MMO Updates

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• The Stream Team: Returning to Thestra's dungeons in Vanguard
• The Road to Mordor: My 2014 wish list for LotRO
• WRUP: Very edition
• The Daily Grind: Which two MMOs would you mash together?
• Turbine announces DDO Player Council
• Betawatch: January 4 - 10, 2014
• The Stream Team: Crushing TERA's dead zone
• Here's Fallen Earth's latest state-of-the-game
• Undead Labs says 'big things are going on with State of Decay'
• The Stream Team: Saying goodbye to Allods Online
• Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online combat 101
• Blade & Soul tops 1.5M concurrent users in China
• EverQuest Next Landmark shows off advanced building tools
• Storyboard: Maybe I should go
• Elder Scrolls Online anticipates 'massive' test weekend
• Star Wars: The Old Republic uploads patch 2.6 to test servers

The Stream Team: Returning to Thestra's dungeons in Vanguard Posted: 11 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Vanguard, Free-to-Play, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team No matter where you start in Vanguard, there are plenty of dungeon experiences right from the get-go. And in this next edition of Dungeon Tours, Massively's MJ heads back to Thestra to the Vulmane starting area of Dahknarg to show off the first dungeon awaiting the wolf-like race. Slated for the solo adventurer between level 7 and 11, the dungeon can be done alone or with friends. As most of the lowest dungeons go quickly, MJ might also swing by Arcanium in Leth Nurae, home of the High Elves. Join us live at 12:00 p.m. for this next stop on the tour. Game: Vanguard Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Saturday, January 11th, 2014 Time: 12:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Returning to Thestra's dungeons in Vanguard The Stream Team: Returning to Thestra's dungeons in Vanguard originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jan 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Road to Mordor: My 2014 wish list for LotRO Posted: 11 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Road to Mordor A lot of us Massively writers like to take the first column of the new year to lay out a wish list for our favorite MMOs. Of course, the other writers are total copycats because I've been doing this for years now and I think that they owe me royalties. Lord of the Rings Online faces a challenging year in 2014. We already know that it's going to be an expansion-free year with a different focus on development. In April, the game will be seven years old, which certainly puts it into middle-age in MMO years. And with some uncertainty over the future of the game's IP rights, some disgruntlement over the store and aging character models, and no word as to how populated or profitable LotRO is, it's made a few folks nervous. But it could be a tremendous year as well, full of possibilities for Turbine to make good choices. I'm still as in love with this game world as ever. I wouldn't be playing LotRO if I didn't find tremendous fun and value in it, and I have hope that 2014 will see the game get its second wind and strengthen as a whole. So without further ado, here is my wish list from last year to see what was fulfilled and what was denied, along with my 2014 wish list for features and changes that I'd like to see. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: My 2014 wish list for LotRO The Road to Mordor: My 2014 wish list for LotRO originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jan 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Very edition Posted: 11 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous WRUP this week is -- wait. Oh, you're all waiting for me to do the meme, right? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this isn't just a doge post. Shiba Inus are a noble breed, and they deserve our respect. Unfortunately, most people just know about these animals from the doge meme. Can't blame them, but still. Here's a Shiba, anyway. What a good boy! Really makes you want one, doesn't it? Universally smart and precocious though they are. Probably a bit much for a first-time dog owner. My desire for these puppies is still strong. Unsurprisingly. Can't let animal pictures get in the way of WRUP, though. Here we've collected the Massively staff's plans. Why? Education. Edification. Kindness? Er, not so much. Nothing all that kind about it. Don't focus on my rambling, though. Make your way past the cut. And do you have plans? Neat! You should share them in the comments. Please. Lets us know we're appreciated. And we need that. No lie. Continue reading WRUP: Very edition WRUP: Very edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jan 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Which two MMOs would you mash together? Posted: 11 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Remember our MMO Blender series? It was pretty fun; we cherry-picked a whole bunch of mechanics from various games and smashed them together into one game. That is not exactly what we're asking for today. We don't want you to cherry-pick mechanics; we want you to pick two distinct games and shove them together without regard for what gets broken. No plucking crafting from Ryzom and combat from TERA; just pile both of them together into one big mass. Yes, parts of it would probably be messy. But what would a fusion of Final Fantasy XI and Guild Wars look like? Or WildStar and Star Trek Online? Just take two games, maybe two of your favorites, maybe two that each has half of the features you'd like, maybe even two that you dislike separately. Smash them together and tell us about the resulting collision. Which two MMOs would you mash together? 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: Which two MMOs would you mash together? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Jan 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Turbine announces DDO Player Council Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play Want to make your mark on Dungeons and Dragons Online? Then you'd best apply for the newly announced DDO Players Council. Like its counterpart in Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online, and like EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management precursor, the Council "is a group of players selected to provide targeted feedback and valuable suggestions to the DDO Team." Applications are due by January 20th, and Tubine hopes to launch the Council during the week of January 27th. [Thanks Ehra!] Turbine announces DDO Player Council originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Announcement

