| Rise and Shiny: Aura Kingdom Posted: 22 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Screenshots, Video, Business Models, Game Mechanics, Interviews, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Casual, Humor, Family, Rise and Shiny, Livestream You might have heard about Aura Kingdom, the latest game from Aeria Games. It's been generating a lot of buzz not just for its unique look and adorable graphics but for its pre-order offers that literally cost between $19.00 and $299.00. I wrote about the pricing policy in a recent Free for All article, though I don't have a problem with them. I like to ask if these packages are harmful to others, but in my opinion they are doing nothing new. They're just like any old gaming package or preorder or collector's edition that comes with physical or digital goodies. I have more of an issue with the game's early-game blandness. Unless you are the type of player who is used to soft-grinds and fast leveling or Anime-styled games that are usually played in groups, you'd think that the game was literally nothing but the pressing of a few buttons. I certainly thought it was that for the first dozen or so levels. Luckily, the game opens up and becomes fun, but it takes a while to get there. I sat down with game producer Aaron Biedma to ask about the controversial packs, combat mechanics, and adorable dragons. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: Aura Kingdom  Rise and Shiny: Aura Kingdom originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 22 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: Parking the Enterprise Posted: 22 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Star Trek Online, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, RIFT, Miscellaneous Another week, another gorgeous Star Trek Online screenshot from reader Mark. Mark sent us in this picture of the Enterprise looking for a parking spot around Deep Space Nine, perhaps endlessly circling the lot while the husband's waiting for someone close to the door to pull out and the wife is arguing that they should just park a little further away and hoof it in with EVA suits. Fun fact: This was just one of dozens of screenshots that Mark sent in February 2013 when we put out the Great One Shots Call for more pictures. A less-fun fact: We're starting to run out of community-submitted screenshots to share with you, and our well might be dry by the end of January. Remember, it's you who keeps One Shots alive! Continue reading One Shots: Parking the Enterprise One Shots: Parking the Enterprise originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 22 Dec 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Where will your favorite MMO be in 10 years? Posted: 22 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous I was reading MJ's excellent recap of the EverQuest franchise over the past decade-and-a-half, and I started thinking about how much MMOs grow and change and make unpredictable moves. I don't think anyone could have quite prognosticated where EverQuest would be when the early crowd was enjoying it back in 1999, but here we are. It also got me wondering where MMOs will be in, say, 2023. As futuristic as that number looks, it's only a decade away -- but a decade can be huge for an MMO's lifespan. So let's put on our farseeing hats today and try to predict where our favorite games will be like in 10 years. Will they still be around? Will you be playing them in a VR harness? Will they have a half-dozen more expansions and a feature set that looks a lot like your wish list today? What do you think?  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: Where will your favorite MMO be in 10 years? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 22 Dec 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Sevencore is back and in beta Posted: 21 Dec 2013 05:00 PM PST |
| Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup Posted: 21 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Events (Real-World), Events (In-Game), MMO Industry, Patches, Guides, Miscellaneous The holidays are here! That means the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing, with gifts to get, treats to taste, deals to nab, and plenty of festivities to partake in -- and that's just in the MMOverse! Yes folks, there's a plethora of holiday celebrations out there -- so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, let alone participate to them! If you're trying to catch everything in your favorite games, we're here to help. We've got a round up of the various winter celebrations across the gaming sphere all bundled together right here for you. If something catches your eye, hop in and join in the festivities! Continue reading Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Pathfinder's latest dev blog outlines reputation, alignment Posted: 21 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Pathfinder Online, Buy-to-Play  If you missed this week's Pathfinder dev blog, well, go read it! It features an update/intro penned by GoblinWorks CEO Ryan Dancey, while the meat and potatoes concerning the fantasy sandbox's alignment and reputation systems are brought to you by designer Lee Hammock. "Reputation is our system for measuring how a player behaves in game," Hammock writes. "We want to provide a means by which a player can judge the aggressiveness of other players at a glance." Pathfinder's rep "has no bearing on your interactions with NPCs, quests, escalation cycles, or other PvE content." Alignment features two components. One, the player's core alignment, is chosen at creation and "is the intended alignment of the character." Active alignment, on the other hand, "begins at core alignment values but changes based on player action." Specific examples and much more detail are available via the links below. [Thanks Chrysillis!] Pathfinder's latest dev blog outlines reputation, alignment originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: A week of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 2.1 Posted: 21 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Endgame, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Dungeons, Housing All right, I admit that the headline is a dirty lie. It hasn't been a full week however you slice it; the patch dropped on Tuesday, and I've only been able to play it for two days before writing this. To make up for that fact, I've devoured Final Fantasy XIV's patch with a zeal I usually reserve for hamburgers, although I still haven't seen everything there is to see. Though if I had seen all of it in two days, that would kind of be a problem anyway... The point is that 2.1 is pretty dang huge, even if it includes one feature that's a massive blemish. So let's take a look at what the patch has to offer, how the various new features hold up, and where the patch falls down -- other than with housing, which is already a great big "fall down" that will be addressed all by itself. Continue reading The Mog Log: A week of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 2.1 The Mog Log: A week of Final Fantasy XIV's patch 2.1 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EQN Landmark video talks procedural content, visits Everfrost Posted: 21 Dec 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Sandbox SOE has dropped another EverQuest Next Landmark dev diary video. Senior producer Terry Michaels and senior art director Rosie Rappaport are your hosts for a three-minute look at the creation of the world. "We didn't want to create the world for Landmark the way we did in previous games. It needs to be giant, it needs to be huge," Michaels says. "So we couldn't go down the path of hand-crafting everything in the world. It would take way too long and people would consume that content way before we could create more of it." SOE's solution is procedural content, and the video attempts to explain how the firm's concept art, "field guides," and various assets fit together and enable devs "to basically press a button and generate a continent that looks hand-crafted." Continue reading EQN Landmark video talks procedural content, visits Everfrost EQN Landmark video talks procedural content, visits Everfrost originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup, round three Posted: 21 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Community Q&A, The Tattered Notebook, EverQuest Next, Sandbox, Norrathian Notebook Quick on the heels of our second Round Table roundup for EverQuest Next and EQN Landmark comes the third, filled with the next bushel of questions! In these six queries, devs asked players to give their opinions on starter zones, modding the UI, length of the day and night cycle, grouping, preferred Landmark building styles, and the role of NPC merchants. And of course, devs also offered their personal opinions on these topics. Did you participate in all the polls the first time through? If not, we've got them all right here for you. Go ahead and join in the discussions; it is never too late to voice your opinions! You never know when your comment might be the one that turns the tide of thinking or offers a new solution no one had considered before. Continue reading Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup, round three Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup, round three originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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