| TERA's Japanese beta test to shrink by 66% Posted: 28 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, TERA While highly anticipated in the West, not all is sunshine and rainbows for TERA overseas. Under assault by bots and bugs, NHN Japan announced that it will be reducing the number of open beta players currently in the game down to 33% by consolidating servers. Players in Japan shell out $38.50 per month to test the game. TERA's been testing in Japan for five months now and has shown promise, with over 48,000 concurrent players logging in at one point. Even though the beta test is shrinking in players, NHN is making tweaks to the game to improve the experience for those who remain. These improvements include doubling the amount of free time for new players and cutting the cooldown time of dungeons in half while increasing the amount of loot dropped. NHN Japan says that the population decrease will help to improve the game's performance as it progresses in testing: "Although the CCU has been decreased from the initial start, it is now more stable than we expected. The server consolidation is to promote better cooperative play." The Korean beta test of TERA conducted a similar server consolidation last May.  TERA's Japanese beta test to shrink by 66% originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Legends adds new Crusade of Chaos campaign, Winter Festival Posted: 28 Dec 2011 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Mobile If you're looking for some new mobile MMO content to fill out your holiday week, Spacetime Studios has added a new campaign to its Star Legends title. The Crusade of Chaos, Part I will send you adventuring to the planet Volaria in search of its missing governor. The update features new legendary gear, new bosses, and a bonus capture-the-flag map. Crusade of Chaos is intended for players between level 35 and 40. Star Legends' Winter Festival is also ongoing, and it boasts "holiday trees, snowflakes, a robo reindeer, and a new dungeon with some icy cool loot," according to the latest Spacetime email blast. Sound good? Then take a look at the Winter Festival preview video that we've embedded for you after the break. [Source: Spacetime press release] Continue reading Star Legends adds new Crusade of Chaos campaign, Winter Festival Star Legends adds new Crusade of Chaos campaign, Winter Festival originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Embers of Caerus dares you to go dungeon diving in the deep dark Posted: 28 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, Sandbox While the indie Embers of Caerus might not even be in alpha yet, the developers wanted to give fans and followers a Christmas present in the form of a special preview of one of the Forsaken World's dungeons. If you're expecting a brightly-lit funhouse full of dizzying sights, you may want to prepare for a shift in perspective. Once we enter the cave mouth, we're plunged into darkness with the occasional flickering torchlight -- and creepy cackle -- as our only points of reference. The video takes its time poking through the bowels of the earth, discovering more creepy sights and sounds the deeper it goes. And while it might not be packed wall-to-wall with mobs -- this is a very early glimpse into the game, after all -- there is a terrifying surprise laying in wait at the end. You may need to go get your security blanket in preparation, especially if you watch it with the lights off and headphones on. You can watch the full video after the jump! [Thanks to Ron for the tip!] Continue reading Embers of Caerus dares you to go dungeon diving in the deep dark Embers of Caerus dares you to go dungeon diving in the deep dark originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: How frugal are you in F2P games? Posted: 28 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Those of you who shun free-to-play titles or are determined to never spend a single red cent in them are dismissed from today's discussion. But for those of you who do spend money in F2P MMOs -- and by all accounts, that's quite a few of you out there -- I'm curious just how frugal you are with the money you spend. I know that SOE players often hold back from registering Station Cash cards until the studio does a double- or triple-point day, and Turbine's frequently put its in-game stock on sale for both Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Around the holidays or during special anniversaries, players can also snag some good deals. So do you wait for certain items and unlocks to go on sale, or are you wealthy and/or impatient enough to simply go for it when you want them? Do you look for specials with an eagle eye? Jump on top of bonus in-game currency days? Clip coupons? Just how far do you stretch your gaming dollar?  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 frugal are you in F2P games? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| 2009 lawsuit against Final Fantasy XI dismissed Posted: 27 Dec 2011 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, MMO industry, News items, Consoles, Legal, Humor If you're a longtime player of Final Fantasy XI, you might have some problems with the way that the game's been handled over the years. Those problems are usually complaints about issues such as balance or the way that the game has handled updates, though, and they certainly don't extend to legal action. Yet back in 2009, Esther Leong filed suit against Square-Enix for fraudulent practices and deceptive advertising because of the game's monthly subscription fee. The claim was seeking over five million dollars in damages on behalf of all Final Fantasy XI players, which is probably a bit more than you seek when you feel your White Mage is underpowered. The 9th District Circuit Court of Appeals has officially dismissed the case, ending its progression for good and establishing a precedent that most likely won't find itself under heavy contest. A deputy general counsel for Square-Enix had called the suit "baseless" when it was first filed, due in no small part to the game's transparent statement that players would be required to pay a subscription fee. 2009 