MMO Updates

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• Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs
• WRUP: Fat chocobo secretly hates you
• The Daily Grind: What kind of MMO are you looking for?
• Betawatch: March 1 - March 7, 2014
• The Harry Potter Online project appears to be on hold
• World of Warcraft monkeys with health and heals in Warlords of Draenor
• Ask Massively: And the money will follow
• Eerie comparisons between MMOs and real life surface
• Guild Wars 2 unveils spring tourney details
• Composer Jeremy Soule reiterates EverQuest Next exclusivity
• Breaking down Star Wars: The Old Republic's housing reveal
• The Stream Team: The hunt for creativity and checking out new EQN Landmark biomes
• Final Fantasy XIV previews the new dungeons of patch 2.2
• Shroud of the Avatar eyeing PvP balance while placating its 'large segment' of PvEers
• The Road to Mordor: LotRO's big battles are a big bust

Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs Posted: 08 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Final Fantasy XI, MMO Industry, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Ultima Online, Champions Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Final Fantasy XIV, Allods Online, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous, Neverwinter, The Elder Scrolls Online, Wizardry Online, Elite: Dangerous Popular franchises have been known to jump between various entertainment media, from games to television to movies to comic books and even to pogs. We should not gasp in utter amazement that this is also the case with many of our beloved MMOs; we should nod sagely and accept the terrible truth. There are several video game franchises that have culminated in -- or at least have taken a detour through -- the land of MMOs. For gamers who wanted more and especially did not want to see their journey end, an MMO continuation is a welcome answer that's usually hiding its own problems. But nevermind that; let's march down the halls of history and see the yearbook photos of these franchises when they were young! Continue reading Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs Perfect Ten: Game franchises that became MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Mar 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Fat chocobo secretly hates you Posted: 08 Mar 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous Welcome back to Massively's What Are You Playing, the game where we tell you what we're playing this weekend and you tell us that you really, really need a fat chocobo to ride and nothing else will do. We're sure you're planning to ride it, not to put it in a fat microwave and see whether the Peep experiment scales up. For science. Continue reading WRUP: Fat chocobo secretly hates you WRUP: Fat chocobo secretly hates you originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Mar 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What kind of MMO are you looking for? Posted: 08 Mar 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Word of mouth is one of the strongest influencing factors for me trying out an MMO or returning to one. When I see friends having a good time and saying very good things about the game, then I'm much more tempted to load it up to see if it will click with me. I've noticed that every so often in our comments someone will be looking for a specific type of MMO and will be soliciting recommendations for that. I thought that today we could help each other out: If you're looking for a new or specific type of MMO to play, then put down what you're looking for in the comments. If you can help one of your fellow gamers out with a first-hand testimony, then please do. What kind of MMO are you looking for? 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 kind of MMO are you looking for? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Mar 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Betawatch: March 1 - March 7, 2014 Posted: 07 Mar 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, New Titles, Massively Meta, Betawatch, Miscellaneous This week in the world of MMO testing, Trion Worlds confirmed that development on End of Nations is formally and indefinitely on hold, halting its long and convoluted run in Betawatch. What other beta updates have we got for you? Heroes of the Storm is now in "technical alpha" testing. EverQuest Next Landmark's alpha got a major biomes patch. Black Desert is in the midst of another round of Korean closed beta. Marvel Heroes opened signups for its Mac closed beta. Elite: Dangerous' third alpha stage will arrive in mid-March. Transformers: Universe is approaching beta in the near future. Albion Online announced a new phase of alpha starting March 24th. Hearthstone implied its beta will be over soon. Nosgoth joined our closed beta list. All this and more can be found in our Betawatch roundup just beyond the break! Continue reading Betawatch: March 1 - March 7, 2014 Betawatch: March 1 - March 7, 2014 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Harry Potter Online project appears to be on hold Posted: 07 Mar 2014 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous Well, that was fast, if inevitable. A tipster named Mike let us know that according to an email blast just sent out to fans, developer Bio-Hazard Entertainment is putting the unauthorized-but-hopeful Harry Potter Online MMO on hold indefinitely. Statements on the official site seem to confirm the halt to the project, albeit obliquely: It hurts us all:( our hearts are broken and torn. Bio-Hazard Entertainment and all its team love every single one of you loyal wizards and thank you for everything you have done. Sometimes people just like to ruin things for others. As loyal HP fans we all stand strong and united! Please remember here at BHE we love you all and you are the greatest fans we could have asked for! BHE site coming soon so you can join us in all our productions! [...] The team is discussing using what they have made and making their own MMO based off of what you guys have suggested, except not HP related. But lets all unite together and show WB that this is needed! WIZARDS UNITE! [Thanks, Mike!] The Harry Potter Online project appears to be on hold originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Bio-Hazard Statement

