MMO Updates |
- Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar to feature 'personalized multiplayer'
- PlanetSide 2 rocks: An interview with composer Jeff Broadbent
- Epic 30-minute Blade & Soul video shows off cinematics, gameplay
- One Shots: Dancing with my homies
- The Daily Grind: Should games periodically update their tutorials?
- DayZ's zombies are getting smarter -- and hungrier
- Wings Over Atreia: From Shugos to splitting up, Aion's instances are evolving
- Marvel Heroes shows off Iron Man in action
- The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's buffet of foodstuffs
- The Game Archaeologist: GameLine
| Garriott's Shroud of the Avatar to feature 'personalized multiplayer' Posted: 10 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Roleplaying, Sandbox, Crowdfunding  Why all the excitement? It would be easy to single out Lord British's Ultima pedigree, but it's also worth noting that the project itself seems to be aiming for those old-school gamers who are feeling a little left out due to the homogenization of current-gen MMOs. Garriott recently spoke to GamesIndustry.biz and elaborated on Shroud of the Avatar's mechanics, which he described as "personalized multiplayer" rather than massively multiplayer. The game is "the antithesis of what people have been doing with MMOs these last few years," Garriott explained. "They not only build every stitch of technology from scratch, they build a giant world, and they build them all in the exact same horrifically difficult but no longer impressive model. At one time it was brilliant, but now they're all the same." Shroud will have Garriott staples like a classless character system, virtues, housing, and extensive crafting, but it won't have thousands of players thrown together on a typical MMO-like server. There is no server where everyone that is connected that happens to walk onto the same map will all see each other. If you do that it's terribly complicated and it's largely a waste of time for you. If you're walking on the streets of New York you don't really care about most of the people going by the other way. The only people you care about are the people you've met before or you are likely to meet again in the future. We can determine that by whatever information you're willing to give us, and if you're not willing to give us information we'll use a heuristic to pull people into your current play space. It's much cheaper, for you and for us, and much more likely to be relevant to you."Garriott also says that while you can play Shroud of the Avatar offline, it will still be persistent. "Everyone's in the same world," he notes. "If you log on just once a month, you'll have downloaded the current state of affairs of ownership and the current blueprint of people's houses. Everyone who has a shop that sells things, whatever it is that has been built up in the world you'll get to see. Your world will advance because of the contributions of other players."
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| PlanetSide 2 rocks: An interview with composer Jeff Broadbent Posted: 10 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-fi, Interviews, Free-to-play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2, Jukebox Heroes, Music  Whether or not the musicians and audio team succeeded is, of course, your personal opinion, but it's hard not to be impressed with the end result. Broadbent's worked on a variety of projects spanning video games, TV, and film, but PlanetSide 2 is his first crack at scoring an MMO. We talked with Broadbent about his inspirations, experiences on the project, and his take on the end result. Read on and be enlightened! Continue reading PlanetSide 2 rocks: An interview with composer Jeff Broadbent
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| Epic 30-minute Blade & Soul video shows off cinematics, gameplay Posted: 10 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Blade & Soul  If you're among those anxiously awaiting the game, you'll definitely want to have a look at YouTube user YoraiDragon's epic 30-minute video that shows off some of the title's opening cinematics as well as early-level gameplay. The clip's audio and the game UI are of course in Korean, but there are occasional English subtitles that help clarify important concepts. Click past the cut to see the clip. [Thanks Yorai Dragon!] Continue reading Epic 30-minute Blade & Soul video shows off cinematics, gameplay
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| One Shots: Dancing with my homies Posted: 10 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Screenshots, Anarchy Online, City of Heroes, Culture, One Shots, The Secret World, Runes of Magic, Miscellaneous  To kick us off this week is Jerry, who's showing off how Anarchy Online can party down with the best of them: "This is Yardsale, a level 220 Trader, dancing with his trader pets in Borealis." At first glance, I almost thought we were in the Matrix. But even with polygons so sharp that you can cut yourself on them, this title definitely has a style all its own. Hit the jump to see this and other wonders of the screenshotted world. Continue reading One Shots: Dancing with my homies
