| Rise and Shiny: DragonRealms Posted: 19 May 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Culture, Game Mechanics, Interviews, Previews, Opinion, Virtual Worlds, Community Q&A, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Subscription As a part of MUD May, I just had to play at least one MUD for Rise and Shiny. I have a handful of favorite MUDs, like GemStone IV, BatMUD, and Achaea, but I have never really given DragonRealms a chance. Until now. I've poked into it here and there, but every time I found myself on the Simutronics website, I always logged into GemStone IV. I heard that DragonRealms was a lot different, more hardcore, and filled with PvP, and after spending an initial week with the game and the killer community, I can say that it is different, but mainly in a few outstanding ways. Of course I might find much more that sets the game apart if I played it for several years like some of the people I met in game, but for now I'll settle with telling you what I've learned so far. The usual embedded video in this article serves two purposes. First, it's an interview piece I did with Eric Latham, Producer at Simutronics. Next, it's a glance at DragonRealms, from character creation to a bit of gameplay. It's not as in-depth as my other videos, but it keeps in the greater theme of MUD May. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: DragonRealms  Rise and Shiny: DragonRealms originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| One Shots: The many lives of Gwen Thackeray Posted: 19 May 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Screenshots, EVE Online, Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, Miscellaneous Hey Gwen, how's it hanging? Find that flute yet? Yeah, don't worry, I'm sure it'll turn up around here somewhere. Don't get too near the river there, girl; those skale have a nasty bite! Say, what's that sulfurous smell in the air? And those distant screams that are drawing nearer at an incredible rate? And a sudden looming premonition that the property values around here are about to take a nosedive? Reader Sharvis sent in this Guild Wars picture with a modicum of pity: "Here is Gwen moments before the Searing. Poor girl." Don't feel too sorry for her, Sharvis! She gets an entire expansion, after all! Continue reading One Shots: The many lives of Gwen Thackeray One Shots: The many lives of Gwen Thackeray originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Yes, that is a car in ArcheAge Posted: 19 May 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox This not-sure-if-serious moment is brought to you by XLGAMES. The Korean MMO maker, presumably hard at work collaborating with Trion to westernize its ArcheAge sandbox opus (right guys... guys?), has published what can only be termed a curious gameplay video to its official YouTube channel. The clip features car racing and a number of spiffy looking hot rods, which normally wouldn't raise any eyebrows if they weren't located smack dab in the middle of a feudalized high fantasy world that, up until now, has featured sailing ships, horses, and low-tech gliders as its primary forms of transportation. It's hard to tell what's under the hood on these babies -- maybe it's some sort of steampunkish propulsion system -- but one thing's for sure: We can't make this stuff up. Have yourself a look-see after the cut. [Thanks Dengar!] Continue reading Yes, that is a car in ArcheAge Yes, that is a car in ArcheAge originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Daily Grind: Why do you play an anthropomorphic race? Posted: 19 May 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Races, Miscellaneous A Daily Grind discussion last week on MMO races that we detest got me thinking about anthropomorphic races -- you know, the animals-on-hind-legs dudes and dudettes. The frog-people. The cow-people. The cat-people. The wolf-people. The leopard-people. The rat-people. The lizard-people. The panda-people. Really, the sky's the limit when you can turn any animal into a humanoid playable race. I'm only disappointed that we haven't seen platypus-people or manatee-people yet in MMOs. Without bringing the "imaginary racism" this time, I'm genuinely curious what propels people to play an anthropomorphic race. The easy jab would be to say that it's just catering to the furries out there, but I think that's not universally true. What's the appeal of playing a dog-person? It can't just be racials such as "mark your territory" and "excess slobber." So I want to hear from the folks who play one of these races and hear what your reason is for picking an animal-humanoid character. Don't be defensive. I'm not attacking you; I'm merely curious. Is it the road less traveled? Is it an affection you have for a particular animal? Is it a rebellion against the boring fantasy races out there?  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: Why do you play an anthropomorphic race? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| TUG tech video shows off in-house engine Posted: 18 May 2013 07:30 PM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Crowdfunding Recently Nerd Kingdom promised more demonstrations of the tech behind its new TUG MMO hopeful. The company has made good with a new video that shows off the in-house engine, and lead programmer Brandon Nelson starts things off with an interesting tidbit about the game's contouring algorithm. "An algorithm like dual contouring gives us the ability to have the same quality of terrain that other games have, but not have to have them generated by level designers," Nelson explains. There's quite a lot of additional info packed into the clip's six-minute running time, all of which you can see for yourself after the break. You can also learn more about TUG via the project's Kickstarter site. Continue reading TUG tech video shows off in-house engine TUG tech video shows off in-house engine originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Darkfall plans summer content update, suffers DDOS attack [Updated] Posted: 18 May 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, PvP, News Items, PvE, Sandbox, Dungeons Darkfall's long-awaited Unholy Wars makeover launched almost a month ago, and now Aventurine is turning its eyes toward the future of its PvP-focused fantasy sandbox. AV's Tasos Flambouras posted a schedule of planned content updates on the forums earlier this week that stretches all the way into July. Aside from the usual MMO bug fixes and tweaks, there are major additions like the Svartvann, Marthnyr, Hardruk, and Dulguna dungeons, new families of monsters, new ships, and sea fortresses. [Thanks Dengar!] [Update: Aventurine is reporting that its NA servers are suffering the effects of a DDoS attack. The official blog reads, "In regard to the ping issues on the NA server the past couple of days, this was due to a DDoS attack during NA prime time. We have taken measures in cooperation with our hosting providers to filter this attack, and we're monitoring the situation. We'll keep you updated and we apologize for any inconvenience."] Darkfall plans summer content update, suffers DDOS attack [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Wizardry Online prepping for 'major code update' Posted: 18 May 2013 06:30 PM PDT |
