| Blade & Soul Korean open beta records 150,000 users within an hour Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Blade & Soul Have you been itching to jump in to try Blade & Soul during its open beta test? If so, you aren't alone: The Korean OBT for the fantasy game started just last night and recorded 150,000 CCU (or Concurrent User number for the acronym-challenged) within a single hour. To accommodate the volume of players participating in the beta, NCsoft increased the number of servers available from two to 25 and has five more waiting in the wings if needed. Even with that flood of users, the B&S servers remained stable. Currently, Blade & Soul ranks only behind Diablo III and League of Legends in popularity according to data provided by Gametrics. The game is scheduled to launch in Korea next month; unfortunately for North American and European fans, there are currently no set plans for bringing the game to these markets.  Blade & Soul Korean open beta records 150,000 users within an hour originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Schilling 'tapped out' after loss of 38 Studios Posted: 22 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous Curt Schilling has spoken to a Boston radio station about the lingering effects of 38 Studios' demise. The former Red Sox pitcher has been vilified by some gamers who assume that he's living the high life while former employees are suffering, but he tells WEEI that that's pretty far from the truth. "The money I saved and earned playing baseball was probably all gone... life is going to be different," he says. Rhode Island taxpayers will also be tightening their belts, as they'll pay nearly $12 million annually through the year 2020 to cover 38's $150 million debt, according to Joystiq. Schilling also revealed that 38 Studios was close to signing a deal to produce a Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning sequel prior to remarks made by Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee that supposedly damaged the negotiation process. Schilling also expressed remorse at the plight of former 38 Studios employees. "The employees got blindsided," he said. "They have every right to be upset. I always told everybody if something were going to happen, you're going to have a month or two of lead time, and I bombed on that one in epic fashion." Schilling 'tapped out' after loss of 38 Studios originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| New World of Warplanes video features carrier-based fighters Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Historical, Trailers, Video, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Warplanes Wargaming.net has released a new gameplay video for World of Warplanes. The clip focuses on carrier-based fighters from the U.S. tech tree, including stalwarts like Grumman's Wildcat variants and Chance-Vought's deadly F4U Corsairs. There are a few lesser-known aircraft in the mix as well. Players can fly several early biplane fighters as well as jets like the F5U and F7U. World of Warplanes is currently in closed beta. The game is an arcade-style flight shooter that features four unique battle maps as well as 59 aircraft from the U.S., Germany, and the U.S.S.R. Click past the cut to see some carrier fighters in action. [Source: Wargaming.net press release] Continue reading New World of Warplanes video features carrier-based fighters New World of Warplanes video features carrier-based fighters originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EverQuest II Game Update 64 revamps Qeynos and PvP Posted: 22 Jun 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Patches, PvP, News items, Free-to-play Although EverQuest II's Game Update 63 is only a couple of months old, GU 64 is already hot on its heels. But instead of adding new content, this update focuses on revamping features already in-game, most notably the city of Qeynos, open-world PvP, and battlegrounds. Besides the much-anticipated opening of Qeynos by consolidating zones, the bulk of this update is focused on improving the PvP experience both in and outside of battlegrounds. One key aim is to have "player skill [be] the biggest deciding factor in PVP combat, not gear." Changes in store for the PvP-minded are stat adjustments, consolidated open-world and battleground tokens, enhanced open world PvP as well as the battlegrounds, and adjusted crowd control mechanics to better balance the classes. You can listen to the devs discuss the changes related to PvP and the battlegrounds in Sony Online Entertainment's latest community webcast or read more details in the announcement. These changes hit the test server on Tuesday, June 26th and are expected to go live in the next couple of months. EverQuest II Game Update 64 revamps Qeynos and PvP originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Waren Story hits closed beta Posted: 22 Jun 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, PvP, Free-to-play Enough talking the talk; Waren Story is ready to walk the walk. The PvP-centric MMO announced the start of its closed beta phase today as it pushes forward toward release. Aeria Games is calling for all bloodthirsty players to help test the game and iron out the bugs. Waren Story's PvP is both varied and vicious. There are 10 different modes of player-vs-player combat, including siege warfare and a weekly conquest war. Players who fall in combat will give up some of their experience and items to their killer, so there's a vested interest in staying alive at all costs. If you're interested in the beta, you can head over to Waren Story and download the client starting today. Waren Story hits closed beta originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Have