MMO Updates

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• Did you hear? The Secret World music contest winners announced
• A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Asymmetry in superhero PvP
• Massively Exclusive: MapleStory adds samurai Hayato
• Massively Exclusive: WildStar's character creation music
• The Daily Grind: Is loot better with an RNG or token system?
• Wargaming.net goes on a road trip
• Jukebox Heroes: Spiral Knights' soundtrack
• Sam Raimi discusses why he's not doing the World of Warcraft movie
• Age of Wushu explains battle arrays
• SWTOR removing email as login option to bolster security
• Flameseeker Chronicles: Puzzle jumping in Guild Wars 2
• Diablo III plans itemization changes
• Scott Hartsman pontificates on the future of MMOs
• The Soapbox: Yes, Virginia, sexism still exists
• Icy dangers revealed in Neverwinter's Icespire Peak trailer
• Trion hopes you'll pre-order some Defiance DLC along with your Defiance pre-order
• ArenaNet not currently working on Guild Wars 2 expansions or sequels
• WoW's 5.2 Thunder King patch lands today

Did you hear? The Secret World music contest winners announced Posted: 06 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Horror, Real life, Contests, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, The Secret World, Music A few weeks ago The Secret World offered musicians the chance to weave their original melodies into the fabric of the conspiracy-laden game. Many heeded that call and over 300 submissions were received, some containing multiple compositions. Instead of the originally intended five, 11 selections were chosen for inclusion in TSW. The winning music -- with titles like When Scouts Go Bad, I'll be the Death of You, Save Me, and The Zombie Stare -- will be introduced in Issue #7. Players will hear these pieces played on different radios throughout the game, such as those at The Ravens Knock and Susie's Diner in Kingsmouth, PC Bang in Seoul, and London's The Crusades nightclub. Congratulations to all the winners! [Thanks to Samantha for the tip!] Did you hear? The Secret World music contest winners announced originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Music contest winners

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Asymmetry in superhero PvP Posted: 06 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion, A Mild-Mannered Reporter If you stop and think about it, the fact that we've never really had good PvP in a superhero game is pretty darn weird. This is a genre in which heroes fight villains, villains also fight villains, and every few hours some misunderstanding crops up and the heroes wind up coming to blows as well. Even in games without player-controlled villains, there's plenty of room for good PvP, and in games where players can take a walk on the dark side there's even more reason for tussles to work out well. Sadly, that hasn't been the case. But today, I come here not to roast games but to talk about how this could be made to work well. Which bespeaks a certain asymmetry. I've mentioned before that heroes and villains have fundamentally different approaches to the world: The former are reactive and the latter are proactive. When it comes to pure PvP scenarios, this should be more true than anywhere else. Instead, most PvP matches wind up being slugfests, something that doesn't really match up with how things work in comics. Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Asymmetry in superhero PvP A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Asymmetry in superhero PvP originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively Exclusive: MapleStory adds samurai Hayato Posted: 06 Mar 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MapleStory, Classes, News items, Free-to-play The pantheon of MapleStory characters has just admitted a newcomer to its ranks -- the legendary samurai Hayato. Having lost his clan to the evil forces of Oda Nobunga, Hayato seeks vengeance. Weakened by his mysterious appearance in the Maple World, he must regain the knowledge of his fast and powerful sword combos in order to fight off the invading forces of Oda. In this exclusive video, watch Hayato battle through ninjas and face Oda Nobunga himself in order to stop a dark ritual and save the princess. [Source: Nexon press release] Continue reading Massively Exclusive: MapleStory adds samurai Hayato Massively Exclusive: MapleStory adds samurai Hayato originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively Exclusive: WildStar's character creation music Posted: 06 Mar 2013 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, WildStar, Music Get ready to hear the theme that will be burned into your subconscious as you fine-tune your dozens of future WildStar avatars. Carbine Studios sent us a first look, er, listen to the character creation theme for the game. The seven-minute tune is was composed by Jeff Kurtenacker (Pirates of the Burning Sea) and gives you a thematic feel for your first minutes in WildStar. It's a little regal, a little sparkly sci-fi, and all yours to hear after the jump! Continue reading Massively Exclusive: WildStar's character creation music Massively Exclusive: WildStar's character creation music originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Is loot better with an RNG or token system? Posted: 06 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Oh the random number generator, how we love to hate thee. And yet you're so very addictive; with the roll of some virtual dice, we could win big-time on any given kill. Sure, you're often very stingy, but that makes the payoff so much more sweet. With MMOs, the house doesn't win if you play long enough -- you do. Then again, there's the "sure bet" of tokens. Maybe we won't have a shot at uber-loot for every kill, but slowly and surely we can collect enough currency to barter for what we do want. Token systems are the assurance of eventual payouts. Which do you prefer when it comes to acquiring gear in MMOs -- the random number generator or tokens? 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: Is loot better with an RNG or token system? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wargaming.net goes on a road trip Posted: 05 Mar 2013 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Historical, Events, real-world, Free-to-play, World of Tanks, Promotions, World of Warplanes, MOBA The laptop-clad Hummer is fueled up and Wargaming.net is ready to roll out for its first road tour. The studio behind the "World of Deadly Historical Battle Vehicles" franchise is drumming up publicity for its titles by staging the least gas efficient Russian invasion ever. The Wargaming Road Tour's first stop is at the SXSW Interactive Gaming Expo this weekend. If you're attending and spot the hummer, swing by to get a first look at World of Warplanes and grab some nifty swag. Following the Austin expo, the Wargaming hummer will travel across the United States to spend time in major cities. You can stay abreast of the promotional trip on the official road tour website. Wargaming.net goes on a road trip originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Wargaming Road Tour

