| Leaderboard: New hotness vs. old and trusted Posted: 01 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Polls, Culture, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Miscellaneous There's always something awesome just over the horizon. MMOs are coming out all the time, and it seems like it's only a couple of months before one new title or another is launched. It almost seems silly to stick around in a single game when there are so many titles already out there and so many more due out soon after. Why not live a little and see everything that the online gaming space has to offer? But there's always new stuff coming out for existing games, and that might be even more satisfying. There's something comforting about having all sorts of high-level perks to fall back upon in your game of choice, things you can't accomplish unless you stick with the game for a few years and learn its nuances. Truly embedding yourself in a game is a wonderful feeling, and it means that you always have a home to come back to (unless you get stuck with a shutdown notice, but that's another topic). Absolutely none of us is immune to the siren call of a new game or the familiarity of an older one, but that's not the point. Given the option, do you generally look forward to the next title? Or do you find a game, settle in, and stick with it as long as it's operational? Continue reading Leaderboard: New hotness vs. old and trusted  Leaderboard: New hotness vs. old and trusted originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Pirate101 head start begins on October 8th Posted: 01 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Interviews, Launches, New titles, Free-to-play, Massively Interviews, Kids, Wizard101, Family, Pirate101 If you're a fan of family-friendly MMO Wizard101 and can't wait to get a taste of KingsIsle's next project, today is your day: Pirate101 will begin its head-start play week on October 8th. While the actual game doesn't hit digital shelves until October 15th, you can hop in and get to pirating right this second by picking up specific membership types or snagging a pre-launch game bundle (beta participants are also invited). Additionally, Pirate101 game cards will be available in retail stores as of October 8th. Pirate101 is in many ways the spiritual successor to Wizard101 and marks an ambitious undertaking by KingsIsle to build another engaging and successful MMO that is also family friendly and safe. We talked to producer Jay Gordon and associate producer Mike Stone to get an idea of the challenges the team faced and what may lie in store for those looking to loot and plunder. Continue reading Pirate101 head start begins on October 8th Pirate101 head start begins on October 8th originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Captain's Log: The low-tier ships of Star Trek Online Posted: 01 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Captain's Log, Guides It seems as if most MMOs have their own version of the "mount," something that allows for faster travel from one area of the game's world to another. Mounts are known as being one of the key "shinies" that players can buy in a game, and they come with different costumes or extended health parameters to allow a player to escape a surprise attack from an unseen enemy. For the most part, they're meant to be modes of transportation only. But in Star Trek Online, the game's mounts -- its ships -- are far more than just a means of getting from one area of sector space to another. They are the player's second character, a complementary entity that engages in battle in a very different way than the characters created at the beginning of the game. In this installment of my series of tips for new players, I will begin to address the ships of Star Trek Online, specifically the Federation ships available to the first three ranks in the game. Continue reading Captain's Log: The low-tier ships of Star Trek Online Captain's Log: The low-tier ships of Star Trek Online originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Funcom rehires staff, confirms TSW group investigation missions Posted: 01 Oct 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Interviews, The Secret World New Game Director Joel Bylos dropped several juicy tidbits about the future of The Secret World on the Flash Point podcast. One of the biggest of these is that Funcom is growing once more following recent layoffs. "We have already brought back three people," he said, "It gives us hope and it's great to see those faces back at the office." He said that a second auxiliary weapon -- which players assume to be the chainsaw -- is coming with next month's Issue 4, and the Halloween event scheduled in a couple weeks will have players digging through Irish lore books. If you like the game's investigation missions, you'll be pleased to hear that The Secret World will be introducing group versions of these types of quests. But will the team be able to keep up with the monthly updates? Bylos is firmly confident that it can be done, as the structure for issue development is in place. Bylos admits that it's "absolutely vital" for the studio to advertise the game better and communicate clearly what the game is to potential players. He also said that the team is working on helping players overcome the game's higher difficulty, particularly with starter decks that are coming soon and easier story boss fights. [Thanks to Elania for the tip!] Funcom rehires staff, confirms TSW group investigation missions originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: October 1 - 7, 2012 Posted: 01 Oct 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Polls, Massively Meta, Guides, Livestream, Miscellaneous, The Stream Team Ahh, October! A month of changes: the leaves, the clocks, the infamous fall line up... wait, don't change that dial! You may notice that a new show has taken over MV Guide's time slot. Was that a gasp? There's no need to worry; Massively TV isn't going anywhere! All your favorite livestreaming info is still included here in this new weekly adventure. And that's not all! On top of the who, what, and where, you get not one, not two, but three action-packed sections highlighting livestream goodness, all rolled into just one weekly show! So welcome to the pilot episode of The Stream Team! Grab some snacks, settle in, and check out this week's adventures (and the special guest star section) after the break. Continue reading The Stream Team: October 1 - 7, 2012 The Stream Team: October 1 - 7, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Is your avatar a Mary Sue? Posted: 01 Oct 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous So I've been spending a lot of time with Skyrim. I know, it's not an MMO. But it's MMO-like in every way except for the lack of other players, from the sprawling world to the familiar fantasy setting to the fact that it seeks to make you the heroic center of the universe. This last bit is hugely problematic in massively multiplayer games, but it works in Skyrim to a point. I say to a point because my Nord is the most ridiculous Mary Sue in the history of Mary Sues. Off the top of my head, he's the leader of the Dark Brotherhood and a high-ranking member of both the College of Winterhold and the Thieves' Guild. He's a major figure in the Stormcloak rebellion against the Imperial throne, and he's the dragonborn savior of the world and the slayer of Alduin. Oh, and he's a werewolf too. When I look back at the game's narrative, I almost wish I had skipped a few of these quest lines. I hate to use variations of the term "realistic" in relation to a game, but my character's resume seems decidedly unrealistic even for high fantasy. What about you, morning crew? Have you had similar thoughts about your MMO avatars (or your Skyrim character, for that matter)?  