| Tattered Notebook: A guide to EQII's Moonlight Enchantments (with new stuff!) Posted: 18 May 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Events (In-Game), Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Tattered Notebook, Guides, Housing Lately, there have been a number of topics all vying for my attention here in Tattered Notebook. In a couple of instances, some of them got a little rough and started pushing the others around to try for a better place in line. Yet all the while, EverQuest II's Moonlight Enchantments has been patiently waiting. So as a reward (we do like to reward good behavior here!), that quiet little topic is getting the spotlight in a special bonus edition. And the timing couldn't be more perfect! You see, initially this guide was just going to focus on speed to help you get through that short two-day event that comes but once a month on the 20th and 21st in EQII. Now, however, we get to delve into the changes and new things coming to the Enchanted Grottoes, from even more housing items (yes, that's on top of the new additions in March) to two new repeatable quests to earn the tokens to buy the items. And with this month's festival right around the corner, having a game plan ready to get the most out of those two days will benefit new and old players alike. Continue reading Tattered Notebook: A guide to EQII's Moonlight Enchantments (with new stuff!) Tattered Notebook: A guide to EQII's Moonlight Enchantments (with new stuff!) originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Guild Wars 2 gives voice to the Consortium Posted: 18 May 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Lore, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play "The Consortium is neither good nor evil. The Consortium is capitalist," ArenaNet Narrative Designer Scott McGough begins as he introduces this faction to gamers in a new video. If you've been playing Guild Wars 2's new living world content in Southsun Cove, then you've undoubtedly bumped into one or two of the representatives from this firm. McGough explains that the Consortium is angling to be a competitor to the Black Lion Trading Company, and that means selling people all sorts of feel-good products that they want and need. They also appeared to be the savior of the refugees from the previous living story, offering the dispossessed a place to live and work. Unfortunately for the settlers, the Consortium is not prepared to let them go any time soon, and Southsun Cove is a much more dangerous place to live than the Consortium realized. Check out the backstory video for the Consortium after the jump! Continue reading Guild Wars 2 gives voice to the Consortium Guild Wars 2 gives voice to the Consortium originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV beta phase 1 and 2 - FATEs and dungeons Posted: 18 May 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Dungeons Do you smell that on the wind, my friends? It smells like June is fast approaching, and more importantly it smells like soon we'll be able to welcome the third phase of testing with open arms. Which is good, since I am currently going through withdrawal. I wake up in cold sweats, try to change my class in other games, start up the Final Fantasy XIV beta client in the hopes that someone "accidentally" turned the servers back on... you get the general idea. To help alleviate this, I'm going to talk about the two pieces of the game from the first two beta phases that are in need of the most polish. While there are places to improve elsewhere, FATEs and dungeons have issues that might need a bit more hammering to fix. Or they might be fine and we just haven't yet seen enough of the game to know everything. Either way, let's get started with the big addition to the game, the system that had no predecessor in Final Fantasy XIV's first version: the FATE system. Continue reading The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV beta phase 1 and 2 - FATEs and dungeons The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV beta phase 1 and 2 - FATEs and dungeons originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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| Wings Over Atreia: Shugo Kingdom returns to Aion Posted: 18 May 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events (In-Game), PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Wings Over Atreia, Guides Who says we can't get what we want? I wanted the Shugo Kingdom Adventure event to return to Aion, and I'm getting my wish. Booyah! No, really, it's true: Starting after maintenance on May 22nd, Daevas who've flown over level 50 will again be able to journey for a limited time to the long lost vaults of the Shugo Kingdom in search of great and glorious treasure. And by treasure, I mean a trove of chests filled with AP items, Stormwing armor pieces and weapons, or even rare sets of wings. Of course what you get depends on how many keys you have and a little luck, so there's no harm in starting your sacrifices to Aion's RNG gods now. Did you miss out on the event last time but are looking forward to it this go around? Or maybe you need a refresher because the trauma of not getting that one item caused you to block all knowledge of the zone from your mind? Either way, this edition of Wings Over Atreia will give you a heads up on what to expect. And as an added bonus, Associate Producer Sean Orlikowski shared his tips and tricks for making the most of your Shugo Kingdom Adventures. Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Shugo Kingdom returns to Aion Wings Over Atreia: Shugo Kingdom returns to Aion originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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