MMO Updates |
- Not So Massively Extra: First impressions of Wrath of Heroes
- Hanging with my Gnomies: Wizard101's Zafaria trailer hits below the belt
- Academic talks MMO legalese and virtual property rights
- XLGAMES shows off new ArcheAge CBT4 teaser
- 'Little risk of failure': Analysts predict SWTOR will turn a healthy profit
- Star Trek Online hits warp factor Season 5 today
- Ask Massively: Mind tricks are the lazy way of doing things edition
- The Daily Grind: Do you engage in forum PvP?
- Second Life rolls out Linden Realms publicly on December 1st
- Richard Garriott predicts the death of consoles as a gaming medium
- Clone Wars Adventures releases Umbara combat zone trailer
- City of Heroes Intrepid Informer grapples with the Titan Weapons powerset
- MMO Family: Six kid-friendly MMOs that need to be made
- Blizzard's Frank Pearce steps up to join AIAS' board of directors
- Eden Eternal content update brings new races, Alpaca Coin system
- Lineage II awakens to free-to-play today
- Glitch 'unlaunches' to add new features
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The Incarnate divide
- Choose My Adventure: No Skyrim, unfortunately
- Age of Conan dev update talks House of Crom, upcoming content patches
- Free for All: Shopping for your favorite free-to-play fanatic
- Turbine teases Rohan content with new LotRO screenshots
- Perpetuum expansion launches December 1st, anniversary tourney this weekend
| Not So Massively Extra: First impressions of Wrath of Heroes Posted: 01 Dec 2011 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Game mechanics, New titles, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, First Impressions, Not So Massively, MOBA  Wrath of Heroes celebrated its third closed beta weekend at the end of November, and I was there to get some hands-on experience. I found a fundamentally fun game with a strange identity crisis -- the game adopts some ideas from existing titles while trying its hardest to be different. It has LoL's persistent levels and a variant of its rune system, but no character levels or items. There's a selection of heroes with five abilities each, but the traditional two team format present throughout online team games is discarded in favour of WoH's signature three team "6v6v6" game mode. The game is littered with these contradictions but somehow makes it work. Skip past the cut to read my first impressions of Wrath of Heroes and see some screenshots of the game in action. Continue reading Not So Massively Extra: First impressions of Wrath of Heroes
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| Hanging with my Gnomies: Wizard101's Zafaria trailer hits below the belt Posted: 01 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Patches, Free-to-play, Humor, Kids, Wizard101, Family  While Wizard101's Zafaria expansion came out a couple weeks ago, KingsIsle wants to make sure that everyone is aware of the new high-level area and all of its fun features. Hence, an official Zafaria trailer that shows off the expansion's lands, monsters, landmarks, and Gnome attack spells. It's a mash-up of tourism, humor, and hype in one quick video application, and it's yours for the low, low price of hitting the "Continue Reading" button! Check it out. We mean it. We'd hate to have to unleash the Massively Gnome Punishment Squad on your shins. Continue reading Hanging with my Gnomies: Wizard101's Zafaria trailer hits below the belt
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| Academic talks MMO legalese and virtual property rights Posted: 01 Dec 2011 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous  Lastowka examines a number of high-profile virtual goods disputes (including one that ended with the real-world stabbing death of a virtual thief who sold a rare sword after "borrowing" it from a friend). The piece also provides some interesting food for thought in the form of nightmare legal scenarios run amok (nerf patch lawsuits and legal action for server shutdowns are just two examples). You can read the full article text at Gamasutra.
