| One Shots: Slice 'n' dice Posted: 11 Aug 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Screenshots, Culture, Star Wars Galaxies, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, Mabinogi, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Miscellaneous No matter what the universe throws at us, no matter what problem roars in our face, no matter how desperate the situation appears, all can be conquered with a bit of derring-do. And a big, honking, lava-infused, laser-focused, mega-powered battle sword with +3 to every stat and a proc ability that will end the world on a d20 roll. Frank has such a sword. Frank is set for life. "Here's a shot from the ongoing Relics of the Gree event in Star Wars: The Old Republic," he sent in. I think Frank has it covered. Maybe you don't have such a sword on you. It's OK; we've got plenty of awesome screenshots after the jump that you can take and use their sharp corners to slice through the opposition. Rock it! Continue reading One Shots: Slice 'n' dice  One Shots: Slice 'n' dice originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Aug 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Should NPCs change? Posted: 11 Aug 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous One of the aspects that I've loved about the recent books of Lord of the Rings Online's epic story is that it's provided my character with an interesting and persistent NPC fellowship. Traveling with constant companions, even if they're virtual ones, is much preferable to wandering alone, especially if said companions grow and develop over time. I was rooting for the simmering romance between Horn and Nona, if only so that they'd stop acting like high school drama students performing some weird Shakespeare play. Just kiss already, darn it! Today I'd like the Massively class to discuss change in our NPCs. Is it a welcome factor to have one of these characters grow, develop, and have their own virtual lives? Or would that be a bad idea because... reasons?  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: Should NPCs change? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Aug 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Blacklight Retribution adds Sonic Tomahawk, Dropzone map Posted: 10 Aug 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play Zombie Studios has updated its Blacklight Retribution multiplayer shooter. The title, which is published by Perfect World, now boasts a new map called Dropzone that hearkens back to Zombie's 2010 Blacklight: Tango Down. Zombie says that due to the map's small size, gameplay will be "fast and frenetic." The team has also raised the level cap from 40 to 50 and added new titles, camouflage, and gear including Riot Shield and Sonic Tomahawk melee weapons. [Source: Perfect World press release] Blacklight Retribution adds Sonic Tomahawk, Dropzone map originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Marvel Heroes dev blog talks PvP, defense, and new heroes Posted: 10 Aug 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Patches, PvP, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes, Dev Diaries, MOBA It's time again for Gazillion Entertainment's weekly Marvel Heroes dev blog, and this latest entry hops, skips, and jumps its way across a vast number of topics. First on deck are changes to the game's defense system and difficulty ratings; the dev team is working to reduce the odds of one-shotting and improve the experience for melee heroes. Also in the works: tweaks to Midtown Manhattan, the release of rare costumes to the in-game store, a boost to the drop rate for eternity splinters, and further iterations to the game's upcoming optional PvP system. Of particular interest is the team's confirmation that it can change hero behaviors between PvE and PvP environments, meaning basic hero components like crowd control and cooldowns can be tweaked separately for both styles of play. Finally, work continues on Emma Frost, Squirrel Girl, and Luke Cage, all due for release in the somewhat near future. Luke Cage can create (and throw) cars, Emma Frost brings new mind control abilities, and Squirrel Girl has... squirrels. Most changes featured in the dev blog should be going live on test servers soon, if they're not there already. Marvel Heroes dev blog talks PvP, defense, and new heroes originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Make My MMO: July 28 - August 10, 2013 Posted: 10 Aug 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, Crowdfunding, Make My MMO Ah, the joys of bringing more games into the fold. Sadly, we don't know whether this will be just a brief passing in the night or a more permanent stay; that all depends on how newcomers Project Snowstorm and Legends of Firestorm do on their respective Kickstarter campaigns. Will the community help them make their MMOs? We'll keep watch and keep you informed. Speaking of keeping informed, a few of the funded projects found themselves in the news lately -- and we mean more than just crowdfunding king Star Citizen! And we've got it all rounded up right here for your perusing pleasure. Continue reading Make My MMO: July 28 - August 10, 2013 Make My MMO: July 28 - August 10, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Wings Over Atreia: Does adding aether make a mech class more Aion? Posted: 10 Aug 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Classes, Game Mechanics, Lore, Patches, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Wings Over Atreia NCsoft tried to do it to me again! Smack dab in the middle of my two-part new dungeons guide for Aion's latest expansion, the studio slipped out the news about the third new class and tried to derail my plans. Well this time, it did not succeed! But just because I made the topic wait a bit doesn't mean I am not about to devote a lengthy span of words on it. At long last, there is a date for when the mechanized Aethertech will join the Gunner and Songweaver in 4.0, even if the date is only about hitting the Korean beta servers. But that means that it's not far from going live there, and when it does, its debut on the North American servers won't be far behind. As you'd expect, this news sparked a bit of excitement. Some folks, however, are decrying Aion's flagrant foul of destroying its own mythos and all but spitting on the sanctity of its genre. So we're here to discuss that: Is the Aethertech an inexcusable aberration in the lore, or does it actually fit right in? Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Does adding aether make a mech class more Aion? Wings Over Atreia: Does adding aether make a mech class more Aion? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: FFXIV lessons from Final Fantasy XI Posted: 10 Aug 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log Final Fantasy XIV is in the final push to launch now, with phase 4 right around the corner and early access shortly after that. This is good news for me, since it means I can get back to actually playing the game that I write about every week after nearly a year. And, you know, the game is pretty awesome, so that's a bright point as well. It also means that the future isn't what it used to be. The relaunch has been The Future for a very long time, but now the relaunch is The Almost Right This Second, and The Future consists of patches and expansions and new classes and the like. All good things, all welcome, and all things that could take a few lessons from Final Fantasy XI. I've said before that Final Fantasy XIV was designed to fix some problems from Final Fantasy XI that it never was going to have, but that's not what I'm talking about. Instead of talking about preventing players from leveling consistently or hunting the possibility of RMT with McCarthy-level vigilance, let's look at some simple lessons to internalize in the future. Continue reading The Mog Log: FFXIV lessons from Final Fantasy XI The Mog Log: FFXIV lessons from Final Fantasy XI originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SWTOR update 2.4 preview from Chicago cantina tour Posted: 10 Aug 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, Events (Real-World), Previews, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, MMORPG The BioWare community team and Lead Designer Jesse Sky traveled to Wizard World ComicCon last week to give fans of Star Wars: The Old Republic a taste of the new upcoming content. The developers announced that, besides the arena PvP content, Update 2.4 will introduce players to two brand-new operations centering around the planet Oricon, the planet where the Dread Masters have been rumored to be hiding. Developers also gave every fan attendee a thumb drive containing concept art and screenshots from the planet. If you are on the SWTOR mailing list, then you saw the teaser about the new Varactyl mount coming soon. The cantina crawlers in Chicago received a couple of screenshots and a video of the new mount, which we have featured after the break. And one more rumor coming directly from our tipster in the field: Jesse Sky said that although we will never see actual sitting in chairs due to coding issues, we will see an emote that will make our characters look as if they are sitting very soon. [Thanks to Mike from Nefarious Intent for the tips!] Continue reading SWTOR update 2.4 preview from Chicago cantina tour SWTOR update 2.4 preview from Chicago cantina tour originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Tattered Notebook: It's OK if EverQuest Next is a niche game Posted: 10 Aug 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Tattered Notebook, EverQuest Next, Sandbox I'd like to open today's column with my favorite quote from SOE's EverQuest Next reveal: "Enough is enough. Enough of the same game already. It's time to get some new ideas into the genre." Now, you would think that this sort of unambiguous mission statement would be picked up on and understood by everyone who has even a passing interest in EverQuest Next. After all, the quote rolled off franchise director Dave Georgeson's tongue during the first two minutes of the EQN reveal speech. And if it wasn't clear from that opening monologue that EQN isn't going to be your daddy's combat lobby, the rest of the reveals that focused largely on the game world, the building tools, and a wee bit of the ol' ultraviolence should have been the second clue. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: It's OK if EverQuest Next is a niche game The Tattered Notebook: It's OK if EverQuest Next is a niche game originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Meet the crew of Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade Posted: 10 Aug 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Warhammer 40k, MMORPG Behaviour Interactive continues to drop tidbits of information regarding Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade, with this week's phased release coming in the form of a Meet the Crew dev diary. The video takes viewers behind the scenes at Behaviour, introducing key developers and discussing their roles on the project. If you look real close, you'll also catch a few bits of early Eternal Crusade gameplay and character designs in the background. Check out the video after the jump. [Thanks to Will for the tip!] Continue reading Meet the crew of Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade Meet the crew of Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Aug 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Amazon console could be released by Black Friday
Pirate Browser is an enhanced portable version of Firefox
