MMO Updates

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• Leaderboard: Bless vs. Black Desert vs. Blade & Soul vs. ArcheAge
• Dragon's Prophet EU opens guild registration with contest for floating island
• The Nexus Telegraph: Dissecting WildStar's surprise patch notes
• Name this Repopulation zone, win a $100 Kickstarter pledge
• The Stream Team: Spring has sprung edition, April 22 - 28, 2013
• ArcheAge may be F2P in China
• The Daily Grind: Which devs would you like to see in the MMO space?
• MMO Week in Review: Expansions and revamps
• EVE Evolved: Five years of EVE Evolved
• Four minutes of this week's episode of Defiance
• Rise and Shiny: The Aurora World

Leaderboard: Bless vs. Black Desert vs. Blade & Soul vs. ArcheAge Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Blade & Soul, ArcheAge, Sandbox, Leaderboard, Black Desert There are plenty of interesting MMOs coming out of Korea these days, and whether we're talking sandboxes like Black Desert, themeparks like Bless, or hybrids like ArcheAge, I'm pretty excited to try all of them. Let's not forget Blade & Soul, either, and even Aion has a new expansion on the way that's introducing a couple of game-changing classes. For today's Leaderboard, let's pit these games against one another and see which one will claim the title of Massively's most anticipated Korean import. Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard! Continue reading Leaderboard: Bless vs. Black Desert vs. Blade & Soul vs. ArcheAge Leaderboard: Bless vs. Black Desert vs. Blade & Soul vs. ArcheAge originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dragon's Prophet EU opens guild registration with contest for floating island Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Contests, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Housing, Dragon's Prophet If you're an EU player with thoughts of creating a guild in Dragon's Prophet, now's a good time to act. In conjunction with launching a new guild registration page, Infernum Productions is holding a contest that will grant one lucky guild a floating island to call home! The grand prize includes a mansion for the guild leader, five housing plots for officers, four medium houses, an exclusive in-game title, early access to open beta, and a year's subscription to Enjin guild hosting. All registered guilds will receive early access to closed beta and 30 days of Enjin premium hosting. To enter, register your guild on the site and tell Infernum why your guild should get access to closed beta, and then have 10 others activate the guild code you provide. Only guilds with 10 or more members will qualify for the contest. Want a glimpse of the housing to whet your appetite? Then check out the trailer after the break. [Source: Infernum Productions press release] Continue reading Dragon's Prophet EU opens guild registration with contest for floating island Dragon's Prophet EU opens guild registration with contest for floating island originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Nexus Telegraph: Dissecting WildStar's surprise patch notes Posted: 22 Apr 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Patches, News Items, Opinion, Sandbox, WildStar, The Nexus Telegraph After I penned my last installment of The Nexus Telegraph, two things happened in very quick succession. The first is that a set of beta patch notes for WildStar were leaked to the internet by some unscrupulous individual, which prompted me and many other players to immediately shout that we wouldn't have leaked the notes if we had been selected. And there's an entire article to be written about why such an action isn't cool, how it harms the game, and why the persion responsible is a particularly toxic form of "fan." But then the second thing happened. The powers that be over at Carbine Studios, being infinitely cool themselves, decided to save people the trouble of deciding whether or not to look at the leaks. They posted the notes themselves, which means that I can now read the notes and actually write a column about them. Of course, as with any patch notes, we've been given an incomplete picture and can make only a few haphazard guesses about how the game will look. We also know that this is not even close to the final state of the game. But there's still interesting stuff here worth analyzing and speculating about. Continue reading The Nexus Telegraph: Dissecting WildStar's surprise patch notes The Nexus Telegraph: Dissecting WildStar's surprise patch notes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Name this Repopulation zone, win a $100 Kickstarter pledge Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:30 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Contests, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, The Repopulation Want to leave your mark on Above & Beyond Technologies' new Repopulation sandbox? You can via a contest that will allow players to name a newly created zone in the sci-fi game. Entries must be submitted via a forum thread or Twitter, and finalists will go into a pool of five from which the winner will be selected by a poll. Said winner will receive a $100 Kickstarter pledge to the game or a bump if you're already an early adopter. Full details are available at The Repopulation's official site. Name this Repopulation zone, win a $100 Kickstarter pledge originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

