| Rise and Shiny: Illarion Posted: 17 Jun 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Bugs, Opinion, Free-to-play, Casual, Humor, Rise and Shiny, Livestream If your plan in life is partially to cover indie MMOs, a niche within a niche, you're bound to come up with some odd games once in a while. You're also bound to come up with boring, bland, bad, horrible, incomplete, waste-of-time, hideous, and of course, amazing games. I went back to my recently thrown-out roots and grabbed a game at random for this week's column: Illarion. Did I find a bad game or an incomplete game? A bit of both, but the game and its creators deserve an explanation. Making MMOs is hard. We all know this, or at least we should. If you don't, and if you are one of those players who get upset every time their favorite free-to-play title asks them to spend five dollars (usually every six months or so), then you really need to understand that making MMOs is hard. I understand this, but I still have to cover games honestly. So let me first say that what I found in Illarion was honestly confusing. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Illarion  Rise and Shiny: Illarion originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Previously on MV TV: The week of June 9th Posted: 17 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, PvP, PvE, Casual, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Previously on MV TV Last week was yet another fun week in Massively's livestreaming history. We try to offer a variety of games for viewers to enjoy, but of course, your suggestions always come in handy. If you know of a game or area or activity within a game that you would love to see explained or streamed, send us a note on our tip line. Also, be sure to bookmark our MVTV guide so you will always be the cool kid on the block who knows what's coming up next! This week we had Mike with some World of Tanks and EVE Online, the infamous Psykopig playing a bit of Star Wars: The Old Republic, MJ streaming some Lord of the Rings Online, EverQuest II and Aion, and my wrap-up with some horrible PvPing in Luvinia Online. Remember, let us know if you are dying to see a game streamed live. In the meanwhile, click past the cut and enjoy! Continue reading Previously on MV TV: The week of June 9th Previously on MV TV: The week of June 9th originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: How do you prefer to get your money in-game? Posted: 17 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous No matter what game you're playing, you need money. Luckily, pretty much every game on the market also has multiple options to earn that money. There are things to beat up and quests to be done, but usually there are other options beyond that. Playing the auction house in World of Warcraft, running teleportation services in Final Fantasy XI, or any number of business ventures in EVE Online allow you to make your money however you see fit. Some players find that manipulating auction house prices and playing a virtual stockbroker is the most fun path to riches. Others prefer to just make their money through quests, and if they wind up a bit poorer for it, so be it. So how do you like to make money when you're playing a game? Is it more on the intricate market manipulation side of things, or is it a fairly straightforward practice of just clearing content?  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 do you prefer to get your money in-game? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 17 Jun 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Tattered Notebook: EQII's level-agnostic dungeon maker Posted: 16 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Tattered Notebook This past week, EverQuest II fans heard even more details about the upcoming summer update. The big news, of course, is the Qeynos revamp, but another nice addition will be the ability to play as ourselves in player-made dungeons. The announcement by EQII Producer Holly "Windstalker" Longdale discussed the new level-agnostic system, and players were treated to a surprise as it hit the test server a few days ago. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at how the new system works and how it could even affect other areas of the game. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: EQII's level-agnostic dungeon maker The Tattered Notebook: EQII's level-agnostic dungeon maker originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: Worthwhile cross-class skills in FFXIV Posted: 16 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game mechanics, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Guides One of the downsides to writing about a game as in-flux as Final Fantasy XIV is that something that's true today may be false tomorrow. Case in point: Several articles that I did a year or so ago about character building and picking out abilities are now entirely irrelevant because the systems for both have changed immensely. So it's high time to start revisiting these topics, and the best way to start doing that is by examining the abilities that are worth leveling for. (Especially since the excellent Mr. Matt Daniel is playing the game again and could use a bit of a guide.) Fortunately, leveling another class for abilities is easier now than it used to be. Most abilities past the early 20s can't be equipped on other classes in the first place, and the very heavy utility skills are generally grouped early. Depending on