MMO Updates |
- Black Gold Online enters open beta today
- Tamriel Infinium: In which you're told that Elder Scrolls Online kicks ass
- Symantec's COO credits his WoW credentials with boosting his resume
- Riot seeks 'culturally aligned' devs, offers cash payouts for quitting
- Raph Koster on Origin's Privateer Online
- The Daily Grind: Do you share MMO accounts with your friends?
- SOE relies on players to report inappropriate posts
- Riding High might be the horse-riding MMO you've been waiting for
- World War II Online crowdfunds a client update
- The Think Tank: The best of E3 2014's MMO offerings
- Season two of Defiance premieres on Syfy tonight
- The Stream Team: Leaping into LEGO Minifigures Online's open beta
- Elite: Dangerous heading into Premium Beta 2 on June 24th
- The Elder Scrolls Online illuminates its veteran dungeons
- Pathfinder Online details the War of Towers
- Star Trek Online lifetime subscription goes on sale
- Final Fantasy XIV offers a preview of 2.3's story
- Get cheap MMOs and a zillion early access titles in the Steam Summer Sale
- Diablo III is closing the auction house for good next week
- Neverwinter throws Protector's Jubilee for first anniversary
- Tara Strong on Guild Wars 2's 'British Harley Quinn'
- Smedley plays H1Z1 on Steam, talks early access
- Star Citizen's new persistent universe director loves economic, strategic gameplay
- SWTOR devs say Star Cluster prices and rarities are working as intended
| Black Gold Online enters open beta today Posted: 20 Jun 2014 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Free-to-Play, Steampunk, Black Gold  You can choose to play as either the mechanized Kingdom of Isenhorst or the magic-based Erlandir Union in a war to gain control of a crystallized energy known as Black Gold. "The open beta lets anyone join who is eager to explore and battle throughout our unique bilateral land of steampunk and fantasy," says Jim Tsai, VP of Snail Games USA. "The open beta's massive activity data and player feedback will be leveraged to put the final touches on one of this year's most anticipated MMORPGs prior to its launch later this year." You can find out more about the open beta events and in-game items on the official site. [Source: Snail Games press release]
|
| Tamriel Infinium: In which you're told that Elder Scrolls Online kicks ass Posted: 20 Jun 2014 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, Tamriel Infinium  I've done plenty of dedicated game columns in the past, but it has been a while, so you'll have to bear with me while I shoot from the hip for a week or three and figure out what's best for this space. One thing I know already is that I dig Elder Scrolls Online, even though that's a pretty unpopular opinion in some quarters. With that in mind, let's poke fun at anti-ESO hipsters after the break, shall we? Continue reading Tamriel Infinium: In which you're told that Elder Scrolls Online kicks ass
|
| Symantec's COO credits his WoW credentials with boosting his resume Posted: 20 Jun 2014 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Real-Life, Culture  Gillett believes that adding his World of Warcraft guild leadership stats to his resume has helped him land these tops jobs. "Here's my guild. Here's my ranking. Here's my biggest online achievement," Gillett said in a CNN interview. "Some people look at it and say, 'What the hell is this?' And others will be like, 'That's exactly what I'm looking for.'" "I think gamification and the way of thinking about it is applicable to any industry," Gillett continued. "Right now we get really good information on malware -- what it does, how it acts. But we have no telemetry on the human part of it -- what people were doing, thinking and believing when they encountered that particular threat."
|
| Riot seeks 'culturally aligned' devs, offers cash payouts for quitting Posted: 20 Jun 2014 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, MOBA, League of Legends  "We operate on a foundation of shared mission, values, passion, trust, and mutual respect," says the company's announcement post. "If someone gags on the unique flavor of our culture, they'd be doing themselves and the company a disservice to hang on just for the paycheck. Culturally aligned people and teams are more effective, and alignment around mission and values allows us to better serve players. We've designed Queue Dodge to help self-identified mismatches move on in an open, positive, and constructive way." Riot new-hires can opt in to the program during their first 60 days on the job. They will be paid 10 percent of their annual salary -- up to $25,000 -- to leave.
|
| Raph Koster on Origin's Privateer Online Posted: 20 Jun 2014 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Star Wars Galaxies, Sandbox  Koster's executive bosses "blew up a huge portion of the design" in favor of fitting the fledgling game into Origin's Wing Commander IP, several online versions of which were already in the works. "Some of them had gotten pretty far -- piles of artwork, design work, and even some tech," Koster writes. Finally a Privateer Online team was assembled, and it cranked out a prototype featuring "radically different" procedural planets, multiplayer space dogfighting, fractal ship customization, modular planetary settlement capabilities, and "a huge pile of lore" written by Wing Commander vets. Though Privateer Online was cancelled in favor of Earth & Beyond and its design docs were burned in a bonfire at Origin's shut-down party, Koster says that many of the developers went on to make Star Wars Galaxies which contained some of the same ideas.
