| Rise and Shiny: Minecraft Posted: 24 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Video, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Mobile, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Sandbox, Crafting, Player-Generated Content, Buy-to-Play We all know what Minecraft is, right? Well, just in case you have not played it for any number of reasons, let me explain. Minecraft is a sandbox defined by primitive-looking graphics, mining, building by using a massive set of LEGOs, multiplayer interaction, and modding. Lots and lots of modding. I bought it for only 10 bucks way back in its first or second beta, and all I can remember about those first few hours in the game was how high my pulse rate got, and then the buzz I felt when I first heard a pretty song play as the moon rose in the sky. Playing Minecraft for the first time easily goes down as one of my top 10 most thrilling gaming moments. Flash forward well past those betas and Minecraft has become an empire. There are Minecraft toys, clothing items, building sets, and all sorts of real-life tie-in merchandise. It's a popular game on both console and PC and has bridged the age gap between millions of gamers. But we don't talk much about it on Massively. Why? Well, it's not an MMO. Or is it? Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Minecraft  Rise and Shiny: Minecraft originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Nov 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: Angmar, you're going down Posted: 24 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Star Trek Online, One Shots, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, Miscellaneous It's a beautiful morning, so why not spoil it by going to Angmar? Oh Angmar, that blackhead on the face of Middle-earth, with your whining sky and your eyesores everywhere. Why can't evil ever be beautiful, can someone tell me? Perhaps reader Michael18, who took this particular photo, can: "To celebrate the release of the Helm's Deep expansion, I send you some of my screenshots. I tried to capture the beauty of the old zones of Lord of the Rings Online like Angmar. With all the Rohan pictures to be seen on the web over the next couple of weeks, this might be a nice diversion." That's it, Angmar; you're going down. I'm going to get some flowers and go plant them all over your fields. Take that! Continue reading One Shots: Angmar, you're going down One Shots: Angmar, you're going down originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Nov 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Do you like solo dungeons? Posted: 24 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Dungeons When you think " dungeons," more often than not you think of a hearty team of adventurers plumbing the depths of some ancient (yet oddly populated) caverns. But there's no set rule that says all dungeons have to cater to parties; in fact, there seems to be a movement in MMOs to creating more solo dungeons. Do you like this? I'm a fan not because I'm anti-social but because sometimes I want the dungeon experience without the hassle of a group finder or going at the team's pace. Hey, my dungeon runs have lots of breaks for alt-tabbing to see what's happening on Massively, so don't judge. Solo dungeons: Do you like them?  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 you like solo dungeons? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Nov 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Tattered Notebook: The EQN Landmark founders pack fallout Posted: 23 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Tattered Notebook, Promotions, EverQuest Next You might have heard about a little piece of EverQuest Next Landmark news about how interested players have the opportunity to purchase Founders Packs. If you haven't (or you missed the resulting maelstrom of responses), the basic gist of it is this: SOE is offering three levels of pre-launch bundles for the upcoming sandbox game, with prices ranging from $19.99 to $99.99. Besides in-game goodies, each pack also adds alpha or beta access to EQN Landmark. Therein lies the rub. That one little bit of intel set off quite a flurry of comments, from valid concerns to some head-scratching claims. Some folks had questions as to whether these packs have anything to do with EverQuest Next (they do not); there seems to be some overall confusion and misinformation mixed in among legitimate points and vitriol alike, so today I'm going to address some of the concerns that cropped up. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: The EQN Landmark founders pack fallout The Tattered Notebook: The EQN Landmark founders pack fallout originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Nov 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: Lightning fizzles in FFXIV Posted: 23 Nov 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Opinion, Consoles, The Mog Log, Subscription There's something a bit odd about playing what amounts to a promotional event for a game you won't be seeing for several months. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII promises to conclude the two-part trilogy that its predecessor created, but it's not coming out in the US until February of next year, leading to a minor disconnect. Still, it matters only in the broadest sense; after all, most of the references packed in hearken back to the first game in the set, and I didn't need a pre-order to know that I wanted a gunblade. So I've been following along with Final Fantasy XIV's event and dutifully progressing along the quest chain for the week. But I wasn't terribly impressed all around. I think there were some very nice touches coupled with some really baffling decisions here and there, and the overall effect was rather lackluster. It isn't really the fault of the event so much as a problem with popularity. Continue reading The Mog Log: Lightning fizzles in FFXIV The Mog Log: Lightning fizzles in FFXIV originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Nov 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Secret World adds remote banking and other vet rewards Posted: 23 Nov 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, The Secret World, Buy-to-Play Ever since veteran rewards were first introduced to The Secret World way back in the beginning of the year, players have been looking forward to acquiring portable banking devices. Well that time is finally at hand: Remote banking has just arrived! For the cost of only five Veteran Points, players can purchase a stack of five transdimensional banking devices that when deployed spawn a laptop that anyone in the player's group can use to do banking and auction house transactions without traveling to London. Even better, this perk is not limited only to veterans; anyone can purchase a stack of 20 for 480 Bonus or Funcom points. All players also have access to a whole new category of store items called weapon moulds. Here, players can acquire reusable weapon skins. Veterans do, however, get an exclusive perk in the form of Venetian Exemptions. Coming in stacks of five for the cost of five Veteran Points, these remove the lockout timers on scenarios. The Secret World adds remote banking and other vet rewards originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Nov 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: Building the Neverwinter dream Posted: 23 Nov 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Choose My Adventure, Livestream, Dungeons, Neverwinter, Player-Generated Content You cannot build a quest without a battle or two, right? The Neverwinter Foundry calls these encounters, and tuning these encounters to fit your vision of the quest can require a special touch. Join Massively's Larry Everett at 1:00 p.m. EST as he adds encounters to his Choose My Adventure quest based on the suggestions from the audience. Game: Neverwinter Host: Larry Everett Date: Saturday, November 23rd, 2013 Time: 1:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Building the Neverwinter dream The Stream Team: Building the Neverwinter dream originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Nov 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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