MMO Updates |
- The Road to Mordor: The Helm's Deep info avalanche continues
- CIG patches Star Citizen's hangar, puts Caterpillar on sale
- WRUP: Learn to cheese edition
- The Daily Grind: Would you prefer to level quickly or level 'right'?
- Betawatch: September 14 - 20, 2013
- CCP clarifies EVE terms of service changes again
- Storyboard: You've got to make a living
- Tamriel Infinium: The Nightblade is The Elder Scrolls Online's pirate
- Some Assembly Required Extra: The scoop on Albion Online
- Thrash down a mountain on an Elder Scrolls Online snowboard
- Why I Play: Final Fantasy XIV
- Happy 16th birthday, Ultima Online
- Darkfall's Duelist update also ushered in treasure map changes
| The Road to Mordor: The Helm's Deep info avalanche continues Posted: 21 Sep 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Free-to-Play, The Road to Mordor  It's been... interesting, to say the least. LotRO's in for a packed fall, no matter whether you're feeling psyched, depressed, confused, or anything else in the emotional rainbow. I'm right there with the rest of you, sorting and analyzing. All I can say right now is that (a) I'm welcoming of new content for the game and (b) I've given up trying to predict Turbine. I mean, after it broke with its "[something] of [place]" naming convention, all bets were off, folks. Madness must ensue. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The Helm's Deep info avalanche continues
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| CIG patches Star Citizen's hangar, puts Caterpillar on sale Posted: 21 Sep 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play  Fixes include flickering decals, missing cargo pallets, character sitting and running animations, and more. A complete list of patch notes is available via the SC launcher. CIG is also running a weekend-only promo on the Drake Interplanetary Caterpillar. The cargo and pirate support ship will set you back a cool $225.00, but keep in mind that like all SC pledge ships, the proceeds go directly to development costs and the ships themselves will be earnable via gameplay if you choose not to pre-purchase.
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| Posted: 21 Sep 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  If you read that and wondered why I didn't mention ricotta, you've unfortunately confused "cheese" with "testament to the sins of Man." Ricotta is horrible. Learn to cheese. Now, let's talk about WRUP. That's all about what the Massively staff is up to this weekend. Very little cheese is involved. If your world has been rocked by the idea of cheese, it will be a breath of fresh air. But seriously, please, learn to cheese. This is important to me. Continue reading WRUP: Learn to cheese edition
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| The Daily Grind: Would you prefer to level quickly or level 'right'? Posted: 21 Sep 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Of course, you frequently aren't ready to participate in that endgame, as the past however many levels didn't really teach you how to play the game except for efficiency. For some people, learning at that point is easier than learning as they go. For others, it's better to take a little longer to hit the cap on the condition that you'll know how to play the game better when you get there. So which do you prefer? Learning along the way or just learning when you're at the top?  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!
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| Betawatch: September 14 - 20, 2013 Posted: 20 Sep 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous  There's no barrier to entering World of Warplanes at the moment, as it's in open beta, but its official release date has been moved ahead by a month and a half. Silent Hunter Online will provide lovers of military hardware another open-testing outlet for their enjoyment, although the game struggles a bit to really justify the "online" portion of its title. Oh, and there's still a big old list of games just past the break for anyone interested in a title not mentioned here. If something in the list has sneaked in a cash shop, please let us know down in the comments. Continue reading Betawatch: September 14 - 20, 2013
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| CCP clarifies EVE terms of service changes again Posted: 20 Sep 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, News Items, Legal, Sandbox  You may remember that about a week ago CCP incurred the ire of many fans by rewording EVE Online's Terms of Service, which according to many threatened to put a stranglehold on players hoping to scam some chumps by impersonating another player. Well, as part of the ongoing madness/dialogue between players and CCP, the studio has posted a clarification on the game's official site. Specifically, the post clarifies that "the purpose of the ToS update was to pull bits of existing policy into a prominent place where everyone would be able to see it, rather than requiring players to dig through EULA and Naming Policy to fully understand all the rules regarding impersonation." The post goes on to dig through the history of CCP's policies on impersonation from the beginning and the changes they have undergone since. You can find all those nitty-gritty details in the official post, but the takeaway from CCP seems to be that the only thing that has changed is the wording of the terms of service and that CCP will continue to handle cases of impersonation in the same way it has in the past. If you want to read the whole statement for yourself, just click on through the link below.