you ever loved a game you once hated? Posted: 22 Jun 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous It's easy to hate a game you once loved. Your class gets nerfed, your favorite playstyle gets changed, everyone's a Jedi -- we get that side of things. But there are also those times when you try a game in beta or at launch and it just doesn't click with you. Even worse, there are games that may do something in those first few hours that cause you to swear that game off forever. But if you paid for the game, or have some sort of investment in it, you might see it collecting dust on your shelf or making puppy-dog eyes at you from your desktop and decide that it deserves another try. That's when you discover that it might just be the best game you've ever played. Has this happened to you? Which game reeled you back in? Was it because of a patch, or just the fact that time heals all wounds? Let us know in the comments!  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: Have you ever loved a game you once hated? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EVE players abuse faction warfare to produce trillions of ISK Posted: 21 Jun 2012 10:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Culture, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, Professions, News items, Sandbox If there's one constant in the EVE Online universe, it's that the players can never be underestimated and every care must be taken to make sure systems can't be abused in unintended ways. In 2009, a handful of players figured out how to artificially boost the number of valuable faction warfare loyalty points rewarded for completing missions and farmed enough ISK to build a titan. That record was completely blown out of the water today as five EVE players revealed how they'd generated five trillion ISK using game mechanics introduced in the Inferno expansion. Inferno added a new reward system for faction warfare that gave players loyalty points for enemy ship kills based on the value of the destroyed ship and cargo. A bug was found that rewarded players for both the destroyed and surviving cargo, even though surviving cargo could be recovered. GoonWaffe pilot Aryth and four friends began destroying their own freighters full of minerals to cash the minerals out into loyalty points, which were then used to buy items for sale. When CCP discovered this bug and fixed it, the group manipulated the market price of one of the game's least-purchased items up to a huge number. When the price index for the value of that item updated, the players began destroying haulers full of them to generate billions of loyalty points for almost nothing. The points were cashed out into items for sale on the market, producing a total profit of over five trillion ISK. The abuse has not yet been declared an exploit, but CCP has fixed the issue and is still investigating it. At current market prices, five trillion ISK is enough to buy around 10,000 30-day game time codes worth a total of $175,000 US. EVE players abuse faction warfare to produce trillions of ISK originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jun 2012 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Summoner's Guidebook: Stopping the endless rage in League of Legends Posted: 21 Jun 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook Tryndamere is one of the most overrated champions in League of Legends. This is not to say he's a bad champion; he's a strong pick in both Summoner's Rift and Dominion. However, he's considered by many players to be overpowered and nigh-unbeatable. He has a combination of two elements that contribute to this: He's easy to play and hard to counter. An inexperienced player can get a lot of success by being a huge bully as Tryndamere. I find this to be unacceptable! Tryndamere's rage is hardly endless, and dealing with him is one of the best early matchups to learn. Once you know how to deal with his tricks, he's much weaker, and you can walk all over him. People who rely on Tryndamere's gimmicks to win games will be stopped cold once you've mastered the counters. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Stopping the endless rage in League of Legends The Summoner's Guidebook: Stopping the endless rage in League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Storm Legion will include RIFT for free Posted: 21 Jun 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, News items, RIFT, Promotions RIFT is gearing up for its first expansion later this year, but the staff at Trion Worlds doesn't want to lock out people who've never tried the base game. That's why you don't have to worry about buying an expensive expansion on top of a main game: Storm Legion will apparently include the full version of RIFT along with it, allowing new players to pick up the expansion and experience both the core game and the additions without restriction. Of course, this sounds like less of a deal if you already own RIFT, but you're covered there as well, as existing players can expect a price discount on purchasing the expansion. So if you want to enjoy the increased level cap, better crafting, and new souls, you won't have to pay full retail price for the experience. It's a good deal for existing fans and new players alike -- and one that may help encourage more players to give Storm Legion a shot. Storm Legion will include RIFT for free originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Anarchy Online celebrates its 11th birthday Posted: 21 Jun 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Anarchy Online, Events, in-game, Free-to-play, Anniversary Has it really been 11 years since Anarchy Online burst onto the scene with one of the smoothest launches of all time? It must