| The Road to Mordor: How LotRO explores what it means to be a hero Posted: 08 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Road to Mordor Developers, journalists, and bloggers alike have spent gobs of time chewing on the concept of heroism in MMOs: what makes us heroes, how these games can be tailored to make us feel heroic, whether games should force us to be heroes, and whether heroism is a desirable trait for a gamer. What we can agree on is that, if nothing else, the term has been so widely used and abused that we don't even think about the fact that "hero" is often used synonymously with the term "player character." It's just accepted that we're all heroes in MMOs as a base characteristic. But am I a hero? At the start of an MMO, no, I am not. I am a blank slate. My character has no backstory inside of the game, no accolades under her belt, and no past adventures in which she showed herself to be anything out of the ordinary. That's another thing about heroes, apparently: They can't be ordinary. They have to become uber-elite and save the world, preferably on a weekly basis by beating something to death with an axe or immolating it with a fireball spell. Lord of the Rings Online and its dev team may not be innocent of trying to shove us into the roles of heroes and play to that allegedly universal fantasy, but what I do appreciate is that this game has made me truly consider what it is to be a hero and how most MMOs get it wrong. Continue reading The Road to Mordor: How LotRO explores what it means to be a hero  The Road to Mordor: How LotRO explores what it means to be a hero originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Feb 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| WRUP: Objective edition Posted: 08 Feb 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous This is a set of data stored in a computer that tells your computer to render pixels into letters, which in turn allows you to read these data as an article. Above this text is a different set of pixels forming a reproduction of a photograph of two elephant seals. Elephant seals are a type of aquatic mammal. They possess a set of visual characteristics that some human beings find pleasant and others do not. The subject of this article is a statement of what the Massively staff members plan to play over the weekend. It is titled " WRUP" as a shortening of "what are you playing," intentionally misspelling the words "are" and "you" to the phonetically identical "R" and "U." Clicking the "Continue Reading" button below will allow you to continue reading. Comments may be left below the article by clicking the "Submit Comment" button. Readers may wish to submit comments refuting the central point of the article or carrying on in the theme. Continue reading WRUP: Objective edition WRUP: Objective edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Feb 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: What MMOs have surprised you with their growth? Posted: 08 Feb 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Patches, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous The picture above is of my kitten. Yes, kitten; he's only nine months old, despite being enormous. I have pictures of him on Twitter of back when he was so tiny I could hold him in one hand. And he's still my dear little kitty, he still loves cuddling up to me when I hold him and flopping in front of me on his back like a baby... but it amazes me how much he's grown over the months. Kittens are not the only things that grow, though. Even though there have been some notable missteps, I'm dazzled by how much Final Fantasy XIV has grown over the past few months, and while I'm not playing Star Wars: The Old Republic at the moment, I'm similarly fascinated by how many ways that's expanded. What about you? What MMOs have surprised you with their growth, adding on strange or unexpected elements or just becoming bigger in ways you wouldn't have expected at launch?  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: What MMOs have surprised you with their growth? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Feb 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Betawatch: February 1 - 7, 2014 Posted: 07 Feb 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous Wow. All right. So it's been a quiet year for betas so far. Then EverQuest Next Landmark goes into testing and promptly drops its NDA, resulting in a lot of updates about the game. And today The Elder Scrolls Online finally lifted its NDA in the smallest fashion possible for the press, which resulted in another flood of stuff talking about the game's first few levels. (Although our readers still can't really talk about it, sadly.) So, yes. Not such a quiet week this time around. There are still other games in testing, of course, and we have them along with our testing notes just past the break. As always, if we overlooked something such as a game shifting into another phase of testing, please, let us know about it down in the comments so we can correct that as soon as we confirm it. Three or four games could have launched this week without getting noticed, really. Continue reading Betawatch: February 1 - 7, 2014 Betawatch: February 1 - 7, 2014 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Marvel Heroes adds Asgardian-themed crafting, Mac client coming Posted: 07 Feb 2014 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes, Crafting Marvel Heroes' Game Update 2.2 is now live. Otherwise known as Forge of Asgard, the content drop features additional item customization, character outfitting, and an Asgardian-themed crafting system. Gazillion is celebrating with a weekend full of bonuses that include increased drop rates and login prizes. Marvel Heroes is also coming to the Mac platform, with closed beta testing slated for late February of 2014. [Source: Gazillion press release] Marvel Heroes adds Asgardian-themed crafting, Mac client coming originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: A second date with TSW's Gatekeeper Posted: 07 Feb 