MMO Updates |
- The Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players
- WRUP: TERA defeats Truman edition
- The Daily Grind: Do you like bonus experience systems?
- Betawatch: May 26 - June 1, 2012
- EVE Alliance Tournament X details posted
- MMObility: MUDing on the go and a new Android castle-builder
- Storyboard: On roleplaying projects
- Runes of Magic: Chapter V to bring new lands and high-level instance
- Order & Chaos celebrates its first anniversary
- CJ announces new Sin Streets online FPS
- Turbine fields 33 Lord of the Rings Online questions
- Guild Wars 2 dev shows off company pride with dragon tattoo
- Funcom kicks off new Secret World ARG with strange video
- SOE takes Wizardry Online under its wing
- Transformers Universe to leave Earth (someday)
- SOE shows off PlanetSide 2 fem-troopers
- End of Nations E3 trailer shows off more gameplay
- Ragnarok Online celebrates its ninth anniversary in style
| The Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players Posted: 02 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor, Guides  Recently, I returned to another MMO after a half-year or so absence (it's RIFT, if you must know), and I was almost frozen with apprehension over all the changes. Because the world I used to know had changed in so many ways, I didn't know how much to rely on my memories and where to go to figure out what these changes were. Fortunately, an enterprising member of the dev team created a wonderfully handy post that quickly outlined all of the changes over the past year so that returners could get caught up quickly. I like this idea so much that I decided to do the same for Lord of the Rings Online. Ever since free-to-play hit, it's become so much easier to drift in and out of this game, and as Turbine's been ramping up the changes, it's possible to feel the same apprehension upon reentry that I did with RIFT. Freak not, fair friend, for I am here to guide the way. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players
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| WRUP: TERA defeats Truman edition Posted: 02 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous  OK, I guess that kind of got away from me somewhere in there. It does seem pretty certain that TERA's going to win, though. But did you come here for my random ditherings? Hopefully, since that's what marks every intro to WRUP. But WRUP isn't just about that; it's also about what the Massively staff will be playing over the weekend. This week, we also talked about whether or not we believe that developers read and incorporate player feedback. So check out what we'll be doing down below, and let us know what you have planned for the weekend in the comments! Continue reading WRUP: TERA defeats Truman edition
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| The Daily Grind: Do you like bonus experience systems? Posted: 02 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvE, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  But after a while, you get so inured to bonus experience that playing without any of it banked starts to feel like playing at a huge disadvantage. Double exp becomes the new normal, and old normal feels slow. I can't stand feeling like I'm taking the sucker's bet to play now at half the speed rather than wait. And that always makes me create and turn to a stable of alts to maximize my rested exp, which means I'm metagaming and playing characters I don't really want to be playing. Never mind the annoyance of always having to find a tavern or cantina to log out in, which is a breeze in some games and rather a pain in others! So what about you? Do you like bonus experience systems?  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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| Betawatch: May 26 - June 1, 2012 Posted: 01 Jun 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous  Otherwise, it was a quiet week save for the onset of World of Warplanes' and Renaissance Heroes' closed beta testing. You did grab a Renaissance Heroes beta key from us, right? Jump on past the break to see the full list of what's still in testing! Continue reading Betawatch: May 26 - June 1, 2012
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| EVE Alliance Tournament X details posted Posted: 01 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, PvP, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  EVE Online's Alliance Tournament X is just around the corner. In anticipation of the kickoff, the game's official blog has been updated with some more information about the tournament. The blog has a lengthy schedule laid out that covers everything from the qualifying rounds beginning on the 30th of June to the finals on July 22nd. The blog's also chock-full of information about streaming and commentary. Own3d will be carrying the Alliance Tournament live streams. Additionally, replays of previous tournaments will be available in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Unlike in previous years when qualifying rounds weren't streamed, every match will be available with livestreaming. Although an exhaustive list of commentators wasn't provided, the first two weekends of qualifying rounds will be commentated by kil2, Raivi, Michael Bolton III, Zastrow, and Lazarus Telraven. The most important part of the post? Prizes. The Caldari State has created two ships, based on the Osprey and Merlin hulls, as prizes: The Osprey hull is Etana. The name is drawn from the same branch of mythology as the Gallente Ishtar and the AT8 Utu, and has a nice connotation with some ancient Caldari-Gallente history involving Caldari Prime. This variant, which is the first prize, is a pioneering logistics ship with the added capacity to fit a covert ops cloak along with some very powerful skill bonuses.Hit up the blog post for the full schedules and replay details.
