MMO Updates |
- Codemasters website, store, and database hacked
- Suspected Sony hackers arrested in Spain
- The Road to Mordor: Digesting E3
- Storyboard: Cooking up a roleplaying event, part one
- The Daily Grind: What rewards aren't worth the effort?
- PLAY! Video game symphony will feature music from Guild Wars
- City of Heroes heading for San Diego Comic Con
- Updates on migration issues for Lord of the Rings Online
- The MMO Report: Predictions of E3
- The Guild Counsel: Odds and Ends
- E3 2011: GamersFirst talks APB Reloaded's new features and player politics
- E3 2011: Hands on with RIFT's 1.3 update
- E3 2011: New SWTOR dev walkthrough takes players to Tatooine
- One Shots: Somebody's watching me
- Ask Massively: Recidivism edition
- The Secret World reveals new Accursed Woods location
- Behind the Mask: A complete guide to angel-slaying, volume one
- Black Prophecy launches North American open beta
- E3 2011: First look at Wizardry Online
| Codemasters website, store, and database hacked Posted: 10 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous  The article reports that no payment details or credit card info was pilfered, but encrypted passwords as well as Xbox Live gamer tags and personal data (including addresses and user names) were taken. Thus far no groups or individuals have claimed responsibility for the attack. You can read the full Codemasters letter at Eurogamer.
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| Suspected Sony hackers arrested in Spain Posted: 10 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous  The Spanish National Police claim to have "dismantled the local leadership of the shadowy international network of computer hackers known as Anonymous," though the Times article casts doubt on whether or not the three individuals arrested were solely responsible for the Sony brouhaha. The cyber shenanigans will end up costing Sony somewhere in the neighborhood of $173 million due to damages, IT spending, legal fees, lost sales, and expenses related to customer win-back programs.
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| The Road to Mordor: Digesting E3 Posted: 10 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, The Road to Mordor  Weeks like this are what we live for as fans. It's crazy to get a glut of information that we're expected to digest all at once, and it's so much fun too. I think Turbine probably has a few more reveals tucked up its sleeve about the expansion -- we still have four months to go, after all -- but this is a good start to the ramping-up period before Isengard releases. So enough dilly-dallying; let's dig into it! What can we make out of all of these revelations? What does the pre-order mean for you? What were the highlights and what were the disappointments? Hit the jump and we'll take you on a legendary ride all the way to the gates of Orthanc itself! Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Digesting E3
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| Storyboard: Cooking up a roleplaying event, part one Posted: 10 Jun 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  Those of you who have tried this and wound up with a cake composed of corn bread, beef, teriyaki sauce, frosting, candy, graham crackers, and fresh-chopped onion will probably be having flashbacks right about now. To make all of the ingredients work together, you need a recipe, a plan -- more than just good intentions and a good group of parts. Otherwise, you're asking for trouble. It's not enough merely to have a good plan for a roleplaying event and a good group of roleplayers to take part. You need to have a plan for why characters are taking part, a way to make the group actively gel into a coherent unit instead of into just a group of people standing around. Of course, no one cooks without a recipe, the ingredients, and the necessary tools. But a lot of roleplaying events I've seen have neglected one of those three elements. So let's start off with the basics, with the things that crop up right in the planning phase that should make it clear your event is going to have some pretty major issues to overcome. Continue reading Storyboard: Cooking up a roleplaying event, part one
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| The Daily Grind: What rewards aren't worth the effort? Posted: 10 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  While Final Fantasy XI has some brutally difficult bosses, they drop powerful rewards. But even then, sometimes you might look at the rewards they drop versus the slightly weaker rewards available elsewhere and decide that the effort is just too much. It's not that the rewards are bad; it's that the rewards don't match up to the strategy and careful play required to have a chance. So when have you run into rewards that don't feel like they're worth the effort it would take to obtain them? Is it a matter of too much time or too much challenge for too little benefit?  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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| PLAY! Video game symphony will feature music from Guild Wars Posted: 09 Jun 2011 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items  On June 21st and 22nd, Seattle-area concertgoers can feast their ears on the live sounds of Soule's Guild Wars score (as well as several other seminal game-related works including Soule's instantly recognizable themes for Morrowind and Oblivion). The music is all part of PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, and ArenaNet is highlighting the performance on its official blog. Tickets are available now at the Seattle Symphony website (or by calling 206.215.4747). If you're going, be sure to say hello to the Guild Wars artists on hand for signings in the Benaroya Hall lobby.
