MMO Updates |
- Massively Rewind: Introducing Massively's news video show
- Experience EQ Next Landmark at Community Celebration event
- Guild Wars 2 posts first Q&A of The Dolyak Express initiative
- MMObility: CES highlights for mobile gaming enthusiasts
- League of Angels goes live today
- The Daily Grind: What constitutes a 'core gamer'?
- The Guild Counsel: Recruitment tips in the age of free-to-play
- Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is expected to begin pre-downloading in January
- Firefall getting 'rare legendary weapon drops,' lots of other stuff [Updated]
- Legislation introduced to resolve 38 Studios lawsuit
- The Stream Team: Searching the Savage Coast's Lair in The Secret World
- Study shows intense gaming can cause changes in real-life perception
- Forbes: ESO's subscription model is just 'a compounding factor' to risk
- The Stream Team: Electric lizard boogaloo in FFXIV's Halatali
- Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights bomb(er) ships
- Albion Online dishes out details on the game's mechanics
- Weekly updates coming to PlanetSide 2
- Ask Massively: Giveaways, zombies, and capturing the spirit of Ultima Online
- Legend of Edda closes its doors for good January 22nd
| Massively Rewind: Introducing Massively's news video show Posted: 10 Jan 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Video, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Massively Meta, Humor, Miscellaneous, MMORPG, Massively Rewind  This week, we take a look at a dedicated factionless World of Warcraft player, Smedley putting out SOE fires, and why it's good to be the emperor in the Elder Scrolls Online. Continue reading Massively Rewind: Introducing Massively's news video show
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| Experience EQ Next Landmark at Community Celebration event Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Sandbox 
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| Guild Wars 2 posts first Q&A of The Dolyak Express initiative Posted: 10 Jan 2014 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Community Q&A, Buy-to-Play  What do devs have to say about Dwarves as a playable race? So many were turned to stone that there aren't really enough of them left to make a playable race now, but maybe many years down the road is possible. What about changes to WvW and PvP in 2014? You can get the answers to these questions and more, along with a look into how stories will be presented in the future, in this inaugural Q&A.
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| MMObility: CES highlights for mobile gaming enthusiasts Posted: 10 Jan 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Events (Real-World), Previews, Mobile, Events (Massively's Coverage), Miscellaneous, MMObility  What excites me about almost any trade show is the stuff you find in the corners of the show room: the smaller booths, the indie developers or the hints of up-and-coming tech that will eventually make our lives easier and more fun. And of course, I'm always excited to see tech that might bring mobile MMOs to the place they deserve to be, a place in our everyday lives. CES is exciting to me because it shows the potential and possibly inexpensive future of tech. Thanks to Engadget, one of our sister sites, I was able to get more than an eyeful of neat mobile tech! Continue reading MMObility: CES highlights for mobile gaming enthusiasts
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| League of Angels goes live today Posted: 10 Jan 2014 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Launches, New Titles, Browser  League of Angels features a training system for your team of angels, massive PvP arenas, crafting, and character customization with mounts, cosmetics, and other accessories. Interested players can sign up and play straight from the game's official site. [Source: R2Games press release]
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| The Daily Grind: What constitutes a 'core gamer'? Posted: 10 Jan 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  But both did so without agreeing on what, precisely, constitutes a core gamer. Wikipedia defines the archetype in that broad, nebulous zone between casuals and hardcores, two groups that themselves seem hard to pin down: "a player with a wider range of interests than a casual gamer [who] is more likely to enthusiastically play different types of games, but without the amount of time spent and sense of competition of a hardcore gamer," someone who "enjoys games but may not finish every game [he or she buys], doesn't have time for long MMO quests, and is a target consumer." But the term always bugs me because it provokes gamers to fall for the false-consensus effect: We assume we're normal and define ourselves within the safe zone of "core" and then assume that the games we like are therefore also "core." What do you think -- what constitutes a core gamer and a core MMO gamer? And do you likewise think the term is too broad and malleable to be useful?  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!
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| The Guild Counsel: Recruitment tips in the age of free-to-play Posted: 09 Jan 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Business Models, Guilds, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  The change has had an impact on guilds, and it's caused many guild leaders to have to rethink the way they recruit and manage their guilds. Let's take a look at how the free-to-play movement can actually help guilds build and maintain a healthy roster. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Recruitment tips in the age of free-to-play
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| Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is expected to begin pre-downloading in January Posted: 09 Jan 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Diablo III, Buy-to-Play  On the Diablo III forums, Community Manager Stephany Johnson confirmed that Blizzard is trying to get data to customers in January: "The exact date that the predownload will start is still TBD, but we're targeting this month if all goes well. Note: this download will begin automatically (meaning, you shouldn't need to do anything special)." Johnson went on to say that if players don't pre-download, they'll get the same data when they patch up to 2.0.1. While Blizzard typically makes some features available once its pre-expansion patches go live, the meat of Reaper of Souls -- the new class, the new act, and adventure mode -- won't be playable until March 25th.
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| Firefall getting 'rare legendary weapon drops,' lots of other stuff [Updated] Posted: 09 Jan 2014 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Firefall  The team mentioned the MMO shooter's revamped progression curve, which has changed to the point that "you will feel the difference." In-game mailboxes, separate chat channels, "rare legendary weapon drops," and clicking-on-player-names-to-whisper are just a few of the features in the works. The game's HUD is now drag-and-droppable, and the crafting UI has a new and less confusing layout. There's more where that came from, too, so click through the links below to read all about it. [Update: The official site has updated with a dev blog outlining the Q&A!]
