| BioWare's Freed talks Wookiees, relatability, and story-based MMOs Posted: 04 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Races, Star Wars: The Old Republic What's up with the lack of Wookiee player-characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic? BioWare scribe Alexander Freed says it has to do with both development costs and a concept called relatability. "There are enormous technical obstacles, there is building all the lip synching, all the emotion into the face of the human is incredibly difficult and time consuming, doing that for something like a Wookiee -- and we couldn't half do it, we couldn't let Wookiees be only a third as expressive as humans," Freed explains in an interview at VideoGamer.com. He also touches on the fact that BioWare (and Star Wars) stories have traditionally revolved around human characters due to the ease with which most gamers relate to more familiar avatars. Freed also mentions TOR's grand scope, and opines that other companies looking to follow BioWare's lead may have a rough time. "Even we didn't know what we were getting into at the start. I think it will be difficult for people to attempt it the same way. I kind of hope they do -- it will be interesting to see," he says. [Thanks to Emily for the tip!]  BioWare's Freed talks Wookiees, relatability, and story-based MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Eligium community manager emphasizes the importance of beta testing Posted: 04 Jan 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play Thus far we don't know a whole heck of a lot about Frogster's Eligium (other than the fact that it features kung-fu pandas). The devs have released a trailer and kicked off the game's closed beta last month, but there's still a lot of mystery surrounding this particular MMO. Thanks to an interview with Frogster community manager Piotr Dawidowicz, we now have a few more details to go on, including snippets about mounts, PvP, and the importance of the game's closed beta test. "The closed beta for Eligium is not one of those marketing closed betas. We want to use this test phase effectively; it's not just a way to push the product," Dawidowicz explains. "We are intentionally not inviting the entire community to the closed beta. Many of the fans just want to see the finished product -- a polished game -- and don't want to bother with reporting bugs. That's why the closed beta is more of a privilege," he says. Eligium community manager emphasizes the importance of beta testing originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Free for All: A surprising evening of roleplay in RuneScape Posted: 04 Jan 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Culture, Opinion, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Free for All, Miscellaneous Roleplay is often treated as the odd cousin of the MMO family. You know the kid I am talking about... your Aunt comes to visit and your mother tells you to hang out with him, and he ends up vomiting in your room. (Did it only happen to me?) The truth is that the odd cousin is often just misunderstood and generally a lot of fun. It might take a small leap of faith and perhaps some time, but roleplay can be a very rewarding experience. RuneScape might not seem like a prime spot for roleplay. I hardly even heard of roleplay in the community, but I knew that the playerbase was made up of individuals from all age ranges. I thought of trying to find a good roleplay clan or trying to attend a roleplay event or two, but I didn't find the time to investigate. It began to look like roleplay was not something that happened in the game. That was until last night. I stumbled upon some sort of spontaneous roleplay session, and it was mostly thrilling. I even interviewed a few players to see how the whole thing worked. Click past the cut and I'll tell you what I found out! Continue reading Free for All: A surprising evening of roleplay in RuneScape Free for All: A surprising evening of roleplay in RuneScape originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Breakdancing breaks SWTOR enemies' spirits [Updated] Posted: 04 Jan 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic We've heard of many a bug and exploit in MMOs over the years, but sometimes there comes along one special case that is so entertaining you can't help but wonder if some mischievous developer planned it on purpose. Such is the case with Star Wars: The Old Republic's latest glitch, where players busting a groove actually affects combat. According to several sources that confirmed this, by typing /getdown during combat (a dance move) enemies attacking you will be continually interrupted -- including bosses. Perhaps the bad guys were so amazed that players could do the moonwalk that they become stunned out of awe? If you're hoping to wield your incredible dance powers for either the light or dark side of the Force, know that BioWare is fully aware of this exploit. Considering that the studio removed all mentions of the bug on the forums, we can assume that a fix is coming to the game sooner rather than later. [Thanks to Kaizlu for the tip!] [UPDATE: The Reverend Shaw Moore has arrived in SWTOR and accounts are being banned for getting down. Accounts taking advantage of this bug are being sanctioned with the explanation that the offending characters "participated in abusing game mechanics to prevent enemy NPCs from targeting the user", and that "dancing is currently not permitted outside of special Dance Zones."] [UPDATE #2: BioWare sent us a note saying that the previous update was based on a troll posting to Reddit and that this is a "fake ban email."]Breakdancing breaks SWTOR enemies' spirits [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Were