MMO Updates

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• DUST 514's Uprising 1.8 patch out today
• Diablo III: Reaper of Souls launch day roundup
• Guild Wars 2 unveils new account-wide wardrobe system
• SMITE launches today with new cinematic trailer
• The Daily Grind: Are we ever going to get over our disdain for browser MMOs?
• Skyforge releases new screenshots of Dankit Island
• Not So Massively: The official launches of SMITE and Diablo III's Reaper of Souls
• Star Trek Online details a revamp to the Undine
• CCP: EVE Valkyrie is at the forefront of the VR 'movement'
• HBO's Game of Thrones advertises for League of Legends
• The Stream Team: Delving into TUG with devs
• Elder Scrolls Online recaps pre-launch AMA
• Why I Play: Star Trek Online
• World of Warcraft garrisons won't cost you gold
• Darkfall discounts six-month sub, updates weather effects

DUST 514's Uprising 1.8 patch out today Posted: 25 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, DUST 514 CCP has released Uprising 1.8 for its DUST 514 console shooter. It's a significant patch on account of the "full equipment, weapon, and dropsuit rebalancing," not to mention new sidearms, cloaking equipment, and new heavy and light dropsuits for each of the game's races. Cloaking is a game-changer, CCP says, and so "coordinated use of active scanners is vital, and properly placed drop uplinks and nanohives can help provide victory in even the most difficult battles." DUST 514's Uprising 1.8 patch out today originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 1.8 notes

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls launch day roundup Posted: 25 Mar 2014 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Expansions, Launches, News Items, Diablo III, Buy-to-Play Did you stay up late last night to watch the official kick-off stream for Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion? Did you wait in long lines at a brick-and-mortar store to buy your copy of the game? No, of course not. You already had it digitally pre-loaded and were playing while those other suckers were out in the cold. Yes, as of 12:00 a.m. EDT this morning, the Reaper of Souls expansion, complete with its new locations and bosses and class and loot, was officially live. Enjoy our roundup of coverage leading up to the launch, and let us know what you think about the upgrade! Continue reading Diablo III: Reaper of Souls launch day roundup Diablo III: Reaper of Souls launch day roundup originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Guild Wars 2 unveils new account-wide wardrobe system Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, Game Mechanics, Patches, Previews, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Roleplaying, Dev Diaries, MMORPG, Buy-to-Play The latest ingredient in Guild Wars 2's April 2014 feature pack has just been announced, and it's a delight for those of us who like to play dress-up in our MMOs. Yes, it's quite literally a wardrobe, an "account-wide system that allows players to collect every skin in the game." Says ArenaNet, "Currently, it can be a little overwhelming to try to sort through it all and customize your character exactly how you'd like to. Our answer to that is the Wardrobe, which makes it easy for players to change their look at any time and to share cosmetic items across all the characters on [their] account." In other words, a skin unlock for one character will work for alts too, and players will use transmutation charges to swap their looks as part of the new simplified transmutation system. ANet launched a brand new dev blog, video, and gallery today to toast the new feature. Enjoy! Continue reading Guild Wars 2 unveils new account-wide wardrobe system Guild Wars 2 unveils new account-wide wardrobe system originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Wardrobe dev blog

SMITE launches today with new cinematic trailer Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Events (In-Game), Launches, New Titles, Free-to-Play, MOBA It's the official launch day for SMITE and Hi-Rez Studios is celebrating with a brand new cinematic that shows off a few of the game's MOBA gods in action. SMITE has been in open beta since January 24th, 2013 and has enjoyed a surge in popularity, making it Hi-Rez Studio's fastest-growing game to date. You can download the game for free from its main website and be sure to check out our extensive coverage of the game including videos and livestreams. Don't forget the cinematic trailer just after the jump. Continue reading SMITE launches today with new cinematic trailer SMITE launches today with new cinematic trailer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Are we ever going to get over our disdain for browser MMOs? Posted: 25 Mar 2014 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business Models, Culture, Opinion, Browser, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Sandbox Go into any WildStar discussion and you'll see people decrying the graphics as too cutesy, and that's WildStar -- a robust AAA MMORPG with a custom client that taxes even a strong gaming PC. For browser games, that stigma is even worse. Either the graphics are too cutesy or people convince themselves that no game in a browser can ever rise above social spamalots like FarmVille. It's silly since so many deep and detailed MMOs have browser clients or exist only in a browser. Glitch may have been superficially cutesy and may have been Flash-bound, but it was a serious sandbox with incredible exploration, clever questing, an impressive crafting system, skill-based advancement, and a unique and completely customizable housing system with loads of player-generated content. And for all that, a lot of people, even sandbox fans, refused to even try it because it was lodged firmly inside Chrome or Firefox. Are we ever going to get over our disdain for browser MMOs? Can we judge games based on their content and not on stereotypes about their delivery? 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 we ever going to get over our disdain for browser MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Skyforge releases new screenshots of Dankit Island Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Galleries, Screenshots, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMORPG, Skyforge Skyforge: Is it sci-fi or fantasy? Who cares -- it's pretty. Obsidian and Allods Team have just released brand-new screenshots of the upcoming MMORPG; they feature a location named Dankit Island, which is so pretty that it's obviously home to evil, rat-like creatures called Virth. Naturally, players will be saving Dankit Island from said evil. That's just what players do. Enjoy the screens! [Thanks to Paul for the tip!] Skyforge releases new screenshots of Dankit Island originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Official forums

