| The Road to Mordor: The reset scenario Posted: 22 Sep 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor At this juncture of my Lord of the Rings Online career, I have zero interest in starting over. I've attempted two fresh characters over the past six months, and while the "newness" was enough to sustain me for a while, I simply didn't have the time or energy to get them through the long, long, long journey of content to meet up with my Captain. So I've made peace with the thought that my main will be my only character through the completion of the game, barring Turbine releasing an incredibly compelling new class or severely streamlining the leveling process. That's OK, really. I'm content. Yet I also like to engage in mental hypotheses in which I am forced to restart -- a reset scenario, as it were. If I woke up tomorrow and found that my account was completely blank, or if I were thrown back in time and had to start all over again, what would I do? Would I choose differently or the same? So here we go: the reset scenario. Let's assume the game is more or less how it is now and I have all of my current knowledge. If I had to start from scratch, how would I forge a different path in the game? Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The reset scenario  The Road to Mordor: The reset scenario originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| WRUP: Explaining Gangam Style to the next generation edition Posted: 22 Sep 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous I can't speak to the rest of the US, but I know that here in Connecticut, radio stations are playing Gangnam Style with regularity. This means that a Korean song parodying specific parts of South Korean culture is now a hit based solely on its own merits, even without the amazingly creative video and despite many of the listeners not understanding the first thing about the song's subject matter or lyrics. Every time I try to figure out how to explain all of this to future generations, I come up blank mostly because I don't entirely believe it myself. Fortunately for my attempts to explain pop culture to my eventual descendents, WRUP is not concerned with music. It's entirely concerned with what the Massively staff will be up to over the weekend, and this week we're also declaring whether or not we think there are too many MMOs on the market. So check on past the break to see what we'll be up to, and let us know your plans down in the comments! Continue reading WRUP: Explaining Gangam Style to the next generation edition WRUP: Explaining Gangam Style to the next generation edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Are live events due for a revival? Posted: 22 Sep 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Ultima Online, The Daily Grind, TERA, Miscellaneous Live MMO events have long since fallen by the development wayside in the pursuit of scripted "dynamic" events. It used to be that game studios would send paid GMs into the game to roleplay with players in a tabletop-like scenario, conducting large-scale storytelling events and spawning enemies, locations, and items. Ultima Online, which celebrates its 15th birthday this week, is particularly well-known for these sorts of events, but they've seldom been replicated in later generations of triple-A MMOs. TERA, apparently, hopes to change that with the implementation of Flash events, "spontaneous events focused on small groups of users and run by staff." They might seem a little out of place in TERA, but they could be a niche worth resurrecting. Live, impromptu events might have the disadvantage of involving only small groups of people and not the entire population, but that's exactly what makes them so intriguing for the players who happen to be in the right zone at the right time when one of these events starts. What do you think? Do you wish more studios would get over their crush on pseudo-dynamic events and return to live events?  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 live events due for a revival? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Mortal Online welcomes back all former players for a free week Posted: 21 Sep 2012 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Mortal Online, Promotions MMOs change at a breakneck pace, but you don't always have time to check back in and see what changes have taken place. Mortal Online has just recently released its second major expansion, and the community staffers want everyone to check in and see how the game has grown, so they're giving you the chance to do just that. Starting today you can hop into the game and experience all of the improvements in Awakening for free if you previously subscribed to Mortal Online. If you've played in the past but haven't been following the game recently, you might have missed all of the features added by Awakening, including new AI mechanics and a variety of new combat abilities. The free play period will last for the next week, more than enough time to patch the client and take a look at the latest update to the game. [Thanks to Chris for the tip!] Mortal Online welcomes back all former players for a free week originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic livestream discusses free-to-play, HK-51, and scaling Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Community Q&A The community team behind Star Wars: The Old Republic hosted a livestream, and as you can probably imagine, the whole session has been recorded already by the team from Darth Hater for your viewing pleasure. But if you want to know the highlights and you can't wait for a more detailed take (say, from next week's Hyperspace Beacon), you can always get the rundown of some of the bigger points from the half-hour session. For those currently playing, HK-51 can be expected before the end of the year, with Cathar getting a somewhat more ambiguous release