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| XLGAMES shows off new ArcheAge CBT4 teaser Posted: 01 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MMO industry, New titles, News items, ArcheAge, Sandbox  Strangely, there's no combat on display during the trailer's two-minute running time, but there's plenty of atmosphere, ambiance, and anticipation just in case you weren't already beside yourself with excitement. Check out the full clip after the break and let us know what you think. Continue reading XLGAMES shows off new ArcheAge CBT4 teaser
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| 'Little risk of failure': Analysts predict SWTOR will turn a healthy profit Posted: 01 Dec 2011 07:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, Star Wars: The Old Republic  Pachter says that LucasArts will claim 35% of SWTOR's revenue: "The revenue split is around 35 percent to LucasArts after EA earns back their investment. That means EA keeps most of the revenue from disc sales (they have marketing expenses and need to staff up the server farms), so they should earn a nice profit there. Keep in mind that EA expensed the development cost when incurred, so much of the disc sales revenue will be profit." Pachter's predictions for the title are sizable yet reasonable; he thinks that SWTOR will get 1.5 million subscribers. This translates to $270 million per year in revenue, $80 million of which will be pure profit for EA after LucasArts and operating costs take their share. Even if SWTOR only draws in -- or sustains -- merely 500,000 subscribers, Pachter says the game will be sitting pretty. Other market analysts, such as EEDAR VP Jesse Divnich, support the notion of SWTOR's profitability. "Based upon user commentary and consumer surveys, the profit potential for The Old Republic is high. We see little risk of failure for The Old Republic," Divnich stated.
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| Star Trek Online hits warp factor Season 5 today Posted: 01 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Patches, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play  Season 5 contains a cargo hold full of features and changes, starting with organizing what subscribers (now "Gold members") get as part of their service. The update also includes a duty officer system, an improved space skills system, a revamped tutorial, a currency consolidation, and several other events and activities. You can read up on all of Season 5's details in the release notes as Cryptic's space baby takes one more step toward its free-to-play conversion.
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| Ask Massively: Mind tricks are the lazy way of doing things edition Posted: 01 Dec 2011 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous  That leads very naturally to this week's installment of Ask Massively, in which we discuss whether or not leveling mechanics have worn our their collective welcomes in MMOs. As always, if you've got an urgent question for a future week, feel free to leave it in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity. Continue reading Ask Massively: Mind tricks are the lazy way of doing things edition
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| The Daily Grind: Do you engage in forum PvP? Posted: 01 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  For today's Daily Grind, we're curious about where you stand and whether or not you feel strongly enough about your MMOs of choice to brave the turbulent waters of their out-of-game communities. Do you engage in forum PvP?  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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| Second Life rolls out Linden Realms publicly on December 1st Posted: 30 Nov 2011 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, News items, Second Life, Free-to-play, Browser, Virtual worlds, Miscellaneous, Sandbox  Second Life content creators will, rather unfortunately, be facing off against an in-house project. Luckily, the tools used in the development of Linden Realms will also be made available to the community, giving everyone a chance to play with the new tools and improve upon gameplay experiences. Whether or not this is a good thing or not for the game's overall health remains to be seen, but it may well provide an interesting boost to the community's user-created content.
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| Richard Garriott predicts the death of consoles as a gaming medium Posted: 30 Nov 2011 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Miscellaneous  Naturally, since Garriott's current company, Portalarium, is targeting specifically that demographic, he might be just a little bit biased. But he's hardly the first industry insider to claim that modern games need to be easily be picked up with little to no up-front cost. Take a look at the full interview for more, including Garriott's thoughts on how present designers are lazy and his self-comparison to Tolkien.
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| Clone Wars Adventures releases Umbara combat zone trailer Posted: 30 Nov 2011 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Expansions, News items, Free-to-play, Casual, Family, Clone Wars Adventures  Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures is getting a new expansion known as Battle of Umbara. And just for giggles, the update will be hitting the live game on December 15th, which is the first day of Star Wars: The Old Republic's head start. Sony Online Entertainment has released a short video to show players what they have to look forward to from the Umbara combat zone when the update goes live on the 15th. Along with the new combat zone, the expansion will also bring new mission instances, zone-wide events, and more.. If you want to check the game out, you can sign up for free on the game's official site. Otherwise, just click on past the cut for the video. Continue reading Clone Wars Adventures releases Umbara combat zone trailer
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| City of Heroes Intrepid Informer grapples with the Titan Weapons powerset Posted: 30 Nov 2011 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Classes, News items, Free-to-play  City of Heroes' Intrepid Informer is on the scene again, and this time it's highlighting a new powerset: Titan Weapons. The powerset is exactly what its name suggests. It focuses on wielding massive tools of destruction and cutting a swath through enemies with brutal swipes. Titan Weapons users will use a new mechanic known as momentum. As you might imagine, momentum starts out building slowly, but once a player has some momentum built, he can unleash a flurry of AoE attacks to finish off his foes. For a complete run-down of the powers available to Titan Weapons characters and the details on what each one does, head on over to the official site.
