| Former Secret World lead dev: Successful games need to be 'a bit more commercial' Posted: 08 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, The Secret World Penny Arcade has published a lengthy interview with former Funcom designer Martin Bruusgaard. Bruusgaard was a casualty of The Secret World's post-launch layoffs despite being credited as the game's lead designer. He speaks to the challenges inherent in TSW's release window as well as his belief that Funcom's desire to make a unique game kept it from being an instant commercial success. "It's a shame to say, but I think [there are] very, very few cases where you can sit down and make the game that you really want to do, and it turns out to be a success," Bruusgaard says. "Unfortunately I think that in order to be a success in today's market, you need to make the game a bit more commercial." The interview also touches on Funcom's position at the forefront of gaming technology. Despite its recent troubles, the company is "really, really pushing the limits and pushing the boundaries on how to make software," Bruusgaard says.  Former Secret World lead dev: Successful games need to be 'a bit more commercial' originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Wings Over Atreia: Aion turns to outsourcing Posted: 08 Oct 2012 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Opinion, Free-to-play, Wings Over Atreia, Dungeons Despite the fact that the U.S. presidential elections are only a few short weeks away, this isn't the beginning of a political debate, so please leave all politically charged opinions at the door. This topic has nothing to do with politics at all; it's about a contest in Aion that NCsoft announced this last week. At least it looks like a contest. It's called the Tiamat Slayer Event, and Daevas are called on to compete with others by creating the ultimate guide for Aion's upcoming 12-man alliance instance, Dragon Lord's Sanctuary. The alliance that produces the best how-to guide will receive prizes and accolades, including eternal weapons and a spiffy title with bonuses. But is it really about rewarding Daevas for a job well done, or is it about conning players into doing all the work so the studio doesn't have to? Let's examine all the facts (including a hint on the release date for 3.5?), and you can decide for yourself. Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Aion turns to outsourcing Wings Over Atreia: Aion turns to outsourcing originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Captain's Log: Star Trek Online potpourri Posted: 08 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT |
| CCP still iterating on EVE's bipedal gameplay Posted: 08 Oct 2012 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox EVE Online's bipedal avatar gameplay has a long history. What started as simply " walking in stations" morphed into a concept called Ambulation before finally seeing the light of day during 2011's Incarna expansion. Internet spaceship fans revolted, though, and CCP was forced to shelve its goals for fleshing out the New Eden universe. Apparently the mothballing was temporary, as CCP's Ned Coker recently explained to PCGamesN. " Incarna and avatar gameplay is definitely not shelved indefinitely, it's just not being worked on actively in full production right now," he said. EVE devs are tinkering with new Incarna prototypes that feature more actual gameplay as opposed to the single-player sitting-on-your-couch-and-surfing-the-market experience offered by the current captain's quarters implementation. Coker says that one of the prototypes involves deep space dead ship discovery wherein players will leave their pods and explore dangerous bits of wreckage. CCP still iterating on EVE's bipedal gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: October 8 - 14, 2012 Posted: 08 Oct 2012 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Polls, Guilds, Massively Meta, Livestream, Miscellaneous, The Stream Team Awareness. Social, self, spatial -- whatever your flavor of awareness, it's a useful trait. And if livestreamers have got it, great. If not, well then Massively TV is just that much more amusing! Didn't notice that boss mob standing at your heels? Chuckles ensue. Was that actually a cliff two steps back? A good belly laugh commences. Yes sir, these things and more have transpired while all eyes were watching. Don't miss out on the fun! Tune in this week to watch The Stream Team members as they brave a variety of worlds, or watch the classic episodes of yester-streams, so you can see for yourself how well the Massively livestreamers exhibit awareness. But what about you readers? How does your awareness measure up? You could test yourself with the basketball clip, or you can keep reading and take Massively's own awareness pop quiz at the end! Continue reading The Stream Team: October 8 - 14, 2012 The Stream Team: October 8 - 14, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| World of Warcraft exploiters wipe out entire cities Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:30 AM PDT |
| The Daily Grind: How much gaming do you manage on a daily basis? Posted: 08 Oct 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous I spent a weekend away from MMORPGs recently, and while that's somewhat unusual, it's not as unusual as it used to be. Despite popular assumptions to the contrary, the life of a pro game blogger sometimes involves less gaming and more, well... other stuff tangentially related to gaming but more directly in line with administrative duties common to more traditional professions. While I still have occasional binge gaming marathons, my average daily time is down considerably. What about you, Massively readers? How much uninterrupted gaming time do you manage on a daily basis, and is it enough?  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 much gaming do you manage on a daily basis? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EB Games Expo 2012: Guild Wars 2 interview Posted: 07 Oct 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2, Humor, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, Miscellaneous The highlight of this year's EB Games Expo in Sydney, Australia, at least for MMO fans, was surely the inclusion of QV Software, publisher of Guild Wars 2 in Australia and New Zealand. Naturally, Massively Multimedia Contributor David Desi (aka Psykopig) dropped by the QVS booth to chat with Dan Greentree, Product Manager and go-to guy for the Aussie edition of Guild Wars 2. Dan and David discuss the game's scope, painterly art styles, jumping puzzles, and community before answering the ultimate question: Asura or Norn?! Check it out after the break, and don't forget the Pig's other videos from the showroom floor! Continue reading EB Games Expo 2012: Guild Wars 2 interview EB Games Expo 2012: Guild Wars 2 interview originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EVE Evolved: Player justice in Retribution Posted: 07 Oct 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, PvE, EVE Evolved, Dev Diaries, Sandbox This week CCP released a new devblog on upcoming piracy and PvP changes heading to EVE Online with this