of whenever the species is ready. There will also be other species to be unlocked when the free-to-play conversion goes live, along with moddable gear (without endgame stats), mounts, and pets. The team is also looking into implementing a hood toggle for the Force-using classes of the game and scaling content down in difficulty for smaller groups of players. Check out the full recording past the break, or just take a look at the highlights. Continue reading Star Wars: The Old Republic livestream discusses free-to-play, HK-51, and scaling Star Wars: The Old Republic livestream discusses free-to-play, HK-51, and scaling originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Betawatch: September 15 - 21, 2012 Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Massively Meta, Betawatch, Miscellaneous Today's Betawatch marks the start of pile on October week, which is totally a thing! We learned that steampunky Guns of Icarus will not make its September launch; it will emerge from beta on October 29th, though you can preorder now to snag beta access. Also launching in October is Pirate101. It's also accepting preorders as of this past Wednesday. PWE likewise announced that RaiderZ will soft launch with an open beta on October 24th. In keeping with the theme, RaiderZ is available for prepurchase right now. Finally, Trion's End of Nations will kick off its fourth and final closed beta weekend event starting on October 4th. Check out our complete Betawatch roundup after the cut! Continue reading Betawatch: September 15 - 21, 2012 Betawatch: September 15 - 21, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Storyboard: RP 101 - What is roleplaying? Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous Two weeks back, I received a comment asking, in all seriousness, what was the deal with roleplaying. The author of said comment opined that as near as he or she could tell, it was mostly just talking like your character and developing a bunch of strange romances. If that comment had only listed vampires in there, really, I could have stopped writing this column altogether. All right, there's more to it than that. While I've spent the past 120 installments of the column dealing with creating characters, playing respectfully, and producing stories, I've never actually put down a definition of what roleplaying is. I've never liked opening off by defining roleplaying because it's an awkward beast, and the explanation is always shoehorned elsewhere. So today I'm going to kick off at least one and possibly more columns answering the very basics, starting with the obvious -- what the heck is roleplaying? Continue reading Storyboard: RP 101 - What is roleplaying? Storyboard: RP 101 - What is roleplaying? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| MMObility: Data caps, throttled signals, and blocked sites Posted: 21 Sep 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Culture, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Mobile, Casual, Miscellaneous, MMObility One of the main reasons I enjoy covering mobile MMOs is the fact that many gamers have access to a poor connection at best, and my articles might offer these fellow geeks a selection of games to play. I often take some of the things in my life for granted, like my healthy dogs or the one cup of coffee I have in the morning, but I never take my internet connection for granted, especially when I'm reminded every time I pay the bill just how much it costs me. It's an awesome 150/65 Mb/s, and I tend to get speeds pretty close to that. I often tell people that because my wife works at home with me, our internet connection is our "work vehicle." But many of my friends complain about having a really bad connection to the internet. Some of it is the result of location, but a lot is because companies can actually throttle the signal, providing unlimited yet barely workable internet. While there are several titles out there that are playable on almost any connection, throttling can kill gaming for many of us. So just how bad is it? Continue reading MMObility: Data caps, throttled signals, and blocked sites MMObility: Data caps, throttled signals, and blocked sites originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Catch up on your WoW lore with the Story of Warcraft Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Lore The lore and backstory of the Warcraft universe is a rich tapestry that's been woven -- and rewoven -- over time, occasionally to make room for space goats with crystal starships. It's OK if you haven't been able to keep it all straight because Blizzard is coming to the rescue with its Story of Warcraft. The Story of Warcraft is a brand-new feature on the World of Warcraft website that details the history of the game and game world from the very beginning through today. It's broken up into separate chapters, one for each major game release, and is chock-full of art and videos. The feature is by no means complete; it's an ongoing project by the Blizzard crew. Check it out and see if even you grizzled veterans might learn a thing or two! Catch up on your WoW lore with the Story of Warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Star Trek Online producer says game is 'kicking butt' Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Previews, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries Star Trek Online Producer Daniel Stahl isn't beating around the bush about the state of the game. According to him, STO has both purpose and a leg-up on much of the industry. "When you consider what it takes to run an MMO in today's highly competitive marketplace," Stahl writes, " STO has been kicking some butt. Despite what some may think, we have a deliberate path and long-term goals that we've been tracking quite well against. STO has not only survived, but is thriving at a time when many MMOs have kicked or are about to