MMO Updates |
- WRUP: Are you going to eat that edition
- The Daily Grind: Who will be our MMO development heroes of tomorrow?
- Champions Online rolling out Role and Stat changes
- Betawatch: February 18 - 24, 2012
- Another round of Star Wars: The Old Republic questions answered by the developers
- Blizzard clarifies Bashiok's statements about Diablo III and hints at release announcement
- Storyboard: Welcome back, whoever you are
- Stick it to the world in The Missing Ink's open alpha
- TERA's store experiences massive failure, En Masse sending out beta invites by hand
- Darkfall slices away at 'initial unforgiving experience' with 2.0
- The Firing Line: Why you should be playing Tribes: Ascend
- Massively's own Eliot Lefebvre will tell your site how not to suck at PAX East
- Guild Wars 2 beta signups pressing on for the millionth signup [Updated: Million-mark achieved]
- SOE shows off PlanetSide 2 anti-aircraft battery creation video
| WRUP: Are you going to eat that edition Posted: 25 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  Oh, wow, this is great. Say, while I'm eating this, why don't you check out this week's installment of WRUP? It's all the plans of the Massively staff for the weekend, and we're also talking about what games we regret having left behind. So go ahead and read that, and then let us know what you'll be up to in the comments. I'll just finish this plate off. Continue reading WRUP: Are you going to eat that edition
|
| The Daily Grind: Who will be our MMO development heroes of tomorrow? Posted: 25 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  But who will be the innovators and trend-setters of tomorrow's MMOs? We see a lot of innovation these days, but ascribing those ideas to one person isn't as easy (or applicable) as it was in the early days of five-man studios. Still, there are geniuses in these modern studios making some much-needed improvements that will carry on for many years. So if you're a player and you know of someone who will be known for his or her innovation in the future, let us know. If you're a developer who wants to call out a co-worker for something he or she has done to change the genre, get that name out there!  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!
|
| Champions Online rolling out Role and Stat changes Posted: 24 Feb 2012 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Champions Online  Individual stats have also seen some tweaks: Strength is no longer hard-capped for melee damage, Presence has had its threat component removed and a soft-cap introduced, Ego is now solely a ranged stat, and Dexterity has seen improvements to its critical benefits. Roles are also being balanced differently, giving more consistent stat benefits that are more in line with what players in a given role will actually need to do. It's a pretty sweeping set of changes, but the end goal is to give Champions Online players a more straightforward numbers game to play.
|
| Betawatch: February 18 - 24, 2012 Posted: 24 Feb 2012 05:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous  Tribes: Ascend and SteelWar Online have moved to our open beta list, while the closed beta list gets two new additions: steampunk pseudo-MMO Guns of Icarus and cutesy Divina. World of Warplanes and The Missing Ink, meanwhile, join our resurrected alpha category. We also say farewell to Wakfu, whose global open beta period has come to a close. The game will be launching next week on February 29th. And who could forget Guild Wars 2's two-day beta signup window earlier this week? If you missed it, our hands-on impressions and crafting guide might cheer you up. Enjoy the full Betawatch roundup after the break! Continue reading Betawatch: February 18 - 24, 2012
|
| Another round of Star Wars: The Old Republic questions answered by the developers Posted: 24 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A  There are also plans for players to gain the ability to roll on equipment specifically for companions; the Need option will be disabled unless the item in question is designed for your advanced class. Amidst all of the good news, however, there is some bad in the sense that new ship models and customization are apparently on the table -- but for much further in the future. Take a look at the full list of answers if you're interested in seeing what players can expect for new features in the near future and the slightly further future.
|
| Blizzard clarifies Bashiok's statements about Diablo III and hints at release announcement Posted: 24 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Culture, News items  Wilson goes on to claim that fans can expect a release date announcement in the near future, avoiding the dreaded Blizzard incarnation of "soon." Given his appraisal of the beta state, we suspect that the game will be heading for a retail edition before too long, at which point players will be able to decide for themselves whether or not their expectations were met.
|
| Storyboard: Welcome back, whoever you are Posted: 24 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  Of course, much like video game franchises, old roleplaying characters never really go away; they just go for longer period of inactivity. Unfortunately, diving back into a character you haven't played for a while prompts its own string of problems, namely the fact that from a story perspective said character apparently fell off the face of the planet for a while. So let's start small and lead your character back into the action, starting by figuring out where he or she has been for the past several weeks or months or years. Continue reading Storyboard: Welcome back, whoever you are
|
| Stick it to the world in The Missing Ink's open alpha Posted: 24 Feb 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Sandbox  If you like your MMOs a little bit sandboxy, a little bit quirky, and 100% indie, then RedBedlam's upcoming title The Missing Ink might be right up your alley. The game puts players in control of a 3-D world which they can mold to their liking and also provides MMO mainstays such as combat, PvP, exploration, and more. The game is still in the alpha testing phase, so players should expect more than the occasional bug or glitch. But if you want to help an indie developer iron the kinks out of its Unity-based sandbox MMO, then just head on over to the game's official site to sign up. There's no selection process; just sign up, jump in, and shape the world.