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| Legislation introduced to resolve 38 Studios lawsuit Posted: 09 Jan 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Legal, Miscellaneous  In more conversational terms, the bill states that if the defendants in the lawsuit settle out of court, they cannot be sued again in Rhode Island courts by other people over the closure of the company or other similar charges. Whether or not this will provide sufficient incentive for Curt Schilling and the other 13 defendants named in the lawsuit to simply settle remains to be seen.
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| The Stream Team: Searching the Savage Coast's Lair in The Secret World Posted: 09 Jan 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Video, The Secret World, Livestream, The Stream Team, Buy-to-Play  Game: The Secret World Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Thursday, January 9th, 2014 Time: 5:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Searching the Savage Coast's Lair in The Secret World
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| Study shows intense gaming can cause changes in real-life perception Posted: 09 Jan 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items, Virtual Worlds, MMOFPS, MMORTS, Miscellaneous, MOBA, MMORPG  Examples offered in the study, which was done by gathering 656 posts from 54 different forums, include a subject seeing the Mass Effect dialogue wheel in his or her mind during conversations and another mistaking in-flight airplanes for Modern Warfare 2 UAVs. Mentioned as a basis for the study are the visual "waviness" some gamers experience after long sessions with Guitar Hero, the "Tetris effect" that involves seeing how real-life items could stack after playing the famous puzzler, and "Minecraft sickness" in which gamers see square-shaped themes in everyday objects. The full study breaks down a number of different types of gaming after-effects as reported by participants and proposes that the effects can be caused by "the interplay of physiological, perceptual, and cognitive mechanisms."
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| Forbes: ESO's subscription model is just 'a compounding factor' to risk Posted: 09 Jan 2014 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Business Models, MMO Industry, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription, Pathfinder Online  Forbes contributor Paul Tassi casts doubt on the subscription chart estimates provided by Dancey, saying that they leave out costs and other factors and are mere guesses to boot. The article points out that virtually all newer MMOs have either launched with a hybrid or mictrotransaction model or have moved to free-to-play in recent years. "With rumors of a massive budget, indicators that the game itself isn't anything phenomenal, and the insistence of the subscription model across all platforms, I stand by my assertion that Elder Scrolls Online has the potential to be a huge miss for ZeniMax and Bethesda," the article concludes. "Honestly, even a free-to-play ESO would have seemed incredibly risky by itself, and the subscription fee is just a compounding factor."
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| The Stream Team: Electric lizard boogaloo in FFXIV's Halatali Posted: 09 Jan 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Final Fantasy XIV, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team  Game: Final Fantasy XIV Host: Jasmine Hruschak Date: Tuesday, December 31st, 2013 Time: 3:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Electric lizard boogaloo in FFXIV's Halatali
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights bomb(er) ships Posted: 09 Jan 2014 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Subscription  Various mines are available to bombers, ranging from straightforward damage mines to shield-and-power draining Ion Mines to seek-and-destroy Seeker Mines. Bombers can also field stationary Drones for both offensive and defensive purposes, with Sentry Drones taking shots at enemy ships and Repair Drones fixing up the hull of allied craft. Take a look at the full entry for more details, especially if you think you're the sort of player who might want to drop a bomb on someone.
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| Albion Online dishes out details on the game's mechanics Posted: 09 Jan 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, Mobile, Community Q&A  The core of Albion Online is that characters don't have specific levels or stats raised via levels; instead, everything comes down to what you can craft, which is increased as you gain more fame. According to the answers, unarmored characters will all have about 1000 life points. Items constantly degrade and can be looted by other players in combat, which means that there's always a drive to get more items, but finding more valuable materials will require a trek to more dangerous parts of the world. Check out the full list of answers for more details on how the designers look to keep the game lively and interesting. [Source: Sandbox Interactive press release]
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| Weekly updates coming to PlanetSide 2 Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2  Higby explains that the new schedule will have several benefits, starting with the team no longer requiring frequent hotfixes to take care of minor bugs and performance issues. It also means that each individual update will be a bit smaller, resulting in fewer moving pieces and a lower chance of introducing bugs with any given update. Larger features are still being developed, and they'll be moved into the new weekly schedule, but players will be able to expect at least something once a week.
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| Ask Massively: Giveaways, zombies, and capturing the spirit of Ultima Online Posted: 09 Jan 2014 10:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Ultima Online, Massively Meta, Ask Massively, Perpetuum, Miscellaneous, Sandbox  Holden asked, "Why has Perpetuum dropped off the map? I never hear about it anymore. The only time I even remember it is when I am doing searches for (more) robot/mech desktop wallpapers. Once monoclegate blew over, it was as if Perpetuum fell of the face of the earth, but it seems that it is still around from glancing at the website." This was such a good question that we went digging for an answer before we even added it to Ask Massively. It had been a long time since we'd reported on Perpetuum because it had been a long time since Perpetuum had made a big splash in the news. Readers speculated that the game's playerbase has shrunk over the last two years, but in fact over the winter holiday, developer Avatar Creations posted a dev blog detailing plans for a newbie tutorial island intended to bolster the new player population. Hopefully Holden and other fans of the game will enjoy this "island of noobs" (Avatar's words, not mine!). Continue reading Ask Massively: Giveaways, zombies, and capturing the spirit of Ultima Online
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| Legend of Edda closes its doors for good January 22nd Posted: 09 Jan 2014 09:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Sunsets  Legend of Edda closed down temporarily between 2011 and 2012 in order to overhaul and improve the game; unfortunately, this time the closure will be permanent. GamesCampus is currently in the process of working out compensation packages for all players who have been active for the past three months. [Thanks to Mehighlow for the tip!]
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