MMO Updates

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• Flameseeker Chronicles: A visit from Toymaker Tixx
• Jukebox Heroes: Christmas music
• The Daily Grind: So what did you get?
• Not So Massively: Merry Christmas, Frostivus, Greeviling, and Snowdown!
• Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's PvP community steps up
• Leaderboard: Good guys vs. bad guys in open PvP
• Chaos Theory: The Secret World's buy-to-play keeps getting better

Flameseeker Chronicles: A visit from Toymaker Tixx Posted: 25 Dec 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles 'Twas late in the night, and throughout Rata Sum not a creature was stirring -- no, not even one. The garlands were laid out, the decorations prepared, for, on the morrow, Wintersday would be there. The progeny slumbered, snug in their beds, while schematics of golems danced in their heads. I'd bid goodnight to my krewe and turned off my station and made myself ready for light hibernation when from outside my lab there arose such a clatter I sent my VAL-A to see what was the matter. It rose at my bidding and trundled outside and called out, "ALERT. DISTURBANCE UN-I-DEN-TI-FIED." Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: A visit from Toymaker Tixx Flameseeker Chronicles: A visit from Toymaker Tixx originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jukebox Heroes: Christmas music Posted: 25 Dec 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Final Fantasy XI, MapleStory, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Miscellaneous, League of Legends, Jukebox Heroes, Music Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the staff at Jukebox Heroes! When it comes to the season, I have to admit that I'm a bit of a Christmas music junkie. Not nearly as bad as some I know, and I'm totally for a ban of hearing such music in public spaces before Thanksgiving and after New Year's Eve. I just love how it's so cheery and makes me feel warm in my tummy. A couple of months ago when I realized that this column would fall on Christmas day, I entertained the notion of just featuring MMO Christmas music. That seemed a bit silly to me; there's no way that there could be more than a scarce handful of tunes, right? It turns out that there's quite a bit, actually. So whether you're celebrating, taking some time just to game, or bored out of your gourd, why not hit the jump and see how MMOs have contributed to the enormous library of Christmas music? Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Christmas music Jukebox Heroes: Christmas music originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Dec 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: So what did you get? Posted: 25 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Humor, Miscellaneous It's a big holiday for a lot of people today, and the Massively offices are quiet while we engage in traditional and not-so-traditional festivities. The Massively staffers are not as quiet as many of us have been giving and receiving gifts from our family, friends, loved ones, and random strangers (shouts of woohoo can be heard all the way through the internets). And odds are good that a good chunk of our readers are doing the same. Of course, if the people in your life know you, they probably got you a gift that has something to do with gaming because of course they did. So today we're just throwing open the doors and asking you to just brag. What's the best gaming-related gift you received this holiday season? Was it a new game you've been waiting for? An old game you couldn't find? An accessory? A game system? Or was it a humble in-game gift from a friend or family member playing the same game, proving that it's really the thought that counts over the physical value of something? 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: So what did you get? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Dec 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Not So Massively: Merry Christmas, Frostivus, Greeviling, and Snowdown! Posted: 24 Dec 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, New titles, Patches, PvP, News items, PvE, Dev Diaries, Not So Massively, Sandbox, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III Dota 2's Frostivus holiday festival turned sour when Greevils stole all the presents, and you can hunt them down for both naughty and nice rewards. Heroes of Newerth was hit by a real-life Grinch this week as hackers breached the game's security and stole the password database, but developers pressed on with their Christmas update and the release of new hero Lodestone. League of Legends got in the Snowdown spirit with a spotlight on new melee initiator Vi, and Riot Games revealed plans to slow down new champion releases and make older champions significantly cheaper. Elite: Dangerous faces a tense holiday season, with over £300,000 ($484,000) still left to raise on its Kickstarter campaign, which is currently trending to end at a nail-biting 90%. The wealth of recent video updates and trailers should help convince people to pledge before it's too late. Diablo III's first big item duplication scandal reared its ugly head when as it emerged that some Taiwanese players had been abusing the anti-theft rollback support that's meant to protect people when their accounts are hacked. A short interview with Jay Wilson from the Spike Video Game Awards also emerged this week, and in it Jay promised that 2013 will be a big year for the game. Continue reading Not So Massively: Merry Christmas, Frostivus, Greeviling, and Snowdown! Not So Massively: Merry Christmas, Frostivus, Greeviling, and Snowdown! originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's PvP community steps up Posted: 24 Dec 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Podcasts, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Rumors, Captain's Log Three weeks away from home and any legitimate connection to the internet can certainly make one feel a bit disjointed. However, I've discovered it can actually be a bit more disconcerting trying to reintegrate into the previous patterns that existed before the break was taken. When I left on my vacation, I seriously anticipated that very little news about Star Trek Online would occur. I expected the news about the 2012 Winter Event to come out, sure, but what I didn't expect was all of the other little bits of news that seemed to blindside me when I got back last week. Join me while I go over a few of the more interesting tidbits -- from the grassroots effort to reinvigorate PvP in Star Trek Online to the changes made to Foundry rewards. Continue reading Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's PvP community steps up Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's PvP community steps up originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Leaderboard: Good guys vs. bad guys in open PvP Posted: 24 Dec 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-play, Sandbox, Leaderboard, Age of Wushu Age of Wushu has an abundance of interesting MMO mechanics, chief among them a PK penalty system that puts players in virtual jail if they're caught murdering their fellows. The mechanic is a crucial part of the game's PvP system, and as Massively columnist Patrick Mackey explained in his beta preview, it's a novel approach for preventing an open PvP world from devolving into a gank-fest. The system also allows for player alignment to actually mean something beyond a number on a character sheet or a statement in a bio, and in Age of Wushu you really can be a bad guy or a good guy and use your powers to affect your fellow gamers. That brings us to today's Leaderboard question. Assuming you play open PvP games, or games with meaningful alignment systems, how do you generally present yourself? Do you play the good guy? The bad guy? Do you stay neutral if the option exists? Vote after the cut! Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard! Continue reading Leaderboard: Good guys vs. bad guys in open PvP Leaderboard: Good guys vs. bad guys in open PvP originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Chaos Theory: The Secret World's buy-to-play keeps getting better Posted: 24 Dec 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Horror, Real life, Business models, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Secret World, Chaos Theory 12/12/12 While many folks (including Creative Director Joel Bylos) have been focusing on the slightly similar but transposed date, this triple sequence of 12s is actually the most pivotal one for The Secret World fans. You see, even though all the end-of-days hoopla and special events are pretty dang cool, what transpired on the 12th has the most lasting impact on everyone far and wide; it is, in fact, what allows more folks to be a part of said special events. It was on that wintry Wednesday that The Secret World tossed subscriptions out the window and switched to a buy-to-play model. Pay once; play forever. That's a pretty sweet deal in itself, right? But if you thought Funcom was stopping there, you'd be wrong. The company is continuing to refine the new model and proving it's listening to the concerns and desires of players at the same time. This weekend's announcement of three refinements to the buy-to-play model details how. Continue reading Chaos Theory: The Secret World's buy-to-play keeps getting better Chaos Theory: The Secret World's buy-to-play keeps getting better originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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