|
| TERA's store experiences massive failure, En Masse sending out beta invites by hand Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Bugs, Business models, TERA  En Masse responded with an explanation and solution for the store snafu. According to the studio, the store provider experienced a "massive systems failure" yesterday, which caused the issues with saving purchases to the hard drives. The vendor is attempting to fix it, but there is no ETA on when the task might be completed. The good news is that En Masse is watching the purchase logs and will be sending out game codes manually every two hours to pre-order customers. The studio assures everyone that his purchase will be recognized when the system is fixed and that if anyone accidentally purchased more than one copy by accident, the additional copies will be fully refunded.
|
| Darkfall slices away at 'initial unforgiving experience' with 2.0 Posted: 24 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Previews, PvP, Dev Diaries  "In the current version of the game, we've had many occasions where the steep learning curve and initial unforgiving experience, unnecessarily kept people out of the game," Aventurine's Tasos Flambouras comments on the latest Darkfall 2.0 post. This week's post illuminates three major systems on which the team is working to make Agon a more approachable world. With Darkfall 2.0, new players will start out in a safe training zone that is designed to teach the fundamentals of the game without the risk of imminent ganking. Plus, the devs promise "a nice adventure with an epic ending" to boot. The other two systems are coming up with a way to protect mount theft and to encourage the player economy. Mounts in 2.0 will remember their owners for a time, and any thief will have to contend with being branded a criminal and coming under fire by guard NPCs. Finally, new markets will appear in all major cities and allow players to buy, sell, and place orders for others to fill. There is one catch to shopping, however: If you buy an item from another city's market, you have to either travel there personally to get it or pay a surcharge for delivery.
|
| The Firing Line: Why you should be playing Tribes: Ascend Posted: 24 Feb 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Hands-on, First Impressions, The Firing Line  Yes, kids, Tribes: Ascend is officially in open beta, and that means you no longer have an excuse. Hi-Rez Studios threw open the doors this morning, and despite the fact that the game's closed beta exceeded all expectations and hosted over 300,000 players since its November kickoff, there's always room for more. Continue reading The Firing Line: Why you should be playing Tribes: Ascend
|
| Massively's own Eliot Lefebvre will tell your site how not to suck at PAX East Posted: 24 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Events, real-world, News items, Miscellaneous  Are you planning on heading to Boston, Massachusetts for PAX East 2012? If you are, then boy have we got a treat for you. On Sunday, April 8th, our very own Eliot Lefebvre will be joining members of Guild Wars Insider, Darth Hater, ArenaNet, and Vox Games on a panel informatively titled How To Make Gaming Sites That Don't Suck. It is what it says on the tin, folks. So if you've got a blog lying around and you're not sure what to do with it, let this panel of experts tell you how to turn it into the next big thing. Or at least let them tell you why Papyrus and Comic Sans are not legitimate font choices. Please? If nothing else, just show up, ask questions, and show our favorite cynical curmudgeon some love.
|
| Guild Wars 2 beta signups pressing on for the millionth signup [Updated: Million-mark achieved] Posted: 24 Feb 2012 10:24 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2  After an exciting 48 hours, the Guild Wars 2 beta signup session left ArenaNet a little less than 10,000 signups short of a million. Rather than settling for this already impressive number, the folks at ArenaNet have decided to keep going until they hit their million-application mark. To add to the fun, the company has quite nearly crippled Ducksboard, a stat-tracking website, by tweeting a link to a live ticker that Ducksboard is hosting. We know that you, savvy readers that you are, have probably already done your bit to try for a spot in future tests, but on the off-chance you've been under a rock for the last 48 hours, here's a miraculous last chance to sign up for that beta. [Update: Anet has now announced via Twitter that GW2 has surpassed 1,000,000 beta sign-ups. The team has also released a quickie video on Facebook showing off the devs' reactions to the milestone!]
|
| SOE shows off PlanetSide 2 anti-aircraft battery creation video Posted: 24 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2  SOE senior artist Roel Jovellanos walks us through the creation process on a Nanite Systems anti-aircraft gun. The Sky Lance starts out as a greyscale Photoshop sketch, moves to a Maya 3-D model, and goes through various stages of artistic wizardry to arrive at the final image shown above. PlanetSide 2 is an open-world sci-fi MMOFPS featuring three factions and thousand-player battles that include infantry, ground vehicles, and aircraft. [Source: SOE press release] Continue reading SOE shows off PlanetSide 2 anti-aircraft battery creation video
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
