MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News


League of Legends - Sejuani Patch Preview

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League of Legends - Sejuani Patch Preview


In this episode, we discuss the removal of dodge as a global stat in League of Legends. This means Jax, Ninja Tabi, and Sword of the Divine are all up for review, as well as updates to Riven for good measure! For more information about these updates, take a look at the video!

Rumor: THQ Shelves All Titles Slated for 2014, Including Warhammer 40k MMO

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Rumor: THQ Shelves All Titles Slated for 2014, Including Warhammer 40k MMO


According to Kevin Dent, a ten year veteran from the digital video games industry, THQ has stopped work on the Disney license, cancelled all of their 2014 line up (including its Warhammer 40K MMO) and offered the sale of the business to Asian firms.

Has SOPA/PIPA Affected Your Gaming yet?

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Has SOPA/PIPA Affected Your Gaming yet?


Are you worried about SOPA, have you affected by it yet? Tell us what you think.

MMOsite Reader's Choice Award 2011 Winners Announced

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MMOsite Reader's Choice Award 2011 Winners Announced


After two months of fierce competition, MMOsite Reader's Choice Award 2011 has successfully ended on January 16th, 2012. During this period, a total of 4,093,930 people had joined in this event, voting on their top choices of the games that they feel deserve the awards.

Why I have Really High Hopes for Guild Wars 2

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Why I have Really High Hopes for Guild Wars 2


Recently I was reading some comments on blogs when I came across a statement saying that Guild Wars was a really bad game because it was way too hard so much so that it is impossible to solo. My first reaction was what's this person talking about?

Dragon Nest Seleana Skill Build (Hybrid)

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Dragon Nest Seleana Skill Build (Hybrid)


Hello, I would love to share my lovely Seleana's hybrid(Fire+Ice) skill build with all you nice people out there. Thanks for reading (Y). This skill build is what i think is perfect for my personal game-play. I added the skills that way so i could PVP/PVE comfortably.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Future Legacy System to Unlock Perks and Points

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Star Wars: The Old Republic: Future Legacy System to Unlock Perks and Points


Although BioWare announced legacy system in Star Wars: The Old Republic long time ago, not many details were unveiled about this system. Now in a recent interview with Gamespot, the game's director James Ohlen shed more light on the legacy system, which allows players to create alts, developing relationships between their characters, just like a family tree.

WoW 4.3: Popular Transmogrification Gears for Shaman

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WoW 4.3: Popular Transmogrification Gears for Shaman


Today, we got the the gear list for Shaman to transmogrify, and this time around items that share the same model and color are counted together in the rankings, but not items that have different color variations of the same model.

WoW 4.3: Popular Transmogrification Gears for Hunter

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WoW 4.3: Popular Transmogrification Gears for Hunter


Today, we got the the gear list for Hunter to transmogrify, and this time around items that share the same model and color are counted together in the rankings, but not items that have different color variations of the same model.



General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


CD Projekt Red Calls off Legal Threats

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 04:59 PM PST

Witcher 2CD Projekt Red has called off its witch hunt for…. pirates, and in an open letter to the community is asking for forgiveness. Just in-case you missed the back story, CD Projekt Red is the development studio behind The Witcher 2, and about one month ago, set off on a campaign to hunt down everyone they suspected of pirating the game. Making pirates cough up cash for stolen software sounds reasonable enough; the real controversy was in the tactics they used to collect. Threatening letters asking for money in exchange for legal immunity might have sounded like a great idea to a bunch of cash strapped PC exclusive developers, however in the real world we often give this strategy a different name, extortion. 

Here is the full press release:

In early December, an article was published about a law firm acting on behalf of CD Projekt RED, contacting individuals who had downloaded The Witcher 2 illegally and seeking financial compensation for copyright infringement. The news about our decision to combat piracy directly, instead of with DRM, spread quickly and with it came a number of concerns from the community. Repeatedly, gamers just like you have said that our methods might wrongly accuse people who have never violated our copyright and expressed serious concern about our actions.

Being part of a community is a give-and-take process. We only succeed because you have faith in us, and we have worked hard over the years to build up that trust. We were sorry to see that many gamers felt that our actions didn't respect the faith that they have put into CD Projekt RED. Our fans always have been and remain our greatest concern, and we pride ourselves on the fact that you all know that we listen to you and take your opinions to heart. While we are confident that no one who legally owns one of our games has been required to compensate us for copyright infringement, we value our fans, our supporters, and our community too highly to take the chance that we might ever falsely accuse even one individual.