Jukebox Heroes: Spiral Knights' soundtrack Posted: 05 Mar 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-play, Jukebox Heroes, Music Wow, talk about a soundtrack that leaped up and bit me on the... earbuds! Sometimes I'm surprised how the smaller MMOs get treated to such lavish score releases while big-name games hoard their music to themselves, but in the case of Spiral Knights, I'm sincerely glad that this two-volume set was put out there for the world to enjoy. It truly is a kickin' project. Spiral Knights was composed and arranged by Harry Mack (Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, Braid). Mack likes the smaller indie projects, so tackling this was one of his more high-profile works. For this album, Mack said that he was inspired by retro games: "It pulls a lot from the 'sound' of an earlier era, coupled in with more modern, easier-on-the-ears instruments." The end result is a chirpy, peppy ride through a clockwork MMO, and trust me when I say that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just six picks. I hope that by the end of this column I'll have convinced you to listen to the rest of this terrific score. Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Spiral Knights' soundtrack Jukebox Heroes: Spiral Knights' soundtrack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sam Raimi discusses why he's not doing the World of Warcraft movie Posted: 05 Mar 2013 04:30 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, MMO industry, News items If you're of the mindset that a World of Warcraft movie directed by Sam Raimi would be a nice thing, Blizzard Entertainment is the reason you can't have nice things. That's Raimi's story, at least. He discussed his withdrawal from the project in a recent interview regarding other films and several projects he's no longer involved with, but the World of Warcraft departure merits a lengthy aside. According to Raimi, he had read the script that Blizzard had put forth and wanted to put together something better, so he enlisted the aid of screenwriter Robert Rodat. Rodat wrote the story, but when the story was pitched to Blizzard, the company wasn't terribly enthusiastic. He and Rodat continued to work on refining the script, only to find out later that Blizzard had completely rejected what they had done and wanted to go in an entirely different direction. You can read more details on the story from Raimi in the full interview. Sam Raimi discusses why he's not doing the World of Warcraft movie originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Sam Raimi interview Via: Polygon

