MMO Updates |
- Final Fantasy XIV's 2.1 patch coming December 17th
- MMObility: Battle Command is similar in a good way
- League of Angels starts closed beta on December 4th
- Tamriel Infinium: Where does ESO fit in Elder Scrolls history?
- The Daily Grind: Is the mystique of MMO questing lost for good?
- Defiance's Arkbreaker DLC due December 10
- Hartsman: ArcheAge getting substantial progression and economic tweaks
- The Stream Team: Going stag to The Secret World's scenarios
- Sixteen games that ease the MMO level gap -- and how they do it
- The Guild Counsel: How to keep your guild from disintegrating when you need a break
- Alter Ego: Issue #3 - DCUO's Streets of Fear
- Albion Online unveils Player-vs-Player and Guild-vs-Guild details
- Allods Online revamping its Dominion PvP
- Neverwinter's Shadowmantle module coming December 5th
- The Summoner's Guidebook: Cutting your losses in League of Legends
- Blade & Soul opens the beta doors in China November 28th
| Final Fantasy XIV's 2.1 patch coming December 17th Posted: 22 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Patches, Previews, News Items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Community Q&A, Dev Diaries, Dungeons, Subscription  Throughout the stream, Yoshida fielded player questions while discussing the upcoming content, which includes, but is not limited to, new gear, the Crystal Tower content, new hard-mode dungeons, extreme primal battles, veteran rewards, and Dragoon adjustments. You can read up on the answers in the Q&A thread available on the forums. An additional look at 2.1, including the PlayStation 4 version, is coming in the next live producer's letter on December 14th. We'll update you with the full recording as soon as the official Q&A summary goes live!
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| MMObility: Battle Command is similar in a good way Posted: 22 Nov 2013 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, New Titles, PvP, Opinion, War, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Casual, MMORTS, MMObility  It sort of does. I liked the "tower-defense-in-reverse" mechanic of Battle Dragons but it is pretty cutesy. Battle Command puts you in command on miniature, futuristic armies instead and I have to admit to getting into it a bit more because of the switch. It's still the same game as Battle Dragons, though. Is that a bad thing? Continue reading MMObility: Battle Command is similar in a good way
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| League of Angels starts closed beta on December 4th Posted: 22 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Browser  Some of the features of this browser-based game include mounts with buffs, fishing (which provides soulstones that can enhance your heroes), a daily match-three game that can net you gems for gear enhancement, and dragon races. For a look at some artwork and screenshots of the game, check out the gallery below. Then for a chance to test out the dynamics, sign up for beta on the official site. [Source: GTArcade press release]
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| Tamriel Infinium: Where does ESO fit in Elder Scrolls history? Posted: 22 Nov 2013 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Lore, New Titles, PvP, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium  Where does the Elder Scrolls Online fit in the Elder Scrolls universe? I could tell you that it starts 2E 583, but in the grand scheme of things that really doesn't mean anything unless you're a huge Elder Scrolls lore nut. If I told you that it was 324 years before the start of the classic Elder Scrolls era, that might mean more to you. If I told you that it was 723 years before Arena or 757 years before Oblivion or 958 years before Skyrim, it might mean a bit more to you. But those dates are really distant and don't have any real relevance to your character. No one alive during ESO lives to see Skyrim's timeframe except the immortals. MMOs with existing intellectual properties, like Lord of the Rings Online or Star Wars: The Old Republic, struggle with keeping the game engaging for those who are interested in the lore and keeping it from interfering with the established timeline. LotRO interweaves the MMO plot with the classic story of Frodo and the fellowship traveling to Mordor to destroy the One Ring. SWTOR takes a similar approach to ESO by setting the MMO far in a past that contains very little established lore. However, unlike these other MMOs, Elder Scrolls Online actually plays a significant role in the history of Tamriel. To understand this significance, we have to talk about Tiber Septim and the eight Divines. Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: Where does ESO fit in Elder Scrolls history?
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| The Daily Grind: Is the mystique of MMO questing lost for good? Posted: 22 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, EverQuest, Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, Ultima Online, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  What WoW did was popularize the idea that quests should be the primary method of leveling up through an MMO. WoW's quests provide experience above all else; few WoW quests award gear worth using at endgame, and most rewards are vendor trash. Now, as quests have slowly become core content across many themepark and sandbox MMOs, we even hear gamers refer to "quest grind," when the reality is that quest-driven leveling was intended to replace something far more boring: mob grind. By turning something special into something mundane, have MMO developers shattered the mystique of The Quest as a roleplay and storytelling element? Are you sick to death of quests (and dynamic-events-that-are-really-just-quests) as a character development prop? Can designers make questing feel epic once again, or is it simply too late?  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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| Defiance's Arkbreaker DLC due December 10 Posted: 21 Nov 2013 08:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, PvE, Dungeons, Defiance, Buy-to-Play  Arkbreaker releases on December 10th for consoles and PC.
