| Fiesta Online unveils the Joker class Posted: 22 Jun 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play Outspark's Fiesta Online has your standard MMORPG classes. There's the Fighter, the Archer, the Mage, and the Cleric. The free-to-play fantasy title departs from the norm with the latest entries to its class stable, though, and today the devs have announced a followup to the Trickster class that was announced last March. That followup is known as the Joker, and though he doesn't look terribly serious, he nonetheless brings the pain as well as your average comic book supervillain. According to an Outspark press release, the Joker is "a n agile melee fighter who can deal a great deal of damage to his opponents in a short period of time." Additionally, Jokers boast their own class-specific system which involves absorbing souls from defeated opponents to strengthen subsequent attacks. Weapon-wise, the Joker favors claws and dual swords. If you're interested in learning more about the class, or if you're ready to download Fiesta Online, head to the official website.  Fiesta Online unveils the Joker class originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Elsword Online unlocks the doors to two new dungeons Posted: 22 Jun 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Free-to-play The comic book action-fest Elsword Online got a little bigger today, as Kill3rCombo expanded the newly launched title with additional dungeons, enemies and quests. The dungeons -- Nasod Foundry and Altera Core -- will offer tougher challenges to the three main characters, while 24 new quests should help to keep the playerbase busy. Since dungeons are run repeatedly, two new locales will be welcome across the board. When they're not beating up the bad guys, the principal characters can now learn a third cash skill and earn one of two new titles: Hero of Ponggo and Hero of Sonic. No, not the hedgehog or fast-food chain (we checked). You can get a peek at Nasod Foundry and Altera Core in the gallery below, and don't forget to check out our first impressions of Elsword Online from last month! Elsword Online unlocks the doors to two new dungeons originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Gods & Heroes going worldwide on Steam this week Posted: 22 Jun 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising is coming to Steam. The mythology-inspired MMORPG, launched yesterday by Heatwave Interactive, is now available on Valve's North American digital distribution platform, and will available worldwide later this week (June 24th to be exact). Aside from the convenience of avoiding a retail purchase, Steam customers will also receive a traditional platform-exclusive in-game item, in this case a mythical minion called a Gorpal. The Gorpal is a damage-dealing Phorcid pet that " protects players by fighting with claws and a poisonous bite" according to a Heatwave press release. Check out our Gods & Heroes launch day coverage for more on the game, and don't forget to stop by the official website as well. Gods & Heroes going worldwide on Steam this week originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Lord of the Rings Online bringing in major stat changes Posted: 22 Jun 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, Free-to-play If you've played Lord of the Rings Online extensively, odds are good that you're familiar with the concept of stat caps. Functionally, stat caps are that certain point at which further increases to the stat in question will be wasted -- useful for balance purposes, but rather frustrating when players find new abilities and equipment useless due to the stat caps. So it's probably going to be a good thing when Rise of Isengard makes stat caps largely a thing of the past. That's not the only useful takeaway from the new developer diary, however, as the game's statistics are also undergoing further revision to make the game easier to understand at a glance. A new stat, Finesse, will be added to specifically reduce your target's ability to evade or resist attacks. Resistance, Mitigation, and Critical Hit will all be merged from their current state (so melee, ranged, and tactical critical hit will all become simply Critical Hit). Finally, there are some changes incoming in terms of interactions with primary stats. It's a short diary, to be sure, but the implications for Lord of the Rings Online players should be far-reaching. Lord of the Rings Online bringing in major stat changes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: How long does it take to review an MMORPG? Posted: 22 Jun 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Evaluating an MMORPG is a tricky business. Massively has a long-standing editorial policy that frowns on "reviewing" massively multiplayer titles. I say "reviewing" with quotes because it's difficult to write about games in a completely review-free manner, and everything from opinion pieces to straight-up news stories often contains observations that might feel at home in a standard review. One of the most difficult factors to reconcile with an MMORPG is the time allotted to the review process. How long does it take to experience enough of a particular title to both form an opinion about it and talk intelligently about multiple aspects of it? The answer can vary from game to game and from person to person, and herein lies this morning's Daily Grind topic. How long does it take you to decide about an MMORPG? Minutes? Hours? Months? Inquiring Massively minds want to know where you stand on evaluating our favorite genre.  