Not So Massively: The official launches of SMITE and Diablo III's Reaper of Souls Posted: 24 Mar 2014 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Business Models, Events (Real-World), Expansions, Game Mechanics, Launches, Previews, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, Not So Massively, MOBA, Diablo III, Elite: Dangerous Welcome back to No So Massively, where every Monday we round up the highlights from the past week in the world of MOBAs, roguelikes, MMOTCGs, and other games that aren't quite MMOs. Diablo III's Reaper of Souls expansion launches tonight; you can spy on the festivities at midnight EDT on Twitch. The launch lead-up saw a new trailer (after the cut), new skill vids, Hearthstone tie-ins, the end of the auction house, a Pandemonium preview, and Xbox One development confirmation. SMITE announced new god Ullr ahead of its official launch tomorrow. Sony unveiled Project Morpheus, its Oculus Rift rival. GDC revealed that 89% of MOBA players play League of Legends. State of Decay posted character bios for its Lifeline DLC. Elite: Dangerous' David Braben discussed the series sandbox beginnings at GDC. Dota 2 promised an end to duplicates in treasures. DayZ posted a new dev blog about weapons and collision and more. Continue reading Not So Massively: The official launches of SMITE and Diablo III's Reaper of Souls Not So Massively: The official launches of SMITE and Diablo III's Reaper of Souls originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Star Trek Online details a revamp to the Undine Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, Previews, News Items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play, Subscription As Star Trek Online turns its focus more toward the Delta Quadrant, one of the biggest bads of that region deserved a fresh look. The Undine (also known as Species 8472) have been a notable threat to the Federation and the Klingon Empire since the earliest days of the game, but the developers have only briefly touched upon them here and there in storylines. The latest development blog highlights how the race has been revamped in light of the shapeshifters taking on a larger role in the Season 9 update. The old Undine armor is gone, replaced with new appearances that are higher-definition and look more in line with existing Undine technology. The mechanics of the species both on the ground and in space have also been revamped, giving a more coherent but still unique set of challenges when players are taking on the masters of fluidic space. For more details on the new visual rank distinctions and the changes to enemy mechanics, check out the full development blog. Star Trek Online details a revamp to the Undine originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Season 9 Dev Blog #4

CCP: EVE Valkyrie is at the forefront of the VR 'movement' Posted: 24 Mar 2014 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Interviews CCP is convinced that virtual reality is around to stay, which is why the studio is pouring its efforts into EVE Valkryie for Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus. In an interview with VG247, Chief Marketing Officer David Reid said that CCP's involvement is a signal that VR is coming back in a big way: "This is just great for virtual reality. It convinces all of us developers that this thing is really going to happen. That it isn't just a fad or a flash in the pan or just one company trying -- it is now a movement. When you have one of the foundational companies of the video game industry getting into this, it really has accelerated the chances of this becoming a very big deal." Reid said that CCP is showing that it is focused on "things that matter to gamers" by pursuing EVE Valkyrie. "We said a vision statement a couple years ago that we want to be a developer that created virtual worlds more meaningful than real life," he said. CCP: EVE Valkyrie is at the forefront of the VR 'movement' originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: VG247

