MMO Updates |
- All Final Fantasy XIV account holders can log in for free this weekend
- Player guide explains Mabinogi 2 Arena gameplay
- Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play on November 15
- Funcom talks Secret World raid mechanics in new dev blog
- New Asta gameplay clips revealed at G-Star 2012
- ZeniMax releases nine-minute Elder Scrolls Online preview clip
- Blizzard's successful third quarter powered by Diablo III, new expansion mentioned
- Icarus Online G-Star trailer highlights aerial combat
- 100% of WoW's Cinder Kitten sales to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief
- BioWare Mythic is now just Mythic
- The Daily Grind: Do you partake of MMORPG politics?
- RuneScape announces launch date for Evolution of Combat patch
- Choose My Adventure: The Guild Wars 2 way
- Guild Wars 2 is getting a refer-a-friend free trial weekend
- Investor call reports World of Warcraft subscriptions back above 10 million
- Star Wars: The Old Republic dev blog outlines upcoming F2P transition
- Total Recall Online trailer shows off the game for the first time
- Massively Exclusive: Uncharted Waters Online sails to China
- Perfect World International welcomes the Sirens of War
- A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The story of City of Heroes that wasn't
- InnoGames claims over 100 million players served
- Free for All: Five gripes about DC Universe Online
- DayZ cracks down on 'Bounty' mod
- WildStar Wednesday details the split between the Dominion and the Exiles
- SWTOR developers talk about update 1.5
- Enter at Your Own Rift: Storm Legion zone guide
- SOE shows off EverQuest II's afterlife in new expansion video
| All Final Fantasy XIV account holders can log in for free this weekend Posted: 08 Nov 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Final Fantasy XIV  It sounds pretty serious, and we guess it is, given the fact that A Realm Reborn is almost upon us. To mark the occasion, Square is throwing open FFXIV's gates to all account holders regardless of whether or not they possess an active subscription. Beginning early tomorrow (3:00 a.m. EST, to be exact), you can log into FFXIV and say your goodbyes to its current incarnation. Don't delay, though, as the opportunity expires along with the original servers early Monday morning. Be aware that "any progress made will not carry over to A Realm Reborn." [Thanks to Lior for the tip!]
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| Player guide explains Mabinogi 2 Arena gameplay Posted: 08 Nov 2012 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Mabinogi, Vindictus  The guide maps out the keyboard controls for both attacks and counter moves; fighting is controlled by only seven keys (X, Z, C, and 1-4), with one more (Q) bound to consuming potions. It also highlights one of Mabinogi 2 Arena's unique features -- the fact that attack animations change depending on where an enemy is situated and what condition it is in (such as stunned). Once in battle, Mabinogi veterans will recognize that mobs glowing different colors signifies which skill or action the mobs are using.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play on November 15 Posted: 08 Nov 2012 08:02 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Business models, Economy, Interviews, Free-to-play, Massively Interviews, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dev Diaries  Christine and Producer Cory Butler discussed F2P and Update 1.5 with us yesterday. They explained that BioWare is looking to expose their game to the widest audience possible, so they are allowing everyone to download the game for no charge, then play the level 1-to-50 game without having to purchase anything. The producers also gave us a tour of the SWTOR cash shop called the Cartel Market and introduced us to Cartel Coins, the cash shop currency. As we spoke to the pair from BioWare, they eagerly answered our questions about what we could find on the Cartel Market, how much items cost, and other concerns regarding pay-to-win and convenience. Keep reading if you're interested in all the shiny details of the changes coming to SWTOR next week. Continue reading Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play on November 15
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| Funcom talks Secret World raid mechanics in new dev blog Posted: 08 Nov 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries, Dungeons  Designer Graeme Lennon (whose previous work includes the Hell Fallen and Facility dungeons) is your guide, and he dishes on the long gestation period for the NYC content as well as some of the lore behind it. He also says that Funcom is trying to strike a balance between endgame challenge and accessibility, and "as a result, the statistical difficulty has not been balanced around full endgame gear." Lennon explains that the fight features significant mechanical complexity and requirements on par with TSW's tier-one nightmare mode instances. Read all about it on the game's official website.