So we've decided that we will immediately cease identifying and contacting pirates.

Let's make this clear: we don't support piracy. It hurts us, the developers. It hurts the industry as a whole. Though we are staunch opponents of DRM because we don't believe it has any effect on reducing piracy, we still do not condone copying games illegally. We're doing our part to keep our relationship with you, our gaming audience, a positive one. We've heard your concerns, listened to your voices, and we're responding to them. But you need to help us and do your part: don't be indifferent to piracy. If you see a friend playing an illegal copy of a game–any game–tell your friend that they're undermining the possible success of the developer who created the very game that they are enjoying. Unless you support the developers who make the games you play, unless you pay for those games, we won't be able to produce new excellent titles for you.

The Witcher 2 represents the very best PC Gaming has to offer, and not only do we commend CD Projekt Red for realizing they've made a mistake, we hope anyone who does pirate the game recognizes a development studio worth supporting. 

SOPA Bill Gets Shelved Due to a Lack of "Consensus"

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 04:07 PM PST

PiracyBig media isn't used to losing a fight, but then again this is the Internet we are talking about here. The much despised SOPA censorship bill introduced by Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith seems to have completely stalled, which according to The Hill is due to a lack of consensus. If you are one of the countless thousands who called your local officials to lodge complaints, sent old fashioned mail, or even just complained in online forums give yourself a pat on the back, somebody heard you.

Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa was promised by Majority Leader Eric Cantor that the house won't hold a vote unless a consensus on the bill is reached, which at this point is looking all but impossible. According to Issa, "While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House. Majority Leader Cantor has assured me that we will continue to work to address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote".

Today is a great day for the open Internet, but don't let your guard down just yet. The PROTECT IP and ACTA looks every bit as horrible as SOPA, and is still being pushed hard by lobbyists. 

Google Shares its Seven Core Principles of Chrome Security

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 02:56 PM PST

Chrome ChampGoogle Chrome is rapidly winning the hearts and minds of tech enthusiasts everywhere not just for its blistering speed, but for its unrelenting commitment to security. Saying a browser is secure is easy, but making it so is something completely different. To help keep their developers on track the team has come up with a set of seven core security principles, and the complete list makes for a rather interesting read, and we'll highlight a few of our favorites after the jump.

First up on the list is "don't get in the way". This might sound simple enough, however as Vista's UAC taught us all too well, enhanced security more often than not comes with strings attached, strings that constantly take over your screen and suck your will to live every time you launch an application. Simply put, Chrome does a great job of this.

Another great principle is "speed matters". In this case we aren't referring to Chrome's legendary rendering speed, rather it pertains solely to response times in dealing with security concerns. Silent automatic background updating is the leading example of this principle in action, and it's something that is literally changing the industry. 

The final principle worth pointing out is "make the web safer for everyone". In this example the Chrome team points out that it recognizes the power of web standards to help push security issues forward. They quote open source technologies such as sandboxing as examples of this, but a part of me wonders if flash wouldn't be a better horse to beat on. To this day flash continues to be a huge vulnerability on millions of machines around the world, and HTML5 just might be the cure.

Design for defense in depth, security is a team responsibility, be transparent, and engage the community round out the list, and feel free to cruse on over to the Chromium blog to check out Google's take on each. 

CES 2012 Sets New Records For Floor Space, Attendance, and Exhibitors

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 01:02 PM PST

CES 2012Many have signaled Microsoft's departure from future CES events as a death knell for the massive industry convention, however if that's true, the numbers certainly don't back that assumption up. According to CES officials, 2012 set an all-time record for attendance, exhibitors and claimed floor space. As a result of the overwhelming success, CES 2013 has been scheduled for January 8-11 next year, and will feature a new lead keynote speaker to replace Microsoft.

If you're curious about how the numbers played out, here is a brief rundown. Floor space was up only slightly from last year, increasing to 1.86 million square feet over 2011's 1.857 million. Attendees on the other hand hit a record 153,000 this year, edging out 2006's total of 152,000, and blasting away 2011's paltry 149,500. 

You could still make the argument that CES is walking wounded now that Microsoft has thrown in the towel, so it will be interesting to see how these numbers shake out next year. Anyone care to make any predictions

Google Updates Gmail Offline Chrome App

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 05:46 AM PST

Last August, offline Gmail returned to Google Chrome after a brief absence, during which it went from being a Gears-based feature to an HTML5-powered Chrome Web Store app. Now Google has updated that app. Hit the jump for more.