HBO's Game of Thrones advertises for League of Legends Posted: 24 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, MOBA, League of Legends League of Legends will be partnering up with HBO's Game of Thrones for a cross-promotional effort in the coming weeks. Riot Games said that HBO contacted the studio with the offer, saying that there was a shared interest between the two franchise's fanbases. Riot released League of Legends assets to HBO, which will then be turned into a trailer spotlighting both the MOBA and TV series. The game studio gave an overview of the promotion in an interview today: "HBO is doing a three-week activation in advance of their series premiere on April 6th. They're going to be getting some marketing assets, whether that's logo bugs or website takeovers. But we're also working with their team to produce a mash-up trailer. They're giving us some exclusive sneak peaks into footage that hasn't been seen before." HBO's Game of Thrones advertises for League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: [A]listdaily

The Stream Team: Delving into TUG with devs Posted: 24 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, New Titles, Livestream, Sandbox Have you been curious as to what The Untitled Game is all about? Then jump in with Massively's MJ as she cavorts around TUG with a dev or two to help explain what's going on. If you've got questions about this unique sandbox, now is definitely the time to ask them! Join us live at 5:00 p.m. EDT for a look into the wilds of the MMO built by scientists. Game: TUG Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Monday, March 24th, 2014 Time: 5:00 p.m. EDT Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Delving into TUG with devs The Stream Team: Delving into TUG with devs originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Elder Scrolls Online recaps pre-launch AMA Posted: 24 Mar 2014 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, PvP, Community Q&A, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription The Elder Scrolls Online team has posted a summary of its recent AMA with the most germane questions and answers fans have prior to the game's launch. Among the topics discussed was the choice of going to the starter islands, promised support for roleplayers, and the implementation of tabards and insignias for guild representation. PvPers will be relieved to know that ZeniMax is adding population bonuses for underpopulated alliances and hopes that the two underperforming teams will ally against the leader. The team also addressed several progress-blocking bugs from the recent beta test: "We did find three underlying issues that affected a large number of quests that are exposed when many people are in the same area. We have fixed all three of those underlying issues." Elder Scrolls Online recaps pre-launch AMA originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ESO AMA summary

Why I Play: Star Trek Online Posted: 24 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Lore, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play, Why I Play, Subscription I always feel like explaining my desire to play Star Trek Online can be summed up quite simply with eight words. "Space -- the final frontier. These are the voyages..." It sounds corny, but it's true. My various natterings on the site have covered a lot of settings for which I have no real affection, but Star Trek is different. It's been a fixed point for me since I was around seven years old. It's a setting I have an immense fondness for, something I've been invested in for most of my life. Really, the thing that amazes me is that I manage to take time away from Star Trek Online. But loving the name on the box would only take me so far if the game were a big steaming pile. Every time I go back to the game, even though I have complaints here and there, I fall back in love with the game as a whole all over again. It's not perfect, but it's amazingly well-done. Continue reading Why I Play: Star Trek Online Why I Play: Star Trek Online originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

World of Warcraft garrisons won't cost you gold Posted: 24 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, Game Mechanics, News Items, Housing, Subscription You know that World of Warcraft's next expansion is going to feature housing. Not just housing, in fact, since Garrisons are sprawling complexes under your direct control. So you know you need to figure out how you can afford it. You've been farming diligently, even resorting to shaking down repair vendors for gold, although that one hasn't worked out so well. But as it turns out, you don't need to worry. According to a tweet by Senior Game Designer Jeremy Feasel, Garrisons won't cost you gold. Feasel specifies in the tweet that Garrisons will use their own resource, stating that more information about what that resource is and how it can be gathered will be available soon. So you can rest easy knowing that your hard-won gold won't be needed to build your fortress. Or you can rest despondent that all of your gold won't buy you a nicer place. Either one, really. World of Warcraft garrisons won't cost you gold originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: WoW Insider

Darkfall discounts six-month sub, updates weather effects Posted: 24 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, Subscription Aventurine has announced its March Darkfall update, and with it a new promotion tied to the PvP MMORPG's six-month subscription plan. The update features more realistic weather effects. Snowfall and rain will now affect Agon's landscapes as well as buildings, mobs, and player characters. The devs have also added a new clan market system which facilitates goods exchanges within clans and enables the creation of city-based trading hubs. The six-month sub promotion costs $49.95, which amounts to 45 percent off the usual monthly fee. Finally, Aventurine wants you to know about Darkfall's other recent updates which include a new chat system, duels, and the Sinspire Cathedral epic dungeon. To get a better look at the new weather effects, click past the cut and watch the video. [Source: Aventurine press release] Continue reading Darkfall discounts six-month sub, updates weather effects Darkfall discounts six-month sub, updates weather effects originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Mar 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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