MMO Updates

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• The Tattered Notebook: What does a sandbox look like in Norrath?
• WRUP: You don't like that, that's dumb edition
• The Daily Grind: Do you play some games inactively?
• SOE Live 2012: Smedley assuages ProSiebenSat.1 concerns
• Betawatch: October 13 - 19, 2012
• New video shows off the role system of Darkfall Unholy Wars
• RaiderZ gears up for open beta with new video and screenshots
• PointMMO goes into open beta
• MMO Blender: A real-time Farmville MMO minus the Zynga
• World of Warcraft Mega Bloks commercial airs
• Hailan Rising raises funds for 'love-child of DAoC and CoD'
• The Firing Line: On Star Citizen, DUST 514, and DayZ

The Tattered Notebook: What does a sandbox look like in Norrath? Posted: 20 Oct 2012 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Expansions, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage, The Tattered Notebook, EverQuest Next, Sandbox Last night brought a flurry of new announcements for SOE titles, but one of the more curious moments was when SOE President John Smedley got to talking about EverQuest Next. He started off by bringing out two of the handful of screenshots that we've seen time and time again, and with a click of a button, made them evaporate into a shower of pixels, to be followed by a blank screen and the sound of crickets. In short, they went back to the drawing board. It's a bold move to take a year and a half of production and completely scrap it, especially at a time in the industry when the competition is so tight, but Smedley promised that what we'd see in the end would be unlike anything we've ever seen. Perhaps, though, we've already seen a glimpse of the future in the other two titles in the EQ franchise. What will the sandbox gameplay look like in EQ Next? I'll prognosticate below. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: What does a sandbox look like in Norrath? The Tattered Notebook: What does a sandbox look like in Norrath? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: You don't like that, that's dumb edition Posted: 20 Oct 2012 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous Oh, reading a book? What are you reading? No, you're not reading that. That's dumb. It's a stupid book because I don't like it, and if I don't like it it's not cool. Since you're also cool, you must not like it. Here, read this instead. It's super awesome and I like it. What do you mean I gave you the first book and told you it was awesome and you should read it? You're probably just delusional because you were reading something I think is dumb. That must be it. Look, let's just read WRUP. That's pretty cool, if you like seeing what the Massively staff is up to over the weekend and whether or not they like using premade builds in games. Plus, then you can let the staff know what you'll be up to over the weekend in the comments. You can like that. At least until I don't like it any more. Continue reading WRUP: You don't like that, that's dumb edition WRUP: You don't like that, that's dumb edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Do you play some games inactively? Posted: 20 Oct 2012 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous I can log into RIFT any time I want. I have my subscription active, and I'm perfectly happy to give Trion Worlds my money on a monthly basis. But my actual playtime with the game is spotty at best. Despite this, I still describe myself as playing the game, because I am still playing, just not in an active capacity. An inactive capacity, if you will. With free-to-play becoming the dominant business model in the MMO genre, it's easier than ever to be an inactive player in your game of choice. You jump in for a couple of days, let the game sit for a week, then jump back in without any real penalties. You don't have to stick with any game longer than you want to. Still, there are games that require a subscription to play, and some people will pop into a free-to-play game to buy new things and then jump right out. So what about you? Is there a game that keeps getting your money even though it's not an active part of your play rotation? 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: Do you play some games inactively? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Oct 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

