MMO Updates |
- Aeria launches Star Supremacy browser MMORTS
- Analyst says no one is buying MMOs after SWTOR fizzled
- World of Tanks' 7.4 update to feature new game modes, maps
- Pimp your Vanarch candidate with TERA's campaign poster contest
- DDO expansion screens show off dryads, werewolves
- Diablo 3 achieves fastest-selling PC game and biggest PC game launch titles
- Rosh Online major content update adds more funtionality and gameplay
- The Daily Grind: If you could design a class, what would it be?
- Fallen Earth team dwindles further, but game still lives
- The Game Archaeologist: Richard Garriott's haunted cache
- ArenaNet confirms no beta for this weekend
- Embers of Caerus launches Kickstarter campaign
- Dark Age of Camelot updates Relic mechanics and classes
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Touring the Snowden Drifts
- Firefall video blog says farewell to levels, hello to skill
- Blizzard denies Diablo III authenticator hacking claims
- City of Heroes puts players in the action with its Summer Blockbuster Event
- MechWarrior Online announces closed beta and founder's program
- Arcane Legends officially announced
- Massively Speaking Episode 202: Rubbernecking at the scene of an MMO accident
- Marvel Heroes unveils its first official trailer [Updated]
- EVE Online releases 17th expansion, Inferno
- Exclusive Star Trek Online Season 6 reveal: Fleet starbases
- CCP releases Welcome to New Eden video for DUST 514
| Aeria launches Star Supremacy browser MMORTS Posted: 23 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMORTS  Players can choose from three different factions (the Altairians, the Seekers, and the UEO) and then set about gathering resources and building fleets before heading into combat. Aeria says that its title boasts quite a bit of gameplay choice, many of which "will directly affect the outcome of combat and ensure that warfare in Star Supremacy is a dynamic and highly strategic affair." [Source: Aeria Games press release]
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| Analyst says no one is buying MMOs after SWTOR fizzled Posted: 23 May 2012 09:45 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic  "There is just no demand for game assets right now, as THQ proved when it tried to sell the Warhammer MMO. I think [Electronic Arts] could step in, since they are the publisher, so you might see some alternative way to get 38 some bridge financing," Pachter said.
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| World of Tanks' 7.4 update to feature new game modes, maps Posted: 23 May 2012 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks  The patch will also expand the French tank tree as well as add two new maps to the mix. The first map is called Widepark, and it takes place amidst the ruins of a bombed out German town. The second map is called Airfield. It transports players to a Mediterranean location surrounded by temple ruins and rocky hills. The most noteworthy 7.4 changes, though, are the game modes. Encounter battle "invites two sides to fight for one base," according to a Wargaming.net press release. Assault "sets the players in the roles of attackers and defenders where the former have superior combat capabilities," the company says. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
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| Pimp your Vanarch candidate with TERA's campaign poster contest Posted: 23 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, TERA  The contest rules are pretty simple. You'll need to include your campaign poster, along with a short paragraph extolling the virtues of your candidate, in an email to En Masse. You'll want to be quick about it too, as the submission period ends tomorrow. This week's election cycle ends the day after, and you can view the election calendar at the official TERA website.
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| DDO expansion screens show off dryads, werewolves Posted: 23 May 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Expansions, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  Menace of the Underdark will add quite a bit of new content to DDO, including a new Druid class, epic destinies, and an old familiar campaign setting. The expansion is now available for pre-order on Turbine's website. It launches on June 25th. [Source: Turbine press release]
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| Diablo 3 achieves fastest-selling PC game and biggest PC game launch titles Posted: 23 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Diablo III  Blizzard's Mike Morhaime apologized for D3's various launch issues but said that the firm is pleased with feedback thus far. "We're especially proud of the gameplay feedback we've received from players worldwide. We're pleased that Diablo III has lived up to players' high expectations, and we're looking forward to welcoming more players into Sanctuary in the days ahead," he said.