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| The Daily Grind: Should games periodically update their tutorials? Posted: 10 Mar 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Culture, Lore, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous  On the one hand, this is perfectly reasonable. Updating a bunch of tutorial quests that are there just to ease you into the feel of a new game would just be fixing something that's not broken. At the same time, when the game presents its tutorial as part of a story, it's odd when the tutorial no longer reflects the overall setting of the game. And if you've played the tutorial before, it's a bit disheartening to do so a second (or third or fourth...) time. So what do you think? Should games periodically update their tutorials? Or should a tutorial be upgraded only to be more straightforward rather than changing with the times?  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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| DayZ's zombies are getting smarter -- and hungrier Posted: 09 Mar 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Horror, Video, Post-Apocalyptic, Miscellaneous  The team's been focusing on the inventory system, a non-traditional crafting system, zombie pathfinding, security improvements, a more complex health system, map expansion, and more sensible loot. Lead Developer Rocket urges patience as the team works to complete the standalone version: "We know that you want it released, and we know you want to know when this will be -- but we're 100% committed to making this a great game, and that means we are making sure to do things properly." You can watch the full dev diary video after the jump. Continue reading DayZ's zombies are getting smarter -- and hungrier
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| Wings Over Atreia: From Shugos to splitting up, Aion's instances are evolving Posted: 09 Mar 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-play, Wings Over Atreia, Dungeons  However, after a bit more reflection I decided that -- for today at least -- I'd rather applaud the company for looking at new ways to approach instances instead of rail on it for sharing the info so darned early. Perhaps it's the whole "you can catch more sparkies with honey than vinegar" approach, but the truth of the matter is I am happy with the direction this latest announcement portends. Aion is integrating variety into the dungeon-diving sphere, and that's a move that can only be good for the game. Even better, you don't actually have to wait until after 4.0 to experience the first rumblings of this shift. Thanks to the Shugo Kingdom Adventure event going on now, Daevas can try their hands/claws at a new (though temporary) dungeon experience, What about these new dungeons has me hopeful for the future of Aion? Let's dive right in and take a look. Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: From Shugos to splitting up, Aion's instances are evolving
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| Marvel Heroes shows off Iron Man in action Posted: 09 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Trailers, Video, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Marvel Heroes  All of the standard Iron Man powers are on display, ranging from repulsor beams to flight to force fields. But which version of the armor do you have to use? Whichever one you want, as the game sports variants ranging from the original Iron Man armor up to ones lifted from the upcoming film. But you don't have to take our word for it, as you can watch the full video just past the break. Continue reading Marvel Heroes shows off Iron Man in action
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| The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's buffet of foodstuffs Posted: 09 Mar 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Crafting  In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Final Fantasy XIV had one of the best food systems I've ever seen at the time that its first version shut down. There was subtlety, there was grace, and above all else there was a lot of tasty stuff for everyone to eat. So let's talk about all of that wonderful food, from miq'abobs to bubble chocolate, and let's look back at the state of food from the game's beginning up until the fall of Dalamud. (Or the shutdown in November, if you have no poetry in your soul.) Continue reading The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's buffet of foodstuffs
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| The Game Archaeologist: GameLine Posted: 09 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO industry, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous  Before Steam was offering us loads of free-to-play MMOs, before Xbox Live Arcade was offering indie titles a platform for exposure, before CompuServe was making headway in online services, there was an odd artifact on the Atari 2600. Yes, that ancient console that has nary an "X" or "Play" in its name. The artifact was GameLine, and whether or not you've heard of it, it was one of the earliest pioneers of downloadable games services. When I found out about it, it just fascinated the crap out of me. I think it will impress you, too. Continue reading The Game Archaeologist: GameLine
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