MMO Updates |
- Story trailers spotlight two Dragon's Prophet EU zones
- Second Wind Roundtable: Allods Online
- The Secret World Game Director's letter dishes more details on Issues 7 & 8
- Take-Two CEO: MMOs don't work in the US
- The Daily Grind: Do you use Kickstarter to pre-order MMOs?
- The Guild Counsel: Lessons in guild leadership from a pop star
- EVE Online dev blog discusses Odyssey UI changes
- New Repopulation dev blog gets down and dirty with harvesting details
- Age of Conan's May Director's Letter details new content and tech
- Snail confirms Age of Wushu dev layoffs
- The Summoner's Guidebook: League of Legends isn't just one gametype
- New Final Fantasy XIV job action trailer sighted in the wild
- ArenaNet releases Last Stand at Southsun Cove guide
- Marvel Heroes early access is live, Gazillion 'looking into' compensation
- Infinite Crisis joins competitive arena with Major League Gaming
| Story trailers spotlight two Dragon's Prophet EU zones Posted: 31 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Lore, Free-to-Play, Dragon's Prophet  To give players a glimpse of what they are fighting for and against, Infernum Productions has released two videos delving into the story of two zones, Laedis and Satuma. You can catch both trailers after the cut. [Source: Infernum press release] Continue reading Story trailers spotlight two Dragon's Prophet EU zones
|
| Second Wind Roundtable: Allods Online Posted: 31 May 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Allods Online, Second Wind  Hello again, kind gentlefolk, and welcome to the latest installment of the Second Wind Roundtable. This time around, I coerced, extorted, and otherwise blackmailed the wonderful Bree and Eliot (and Lis, though she was unfortunately unable to join us for the Roundtable chat itself, but she was there too!) to join me in a few rousing sessions of gPotato's aether-sailing free-to-play title, Allods Online. We laughed, we cried, we nearly died from rage-induced aneurysms. But despite all that, we all survived to tell the tale. So buckle your swashes, raise your sails, and join us past the cut, won't you? Continue reading Second Wind Roundtable: Allods Online
|
| The Secret World Game Director's letter dishes more details on Issues 7 & 8 Posted: 31 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Patches, News Items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries, Buy-to-Play  We already knew that Issue #7 would bring The Secret World a spy-like experience. And now, thanks to the Game Director's letter for May, we also have the title, snazzy cover art, and a glimpse at the climactic ending. We even get an expected time-frame for release; while an exact date is not given, it appears that it will hit the end of June, according to the cover art, and Director Joel Bylos himself states it will coincide with TSW's first anniversary.Issue #7: A Dream to Kill ends with filth infiltrating Agartha itself through the newly discovered Tokyo entrance, and players will continue to fight this threat with group and solo content until Tokyo can finally be entered. Bylos also reveals information about Issue #8, including the Virtual Training Scenarios and the Augment System. To prove readiness to enter Tokyo to the Council of Venice, players will have to complete training scenarios that will have random elements thrown in, making each experience different. The Augment system is a new advancement system that will allow players to improve their existing abilities by providing customization in the roles of damage, support, healing, and survivability.
|
| Take-Two CEO: MMOs don't work in the US Posted: 31 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry, Miscellaneous  Speaking at the Cowen and Company Technology, Media and Telecom Conference on Thursday, Zelnick reinforces what he believes many studios are learning the hard way, "MMOs don't work here. A couple of our competitors have found out that through very, very expensive lessons. One of our competitors just recently announced they're restarting an MMO project." Take-Two is, instead, aiming at the Asian MMO market through partnerships with industry leaders such as Tencent and Nexon. This is where the company hopes to be successful in the genre, as Zelnick cites "10 to 20" MMOs are successful in that market. [Thanks to Avaloner81 for the tip!]
|
| The Daily Grind: Do you use Kickstarter to pre-order MMOs? Posted: 31 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, Crowdfunding, Shroud of the Avatar  I'm so guilty of this. I put exactly as much money into the TUG and Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter pots as I had to in order to secure myself the cheapest pre-order copy of the games I could, but I didn't chip in for an Android game Kickstarter from a dev who couldn't offer the game .apk in any tier. I don't know whether I feel bad. I want to see the games made, and I willingly pay for my copy; I consider my discount a fair tradeoff for paying them years before I'll download a client. But that's my personal limit: a pittance and a vote of confidence, really. I'm guessing most gamers aren't so fabulously wealthy as to heavily fund indie games even if they wanted to, and those who could do so probably have a lot of other worthy non-gaming causes that take precedence. So do you also take advantage of cheap pre-order tiers on Kickstarter? Do you hunt for the tier with exactly the right combination of swag? Or do you approach each Kickstarter knowing you want to donate a certain amount, regardless of what you get in return?  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 Guild Counsel: Lessons in guild leadership from a pop star Posted: 30 May 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Guilds, Opinion, Humor, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  Can a brash pop star really provide tips on guild leadership? Let's take a lighthearted look in this week's Guild Counsel. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Lessons in guild leadership from a pop star
|
| EVE Online dev blog discusses Odyssey UI changes Posted: 30 May 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Expansions, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  The folks over at CCP have put up a new, puntastically titled post on the EVE Online site to fill players in on some of the UI changes coming in EVE Online: Odyssey. The changes range from the miniscule ("you can now make the input field in chat a single line and gain like 20 extra pixels! Yay!") to the more ambitious (such as a major reworking of the game's fleet management window), plus a few things in-between. To get the down-and-dirty details on all of the UI changes coming with Odyssey, just head on over and read the full post at the game's official site.
