MMO Updates

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• Tamriel Infinium: The year before launching the Elder Scrolls Online
• The Repopulation returns to Kickstater, launches Steam Greenlight campaign
• War Thunder expands Ground Forces beta test
• The Daily Grind: Are MMO beta NDAs counterproductive?
• The Stream Team: Exploring The Secret World's Lairs
• The Summoner's Guidebook: The allure of new LoL champions
• Field Journal: Pandaria's pastoral paradise
• Mark Kern addresses his departure from Red 5 Studios
• The Stream Team: Touring Vanguard's first dungeons on Kojan
• The Guild Counsel: Making the most of holiday events with your guild
• Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2013 awards

Tamriel Infinium: The year before launching the Elder Scrolls Online Posted: 27 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, Previews, PvP, Endgame, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Races, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium Based on the comments for this column a couple of weeks ago, it became apparent to me that many readers have very little idea about what to expect when the Elder Scrolls Online launches. And I guess with the big push of information about PvP, it would seem that that is all ESO has to offer. In some people's minds, that might still hold true. I admit that I believe PvP might be the thrust of the max-level game, but ESO will offer different things to do as you level up as well as when you hit max level. Today, for my year-end review of ESO, I will attempt to paint a picture of the Elder Scrolls Online game based on what we know so far. I think you'll find that the game does have more to offer than PvP, but ultimately, I'll let you decide if it's enough. Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: The year before launching the Elder Scrolls Online Tamriel Infinium: The year before launching the Elder Scrolls Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Repopulation returns to Kickstater, launches Steam Greenlight campaign Posted: 27 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, The Repopulation If you still regret missing the opportunity to support the sci-fi sandbox The Repopulation during its first crowdfunding campaign, you're getting a second chance! Above and Beyond Technologies would like to offer players even more features than are currently available and has launched a new Kickstarter campaign to reach those goals. Concurrently, the studio has also launched a Greenlight campaign on Steam to expand the game's exposure beyond its current community and offer an additional payment option. So now players have two ways to show their support for The Repopulation: vote yes to get the game Greenlit and/or pledge financial support through Kickstarter. As a thank you, those who backed the first Kickstarter campaign will receive at least one Beta preview weekend invite as well as access to the first round of closed beta. The beta preview weekends will kick off the next round of testing in March 2014. [Source: Above and Beyond Technologies press release] The Repopulation returns to Kickstater, launches Steam Greenlight campaign originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Dec 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

War Thunder expands Ground Forces beta test Posted: 27 Dec 2013 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Historical, Events (In-Game), War, Free-to-Play Tanks ahoy! War Thunder has moved into its next wave of beta testing, Gaijin Entertainment announced. A new batch of invites have been sent out for the closed beta of the Ground Forces content. It's not just hard work and bug hunting, however; the team is currently running a Winter Magic event through January 12th that can net participants special gifts, premium aircraft, and a week of premium account access. It's important to understand that while the Ground Forces content is in closed beta, War Thunder itself is in open beta. Gaijin reports that over five million players have given the title a try so far. [Additional source: Gaijin Entertainment press release] War Thunder expands Ground Forces beta test originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Dec 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Ground Forces beta announcement