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| New Asta gameplay clips revealed at G-Star 2012 Posted: 08 Nov 2012 07:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items  MMO Culture calls it an "Asian World of Warcraft," and this is borne out in the new trailer and gameplay clips released today. Hangame has built Asta on the CryEngine 3, and the game eschews the new hotness of action MMO combat for a more traditional tab-targeting system. Get a load of some gameplay footage after the cut. Continue reading New Asta gameplay clips revealed at G-Star 2012
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| ZeniMax releases nine-minute Elder Scrolls Online preview clip Posted: 08 Nov 2012 07:05 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Elder Scrolls Online  Today the firm has published the clip for the first time, and it features a mixture of fly-through footage, talking head interviews with creative director Paul Sage and lead designer Nick Konkle, and snippets of PvE and PvP gameplay too. See for yourself after the break. Continue reading ZeniMax releases nine-minute Elder Scrolls Online preview clip
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| Blizzard's successful third quarter powered by Diablo III, new expansion mentioned Posted: 08 Nov 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Diablo III  Blizzard's Diablo III and its Mists of Pandaria expansion for World of Warcraft are the major revenue drivers, with the former selling over 10 million copies and claiming the mantle of best-selling game in both North America and Europe. Blizzard president Mike Morhaime, speaking on the firm's latest earnings call, said that there is "an expansion planned for Diablo." He didn't elaborate, though, citing the "quality of the expansion and the gameplay" as major factors in determining any sort of development or release schedule.
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| Icarus Online G-Star trailer highlights aerial combat Posted: 08 Nov 2012 06:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items  MMO Culture reports that one of Icarus' selling points is aerial combat, and the new G-Star 2012 vid reflects as much. Icarus Online is built on the CryEngine 3, and Steparu says that it features point-and-click combat on the ground and "non-targeting" combat in the skies. Head past the cut for the new trailer as well as a second video showing both ground-based combat and the game's UI. Continue reading Icarus Online G-Star trailer highlights aerial combat
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| 100% of WoW's Cinder Kitten sales to benefit Hurricane Sandy relief Posted: 08 Nov 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items  The cuteling isn't for sale in World of Warcraft quite yet, but our sister site WoW Insider says that it will go for $10. Blizzard will be donating 100 percent of the proceeds to the relief effort.
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| BioWare Mythic is now just Mythic Posted: 08 Nov 2012 05:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, News items, Miscellaneous  In a blurb on the official Warhammer Online website, community manager Kai Schober writes that BioWare Mythic will henceforth be known as Mythic, which is a return to the studio's pre-2010 days before it merged with BioWare and adopted the parent company's name as its prefix. "In the wake of a new focus our studio has recently changed its name from BioWare Mythic to Mythic. Everything else stays the same -- our passionate teams will continue to support and develop our existing titles as well as working on some new and exciting projects," Schober writes.
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| The Daily Grind: Do you partake of MMORPG politics? Posted: 08 Nov 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  While more titles are transforming the nebulous concept of player politics into hard-coded systems, most of said systems are aimed at endgame players rather than the proletariat. For today's Daily Grind, we'd love to hear about your experience with MMO political systems. Do you use them, or are they just another feature on the back of the metaphorical box?  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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| RuneScape announces launch date for Evolution of Combat patch Posted: 07 Nov 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Browser  So what can players expect? Abilities are replacing the special attacks found on weapons with several new options for battle, and a new resource (Adrenaline) will go into activating your more powerful combat skills. Characters will also be able to make full use of both hands via dual-wielding, offering more aggressive options as well as more equipment options for mages. The announcement also promises a livestream this weekend to help players learn about and understand the changes before they go live in a couple weeks. [Thanks to Andrew for the tip!]
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| Choose My Adventure: The Guild Wars 2 way Posted: 07 Nov 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Polls, Screenshots, Video, Guild Wars 2, Choose My Adventure  The jarring emptiness of Metrica Province has left me wondering whether some of GW2's events are scaling improperly, are set too high, or aren't scaling at all. Nevertheless, there were plenty of events for me to take part in, and they've been my main source of experience for this week's Choose My Adventure. I've also come across some bugs and glitches that Massively's resident GW2 expert, Elisabeth Cardy, has helped me with. My greatsword is proving incredibly handy, mixed with clones of myself to distract the Inquest and random grumpy animals. I couldn't resist zapping some of the innocent critters littering the landscape. I'm sorry. Pippy is a sad, depressed, maybe narcissistic little Mesmer. Every once in a while, he takes his aggression out on the local fauna. Setting up a reasonable amount of polls is proving to be difficult. There are so many options for traits, weapons, and skills. It's staggering. Instead of trying to be all-inclusive for every aspect of the game, I'm trying to take into consideration how readers feel from votes and comments and use that as a guide. So what has Pippy has gotten himself into this week? Continue reading Choose My Adventure: The Guild Wars 2 way
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| Guild Wars 2 is getting a refer-a-friend free trial weekend Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play  All accounts in good standing created before 2:59 a.m. EST November 7th are eligible to participate. We'll keep you posted as more details come in.