The Stream Team: Spring has sprung edition, April 22 - 28, 2013 Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Video, Events (Real-World), Previews, Massively Meta, Humor, Livestream, Miscellaneous, The Stream Team, Music If you live in the Northeast, chances are you ignore both the calendar and the furry little four-footed weatherman when it comes to anticipating the arrival of spring. In fact, you just don't believe it until you see it! Plenty of kids in that region are pros at gathering Easter eggs in a snowsuit. Although some might argue that the four seasons are actually Almost Winter, Winter, Still Winter, and Road Construction, I contend that they can experience an actual spring. And after a week of sunshine and non-frosty temperatures, I say it's finally made an appearance! Doh! I spoke to soon: It's back to the 20s. Tricksy weather, you almost fooled me. Oh well, I guess I can dive back under some blankets and watch more Massively TV instead of venturing into that thing called "outdoors." You, too, can take refuge from the never-ending winter by watching The Stream Team visit virtual lands of sun, warmth, even lava. Whom am I kidding? They will probably taunt us in another world of snow! Continue reading The Stream Team: Spring has sprung edition, April 22 - 28, 2013 The Stream Team: Spring has sprung edition, April 22 - 28, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

ArcheAge may be F2P in China Posted: 22 Apr 2013 06:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox ArcheAge launched with a subscription model in its native Korea, but XLGAMES founder Jake Song says that a free-to-play model may be better for the title's Chinese release. Song's comments came as he attended a recent awards ceremony, according to MMO Culture, but there is no official word from the company as of yet. Similarly, no plans have been announced for ArcheAge's Western business model. The game is being published by Trion in America. [Thanks Dengar!] ArcheAge may be F2P in China originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMO Culture

The Daily Grind: Which devs would you like to see in the MMO space? Posted: 22 Apr 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Crowdfunding We've seen a number of big-name game gurus make headlines in recent months with various MMOish development projects. Whether we're talking Chris Roberts, Mark Jacobs, or Richard Garriott, there's plenty of star power on display in both the MMO and crowdfunding arenas these days. Are there any other well-known devs you'd like see turning (or returning) to the MMO ranks? 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: Which devs would you like to see in the MMO space? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

MMO Week in Review: Expansions and revamps Posted: 21 Apr 2013 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. This week, Massively was focused on two MMO expansion releases whose status was once in question. First, Darkfall's Unholy Wars revamp finally launched, after repeated delays that turned the game into a punchline for many months during its extended beta. We sent in Darkfall veteran Jef Reahard to investigate; he was impressed by its immersive world, PvE, and crafting but not so impressed with its animations, UI, and economy. Second, Star Wars: The Old Republic's Rise of the Hutt Cartel expansion officially launched. We posted a general impressions piece to complement our critique of the update's daily quests, while BioWare contented itself with explaining reworks of all eight of the game's classes. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories. Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Expansions and revamps MMO Week in Review: Expansions and revamps originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Evolved: Five years of EVE Evolved Posted: 21 Apr 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Contests, Culture, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Lore, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Massively Meta, Hands-On, MMOFPS, EVE Evolved, DUST 514, Guides, Sandbox, Anniversaries About five years ago, on April 27th, 2008, I joined the Massively team and wrote the very first issue of the EVE Evolved column. Five years later, the column is still going strong and delivering its weekly dose of EVE Online to thousands of readers. I used to worry about running out of ideas to write about, but regular game updates and hilarious player shenanigans mean there's always something interesting going on in New Eden. When EVE hits its 10th anniversary in May, this column will have been running for just over half of the game's lifetime. In that time, I've written over 250 in-depth articles, guides, in-game stories and opinion pieces on EVE Online and a few on DUST 514. As usual, I'll be celebrating this anniversary by rounding up this year's column highlights and giving away two 30-day Pilot's License Extensions to two lucky readers. To enter the competition, write a comment explaining which EVE Evolved articles from this year you liked best and what topics you'd like to see covered in the coming year. You will need an active EVE account to claim the prize, so be sure to include your character name in your comment if you want to be in with a chance. If you'd rather not give out your character name or don't have an EVE account but would like to give the game a go, you can sign up a new trial account and use the name of your new character. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look back at the highlights from the column's fifth year! Continue reading EVE Evolved: Five years of EVE Evolved EVE Evolved: Five years of EVE Evolved originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Four minutes of this week's episode of Defiance Posted: 21 Apr 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Previews, MMOFPS, Post-Apocalyptic, Defiance, Buy-to-Play Did you enjoy the first episode of Defiance last Monday? We thought so. If you can't wait to see what's happening in the first four minutes of the next episode, then we have you covered. Tensions are rising as central characters Nolan and Irisa come head-to-head with ancient laws and religions within the city of Defiance, and we're sure that what happens next is going to impact the ragtag community for many episodes after. Nolan has donned the star of the local lawman and stepped right into the middle of a Castithan ceremony, something that does not sit well with Datak Tarr, the local crime boss. Even after they fought in battle together, is it be possible for these two headstrong characters to bury the hatchet for good? Can't they all just get along? It's TV, so no, no they cannot. Click past the cut to watch the video! Continue reading Four minutes of this week's episode of Defiance Four minutes of this week's episode of Defiance originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Defiance official site, Defiance YouTube video