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Video, The Secret World, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team, Buy-to-Play Although their first date didn't turn out as well as hoped, Massively's MJ and The Secret World's Gatekeeper are having a second! Perhaps this time around things will go more smoothly for Golden Boy and Golden Butt (and by that we mean MJ kicks his keister!). And you all are invited to come along because nothing calms those jitters like an audience, right? Join us live at 7:00 p.m. to see whether MJ wrestles the key to Nightmare dungeons away from the Gatekeeper. MJ Guthrie Date: Friday, February 7th, 2014 Time: 7:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: A second date with TSW's Gatekeeper The Stream Team: A second date with TSW's Gatekeeper originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Here's Albion being played in real time across five different devices Posted: 07 Feb 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox Albion Online, which bills itself as "the first true cross platform sandbox MMORPG" has released a new video aiming to show said cross platform capabilities in action. The clip features the game being played in real time on a PC, a Mac, a Linux machine, an Android device, and an iOS device. Sandbox Interactive plans to bring Albion into beta later this year. Click past the cut to watch the clip. [Source: Sandbox Interactive press release] Continue reading Here's Albion being played in real time across five different devices Here's Albion being played in real time across five different devices originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Wander now using CryEngine FreeSDK Posted: 07 Feb 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, PvE, Sandbox Indie darling Wander has announced that it is now using CryEngine's FreeSDK. "The new version of Wander will use a lot less memory, run on less hardware and be a lot more beautiful," explains developer Loki Davison in a new blog post. "The most important thing is that the new engine gives us tools to get things done quickly, meaning we can add more content." Wander is "a collaborative, non-combat, non-competitive MMO game focused on exploration and joy." Players begin the game as giant trees. Wander now using CryEngine FreeSDK originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Pantheon explains how a wizard does it Posted: 07 Feb 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Previews, News Items, Crowdfunding, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen The sad reality is that with each passing year it is less likely that a very large man will enter your life to inform you that you are, in fact, a wizard, Harry. Even more so if your name isn't Harry. So perhaps you can console yourself by playing a wizard in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, slinging destructive spells left and right and holding on to the last remnants of your dwindling sanity as you do so. Or perhaps not holding on to those remnants, as one of the class specialties, Frenzy, is specifically for casters who have let themselves go completely bonkers and derive power from that madness. The other specialty, Aspect, allows the wizard to maintain sanity through martial perfection, creating shrouds of mana and summoning duplicates for various functions. Take a look at the full reveal for more details on the lore and mechanics of these casters. Pantheon explains how a wizard does it originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Destiny beta is incoming for summer; Activision predicts big successes Posted: 07 Feb 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, News Items, Consoles, MMOFPS, Destiny Is Destiny really going to be the next big thing in gaming? Activision CEO Bobby Kotick certainly thinks so. In the recent fourth quarter earnings call for the company, Kotick went on the record saying that it will be the best-selling new IP in video game history, which is potentially true; any new IP has that potential, but Bungie's upcoming MMOFPS has slightly better odds than most. It's helped by launching on four platforms at once: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. All of that potential is based on how well the game actually plays, though, and potential players will get to find that out this summer. The current target for release is September 9th, although there's obviously plenty of time and space for that date to move forward or backward depending on beta testing. Keep your eyes peeled for more information as we move out of the winter and into spring; a lot can happen over the next few months. Destiny beta is incoming for summer; Activision predicts big successes originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Looking for Guild: WildStar needs you! Posted: 07 Feb 2014 10:00 AM PST |
| Massively Rewind: EQN Landmark's alpha, SWTOR's new content, and Smedley's tease Posted: 07 Feb 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Video, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Massively Meta, Humor, Miscellaneous, MMORPG, Massively Rewind The weeks are jam-packed with MMO news, and if you missed the top stories, watching Massively Rewind is a great way to catch up. It's like a DVR that automatically records your favorite shows except you don't have to worry about your kids accidentally taping over everything with episodes of Spongebob. In this week's episode, we discuss EverQuest Next Landmark's short NDA, the roadmap for Star Wars: The Old Republic's new content, and John Smedley's Twitter teases about the spiritual sequel to Star Wars Galaxies. Elder Scrolls fans, there might be a little something extra here for you today as well! Continue reading Massively Rewind: EQN Landmark's alpha, SWTOR's new content, and Smedley's tease Massively Rewind: EQN Landmark's alpha, SWTOR's new content, and Smedley's tease originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Feb 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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