World of Warcraft monkeys with health and heals in Warlords of Draenor Posted: 07 Mar 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, Dev Diaries, Subscription World of Warcraft has another dev watercooler out today, this time talking about health (your character's, not your own), healing, and what the team will be doing to improve related systems come Warlords of Draenor. For starters, the devs will be doubling player health in the expansion to make characters more durable in PvP. "The net result of these changes is that individual attacks will knock a smaller chunk off of a player's health pool in PvP, but your survivability in PvE won't be affected," Blizzard posted. Other upcoming changes include reducting base resilience and battle fatigue to practically nil, increasing creature damage, increasing the effectiveness of heals, reducing the power of aborbs, and "making smart heals a little less smart." Some smaller, cheaper healing skills will also be removed from the game, and a few instant-cast heals are on the chopping block as well. World of Warcraft monkeys with health and heals in Warlords of Draenor originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Dev watercooler

Ask Massively: And the money will follow Posted: 07 Mar 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous A reader named Josh recently wrote to Massively to ask about the viability of a career in games journalism. He's not a kid with stars in his eyes; he's an adult who works for an elite tech company, and his dad is a published journalist himself. He once focused his MMO hobby into a livestreaming channel and blog but shut them down because of the time involved, and now he's considering whether a career shift to doing what he loves might be worthwhile. As a 30-year old with a family of three, I have a feeling that it would be very difficult to transition into the world of technology journalism. My impression is that it is an industry that does not really pay that much, and therein lies my quandary. My question for you at Massively is whether it is really possible to pursue the field of technology/gaming journalism and still support a family? And what traits are desirable in a technology journalist? Do editors look for people who have journalism degrees and existing experience, or is it a situation where you can step up to the plate and impress someone with your existing skill? How many of you that work for Massively actually support yourselves and your families based on your journalism, and what did it take to get to that point in your careers? Unfortunately, Josh's gut feeling is correct and terribly timely. Continue reading Ask Massively: And the money will follow Ask Massively: And the money will follow originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Eerie comparisons between MMOs and real life surface Posted: 07 Mar 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Culture, MMO Industry, Second Life, Miscellaneous We all joke about how unrealistic MMOs are to our mundane, tax-filled lives, but digital marketing agency Epiphany did a little digging to compare how virtual worlds and the real one stack up in various ways. Some of the results proved astounding. With World of Warcraft, Epiphany noted that the population in both the game and the US military have about the same percentage of males (84% to 83%), while EVE Online's male population (96%) is more similar to that of the astronaut crowd (90%). The agency also noted how Second Life has 10 real-world embassies in it and that a previous ban of real-money trading in the game caused a very real financial crisis for a bank that wiped out $750,000. So how do these three titles compare to real-world cities in regards to population? World of Warcraft at its peak was close to Moscow's population (11.5 million), while Second Life almost hit the levels of San Fransisco (825K) and EVE Online barely surpassed Edinburgh's 495,000. Eerie comparisons between MMOs and real life surface originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Epiphany Via: Venture Beat

Guild Wars 2 unveils spring tourney details Posted: 07 Mar 2014 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, PvP, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play With all of the crazy red plant ladies and detective girlfriends and blown-up cities, it's easy to forget the real meaning of Guild Wars 2: warring with guilds. Actually, these days it's more about warring with other worlds rather than guilds, but that title was already taken back in 1939. Still, you can look forward to the next bout of competitive world-vs.-world action during the 2014 spring tourney, running from March 28th until May 30th. The tournament will use a Swiss-style matching system rather than an elimination ladder; worlds are assigned points based on performance, then matched against other worlds based on their performance. The result should be that the best worlds are pitted against one another instead of being subjected to pre-arranged matchups. Players will be awarded tickets for participation after the dust clears, with more tickets going to players who are on higher-ranked worlds. For the details and more information about what you can spend tickets on, check out the official posting. Guild Wars 2 unveils spring tourney details originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: WvW 2014 spring tourney