Rise and Shiny: The Aurora World Posted: 21 Apr 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Humor, Rise and Shiny, Livestream There are a lot of MMOs out there. A lot. Sometimes I rattle off a list of MMOs during a conversation with fellow fans and they look at me as if I have butter pouring from my fingertips. They don't believe it, but they know it's happening. There are that many MMOs out there? Yes, there are. There are literally thousands in the world, hundreds in the United States. Out of all of those many different titles that I have played and come across, I like to say that most aren't really bad or horrible, but just... the same. Bland, boring, vanilla, dull. I like to throw the figure "80 percent" around to represent how many of them are just ugh. The Aurora World is an MMO. It has systems. It has skills to learn, and pets and monsters and quests and all of those trademarks that have, unfortunately, given MMO developers blanks to fill in on a checklist that is titled "MMORPG." There are a few tricks up the game's sleeves, but only a few. Actually, The Aurora World reminds me of one of my favorites, Zentia, but it lacks the soul that made me love Zentia. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: The Aurora World Rise and Shiny: The Aurora World originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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MMORPG News

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• Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Letter From the Producer Live Summary Posted
• General: The Rant - Keep Your Carrots
• Lineage 2: New Trailer Focuses on Dragonclaw
• Forge: Massive Update to Add New Features
• OverSoul: First-Ever PvP Tournament This Weekend
• World of Warcraft: Live WoW Developer Q&A Thurs, April 25
• Guild Wars 2: Rytlock's Critter Rampage Released
• Neverwinter: Open Beta Start Times Detailed

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn: Letter From the Producer Live Summary Posted Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:49 AM PDT The Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn team has posted the summary of last week's Letter From the Producer Live. Before fielding questions from viewers, a magitek armor game play video was featured to show off the feature for the first time ever.

General: The Rant - Keep Your Carrots Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:35 AM PDT This week's Rant focuses on the notion of difficulty and grinding in MMOs, and why Bill's one player who won't soon be caught chasing the carrot on a stick any longer.

Lineage 2: New Trailer Focuses on Dragonclaw Posted: 18 Apr 2013 01:23 PM PDT As the ninth year anniversary of Lineage II nears, the team is ramping up the excitement for the arrival of Lindvior, a massive dragon that will be featured in a prominent position within the game. NCSoft has teamed up with MMORPG.com to bring our readers another exclusive video and some fun ninth anniversary facts about Lineage II.

Forge: Massive Update to Add New Features Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:38 PM PDT Folks who have previously tried out Dark Vale Games' Forge will want to swing by the game for another look at the end of April thanks to four months of crunch work by the dev team to implement features that were unable to be included at launch.

OverSoul: First-Ever PvP Tournament This Weekend Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:31 PM PDT Artix Entertainment has announced that this weekend marks the first-ever PvP tournament for players of OverSoul, the card game battle arena. Players are duking it out to be featured in the Top 100 Players list.

World of Warcraft: Live WoW Developer Q&A Thurs, April 25 Posted: 18 Apr 2013 08:04 PM PDT Blizzard has taken the opportunity this weekend to announced that the World of Warcraft development team will be hosting a live developer Q&A on Thursday, April 25th.

Guild Wars 2: Rytlock's Critter Rampage Released Posted: 18 Apr 2013 06:27 PM PDT The Guild Wars 2 Super Adventure Box has been updated with a new game for players to check out. Called "Rytlock's Critter Rampage", the new game features fire-breathing snakes, cutesy pie bunnies and tons more all in 8-bit wonder.

Neverwinter: Open Beta Start Times Detailed Posted: 20 Apr 2013 02:35 AM PDT Perfect World Entertainment & Cryptic Studios have revealed the start times for the Neverwinter open beta. Heroes of the North will have access to the game beginning April 25th, Guardians of Neverwinter will be able to join the game on April 27th, and the doors will open wide for everyone else on April 30th.

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