SOE Live 2012: Smedley assuages ProSiebenSat.1 concerns Posted: 19 Oct 2012 07:30 PM PDT Filed under: Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage, Miscellaneous When announcing that European players can keep their accounts with Sony Online Entertainment during the move to ProSiebenSat.1, SOE President John Smedley specifically mentioned three games, concerning the players of other SOE titles. However, during an exclusive interview with Massively today, Smedley clarified that those three are not the only games involved. As he explained, those games were just the most topical, not the sole selections on an exclusive list. Players of other SOE games such as Vanguard can rest assured that they have the same opportunity to choose to stay with SOE. That answer covers all current titles that are already published, but what about future SOE titles? And how does the ProSieben partnership affect Station Access? And when will these changes be taking place for the different games? Continue reading for Smedley's insights on these matters. Continue reading SOE Live 2012: Smedley assuages ProSiebenSat.1 concerns SOE Live 2012: Smedley assuages ProSiebenSat.1 concerns originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Betawatch: October 13 - 19, 2012 Posted: 19 Oct 2012 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, News items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous It's official, ladies and gentlemen: You can talk about Storm Legion all you want without fear of an NDA breach. For RIFT players, this is obviously exciting news, and once the usual hate-filled threads about how awful the expansion will be have closed, you can look forward to all sorts of new tidbits. But it's not all about RIFT this week. WorldAlpha has announced dates for its alpha and beta testing, with the first alpha weekend kicking off on the 26th. The testing sequence should run roughly every other week through the end of the year, giving fans plenty of time to start testing the game and making their voices heard. This might ameliorate any MechWarrior Online fans despondent over the open beta testing delay. Not enough for you? RaiderZ is planning its open beta, Age of Wushu has extended its pre-order bonuses, and PlanetSide 2 has an official launch date. And there's a whole stew of other games in testing as you'll see just past the cut. Take a look, and if we've missed something, let us know down in the comments! Or just let us know what games you're looking forward to; that's also cool. Continue reading Betawatch: October 13 - 19, 2012 Betawatch: October 13 - 19, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

New video shows off the role system of Darkfall Unholy Wars Posted: 19 Oct 2012 05:30 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Darkfall, Classes, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items The large-scale revamp to Darkfall is on the horizon, but players looking forward to Darkfall Unholy Wars have gotten information in drips and drabs regarding how the game will play after the revamp. Luckily for those players, an official development blog has recently been posted detailing the new version's system of roles while showing off a bit of the gameplay in a new video. Every player will choose a role, and will then choose two schools from within that role: one as a primary and one as a secondary. Both schools have four abilities and an Ultimate ability, but the Ultimate is only available from the primary school. The secondary school abilities will also be a bit more restricted in their use. Want to see some of this in action? Then check out the video just past the cut, showing off some of the abilities of the Baresark school from the Warrior role. If you like hitting things with a large weapon, it's your sort of school. [Thanks to everyone that sent this in!] Continue reading New video shows off the role system of Darkfall Unholy Wars New video shows off the role system of Darkfall Unholy Wars originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Role System Description

RaiderZ gears up for open beta with new video and screenshots Posted: 19 Oct 2012 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, New titles, Free-to-play Are you getting excited for the open beta of RaiderZ on October 24th? If so, you might be even more excited to see some new screenshots and a new video trailer for the game. This new media highlights the city of Rietz, considered the Jewel of the Kingdom of Rendel. The high-level haven might look beautiful on the outside, but it houses some horrible creatures in the underground sewers. In addition to the screenshots below and the video after the jump, be sure to check out our own extensive RaiderZ coverage including video impressions, PAX East hands-on impressions, and much more. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release] Gallery: RaiderZ Gallery Continue reading RaiderZ gears up for open beta with new video and screenshots RaiderZ gears up for open beta with new video and screenshots originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PointMMO goes into open beta Posted: 19 Oct 2012 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Miscellaneous Despite what the name may have you believe, PointMMO is not a game but a digital distribution service specializing in online RPGs. Today the site announced that it has transitioned into open beta for those looking to test out its system and features. Currently, PointMMO's library is rather anemic, with its most well-known titles being World of Tanks, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and Allods Online. Some of the game pages include mentions of special promotions for signing up through the service, such as an Anarchy Online leets giveaway. PointMMO claims to offer the fastest way to get into MMOs with its downloader and comes with several social options that are integrated with Twitter and Facebook. The service is currently available only in North America, although the company plans to expand into Europe in 2013. PointMMO goes into open beta originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Open beta announcement

