MMO Updates |
- Backstabbing galore: Daniel Erickson talks about the Sith Inquisitor's story
- Wizard101 introduces Zafaria and Grub Guardian minigame
- Details of EVE's long-awaited hybrid balance patch revealed
- SOE talks Everquest II's Freeport revamp
- World of Tanks introduces stealth with Update 7.0
- The Daily Grind: Do you play the system in games to get more freebies?
- Fallen Earth developer blog talks territory control and world events
- Not So Massively: Have you seen my bear Tibbers?
- MechWarrior Online announced
- ChangYou reports record revenue, registered accounts
- New Flyff expansion grants players a New Beginning
- Wings Over Atreia: Snips and snails and Asmo tales
- Flameseeker Chronicles: Zola's a little cranky, and so am I
- Leaderboard: MMO trick vs. MMO treat
- WildStar beta sign-ups now open
- GhostX Ultimate offers classless gameplay with nanobots
- Upcoming book Stay Awhile and Listen delves into the history of Blizzard
- Origins of Malu reveals Toljon race
- PlanetSide 2's classes undergo flexible combat training
| Backstabbing galore: Daniel Erickson talks about the Sith Inquisitor's story Posted: 01 Nov 2011 11:00 AM PDT  In the interview, Erickson said that the story for the Sith Inquisitor was entirely written by Rebecca Harwick, who drew inspiration from Emperor Palpatine as well as Alex Freed's Blood of the Empire series. Inquisitor players will begin their saga by investigating "forgotten regions" on different worlds as they look for the secret of ancient Sith power. The team had a few issues writing around Purebloods being portrayed as slaves, although this was ironed out as BioWare placed a priority on allowing players to pick the race they wished. the class is being voiced by Euan Morton (male) and Xanthe Elbrick (female). Will there be plenty of backstabbing, political or otherwise, as part of the storyline? "More than you can possibly imagine," Erickson replies. When it comes to the Sith Inquisitor's companions, Erickson tantalized fans by saying, "Khem has one of the most amazing storyline developments for a companion and the (as yet unseen) Inquisitor romances are not your normal fare at all."
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| Wizard101 introduces Zafaria and Grub Guardian minigame Posted: 01 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Wizard101, Family  KingsIsle Entertainment has announced the latest content update coming to its popular MMO title, Wizard101. The new patch, which is coming later this month, introduces the African-themed world of Zafaria, which features many major themes related to the return of the Umbra Queen, Morganthe. The update will increase the level cap from 60 to 70 and will introduce new gear, pets, mounts, and spells. In addition, players will have new areas to explore, such as the open grasslands of the Savannah and the ruins of the Drum Jungle. A new minigame feature known as Grub Guardian will be launching in tandem with the new update. Grub Guardian is a tower-defense-style game which, will be available for web browsers and eventually, Android and iOS mobile devices. The game will allow players to link to their Wizard101 accounts, which will enable them to play the game using their in-game pets. As players progress in Grub Guardian, their pets will reap rewards of experience and increased attributes. KingsIsle hopes this will allow players to make progress within the game even if they are away from their computers or simply short on time. For more information about the coming updates, and to join the fun for yourself, head on over to Wizard101's official site. [Source: KingsIsle Entertainment press release] Continue reading Wizard101 introduces Zafaria and Grub Guardian minigame
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| Details of EVE's long-awaited hybrid balance patch revealed Posted: 01 Nov 2011 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox  In a new devblog, CCP Tallest adds a major Hybrid weapon rework to the growing list of long-awaited features finally making an appearance in EVE's coming winter expansion. Blasters will be receiving some much-needed CPU and powergrid reductions, a 30% reduction on capacitor usage and a huge 20% bonus to tracking speed. Railguns receive the same CPU, powergrid and capacitor reduction as blasters, in addition to a straight 10% damage increase. All ships typically fit with blasters will also be getting speed bonuses to help them get into blaster range, and tech II ammo for all turrets is due for an update.
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| SOE talks Everquest II's Freeport revamp Posted: 01 Nov 2011 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play  Art director Timothy "Haohmaru" Heydelaar talks a bit about architectural and layout changes, the city's color palette, and the impetus behind the revamp itself. "Now that Lucan has returned, he has exercised his power by turning Freeport into a proud, magnificent city in a bid to attract more followers and to show off his renewed power. This brought about the need for the art changes and coincided with a lot of work the design team was going to do. We also wanted to remove zoning, like players have asked for as well," Heydelaar explains.