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| Hartsman: ArcheAge getting substantial progression and economic tweaks Posted: 21 Nov 2013 07:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox, Crafting  Hartsman spoke with fansite ArcheAge Source, and he said that "XL can only work on so many things at a time while they strive to constantly improve their live Korean service." This means that ArcheAge's partnered launches outside of Korea are worked on "serially," and the western release is a couple of spots down in the pecking order. The one piece of good news there is that the western release will benefit from all of the stuff XL has learned from launching the game in other markets. Hartsman also mentions substantial progression and economy improvements that will find their way into the sandpark game before it reaches western shores. "The economic game of ArcheAge is a big part of what attracted a lot of us to this game," he said. "XL will be implementing improved balance between crafting, farming, and trade, [with] the goal being to promote a more vibrant economic game that produces more valuable and more frequently used items than what the original version launched with." [Thanks to all our tipsters!]
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| The Stream Team: Going stag to The Secret World's scenarios Posted: 21 Nov 2013 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Hands-On, The Secret World, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team, Buy-to-Play  Game: The Secret World Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Thursday, November 21st, 2013 Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Going stag to The Secret World's scenarios
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| Sixteen games that ease the MMO level gap -- and how they do it Posted: 21 Nov 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, PvP, Opinion, Miscellaneous  In many MMOs, that level gap is not an issue. There are a lot of creative ways to get around the problem, and some MMOs meet players more than halfway. Of course, there are a lot of MMOs that force players into a level-encased tunnel of grind, but today we want to shine some light on some of the ways MMOs help salve the level gap sting. Continue reading Sixteen games that ease the MMO level gap -- and how they do it
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| The Guild Counsel: How to keep your guild from disintegrating when you need a break Posted: 21 Nov 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  For a guild leader, taking a small break is a dicey prospect, and many leaders have returned only to find that the guild they carefully pieced together and managed is now empty and defunct. The thought of losing the guild has even led many guild leaders to press on and continue playing even though their hearts aren't in it. Can a guild leader take a vacation and have a happy guild upon returning? This week's Guild Counsel suggests a few ways to do just that. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: How to keep your guild from disintegrating when you need a break
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| Alter Ego: Issue #3 - DCUO's Streets of Fear Posted: 21 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Galleries, Screenshots, Lore, MMO Industry, PvE, Free-to-Play, Comics, Roleplaying, DC Universe Online, Alter-Ego  Can Kid Critical and the Bat family stop Scarecrow's deadly fear gas before it blankets the entire city? Find out in Alter Ego #3: Streets of Fear. Continue reading Alter Ego: Issue #3 - DCUO's Streets of Fear
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| Albion Online unveils Player-vs-Player and Guild-vs-Guild details Posted: 21 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, PvP, News Items, Mobile, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  Berlin-based studio Sandbox Interactive released a new dev blog today revealing a number of details regarding Player-vs-Player and Guild-vs-Guild combat in its upcoming title Albion Online. In Albion, much of the game world will be up for grabs, and guilds can claim territories in order to harvest their resources and build shelter for their members in the midst of Albion's wilderness. While guilds can capture as many territories as they like, they'll also be required to defend these territories from opposing guilds who would take their lands. In order to keep Guild-vs-Guild combat fair and balanced, each land-holding guild will be required to choose "a number of times during the day at which their territory will be 'open' to attack." At these times, both the attacking and defending guilds will field a team of five players who will act as champions in the battle, thereby ensuring that no one guild can ensure victory by overwhelming numbers. Those who wish to reap the benefits of holding land without getting their own hands too bloody can instead put a bounty on their enemies' heads and let mercenaries (presumably other players) do the work for them. To learn more about Albion Online and to sign up for the game's upcoming closed beta, head on over to the official site.
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| Allods Online revamping its Dominion PvP Posted: 21 Nov 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, PvP, Free-to-Play, Allods Online  The Wind of Changes update will feature a top-down reworking of the Dominion system in order to keep large guilds from constantly, er, dominating. Now there will be two stages that will take place on a weekly basis: All against all battles will pit champion groups against similarly ranked enemies, followed by an auction for the privilege of fighting in a raid vs. raid melee. With the patch, Allods Online will be tossing in two new Allods, Enoch and Koch Itzmahl, to keep Dominion fresh. The dev team's also tweaked the tabard system to give guilds better chances of finding matched opponents.
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| Neverwinter's Shadowmantle module coming December 5th Posted: 21 Nov 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Free-to-Play, Neverwinter  "We're incredibly excited to share the release date of Shadowmantle -- our second free expansion," said Cryptic Studios Executive Producer Craig Zinkievich. "With Neverwinter, our plan has always been to release massive regular updates that provide new unique online experiences with exciting new content for players to explore." Shadowmantle will include the Hunter Ranger class, new paragon paths, the Dread Ring zone, and the artifact system. If you're unfamiliar with it, get up to date with the changes by reading our preview of the module.
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| The Summoner's Guidebook: Cutting your losses in League of Legends Posted: 21 Nov 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook  Additionally, it's important to know how to confirm on a play a team member has made. It's easy to see a Lux binding land and want to go all-in. However, sometimes that's not a good play, especially if the enemy has counter-initiation available. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Cutting your losses in League of Legends
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| Blade & Soul opens the beta doors in China November 28th Posted: 21 Nov 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Blade & Soul  The client is available for download starting today, which is helpful to all those who want to get a head start by participating in the special character creation event on November 23rd and November 24th. While you wait for your download, take a look at some in-game emotes courtesy this video from Steparu: Continue reading Blade & Soul opens the beta doors in China November 28th
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