Composer Jeremy Soule reiterates EverQuest Next exclusivity Posted: 07 Mar 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, MMO Industry, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, The Elder Scrolls Online, Music Composer Jeremy Soule won't be going back to Tyria, as he reminded fans today that he has signed a contract to exclusively create MMO music for EverQuest Next and EverQuest Next Landmark. On his Facebook page, Soule responded to a fan's query about his future projects: "No, I won't be returning to Guild Wars. EverQuest has an exclusive with me for the future projects that involve MMOs. [Guild Wars] was a good experience over many years. As with all good things, it had to come to an end." Soule was the main composer for Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. He has also contributed to The Elder Scrolls Online main theme but will not be doing any other music for that title. [Thanks to Bogotter for the tip!] Composer Jeremy Soule reiterates EverQuest Next exclusivity originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Jeremy Soule Facebook

Breaking down Star Wars: The Old Republic's housing reveal Posted: 07 Mar 2014 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Housing Are you still reeling from the revelation that Star Wars: The Old Republic will have player housing? So is Massively's Larry Everett, who took the time to break down the short video reveal on Hyperspace Beacon in order to extract as many details as possible for the game's faithful. Larry notes a few of the possibilities for player apartments, including an appearance designer kiosk, a cargo hold, a mailbox, a faction banner, a repair droid, a mission terminal, and a moonroof. Give the video a watch after the break and sound off: What features and decorations would you want in your SWTOR apartment? Continue reading Breaking down Star Wars: The Old Republic's housing reveal Breaking down Star Wars: The Old Republic's housing reveal originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

The Stream Team: The hunt for creativity and checking out new EQN Landmark biomes Posted: 07 Mar 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, New Titles, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Livestream, The Stream Team, Player-Generated Content The hunt for creativity in EverQuest Next Landmark is never done, and now there are new biomes to explore as well! After a brief tour of the Tundra and Old Growth Forest, Massively's MJ will resume the hunt. She has spied a few specimens of creativity in her travels; she's even been ambushed by random creativity in unexpected places. Hidden lairs, lampposts -- there's no telling what she'll find this time. Players are getting even more intricate in their use of micro voxels, so join us live at 3:00 p.m. EST to see some creativity run wild. Game: EverQuest Next Landmark Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Friday, March 7th, 2014 Time: 3:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: The hunt for creativity and checking out new EQN Landmark biomes The Stream Team: The hunt for creativity and checking out new EQN Landmark biomes originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Final Fantasy XIV previews the new dungeons of patch 2.2 Posted: 07 Mar 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Previews, Endgame, News Items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Subscription If you've been playing Final Fantasy XIV since launch, odds are good that you've seen what remains of the Amdapori civilization -- a dungeon crawling with cultists. The game's next major patch is going into more detail than that, though, giving players the opportunity to explore the new Amdapori Township dungeon and see what rank creatures have grown to fruit in the decaying town. This new dungeon is accompanied by two new hard modes to provide a triumvirate of options which have just gotten an official preview. The hard mode of Brayflox's Longstop sees players battling the Goblin Illuminati to protect a secret recipe pilfered by the eponymous Brayflox, while Haltali's hard mode pits you against denizens in the refurbished and reclaimed training grounds. All three dungeons require a minimum item level of 55 for challengers, with the promise of rewards far greater than those of the current max-level dungeons. Take a look at the full preview for more lore and unlock requirements. Final Fantasy XIV previews the new dungeons of patch 2.2 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 2.2 Dungeon Preview

Shroud of the Avatar eyeing PvP balance while placating its 'large segment' of PvEers Posted: 07 Mar 2014 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Shroud of the Avatar, Buy-to-Play The 63rd edition of Shroud of the Avatar's Update of the Avatar is a biggun. It covers topics ranging from upcoming events to the latest chapter of the Blade of the Avatar novel to current dev thinking on various game mechanics. One of those mechanics is PvP, and executive producer Starr Long's treatise touches on the fact that the team wants to a) have PvP, b) have PvP that isn't segregated via dedicated servers, and c) avoid forcing PvP on the "large segment of the community" that doesn't want it. Some of his proposals include PvP zones, duels, and guild warfare. Click through the links below to read more details. Shroud of the Avatar eyeing PvP balance while placating its 'large segment' of PvEers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: UotA 63