kick the bucket." Stahl goes on to rally the troops by citing how much the team has accomplished this year and what its focus is on for November's Season 7 update and beyond. The team's biggest priorities are in enriching the foundry, overhauling PvP, buffing up Klingon content, and a possible Romulan faction. He also mentioned that Cryptic has hired "great talent" from 38 Studios and Paragon Studios to join the team. Star Trek Online producer says game is 'kicking butt' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| ArenaNet celebrates concept artists, sheds light on WvW queues [Updated] Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, News items, Guild Wars 2, Dev Diaries  One of ArenaNet's main selling points for Guild Wars 2 is the game's art direction. In recognition of that, the studio has begun a series of weekly interviews, which kicked off with a chat with Concept Artist Team Lead Jamie Ro. After getting her start in Auckland, New Zealand, Ro worked on developing a new style of art once she got to the States. She's pleased to be on a team with "some of the most talented people in the industry" whose "support and friendly competition" keep her motivated, and she believes that the diversity of artists and art styles represented in the concept art department is a real strength of the team. Head on over to the official interview to see all of what she has to say. In other Guild Wars 2 news, Mike Ferguson has been busy updating players about World vs World queue numbers. About 30% of Guild Wars 2 players queued up for WvW on the day that his data was taken, and about 3% of the players who were queued up didn't get in during that time. Ferguson says that the team is "looking at a number of short term and long term solutions" to help get more people playing and fewer people queuing. There are a lot of charts to be seen, so take a gander at the NA and EU server posts to see what's up. [Update: The team also plans to limit world transfers to one per 24 hours in an attempt to limit WvW exploits.]ArenaNet celebrates concept artists, sheds light on WvW queues [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Here's more War Z gameplay footage that will remind you of DayZ Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Horror, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Sandbox FPSGeneral has posted six minutes of uncut alpha footage from Hammerpoint's upcoming zombie-centric sandbox MMO called The War Z. We know, it looks like DayZ! It also looks pretty cool, particularly the silenced M4, the barricading mechanics, and the glimpses of various items and UI functionality. Hammerpoint recently went on record with the fact that the game's cash shop items may be lost when other players loot your corpse. This, along with the The War Z's unforgiving survival-style gameplay, would seem to be the recipe for a niche title. We'll keep our eyes on it, though, and you can too via the video after the break. Continue reading Here's more War Z gameplay footage that will remind you of DayZ Here's more War Z gameplay footage that will remind you of DayZ originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Blizzard's 'appear offline' functionality coming soon Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Diablo III Have you ever wanted to wander Azeroth in virtual seclusion, flying completely under the radar of folks who may have you on their friends list? If so, Blizzard's new "appear offline" functionality will likely put a smile on your face. "All of your Real ID friends, BattleTag friends, and character-level friends will see you as offline in their friends list whenever you're logged into the game," Blizzard says on its Battle.net website. This is assuming you don't set your social status option to available, busy, or away, of course. The new functionality is slated for World of Warcraft as well as StarCraft II and Diablo III. WoW's version of the feature should surface sometime after Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard's 'appear offline' functionality coming soon originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Glenn Beck thinks the Goonswarm is a CIA front Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox During a program in which he questioned the real story behind the attack on the American Consulate in Libya, conservative web show host Glenn Beck alleged that the EVE Online corp Goonswarm is actually a CIA front. Beck made this allegation at the 10:20 mark of his latest show. Beck based this hypothesis on this message that Goonswarm member Sean Smith, aka Vile Rat, posted on his corp's message boards: "Assuming we don't die tonight. We saw one of our 'police' that guard the compound taking pictures." Beck apparently believes the message was meant for the CIA as a request for help. Smith died in the attacks along with US Ambassador Chris Stevens. Glenn Beck thinks the Goonswarm is a CIA front originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| SEGA releases three new Phantasy Star Online 2 trailers Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play Phantasy Star Online 2 is making waves in Japan, particularly after SEGA unveiled three new trailers at the recent Tokyo Game Show. The game's PC client is currently live and playable in the region, with the North American version due sometime next spring. SEGA is also prepping a PlayStation Vita version for 2013, and its users will share the same server as their PC client counterparts. Head past the break for the new PC trailer, the new Vita trailer, and a mobile devices trailer. Continue reading SEGA releases three new Phantasy Star Online 2 trailers SEGA releases three new Phantasy Star Online 2 trailers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Sep 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Western Digital
Friday saw the release of a critical out-of-band patch for 