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| Rosh Online major content update adds more funtionality and gameplay Posted: 23 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  Along with a mysterious new island and dungeons to explore, new armor and weapons, improved boss monsters, three craftable bear mounts, and an increased level cap (up to 75), this update offers more functionality with modifications to the UI, an inventory sort function, a craft tooltip, and an auto-walk system to get players to NPCs and quest mobs. If that doesn't sound like enough, a new dismantle system for creating unique crafting items and the ability to view players' equipped items are also being introduced. More details are available in the patch notes. [Source: Ignited Games press release]
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| The Daily Grind: If you could design a class, what would it be? Posted: 23 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Classes, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  "Well golly, mister," you reply, stepping into the shadows. "I have two of those, and I've always wanted to try my hand at fixing everything that's wrong with the industry, starting with the snow zone in Mutant Hamsters Online. The pixel shading for the Blue Spruce trees has never been right..." "I'll let you make a class. Just one class," the voice interrupts. "And you get unlimited snack bar access." "Deal!" you exclaim. "Now where do you want this kidney?" Believe it or not, that could happen to you! But let's hope it doesn't and instead engage in hypothetical daydreaming: If you could design a class for your MMO, what would it be?  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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| Fallen Earth team dwindles further, but game still lives Posted: 22 May 2012 09:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic  "We had a large contractor crew on FE and we are focusing on creating our own employee pool to manage the game. We did decide to not renew some of our contractors. As you probably know that we are going to focus on our own home grown IPs like APB Reloaded, Fallen Earth, Hailan Rising and Taikodom. We have already stopped servicing Knight Online and we will be stopping service of War Rock from June 1. As a result we will using our own pool of experienced staff to manage the complete operations of Fallen Earth. Key game design folks like Marie still continue to be at the helm in North Carolina. Fallen Earth has also been licensed in South America and we will close to licensing it in Russia, Turkey and Asia. We are absolutely committed to making it grow across the globe." While it appears that the game itself is not in trouble, we'll be sure to keep our eye on the situation for further developments.
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| The Game Archaeologist: Richard Garriott's haunted cache Posted: 22 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Video, Events, real-world, Tabula Rasa, Ultima Online, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous  Some of you probably know Geocaching, as it's been around for over a decade now. For those of you who haven't, it's a worldwide treasure hunt that involves over a million and a half "caches" of various sizes that are hidden and then marked with GPS coordinates. Players head to the official site or one of the open-source projects to get the coordinates and go hunting for them. There's a useful two-minute introduction to this hobby on YouTube if you're curious. I noted on our Massively Speaking podcast that Geocaching has a lot in common with MMOs: Both encourage questing and exploration, both have treasure to be found, and both plug you into a community of adventurers. Listener Terrence heard this and send in an email with an interesting revelation that ties these two hobbies even closer together, as a game developer brought his online world to a real-world location. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you Richard Garriott's haunted cache. Continue reading The Game Archaeologist: Richard Garriott's haunted cache
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| ArenaNet confirms no beta for this weekend Posted: 22 May 2012 05:45 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2  In response to increased agitation among impatient fans, ArenaNet's Martin Kerstein graced the Guild Wars 2 Facebook page with a bit of confirmation: There will be no beta weekend event this coming weekend. This stretches the BWE schedule longer than the one-per-month that the team is trying to adhere to, but Kerstein included some explanation that will hopefully keep fans from panicking. Our BWE1 was super successful, we exceeded our expectations. As some of you might have experienced first hand, this lead to some technical issues. To make sure we are not running into the same situation for BWE2, we recently had a stress test, and we are currently deploying a lot of additional hardware in our datacenters.While this wasn't met with glee by most fans, the news does allow folks to carry on with their lives and make full use of the upcoming holiday weekend. Moreover, the wait will likely be worthwhile, as additional hardware to support the player flood that will descend on the data centers for the next BWE will mean greater enjoyment for more people.
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| Embers of Caerus launches Kickstarter campaign Posted: 22 May 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox  It looks like Forsaken Studios is piling onto the Kickstarter bandwagon to help raise funds for its upcoming sandbox title, Embers of Caerus. The studio has set a funding goal of $25,000 US to "fuel the development and production of [the studio's] prototype, bring [the game] to the attention of the major players in the industry, and help put Embers of Caerus firmly on the MMORPG map." The 25 grand will specifically be used "to cover software licenses and development costs," and the studio vows that "every single cent pledged will be put toward this goal." Of course, as with any successful Kickstarter campaign, Forsaken Studios is putting forward a number of nifty bonuses for its backers, ranging from beta access to dinner with the devs and a tour of the Forsaken Studios office. If you want to help the studio reach its funding goals, you've got until Tuesday, June 19th, to head over to the Kickstarter page and chip in.