The updated Google offline Chrome app now lets you exercise a fair amount of control over the amount of mail that can  be accessed offline. You can now choose "whether you want to synchronize 7, 14 or 31 days worth of mail."  Previously, only 7 days' worth of email was available offline. But that's not all. The updated app includes a few other improvements:

  • Improved attachments: All attachments are now downloaded and available for offline use
  • Keyboard shortcuts support: If you have keyboard shortcuts enabled in Gmail, your setting will transfer over to the Gmail offline app. If you're not sure what you can do with keyboard shortcuts, try pressing '?' next time you're using Gmail or Gmail offline.
  • Numerous performance enhancements: Messages and attachments now download at a faster rate and some bugs have been fixed.

Ultrabooks to Fuel Explosive Growth in Cache SSD Shipments

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 05:19 AM PST

There was no dearth of ultrabook announcements at this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. But it still remains to be seen whether or not all these ultrabooks can go onto capture a large chunk of the notebook market as Intel wants them to. Market research firm IHS iSuppli is among those who expect ultrabook shipments to soar rapidly over the next few years. Having previously predicted "major repercussions for the global electronics supply chain" owing to a boom in ultrabook shipments, the firm has now specifically identified cache solid state drives (SSDs) as a likely beneficiary  of such a boom.

In a price-sensitive segment like the ultrabook market, it makes sense for vendors to combine a cache SSD with a hard drive instead of going for pure solid-state storage. It's not only affordable, but also a good way of ensuring faster boot-up times. This is one of the main reasons why IHS iSuppli expects cache SSD shipments to rise dramatically to reach 25.7 million units in 2012, up from just 881,000 units in 2011. But it's not that ultrabooks alone are expected to account for all the growth in cache SSD shipments, with the research firm predicting the shipment of over 3 million units ship inside standard notebooks and desktop PCs. Its outlook for cache SSDs over the next four years is similarly rosy.

"Intel is continuing to put its eggs into the ultrabook basket, as indicated by its activities at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week," said Ryan Chien, research associate for memory & storage at IHS. "From the company's introduction of the Nikiski reference design, to its announcement that more than 60 additional ultrabook designs will enter the market in time for the 2012 holiday season, Intel at CES showed that Ultrabooks have become the centerpiece of its mobile computing strategy. Cache SSDs represent a key part of Intel's Ultrabook specification, providing performance, convenience and power-savings capabilities that play a key role in defining the platform."

Image Credit: IHS iSuppli Research

MMO Updates

MMO Updates


Rise and Shiny recap: Wakfu

Posted: 15 Jan 2012 09:00 AM PST

Filed under: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Wakfu screenshot
In June, I drove down to Austin, Texas, to once again participate in GDC Online. I do it every year if I can, and I love it. It's a smaller event when compared to the larger E3s and other conventions, but it is more personal and up-close. My favorite speaker at this last event had to be David Calvo from Ankama Games. When he first came out barefoot, I was honestly worried that the chat would be all about goofy, "deep" design techniques that had no real use in practice. In the end, his talk was deep but was really just asking developers to have fun and try new things. Yes, I know: new things. Crazy, huh?

If Wakfu is any proof, those design theories are put to practice every day at Ankama. Wakfu, for me, is a breath of fresh air in so many ways. Even though I am somewhat used to the design and art style, thanks in large part to playing the previous title Dofus, I still find myself loving how simply complex much of Wakfu is.

There are issues that come with complexity, however.

Continue reading Rise and Shiny recap: Wakfu

MassivelyRise and Shiny recap: Wakfu originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    Previously on MV TV: Week of January 9th, 2012

    Posted: 15 Jan 2012 07:00 AM PST

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    Fallen Earth, aka Good God in Heaven, shoot it!
    Welcome to the brand-new Previously on MV TV! Our livestreaming schedule has picked up a lot over the past few weeks, and our readers have busy lives, so we know it's impossible to watch every single streaming event live. Fortunately for you, we save all of our streams all for posterity on Massively's Twitch TV channel, so you can view them at your leisure. Even better, we've got a roundup of a few of last week's MV TV highlights from the livestream team. Follow along after the jump for the best of the best!

    Continue reading Previously on MV TV: Week of January 9th, 2012

    MassivelyPreviously on MV TV: Week of January 9th, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      The Daily Grind: How much searching do you want in your game?