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| MMObility: MUDing on the go and a new Android castle-builder Posted: 01 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, Opinion, Mobile, Miscellaneous, MMObility  This week I have two great apps for those who play MUDs, and one game that, honestly, I have seen many times before and often in ways that were better designed. But I'll still give them all some time on my Android phone to see just how they pan out in the long run. My patience might grow a bit thin, though. That's another benefit of the mobile market: if you're not satisfied with a new game or app you find, there are literally thousands more to choose from. It's a cut-throat world of competition. Continue reading MMObility: MUDing on the go and a new Android castle-builder
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| Storyboard: On roleplaying projects Posted: 01 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous  The problem is that roleplaying projects are a lot of extra work and sometimes don't produce a lot of worthwhile results. Restrictions can breed creativity, sure, but sometimes they're just limiting. Roleplaying a character who never moves, for instance, is certainly possible but probably not a lot of fun, unless you really like sitting in a chair in-game while you sit in a chair in real life. So while I'm not kicking off my own little project just yet (it would take time away from my latest round in Choose My Adventure, and that would be terrible), I thought it'd be a good idea to look at how to create and work within a project so that the experience is a fun break rather than an oppressive fun-sucking nightmare. Hopefully, even if it doesn't work out, you can at least have some fun with the concept. Continue reading Storyboard: On roleplaying projects
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| Runes of Magic: Chapter V to bring new lands and high-level instance Posted: 01 Jun 2012 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Expansions, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic  In the west of the new continent of Kolydia, the Ancient Kingdom of Rorazan opens up to adventurers. This hostile and unforgiving realm was destroyed by firestorms and is now inhabited only by mechanical golems, fire elementals, and spirits. Adventurers can also traverse the war-torn region of Chrysalia. Dungeon-goers can experience Aeternal Circle, a new high-level instance with two different difficulty settings. Just be sure to take a sharp mind as well as a sharp sword along; the only way to advance to the next area after defeating each boss is to solve a puzzle. [Source: Frogster press release]
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| Order & Chaos celebrates its first anniversary Posted: 01 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Mobile, Anniversary  There's plenty to do inside the game as well, as the anniversary update adds quests, pets, fireworks, mini-games, and a lottery to enjoy. Order & Chaos recently received an upgrade that allows it to be played over 3G as well as wifi and upgraded its graphics for the retina display on the most recent iPad. The team also put together an infographic to show off the game's impressive numbers. According to the chart, over three million characters have been created, 831 million creatures have been slain, 35,500 guilds have been created, and 14 million messages have been sent.
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| CJ announces new Sin Streets online FPS Posted: 01 Jun 2012 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Real life, Trailers, Video, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play  We'll also be getting some face time with CJ at next week's E3, so look for more info on Sin Streets in a few days. Continue reading CJ announces new Sin Streets online FPS
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| Turbine fields 33 Lord of the Rings Online questions Posted: 01 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Free-to-play, Community Q&A  Through this community Q&A, we learned that the team is working on a way to disable experience gain, has put additional hobbies on hold, has discussed and mostly dismissed multi-attachment mail, and is considering how dynamic events might work in the game. So do the devs play the game they make? Sapience says they do: "I think you'd be surprised at how many people at Turbine play LotRO on a regular basis." There are also a lot of interesting tidbits in this Q&A regarding the decisions behind prioritizing features, expanding into certain regions, and how the teams work in tandem to produce content. Finally, Sapience said that players should be seeing pre-order information for Riders of Rohan "Incredisoon[TM]" and that there will probably be ways to attain the game's soundtrack in the future.