older MMOs better by virtue of experimentation? Posted: 04 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous If you haven't sensed it by now, the Massively staff is made up of a very wide range of preferences, experiences, and gaming types. Sometimes quite heated discussions -- OK, rabid rubber chicken-throwing screamfests -- erupt due to disagreements over what makes MMOs great, what the industry should be doing, and what it did right in the past. Recently we got into a two-fatality "discussion" over whether or not MMOs prior to World of Warcraft were better simply because they weren't trying to copy WoW and were more willing to experiment. It certainly seemed like there was more variety from each new title back then, although some of those experiments certainly did not prove to be palatable to the gaming masses. Then again, this might be a case of rose-colored glasses looking upon the past with faulty nostalgia instead of accurate realism, and it discredits the actual innovation and evolution of the industry since then. There certainly are more people playing today than back then, and MMOs have become more widespread and accepted by even mainstream media. So what do you think? Were older MMOs better because they experimented more than ones today or do titles today deserve more credit for what they have become than glasses-wearing old-timers give?  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: Were older MMOs better by virtue of experimentation? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Spacetime Studios working on new mobile MMO Dark Legends Posted: 03 Jan 2012 06:00 PM PST Filed under: New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Mobile Spacetime Studios, the developer of popular mobile MMO titles Pocket Legends and Star Legends, has announced that it has begun work on a new mobile game following the Legends format. The new title, about which we know virtually nothing aside from the fact that it exists, is called Dark Legends. Ominous, right? DroidGamers reports that Spacetime Studios CEO Gary Gattis has stated that " Dark Legends will be a bit of a departure from the formula that Pocket Legends established as we innovate on lessons learned." So there's clearly a new twist to the studio's standard gameplay, but we'll just have to wait and see what that twist may be. Spacetime Studios working on new mobile MMO Dark Legends originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Trek Online looks to anniversary updates, free-to-play updates, and beyond Posted: 03 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Patches, Previews, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play Star Trek Online's second anniversary is just a month away, but the game's transition to a free-to-play model is even closer than that. In the game's latest developer diary, executive producer Stephen D'Angelo talks about updates leading into the business model shift, the anniversary, and the eventual rollout of the game's next season. A couple of new bug fixes and feature improvements will be rolled out to the live game before January 17th, at which point the game will shift over to the free-to-play mode. In February, the game will be celebrating its anniversary with a new KDF flagship, the debut of the Odyssey-class Federation ship, and soon thereafter a series of Dominion featured episodes. Players can look forward to season 6 sometime in June, with the development team aiming at something new in the game roughly every other week once the game is free-to-play. It's a tall order, but Star Trek Online fans at least have those frequent updates to hope for if not necessarily expect. Star Trek Online looks to anniversary updates, free-to-play updates, and beyond originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| City of Heroes looks to take players on a magic carpet ride Posted: 03 Jan 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Trailers, Video, City of Heroes, City of Villains, News items, Free-to-play Travel powers can show you the world as you level through City of Heroes. Unfortunately, they've long been limited mostly to powers that come from within each individual character. But that's changing -- first with the Rocket Board, and now with the newest addition to the game's travel power library, the Flying Carpet. If you've long wanted to use decorative surfaces from your home to explore the dark alleys of Paragon City, your wait is finally over. Running 600 points (around $7.50) in the Paragon Market and available to characters starting at level 4, the rug is similar in function to both the aforementioned Rocket Board and the magical rugs found in games such as World of Warcraft and EverQuest II. If you're attracted to the idea of levitating upholstery but still on the fence about the money, there's a trailer showing off the latest addition to the game just after the cut. Continue reading City of Heroes looks to take players on a magic carpet ride City of Heroes looks to take players on a magic carpet ride originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| PlanetSide 2's Higby talks progression Posted: 03 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2 PC Gamer's got the latest goods on Sony Online Entertainment's PlanetSide 2, and a new sit-down with developer Matt Higby has a few progression details that might interest you. Unlike the original PlanetSide, the reboot is shaping up to be a more accessible battlefield adrenaline rush. Or maybe not. "We may say, hey, you know what? You have to have a certain amount of time in the Lightning before you're able to use a Vanguard," Higby reveals, indicating that the game's advancement path is far from finalized. Higby says 10 hours is a good estimate for going