|
| The Daily Grind: Do you share MMO accounts with your friends? Posted: 20 Jun 2014 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  But if you've been playing MMOs long enough, you've probably shared your account, at least with your spouse or your kids or roommate. And then it spreads. Your guild really needs a main tank for a dungeon run, but you want to get some grub, so you let a guildie play you. You want to dual-box a friend's newbie to catch her up while she's at work. You need someone to log in your toon and refresh your house while you're on vacation. I'm not judging you here; I'm guilty myself. Heck, before I was allowed to join my first guild way back forever ago, I was required to hand over my account info to the recruiting officer to prove I wasn't a spy! And my husband and I pretty much share our characters completely, rules be damned. Do you folks share your MMO accounts with friends, guildies, or relatives? Has it ever come back to haunt you?  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!
|
| SOE relies on players to report inappropriate posts Posted: 19 Jun 2014 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Culture, Free-to-Play  EverQuest II CM Linda Carlson responded to a post on EQ2Wire to say that the studio depends on its players to help police the "meeelions" of comments in its forums. "Unless we are actually perusing the forums when something comes up, we do indeed rely on players helping to keep the forum community a reasonable and comfortable place to post by reporting disruptive or inappropriate posts," Carlson said. Carlson went on to give advice on how to constructively post on forums and avoid unnecessary conflict with other posters, including "Never post angry. Never post drunk." and "Two trolls do not make a right."
|
| Riding High might be the horse-riding MMO you've been waiting for Posted: 19 Jun 2014 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Real-Life, News Items, Miscellaneous  While the official site is a little bare, the game's Facebook page has recently posted answers to a number of questions, confirming, for example, that the game will feature distinct personalities for each horse and that players will be able to engage in PvP activities. (Probably not horse fights.) If this really is all you ever wanted from online gaming, you can register for the future beta test on the official site. [Thanks to Zenaphex for the tip!]
|
| World War II Online crowdfunds a client update Posted: 19 Jun 2014 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Patches, MMOFPS, Crowdfunding, Subscription  A $9,250 fundraiser on Indiegogo dedicated to the creation of a new test server, PC client, and Mac client was met and surpassed this past week. The update, which should roll out within six months, will include billing tools for Steam and improved audio and visuals. The crowdfunding campaign is now aiming for stretch goals that could add community upgrades, improved tech infrastructure, and additional marketing.
|
| The Think Tank: The best of E3 2014's MMO offerings Posted: 19 Jun 2014 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, The Think Tank  Here's what our writers thought about E3's offerings for MMO players. Continue reading The Think Tank: The best of E3 2014's MMO offerings
|
| Season two of Defiance premieres on Syfy tonight Posted: 19 Jun 2014 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Trailers, Video, Culture, Events (Real-World), Events (In-Game), Previews, News Items, Miscellaneous, Defiance  Trion devs have teased the game's version of the season two storyline as well, promising new missions, new gear, a new landmass, and a new enemy faction known as The Grid. We've got the season two trailer below! Continue reading Season two of Defiance premieres on Syfy tonight
|
| The Stream Team: Leaping into LEGO Minifigures Online's open beta Posted: 19 Jun 2014 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Video, New Titles, Kids, Family, Livestream, The Stream Team  Game: LEGO Minifigures Online Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Thursday, June 19th, 2014 Time: 7:00 p.m. EDT Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Leaping into LEGO Minifigures Online's open beta
|
| Elite: Dangerous heading into Premium Beta 2 on June 24th Posted: 19 Jun 2014 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Patches, Previews, Elite: Dangerous  Premium Beta 2 will begin with a wipe, although Frontier will be giving players in-game credits that correspond to progress made to date. Players can buy into the premium beta only through July 15th, which could indicate that the standard beta test is slated for later this summer. [Thanks to Cotic for the tip!]
