| Not So Massively Extra: Our impressions of League of Legends Posted: 29 Oct 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Trailers, Video, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Casual, Not So Massively Of all the games in the newly emerged MOBA genre, League of Legends is by far the biggest and most successful. The original Defense of the Ancients mod for WarCraft 3 propelled that game to become one of the most played games of the past decade, and standalone remakes have come to challenge that position. LoL recently passed the 15 million registered player mark, with much of that success being due to the game's free-to-play business model and casual gameplay. The recently launched Dominion game mode added capture-point gameplay in shorter and more casual matches, and we were keen to try it out. Last week Massively staffers Patrick Mackey, Matt Daniel and I were joined by Tina Lauro and friends from GamerGaia for a few games of League of Legends as part of our Not So Massively livestream. While we were all vaguely familiar with MOBA gameplay, most of us had never played League of Legends. After the stream, Patrick and I played several more games of Dominion to get a feel for LoL's newest game mode. If you've ever been tempted to take the plunge into LoL, skip past the cut for our first impressions of both normal League of Legends games and Dominion matches. Continue reading Not So Massively Extra: Our impressions of League of Legends  Not So Massively Extra: Our impressions of League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| New EVE video devblog series shows off revamped nebulae Posted: 29 Oct 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, Previews, Dev Diaries With CCP Games' recent refocusing on in-space content for EVE Online, developers on the floor have been working harder than ever to bring us shiny new toys for the winter expansion. We've already heard that the player-designed Tornado would be released as part of a new tier of gun-heavy battlecruisers, and CCP has gone on to show off the Gallente design also hand-picked from contest submissions. This week's absolute flood of good news for EVE Online players continues with the first of a new video devblog series shot at CCP's Reykjavik headquarters -- the development hub for EVE. Part 1 of this look at the art department shows off the incredible new nebula graphics we'll be getting as part of the expansion, and hints at the development of a new model for the popular Caldari Raven. The Raven update is part of what Art Manager Benjamin Bohn calls the V3 project, a project that has brought us the new Scorpion model and will continue to deliver revamps of old ships. Skip past the cut to watch the first in this new video devblog series. Note to viewers: The presenter is in fact carrying a microphone and not a live hand grenade. Continue reading New EVE video devblog series shows off revamped nebulae New EVE video devblog series shows off revamped nebulae originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| WRUP: Poorly thought out mascot edition Posted: 29 Oct 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively meta, Miscellaneous Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to the new WRUP mascot: Samuel, the pizza-hating orca! Samuel absolutely despises pizza, hates anyone who eats pizza, and will click furiously at any shoreline diners which serve pizza. Other than that, he's a pretty standard orca. So keep an eye out for Samuel in the next few weeks of this column, as we read about his many adventures involving a complete lack of pizza. He does not play any MMOs or have anything to do with them, so I think this mascot thing will work out great. Moving along, it's time for this week's installment of WRUP, in which we, the Massively staffers, talk about our plans for the weekend as well as whether or not the new expansion will bring us back to World of Warcraft. Also, our Halloween costume plans. Let us know what you'll be up to in the comments! Continue reading WRUP: Poorly thought out mascot edition WRUP: Poorly thought out mascot edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Fallen Earth's Halloween sale refunds all G1 Credits spent Posted: 29 Oct 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic Who amongst Fallen Earth's wasteland wanderers doesn't love saving money? No one, that's who. In light of that fact (and in celebration of Halloween), GamersFirst is providing a 100% rebate on every G1 Credit spent in the Fallen Earth cash shop from now until November 3rd. That mount you've always wanted? Snag it! Not satisfied with your character name? Change it! Those deliciously steampunk brass goggles you've always wanted? Rock 'em! Not only will you receive a complete rebate on all G1 Credits spent (that means everything is free, for the economically disinclined), but many everyday items have had their prices slashed as well. For the full details on what's on sale, head on over to the Fallen Earth official site. Fallen Earth's Halloween sale refunds all G1 Credits spent originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Do you identify with your side? Posted: 29 Oct 