MMO Updates

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• Rise and Shiny: The West
• One Shots: Interior decoration
• The Daily Grind: What's your favorite weapon?
• Ultima Online gives much love to housing
• The Mog Log: Final Fantasy nostalgia
• The Tattered Notebook: Pitfalls of powerleveling in EQII
• The Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict

Rise and Shiny: The West Posted: 20 Jan 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Historical, Real life, Screenshots, Video, Previews, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Mobile, Casual, Guides, Rise and Shiny, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Sandbox I've been on a browser-based kick, more so than normal. Thanks to my Chromebook series, I have been rediscovering the joys of all-in-one gaming. I'm so tired of messing with bloated, heavy machines that do nothing but suck up my money. The future of gaming is light, thin, and still capable of playing MMOs. I've had just as much fun now as I ever have on larger machines. One of the unique games I've rediscovered is The West, a browser-based sandbox set in the wild West days of the United States. Gameplay is simple yet effective, and I love how the game uses basic graphics alongside deep gameplay. Innogames, the game's publisher, has been offering a unique batch of games for a while, all available within the browser or mobile. Let me tell you what I found while crawling through the great vistas of The West. Continue reading Rise and Shiny: The West Rise and Shiny: The West originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

One Shots: Interior decoration Posted: 20 Jan 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, EverQuest II, Culture, Vanguard, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Miscellaneous You can go after a game's mechanics, a game's sound, and even a game's grammar, but when you go after a game's looks, well, then you're treading on One Shots territory. And when that happens, you'd best tread lightly, my friends. Reader John took umbrage with Matt's take on Vanguard, especially in regard to its art design, and sent in proof to rebut it: "Having started a new character in Vanguard over the weekend, I set out to prove that, just perhaps, Vanguard isn't quite as ugly as Matt Daniel seems to think. It would be a shame if people got the wrong impression, after all." Personally, I adore Vanguard's aesthetic, but not everyone shares that opinion, nor should he -- to each his own, right? Hit the jump to see John's screenshot in its full glory as well as many other terrific player-submitted pictures! Continue reading One Shots: Interior decoration One Shots: Interior decoration originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Jan 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What's your favorite weapon? Posted: 20 Jan 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous In each of my MMOs, I know my weapons intimately. In Star Trek Online, it's a plasma railgun that spits glowy death at 5,000 shots a minute. In Lord of the Rings Online, it's a legendary spear that I've named Metroid. In Guild Wars 2, it's a ferocious flamethrower that's laid waste to most of the civilized world. Burn, baby, burn! Sometimes we're constrained by class and available drops to what weapons we equip, but chances are that you've had a favorite or two in there. Maybe it was a weapon that had a cool design or proc'd a neat effect when used. Perhaps it's something that took you a lot of effort to acquire or create. Or it could just be a weapon that completely gels with your personality. Open up the door to your armory -- and heart -- and sound off about your favorite weapon! 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: What's your favorite weapon? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Jan 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ultima Online gives much love to housing Posted: 19 Jan 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Previews, Ultima Online, Dev Diaries, Housing Ultima Online is well-known for being a player housing paradise, and it looks like the ability to make a comfy nest for oneself will get even better with the next game update. Producer Bonnie Armstrong posted a preview of what players should expect in the near future. The big news is that the UO team is considering allowing players to have houses on both Siege Perilous and standard shards, opening up the possibilities for multiple home ownership. Houses will also get a new theme pack that includes interactive gadgets. The art team continues to work on hi-res versions of house items, although this is "slow going" as it's a huge project. The UO team is also working on revamps to weapons and armor, the ability for players to run for ambassadorships of towns, new instruments, and a new global arc. Ultima Online gives much love to housing originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jan 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Letter from the producer

The Mog Log: Final Fantasy nostalgia Posted: 19 Jan 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Expansions, Game mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Dungeons There's nothing quite like Final Fantasy XI. Nor is there anything quite like Final Fantasy XIV. The two are similar enough that you can use one as a substitute for the other in a pinch, but both possess a certain feel that just isn't found in any other game. That's neither good nor bad; it just is. Watching the trailer for Seekers of Adoulin gave me a powerful blast of Final Fantasy XI nostalgia, and while I could wax poetic about how the game I remember isn't the game that exists any longer, that's not really the point. The point is that for all the frustrations of the games, there's a lot of joy in both. So today I just plucked my top five memories from both FFXI and Final Fantasy XIV to share with you, since I bet that some of you have the same sort of glowing nostalgia. Even if you don't want the good old days to come back (I sure don't), you can still remember them with a smile. Continue reading The Mog Log: Final Fantasy nostalgia The Mog Log: Final Fantasy nostalgia originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Tattered Notebook: Pitfalls of powerleveling in EQII Posted: 19 Jan 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Game mechanics, Endgame, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Tattered Notebook Two weeks ago I closed my handy tips and tricks guide by encouraging players to shun power-leveling in EverQuest II. At that point, I touched on the issue by talking about how you miss so much of the game by skipping all the stories and lore in the quests. I even cautioned that people hesitate to group with someone who doesn't yet know his or her class. But the reasons to avoid it go so much deeper than what I mentioned there. There are definite pitfalls when characters are power-leveled, even for the folks who have other max-level characters! Some may be wondering why this topic is hot enough at the moment to warrant more of my attention. As those of you who read level 1-9 chat already know, there was recently a massive surge in power-leveling services and a population explosion of max-level characters, all due to the unexpected consequences of combining the new experimentation crafting prestige line with playing as your character in the Dungeon Maker. While this latest power-leveling scheme has been negated (thanks to last Tuesday's patch), many folks are feeling the fallout of using the service. Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Pitfalls of powerleveling in EQII The Tattered Notebook: Pitfalls of powerleveling in EQII originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jan 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict Posted: 19 Jan 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor It's been months since Riders of Rohan greatly expanded Lord of the Rings Online in several ways, and I have yet to touch on its most central feature. I've been putting off having "the talk" about mounted combat due to wanting to spend enough time with it. Every week I thought about putting down my opinion, and then I'd be like, "No, I should give it some more time. More time." Mounted combat is a tricky system to judge, I'm finding. It's so incredibly central to the newest expansion, and it's clear that Turbine has big plans to expand upon this system for the future. It certainly was a gutsy risk to introduce a new mode of fighting into the game at this juncture (because we all know how much people like change), and I've seen people all over the spectrum on it. Some love it, some loathe it, some resent it, and some gamely accept it. I think I've clocked enough time on horseback at this point to deliver my own verdict on mounted combat. Well, a partial verdict at least. It's never a good thing to settle on a final opinion on something that's constantly growing and changing, right? Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict The Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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