|
| New Repopulation dev blog gets down and dirty with harvesting details Posted: 30 May 2013 04:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Crafting  You may remember that earlier this month, the folks behind upcoming sci-fi sandbox The Repopulation released a dev-blog that detailed part of the game's resource-gathering system which involved the ever-so-charming extraction of precious resources from your enemies' still-warm corpses. Thanks to the game's newest dev blog, we're now able to get some insight on the other half of the resource-gathering experience: harvesting. While extraction involves pilfering goodies from dead baddies, harvesting is the more uh... humane method of gathering resources from nodes such as ore deposits, trees, and so forth. Harvesting resources from a single node works in the same way as extracting resources from a corpse does, but harvestable resources are also available from rarely occurring resource clusters. These clusters "contain a larger stash of a single resource and [have] a better chance of yielding higher quality results." Up to four players can place a harvester at any given cluster, which will run dry after 2-4 hours, at which point the players can return to the cluster and pick up their share of the goods. This system, the diary mentions, encourages players to gather in groups or share the wealth with their hired help. If you can't wait to get your hands dirty and rob nature of her delicious bounty, you can find out all the details over at the game's official site.
|
| Age of Conan's May Director's Letter details new content and tech Posted: 30 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, News Items, Free-to-Play  Crush enemies, see them driven before you, lamentations of their women, yadda yadda. You know the drill. The Age of Conan Game Director's Letter for this month has hit the interwebs, and the topics of discussion are the recent 5th Anniversary event (and the new event system that it utilized), the impending transition to single-server technology, and a number of updates heading to the game soon. The first phase of Age of Conan's switch to single-server tech (which involved moving all of the servers to the same physical location) has been completed, and the AoC team is now "preparing to move towards the new phase," which means merging all same-ruleset servers. Meanwhile, in Hyboria proper, Age of Conan recently held an in-game event to celebrate its fifth anniversary, and this included the introduction of some snazzy new event tech. In a nutshell, the previous system required that the game be patched in order to both begin and end an event, but with the new system, the devs can run and adjust events on the fly. On top of that, AoC players can expect a smattering of new content over the summer, beginning with the new Coils of Ubah Khan dungeon. Later additions will include new Unchained Dungeons, the Palace of Cetriss, and a shiny new tradeskill system. To get all the delicious information straight from the barbarian's mouth (ew), just click on through the link below.
|
| Snail confirms Age of Wushu dev layoffs Posted: 30 May 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Age of Wushu  Yes, there were a handful of layoffs at Snail Games USA yesterday. After the launch of Age of Wushu the team size was corrected to meet the size of the game and the community. The Age of Wushu team was expanded before launch and the necessary contractions were needed post-launch. Snail Games USA values all the employees that worked on Age of Wushu and continue to work on the Age of Wushu upcoming expansion for July. Layoffs are a hard part of working in the game industry and are necessary when team size becomes larger than what the development team needs.[Thanks to everyone who tipped us.]
|
| The Summoner's Guidebook: League of Legends isn't just one gametype Posted: 30 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook  If you don't play a lot of Dominion or Twisted Treeline, you might not realize that Bloodthirster and Infinity Edge are hard to buy when fights can erupt faster than ultimate skills can recharge. Expensive items like a Needlessly Large Rod or BF Sword are hard to justify when you can get some interim item that provides more balanced stats and will help win the fights you're fighting now. Playing other game modes also gives you a broader look at League of Legends. You don't see the value of certain stats -- particularly HP -- until you realize that an extra 200-500 HP can cause a huge swing in the course of an engagement. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: League of Legends isn't just one gametype
|
| New Final Fantasy XIV job action trailer sighted in the wild Posted: 30 May 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Final Fantasy XIV  Let's see, there's the Paladin, the Warrior, the Monk, the White Mage, the Dragoon, and the Bard. Oh, and there's the Black Mage. Never forget the Black Mage. Also, don't forget that this is beta footage, according to the big disclaimer on the front-end of the video which you can see after the cut. [Thanks Lauren!] Continue reading New Final Fantasy XIV job action trailer sighted in the wild
|
| ArenaNet releases Last Stand at Southsun Cove guide Posted: 30 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Guides, Buy-to-Play  We would tell you more, but then there'd be no reason to click through to the guide itself, now would there?
|
| Marvel Heroes early access is live, Gazillion 'looking into' compensation Posted: 30 May 2013 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Launches, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Marvel Heroes  CEO David Brevik apologized for the delay in a post on the official MH website, and he also said that the firm is "looking into granting compensation for those who were unable to play yesterday." You might also want to read through the Early Game Access FAQ.
|
| Infinite Crisis joins competitive arena with Major League Gaming Posted: 30 May 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MOBA, Infinite Crisis  This collaboration will introduce Infinite Crisis to the e-sports community and ultimately lead to Infinite Crisis' inclusion at MLG Pro Circuit competitions. The game's executive producer, Jeffrey Steefel, is quoted as saying, "We look forward to working closely with MLG to introduce players to the DC Multiverse and building a world-class gaming community." [Source: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment press release]
|
| You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
