MMO Updates |
- Norrathian Notebook: SOE says bye-bye ProSiebenSat.1, hello Landmark Player Studio
- ArcheAge launching with patch 1.2, Trion 'eager to maintain sandbox nature'
- Hellbugs invade RIFT once again
- The Daily Grind: Are you a screenshot hoarder?
- Toontown Online 'homage' illustrates emulator quandary
- The Stream Team: Flying high in ArcheAge
- Super Hero Squad Online brings out achievements
- Beasts of Prey is a dinosaur-themed survival sandbox MMOFPS
- Darkfall Unholy Wars custom roles raise balance concerns
- MechWarrior Online launches the Clan Invasion
- Vindictus EU introduces playable Lynn
- Leaderboard: How much time do you spend getting good at a game?
- E3 2014: Warhammer 40K devs on development and founders packs
| Norrathian Notebook: SOE says bye-bye ProSiebenSat.1, hello Landmark Player Studio Posted: 19 Jun 2014 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, DC Universe Online, EverQuest Next, PlanetSide 2, Player-Generated Content, Norrathian Notebook, Landmark  Sometimes parting is just sweet, without the sorrow. Such is the case with the first bit of news: the departure of ProSiebenSat.1 from SOE. That's right, my European compadres, rejoice because SOE is bringing you back into the fold! The deal that quickly went sour for fans squished between the US company and the European partner is over, and SOE's titles are returning fully to its portfolio while region locks are being lifted. I can hear you all singing hallelujahs and dancing in the street! The second bit of news worthy of celebration was the launch of Player Studio in Landmark. Although it arrived later than anticipated thanks to the international tax registration processes, the wait was worthwhile because players from not only the U.S but also Canada, Sweden, France, the UK (yes, including Ireland), Germany, Norway, and Denmark can now submit items for sale to other players. That means that aspiring money-makers and non-builders who want to buy their cool items can finally find one another and do business. And that just paves the way for the system to work in EverQuest Next. As great as the announcements are, neither is without a few downs mixed in with the ups. Norrathian Notebook explores both bits of news to get you the necessary details. Continue reading Norrathian Notebook: SOE says bye-bye ProSiebenSat.1, hello Landmark Player Studio
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| ArcheAge launching with patch 1.2, Trion 'eager to maintain sandbox nature' Posted: 19 Jun 2014 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, Patches, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox  Initially released in Korea, [the 1.0] update has been the source of no small amount of concern from our ArcheAge community since we announced the game was coming to North America and Europe. Upon seeing the behavior of the patch's changes in the wild, the game's developer, XLGAMES, agreed that ArcheAge's balance and feel had shifted in an unintentional direction. Behind the scenes, we've been carefully following public feedback over the past few months, and had a chance to exhaustively test out the update on our own internal servers. While there are a number of gameplay improvements, we agree with their conclusion.Berman goes on to say that 1.2 adds over 70,000 words to translate, which will shift ArcheAge's beta schedule "by a few weeks."
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| Hellbugs invade RIFT once again Posted: 19 Jun 2014 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Free-to-Play, RIFT  These aren't your old Hellbugs, but a different strain that will appear in various rifts, footholds, and new zone events. Players have a shot at earning a Hellbug mount or pet for killing their brethren en masse, so good luck if you're aiming to get one!
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| The Daily Grind: Are you a screenshot hoarder? Posted: 19 Jun 2014 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Screenshots, Culture, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  This obsession is especially bizarre because outside of the need for a particular image on a Massively article, I hardly ever look at all these screenshots. Anyway, what about you, Massively readers? Do you hoard MMO screenshots, video, or other mementos from your virtual travels?  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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| Toontown Online 'homage' illustrates emulator quandary Posted: 18 Jun 2014 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Legal, Family, Miscellaneous  A team of 24 or so volunteer developers have been working on making Toontown Rewritten with publicly available images and their own skills as programmers and artists. While the team isn't charging players to access the title, its status as a de facto emulator could put it in jeopardy with the Mouse House. Disney hasn't commented on it yet, but copyright attorney Scott Landsbaum noted the quandary that such projects face: "When does a fan homage that is beneficial to your brand cross the line to infringement that can no longer happen?" Analyst Michael Pachter claimed that it was "unusual" for fans to take on such emulator projects, which was rebutted by Raph Koster, who tweeted, "Sorry Pachter, but hasn't EVERY shuttered MMO (and some open ones) been remade by fans?" A similar project for the also-defunct Pirates of the Caribbean Online claims that Disney has given the emulator its blessing.
