| Rise and Shiny: IMVU Posted: 23 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Video, Culture, Game mechanics, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Casual, Roleplaying, Virtual worlds, Humor, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Sandbox I can see now what many of you might say about IMVU, especially after watching the embedded video. I know that many players will find the game, the world, and the virtual social connection nothing but an excuse for strangers to get together to talk dirty. As soon as I saw the game, I knew that it was trying to cover a few different bases, but I never worried about the appearance of virtual sex or sleazy creeps. Remember, I've been playing Second Life since 2004, and even that world is horribly misrepresented when someone says it's "nothing but virtual sex." That's simply not true. IMVU is a much more stripped-down social experience than Second Life, but it still holds its own. I actually found myself enjoying the heck out of certain aspects probably because I like a game to actually work as promised. IMVU runs in a browser-like environment but still looks respectable most of the time. I am as surprised as anyone that I had a darn good time. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: IMVU  Rise and Shiny: IMVU originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Previously on MV TV: The week of September 15th Posted: 23 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, Video, Aion, City of Heroes, EVE Online, EverQuest II, Culture, Game mechanics, Previews, Opinion, Vanguard, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play, Casual, Virtual worlds, Humor, Community Q&A, World of Tanks, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Dungeons, Previously on MV TV Ah, what a week in livestreaming for the Massively crew! Luckily, no one was discouraged by the fact that I was unable to stream my usual amount because I was waiting on a new PC to arrive. What brave soldiers, what fearless souls! I begged them to go on without me, and... well, they did. Pretty easily, actually. Be sure to bookmark our livestream schedule page so you won't miss another! Anyway, what did we do on to stream? Well, tons of stuff. I took some of the very best streams from last week and assembled them in one easy-to-swallow pill. All you have to do is sit back, relax, and watch the wackiness! Like what? Like Richie taking on some more Guild Wars 2 in beautiful HD; MJ leaping bravely into The Secret World, EverQuest II, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, City of Heroes and Aion; and Mike PvPing in EVE Online and World of Tanks. I rounded things off with my one stream of the week: a look at IMVU, a social MMO for those who really, really like to go goth. Continue reading Previously on MV TV: The week of September 15th Previously on MV TV: The week of September 15th originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Do jumping puzzles belong in MMOs? Posted: 23 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Among the many map locations Guild Wars 2 entices its players to explore are vistas, and let's not kid ourselves: Vistas are jumping puzzles. Some are easier than others, of course, and some don't require much jumping at all (like those that ask you to take a leap of faith into an Asura gate or dive deep into a lagoon). But most of the time, your spacebar skills will be tested. Though I am no platforming champion, Guild Wars 2's jumping puzzles have seemed very doable for me. A few have been frustrating enough to annoy me, especially those that require a few minutes of set-up so easily spoiled by a single overshot. But I like that MMO developers are bringing in new gameplay elements that both challenge and reward us and aren't just another round of "click here to make the foozle go." What do you think -- do jumping puzzles belong in MMOs?  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: Do jumping puzzles belong in MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Sep 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Guild Wars 2 players suffer a server outage Posted: 22 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Launches, Guild Wars 2 Guild Wars 2 players were distressed last night to find themselves kicked from the game during loading screens and unable to log in. Shortly after the problems began, ArenaNet's community team started communicating about them via Twitter, saying that the issues were being looked into. Forum logins were also disabled. After about an hour of downtime, the game was once again accessible to all -- with a slight problem. Many players discovered that they'd lost the fruits of recent endeavors, including map exploration, items, experience, and gold. According to the Guild Wars 2 Twitter, the team is unable to restore progression or items due to the nature of the outage. Beyond updates as the issue was being resolved, no one from ArenaNet has given comment about the nature of the outage or how such problems will be avoided in the future. Guild Wars 2 players suffer a server outage originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Tattered Notebook: Gearing up for SOE Live Posted: 22 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, Vanguard, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, The Tattered Notebook, EverQuest Next, PlanetSide 2 In just a few weeks, SOE fans will gather in Las Vegas for Fan Faire SOE Live. The name change isn't the only thing that's different this year, though. As the convention details begin to take shape, we're finding a lot more questions than answers. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at some of the changes this year and try to read the tea leaves of what they might mean for fans. We'll look at what's on the schedule, like money and a possible Mobhunter sighting, and also what's not included (but should be). Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Gearing up for SOE Live The Tattered Notebook: Gearing up for SOE Live originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: Generating a wow factor in FFXIV Posted: 22 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Housing The more I see about Final Fantasy XIV's relaunch, the more anxious I get. If there's any doubt remaining in the minds of others, let me be entirely transparent: I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy XIV. Wonders never cease, I know. To say that I'm looking forward to the new version is pretty much irrelevant. Of course I'm going to play it when everything changes over; I'm playing it now and would continue to do so even without the promise of rebirthing realms. But while I was discussing the game over dinner with Ms. Lady a few nights ago, she said something that struck me as very relevant: "It's going to need to really be awesome to pull me back." And she has a point. I'm getting a bit anxious because the new version thus far seems to set the bar at a very respectable level that's still nowhere near as high as it needs to be, and I wonder whether it's even possible to hit the mark it needs. Continue reading The Mog Log: Generating a wow factor in FFXIV The Mog Log: Generating a wow factor in FFXIV originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Western Digital
Friday saw the release of a critical out-of-band patch for 