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| World of Tanks introduces stealth with Update 7.0 Posted: 01 Nov 2011 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Historical, Galleries, Patches, PvP, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks  First up, we have two new maps -- Fjords and Swamp -- where the clan warfare can take on an extra challenge with the highly anticipated camouflage system, applied to all maps. This version of stealth allows certain skins to be applied to the tanks that will "provide enhanced invisibility and add more to the strategic element of tank combat." Keep in mind that this isn't some kind of magic invisibility spell; it's an authentic camouflage pattern applied to the tanks, according to which map you're in. In addition, Update 7.0 also introduces fog of war for Clan Wars, hiding the other team's roster, and clan emblems to let other players know how you roll. For more on this update, check out the World of Tanks site, as well as our recent interview with Wargaming.net from GDC Online 2011. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
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| The Daily Grind: Do you play the system in games to get more freebies? Posted: 01 Nov 2011 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  The argument we've both heard is that this is just how it works -- the developers know that this goes on and they don't mind. It set me to thinking. Whether it's creating multiple characters on every server in Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online to rack up Turbine Points, creating multiple email addresses to take advantage of referral programs, or any of the many other ways out there to get more freebies or save some cash, is there a line to what's acceptable? Does it vary with each person's personal comfort zone and the devs' willingness to look the other way or is there a definite list of things that no player should do? Hit the comment button and let us know what you think!
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| Fallen Earth developer blog talks territory control and world events Posted: 31 Oct 2011 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic  Territory control, by contrast, will start off in a single region north of Blaine. The region will have a total of 13 different control points for factions to hold, with six of them out in the open and seven in more fortified locations. There will be notable rewards for players holding these objectives, including resource nodes, increased experience gain, and improved death toll. It should certainly lead to some interesting battles in the wasteland as players fight over the region's spoils.
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| Not So Massively: Have you seen my bear Tibbers? Posted: 31 Oct 2011 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, Lore, New titles, PvP, News items, Not So Massively  Diablo III fansite DiabloFans took a look at upcoming Book of Cain lore compendium, upcoming graphic novel Sword of Justice and the next Diablo novel. DiabloFans also takes a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Black Soulstone cinematic trailer. The game's predecessor Diablo II received a new patch this week aimed at eliminating RMT and spam bots, which has met with limited success. Finally, Firefall fires up its community coverage with the first of a new weekly community roundup. Skip past the cut for details of this week's biggest news from the world of MOBAs and other online games that aren't quite MMOs. Continue reading Not So Massively: Have you seen my bear Tibbers?
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| Posted: 31 Oct 2011 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Free-to-play  The announcement comes with a slew of questions and answers for expectant players, including information about customizing one's 'Mech, which of the classic designs will be seen in the game, and of course details about the world and timeline that the game takes place. There are no details regarding a beta at the moment, but the team seems quite insistent that the game will launch in 2012. It's certainly going to make next year interesting for all life-long MechWarrior fans.
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| ChangYou reports record revenue, registered accounts Posted: 31 Oct 2011 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous  With all the layoffs that seem to be going around the MMO industry as of late, it's about time we hear some good news from a developer. ChangYou, known in North America primarily for its quirky title Zentia and the bizarrely named Duke of Mount Deer, reports a 119 million USD revenue for its third fiscal quarter. The company's amount of registered users rose as well, with the company citing 159 million current gamers inhabiting ChangYou's titles. CEO Tao Wang is understandably pleased with these results and says that "we believe these results once again demonstrate our ability to understand and fulfill gamers' needs and showcase our content development and game operation strengths." For the full details, check out the article over at Gamasutra.
