MMO Updates

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• Rise and Shiny: Dark Legends
• Previously on MV TV: The week of May 5th
• The Daily Grind: What areas feel the most overcrowded?
• Aion rewarding decorating skills with contest
• Cryptic developer: Star Trek Online PvP is 'fail'
• The Mog Log: A look forward to Final Fantasy XIV pets
• The Tattered Notebook: Learning from EQII's free-to-play model

Rise and Shiny: Dark Legends Posted: 13 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Video, Game mechanics, Launches, New titles, Previews, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Mobile, Casual, Crime, Humor, Post-Apocalyptic, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Miscellaneous Dark Legends, the new title from mobile MMO king Spacetime Studios, is already creating a buzz with its liberal use of an energy pool that is sapped as players go through standard gameplay. If this mechanic were packaged any differently and inside a sandbox, it's possible that people would call it "realistic" or "hardcore." Unfortunately, problems set in as soon as players realized that playing the game for hours on end would require some infusion of real-life funds or the ability to kill pretty large chunks of time in non-combat areas. I would argue that the gameplay does not have to be designed for marathon gaming sessions. It's very possible that the "casual" part of the game's description actually means "casual." I still had issues with the mechanic; don't get me wrong. But if I was bothered by anything it would be Dark Legends' lack of borrowing features from Pocket Legends, Spacetime's flagship mobile MMO, which offers actual persistent areas and other MMO staples. Of course, it's possible that Spacetime is simply trying something new. Heaven forbid it should attempt a new design! Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Dark Legends Rise and Shiny: Dark Legends originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Previously on MV TV: The week of May 5th Posted: 13 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Video, Massively Meta, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Previously on MV TV Ah, early summer. The air outside is crisp and clear, filled with possibilities. And pollen, lots and lots of pollen. Let's all just avoid that mess and stay inside watching videos all day, huh? In fact, let's start with a series of really cool videos hosted by your favorite MMO site staff! Luckily for you, I have quite a few nice streams to show you this week. Last week's were good -- don't get me wrong -- but this week? This week will live on in your memory until the day you die. We'll start with a bit of EVE Online and TERA gameplay hosted by Mike, then MJ takes over and shows us some EverQuest II, a chunk of Aion, and a batch of City of Heroes craziness. I square off things nice and neat with a visit to Glitch's new housing system. Be sure to bookmark our Livestream schedule page right here so you can follow what is happening in the world of Twitch.tv streaming each week. Now click past the cut and get to viewing! Continue reading Previously on MV TV: The week of May 5th Previously on MV TV: The week of May 5th originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What areas feel the most overcrowded? Posted: 13 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous One of the realities of a multiplayer game is, you know, the fact that there are multiple players. That means that public areas can get very crowded in short order, leaving players to feel just a little claustrophobic. Newbie areas on launch day are generally filled to the brim, as are new zones on an expansion launch, central locations for farming valuable resources, and so on. But there's crowded and then there's overcrowded -- areas with so many players that it becomes difficult or impossible to get anything done. No developer wants to have parts of the game that are stuffed to the brim with players alongside completely empty regions, but it still happens. What areas in various games do you feel are the most overcrowded with other players? Are they high-level regions, starter points, or just areas that have such a spectacular set of rewards that everyone flocks to them? 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: What areas feel the most overcrowded? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Aion rewarding decorating skills with contest Posted: 12 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Contests, News items, Free-to-play As one of 3.0's most anticipated features, player housing brought a whole new facet of gaming to Aion. Along with the studios, houses, and estates, housing provided Daevas the opportunity to demonstrate their creativity and decorating flair, and players have been taking full advantage of the system. Now, NCsoft wants to reward players for sprucing up their Atreian homes with a contest titled Decorate Your Space. Think you have a pretty snazzy pad? Then show off those mad decorating skills! All Daevas over level 20 are eligible; just submit up to three unaltered screenshots of your living space via the contest thread or by email to community_aion_en@ncsoft.com by 12:59 a.m. EDT on May 19th. The top three homes judged best decorated will win special 60-day, two-drawer cabinets with an extra 18 slots of storage space. For full rules, conditions, and the winner release form, visit the official announcement. Aion rewarding decorating skills with contest originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Contest announcement