      Posted: 15 Jan 2012 05:00 AM PST

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      After calibrating the satellite, I'm no longer lost, I'm lost with 95% certainty of where I'm not.
      No matter how clear the maps and how many waypoints we get, our first time in any MMO is going to include a whole lot of getting lost. After all, we're not familiar with the game yet. But some games give you plenty of pointers to send you in the right direction, ways to ensure that you know where a given quest is pointing you. It's useful, but at the same time, it means that you aren't exploring the wild reaches in the distance so much as following a glowing blip on your minimap.

      Most players aren't clamoring for a return to days when you had to draw maps on graph paper as you walked, but there is something to be said for having a bit more ambiguity in destination. How much do you want to search for things when you play? Do you want to have clearly marked objectives, a wide-open map to explore, or something in the middle?

      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!

      MassivelyThe Daily Grind: How much searching do you want in your game? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        Blizzard seems to think that Cataclysm was too linear

        Posted: 14 Jan 2012 05:00 PM PST

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        Yeah, that guy seems to have the right idea, let's go that way.
        Designing MMOs is often the art of shepherding players in a given direction while at the same time giving them a sense of freedom. Even in a themepark environment, players want to be invested in areas, to have reasons to come back and explore and go off of the rails should they want to. World of Warcraft's most recent expansion, Cataclysm, has frequently been accused of giving players nowhere to go but a series of rails, and according to a recent response from a community manager, Blizzard agrees.

        A very long thread on the official forums has spawned some interesting discussions about the game's overall endgame philosophy, with community manager Draxxari stating that Cataclysm's tightly linear design was an "error" on the design level. He goes on to state that Mists of Pandaria is meant to give players more reason to venture out and explore the world, although players will have to wait to see whether that promise holds true or not.

        [Thanks to SgtBaker for the tip!]

        MassivelyBlizzard seems to think that Cataclysm was too linear originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        The Mog Log: Adventures equal battles

        Posted: 14 Jan 2012 03:00 PM PST

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        The Mog Log header by A. Fienemann
        One of the big selling points of Final Fantasy XIV before launch was that there were many classes devoted to doing things other than fighting. The promise was made, more than once (if memory serves), that even non-combat classes would get to take part in the main story, and it was also stated that these classes would still be useful to an adventuring party even if not quite as good as another Disciple of War or Magic.

        At this point, of course, we can confidently say that part was a lie. A Botanist is about as useful in combat as an actual botanist in a fistfight. But Naoki Yoshida has gone on record that the former part is a lie as well -- that if you want to take part in the main storyline, you really do need to level a combat class. It wasn't something that was really highlighted, but it was still there, and it's worth unpacking as we look forward to another year of the game's ongoing development. If you came in expecting to only craft and gather, you're no longer going to have your run of the place.

        Continue reading The Mog Log: Adventures equal battles

        MassivelyThe Mog Log: Adventures equal battles originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          Captain's Log: A new era begins

          Posted: 14 Jan 2012 01:00 PM PST

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          Tristan at Starfleet Academy STO
          As you probably know by now, Star Trek Online is converting to the free-to-play format this coming Tuesday, January 17th. If you've held off subscribing to STO for the past two years, you might be wondering what you can expect should you decide to give STO a try.

          If you've never played an MMORPG and are thinking that this might be a perfect time to try one, I think you might be right. STO is not like most other MMOs. That can be a good thing but also a detriment.

          This column is here to help you, Trekkie or not, gamer or not. And I'm going to try to help you decide whether STO is the F2P game for you.

          Continue reading Captain's Log: A new era begins

          MassivelyCaptain's Log: A new era begins originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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            The Tattered Notebook: If you think wings are weird...

            Posted: 14 Jan 2012 11:00 AM PST

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            Skull head
            Last week, EverQuest II rolled out two new Marketplace items: the nightmare flight wings and the Pegasus feather flight wings. At first, I didn't think much of it because it was just another flying mount, but as I watched the promotional video, it seemed strangely out of place for characters of all races to be sprouting wings and flying around of their own power.

            While many players are excited about the new flight wings, others question whether they fit into the lore and the world of EQII. And this isn't the first time an item has left players with tilted heads and confused expressions. Read on for a collection of oddities from the world of Norrath!

            Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: If you think wings are weird...

            MassivelyThe Tattered Notebook: If you think wings are weird... originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Jan 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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