|
| The Elder Scrolls Online illuminates its veteran dungeons Posted: 19 Jun 2014 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, News Items, PvE, Dev Diaries, Dungeons, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription  ZeniMax also emphasizes the importance of testing for these dungeons: Much like we do for Trials, we have groups of skilled, coordinated testers ready to take them on. The Dungeon Team wants to kill you, don't get them wrong, but they don't want bosses to be unfair or impossible. It's a difficult tuning and balancing act to get them just right, especially considering the broad range of character builds that will be attempting them. When the testers wipe several times learning the fight and let out a cheer when they finally manage to scrape by with a win, we know we're on the right track.The video that accompanies the post is embedded below. Continue reading The Elder Scrolls Online illuminates its veteran dungeons
|
| Pathfinder Online details the War of Towers Posted: 19 Jun 2014 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, Pathfinder Online  Dubbed the War of Towers, the system will reward players for capturing and controlling towers near one of the existing Settlements, allowing those Settlements to advance and improve in new directions. There's a video available just past the break that explains the details of how this tower capturing works, but the short version is that it should at least fill a gap until the full territory control system can be rolled out later. Continue reading Pathfinder Online details the War of Towers
|
| Star Trek Online lifetime subscription goes on sale Posted: 19 Jun 2014 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play, Promotions  A lifetime subscription to Star Trek Online includes all gold membership options, a monthly ZEN stipend, all veteran rewards past and future, and priority login.
|
| Final Fantasy XIV offers a preview of 2.3's story Posted: 19 Jun 2014 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, Patches, Previews, News Items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Subscription  The story preview hints that the next update will focus on Thanalan and Coerthas as well as the Black Shroud, with implications that Shiva may not be exactly who players are expecting. Hildibrand's next adventure, meanwhile, looks to be taking a decided turn for the nautical, complete with a new look for the Inspector. Take a gander at the preview as well as the Facebook preview gallery for more hints about what will be going live with the patch.
|
| Get cheap MMOs and a zillion early access titles in the Steam Summer Sale Posted: 19 Jun 2014 02:15 PM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Promotions, Miscellaneous 
|
| Diablo III is closing the auction house for good next week Posted: 19 Jun 2014 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Diablo III, Buy-to-Play  Blizzard sent out a reminder today about the auction house, stating that while its economic functions were disabled in March, the studio left it up for a few months past that to allow players to retrieve items and gold. Any items and gold left unattended will be sucked into the abyss on next Tuesday, so beware!
|
| Neverwinter throws Protector's Jubilee for first anniversary Posted: 19 Jun 2014 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Free-to-Play, Anniversaries, Neverwinter  The Protector's Jubilee will feature bright decorations in Protector's Enclave, covert missions, defensive skirmishes, and plenty of rewards including the jester attire. Players can grab keys during the event to a new area called the Protector's Garden that will remain in the game going forward. The festivities will go from today through June 25th. [Source: Perfect World press release]
|
| Tara Strong on Guild Wars 2's 'British Harley Quinn' Posted: 19 Jun 2014 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, MMO Industry, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play  Strong's GW2 work goes under the microscope in ArenaNet's latest video release. It's basically a three-minute behind-the-scenes/interview mashup featuring Living World villainess Scarlet Briar, whom Strong describes as a "British Harley [Quinn]." Click past the cut to have a look. Continue reading Tara Strong on Guild Wars 2's 'British Harley Quinn'
|
| Smedley plays H1Z1 on Steam, talks early access Posted: 19 Jun 2014 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Horror, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, H1Z1  "We don't mean to be coy about the date," he says. "We just realized after that initial date it would be smarter to announce it after our feature list was complete. So expect to hear more on the date fairly soon." Smedley also mentions a few features that the dev team is currently working on, including bow crafting, "shooting a deer in the eye with the bow," and more. [Header image by H1Z1Jane via SOE]
|
| Star Citizen's new persistent universe director loves economic, strategic gameplay Posted: 19 Jun 2014 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play  "The game has become so big that I can't actually direct every single aspect of it every single moment of the day," Roberts explains at the outset of a new 40-minute interview vid posted on Cloud Imperium's official site. Zurovec previously worked with Roberts at Origin and Digital Anvil. He also developed the Crusader series and brings a love of economic and strategic gameplay on a galactic scale to the table. Roberts also mentions Zurovec's work on an unreleased Digital Anvil game called Loose Cannon that was essentially "Privateer on wheels" and a pre-cursor to the sort of open-world sandbox mayhem found in Grand Theft Auto III and its sequels. Click past the cut to watch the full interview. Continue reading Star Citizen's new persistent universe director loves economic, strategic gameplay
|
| SWTOR devs say Star Cluster prices and rarities are working as intended Posted: 19 Jun 2014 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic  BioWare community manager Eric Musco took to the game's forums this morning to clarify the company's stance on the issues. "Those prices are intended. Collections prices are something that is not completely static from one pack to another and can shift," Musco wrote. "Similarly, many of you might notice that in the Star Cluster pack there are different amounts of items at different rarities than normal (more rares, less commons, etc.). With the Star Cluster pack, we were trying out some new things. I can tell you that the team has heard your feedback around both the rarities and the collections pricing and will adjust accordingly in future packs."
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