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| The Stream Team: Flying high in ArcheAge Posted: 18 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Free-to-Play, Livestream, ArcheAge, The Stream Team  Game: ArcheAge Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Wednesday, June 18th, 2014 Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Flying high in ArcheAge
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| Super Hero Squad Online brings out achievements Posted: 18 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Patches, Previews, Free-to-Play, Kids, Family  Sorry, we're trying a new type of news dispersal technique at Massively that involves riding around on horses and shouting at townfolk. In any case, Super Hero Squad Online is prepping a "doozy" of an update for the game, and one of the big additions that will be in it is an achievement system. According to the team, achievements "range from simple things like destroying a Troublebot to silly things like farting in the Asgard throne room to really hard things like getting an Adamantium score 1,000 times." There will be over 5,000 achievements added to the game including destiny achievement sets that earn special rewards.
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| Beasts of Prey is a dinosaur-themed survival sandbox MMOFPS Posted: 18 Jun 2014 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, MMOFPS, Miscellaneous, Sandbox, Crafting, Player-Generated Content, Buy-to-Play  "Beasts of Prey has been funded privately and your purchase will help us to further develop the game and pay bills for designers/coders & infrastructure. Additionally and more importantly we need your feedback on what we have created so far so we can make the right adjustments to successfully change game-play & mechanics."The game boasts a single-server infrastructure, a detailed crafting and gathering system, a randomly generated world that adjusts its size based on the population, and dinosaurs that can wreck a camo-colored car much faster than a zombie ever could. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
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| Darkfall Unholy Wars custom roles raise balance concerns Posted: 18 Jun 2014 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Sandbox  Rather than patching immediately, the team intends to wait for a few more days to see how matters develop before addressing balance issues. The posting also states that the game is based around large-scale combat, so duel performance is not necessarily indicative of the game's overall state of balance. A full update regarding balance adjustments and bug fixes should be available next week. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
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| MechWarrior Online launches the Clan Invasion Posted: 18 Jun 2014 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (In-Game), Previews, Free-to-Play, MechWarrior Online, MOBA  This fictional event in the BattleTech universe will now play out in the online game, as players will fight in notable battles with new 'Mechs on different planets. With the Clan Invasion begun, the team has begun work on creating Units for the game. Units are MWO's version of guilds and will include ranks and chat channels when they arrive in the game proper.
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| Vindictus EU introduces playable Lynn Posted: 18 Jun 2014 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Classes, Patches, Free-to-Play, Vindictus  The fresh face is Lynn, the so-called Princess of the Lost Kingdom. She's a lightning-fast fighter who uses a spear to strike out and quick reflexes to dodge attacks. Some of her skills include Swift Assassin, Five-Fingered Death, and Jade Fox. The addition of Lynn coincides with an in-game event that gives out special awards at specific times and the opportunity to win gifts. You can see Lynn in action in a video after the break! Continue reading Vindictus EU introduces playable Lynn
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| Leaderboard: How much time do you spend getting good at a game? Posted: 18 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, Opinion, Sandbox, Leaderboard, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play  It's too early to know for sure, of course, but it seems like Star Citizen might be one of those sim-before-game exercises that requires both a lot of practice time and a lot of study in terms of knowing both your ship capabilities and those of your opponent's ship. What about your current MMOs, though? How much time do you spend getting good at your favorite in-game activities? Vote after the cut! Continue reading Leaderboard: How much time do you spend getting good at a game?
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| E3 2014: Warhammer 40K devs on development and founders packs Posted: 18 Jun 2014 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, Events (Massively's Coverage), Warhammer 40k, Buy-to-Play  I sat down with Warhammer 40K Creative Director David Ghozland, Senior Producer Stephanie Marchand, and Behavior Online studio head Miguel Caron at E3 2014 to talk about how development is progressing, discuss how the MMO fits in to the IP, and find out more about founders packs. Continue reading E3 2014: Warhammer 40K devs on development and founders packs
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