| The Road to Mordor: Baggins of Bag End Posted: 24 Dec 2011 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years to the month since The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring came out in movie theaters. It's even harder to process that Peter Jackson will be bringing us back to Middle-earth with the two Hobbit films starting a year from now. The Jackson trilogy, while beloved by many (including, I assume, gamers), hasn't gotten a lot of space in this column to date. The general consensus from the community is that the films and the MMO are separate interpretations of the same source material, and never the twain shall meet -- nevermind all the other LotR games, like War in the North. While that may be true, they do meet in the hearts of those who simply love this franchise. I adore the movies, am a huge fan of the game, and like (yes, just "like") the books. But I think that it's worthwhile to go to the films for LotRO players because they do give a different perspective and perhaps clarify a few plot points that shoot over our heads in-game. If nothing else, if the movies can revitalize our excitement about exploring the lands of Lord of the Rings Online, then they've done well by us. I mention all this because this past week saw the release of the first Hobbit trailer, which I must have watched a good dozen times, and it got me pumped up once more for this game world. In today's column, I want to use this trailer to springboard a discussion of how LotRO and the films share a common bond and how the Hobbit movies use many elements that Turbine's been working on for years now. Plus, a bonus Hobbit Tribute Tour! Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Baggins of Bag End  The Road to Mordor: Baggins of Bag End originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| WRUP: Happy Halloween edition Posted: 24 Dec 2011 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous As we all know, tomorrow many of us celebrate a holiday. I can't be bothered to look up which one, so I'm just going to assume it's Halloween, the annual celebration of skeletons jumping out of people and days with all the blood. I think. Or maybe it's Festivus. The point is, there's some sort of holiday taking place, and it takes place tomorrow, and whatever it is we hope you have a happy one. Especially if it does happen to be Halloween. But now, it's time for what everyone has really been looking forward to this week: WRUP! Yes, it's the weekly rundown of what the Massively staff is up to over the weekend, and this week we're also talking about what we hope to get from a fat, bearded man who has enslaved some reindeer. So take a look past the break for our plans, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments. Continue reading WRUP: Happy Halloween edition WRUP: Happy Halloween edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Does quest reward realism matter? Posted: 24 Dec 2011 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Game mechanics, Lore, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous While playing Star Wars: The Old Republic this week, my quest partner and I ran into something odd: A group of anti-Jedi Twi'lek pilgrims handed over an elite Jedi robe to his Consular. What were these pilgrims doing with expensive gear from their enemies, and if the quest-givers had looted the garb from Jedi corpses, why would they consider such wearables worthy gifts for us? In a game as story-driven as SWTOR, you'd think the quest rewards would match the lore, right? Of course, BioWare's new epic isn't alone in these weird quirks. Think about how many fantasy games have monsters that drop abnormal numbers of body parts, or worse, money, when you know that ghost couldn't carry a sack of gold and you're pretty darn sure that bat had two eyes, not just one. But does it bother you? Are your immersions disrupted by such inanities, or do you chalk them up to game mechanics and go about your MMO business, happily accepting illogical quest rewards and looting ridiculous items (like furniture!) from any old white-con mob that wanders into your crosshairs?  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: Does quest reward realism matter? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Dec 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| BioWare: SWTOR is 'one of the greatest and most ambitious achievements in video game history' Posted: 23 Dec 2011 06:15 PM PST |