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| City of Heroes heading for San Diego Comic Con Posted: 09 Jun 2011 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Events, real-world, News items  While the team has given several presentations in recent conventions, this year the game will have a booth on the show floor from July 21st to July 24th, giving players a chance to stop by and talk about the game with both developers and community managers. And if that's not enough, the team will also be giving away a new costume card, transforming characters into the Mk-VI Victoria assassin droid. City of Heroes players should keep their eyes peeled for more news of a meet-and-greet to accompany the gathering.
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| Updates on migration issues for Lord of the Rings Online Posted: 09 Jun 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Events, real-world, News items, Free-to-play  The first fix will be a simple patch to the migration tool itself, which is expected to be live on Friday or shortly thereafter. The other fix will require some server downtime as the team works at fixing some database issues. Sapience also explains that Codemasters had previously flagged some accounts incorrectly with the database migration, and he promises that the players missing VIP time will be addressed sometime next week. While it won't remove the Lord of the Rings Online migration issues, it's at least a step in the right direction.
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| The MMO Report: Predictions of E3 Posted: 09 Jun 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, Previews, News items, The MMO Report, Miscellaneous  Needless to say, predictions regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic run rampant, as does speculation about Guild Wars 2, TERA, and The Secret World. Of course, you've no doubt been following our E3 coverage here religiously, so when you click on past the break you can see for yourself what was on the money and what went completely off the rails, along with a completely true prediction about the next big hit in the MMO world. Continue reading The MMO Report: Predictions of E3
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| The Guild Counsel: Odds and Ends Posted: 09 Jun 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll do just that. Read on for a few thoughts on some of the odds and ends of guild management. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Odds and Ends
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| E3 2011: GamersFirst talks APB Reloaded's new features and player politics Posted: 09 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Real life, Business models, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, MMOFPS, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage  Follow along after the cut as we find out about what's new and what's coming, including a nifty iteration on the original title's witnessing system and an interesting player political experiment that evokes comparisons to EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management. Continue reading E3 2011: GamersFirst talks APB Reloaded's new features and player politics
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| E3 2011: Hands on with RIFT's 1.3 update Posted: 09 Jun 2011 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Patches, Previews, Massively Event Coverage, RIFT  We got the opportunity to dive into 1.3 early at E3, all while a petite seven-foot-tall dev perched on our shoulder and gave us running commentary. Patch 1.3's crown jewel is a 20-person raid in the ancient fortress of Hammerknell, which was built by folks who thought it'd be a smashing idea to cram evil spirits into runes and then use that as the foundation. Sounds to us a lot like building a summer camp on top of a desecrated native burial ground, but we're sure these architects had good intentions. Surprise, surprise, the spirits started to ooze out into Hammerknell and tore up the place. To make matters worse, Hammerknell is the prison of a water dragon -- and the water plane started to come to its rescue. So the Dwarves decided to treat it like an illegal toxic dump by sealing up the fortress, whistling innocently, and conveniently forgetting it until another raid area was needed. But it's not as simple as just unlocking the front door and marching in to claim some loot! Hit the jump as we walk you through the process of down-and-dirty archaeology! Continue reading E3 2011: Hands on with RIFT's 1.3 update
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| E3 2011: New SWTOR dev walkthrough takes players to Tatooine Posted: 09 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  A new developer walkthrough from BioWare takes Star Wars: The Old Republic players to the desert planet of Tatooine, future home of Luke Skywalker. But long before Luke was even a twinkle in Anakin's eye, the Sith were scouring the planet in search of a lost research facility that they hoped would hold the key to the destruction of the Republic. That's where the developer video's story begins, as a Sith Sorcerer is tasked with finding the leader of the expedition to hunt down this lost research facility. The leader, Lord Silvar, believed that the key to accomplishing the expedition's goals would lie with the Sand People of Tatooine, and he set off alone to uncover their secrets. The Sorcerer follows after him, joined shortly by an Imperial Operative. The demonstration takes players through a short quest and includes displays of combat and The Old Republic's conversation system. If you're itching for more information on The Old Republic, or just want to see a Sith Sorcerer Force-lightning some poor Sand People to death, follow on after the cut for the video.  Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 6-9, bringing you all the best news from E3 2011. Whether you're dying to know more about Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, or any MMO in between, you can bet we'll have it covered!Continue reading E3 2011: New SWTOR dev walkthrough takes players to Tatooine