MMO Blender: A real-time Farmville MMO minus the Zynga Posted: 19 Oct 2012 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Real life, Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Casual, Virtual worlds, Miscellaneous, Sandbox, Crafting, MMO Blender Let's talk about FarmVille for a minute. Yes, I mean the Zynga-produced FarmVille, the one that helped social gaming become what it is today. There are a lot of things that have been said about the game, like "it's not even a game" or "it preys on gamer's addictive natures" and all sorts of sufficiently evil-sounding things. Say what you want about the evil monster that is Zynga and make all the jokes that you can about FarmVille and other social titles, but I want to tackle it from a different view. Let's look at it as the sandbox game that it is and use that example to invent a brand-new MMO, although I'm sure ours would not meet with even a fraction of the success that FarmVille has. FarmVille is arguably the most popular sandbox title in the world. We've defined "sandbox" a million times on this site, but it's easy to see just how open and flexible FarmVille is. Is it limited to the confines of its unique set of tools and designs? Of course, but so is every sandbox. FarmVille has successfully introduced the wonders of sandbox gaming to people who might never give a similarly described game a chance. Continue reading MMO Blender: A real-time Farmville MMO minus the Zynga MMO Blender: A real-time Farmville MMO minus the Zynga originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

World of Warcraft Mega Bloks commercial airs Posted: 19 Oct 2012 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, Culture, Crafting Don't call them "LEGOs" or "Blocks," although we would forgive you if you did make one of these common mistakes when dealing with Mega Bloks. The definitely-not-LEGO toymaker is releasing a series of World of Warcraft sets and now has the commercial to prove it. The 30-second spot shows the creation of Stormwind castle, one of the Horde zeppelins, and several action figures of WoW characters (including Arthas). Each has interchangable armor, which is right in step for what you'd expect from an MMO franchise. Spare 30 seconds to watch it after the jump and decide if you're going to buy a few of these for... a lucky little boy or girl whom you might know. Continue reading World of Warcraft Mega Bloks commercial airs World of Warcraft Mega Bloks commercial airs originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

Hailan Rising raises funds for 'love-child of DAoC and CoD' Posted: 19 Oct 2012 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, New titles, PvP MMO Kickstarter projects are coming out of the woodwork now, and each one has to sell its concept to would-be donors or else face possible extinction. Today's scrappy contender is Hailan Rising, the "love-child of Dark Age of Camelot and Call of Duty," according to the devs. Hailan Rising is a fantasy PvP MMO that ditches classes and levels for a more level (but not equal) playing field. It features instant action, strategic territory control, randomized loot, and over four billion possible character builds. The game is built on the Unity 3-D engine. The project is being worked on by a couple of MMO studio vets: Adam Smith (Knight Online) and Jess Mulligan (Asheron's Call, Ultima Online). Mulligan said she was attracted to the title's unique PvP mechanic, adding that "this is the fastest and most competitive PvP environment I've ever seen in an MMO." The team's Reloaded studio is looking to raise $275,000 to finish the game for a potential 2013 launch on Mac and PC. If the stretch goal is met, the developers are eyeing mobile platforms as well. Hailan Rising has been in development since 2010. [Additional source: Reloaded press release] Hailan Rising raises funds for 'love-child of DAoC and CoD' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Hailan Rising Kickstarter

The Firing Line: On Star Citizen, DUST 514, and DayZ Posted: 19 Oct 2012 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Horror, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Opinion, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox, The Firing Line Welcome back to The Firing Line, folks. While I don't have any nifty sequel announcements or contentious community issues for you this week, I do have some interesting tidbits on three upcoming shooters that you might have missed. Join me after the cut for a chat about Star Citizen's hardcore aspirations, DUST 514's PC potential, and DayZ's upcoming standalone client. Continue reading The Firing Line: On Star Citizen, DUST 514, and DayZ The Firing Line: On Star Citizen, DUST 514, and DayZ originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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