Age of Wushu explains battle arrays Posted: 05 Mar 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Age of Wushu If you're going to be taking part in group combat in Age of Wushu, you need to know about battle arrays. Despite the name, these are not organizations of various battles that serve as an index of information. Rather, they're a type of buffing formation that players can enter to improve a group's overall effectiveness in conflicts. A new article on the official site goes into detail about how battle arrays work and what players can do to maximize their effectiveness. Arrays vary in strength and scope, with the simplest array requiring only three players to execute. There are six arrays in the game without any school requirements and several more in individual schools, allowing for a variety of group-wide buffs that provide several effects in combat. And if one of the people in the array happens to be a skilled Weiqi player, arrays only get better. To get a clearer picture of these group-based buffs, dive into the full article. Age of Wushu explains battle arrays originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Battle Arrays article

SWTOR removing email as login option to bolster security Posted: 05 Mar 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic Folks who detest using their email address to log into games because to the security risks involved will be glad to know that Star Wars: The Old Republic is abolishing this practice next month. Starting on April 2nd, 2013, players will be able to log into their accounts -- both game and website -- using only their display name. That makes knowing your display name crucial! For those who can't remember theirs, it's displayed on the top right-hand side of the home page after you've logged in, so make note of it before the email login disappears. In the announcement email sent to players, BioWare explained that this measure was implemented to "increases the security of [the] game authentication system, which helps continue to keep the game protected from many security threats including account takeovers." [Source: BioWare announcement] SWTOR removing email as login option to bolster security originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Flameseeker Chronicles: Puzzle jumping in Guild Wars 2 Posted: 05 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles I've been meaning to talk about jumping puzzles for a while. I haven't made it through quite all of the ones in Guild Wars 2 yet, but I'm getting closer to that point all the time. The problem is that I never want to just sit down and hammer out three or four in a session because I feel that'd take away from some of the fun of it, so I get to one every little while, and I treasure it, and that's actually pretty OK by me. In my opinion, jumping puzzles are some of the most well-polished content in the game, as well as some of the most exciting. The designers seem to have been able to really do whatever they could imagine in them, and that pays off in really incredible encounters, gorgeous sights, and super fun challenges. Since I haven't been through all of them yet, I can't really put out a decisive top picks list, but I'd like to talk about some of my favorites. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Puzzle jumping in Guild Wars 2 Flameseeker Chronicles: Puzzle jumping in Guild Wars 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Diablo III plans itemization changes Posted: 05 Mar 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Dev Diaries, Diablo III Because Diablo III is such a loot-centric game, players pay attention when the developers start talking about making significant itemization changes in the upcoming months. The first part of Blizzard's future itemization philosophy is to more strongly equate rarity with power. Legendary items will drop less frequently and become a lot more powerful, and there will be a greater amount of diversity across the board. "It will take time, but our goal is to try to provide players with compelling alternatives to trifecta items when talking about what items they want to acquire," game designer Travis Day writes. Other changes include reducing the drop rate on rares, making gold sinks more exciting, and giving players better reasons to farm mobs instead of merely camping out at the auction house. Diablo III plans itemization changes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Itemization dev diary

Scott Hartsman pontificates on the future of MMOs Posted: 05 Mar 2013 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Business models, Interviews, MMO industry, Miscellaneous We hadn't heard a peep from Scott Hartsman after he left his position as executive producer at Trion Worlds... until now. The former EverQuest II and RIFT lead spoke with Forbes not about where he's going but about where he thinks the MMO industry is heading. Hartsman sees the increased cost and competition of MMOs becoming a major problem as more time goes by: "Can companies keep up with the expectations and each generation of MMOs costing more and more? It's an arms race that no one can win, it's not sustainable in its current direction." He also thinks that we've hit a cap on the number of people willing to subscribe and that the newer (read: free-to-play) models are providing attractive, flexible alternatives for a wider playerbase. "It's all about finding business models that serve larger numbers in a fair way," Hartsman said, pointing to League of Legends as an example of how "friction-free" an entry to a game can be. Scott Hartsman pontificates on the future of MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Forbes