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| One Shots: Somebody's watching me Posted: 09 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, EverQuest II, Free-to-play, One Shots  In EQII, there is an 'evil eye' race. Where they come from is a bit of a mystery, but it is believed that they were created by a god called Xktkez, who looks like a huge eye with no eyelids. If you run into an evil eye, you should always remember two things: first, the bigger the eye, the more powerful it is (so if you meet a really big one, run!), and second, they obviously cannot hear or make sounds, but they can communicate with each other telepathically.Send a pic of the funniest, most strangely designed, or scariest enemy you've taken on in an MMO to oneshots@massively.com along with your name and the name of the game. Tell us a little about the foe and we'll share it here on One Shots! Next week on One Shots is guild week. It's time to show off your best group shot of you and your guildmates. Whether you're hanging out, enjoying guild housing, taking out a huge enemy, or throwing a party, grab a screenshot, send it in, and tell us about your guild!
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| Ask Massively: Recidivism edition Posted: 09 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous  Today's edition of Ask Massively is not exactly a cure for us poor recidivists, being instead an exploration of RIFT's upcoming addons and why some people are less than happy about this fact. It may also serve as a history lesson for some members of the audience. As always, you can leave your questions for a future edition of the column in the comments, or you can just wing them along to ask@massively.com. Continue reading Ask Massively: Recidivism edition
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| The Secret World reveals new Accursed Woods location Posted: 09 Jun 2011 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Lore, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World  The Accursed Woods play host to some sort of gnarly, nameless terror, but Funcom's prose makes it clear that players will know the true nature of the evil that lurks beneath the forest floor soon enough. "Soon, very soon, these horrors beyond horrors will leave the woods, and quaint Kingsmouth will fall to their chittering chorus," the site says. Bring your bug spray and head to the official Secret World web destination for more.
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| Behind the Mask: A complete guide to angel-slaying, volume one Posted: 09 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Endgame, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Champions Online, Behind the Mask  After completing the Vibora Bay Crisis, you realize you've got a lot of work cut out for you. That sexy minx Valerian seduced you into playing into her hands, and you royally screwed up. Now it's time to get down to business, undo all the mess you made and make things right. At the end of all the plots and careful unraveling of Therakiel's well-laid plans, there's still the big bad fallen angel himself. He's no pushover, and he still has the support of Vibora's gangs. You've done all of Caliburn's errand-boy work so he can save the day -- better make sure he doesn't screw it up. Continue reading Behind the Mask: A complete guide to angel-slaying, volume one
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| Black Prophecy launches North American open beta Posted: 09 Jun 2011 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Black Prophecy  That future is now for North American fans of Black Prophecy, and today marks the beginning of open beta for the title that launched in Europe last March. Black Prophecy features real-time dogfighting, customizable ships, storylines, and open-world gameplay, all set against an interstellar backdrop punctuated by constant war and lush visuals. You can register for the open beta on the game's official website, as well as download the client. Be sure to check out all our previous coverage to get up to speed.
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| E3 2011: First look at Wizardry Online Posted: 09 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Trailers, Video, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage  This set the tone for the company's first reveal of this up-and-coming MMO. Wizardry is a long-running RPG franchise that dates back to 1981, although this will be the series' first steps into online multiplayer. And while the series enjoyed modest success in North America, it's been a phenomenon in Japan, where it's seen numerous spinoffs and sequels. Wizardry's always been known for its open-world exploration and party-based combat, and it seems as though the MMO will continue this legacy as well as retain the hardcore approach that the devs feel has been lost to most modern games. "As this skeleton can attest, life is not so easy in Wizardry Online," the rep said with a smile. Hit the jump to read more about this first look at the game as well as get a peek at the game's first screenshots and trailer! Continue reading E3 2011: First look at Wizardry Online
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