Betawatch: January 4 - 10, 2014 Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous Who wants to talk about The Elder Scrolls Online? Because you can't, even if you're in the group of new beta testers. At least, you can't talk about the game itself. People have taken the time to talk extensively regarding the game launching with a subscription model and whether or not that's a good thing. The actual game mechanics will have to remain under wraps. If you'd like to discuss it down in the comments... please don't. NDA. Fortunately, there are several games just past the break that are not under NDA. Some of them are even in open testing, so you can just sign up and go. Won't that be fun? As always, you can let us know down in the comments whether something surreptitiously entered a de facto launch state by adding a functional cash shop despite officially being in testing. Those sneaky cash shops really get in if you don't have proper sealing. Continue reading Betawatch: January 4 - 10, 2014 Betawatch: January 4 - 10, 2014 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: Crushing TERA's dead zone Posted: 10 Jan 2014 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Lore, PvE, Free-to-Play, Massively Meta, Hands-On, TERA, The Stream Team, MMORPG Massively's Mike Foster is working hard to push his TERA Lancer through the dungeon dead zone that occurs in the game's mid-thirties range. His job? To complete as many quests as possible in as short a time as possible, stacking up valuable XP along the way. Can he make it to the next dungeon tier, or will he be forever relegated to running errands for NPCs? Find out at 7:30 p.m. EST. Game: TERA Host: Mike Foster Date: Friday, January 10th, 2014 Time: 7:30 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Crushing TERA's dead zone The Stream Team: Crushing TERA's dead zone originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here's Fallen Earth's latest state-of-the-game Posted: 10 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Fallen Earth, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Post-Apocalyptic There's a brief state-of-the-game update now live on the Fallen Earth website. The devs are apparently hard at work on some new content as well as various improvements to existing stuff. The post mentions PvP keep adjustments, and more specifically tweaks that will shift the focus from player-vs.-door to player-vs.-player. The game's Outpost area also gets a mention. It's "staged content will give players more to explore as well as give [the devs] new ways to challenge and reward both group and solo activities. Here's Fallen Earth's latest state-of-the-game originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Jan. SotG

Undead Labs says 'big things are going on with State of Decay' Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Horror, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Sandbox Is Undead Labs working on its long-rumored State of Decay MMO? Maybe so and maybe no, but the company is working on something big according to founder Jeff Strain's latest blog post. "We'll be able to share details later this year," he writes, "but as with State of Decay, we think it's best if we just keep our heads down and build some prototypes before we talk too much. For now, suffice it to say there are big things going on with State of Decay. Strain also intimates that whatever it is will take quite a while. "It's been a long haul from the original vision to this point, and the road ahead of us will take years to travel. We hope you're up for the trip, because we can't do it without you," he says. Undead Labs says 'big things are going on with State of Decay' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments The Road Ahead

