MMO Updates |
- The Road to Mordor: On the cusp of Helm's Deep
- WRUP: All DPS players are sharks edition
- The Daily Grind: Do you have a class (or type) you tend to play in games?
- Storyboard: Using the fourth wall for good
- MMObility: Excalibur provides old-school arcade action
- Betawatch: November 9 - 15, 2013
- Peria Chronicles is a Korean sandbox thing with player-created quests
- The Stream Team: An EVE Online cannonball run
- Eldevin launching on November 30th
- Destiny beta coming to PlayStations first
- SOE publishes new EQN Landmark producer's letter
- RaiderZ update introduces Assassin class
- WildStar answers Esper inquiries
- NCsoft takes a financial hit in Q3 2013
- TUG suffers from DDOS attack
- Tamriel Infinium: An Elder Scrolls Online community connection
- World of Warcraft's lead content designer on the future of the game and the franchise
- Massive Mabinogi update introduces Merlin's magic
| The Road to Mordor: On the cusp of Helm's Deep Posted: 16 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Road to Mordor  Some of that territory is the game world itself, with the second half of Rohan being rolled out to much anticipation among the antsy level-capped community. Some of that territory is a radical change to the very foundation of LotRO itself. It's safe to say that while the former is welcomed, the latter is causing no end of controversy, anxiety, anticipation, delight, and horror. I'm right there with you. I'm in the trenches, polishing my Captain's armor and getting ready for her next journey across Middle-earth. So before we saddle up and ride into Helm's Deep, let's go through what you need to know, to prepare, and to accomplish on launch day and beyond. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: On the cusp of Helm's Deep
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| WRUP: All DPS players are sharks edition Posted: 16 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  One of the Massively staff members might be a shark, but I can neither confirm nor deny it. Perhaps he or she reveals his or her status as a shark in this week's WRUP, or perhaps it's just our usual roundup of our weekend plans as always. You won't know until you read onward, although you should tell us what you're doing down in the comments either way. Continue reading WRUP: All DPS players are sharks edition
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| The Daily Grind: Do you have a class (or type) you tend to play in games? Posted: 16 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Classes, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  Some people tend toward certain roles. Some tend toward certain class types, like "the stealth class" or "the heavy armor guy" or "the pet class where I don't have to really pay attention." Some just have certain archetypes that keep showing up. Do you have a class or type that you tend to play in games no matter what? Or do you just wind up playing whatever strikes your eye during character creation?  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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| Storyboard: Using the fourth wall for good Posted: 15 Nov 2013 07:00 PM PST Filed under: Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  In his case, he was leading into a discussion of the rules of rhyming schemes and such, but he also admitted that the lesson is applicable to a lot of other things. Case in point: using the fourth wall in roleplaying. MMOs lean on the fourth wall all the time, some more or less than others. But roleplaying generally steers clear of it because leaning on it too heavily can really screw with the overall roleplaying atmosphere. So let's talk a little bit about what the fourth wall is and how you can use it with care to enhance roleplaying rather than damage it. Continue reading Storyboard: Using the fourth wall for good
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| MMObility: Excalibur provides old-school arcade action Posted: 15 Nov 2013 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Video, Game Mechanics, New Titles, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, MMObility, Dungeons  The game is set in the King Arthur world of knights and magic and even promises intense co-op action and many hours of gameplay. I did play it for many hours and enjoyed most of my time, but the game's issues pop up almost immediately. Continue reading MMObility: Excalibur provides old-school arcade action
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| Betawatch: November 9 - 15, 2013 Posted: 15 Nov 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous  After spending many moons in beta testing, World of Warplanes has finally launched for real, along with a unified account for those who can't get enough different games in which World War II military vehicles blow one another up. Oh, and Bless announced its beta plans, although those don't yet include any plans for release in the West. Is there more? Of course there is! There's a whole list just past the break, as always. You can let us know whether something sneaked into open beta or similar without our noticing or one of those darn cash shops sneaked into a game ostensibly in beta testing. (They're sneaky.) Continue reading Betawatch: November 9 - 15, 2013
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| Peria Chronicles is a Korean sandbox thing with player-created quests Posted: 15 Nov 2013 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox  "If someone create[s] a quest, like 'save the princess,' we will patch it in the game," Nexon explains. "A random adventurer can then accept that user-created quest and earn gold from it. If they fail to complete the quest, the person that created the quest will earn gold from the user that purchased the quest." The company has also thought of possible griefing scenarios. "Destroying user-created content is not easy compared to creating it. For example, if a player created a bridge, the players working in that area must vote for it to be taken down." If you're curious about combat gameplay, we've embedded a clip after the cut. Continue reading Peria Chronicles is a Korean sandbox thing with player-created quests
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| The Stream Team: An EVE Online cannonball run Posted: 15 Nov 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, PvE, Massively Meta, Hands-On, Fallout Online, Livestream, Sandbox, The Stream Team, Subscription, MMORPG  Game: EVE Online Host: Mike Foster Date: Friday, November 15, 2013 Time: 7:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: An EVE Online cannonball run
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| Eldevin launching on November 30th Posted: 15 Nov 2013 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Launches, Patches, Free-to-Play, Browser  The team's been hard at work patching in improvements including auto-attack, new abilities, an improved tutorial, server-wide chat, a revised UI, and additional crafting items. The game's first open-world PvP area will be part of this launch package as well. Eldevin claims to provide a robust AAA-like game experience as a free-to-play title that runs great in a browser.