be -- Funcom is throwing a birthday bash for its faithful players. There will be two birthday celebrations, one on the Atlantean server on Friday, June 22nd, at 1:00 p.m. EDT and one on Rimor on Monday, June 25th, at 1:00 p.m. EDT. Both in-game celebrations will be marked by spawning events, special mobs, and in-game items. If you're down with the party scene, the community will be throwing a monster rave to end all raves. Funcom hinted at a few of the surprises, including new costumes, action figures, vehicles, and the love of a duck and a cake. The studio will be handing out a free jet pack for all players who log in during the celebration. Anarchy Online celebrates its 11th birthday originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic talks adaptive gear, augment tables Posted: 21 Jun 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Patches, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Crafting  Star Wars: The Old Republic's upcoming patch 1.3 looks like it's going to be bringing a bunch of fun goodies for the crafters in its playerbase. BioWare has posted a new update on the SWTOR official site to give players a look at some of the changes coming in the patch. For starters, we have the new adaptive gear weight system. When a character or companion is equipped with a piece of social armor with the adaptive armor weight, that character will automatically "use it to maximum effect, gaining the benefits of the highest armor weight [the character] can equip." The big crafting-related feature hitting in 1.3, however, is the addition of augment tables. BioWare has noticed that crafted items with augment slots (which are created only through a critical crafting success) are almost disproportionately powerful due to their "exceptional stat potential", which the devs say is "indicative of a systemic inequity between different types of items." Augment tables, which will be accessible through the current item modification stations, aim to fix this by allowing players to add augment slots to existing items without having to rely on a critical crafting success. Players can acquire additional slots by paying a flat cost of credits at an item modification station or by using an augment kit crafted by Armormechs, Synthweavers, and Armstechs. The full system is a little too complex to delve into in this post, however, so if the idea of augment tables piqued your interest, head on over to the full post to read more. Star Wars: The Old Republic talks adaptive gear, augment tables originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Guild Counsel: Nerfed to heck - now what? Posted: 21 Jun 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Classes, Game mechanics, Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous You can run the best guild, have the smoothest guild atmosphere, and progress like a champion but still end up losing members through no fault of your own. Why? Nerfed classes. Classes are a double-edged sword because on one hand, they allow people to feel needed and unique. I tank, you heal, Bobby does DPS, and the group is a lot weaker if one of us is missing. On the other hand, class balance is rarely achieved, so there's always that red-headed stepchild class that no one really needs, the one who feels like the proverbial fifth wheel. If you're a guild leader whose member has suddenly gone from "OP" to "nerfed to oblivion," then what, if anything, should you do? Let's take a look in this week's Guild Counsel. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Nerfed to heck - now what? The Guild Counsel: Nerfed to heck - now what? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Diablo III forces digital consumers to wait up to 72 hours to access full game Posted: 21 Jun 2012 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, Diablo III Chalk this up to another great moment in customer service history. With Diablo III's 1.0.3 patch came an interesting change that's hurting those who purchased the title as a digital download. Blizzard's made it so that only a small part of the game is accessible for up to 72 hours following its purchase, after which the rest of the game will unlock. Digital download customers are now restricted to the starter edition section of the game: part of Act 1, a level cap of 13, no auction house access, and limited interaction with other players. These restrictions do not apply to those who purchased the retail box of the game. A Blizzard employee explained the unlock delay in a forum post: "Outside of the issue that we fixed, digital purchases do require a review period before they kick over from Starter to Full editions. We apologize for the inconvenience, but it is a necessary step to combat fraud and other malicious activities that can weaken everyone's play experience. The delay is no longer than three days, and is often much quicker than that. Hang tight." This follows this morning's news that the South Korean government is twisting Blizzard's arm to make the studio issue refunds for dissatisfied customers. [Thanks to Marc for the tip!] Diablo III forces digital consumers to wait up to 72 hours to access full game originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Ask Massively: You guys have strong opinions on gaming laptops edition Posted: 21 Jun 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, Humor, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous I really didn't expect the sheer volume of comments last week about getting or not getting a gaming laptop. That's my own fault for using a picture of a laptop as the header, I suppose. For the record, I bought a laptop, an Asus X54C as pictured above, to replace my netbook. Any games that I can run on that machine are essentially