lawsuit against Final Fantasy XI dismissed originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Massively's MMO predictions for 2012 Posted: 27 Dec 2011 05:00 PM PST Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous 2010 will be the year to change it all! No wait, I mean 2011 will be the year to change it all! Darnit. OK, 2012, help us! You're our only hope. While picking stocks or guessing baseball playoff scores is probably more lucrative, in our little corner of the world, we enjoy nothing more than predicting the rocky future for our favorite hobby. But between studio closures, surprise indie hits, and million-dollar investments, nothing is certain in entertainment trends, which is why we have so much fun throwing out educated guesses. Which game will topple World of Warcraft? Which studio will be shunned and ridiculed for a stupid decision? So this year, a few members of the Massively team got together to make their predictions for 2012. Follow along below for more on what each writer thinks 2012 will bring to the MMO space. Massively's MMO predictions for 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Analyst claims that Star Wars: The Old Republic points to a healthy MMO market Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:45 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic The gaming industry is pretty morbid when you get right down to it. 2011 has seen several people predicting the death of the MMO market and the death of subscription games, often times in the same sentence. But according to analyst Colin Sebastian, the launch of Star Wars: The Old Republic makes it clear that these reports of death have been greatly exaggerated. As Sebastian puts it, the unprecedented growth of SWTOR's player figures indicates that the market still possesses a demand for new games and still responds favorably. Sebastian goes on to predict that the game will likely move around three million units by March 2012, the end of the fiscal year, although he believes that staying power is a bit more questionable. He believes that predictions of up to two million paying users by the end of 2012 might be overly optimistic. That having been said, the game has certainly come out of the gate with real strength; it only remains to be seen if it can maintain that. Analyst claims that Star Wars: The Old Republic points to a healthy MMO market originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Newest patch notes Star Wars: The Old Republic highlight bug fixes Posted: 27 Dec 2011 04:25 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic Bugs are frustrating, and inevitably some of them seep through to launch with a new MMO. Star Wars: The Old Republic produced a fairly polished end product, but there were still issues, most notably certain memory problems with Taris and some harvesting nodes that couldn't be harvested. As a result, the game's first patch has been rolled out following this morning's maintenance, and the first set of patch notes have gone live detailing the bugfixes and minor updates provided. Aside from the two obvious changes, there has been a handful of balance adjustments. Slicing has seen a slight downgrade to bring its rewards more in line with those of other gathering professions, and the Mandalorian Raiders flashpoint has seen several enemies lose their immunity to crowd control. Players can look forward to more steady adjustments as the game continues, but some quick fixes to noteworthy issues are always good to see -- especially so close to the holidays. Newest patch notes Star Wars: The Old Republic highlight bug fixes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Silkroad-R adding new server, gearing up for re-launch Posted: 27 Dec 2011 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Silkroad Online, Free-to-play When we heard about Silkroad-R, our first thought was buhwhat? Is Joymax getting into race cars or something? As it turns out, the "R" stands for rebirth, and the free-to-play fantasy MMO is being groomed for a new launch in 2012 (sans some of the problems that plagued it in its original run). A new Joymax press release describes the leaner, meaner Silkroad as "the all-new, light and easy- to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game that picks up where the original left off." The company is also touting a "bot-free and lag-free experience" that includes a new server to cope with the expected new-user demand. Open beta testing is going on now through January 17th, 2012, and you can learn more about the reboot at the official Silkroad website. [Source: Joymax press release] Silkroad-R adding new server, gearing up for re-launch originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Hyperspace Beacon: Force reflection Posted: 27 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon "Always in motion is the future," Yoda reflected to Luke Skywalker in the greatest of all Star Wars movies, The Empire Strikes Back. Even for a Jedi master, the future is unpredictable and always fluid. Likewise, I made predictions about Star Wars: The Old Republic that were completely off base and some that were spot on. Of course, the ones I got wrong were part of the BioWare plot to subvert everything I do. That's right, I'm looking at you, Georg Zoeller. This week, I'm going to borrow a phrase from the SWTOR-RP website: Force Reflection. Every weekday, these roleplayers pose a question about SWTOR, Star Wars, or some sort of roleplay trope to get you to think about how you play you character. However, I'm going to use the phrase to think back on the predictions I made in this column, specifically the first article of this year. Which ideas did I get correct? Which ideas did I get totally wrong? I can't be one hundred percent correct all the time. I have to leave room for some errors or else I'd lose my secret job as a psychic-hotline operator. Jump past the break to judge for yourself. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Force reflection Hyperspace Beacon: Force reflection originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SWTOR's Reid hosting Reddit AMA tomorrow Posted: 27 Dec 2011 11:00 AM PST |