from cannon fodder to worthy opponent in your vehicle of choice, and those 10 hours will likely be spent unlocking things like side-grade weapons, armor, countermeasures, telemetry, and radar systems. If it sounds like a lot of grinding, take heart. PlanetSide 2 players can avail themselves of an offline skilling mechanic, and Higby says that you'll be able to "shortcut your skills by burning resources" in the live game. PlanetSide 2's Higby talks progression originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SWTOR UK sales take a dive Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic Just when you thought we couldn't have any more Star Wars: The Old Republic articles (because three out of 15 per day is a lot, amirite?), here's one more for your reading pleasure. MMOCrunch has sussed out what appears to be a decent-sized drop in TOR's UK sales numbers. According to Chart-Track, BioWare's new MMO fell from the number 10 spot to number 38 in its second week on the market. MMOCrunch speculates that the drop-off in post-holiday shopping is the primary culprit, and we've also yet to see a true advertising blitz like we've seen for games like RIFT and World of Warcraft. What do you think, Massively folk? Is trouble brewing in a galaxy far, far away, or is it far too early to tell? SWTOR UK sales take a dive originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Massively Speaking Episode 180 Posted: 03 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST |
| Nexon bringing Mabinogi back online, compensating affected players Posted: 03 Jan 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Mabinogi, Sandbox Nexon has brought Mabinogi back online, and the company tells Massively that "the issues that led us to temporarily disable service have been addressed." The free-to-play sandbox was offline for nearly 40 hours last weekend, and Nexon will be compensating players with 5,000 NX (the company's cash shop currency), a two-day extension of VIP/Premium/Inventory Plus service, and a forthcoming double XP event. Nexon also tells us that players who were directly affected by the recent malicious activity will receive an additional 5,000 NX (10,000 total) and will have their lost items restored. If you think you've been affected by the recent attacks, contact Nexon Support directly, and be sure to provide the following info when submitting your ticket: - account name
- character name
- character server
- date of malicious activity
- items missing/removed
- name of malicious character (if available)
Finally, affected players should include the keyword MUGWORTS in their support ticket summary field to assist in filtering and processing. [Source: Nexon press release] Nexon bringing Mabinogi back online, compensating affected players originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Hyperspace Beacon: Sensing the future Posted: 03 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Game mechanics, Guilds, Lore, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon, Dungeons I like making predictions. When it comes to Star Wars: The Old Republic, I've been spot on about several things, but I've missed the boat on some too. "Careful you must be when sensing the future, Anakin. The fear of loss is a path to the dark side," Yoda warned the young Jedi Knight in Revenge of the Sith. It's a good thing I don't have anything to lose by guessing what I think will happen in the future for this game. In 2011, we saw TOR launch with astronomical numbers, and all you have to do is look at our front page to realize how much people have been talking about this game. Hopefully, the future of the game is just as bright. Thankfully, developers at BioWare have been very talkative about what's coming in the future. Let's combine what players have said with the plans developers have spoken about to predict the future of the game. After the break, I'll mix the news with my Force powers to see in the the future... the future... the future... echo... echo... Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Sensing the future Hyperspace Beacon: Sensing the future originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Game Archaeologist seals up 2011 Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: A Tale in the Desert, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, EverQuest, Lineage, Meridian 59, PlanetSide, Shadowbane, Everquest Online Adventures, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous You know what I love about the end of each year? The lists. Man, but I'm a sucker for lists, especially when they come in "best of" varieties. In the lull between Christmas and New Year's, there typically isn't a lot happening in the world of entertainment, so it's a good time to look back before we head forward. And so it is for The Game Archaeologist. 2011 marks the second year I've been doing this column, and it's been one of my personal favorite series to write. Every week I'm learning more and more about the history of the MMO genre, and I'm encouraged to see just how much passion and interest there are for the titles that started it all and got us to where we are today. So before we head into 2012, let's take one last glimpse back at the road we've traveled. If you've missed out on any of these columns or want to revisit your favorite classic MMO, I've compiled a huge list of everything I talked about this year, from histories to interviews to player stories. There's also a special request for you (yes, you) at the end of this column, so do me a favor and hit that jump! Continue reading The Game Archaeologist seals up 2011 The Game Archaeologist seals up 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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