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| Dark Age of Camelot updates Relic mechanics and classes Posted: 22 May 2012 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Dark Age of Camelot, Game mechanics, Patches, News items  The patch also updates several class abilities. Bonedancers get a new spell to target a region on the ground, while Friars and Valewalkers both gain a rear snare. On the flip side, toxic direct damage poisons have all seen a slight downgrade in effectiveness for balance reasons. Dark Age of Camelot players can see the full list of changes in the patch notes, and while it's not a major content patch, the changes should spice up the game's ongoing realm warfare.
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| Flameseeker Chronicles: Touring the Snowden Drifts Posted: 22 May 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lore, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Races, Flameseeker Chronicles  As my Necromancer slid what felt like the nine hundredth Son off of her dagger blades, I took the time to look around soak up the view; there's nothing quite like rallying three times in a fight against a whole passel of renegade Norn to make a girl really appreciate the scenery. Say what you will (and this being the Internet, many folks do) about whether or not having to zone between maps is, like, the ultimate sign that the game isn't truly "massively multiplayer," but each and every map we've seen so far in Guild Wars 2 is packed to the brim with excitement. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Touring the Snowden Drifts
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| Firefall video blog says farewell to levels, hello to skill Posted: 22 May 2012 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, Firefall  Under the new system, players still earn EXP. That EXP will be spent on specific upgrades at a player's discretion rather than marking off specific levels, allowing you to unlock the upgrades that feel relevant in the order you want them. It also places less emphasis on levels in head-to-head matchups, something Macauley stresses is important to the team. There's more than just the removal of levels at work, however; the development team is also overhauling crafting to be more complex and rewarding as well as developing a new system of equipment tiers to keep players advancing. The full diary just past the break only gives brief glimpses of several new systems, but Firefall fans should be quite happy with what's over the horizon. Continue reading Firefall video blog says farewell to levels, hello to skill
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| Blizzard denies Diablo III authenticator hacking claims Posted: 22 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, Legal, Diablo III  Community Manager Bashiok said that the company is taking the claims "extremely seriously" and is investigating the rash of account compromises. "Despite the claims and theories being made, we have yet to find any situations in which a person's account was not compromised through traditional means of someone else logging into their account through the use of their password," he said. "While the authenticator isn't a 100% guarantee of account security, we have yet to investigate a compromise report in which an authenticator was attached beforehand." Blizzard is assisting compromised customers by restoring stolen items and rolling back their accounts. The studio has a post up on its forums to help players protect their accounts and get assistance if theft occurs.
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| City of Heroes puts players in the action with its Summer Blockbuster Event Posted: 22 May 2012 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Events, in-game, News items, Free-to-play  Summer is almost officially upon us, and you know what that means: summer blockbusters! But we're not talking about the movies; we're talking about City of Heroes' Summer Blockbuster Event, which will put players in scenarios straight out of huge summer films, but with a special Paragon Studios twist. The double-feature begins with Time Gladiator, which puts players in the coliseum's spotlight as they go head-to-head with opponents pulled from across the annals of time, such as "deadly assassins, outlaw gunslingers, cybernetic soldiers... and the mighty God-Champion." Of course, if suave subterfuge is more your style, perhaps The Casino Heist will tickle your fancy. Ocean's Eleven's got nothin' on this scenario, which puts players in charge of busting up the Tyrant's Palace Casino. Of course, they'll have to do something about the Tyrant's "armed guards and state-of-the-art security" first. The Summer Blockbuster Event goes live on July 10th, so grab some popcorn and get ready for action. [Source: Paragon Studios press release]
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| MechWarrior Online announces closed beta and founder's program Posted: 22 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Launches, Free-to-play, MechWarrior Online, MOBA  Perhaps of more interest is Piranha Games' announcement of its founder's program, code-named Operation Inception. Yes, we guess the devs saw the movie too. While MWO will be free-to-play with optional microtransactions, Operation Inception lets players invest their money up-front to get special goodies and an early start to the game. Players can buy into the founder's program starting June 19th. It will come in two tiers: a $30 veteran package and a $60 elite package. The veteran package includes $40 of in-game currency, a month of premium account status, a founder's tag, and early access. The elite package includes $80 of in-game currency, two months of premium status, the founder's tag, early access, and an exclusive BattleMech. Early access for MechWarrior Online begins July 17th.