a bonus. I'm looking to replace my desktop, which is my preferred platform for gaming for several reasons. But I do appreciate all of the feedback! That was then, this is now, and now is all about a new set of answers in Ask Massively. This week, we're talking about the old standby of internet games, the games that were viral before "viral" was a thing: ARGs. If you've got a question for a future installment of the column, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited slightly for clarity and/or brevity. Continue reading Ask Massively: You guys have strong opinions on gaming laptops edition Ask Massively: You guys have strong opinions on gaming laptops edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| New Heroes & Generals trailer shows gameplay, community Posted: 21 Jun 2012 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Historical, Trailers, Video, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, War, Free-to-play, Browser We told you earlier this week about Heroes & Generals, the new World War II strategy/shooter mashup from Reto-Moto. Today the devs have a released a new promotional trailer called Come Out to Play, which is a tongue-in-cheek mixture of real-world footage and clips from the game. Reto-Moto invited a few of H&G's most active community members to pal around with the dev team at various locations near the firm's Copenhagen studio. The new trailer is the result, and Reto-Moto says it's a nod to the fact that the game really is built with its community in mind. "We wish to create a living and breathing game universe, where we deliver the setting and the scene, but the real star is the community who plays out all the active roles in a persistent war and helps us tweak the experience into the game that they want to play," says game director Jacob Andersen. [Source: Reto-Moto press release] Continue reading New Heroes & Generals trailer shows gameplay, community New Heroes & Generals trailer shows gameplay, community originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| ArcheAge to feature extensive maritime gameplay, housing Posted: 21 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, ArcheAge, Sandbox, Housing Fan site ArcheAge Source has unearthed a new interview with ArcheAge creator Jake Song. The translation from the original Korean is a little rough, but there are still plenty of fascinating nuggets awaiting the patient reader. The forthcoming beta phase will see the existing game world "complemented by huge expanses of ocean." This isn't just for show, as Song says that eventually "oceans will allow players to find new employment, for example extraction, preparation, and delivery of seafood." Sea battles are also mentioned, as are "player-built maritime residences." How this relates to the previously announced underwater gameplay isn't clear, nor is it a given that we'll see all of this in CBT5, but ArcheAge's sprawling open world certainly looks to be putting the "massively" back into massively multiplayer. There's more to the interview, including bits on action combat and a clarification on Song's previous remarks regarding console games. Hit the link below for the full translation. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] ArcheAge to feature extensive maritime gameplay, housing originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Another Guild Wars 2 stress test is coming this Wednesday Posted: 21 Jun 2012 11:15 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, in-game, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play Can't get enough Guild Wars 2 news? Well, ArenaNet has just announced that it will be conducting a stress test toward the middle of next week. Specifically, you're invited to try to crash the servers on Wednesday, June 27th, from 1:00 p.m. EDT to 5:00 p.m. EDT. The invitation is restricted to players who have pre-purchased the game, and ArenaNet says that it wants "to gather additional data on how [the servers] operate under load" before the next beta weekend event. If you've played during a previous testing phase, your characters will be waiting for you since the devs aren't wiping data for the stress test. More info is yours for the reading at the official GW2 website. Another Guild Wars 2 stress test is coming this Wednesday originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Perfect Ten: MMO Jukebox Posted: 21 Jun 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Anarchy Online, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Culture, Runes of Magic, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous, WildStar Earlier this year, I got to expose my musically nerdy side to you all in a one- two shot of MMO theme song countdowns. The truth is that I'm just a huge sucker for video game music, and as such, I've collected a wide range of MMO scores to bolster my MP3 player. I know that we players tend to be pretty vocal about turning off MMO music at some point, usually due to extreme repetition. Unfortunately, that seems to leave a bad association with this music in our minds, and I don't feel that reputation is deserved. MMO scores can be just as good -- if not better -- than their counterparts in film or other video games. So I've decided that every so often I'm going to devote a full Perfect Ten to sharing my favorite MMO music. I'm always open to suggestions, of course, so if you know of a track that you feel really should be in the next list, send me an email or leave it in the comments! Continue reading The Perfect Ten: MMO Jukebox The Perfect Ten: MMO Jukebox originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jun 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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