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| Investor call reports World of Warcraft subscriptions back above 10 million Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:15 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items  Is it all because of Mists of Pandaria? Not quite; because of the way that the quarters are spaced out, the expansion is still a fresh release, and we won't know until the beginning of 2013 how much of a bump it gave to the game's overall numbers. The company as a whole also saw positive revenue from Diablo III and the Skylanders franchise, while Call of Duty titles have experienced a slight downturn.
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| Star Wars: The Old Republic dev blog outlines upcoming F2P transition Posted: 07 Nov 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic  BioWare will be rolling out Star Wars: The Old Republic's official transition to a free-to-play business model very soon, so today the game's lead designer, Damion Schubert, has put out a new developer update apprising players of the status of SWTOR's F2P incarnation. In this new missive, Schubert lays out two of the core rules held by the development team behind the free-to-play revamp. First off, the team wants to ensure that all players can reach level 50 without paying a single dime if they so desire. Of course, subscribers will have some advantages over F2P players (such as an increased rate of XP gain, extra hotbars, and so forth), but the team is adamant about ensuring that all players can experience the entirety of BioWare's intricately crafted story without digging into their wallets. Secondly, the team aims to ensure that subscribers will not see any degradation in the quality of their gameplay experience, which includes making sure that subscribers don't feel obligated to make Cartel Market purchases in order to remain competitive. Schubert confidently asserts that the team "not only met these goals... but exceeded expectations." We'll find out for sure soon enough, but for now, head on over to the official post to find out what to expect when SWTOR goes free-to-play later this month.
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| Total Recall Online trailer shows off the game for the first time Posted: 07 Nov 2012 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Interviews, Lore, MMO industry, New titles, Browser  The two factions -- The Resistance and The Federal Government -- are said to be set up with good and bad on both sides, opening up the world of morality and ethics to players. Producer K.J. Lin speaks about the features we can most look forward to, including vehicles like magnetic hover cars and motorcycles, companions to act as bodyguards, three main classes that will grow and change according to your faction and game choices, and much more. Give the entire video trailer a look after the cut below and check out some tracks from the game's soundtrack while you're at it. Continue reading Total Recall Online trailer shows off the game for the first time
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| Massively Exclusive: Uncharted Waters Online sails to China Posted: 07 Nov 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Historical, Patches, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries  To uncover all of El Oriente's secrets, Tecmo Koei's Director of Production Takeda Tomakazu has a look at the update and the real-world history behind it. Hit the jump for this exclusive dev diary! Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Uncharted Waters Online sails to China
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| Perfect World International welcomes the Sirens of War Posted: 07 Nov 2012 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Perfect World International, Patches, Previews, PvP, Free-to-play  Sirens of War is scheduled for November 14th, and includes more skills, more quests, and a pretty nifty Nation Wars PvP feature. The devs' biggest goal for the update is to make combat more exciting and leveling quicker across the board. We've got a video. You know you want to see the video. So here comes the video. The video is coming. [Source: Perfect World press release] Continue reading Perfect World International welcomes the Sirens of War
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| A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The story of City of Heroes that wasn't Posted: 07 Nov 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Lore, Opinion, Free-to-play, A Mild-Mannered Reporter  Lore is an important part of what makes superheroes work, after all. That sense of a bigger world, that sequence of big events that rewrite the world as a whole every so often, the cadence of enemies rising and falling. There's a certain feel to superhero universes, one that City of Heroes had to replicate without shamelessly copying another world -- and the team at Paragon Studios succeeded in doing just that. Unfortunately, we're never going to see all of the revelations in the game that could have stretched on for many more years, but the recent lore AMA answered a lot of lingering questions about the game's universe and backstory. So as we enter our final month, yeah, I'd like to look at that. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The story of City of Heroes that wasn't
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| InnoGames claims over 100 million players served Posted: 07 Nov 2012 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Browser  InnoGames' roster includes Forge of Empires, which accounts for five million of those players alone. The company hopes to add three more titles next year and grow its staff from 200 to 280 people. [Source: InnoGames press release]
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| Free for All: Five gripes about DC Universe Online Posted: 07 Nov 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Bugs, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Humor, DC Universe Online, Free for All, Miscellaneous  This is no perfect relationship, however. I have some issues with the game. Of course I am not a typical player and have not yet climbed my way to the top of the level mountain, so many of the issues I have will more-than-likely not be the same issues most other gamers have. I just don't worry about stuff like lock-out timers or loot drops. That stuff's all part of the math of the game, and that bores me. No, my gripes stem from customization or making the game your own. So, at the risk of making it seem like I dislike the game in some way, here's my list of five things I want to see either go away or be remedied. Continue reading Free for All: Five gripes about DC Universe Online
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| DayZ cracks down on 'Bounty' mod Posted: 07 Nov 2012 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Business models, Culture, New titles, MMOFPS, Miscellaneous  DayZ Bounty requires players to pay per life but offers income in return if the gamer is good enough to take out NPCs and other humans. Co-creator James Ortiz said that it made the game far more interesting: "We figured that if people had a value on their life... there'd be something to fear besides the zombies." Unfortunately for the Bounty team, DayZ's creators are calling for an end to the mod. A spokeperson for the development team said that Bounty "undermined" the title, and asked for a cessation of the project. "It changes the focus of DayZ from being a creative, enjoyable, gritty gaming experience to a game that is based almost solely on financial gain," the spokesperson explained, "and that is not something we want to be associated with."