your playstyle, you may actually find yourself struggling to come up with all of the cross abilities that you can equip, since your core class will generally have a large enough array of utility. But let's look at what abilities are generally useful for almost every class -- or at least useful to consider. Continue reading The Mog Log: Worthwhile cross-class skills in FFXIV The Mog Log: Worthwhile cross-class skills in FFXIV originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Champions Online has a new Executive Producer and a new State of the Game Posted: 16 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Champions Online Changes in administration for any game can leave players a bit rattled -- and with a game like Champions Online that's already seen several management changes, it's even more disconcerting. That's only one of the big takeaways from the game's newest State of the Game address, which opens up with Rob Overmeyer outlining the game's recent updates and announcing that he's stepping down from his current role as executive producer (although he's remaining with the game's development staff). Brad Stokan, the new executive producer, has enough in his portion of the letter that you might forget about the first half. He explains that the team is working on building new content updates around overall themes, with June's major theme -- in both story content and mechanical inclusions -- being powered armor. This is going to continue with new Alerts and special events based around themes. He also teases that we may very well see superheroic vehicles in the game in the near future, giving players of Champions Online plenty to look forward to under new administration. Champions Online has a new Executive Producer and a new State of the Game originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic explains mechanical questions in a new Q&A Posted: 16 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A The latest community question-and-answer session for Star Wars: The Old Republic doesn't answer any questions you may have about the server change kerfluffle. It does, however, answer a large variety of questions about mechanical changes and upcoming improvements to the game. If you're wondering about acquiring your very own HK droid, for instance, you should know that the designers are currently thinking it's going to involve a galaxy-wide quest, a level-50 character on one faction, a mid-level character on the other faction, and some different approaches to the game as a whole. Most of the other answers are somewhat less far-reaching, such as the rationale behind limiting group finder flashpoints to instances within a player's level range to avoid abuse. Players wondering about the fact that you can't find certain sister stats on the same Enhancements (such as Critical Rating and Power) can also find an answer which breaks down how stats are grouped together and why obviously linked stats are kept separate. Players should take the time to examine the full list of answers, and add any new questions they may have to the official thread for next week. Star Wars: The Old Republic explains mechanical questions in a new Q&A originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Road to Mordor: Fifteen great things about Riders of Rohan Posted: 16 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT |
| Embers of Caerus' naval combat is 'almost a ship simulation' Posted: 16 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox Embers of Caerus' feature week continues, and the topic du jour is naval systems. Technical director Dave Belcher steps in front of the camera to talk about the indie sandbox MMO's ship implementation, which he describes as "almost a ship simulation." Other MMORPGs feature sailing ships, of course, but Embers of Caerus is aiming for something a bit more ambitious. "You're using the weather, your sails, and your control of the ship to gain best advantage from that weather," Belcher explains. "Weather is persistent throughout the game, and wind plays a huge role for ship captains and naval tacticians." In terms of the ships themselves, Belcher says that the dev team will implement everything from tiny rowboats to frigates and larger galleons. Have a look at the full video after the break, and don't forget about EoC's Kickstarter project, which wraps up in three days. [Thanks to Sam and Dave for the tip!] Continue reading Embers of Caerus' naval combat is 'almost a ship simulation' Embers of Caerus' naval combat is 'almost a ship simulation' originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Microsoft has announced that at 3:30PM pacific time on Monday the company will unveil something "you will not want to miss". The message is intentionally vague, and is written in the tricky and annoying language of "marketing". Thankfully we live in the digital age, and anonymous sources have confirmed Microsoft will allegedly unveil a line-up self-branded tablets to a captive audience in LA. Naturally Microsoft has denied to comment on these rumors, however both
As PC enthusiasts you have every right to be skeptical of OnLive as a service, but let's just say we are impressed beyond belief that it works at all. Nothing will ever beat the experience you get with a tricked out PC, however anyone who has fired up Crysis on a netbook and actually given the service a fair shake knows they've managed the impossible. It would seem Microsoft agrees, and actually considering 
