing the upcoming second DLC, the details of which he says will be coming "soon." [Thanks to Etaew for the tip!] Defiance state of the game promises improvements originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: State of the Game

The Game Archaeologist: What I loved about Warhammer Online Posted: 14 Sep 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Game Archaeologist, Anniversaries, Subscription As I got my start in blogging over Warhammer Online, I've become "the guy" everyone on staff goes to whenever WAR hits an anniversary. The problem is, there's precious little good to say about this title's development over the past year. Pretty much all of the news we've gotten has been negative, from the closure of Wrath of Heroes to the elimination of the six-month subscription to the departure of its most vocal developers. TL;DR version of my feelings on the topic: WAR needs F2P or it will die probably much sooner rather than later. But instead of going maudlin and piling on the obvious, I want to go down a different road today for the sake of those who loved and perhaps still love Warhammer Online. Obviously, people continue to play it even though its day in the spotlight is long gone, and I'd like to chime in with some positivity for a change. After all, WAR's celebrating its fifth anniversary, and that's pretty cool. So in honor of that, here's a list of seven things that I loved about WAR from my time playing it and why it wasn't quite the abysmal failure that revisionist history has made it out to be. Continue reading The Game Archaeologist: What I loved about Warhammer Online The Game Archaeologist: What I loved about Warhammer Online originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

ArenaNet offers sneak peek at future Guild Wars 2 balance changes Posted: 14 Sep 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Patches, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play Game design lead Jonathan Sharp took to the Guild Wars 2 official forums yesterday to offer players a "high level" look at ArenaNet's plans for profession balance and improvements. Although the changes won't be going into effect until the October 15th release -- and Sharp cautions that some of them might not make it in that early -- ArenaNet wants to provide fans with a chance to see where each profession is headed and to offer feedback. Several nifty quality of life improvements are also in the works, such as updated trait tooltips and more options for fast cast ground targeting. In another forum post, lead content designer Mike Zadorojny gave fans an update on GW2's highly anticipated looking-for-group tool. To ensure quality and stability, a beta version of the tool will be released with next week's Tequatl Rising content patch and will initially be available to a limited number of players. As the week goes on, greater numbers of players will have access to the tool. [Thank you to Siphaed for the tip!] ArenaNet offers sneak peek at future Guild Wars 2 balance changes originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Sep 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: October 15th balance and improvements preview, Mike Zadorojny on GW2's LFG tool

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