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Lore, PvP, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous World of Warcraft wasn't the first game to introduce the idea of players being inextricably tied to a faction, but it was one of the first to create two groups in direct opposition to one another. And it's continued on since then, with the Guardians versus the Defiants in RIFT, the Sith and the Republic in Star Wars: The Old Republic, Order and Chaos in Warhammer Online. When you create a character, you are part of a group, like it or not. Of course, for some players, the side you're on is just the side that has the class and race you want to play, nothing more. For others, the side is almost more important than either of those details. So where do you fall? Do you identify as part of your faction, first and foremost? Or do you play both factions and not quite understand people who think that your choice of one side or the other makes a statement about you as a person?  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: Do you identify with your side? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Oct 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SOE reveals PlanetSide 2 Terran Republic character turnaround video Posted: 28 Oct 2011 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Classes, New titles, PlanetSide 2 One thing you can't say about PlanetSide 2 info this month is that it's scarce. As the Terran Republic info has been the focus of this week, we get another shiny tidbit in the form of a video showcasing 360-degree views of the Terran Republic military characters. The video shows some up-close and personal details of the characters' armor and tools, from Standard, Light Assault, and Heavy Assault variations to the ominous Mosquito. Check it out for yourself, embedded after the cut. Continue reading SOE reveals PlanetSide 2 Terran Republic character turnaround video SOE reveals PlanetSide 2 Terran Republic character turnaround video originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| DUST 514 server architect reveals the magic behind the techno-miracle Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Dev Diaries While behind-the-scenes technical details may not excite all gamers, there's sufficient interest in DUST 514 that we're willing to bet info-starved players are willing to get a little nerdy for the mind food. CCP's Lin Luo wrote up a dev blog about how the studio is working to meet the challenges of creating a MMO that utilizes fast, first-person shooter dynamics. As Luo says, it's not only difficult that CCP is creating an MMOFPS, but that it has to be programmed from the ground-up to interact with EVE Online as well. Luo presents a hypothetical battle scenario that illustrates how the two games might interact, with DUST mercs accepting a contract from an EVE corp to take over another corp's territory on a planet. The team is using a dedicated multi-core server machine to handle the strain of thousands of players duking it out in real-time. Luo reports that the team has fine-tuned the tech to the point where battles are able to host a "satisfying number" of simultaneous soldiers, and that thanks to the way it's designed, the battles can be scaled up and down in terms of numbers depending on who is present. DUST 514 server architect reveals the magic behind the techno-miracle originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SWTOR Friday update talks warzones, EA pooh-poohs launch-day demand concerns Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dungeons Electronic Arts boss Frank Gibeau says that fans shouldn't fret about the possibility of missing out on Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch day. The only trouble is that he doesn't say how, opting instead to float a few lines of fluffy marketing speak during a conference call this week. "We're looking at a rollout plan that is fairly ambitious. We don't feel like we're going to be leading too much demand behind at launch but we definitely are going to be very cautious and thoughtful about how many people we bring on and in what order," Gibeau says. So, how exactly does that allay our launch-day left-at-the-altar fears? Yeah, your guess is as good as ours. Moving on to more useful SWTOR news, the official site has pumped out its traditional Friday update, and today's reveal isn't so much a reveal as it is a concise collection of information about the game's warzone functionality. Head over to the site for some verbiage and videos about Voidstar, Huttball, and Alderaan. SWTOR Friday update talks warzones, EA pooh-poohs launch-day demand concerns originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Betawatch: October 22-28, 2011 Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Massively meta, Betawatch, Miscellaneous Welcome to Betawatch, Massively's weekly report on the state of MMO betas. In each installment, we'll report everything from the latest open betas, closed betas and even alphas in one convenient place. Plus, we'll make sure to include as much info on each game's current status, including projected release dates (if known) and links to the sign-up forms to get yourself into that beta you've been seeking.