The Stream Team: Saying goodbye to Allods Online Posted: 10 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, PvE, Free-to-Play, Massively Meta, Hands-On, Choose My Adventure, Allods Online, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team, MMORPG Voters chose Allods Online as the subject of this edition of Choose My Adventure, and Massively's Mike Foster has been questing, crafting, and fighting over credit card payments ever since. In this last Allods stream, Mike will be saying goodbye to the game by exploring a bit outside of the starting zones and probably getting killed by some sort of ravenous monster. Tune in at 6:00 p.m. EST to catch Allods in action. Game: Allods Online Host: Mike Foster Date: Friday, January 10th, 2014 Time: 6:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Saying goodbye to Allods Online The Stream Team: Saying goodbye to Allods Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online combat 101 Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Opinion, Guides, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, MMORPG, Tamriel Infinium As I had mentioned in previous articles, it's become apparent that readers don't have a clear picture of The Elder Scrolls Online. I can certainly understand where this comes from; the advertisers have held back a lot of specific information about ESO. Although we have had one trailer that included in-game footage, it didn't really give us a good taste of what it feels like to play the game. It certainly didn't show what the game has to offer beyond PvP. Although PvP will likely be a lot of fun in ESO, I know that not everyone will pick up or wants to pick up the game strictly for that reason. This week, I would like to dive into a bit of the combat basics. Creative Director Paul Sage and his crew have given multiple demos showing the combat of ESO, and even a few of our own reporters have hopped onto a demo PC at a convention or two to experience the game firsthand. I certainly suggest you read those write-ups if you're looking for the overall experience because today I'm talking about combat specifically. How does it work, and more importantly, what will it feel like? Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online combat 101 Tamriel Infinium: Elder Scrolls Online combat 101 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Blade & Soul tops 1.5M concurrent users in China Posted: 10 Jan 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Blade & Soul While we twiddle our thumbs in the West waiting for a game that might never come, Blade & Soul is stampeding across Asia and has the numbers to prove it. MMO Culture reports that Blade & Soul China has 1.5 million players (wait for it) online at the same time. As in concurrency, not total numbers. While that certainly smacks of popularity, what's even more astonishing is that some players in the region have to wait around six hours in a queue just to play. Other impressive statistics include the Blade & Soul beta trailer being viewed 30.4 million times, 450 million monsters killed on the first day of the game, and one player who's already sunk 1,345 hours into the title. Blade & Soul tops 1.5M concurrent users in China originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMO Culture

EverQuest Next Landmark shows off advanced building tools Posted: 10 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, EverQuest Next, Dev Diaries, Sandbox The EverQuest Next Landmark team is quite proud of its robust building tools for the game, especially now that it has taken suggestions from fans to add new options. Due to all of the added tools, the devs are eager to demonstrate more things that you can do with the game in a new developer video. The video, which is available to select Massively Platinum readers after the break, includes Landmark's selection and line tools as well as its grid mode. Check it out! Continue reading EverQuest Next Landmark shows off advanced building tools EverQuest Next Landmark shows off advanced building tools originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Storyboard: Maybe I should go Posted: 10 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous Friendships don't always last forever. The people who made great roleplaying partners a year ago might not make such great partners for you today. Sometimes it's time to stop hanging out with the same old crowd and start finding yourself a new group to call home. Maybe it's a clash of personalities. Maybe it's a change in characters. Maybe it's just that you know as long as Tim and Anna are your main roleplaying partners you're going to be doing the same three plotlines from here to eternity because Tim really likes those three plotlines. The point is, there comes a point when it's time to say farewell and move on to a new group. So when is it time? That's a slightly more difficult question. Obviously, the people you gather around you for roleplaying are people you like to roleplay with; otherwise, you wouldn't have them around you in the first place. Telling them that you just don't want to any longer is a bit of a step. So let's talk about the when, and in a couple weeks we can talk about the how. Continue reading Storyboard: Maybe I should go Storyboard: Maybe I should go originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Elder Scrolls Online anticipates 'massive' test weekend Posted: 10 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription Elder Scrolls Online is going big for this weekend's beta test, as ZeniMax says that it has invited "a massive number of players worldwide" to push the systems to their limits. The team encouraged any and all beta testers to persist through issues and play hard while it conducts its own tests and roots out bugs. "With your help, we can uncover problems and solve them before launch," the team wrote. ZeniMax says that those not invited into this weekend's test need not worry, as there will be additional sessions in the near future. Elder Scrolls Online is scheduled to launch on April 4th. Elder Scrolls Online anticipates 'massive' test weekend originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Beta update

Star Wars: The Old Republic uploads patch 2.6 to test servers Posted: 10 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Subscription Do you like bombs? Do you like team-based deathmatches? Do you like exploring shipyards with randomized combat encounters? Do you like slow walks on the beach with a martini in one hand? Star Wars: The Old Republic's patch 2.6 probably won't help you with that last one, but it will give you plenty to like in the first three categories. And it's available on the test realm right now for anyone who wants to take it for a spin. Patch 2.6 adds in bombers for the Galactic Starfighter expansion so that everyone can enjoy dropping fields of explosive death. It also adds in team-based deathmatches for PvP and the new Kuat Drive Yard, with the former being exactly what it says on the tin and the latter pitting champions of the Empire and the Republic against randomized encounters. Take a look at the official announcement for details on how to use the test realm, and feel free to keep hoping for that slow-beach-walk patch. Star Wars: The Old Republic uploads patch 2.6 to test servers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Jan 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Game Update 2.6 on PTR

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