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| Storyboard: You've got to make a living Posted: 20 Sep 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  Yes, most games probably allow for the possibility that those wolves contain enough meat, articles of clothing, and end tables to provide all of the above. That would be a separation of mechanics and story. It's much more fun than watching most of your characters die of infections caused by mild scrapes against rusty metal. As a roleplayer, you need to think about what your character does for a living, not just because it gives you an explanation for what's going on when you aren't playing (although that certainly helps) but because what we do informs a lot of who we are as people. It's always better to show than tell, and nothing shows quite as nicely as character occupations done right. Continue reading Storyboard: You've got to make a living
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| Tamriel Infinium: The Nightblade is The Elder Scrolls Online's pirate Posted: 20 Sep 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Events (In-Game), Game Mechanics, PvP, PvE, Opinion, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium  Most likely, this will be the first class I will try. I'm excited about this class mostly because of the fast action combat of ESO and the diverse DPS that the class appears to bring to the playing field. Oh, yeah, and who doesn't like to turn invisible? From the reports coming out of PAX and other conventions, the Nightblade appears to be the first rogue class that I've seen that has some strong viability in a PvE setting, but of course, the class still plays wonderfully in PvP. Stick with me as I break down my thoughts on the class as we know it. Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: The Nightblade is The Elder Scrolls Online's pirate
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| Some Assembly Required Extra: The scoop on Albion Online Posted: 20 Sep 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, Interviews, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox, Housing, Player-Generated Content  One of the latest upcoming titles to be announced is the stylized, medieval sandbox Albion Online. With such offerings as territory control, housing, a player-driven economy, and full looting, this game certainly fits the sandbox bill. Heck, the development company is even named Sandbox Interactive! But what makes Albion Online stand out from the pack is that it will be a cross-platform experience; players will be accessing the game via both tablets and PCs. Of course, as promising as it may sound, just a terse feature list doesn't give players the kind of details we want. So to get the scoop, I had a chat with Sandbox Interactive CEO Stefan Wiezorek, who shared more information about the economy, housing,the skill system, PvP, and territory control. Continue reading Some Assembly Required Extra: The scoop on Albion Online
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| Thrash down a mountain on an Elder Scrolls Online snowboard Posted: 20 Sep 2013 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Humor, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription  The Ebonheart Snowboard will cost you a cool $500, and that's if you're able to secure one of the only 50 boards being made. The art on the board is done by former ArenaNet artist Kekai Kotaki, and the board itself is an all-terrain, all-condition model. And yes, before you ask, the RDS 2 Damping System is included. Currently the Bethesda Store is accepting pre-orders for the snowboard, promising to ship it this December.
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| Posted: 20 Sep 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Lore, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Why I Play, Subscription  Much like "nerf," these are two terms that have been beaten into the ground until they no longer have any intrinsic meaning. The original "themepark" game was freaking EverQuest, which is not what anyone thinks of when he uses the term in a more modern sense. There's more concern given to whether or not a game fits into a given category than whether or not it's actually fun to play. And that is a bad thing. Sure, your sandbox features a great housing system, but so does The Sims 3, and the latter doesn't abandon me in a featureless wasteland that eschews actual content in favor of letting me choose my final destination (here's a hint: All those destinations are grinding). Yes, Mr. Themepark, I see you chuckling in the background, but your single leveling path followed by the exact same huge-group gear-grabbing jamboree is not better, just annoying in a different way. That's why I play Final Fantasy XIV. But I should probably elaborate a bit on that. Continue reading Why I Play: Final Fantasy XIV
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| Happy 16th birthday, Ultima Online Posted: 20 Sep 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Patches, News Items, Ultima Online, Anniversaries, Subscription, MMORPG  Earlier in the summer, we took a deep dive into the current state of the game (as well as its music!), but since that article ran, Mythic has been ratcheting up the update machine. It's bringing out new veteran rewards, an anniversary event complete with the usual round of anniversary festivities, and a new patch that includes tweaks to the Clean Up Britannia rewards and turn-in system, new Halloween content, and new character titles. Oh, and did I mention players will be embarking on the first part of a new dynamic story arc? With any luck, this one won't end with the brick-by-brick destruction of a beloved NPC town (but hey, at least actions in the game have permanence!). The big party is happening this Saturday, September 21st, on the test server so that everyone can attend no matter his home server. Expect a hedge-maze scavenger hunt, design contest, and storytelling event, complete with some pretty pricey prizes. See you there, and happy birthday, UO!
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| Darkfall's Duelist update also ushered in treasure map changes Posted: 20 Sep 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Classes, Game Mechanics, Patches, PvP, News Items, Sandbox  This new system means that treasure maps will no longer direct you to a spawn randomly anywhere in the world. Instead, the size of the treasure map dictates in what level of danger zone the spawn will be located. Small maps will lead to a lower danger zone, but to dig up the treasure from a large map, players will have to venture into Danger Level V zones. These changes and more can be found in the patch notes. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip.]
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