| Major Herokon Online update includes sequel to Blade of Destiny, new region Posted: 13 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO Industry, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play Denizens of Aventuria have a lot more to keep themselves occupied thanks to Herokon Online's latest update. Not only has an entire new region opened up for exploration and adventuring, but The Dark Eye fans will get to experience the sequel to the Blade of Destiny campaign. Additionally, the level cap has been raised to 45, players can earn new achievements and titles, and a new world map provides a travel system. The new land of Thorwal, located in the northwest, is home to six new types of enemies and new NPCs and allies, some of which will be familiar characters that fans meet for the first time. Players will also find many new quests and Thorwal-specific weapons and equipment. For a taste of the update, check out the artwork and screenshots in the gallery below. [Source: Herokon Online press release]  Major Herokon Online update includes sequel to Blade of Destiny, new region originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jan 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Smedley expounds on benefits blunder and SOE's philosophy Posted: 13 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST Filed under: EverQuest, EverQuest II, Interviews, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, DC Universe Online, EverQuest Next, PlanetSide 2, Dragon's Prophet When SOE first announced the membership changes coming to some of its titles, the company stirred up a storm that was completely unexpected, according to CEO John Smedley. After listening to the community, the studio reversed parts of the proposal and unveiled an extra benefit: a $14.99 All-Access pass. But even after a few extra posts explaining the changes and the reasoning behind them, there were still some unanswered questions and remnants of confusion from the quick succession of announcements. Why were some titles in SOE's arsenal listed part of the pass but others aren't? Which membership gift is actually the one going forward? When will these changes take place? And what about the European players? I sat down with Smedley to answer these questions and get some added clarity on these changes, Continue reading Smedley expounds on benefits blunder and SOE's philosophy Smedley expounds on benefits blunder and SOE's philosophy originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jan 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Play EVE: Valkyrie at Sundance Film Festival Posted: 13 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items If you want to strap on an Oculus Rift headset and give EVE: Valkyrie a spin, head to the Sundance Film Festival this weekend in Park City, Utah. CCP will be demonstrating the virtual-reality game as part of the festival's New Frontier presentation Friday, January 17th through Saturday, January 25th. Besides experiencing the game for yourself, you'll get to hobnob with CCP staff; CCP t0rfifrans, CCP BADCOP, GM Nythanos, and GM Ukulele will be on hand to answer questions and just chat with EVE fans. Play EVE: Valkyrie at Sundance Film Festival originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jan 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Stream Team: Human Popsicles edition, January 13 - 19, 2014 Posted: 13 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Polls, MMO Industry, Massively Meta, Livestream, Miscellaneous, The Stream Team Snow sharks one week, polar vortexes the next: What happened to just raining cats and dogs? The weather is a zoo! Maybe you were in a part of the country that didn't turn people into popsicles this past week; if so, count yourself lucky. Many of us couldn't leave our houses and were forced to game furiously to keep warm! Wait... maybe we were actually the lucky ones! Either way, we accepted our lot -- as trying as it was -- and found additional ways to add to our warmth. Did you know that good, hearty belly laughs at the antics of the The Stream Team can raise your core temperature? It's true! So if you find yourself needing to stay warm this week, tune into Massively TV and test it out for yourself. Continue reading The Stream Team: Human Popsicles edition, January 13 - 19, 2014 The Stream Team: Human Popsicles edition, January 13 - 19, 2014 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jan 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Are player councils a good idea? Posted: 13 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind Turbine recently announced a new Player Council for Dungeons and Dragons Online. The company previously put together a similar panel for Lord of the Rings Online, but thus far we've not heard much in the way of initiatives or results. Back in the day, Star Wars: Galaxies had its own version of player representation that never seemed to actually accomplish anything. EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management has been meeting for years now, and it's probably the most impactful of the ones listed here, though whether that's due to the actual CSM or the fact that EVE is one of the few MMOs permanently affected by player action is up for debate. The question I'm coming to is this: Do you think player councils are a good idea? Would you like to serve on one? Why or why not?  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: Are player councils a good idea? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jan 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| LotRO not working on new dungeons, has no plans to merge servers Posted: 12 Jan 2014 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-Play, Community Q&A Lord of the Rings Online Community Manager Rick Heaton spent time answering various player queries during a recent "Take the Hobbits to Isengard" event, and an enterprising player recorded the salient details to pass along. Heaton said that despite demand from players, the team is not working on creating any new traditional instances, raids, or Rohan housing. He did comment that one of the older zones is a "possibility" for a revamp during 2014 and that there are no plans to merge servers. For players looking to jump from the old Codemasters servers to the other ones, Heaton reported that a "significant technical issue" has kept this from becoming a reality. If you're curious about how many people are playing the game, well, you're going to be curious for a long time to come. "Unless we can say we have 10 million players and are bigger than World of Warcraft, what's the point?" asked Heaton during the event. LotRO not working on new dungeons, has no plans to merge servers originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jan 2014 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMO Week in Review: The sustainability of the Elder Scrolls Online Posted: 12 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, Massively Meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week, you've come to the right post. This week, gamers, bloggers, and developers clashed over The Elder Scrolls Online's viability, homing in on the sustainability of its proposed business model, the effectiveness of its marketing reach, and the appeal of its gameplay for traditional MMORPG gamers. Meanwhile, the game spent the weekend in another round of closed beta, revealed the perks of becoming Emperor of Tamriel, and became the focus for some meaty combat analysis. Read on for a look at the rest of this week's top MMO stories. Continue reading MMO Week in Review: The sustainability of the Elder Scrolls Online MMO Week in Review: The sustainability of the Elder Scrolls Online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jan 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| EVE Evolved: Rubicon 1.1's new deployables Posted: 12 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Patches, Previews, PvP, Endgame, EVE Evolved, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Subscription, MMORPG Of all the major changes to EVE Online in the past few years, it's the introduction of personal deployable structures that has had me most excited. I've always been of the opinion that a true sandbox should let individual players and larger organisations build their own personal empires in empty wilderness. If it were up to me, everything from mining and manufacturing to research in EVE would take place in destructible structures and possibly even player-built deadspace dungeons. The Rubicon expansion took an important first step toward this brand of sandbox-style gameplay with the introduction of several new personal deployable structures, including an item hangar and refitting service that can be deployed anywhere in space. Four more structures were initially planned for the Rubicon 1.1 point release to expand the game's tactical possibilities, and this week two of those structures were confirmed. The Mobile micro Jump Unit is a game-changing strategic device that allows players any nearby players to jump their ships 100km forward, and the highly requested Mobile Scan Inhibitor physically hides nearby ships from probes and the directional scanner. Players on the test server have also discovered overview filter options for Mobile Jump Disruptor and Mobile Decoy Unit deployable structures, but developers were unable to confirm whether these would be part of Rubicon 1.1 or even if they'd definitely make it into the game. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look into the tactical possibilities of the Mobile Micro Jump Unit and Mobile Scan Inhibitor and why some players have reservations about these game-changing strategic structures. Continue reading EVE Evolved: Rubicon 1.1's new deployables EVE Evolved: Rubicon 1.1's new deployables originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jan 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Stick and Rudder: Five reasons Star Citizen isn't a dedicated PvP game Posted: 12 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, PvE, Sandbox, Stick and Rudder, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play Is it just me, or does a new PvP-vs.-PvE fight break out on the Star Citizen forums every five minutes? In fairness to everyone involved, the jousting we've seen over the past few months is pretty typical of every early adopter MMO community. There's plenty of preening, pseudo-intellectualism, and outright trolling on both sides of the aisle as two player groups make their preferences known early and often in a blatant attempt at influencing game developers to develop something more to their liking. With Star Citizen, though, and with the all-PvP-all-the-time crowd in particular, I'm constantly left wondering whether these people have bothered to research the game they're backing. Continue reading Stick and Rudder: Five reasons Star Citizen isn't a dedicated PvP game Stick and Rudder: Five reasons Star Citizen isn't a dedicated PvP game originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Jan 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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