The Daily Grind: Are MMO beta NDAs counterproductive? Posted: 27 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous In the last month, Massively staffers (and no doubt some of you readers!) have taken part in several high-profile beta tests, and they all seem to fall into one of two categories: those that guard their games behind NDAs thick enough to protect all the gold in Fort Knox, and those that just don't seem to care. And I've gotta say, when my screenshots come out with watermarks plastered all over them, obscuring what I'm looking at and preventing NDA-breakers from ripping videos, nowadays my gut reaction is not wow, what a well-organized beta but dude, what are they trying to hide? Diablo III's upcoming expansion, by contrast, slipped into closed beta with a wink and a shrug and nary an NDA in sight. Talk about us, Blizzard seemed to say. Screencap us. We're gorgeous. We're ready. But upcoming major MMORPGs give off a terrified vibe, even when they have nothing to be worried about. NDA violators will break their agreements anyway, and the studio relinquishes the control it seeks to retain to exactly the malicious testers it hoped to squelch. What do you think -- are MMO beta NDAs counterproductive? 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: Are MMO beta NDAs counterproductive? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Dec 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: Exploring The Secret World's Lairs Posted: 26 Dec 2013 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Video, The Secret World, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team, Buy-to-Play Have you ever been to a Lair in The Secret World? You'd know it if you stumbled across one while adventuring solo because you'd be PDD PDQ: Pretty Darn Dead, Pretty Darn Quick. And yes, Massively's MJ found that out the hard way once! But now she's heading back with a friends to exact her revenge on those bunched-up hordes of evil. Join us live at 9:00 p.m. see what awaits the group in these overland challenges. Game: The Secret World Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Thursday, December 26th, 2013 Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Exploring The Secret World's Lairs The Stream Team: Exploring The Secret World's Lairs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Summoner's Guidebook: The allure of new LoL champions Posted: 26 Dec 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook Picking new champions in League of Legends is akin to picking a role. There are a few major schools of thought: Either you pick a small number of characters and stand by them or you grab every new character that strikes your fancy. Of course, there's a middle road where you get a lot of characters but you still focus on getting new characters that add something to your roster. There's less of an opportunity cost with picking up a new character than there is with picking a new role. Learning a new champion takes some practice, but many of the things you learn while playing your new character are applicable to every character in the same role. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: The allure of new LoL champions The Summoner's Guidebook: The allure of new LoL champions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Field Journal: Pandaria's pastoral paradise Posted: 26 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, PvE, Opinion, Hands-On, Subscription, MMORPG, Field Journal This week in Massively's Field Journal, I'm turning my attention to the big one, the game that must not be named, World of Warcraft. Some of you might say that's what WoW Insider is for, but our sister site's staff is made up of hardcore players who have kept up with the times and are used to the game's ways, some perhaps to the exclusion of other MMOs. What I'm offering is a look at the introduction of the current expansion with fresh eyes, from someone who used to be that person but hasn't been for a long time. Continue reading Field Journal: Pandaria's pastoral paradise Field Journal: Pandaria's pastoral paradise originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mark Kern addresses his departure from Red 5 Studios Posted: 26 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, Firefall Using a mixture of geek culture references, former Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern posted a brief statement on MMORPG.com to address his departure from the Firefall studio. Kern referenced the event as his "Kobayashi Maru test" and insinuated that fans shouldn't fully believe what they may have heard. "While there have been rumors about whether I was demoted, terminated, or maybe even corporately executed, I will only say this: Remember that Han always shot first," he wrote. Kern said that he had fond memories of his time with the company and wished the studio success in the future. Mark Kern was let go from Red 5 on December 19th and replaced by acting CEO James Macauley. [Thanks to ArchDevi for the tip!] Mark Kern addresses his departure from Red 5 Studios originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments MMORPG.com

The Stream Team: Touring Vanguard's first dungeons on Kojan Posted: 26 Dec 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Vanguard, Free-to-Play, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team So far the dungeons of Vanguard have been confined to caves, but that's not always the case. In fact, some dungeon experiences are right out in the open! So it is with the first low-level dungeon on Kojan, Vaelwyn Citadel. Join Massively's MJ as she travels to Ca'ial Brael and works her way through first the Citadel and then Glade of the Lost. As a bonus, the two dungeons are close to each other! This next tour departs promptly at 3:00 p.m., so don't miss it. Game: Vanguard Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Thursday, December 26th, 2013 Time: 3:00p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Touring Vanguard's first dungeons on Kojan The Stream Team: Touring Vanguard's first dungeons on Kojan originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Guild Counsel: Making the most of holiday events with your guild Posted: 26 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Events (In-Game), Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous The holidays might seem like a good time to lay low and take a break, but they can actually be a great opportunity to get ahead, particularly for more casual guilds. The arrival of holiday events means that players can relax and enjoy the short-term change of pace, but with the right approach, those limited events can help your guild boost its finances and its morale at the same time. Let's look at how even the most casual guild can benefit from holiday events in this week's Guild Counsel. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Making the most of holiday events with your guild The Guild Counsel: Making the most of holiday events with your guild originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2013 awards Posted: 26 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous Let's talk about our 2013 awards (not the 2012 awards, though this image demonstrates why we avoid easily manipulable community polls). Some of you agreed with our picks. Some of you didn't. That's OK. Not everyone on the Massively staff agreed with all of them either. A lot of sites just let the Important People reach a consensus on nominations or even the final vote, but we let every staffer vote on the entire pool of everything. Everything, as one columnist put it, was a write-in. Goodness, even TUG scored a vote in there. Of course, TUG is adorable. A bunch of people wrote something to the effect of, "How dare you say subs are the year's biggest mistake? Massively hates subs! You're so biased for F2P!" Specifically, we said that subs were a huge blunder for The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar. "Massively" is not a hivemind entity, and "Massively" does not hate subs. Quite a lot of us like or even prefer subs. Most of us grew up when subs were the norm. I'm subbed to two games right this very second, even though what I personally prefer was classic Guild Wars' buy-to-play campaign set-up. We also voted for a sub game as our game of the year! But let's be perfectly clear when we're fighting this F2P-vs.-sub war: The sub model we remember so fondly is not the sub model games are deploying now. Continue reading Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2013 awards Ask Massively: The one where we talk about our 2013 awards originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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