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| New Flyff expansion grants players a New Beginning Posted: 31 Oct 2011 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Flyff, Expansions, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Dungeons  The dust only recently settled on the Flyff World Championship, and Gala Networks Europe has announced a new update coming to the game. The expansion, known as New Beginning, brings a load of new content for European Flyff players. Many of the game's mechanics -- such as the loot system, legendary quests, and the upgrade system -- have been entirely revamped. Meanwhile, three new dungeons are available for players looking to test their mettle, and of course new, powerful rewards for said dungeons will be available. Over 100 new scenario and dungeon quests have been added as well, ensuring that players won't lack things to do. The update will be hitting the French and German servers in December. [Source: Gala Networks Europe press release]
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| Wings Over Atreia: Snips and snails and Asmo tales Posted: 31 Oct 2011 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Aion, Opinion, Wings Over Atreia  Back when I first decided I wanted to venture to the dark side of Aion and compare the leveling experiences of the two realms, I didn't really fathom that there would be so much content added that it would be hard to break away from sampling all of the goodies on my home server. Besides that, with all of the changes, comparing the leveling is just impossible. I knew that it would be easier with the introduction of repeatable quests, but it's just plain stupid-easy to level now as opposed to way back pre-Balaurea. Even with the leveling comparison effectively nixed, I still can report on the differences in the feel of the two worlds as well as just run through and reflect on my impressions of the Asmodian life to give some screen time to the glowy-eyes. Did I mention I love the glowy eyes? With that in mind, Wings Over Atreia devotes this week to the furbacks (said with love!). Glide past the cut for a look at Daevic life in Asmodae from Ascension to the Abyss. Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Snips and snails and Asmo tales
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| Flameseeker Chronicles: Zola's a little cranky, and so am I Posted: 31 Oct 2011 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Events, in-game, Opinion, Flameseeker Chronicles  I've thoroughly enjoyed almost all of Halloween 2011 in Guild Wars. Yep, I said almost. There's a single aspect of this festival that stands out very strongly and unpleasantly to me. Follow along after the jump, and let's talk it over. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Zola's a little cranky, and so am I
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| Leaderboard: MMO trick vs. MMO treat Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Humor, Miscellaneous, Leaderboard  Today's Leaderboard is simple: Do you want a cool new trick in your MMO or a tasty treat? A "trick" being new quests, special content, or a fun spookhouse to explore, and a "treat" being nifty Halloween rewards that you can consume, wear, or otherwise show off to the 2,540 other folks who got the same exact thing. It's trick-or-treat today on Massively, so which side do you support, and how far are you willing to go? If they pull a knife, you pull out a bag of candy corn -- that's the Halloweentown way! Continue reading Leaderboard: MMO trick vs. MMO treat
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| WildStar beta sign-ups now open Posted: 31 Oct 2011 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, News items, WildStar  WildStar fans will find a new destination awaiting them at the game's official site today. Where does said destination lead, exactly? Why, right to the beta sign-up page, which means that -- with any luck -- the game should begin testing sometime in the near future. To sign up for yourself, head on over to the game's official site. [Edit: Apparently sign-ups were active last month. So there you go. Treat this as a reminder.]
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| GhostX Ultimate offers classless gameplay with nanobots Posted: 31 Oct 2011 12:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Casual  Bold claims, to be sure, but how exactly does GhostX come by its uniqueness? For one thing, there are no classes or jobs. Instead, players develop their own catalogue of nanobot weapons that can instantly change an avatar's combat abilities from melee to short- or long-range styles. GameKiss's latest press release also says that GhostX has a "real storyline," and you can learn more about that, and download the free-to-play title, at the official website.
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| Upcoming book Stay Awhile and Listen delves into the history of Blizzard Posted: 31 Oct 2011 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, News items, Miscellaneous  Are you into video games? Of course you are. Are you into history? Are you into Blizzard Entertainment? And perhaps most importantly, are you into books? If you answered yes to all of these questions, then you're probably a rather small subset of people, but luckily for you, we've got just the thing to fill that niche. David L. Craddock's Stay Awhile and Listen is being published by Digital Monument Press, and if you're at all interested in how Blizzard came to be the industry powerhouse that it is today, it's probably worth a read. This isn't just some unofficial rag, though; Stay Awhile and Listen features input from a great number of Blizzard and Blizzard North developers. The book hits shelves, Nooks, Kindles, and Apple iBooks in Summer 2012. [Source: Digital Monument Press press release]
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| Origins of Malu reveals Toljon race Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Lore, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Sandbox  What's new from the Origins of Malu crew? How about a new race, for starters. The sandbox title is gearing up for its beta period sometime during the next couple of months, and as a prelude, Burning Dog Media is starting to ramp up its information dissemination.Today's reveal centers on the Toljon, and though we don't get any gameplay info, there is quite a bit of lore related to the unique race. The Toljon are renowned for their approach to building civilizations, which feature "entire bridges and roadways being suspended off the ground, connecting areas otherwise separated by cliffs and canyons." The Toljon have even perfected a way to seed farmland high above the ground, and you can read all about this unusual people at the official Origins website.
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| PlanetSide 2's classes undergo flexible combat training Posted: 31 Oct 2011 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Previews, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2  For starters, there are six classes from which to choose, although the decisions don't end there. Depending on a soldier's whims, she can train in certifications to tailor the class to her play style. Similar to EVE Online's skill system, cert training takes place in real time no matter if the player is online or off. Finally, players can modify -- or "sidegrade" -- their weapons for that last level of customization. Choose a class or playstyle that ends up not working out for you? SOE will even let you change your build without having to start over. Creative director Matt Higby explains: "You can switch back and forth anytime you respawn, any time you're at an equipment terminal. You can constantly try out each one of those classes and figure out what about the classes you want or what your empire needs."
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