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| Destiny beta coming to PlayStations first Posted: 15 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Trailers, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Consoles, Destiny, Buy-to-Play  Destiny's beta is scheduled for early 2014, and you'll need a PS3 or PS4 to test it on day one. Pre-ordering the sci-fantasy title guarantees beta access, according to the new trailer which we've embedded after the break. Continue reading Destiny beta coming to PlayStations first
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| SOE publishes new EQN Landmark producer's letter Posted: 15 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Dev Diaries  Georgeson says the tour was the first time that people outside of the dev team had a chance to lay hands on the product, and the result was plenty of useful feedback. Georgeson also teases some new lore that's on the way, but I won't spoil it for you here. Click past the cut to watch the clip! Continue reading SOE publishes new EQN Landmark producer's letter
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| RaiderZ update introduces Assassin class Posted: 15 Nov 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Patches, PvP, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, MMORPG  Most notably, Perfect World Entertainment has used the patch to debut the Assassin class. Assassins are capable of moving quickly through the battlefield, shrouding themselves from vision and using elixirs to buff their stamina, attack speed, movement speed, and resistance to damage and crowd control. Check out the gallery below for a closer look at some of the patch's content. [Source: RaiderZ press release]
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| WildStar answers Esper inquiries Posted: 15 Nov 2013 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Classes, Community Q&A, WildStar, Subscription  Topics touched upon included the Esper's healing ability (the devs claim the class is "the best single-target healer" in the game), the lack of movement speed reduction while casting, its high burst damage potential in PvP, and that nifty Phantasmal Armor skill that was seen at the end of the re-reveal video. One fan asked if the Esper could be built as a pet class. "You also have the ability to focus yourself on a pet build," a developer confirmed. "Last week my build was based around Phantom Swarm (three small illusionary pets) and Geist (one large illusionary pet). I had tiered these guys up as much as I could so that they were doing tons of damage, healing me at the same time, and blowing up on their deaths to do AoE damage."
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| NCsoft takes a financial hit in Q3 2013 Posted: 15 Nov 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Lineage, MMO Industry, Guild Wars 2, Blade & Soul, Miscellaneous, WildStar  Sales, operating profit, pre-tax income, and net income were all down from both the previous quarter and Q3 2012. NCsoft blamed the dip due on a shuffling of Lineage's in-game sales from third to fourth quarter. Guild Wars 2 once again dropped in sales, while Blade and Soul came out the best in the report, seeing an uptick in sales thanks to a recent content update. Higher expenses were also to blame for NCsoft's lower profit margin, including an increased WildStar marketing campaign and relocating headquarters. Quarter-over-quarter, sales were down across most of NCsoft's subsidiaries save for NCsoft Taiwan and Ntreev Soft, which both saw a bump in sales. [Thanks to Sharvis for the tip! And note, the unit on the Y axes is million South Korean won, not US dollars.]
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| Posted: 15 Nov 2013 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, Legal, Sandbox  Players noticed something wrong when they couldn't log into the game yesterday, and a developer confirmed that a DDOS attack was in the works and was being combated. She said that there is no ETA for a fix but that players who have applied for testing keys need not worry about losing theirs due to the issue. "Yeah, the attacks started during the weekend and they've been pretty relentless. Luckily our security measures are working. We just need to do some tweaking now," developer Dee posted. "While it sucks that it's happening, it's better to have these things happen now, while we're in the alpha stage when stuff's supposed to break, than later when it might've been much more of a problem to iron out." [Thanks to Sounder for the tip!]
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| Tamriel Infinium: An Elder Scrolls Online community connection Posted: 15 Nov 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Lore, New Titles, Opinion, Consoles, Mac, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium  I've mentioned Tamriel Foundry from time to time. This site started in August last year as a theory-crafting and mechanics site for ESO. But it's blossomed into a large community that focuses on many parts of the ESO landscape, from lore and classes to guilds and armoring. Although founder Andrew "Atropos" Clayton and his team have been writing articles for well over a year now, the recent articles have touched on some solid mechanics and gameplay issues. But given the growth and nature of the community there, the team has branched out to cover more than just the mechanics of the game and has covered a bit of lore as well. Let me highlight a few of my favorite bits, and then we will tackle a statement from a Massively community member. Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: An Elder Scrolls Online community connection
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| World of Warcraft's lead content designer on the future of the game and the franchise Posted: 15 Nov 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Subscription  Stockton doesn't see that sort of content ever replacing the core of the game, of course, but he does note that there's a persistent issue with new content not coming out as fast as players can go through it. He goes on to explain that the developers would like to have a new expansion out every year, certainly at a faster rate than the team's previous content releases, and that the current goal is to work several expansions ahead rather than focusing on the immediate future. For more details and talk about the potential for Warcraft IV, take a look at the full interview.
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| Massive Mabinogi update introduces Merlin's magic Posted: 15 Nov 2013 09:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Mabinogi  In conjunction with the dressing room update, Mabinogi is having a Fashion Bingonogi event, where players can spin the roulette wheel in hopes of snagging some new gear, including the Snowflake and Ranger outfits. Additionally, players who log in anytime during November 16th will automatically receive a non-tradable Shyllien Mana Knuckles magic weapon courtesy of the Magic Weapon Giveaway event. [Source: Nexon press release]
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