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: Is your avatar a Mary Sue? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMO Week in Review: Panda panda panda Posted: 30 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week, you've come to the right post. Happy Mists of Pandaria launch week! On Tuesday, Blizzard Entertainment released the its fourth World of Warcraft expansion amid videos, fawning, and bragadocio, calling the new edition " bigger and meatier" than Cataclysm. And though the usual crop of doom-and-gloom analysts have deemed initial retail sales " disappointing," digital sales and lengthy queues might yet prove them wrong. Enjoy the rest of Massively's top MMO stories beyond the cut. Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Panda panda panda MMO Week in Review: Panda panda panda originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EVE Evolved: The $10,000 New Eden Open Posted: 30 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, Events, in-game, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Opinion, EVE Evolved, DUST 514, Sandbox Competitive tournaments are nothing new to gaming, but the past few years have seen an an absolute e-sports explosion. The rise of the MOBA genre is partly responsible, with new games taking DotA's tradition of industry-sponsored tournaments to new heights. Both Dota 2 and League of Legends have world championship top prizes of over a million dollars, and smaller MOBAs regularly hand out tens of thousands to winners. The recent surge in livestreaming has had an equally big part to play, with some games netting more home viewers than real televised sports. There's no doubt about it: This is the year that e-sports takes over. EVE Online has always had a tradition of in-game tournaments, with thousands of people tuning in every year to watch its annual Alliance Tournament. The tournament turns EVE's normally asymmetric PvP on its head by putting everyone on a roughly level playing field to compete for huge in-game prizes. Players were excited this week to learn that CCP Games is launching its very first competitive tournament with a real cash prize. The $10,000 New Eden Open could be the start of something really big, but will EVE's famous political and spying metagame get in the way? In this week's EVE Evolved, I investigate the details of EVE's $10,000 tournament, the source of the money pouring into e-sports, the potential of a big EVE e-sports scene, and how EVE's metagame could interfere with the New Eden Open. Continue reading EVE Evolved: The $10,000 New Eden Open EVE Evolved: The $10,000 New Eden Open originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: Angry red moon Posted: 30 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Galleries, Screenshots, Massively Meta, One Shots, The Secret World, DC Universe Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, Miscellaneous Final Fantasy XIV is due for a cataclysmic revamp and reboot in just a few short months, so what better time to feature it than now? Massively reader Cyndair emailed One Shots this image from the doomed current version of the game: Here's a shot of the angry red moon, Dalamud, overlooking the Rivenroad battlefield, site of the final confrontation with FFXIV 1.x's main protagonist, Nael Van Darnus. Truly breathtaking shot, Cyndair. It's behind the break with a few more reader submissions! Continue reading One Shots: Angry red moon One Shots: Angry red moon originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Rise and Shiny revisit: Ultima Online Posted: 30 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, Opinion, Ultima Online, Community Q&A, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Sandbox, Dungeons, Anniversary What can I say about Ultima Online that hasn't been said before? This week, the grandparent of MMOs turns 15 years old. In MMO terms, that's a long, long time. In fact, Ultima Online is the measuring stick for resilience. Think about it: Does any of us believe that many modern MMOs will last even half that long? While it's very possible, it's also very hard to imagine. For many different reasons, Ultima Online still maintains a playerbase, continues to be developed, and even attracts new players. It also runs on a subscription model and will likely continue to do so. If you read the transcript of my recent livestream with the UO devs that was so generously typed out by Ultima Codex, you know that I asked about a free-to-play or freemium Ultima Online and received this as an answer: Actually, there's no use to do free-to-play. We have a good number of key players. So, at this time it's not really something we're looking at doing. That was Producer Bonnie Armstrong. Oddly, I received some form of the free-to-play question from people who are not playing the game currently. The players inside the world seem just fine with the payment model. Has this old-school approach helped the game last this long? I'm not sure, but during this annual return to Britannia, I found the same great game I do every time I visit. Continue reading Rise and Shiny revisit: Ultima Online Rise and Shiny revisit: Ultima Online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| From warhorses to hobby horses: A ride through LotRO's Rohan Posted: 30 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Launches, Previews, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Massively Interviews, Massively Hands-on I have to admit, every bit of news for Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan that has come out has been a little stab in my heart. Is the news that bad? On the contrary, it is too good! But because of my notorious uber-casual gaming style, I had little hope of seeing the content anytime before the 2016 presidential elections; stalled in my low 60s, I am ineligible to participate in LotRO's upcoming content. Suddenly, all of my time spent wandering the beauty of Middle-earth, playing music, visiting player-run events, and participating in festivals seemed a less-than-ideal way to spend my time. But then fate intervened: I received an invitation to get a first-hand look at Riders of Rohan with a tour guided by Senior Designer Joe Barry and Senior Producer Aaron Campbell. Knowing that participating would be a double-edged sword (getting a taste only to know I couldn't have more), I still jumped at the chance. I'll just deal with the disappointment later, I thought. For a brief time, I got to immerse myself in Rohan and get a look at what awaits players when the expansion launches on October 15th. And between rebuilding an entire town, hobby horse races, and riding warsteeds, I am psyched-up to actually level and take part in all that RoR will offer. Continue reading From warhorses to hobby horses: A ride through LotRO's Rohan From warhorses to hobby horses: A ride through LotRO's Rohan originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Historians have a handful of dates to argue over and ultimately choose as to which represents the birth of the compact disc (CD), but for the sake of this article, we'll go with October 1, 1982. It was exactly 30 years ago today that Billy Joel's 52nd Street became the first commercially available CD, which not coincidentally launched at the same time as the first commercial CD player, 
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