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| Arcane Legends officially announced Posted: 22 May 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, Free-to-play, Mobile  With Arcane Legends, Spacetime Studios is going back to its fantasy roots. Instead of Pocket Legends' more traditional MMO combat, however, Arcane Legends will feature action combat full of combos and button-mashing. During the combat, a rage meter will allow players to activate powerful abilities when it's completely full. The three classes announced for the game are the Warrior, Rogue, and Sorcerer. Arcane Legends will support both co-op and PvP gameplay. CEO Gary Gattis thinks that Arcane Legends is different enough from previous Spacetime endeavors to justify its development: "With every Legends title we are focused on bringing something distinct to cross-platform gaming. With Arcane Legends we set out to create an action RPG with a clever and funny story, meaningful multiplayer gameplay and above all furious fast-paced tactical combat." Massively will be getting its first look at Arcane Legends at E3 next month.
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| Massively Speaking Episode 202: Rubbernecking at the scene of an MMO accident Posted: 22 May 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Podcasts, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous, Diablo III, The Elder Scrolls Online, Pirate101  Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes. Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 202: Rubbernecking at the scene of an MMO accident
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| Marvel Heroes unveils its first official trailer [Updated] Posted: 22 May 2012 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Trailers, Video, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Marvel Heroes  After months and months of teasing us, Gazillion Entertainment has finally officially released new details about its upcoming new title, the free-to-play Marvel Heroes. The press release claims that the game will take "the MMO category to a completely new level of excitement and engagement" by combining "the energy of action role-playing games with the breadth and immersion of the MMO genre." Players can now get their first look at Marvel Heroes with the title's first teaser trailer, which features gameplay footage interwoven with some rather menacing shots of a certain Victor Von Doom, who seems to have gotten his titanium-plated hands on what appears to be the Cosmic Cube, an artifact that gives its bearer the power to bend reality to his will. We're not sure what Doc Doom plans to do with the Cube, but we know that it can't possibly be anything good. Presumably it will be up to the players to put a stop to Doom's nefarious plans and return the Cube to its rightful place, but until we find out more, head on past the cut and enjoy the trailer in all of its super-goodness. [Source: Gazillion Entertainment press release] [Update: IGN has a preview of the game that discusses in detail its Diablo roots.] Continue reading Marvel Heroes unveils its first official trailer [Updated]
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| EVE Online releases 17th expansion, Inferno Posted: 22 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Sandbox  Inferno boasts a reworked war declaration system, substantial faction warfare updates, a new mercenary marketplace, enhanced graphics, new missile and launcher effects, and a host of other features focusing on everything from inventory to new modules and ship balancing. CCP has also released a slick new Inferno trailer, which we have for you right after the cut. [Source: CCP press release] Continue reading EVE Online releases 17th expansion, Inferno
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| Exclusive Star Trek Online Season 6 reveal: Fleet starbases Posted: 22 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Previews, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  The project was spearheaded by Cryptic Lead Artist Jeremy Mattson, who was given the task of conceptualizing and designing this core feature of the path. Mattson sent us an exclusive developer diary to take us through this process, starting with his examination of starbases in Star Trek's canon all the way through the construction and finished product. Continue reading Exclusive Star Trek Online Season 6 reveal: Fleet starbases
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| CCP releases Welcome to New Eden video for DUST 514 Posted: 22 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  If you're a DUST newb, on the other hand, this one's for you, as it gives you a rundown on what sets the game apart from its legions of FPS competitors. In a nutshell, the difference-maker is EVE Online and the way that DUST integrates with a pre-existing game, economy, and playerbase on a scale that is basically unheard of. As producer Thomas Farrer puts it, "DUST is different pretty much by virtue of what it really is. DUST is a persistent FPS on PlayStation 3. Not only is it directly linked to EVE Online, a PC MMO, it's set directly within the EVE Online universe." Warp past the cut for a look at the full clip. Continue reading CCP releases Welcome to New Eden video for DUST 514
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