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| WildStar Wednesday details the split between the Dominion and the Exiles Posted: 07 Nov 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, Previews, News items, Dev Diaries, WildStar  The Exiles, as it turns out, were originally citizens of the Dominion's capital planet, Cassus. Unpopular Dominion policies led to riots on Cassus, which culminated in the retired Admiral Serrick Brightland stealing his flagship from drydock and leading several other traitors on military raids against Dominion holdings. Brightland succeeded in hurting the Dominion, but without a home base to fall back on, his fleet was forced to flee, becoming the Exile fleet scouring the fringe of the galaxy for a new home. Take a look at the full article for details about Brightland's last stand and the core of the conflict between these two factions.
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| SWTOR developers talk about update 1.5 Posted: 07 Nov 2012 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Patches, Endgame, News items, PvE, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dev Diaries  Star Wars: The Old Republic's game update 1.5, HK-51 Activated, is looming ever-closer. To stir up some interest, the dev team has released information about the new HK-51 companion and the patch's graphical updates. Now it's time for a look at the big picture. A new developer dispatch gives the down-low on what players can expect the update to bring to PvE. A big feature of HK-51 Activated will be Section X on Belsavis, the site of the Republic's first attempt at a prison colony. Now the area will play home to new Dread Master antics. The area is meant to be "darker" and "edgier" than other content players have encountered and is being touted as the "coolest-looking area" in the game. Players will also find the wreck of the Fatality, which sets them off on a very special venture. (Hint: You're going to track down a legion of HK-51 assassin droids, and this whole thing is called HK-51 Activated, and you know that at some point you get an HK-51 companion.) Players will be introduced to multiplayer quests during which they have to work together to move through an area without setting off traps or activating alarms. A new world boss, Dreadtooth, will be introduced. When Dreadtooth is killed, he respawns with a stack of Dreadful Resurgence, which makes him harder to kill every time he respawns with players in the area. Those stacks will dwindle if players leave, or they can be deliberately increased to make encounters more interesting. If interesting is what you like, you'll also find nightmare mode available for Operation: Explosive Conflict. Skip below the cut to hear the developers talk about the patch! Continue reading SWTOR developers talk about update 1.5
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| Enter at Your Own Rift: Storm Legion zone guide Posted: 07 Nov 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Previews, Opinion, RIFT, Guides, Enter at Your Own Rift  RIFT's expansion has a lot of exciting content, but I think what will surprise people is the sheer scope of the world. I journeyed through every zone (except for The Dendrome, which was still closed) and put together a brief guide of what I saw, which hopefully will make it easier to get started in the new areas. Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Storm Legion zone guide
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| SOE shows off EverQuest II's afterlife in new expansion video Posted: 07 Nov 2012 09:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, EverQuest II, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, PvE, Free-to-play  "When you get to Ethernere, you really have to question whether this is reality or not," says McCall, before going on to describe the Obol Plains and the Eidolon Jungle with terms like "lush" and "technicolor." It's not all bright colors and happy fun times, though, as SOE also shows off some eerie grayscale locations and plenty of fearsome mobs. See all that and more in the clip after the cut. Continue reading SOE shows off EverQuest II's afterlife in new expansion video
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