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| MMO Family: Six kid-friendly MMOs that need to be made Posted: 30 Nov 2011 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Culture, Lore, MMO industry, Opinion, Kids, MMO Family, Family  There's so much more to MMOs than achievements and points, and there are many popular children's titles that would be great settings. Some foster exploration, some teach, and some are just wonderful venues for kids to have fun. Read on for a look at what children's MMOs need to be made (and I promise that not one is Harry Potter!). Continue reading MMO Family: Six kid-friendly MMOs that need to be made
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| Blizzard's Frank Pearce steps up to join AIAS' board of directors Posted: 30 Nov 2011 02:30 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, MMO industry, Miscellaneous  Pearce was one of the original co-founders of Blizzard back in 1991 and has been a vital part of the studio's operations ever since -- he's overseen development on World of Warcraft among other roles. In joining the AIAS board of directors, Pearce will now extend his influence over the Academy's dealings with its over 22,000 members from various industry leaders. For his part, Pearce thinks the appointment will be a good match for his experience: "I've always appreciated the Academy's commitment to advancing the gaming medium and fostering creativity within our industry. I'm honored to be chosen for this role on the Board, and I look forward to drawing on my experiences at Blizzard to help support and contribute to the AIAS' ongoing mission."
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| Eden Eternal content update brings new races, Alpaca Coin system Posted: 30 Nov 2011 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Races  A new update has hit the world of Aeria Games' Eden Eternal today, and it brought two new races along with it. The glyph-crafting Ursun and the minuscule Halfkin should both be welcome additions to the title's roster of playable races. But what if you want to play all five races? Don't worry. Aeria has raised the character limit to six characters per account. The update also adds the new Alpaca Coin system to the game. The system "serves as a new quest mechanic," and it encourages players to collect Alpaca-emblazoned tokens that can be redeemed for rare and Aeria Point items. To get in on the alpaction (I'm sorry) yourself, head on over to the game's official site. [Source: Aeria Games press release]
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| Lineage II awakens to free-to-play today Posted: 30 Nov 2011 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lineage 2, Launches, Patches, Free-to-play  The company announced that it was adopting a hybrid F2P/subscription model a month ago, and things have certainly picked up speed since then. Players can level all the way up to 99 without spending any money if they choose, and NCsoft has implemented a "Path to Awakening" system that will dole out new rewards for players going through this journey. Normally, a F2P transition would be a major update in and of itself, but NCsoft is coupling Lineage II's relaunch with the Goddess of Destruction update. It's even opened up a new server, Shilen, to handle the influx of freebies. This update comes packaged with additional zones, eight new classes, an auction house system, and more. A new website awaits those interested in Lineage II's next evolutionary stage. For players who don't mind investing some cash into the game, NCsoft is selling Exploration Packs starting at $5 to open up more of the game for funzies.
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| Glitch 'unlaunches' to add new features Posted: 30 Nov 2011 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Sandbox  Tiny Speck's popular and unusual MMO, Glitch, is being unlaunched. What does that mean, exactly? Well, to put it bluntly, the developers -- including Katamari Damacy designer Keita Takahashi -- have recognized that there are some things that the game lacks. Namely, the team wants "to make the early game reveal itself more easily to new players" while also adding more robust creative tools that can be used "to change the world in more tangible ways." In light of these realizations, Tiny Speck is taking Glitch back into the beta stage of testing. Why? As the press release notes, "making radical changes to core game mechanics is something that's a lot harder to do while the front doors are open and we have to focus on scaling to support growth, stability and providing the quality of service we aim to achieve for the live game." To round it all off, the team understands that this move will disappoint some people, especially those who have put money into the game. With that in mind, the devs will be giving a 100% refund to players who bought something from the Glitch store and who want their money back. For the full details, head on over to the announcement at the Glitch official site. And keep an eye on MMObility later this week, where our own Beau Hindman will be interviewing Tiny Speck's Stewart Butterfield.