winter's Retribution expansion. In addition to new ships and an as-yet unrevealed bounty hunter revamp, Retribution completely redesigns the Crimewatch system that decides whom you can legally shoot and stops players from docking or jumping out of the system in the middle of combat. EVE's aggression mechanics are notoriously complicated and buggy, but Retribution aims to simplify the system and put players in the driving seat of criminal justice. The new Crimewatch system not only gets rid of old, undocumented code that was written when dinosaurs roamed the earth but also has far-reaching consequences for pirates, people engaging in PvE and the upcoming bounty hunting revamp. Pirates will now be able to escape into high-security space without police intervention, loot thieves will be subjected to mob justice, nullsec ratters won't be as safe as they think, and neutral remote repairing will be a thing of the past. In this week's EVE Evolved, I delve into Crimewatch 2.0 and how the Retribution expansion will change the game for pirates, ratters, and people engaging in PvP across New Eden. Continue reading EVE Evolved: Player justice in Retribution EVE Evolved: Player justice in Retribution originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMO Week in Review: Pandaria invites analysts to savor some delicious crow Posted: 07 Oct 2012 02:00 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. " Disappointing" was the word analysts initially used to describe Mists of Pandaria's launch, but this week, analysts who've apparently heard of these newfangled "digital downloads" predicted stronger sales numbers for World of Warcraft's fourth expansion... and have thus far been proven right. In fact, so far, Blizzard has sold 2.7 million copies of MoP and reports subscription tallies over 10 million, up nearly a million from the 9.1 million measured last summer. And that's before China weighs in and the first major content patch arrives. The rest of this week's top MMO stories are rounded up beyond the break! Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Pandaria invites analysts to savor some delicious crow MMO Week in Review: Pandaria invites analysts to savor some delicious crow originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| League of Legends cheating controversy puts $2,000,000 on the line Posted: 07 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, MOBA, League of Legends The competitive e-sports scene has exploded in the past two years, with top MOBA teams competing for prizes of up to an incredible $1,000,000 US from a single tournament. This weekend, MOBA fans tuned in to the League of Legends World Championship tournament, streamed live from Los Angeles. The crowd attending the event got front row seats to see the game's best teams battle it out over a total of $2,000,000 US in prize money, and with so much money on the line, it's no surprise that accusations of cheating have already surfaced. A huge screen showed the match in action to event attendees, with two smaller screens showing each team's in-game map with the positions of their players. Competitors were told to face forward at all times, but controversy erupted last night when livestream viewers at home noticed players turning their heads and looking up away from the screen. It was argued that those players were cheating by looking at the opposing team's minimap to check the positions of their players. Riot Games e-sports coordinator RiotTiza was lead referee for the tournament and released the following statement: "We keep a constant watch on all the players on stage at all times. We have cameras as well as live people walking onto stage to keep tabs in everything. All players are told that they need to remain sitting, facing forward, and with headphones on at all times, including during pauses. I can personally confirm that no WE player looked at the minimap at any point during the match." League of Legends cheating controversy puts $2,000,000 on the line originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Rise and Shiny: Mortal Online Posted: 07 Oct 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, Bugs, Game mechanics, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Virtual worlds, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Sandbox There are so many issues and subjects to cover this week, thanks to the limited time I spent in Mortal Online, a free-for-all PvP sandbox by Star Vault. I've played my share of MMOs that are similar to Mortal Online, games like EVE Online, Darkfall, Ultima Online, Wurm Online, Salem, and others. Essentially the idea is to set players loose in a massive, open world that is closer to "realistic" than standard themepark MMOs. Players might spend time farming or fishing or hunting down other players or mobs. It's generally a good idea to prepare yourself for a lot of running around, hiding, and slowly figuring out what to do when playing a FFA PvP sandbox. Games like Mortal Online provoke questions like "Why is nudity an option at all?" and "Why is there stamina (and other realistic features) alongside magic and no permanent death?" I've learned to forget those questions and just take each specific FFA MMO as it is. Mortal Online stands alone in many ways. Unfortunately, being known as a buggy mess is one of those. I've played many buggy MMOs in my time but have enjoyed myself immensely in some of them (remember, I hosted an early Vanguard: Saga of Heroes podcast!), so I wasn't scared of jumping into an MMO that was supposed to be rough to say the least. What did I find? Well, I found a ton -- and I mean a ton -- of bugs. But I also found a pretty cool community (yes, I just said that) and some grand adventure. Let me break it down. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Mortal Online Rise and Shiny: Mortal Online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| ArcheAge's pet system turns cute baby wolves into fearsome battle wargs Posted: 07 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, ArcheAge, Sandbox Did you know that ArcheAge features a battle pet system? As of the recently completed CBT5, XLGAMES added a wolf pet that's different from the title's normal mount critters. While all ArcheAge mounts may be used in combat, battle pets are significantly stronger. Both pet types have their own character screens and equipment, but battle pets feature more active skills. You'll also need to be level 25 to obtain the battle pet quest (as opposed to level 5 for basic mounts). Also like mounts, battle pets have their own levels which are advanced through hunting mobs (gathering, crafting, and quest turn-in XP does not affect either pet type). Finally, battle pets can die and will lose XP when they do. Head to ArcheAge Source for a lengthy system breakdown, and check out the baby wolf video after the cut. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Continue reading ArcheAge's pet system turns cute baby wolves into fearsome battle wargs ArcheAge's pet system turns cute baby wolves into fearsome battle wargs originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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