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| Guild Wars 2 dev shows off company pride with dragon tattoo Posted: 01 Jun 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2, Humor, Dev Diaries  To show his love for Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet content programmer Eric Rane devoted a large section of skin to the game's dragon logo. The eight-hour labor of love is splayed across Rane's torso, where it will proudly proclaim his devotion whenever he's wandering shirtless around Seattle. Aside from being an extremely cool piece of art, the logo symbolizes Rane's time and accomplishments at ArenaNet. When talking about his motivation for getting the tattoo, Rane said, "ArenaNet is without a doubt the best video game company I have ever worked for." He went on to talk about his pride in his company and co-workers. As a programmer, he's worked on the event system, boss monsters, and character creation that so many people have been enjoying in the beta events. Rane didn't even wait for the game to ship before dedicating a sizable chuck of flesh to it, so take a moment to consider that the next time you're tempted to proclaim yourself a hardcore fan.
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| Funcom kicks off new Secret World ARG with strange video Posted: 01 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Horror, Sci-fi, Lore, The Secret World  The game starts with a very short video in which a woman on a cell phone talks about a six-year-old case. This is followed up with the instructions to go to Funcom's website, click on the background, and type in "33" to start the ARG. Just... be prepared for anything if you do. We don't want to spoil it, so we'll leave it at that and encourage you to watch the video after the jump. [Thanks to Kaitlyn for the tip!] Continue reading Funcom kicks off new Secret World ARG with strange video
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| SOE takes Wizardry Online under its wing Posted: 01 Jun 2012 12:45 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO industry, Massively Event Coverage  The reveal of Wizardry Online is one of two new titles that SOE's bringing to E3 (the other being Bullet Run). Attendees will be able to get hands-on time with the demo on the show floor. Wizardry Online is being developed by Gamepot and is a continuation of the classic RPG series Wizardry. The MMO is notable for its decidedly tough-as-nails approach, featuring permadeath, non-instanced dungeons, player killing, and friendly fire. [Source: SOE press release]
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| Transformers Universe to leave Earth (someday) Posted: 01 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Events, real-world, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, Transformers Universe  The team is making Transformers Universe with the intention to keep the game going for at least 10 years; it has latched onto the "Universe" moniker to indicate it will eventually expand the game from our terrestrial ball to the stars (including Cybertron). Transformers Universe will use Energon as the game's currency, and while the team will use microtransactions to fund this free-to-play title, the exact model has not been finalized. Players will be able to pick between male and female characters and will use their alternate (non-robotic) modes for more than just transportation. At the game launch, players will be able to transform only into vehicles, but Jagex says that there are plans in the works for other forms such as animals. [Thanks to Austin for the tip!]
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| SOE shows off PlanetSide 2 fem-troopers Posted: 01 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2, Sandbox  The company's latest press release features renders and screenshots of fem-troopers in full battle gear. There's neither a bare belly nor a shapely thigh in sight, just functional equipment designed to keep avatars alive rather than stimulate opponents. Check out our PS2 gallery below for examples from all three factions. [Source: SOE press release]
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| End of Nations E3 trailer shows off more gameplay Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Trailers, Video, New titles, PvP, MMORTS  The trailer shows gameplay between the Liberation Front and the Shadow Revolution in a game-show-death-match-style that ends with some interesting commentary on nuclear weapons. You can check the video out for yourself after the cut below, and watch for our E3 interview with Trion on all of its current and upcoming games next week. Continue reading End of Nations E3 trailer shows off more gameplay
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| Ragnarok Online celebrates its ninth anniversary in style Posted: 01 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Miscellaneous, Anniversary  The theme this year is "Where the Old Meets the New," thrown in celebration of the defeat of the Demon Satan Morroc and the discovery of the New World. Sound like fun to you? Then head over to the game's main site to sign up or visit the game's Facebook page to join the community. [Source: Gravity Interactive press release]
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