The Road to Mordor: LotRO's big battles are a big bust Posted: 07 Mar 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Road to Mordor Recently my journey through Helm's Deep came to a close as I finished all of the quests plus advanced the epic story as far as it could go. Overall, I loved the expansion: It had great pacing, beautiful scenery, memorable quests, and an obvious dedication to doing The Two Towers right. But there was one glaring fault that Lord of the Rings Online seemed to save for the last, which I discovered during my foray into the big battle system. Other than visiting them in a couple of press tours, I had been avoiding big battles (even though you can jump in one starting at level 10) because I wanted to experience them organically as part of the storyline. I wasn't necessarily anticipating them, but I wasn't dreading them either. "Mild curiosity" is perhaps the emotion that I identified within my breast, and as it turned out, that was wildly overpreparing for the experience that followed. Big battles are, I'm sorry to say, a big bust in LotRO. Sure, they have their positives and moments, but for a system that Turbine spent over a year to create and shoved aside instances and raids in favor of putting into the expansion, it should have been so much more. So what went wrong? Continue reading The Road to Mordor: LotRO's big battles are a big bust The Road to Mordor: LotRO's big battles are a big bust originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Mar 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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MMORPG News

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• General: The Nesting Impulse: Why Do We Need Housing in MMOs?
• World of Tanks: Wargaming.net League Grand Finals Head to Poland this April
• Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall - The Feel of What Shadowrun Should Be
• TERA: Rising: Skyring Slam PvP tournament
• ArcheAge: Trion Brings in Scapes and Ocho to Lead Community
• Digimon Masters Online: White Day Comes to Digimon
• Shroud of the Avatar: Heralding the Future of Games

General: The Nesting Impulse: Why Do We Need Housing in MMOs? Posted: 07 Mar 2014 03:51 PM PST All good heroes' journeys begin with a young man or woman settling down and living happily ever after. No wait--that's not how it goes. Generally speaking, few things are as unattractive to brave, danger-seeking types as domestic life. With that in mind, and since most of us play MMOs in order to feel heroic, why is it important to us to own an online home?

World of Tanks: Wargaming.net League Grand Finals Head to Poland this April Posted: 07 Mar 2014 12:10 PM PST Wargaming.net continues to dominate the globe with Tanks, Planes, and soon Warships. Next month their Grand Finals are set to take place in Poland. If you are an esports fan, this tournament will be global!

Shadowrun Returns: Dragonfall - The Feel of What Shadowrun Should Be Posted: 07 Mar 2014 03:24 AM PST Shadowrun: Dragonfall is the follow up DLC to Shadowrun Returns. Shadowrun Returns, released last summer, was the second coming to video game glory for this postmodern sci-fi meets fantasy magic apocalypse RPG franchise that knew early video game success with phenomenal games on the Super Nintendo and the Sega Genesis but more recently had its name drug through the mud in 2007 with a terrible FPS released for the X-Box 360 and Windows PC.

TERA: Rising: Skyring Slam PvP tournament Posted: 07 Mar 2014 11:10 AM PST TERA is hosting a massive PvP tournament this weekend. Check the times on Saturday and Sunday to see if you can be the best in Arborea!

ArcheAge: Trion Brings in Scapes and Ocho to Lead Community Posted: 07 Mar 2014 08:43 AM PST As ArcheAge and Trove head forward into beta, the community team over at Trion is getting a huge bunch of help. Elizabeth Tobey recently left, but Evan "Scapes" Berman and Eric "Ocho" Cleaver are here to fill her shoes.

Digimon Masters Online: White Day Comes to Digimon Posted: 07 Mar 2014 08:31 AM PST A brand new holiday for Digimon Masters Online is coming to the game from now until March 25th. Read on to see what it entails.

Shroud of the Avatar: Heralding the Future of Games Posted: 05 Mar 2014 04:27 PM PST After spending some time with Richard Garriott last week, there were a bunch of topics that we discussed which did not make it on video. One of the main ideas was where video games are going, especially MMOs. With both Shroud of the Avatar and Star Citizen doing so well with crowd funding the games are really more about community than ever before. This led to the discussion of why Shroud of the Avatar will herald in a new era of games that continue to bring players together on many levels.

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