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: How long does it take to review an MMORPG? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Controversy brewing over EVE Online microtransactions Posted: 21 Jun 2011 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Expansions, MMO industry, News items When we first heard that EVE Online was planning to add microtransaction options, players were most concerned with the effect of microtransaction items on gameplay. CCP was quick to reassure players that microtransactions would focus on vanity items for Incarna and no gameplay-affecting items would be released. Fast-forward to today, when the first phase of Incarna finally went live along with the new Noble Exchange cash shop. As promised, the store contained only vanity items for Incarna, starting with a series of alternative clothing options. The one thing we didn't really think of while we worried about microtransactions affecting EVE's gameplay was price. The current prices on items in the Noble Exchange are far above typical microtransaction charges and an order of magnitude higher than expected. Items in the Noble Exchange are bought with a new currency called Aurum, 3500 of which can be created from one 30-day pilot's license (PLEX). With the price of PLEX set at around $19.95 US, players can expect to pay over $20 for a skirt, $25 for a blouse, and more than a whopping $68 for the much-desired ocular implant monocle. In a bizarre twist, many of the clothing options for sale at the Noble Exchange actually cost more than real clothes of the same type. As PLEX can be bought from other players for ISK, however, most players will not be spending their own cash on these items. PLEX prices have already spiked to over 400 million each, putting the price of the monocle at over 1.3 billion ISK. CCP could not provide any more information on the issue, but we expect an issue this hot will prompt an announcement. Controversy brewing over EVE Online microtransactions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Final Fantasy XI to merge PlayOnline accounts with Square-Enix accounts Posted: 21 Jun 2011 07:00 PM PDT |
| Lord of the Rings Online's Summer Festival is here! Posted: 21 Jun 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Events, in-game, News items, Free-to-play  Hear ye, hear ye, Free Peoples of Middle-earth! Summer is upon us, and that can only mean one thing: Lord of the Rings Online's Summer Festival is kicking into full swing. Throughout the course of the festival, you citizens of Middle-earth can " show your skill with reins or rod in the time-honored racing and fishing challenges [and] take part in new challenges too, and discover what new rewards are to be won!" Those of you lot who are the gambling sort can place your bets on the keg races, as four Dwarves face off to see who is stoutest of stomach and fleetest of foot. If you'd prefer to show your own skills rather than placing wagers on others, then get behind the reins at the the horse races. After all that excitement, wind down with a scavenger hunt, or go drinking with the Ale Association or the Inn League for fun and profit. And what would any festival be without music and dancing? For the full details on this upcoming event, check out the announcement on LotRO's official site. Lord of the Rings Online's Summer Festival is here! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Hyperspace Beacon: The Lost Suns Posted: 21 Jun 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, Opinion, Comics, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon This week, we are taking a break from studying the class powersets, although I do plan to return to them eventually. As I was contemplating what to write, it occurred to me that I really haven't covered any lore for quite some time. While my editors and I are talking about doing a specific series of lore-based articles leading up to the game's release, I definitely wanted to focus on more of the canon history behind the game. After all, this is Star Wars: The Old Republic, and it epitomizes the fourth pillar of MMO design: story. I finally got my hands on the latest comic book with direct ties to SWTOR this past week. It's called The Lost Suns, and while it's fresh on my mind, we should probably discuss some of the main points and characters in the story. BioWare writer Alexander Freed and comic book artist Dave Ross collaborated to bring us this first of a five-issue comic book series about Theron Shan. As Freed said on the official TOR forums, " I like to describe The Lost Suns as our 'ninth story' -- every class in The Old Republic tells its own Star Wars epic, and Theron's tale intersects with the other eight and pushes the greater game story forward, just as they do." Follow after the break to discover how this "ninth story" is starts out. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: The Lost Suns Hyperspace Beacon: The Lost Suns originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Middle-earth Online Posted: 21 Jun 2011 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, The Game Archaeologist I had so much fun walking down the halls of "What if?" last week that I thought I'd keep the streak going for the rest of the month (if you'll allow for some summertime indulgence). It's not that I necessarily wanted MMO history to turn out differently than it did, but it's always tantalizing to wonder what the field would look like with different games out there. Would they have proven more popular than our current crops? Would they have pushed the envelope of innovation? Of course, it's easy to project greatness onto never-released titles, bemoaning that "if only MMO X had launched, we would've had the perfect game!" What ifs are interesting but should never be taken as absolute fact. This week I wanted to look at a project that's related to an MMO near and dear to my heart. As most of you know, I'm somewhat of a Lord of the Rings Online nut here at Massively. Sure, the rest of the staff is upset that I smoke pipeweed inside and never wear shoes, but that's just how far I go to understand the game. But even my LotRO isn't immune to a massive what if. Known to some but not to all, Turbine wasn't the first MMO studio to take a crack at Tolkien's license -- no, for that we have to travel back to 1998 and revisit Sierra On-Line. It was this company that had a brief but memorable run designing Middle-earth Online, aka "What if LotRO had permadeath?" It's a fascinating glimpse into an entirely different approach to the IP, and even though it died a fairly early death, it's important to be remembered. Frodo lives! Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Middle-earth Online The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Middle-earth Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Suspected LulzSec member arrested Posted: 21 Jun 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous Shhh. You hear that? It sounds like laughter. Lulzing, in fact. Could it be Ryan Cleary's future cellmate? Who's Ryan Cleary, you say? According to a news blurb at PC Gamer, he's the 19-year old chap recently taken into custody by the FBI and Scotland Yard and accused of spear-heading the LulzSec-sponsored DDoS attacks against EVE Online, Nintendo, the United States Senate, and the Central Intelligence Agency, to name a few. Cleary is rumored to be a former member of Anonymous, and a Scotland Yard spokesperson says that the arrest was the result of an extensive and ongoing probe into the rash of cyber-crimes perpetuated over the last several months. " The arrest follows an investigation into network intrusions and distributed denial of service attacks against a number of international business and intelligence agencies by what is believed to be the same hacking group," PC Gamer reports. Remaining LulzSec luminaries are seemingly unconcerned, if a message posted to the group's Twitter account earlier today is any indication. " Seems the glorious leader of LulzSec got arrested, it's all over now... wait... we're all still here," the message said. Suspected LulzSec member arrested originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Trion Worlds releases more juicy details on RIFT's free shard transfers Posted: 21 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, RIFT  Tomorrow marks the launch of RIFT's patch 1.3, Waves of Madness, bringing with it a wealth of new features. But forget new raids, guild banks, vanity items, and all that hullabaloo. Everyone knows this patch is all about one thing: free shard transfers (for both lone players and guilds alike). Hyperbolic, you say? Blasphemy! With this in mind, RIFT's Project Manager FireCait dropped by the forums today to fill players in on the finer points of server transfers. For instance, characters can be transferred once every seven days, though they must be level 15 to be eligible for transfer. Any character on any server can be transferred, but the possible destination servers will be limited based on faction population. And lastly, select shards will now be designated as Trial shards. Only Trial players will be able to roll new characters on these shards, and subscribers on these shards will be able to transfer off at any level, circumventing the usual level 15 requirement. For the full details, as well as the starting list of eligible transfer destination servers, check out the forum post! Trion Worlds releases more juicy details on RIFT's free shard transfers originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: [Insert intimidating music here] Posted: 21 Jun 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, EVE Online, One Shots One Shots Massively staff pick week continues, and Brendan Drain -- our resident EVE Online fanatic -- is up to bat: This isn't just a nicely composed picture looking down an Archon class carrier; there's actually a fantastic story behind this screenshot. It was recovered from a stranded nomadic wormhole fleet that wandered into our hidden home system. I wrote up the cutthroat tale of how we "recovered" the ship for an edition of my EVE Evolved column back in 2009. I don't want to spoil the story, but to give you an idea of how things kicked off, I can say we named the plan "Operation Bastard." Keep your eyes on One Shots all week to see what the Massively staff loves playing and showing off. Next week's theme is all about gear. It'll be your chance to show off your most epic armor and weapons and tell us all about how you acquired them! The week after that is pet week, and we can't wait to see your awesome pet companions and hear all about them. Just send a screenshot to oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a paragraph or two telling us about what we're seeing! One Shots: [Insert intimidating music here] originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMObility: Fifty games for the mobile lifestyle Posted: 21 Jun 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Anarchy