| SOE releases Free Realms and EQII infographic Posted: 23 Dec 2011 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Free Realms Sony Online Entertainment is trumpeting some virtual item statistics this holiday season, and the delivery mechanism is a good-size infographic that we've got for you after the cut. There are plenty of interesting nuggets to be found on the chart, such as the fact that SOE receives around 7,000 character name change requests on a daily basis. Also of note is that mounts make up 23% of all virtual item sales in EverQuest II, and kids prefer to dress their characters as werewolves instead of vampires when it comes to Free Realms (but you knew that already, right?). Head past the break for all the stats. [Source: SOE press release] Continue reading SOE releases Free Realms and EQII infographic SOE releases Free Realms and EQII infographic originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Betawatch: December 17 - 23, 2011 Posted: 23 Dec 2011 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous You wouldn't think that the week of Star Wars: The Old Republic's launch would be the ideal time to announce a game beta, but apparently several games wanted to get the word out before holiday vacations got underway all the same. Both DUST 514 and PlanetSide 2 began accepting closed beta applications this week, although the former is open only to EVE Online subscribers to start with. DragonSoul, currently in open beta, has announced it will be launching in early 2012, while Dominus pushed its December closed beta off until the new year for optimization reasons. Finally, Dawntide has moved from our open beta list to our closed beta list as its servers have gone offline for the next few months while the team focuses on a game-wide revamp. Enjoy the full Betawatch roundup past the cut. Continue reading Betawatch: December 17 - 23, 2011 Betawatch: December 17 - 23, 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| BioWare hints at new SWTOR content, tops one million players Posted: 23 Dec 2011 04:15 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic Star Wars: The Old Republic is less than a week old, and many players are already wondering if and when BioWare is going to add new content. Yes, there are some 50s on the servers already, and James Ohlen has penned a post on the game's official website that should excite those who have already rushed through the game's content. For starters, January will bring a new flashpoint to the game as well as an expanded operation instance. The former "takes place on a brand new world and involves some pretty epic battles." The latter "takes the existing Karagga's palace scenario and more than triples it in size." Ohlen says that's just the beginning, too, and BioWare plans on releasing similar new content with regularity. Finally, players concerned over the company's ability to add new story (and voiceover content) will want to check out writer Alexander Freed's post on the official forums. In a nutshell, he says not to worry, as BioWare does have voice actors under contract and can proceed with development without adding much time to the content creation process. Finally, our sister site reports that TOR has topped one million registered players and over 28 million hours played! [Thanks to Scratches for the tip!] BioWare hints at new SWTOR content, tops one million players originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| On the eleventh day of giveaways, Funcom gave to me... Posted: 23 Dec 2011 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Contests, Free-to-play, Giveaways On the eleventh day of giveaways, Funcom gave to me... eleven prize packages!
On the tenth day of giveaways, PerfectWorld gave to me... ten grab bag items!
On the ninth day of giveaways, GamersFirst gave to me... nine SWG mementos!
On the eighth day of giveaways, Enjin gave to me... eight guild-wide gifts!
On the seventh day of giveaways, NCsoft gave to me... seven years of memories!
On the sixth day of giveaways, GamersFirst gave to me... six retail packs!
On the fifth day of giveaways, Trion gave to me... five subscription codes!
On the fourth day of giveaways, Nexon gave to me... four pet items!
On the third day of giveaways, Wargaming.net gave to me... three premium years!
On the second day of giveaways, BioWare gave to me... two warring factions!