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The Incarnate divide Posted: 30 Nov 2011 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Endgame, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  Long-time readers and perpetual archive trawlers will remember that I did an article about precisely what could happen when the Incarnate system went live about a year ago. Well, we've had quite some time to see the system in action and find out what works, what doesn't, and so forth. And the thing is, the comment was right. The bad outcome has come to pass, in many ways. The endgame is the Incarnate rush, and if you're not a part of it, you're on the sidelines. Of course, I'm not entirely convinced this isn't the best that could be hoped for. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The Incarnate divide
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| Choose My Adventure: No Skyrim, unfortunately Posted: 30 Nov 2011 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Polls, MMO industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Hands-on, Choose My Adventure, Miscellaneous  I tend to have a casual, laid-back style of play. You'd typically find me crafting armor rather than running a dungeon in World of Warcraft. I'd rather be exploring the countryside in Vanguard than progressing through raid content. So whether you revel in the idea of throwing me out of my comfort zone or you want to sit next to me on my extra-soft carebear couch, now's your chance to vote. I'll also be livestreaming parts of Choose My Adventure in the coming weeks. Oh yeah -- and you have until Saturday to vote! Continue reading Choose My Adventure: No Skyrim, unfortunately
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| Age of Conan dev update talks House of Crom, upcoming content patches Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons  The lengthy read lays out current and future AoC updates in a linear fashion, beginning with yesterday's 3.1 patch (which Morrison says was slightly delayed and also slightly problematic due to the slew of behind-the-scenes tweaks that were performed on the game's Dreamworld engine). The extra time apparently benefited the upcoming 3.2 patch, though, because it gave Funcom artists even more time to add both beauty and detail to a patch that will add both Khitai raids and the huge House of Crom dungeon instances. Head to the official AoC website for a look into Morrison's Hyborian crystal ball.
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| Free for All: Shopping for your favorite free-to-play fanatic Posted: 30 Nov 2011 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Free-to-play, Casual, Free for All  So what is there to get for the free-to-play fanatic in your life? There's plenty, fortunately. It can be quite a trip to navigate the muddy waters of cash-shop goods and virtual money, and the last thing you would want to do is buy something that is not needed or wanted. Click past the cut and I'll give you some suggestions for gift giving this season! Continue reading Free for All: Shopping for your favorite free-to-play fanatic
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| Turbine teases Rohan content with new LotRO screenshots Posted: 30 Nov 2011 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play  The new batch coincides with the continuation of the game's epic storyline, and the shots primarily center around Theodred, prince of Rohan and son of King Theoden. If you've read Tolkien -- or seen Peter Jackson's films -- you're probably familiar with Theodred's fate and thus it might surprise you to learn that you'll be aiding him in Turbine's version of Middle-earth. It all fits, though, and you can find the prince in the game's new Dunland region, preparing his troops for battle and waiting on the timely assistance of heroes like you. [Source: Turbine press release]
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| Perpetuum expansion launches December 1st, anniversary tourney this weekend Posted: 30 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Perpetuum, Sandbox  Prior to the expansion, outpost conflict was fairly random, but now thanks to a concept called stability that lets corporations gradually increase their influence over a given facility, Avatar is allowing enterprising players to get a lot of more mileage out of the system as they build their empires across the planet Nia. As we reported last week, the devs are also hosting a tournament to celebrate the game's one-year anniversary, and you can read Avatar's description of the events after the break. Continue reading Perpetuum expansion launches December 1st, anniversary tourney this weekend
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