Digimon Masters is leaving Betawatch this week, and as always, we're happy to bid farewell because it means the game has launched. GLHF, Digimon Masters! War of the Immortals joined our closed beta list with a slightly delayed planned beta date of November 2nd, and if you haven't snagged a beta key yet, we've got a few left over. SD Gundam Online also joins our closed beta list, and while the first testing period doesn't begin until November 2nd, we've got beta keys for you so you can prepare! Finally, Eligium has launched its website and begun signups for closed beta. Follow along after the jump for the latest Betawatch list. Continue reading Betawatch: October 22-28, 2011 Betawatch: October 22-28, 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Storyboard: Navel-gazing cardboard cutouts Posted: 28 Oct 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous When you create a character for roleplaying, most of the time your creation is something of a mess. He or she has a huge pile of issues, regrets, fears, mental blind spots, and possibly even physical ailments that should have a lasting impact on telling stories and creating drama. And your goal as a player is to take all of those flaws into account to tell stories about someone less than perfect, whose imperfections you can hopefully see even if the character can't. Unfortunately for everyone, there are two very compelling ways to do this, and neither one of them is right or wrong or even evident at a glance. It's only by roleplaying with someone for a while that you get a sense of what she's aiming for, and it often turns out to be after it's too late to do anything. You might be going for character arcs or character development, and the two are frequently incompatible over the long term. Continue reading Storyboard: Navel-gazing cardboard cutouts Storyboard: Navel-gazing cardboard cutouts originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Massively Exclusive: GamersFirst on yesterday's layoffs and the future of APB Posted: 28 Oct 2011 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Real life, Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Business models, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Miscellaneous It's been a whirlwind couple of days for the folks at GamersFirst. Yesterday we broke the story of layoffs at the company, and today the free-to-play firm has come forward to chat with us about what exactly is going on (and what exactly it's thinking in regard to the new Occupy Free2Play promotion). We talked with Rahul Sandil, G1's senior vice president of marketing and business development, and he had some interesting things to say about the future of both APB Reloaded and Fallen Earth. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: GamersFirst on yesterday's layoffs and the future of APB Massively Exclusive: GamersFirst on yesterday's layoffs and the future of APB originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMObility: Why I need this new gaming toy Posted: 28 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, MMObility Please tell me that I am not the only one with certain tech obsessions. I know many of you enjoy putting together the toughest PC money can buy, squeezing out every bit of computing power from those gaming monstrosities. I used to worry about that sort of thing, but these days I am all about going in reverse. I've started to challenge myself to find games that require very little power. I am starting to fantasize about OS swapping, dual booting and all sorts of tweaking. My end goal is to be able to tell a "common" gamer -- someone new to the genre or someone who might not be able to afford anything more than a netbook -- that he too can game. He can game with a lot of other people, in real time. It can be done. So I decided that I needed a netbook. I made my decision and settled on one. Click past the cut and I'll tell you about it. Continue reading MMObility: Why I need this new gaming toy MMObility: Why I need this new gaming toy originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Massively Exclusive: WindSlayer 2 dev diary gets economic Posted: 28 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT |
| Some Assembly Required: An early look at Dawntide Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, Opinion, Hands-on, Dawntide, Sandbox, Crafting Hey folks, and welcome back to Some Assembly Required. The column's been around for a little bit now, and we've done everything from developer interviews to opinionated rants to sandbox and player-generated content feature spotlights. One thing we haven't done is an impressions piece on new sandbox titles, and I aim to fill that void today with an early look at Dawntide. The title is an open-world fantasy sandbox under development by Working as Intended, an indie outfit that calls Copenhagen, Denmark home. Dawntide has been under construction for quite a while now (we first spoke with the devs way back in the summer of 2009), and after a series of funding and development challenges, the end of the long beta journey is in sight. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: An early look at Dawntide Some Assembly Required: An early look at Dawntide originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Forsaken World unleashes the Storms of War Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Free-to-play The new Storms of War update is now available on Perfect World Entertainment's Forsaken World, and it brings a little something for everyone. The PvP-inclined can take part in the new Immortal Rift, which allows for a staggering 100v100 battle. PvE players, meanwhile, can brave the Gauntlet of Storms or plunder the time-bending Aeon Spire. And no matter what type of player you are, you like shiny loot, right? Right. PWE knows this and has added new Champion Gear for players to acquire. To get in on the Storms of War action, fight your way over to the Forsaken World official site. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release] Forsaken World unleashes the Storms of War originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| World of Darkness' Chris McDonough calms fan concerns Posted: 28 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Horror, MMO industry, News items, World of Darkness, Miscellaneous A number of World of Darkness fans were concerned after a recent CCP CEO interview in which it was said that the World of Darkness MMO was going to be scaled back. The game's Senior Producer, Chris McDonough, stopped by the World of Darkness News forums to respond to the concerns. In essence, he states that CCP was "staffed up as if [they] would be able to be production-ready at this point and [they] simply are not." However, players shouldn't be too concerned, because the only content that is being scaled back in World of Darkness is "redundant content that's expensive to make." For McDonough's full response, head on over to World of Darkness News. World of Darkness' Chris McDonough calms fan concerns originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| GamersFirst challenging players with Occupy Free2Play Posted: 28 Oct 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Free-to-play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Giveaways Occupy Wall Street is the phrase on everyone's lips these days, and the folks at GamersFirst are getting in on the action with a lighthearted spinoff of the movement. GamersFirst is making the bold statement that it's "challenging video game players and consumers to break the cycle of MMOs that require you to commit to a subscription after spending as much as $60 for the honor of playing their products." The company continues, "Worse is the latest crop of subscription-lite and freemium games claiming to be Free2Play. GamersFirst is challenging gamers to reject this propaganda of what other publishers are calling free and demand more from their gaming experience." It's an interesting take on gaming, but G1 has even more to say and a very clear idea of what F2P is not: "Free2Play is NOT a thinly-veiled game trial. Free2Play is NOT titles that require cash shop purchases to play. Free2Play is NOT experience level caps. Free2Play is NOT exclusive content for paying players. Free2Play is NOT pay-to-win." Strong words, but is there anything behind them? The answer seems to be yes, since GamersFirst is backing up its words with -- what else? -- free items. Massively has been given 5,000 codes for APB: Reloaded gift packages that include three days of access to both a Colby CSG-20 PR2 shotgun and a ACT 44 Golden Marksmen pistol. The package also includes three days of premium access to the game. Head to our giveaway page to pick up your items, and make sure you hit the comment button to give us your take on Occupy Free2Play! GamersFirst challenging players with Occupy Free2Play originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| CCP bringing back EVE's volunteer moderator program Posted: 28 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox CCP's community outreach continues, and the latest feel-good EVE Online PR salvo takes the form of a news blurb about the recommissioned volunteer moderator program. Applications are now being accepted for EVE's ISD (Interstellar Services Division) outfit, though there are some noteworthy changes to the program since it last saw service (most of which are designed to alleviate fears of metagaming). New Community Communication Liaisons (CCLs) will basically serve as CCP's first line of defense when it comes to moderating the official forums and forwarding important discussions on to the community team and the devs. If you'd like to apply, head to the official EVE website for more information and further instructions. CCP bringing back EVE's volunteer moderator program originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Soon after Mozilla was done with the release of Firefox 4, it launched an 
Announced earlier this year at AMD's Computex press conference, the Trinity accelerated processing unit (APU) will replace the chip maker's Llano APU, which has been experiencing shortages due to poor 32-nm yields at Globalfoundries. Until recently, we only knew that Trinity would arrive in 2012. But thanks to Thomas Seifert, senior vice president and chief financial officer of AMD, we now have a much better idea about Trinity's releases schedule.