On the first day of giveaways, Turbine gave to me... a lifetime VIP! We're almost finished with our 12 Days of Giveaways, but Funcom is making sure we approach the end in style with a series of prize packages guaranteed to excite both Age of Conan and Bloodline Champions fans. We have five gift packs each containing one year of premium account status for Age of Conan, a Bloodline Champions starter edition, and one thousand Funcom points. Five more packages contain a Bloodline Champions starter edition and one thousand Funcom points, while our final prize is a Titan edition of Bloodline Champions. Ready to enter? Read the contest rules for eligibility, then leave a comment letting us know why you love Funcom's games and should be one of our winners. The deadline is tomorrow, December 24th, at 7:00 p.m. EST, so be sure to enter before then. Good luck! On the eleventh day of giveaways, Funcom gave to me... originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Storyboard: The gatekeepers of story Posted: 23 Dec 2011 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous There's a notion floating around the MMO mindspace, one that you've no doubt heard over and over again, especially in light of the recent heartbreaking closure of Star Wars Galaxies. It's the idea that creating a capital-S story in an MMO is by definition a flawed enterprise. According to this argument, the whole point of an MMO and the point of good roleplaying is to create a story that's unique to the players. Real memorable stories should come from players, not from developers. I could just write "no" here and be finished, but instead I've gone into full-on rant mode on this one. About a year ago, I wrote up a piece explaining that players are not individually storytellers, not even if you're roleplaying. That extends further, though -- a group of roleplayers does not suddenly become a storyteller, like a version of Devastator that's made up of literature majors. This isn't right, and it's doing a great disservice to the things that roleplaying actually does well. Continue reading Storyboard: The gatekeepers of story Storyboard: The gatekeepers of story originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| YNK Interactive giving gifts for the holidays! Posted: 23 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Free-to-play, Giveaways As we approach the end of 2011, the crew at YNK Interactive is offering up some festive items to help Massively readers ring in the new year. YNK Interactive is the developer and publisher behind both ROHAN: Blood Feud and SEAL Online, and we've got some gift packs for players of both games. For ROHAN: Blood Feud, the gift package includes a Snow Kruger mount for players level 30 and up, a Harmony Seal that grants a three-hour 400% XP boost to your entire party, and Celebration Glasses that give a bonus to STR, DEX, and INT. Pick up your code on our giveaway page, make sure you have a ROHAN account, then enter your code in the Gamer Code box of ROHAN's redemption page. Log into ROHAN and retrieve your items from your mail inventory. SEAL Online players have some great items as well. The set includes three potions, each giving a bonus to defense, dexterity, or evasion. You'll also find a golden chest key that unlocks chests in the Monster Survival Dungeon. Pick up your code on our giveaway page, then redeem it using the Gamer Code section of SEAL Online's redemption page. Log into SEAL Online and you'll find your new items in your cash bank. Enjoy both giveaways, and thanks to YNK Interactive! YNK Interactive giving gifts for the holidays! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Emperor is stuck in a queue? BioWare shall redouble its efforts! Posted: 23 Dec 2011 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Launches, Star Wars: The Old Republic Is it a wonderful problem to have when your MMO is so popular that everyone trying to crush through the door at the same time is causing painful queues? Or is it a problematic wonder? Either way, the BioWare live team has been struggling to keep up with demand for Star Wars: The Old Republic access -- but the team may be getting closer to winning the war on wait time. BioWare's Greg Zeschuk stopped by the forums to assure players that the company is "redoubling its efforts" in tackling the issue. As a result, players should already be seeing quicker access to SWTOR: We've also being doing our best to get every little bit of possible performance on our servers to increase capacity: We've "turned them up to 11" to do our very best to get you in and playing as quickly as possible. As a result - you should now be seeing significant improvement versus waiting times at the end of last week. The team is also working on a way to hold players' places in the wait queue in the event of a disconnect. The Emperor is stuck in a queue? BioWare shall redouble its efforts! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMObility: Simplifying design for the mobile market Posted: 23 Dec 2011 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Business models, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Mobile, Casual, MMObility Whenever I write up something about a smartphone MMO, one of the most common complaints I hear is this: "If I wanted to play a game for several hours, I would sit at my gaming desktop." While this is true for many players, it is also true that games like Star Legends and Pocket Legends by Spacetime Studios have met with a lot of success. The developers were surprised to find that players were more than willing to sit for several hours while playing the games on their tiny screens. Still, there is a lot of truth to the complaints about smartphone MMOs. An MMO is typically something a player wants to get lost in. We commonly refer to it as "immersion," but really we're just talking about being sucked into the ideas and design of a title. If you have found yourself daydreaming about a game while at work, you were "immersed." I would argue that this type of deep immersion is very possible on the smaller screens of smartphones and tablets. However, in order to achieve it more commonly, developers might have to adjust many of their designs and theories. Click past the cut and we'll discuss it! Continue reading MMObility: Simplifying design for the mobile market MMObility: Simplifying design for the mobile market originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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