Cryptic developer: Star Trek Online PvP is 'fail' Posted: 12 May 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play How many times have you read a forum post that says insert-random-MMO's PvP sucks? Well, in Star Trek Online PvP actually does suck, and that's straight from the mouth of a developer. It's so bad, in fact, that Dan "Gozer" Griffis makes no bones about the fact that it could even be removed from Cryptic's sci-fi MMO. "Right now because PVP is in such bad shape we (the developers) have to decide if we think we can turn this problem around. Participation in PVP-related activities is so low on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis that we could in fact just completely take it out of STO and it would not impact the overall number of people [who] log in to the game and play in any significant way." Griffis goes on to say that he is the only developer currently working on PvP, and as such he has to make some hard choices. He has a plan, and though he hasn't shared specifics on it yet, he says there are huge changes in store over the next year. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!] Cryptic developer: Star Trek Online PvP is 'fail' originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: STO forums

The Mog Log: A look forward to Final Fantasy XIV pets Posted: 12 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log Pet classes and I have an odd relationship. I don't generally like them, but I like having them there, and when they're done right, I'm very fond of the option. Final Fantasy XIV currently has a grand total of none of them; we have not even a summoner or beastmaster to call our own, but we've been told that this is all changing in version 2.0. And with November just half a year away, it's time to start thinking about what form these pets are going to take. Of course, this isn't virgin territory for the game series. Final Fantasy XI featured four different pet classes, which have had differing levels of success over time. And even though Final Fantasy XIV isn't meant to be Final Fantasy XI in a new skin, the game can certainly take some inspiration from its predecessor even while forging a unique legacy. And hey, we've got at least three of the four pets from the previous game in Eorzea at this point. So let's talk about the past set of pets, where we are in the present game, and how those systems might make it into the main game. Continue reading The Mog Log: A look forward to Final Fantasy XIV pets The Mog Log: A look forward to Final Fantasy XIV pets originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Tattered Notebook: Learning from EQII's free-to-play model Posted: 12 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Business models, Economy, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Tattered Notebook What a long way EverQuest II's come! If you had said back in 2004 that the game would not only go free-to-play but have microtransactions and emerge largely intact, I probably would have run to get my pitchfork. But here we are in 2012, and EQII's website has a huge green button that says "Play Free" in big letters, with a long list of special deals on station cash and Marketplace items. In this week's Tattered Notebook, I want to look back at the evolution of EQII to see how it successfully transitioned while gauging where it's headed down the road when it comes to its payment model. The official move to free-to-play might seem like the final hurdle, but I think we still have a few more around the bend. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Learning from EQII's free-to-play model The Tattered Notebook: Learning from EQII's free-to-play model originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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MMOGaming News

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• Recommended MMOs in May 2012
• Guild Wars 2 – Could Cost You More Than You Would Expect!
• Dragon Nest (KR) Teaser Trailer for New Class, Kali
• TERA: An Exciting World with Familiar Fundamentals
• Earthrise Picked up by New Developer and Plans to Relaunch as F2P MMO

Recommended MMOs in May 2012 Posted: Whatever, this month is going to be a crowded month but don't forget to spend sometime with your family. I hope you don't forget to do something in Mother's Day. Continue reading Recommended MMOs in May 2012.

Guild Wars 2 – Could Cost You More Than You Would Expect! Posted: Let's get straight to the heart of the matter; Guild Wars 1 is a buy to play MMORPG. You buy the disk, you never pay again unless you want the optional expansions. Continue reading Guild Wars 2 – Could Cost You More Than You Would Expect!.

Dragon Nest (KR) Teaser Trailer for New Class, Kali Posted: As the update for this new class approached the Korean server some time in June and July in apparently 2 separate updates, more news were released with a teaser trailer to boot. Continue reading Dragon Nest (KR) Teaser Trailer for New Class, Kali.

TERA: An Exciting World with Familiar Fundamentals Posted: Your first few moments in TERA will likely be filled with confusion. The game's prologue, which aims to show you what your chosen character will be like at level 20, is a bit on the chaotic side. You're simply dropped into an intense battle with a wide collection of abilities and asked to fend for yourself. Continue reading TERA: An Exciting World with Familiar Fundamentals.

Earthrise Picked up by New Developer and Plans to Relaunch as F2P MMO Posted: The plans are, according to SilentFuture, to revamp many of the systems used in Earthrise and to adjust the game world accordingly. Continue reading Earthrise Picked up by New Developer and Plans to Relaunch as F2P MMO.

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