The Soapbox: Yes, Virginia, sexism still exists Posted: 05 Mar 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous About two years ago (two decades in internet years), I wrote a piece about sexism as it pertains to MMOs. I didn't write anything about it for a long while afterward because I would just be reiterating points that were stated in the first article, something I'm not fond of doing. But when I wrote another article praising a game for mostly getting equality right, well... I'm not fond of rehashing old points. But I'm also not fond of the idea that people have evolved from saying "it's not sexist" to "oh, there's no sexism here in the first place." As I said two years ago, there's a lot that MMOs get right that gaming in general still gets wrong. But there's also a lot that MMOs get wrong still. So I want to look at the issue, look at some of the common attempts to pretend it's not really an issue, and possibly provide some links of relevant interest. There are a lot of those. Continue reading The Soapbox: Yes, Virginia, sexism still exists The Soapbox: Yes, Virginia, sexism still exists originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Icy dangers revealed in Neverwinter's Icespire Peak trailer Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Lore, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Neverwinter Is it Neverwinter or always winter? According to the newest trailer released by Perfect World, the lands of the upcoming free-to-play fantasy game based on the Dungeons & Dragons franchise could be plunged into eternal winter unless brave adventurers step in to help. Touching on Dwarven lore, this video reveals the Icespire Peak, an adventure zone where players will fight to thwart the frost giants who have seized control of Winterforge and aim to expand their frozen empire. Watch as the action heats up when adventurers face off against their frozen foes in the trailer after the cut. And don't forget to check out the beta action live as Massively TV brings you six hours of Neverwinter livestreams on Friday and Saturday. [Source: Perfect World press release] Continue reading Icy dangers revealed in Neverwinter's Icespire Peak trailer Icy dangers revealed in Neverwinter's Icespire Peak trailer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Trion hopes you'll pre-order some Defiance DLC along with your Defiance pre-order Posted: 05 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Defiance Trion has yet to release its sci-fi shooter TV tie-in called Defiance, but the firm is already trotting out pricing plans for season pass DLC content. A company press release mentions five DLC packs "rolling out after launch" which are now available for pre-purchase in a $39.99 bundle. Trion says that this represents a 20% savings over the suggested retail price of $9.99 per pack, which begs the question of whom exactly suggests the retail prices that generous game companies subsequently discount. In any event, Defiance is slated to launch on April 2nd. You can of course pre-order it, and if you're feeling especially impatient, you can now pre-order its DLC too. The packs will provide a new playable alien species, additional weapons, vehicles and missions, a lock box, and more. [Source: Trion press release] Trion hopes you'll pre-order some Defiance DLC along with your Defiance pre-order originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

ArenaNet not currently working on Guild Wars 2 expansions or sequels Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2 ArenaNet isn't going to develop a traditional expansion for Guild Wars 2 any time soon. "Expansions are definitely something that we'll potentially look at in the future," game director Colin Johanson told IGN. "We don't have a timetable on it. We're open to it, but I think our major focus as a studio is making the living world concept as strong as we possibly can for the players that we've got." When the possibility of Guild Wars 3 was broached, Johanson deemed it unlikely, at least for now. "We want to be able to have teams that are literally developing new, innovative features that change the way that you play our game and grow that experience so it literally feels like you don't leave Guild Wars 2," he explained. "Guild Wars 2 becomes Guild Wars 2.5 or Guild Wars 3 and it continues to grow." ArenaNet not currently working on Guild Wars 2 expansions or sequels originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: IGN Via: Gamespot

WoW's 5.2 Thunder King patch lands today Posted: 05 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items Are you a World of Warcraft player? Then what are you doing reading this news article? The game's 5.2 patch is here, which means that you should either be downloading the Thunder King content or logging in! If you can't do either one of those, you can read the patch notes, the developer commentary on said patch notes, and the 5.2 class overviews straight from the horse's mouth. Major patch highlights include a new zone, a new raid, server-wide events, new factions, and new world bosses. WoW's 5.2 Thunder King patch lands today originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Mar 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

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