Online, Asheron's Call, Wurm Online, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Free Realms, MMObility I like lists. Lists help keep my candy-coated brain functioning. I see so many games, devices, and developers that I need to write things down periodically or become lost. Not so long ago I made a list of 25 games for your shiny new laptop, but I wanted to update it with other devices as well. I'd like to clarify the devices I have, though, especially since it was brought to my attention that a lot of players use laptops as their primary gaming machines. When I refer to a laptop, it is far from a gaming machine and could not run games like EverQuest II or Age of Conan. So here are some stats: I have an HTC Inspire, an iPhone 3GS, an iPad, a Phenom Triple-core PC desktop with an Nvidia 9800 card, six gigs of ram and onboard sound. My laptop is an HP G62 with an AMD Athlon II P340 dual core processor, three gigs of ram and an AMD graphics chip built in. I also have a more powerful gaming PC, but that is often referred to as "the wife's machine" around here, and it is so packed with her items that I rarely touch it. So most of these games can be run on their native devices, and if they are meant for PC, probably on netbooks as well. When I'm playing on netbooks, resolution is often the major issue. Some games just will not fit on the tiny screens without some slight modding. Anyway, click past the cut to see the list. The first 11 are my favorites, the ones that I play often, if not every day. The rest are in no particular order, so keep that in mind as well. Remember that this year is going to be an incredible one for mobile, thanks to the new games I found at E3. So this list will change! Continue reading MMObility: Fifty games for the mobile lifestyle MMObility: Fifty games for the mobile lifestyle originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SOE awards 2011 G.I.R.L scholarship Posted: 21 Jun 2011 12:00 PM PDT Last February we told you about the opportunities to be had via Sony Online Entertainment's Gamers in Real Life scholarship program. The catch was that you had to be a girl -- no surprise given the title acronym -- and on track to graduating from a game-related undergrad program after the spring of 2012. Today SOE has announced the 2011 winner, and Alicia Crawford of La Quinta, California, has been awarded a $10,000 scholarship and a 10-week paid internship at SOE headquarters in sunny San Diego. The G.I.R.L. program is in its fourth year and shows no signs of slowing down. " Supporting the education and careers of young artists drives our ever-evolving industry forward by adding fresh perspectives and new innovative ideas that help shape the future of games as we know them," said SOE VP Laura Naviaux via press release. SOE awards 2011 G.I.R.L scholarship originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Soapbox: The Uncle Owen paradox Posted: 21 Jun 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, The Soapbox Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. This week, the venerable Star Wars Galaxies celebrates its eighth year of existence. I was there in the beginning -- before the beginning, in fact. I did what a lot of you early SWG players probably did: I had a guild and a guild city, multiple accounts, a booming business as a chef, and a character who could entertain and fight. Even then, we realized how different SWG was from its immediate predecessors like EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot. We'd returned to the earlier age of Ultima Online, of persistent worlds (as the term was used back then). It was more a world than a game, and in it we could roleplay whatever we liked, to a point. Nowadays, we'd call it a sandbox. Old-school MMO gamers know well that the sandbox is under attack. Some will blame it on EverQuest, some on World of Warcraft, some on the free-to-play phenomenon. Among the Massively commenters, there's a large contingent of gamers who consider SWG's own NGE to be the beginning of the end of the classic sandbox. I can't say they're wrong when it comes to the philosophy governing new MMOs, but the sandbox isn't dead yet. Continue reading The Soapbox: The Uncle Owen paradox The Soapbox: The Uncle Owen paradox originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Mythos guilds get buffed the heck up Posted: 21 Jun 2011 10:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Guilds, Mythos, Free-to-play Mythos is already going through a few growth spurts in its first few months of life. Aww, look at it -- isn't it adorable? It's trying to talk... it's taking its first steps... it's buffing guilds and adding in a ranking system! Guild buffs are exactly what they sound like: buffs that go out to every member of the guild. These passive buffs to experience, health, defense and more can be earned by simply leveling the guild up. The higher the guild levels, the better the buffs become. In Mythos, guilds purchase these levels with gold. And for guilds who are out to truly excel, Mythos now gives each group a rank depending on its guild level and how much time its members spend in the game. The best of the best will get an even better guild-wide buff to experience gain and luck. The game will hand out rankings once a week during maintenance. You can get into the nitty-gritty details of these systems on the Mythos forums! Mythos guilds get buffed the heck up originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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