MMO Updates |
- Age of Wushu introduces the Meridian system
- Wizardry Online compensates players for performance issues
- The Aurora World is now in closed beta
- EverQuest, EverQuest II repeal F2P restrictions on class, race, and more
- 200-player Fields of War mech title looking for Greenlight support
- Neverwinter beta weekend features Control Wizard, new zones, Foundry content
- 'Don't believe the ArcheAge hype,' lengthy fan review warns
- The Guild Counsel: Dealing with problem players
- The Daily Grind: Can crafted gear coexist with loot drops?
- Neverwinter Days: The allure of bite-sized gaming
- Choose My Adventure: Interfering in Star Trek Online
- Pathfinder Online shows off early development art
- Petroglyph puts Victory on Kickstarter, hopes for victory
- Embrace your maniacal side with Age of Wushu's Jianghu system
- Massively Interview: Re-launching Prius Online as Arcane Saga
- Allods Online upgrades gear with glyphs
- Darkfall adds salvaging, prowess point progression
- LotRO's Update 10 springs into action
- So EA isn't putting microtransactions in every game after all
- Free for All: The continued standardization of selling power
- MMO Family: What exactly is a kid-friendly MMO?
| Age of Wushu introduces the Meridian system Posted: 07 Mar 2013 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Sandbox, Age of Wushu  Meridians are sort of like talent trees that can be charged up with "chi," a resource that's accumulated through battles. Each of the nine meridians offers ways to boost abilities, lower skill cooldowns, and change skills. All but one meridian are tied to one of the game's combat schools. Snail Games says that it is possible with a lot of hard work for players to master all nine meridians on a single character.
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| Wizardry Online compensates players for performance issues Posted: 07 Mar 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-play, Promotions, Wizardry Online  The studio is offering compensation for the inconvenience starting with a 300 Station Cash credit to players who logged into Wizardry Online before today. SOE is also handing out free seven-day Dimento Medals in the game. Finally, players who subscribed before March will see a seven-day membership credit added to their accounts.
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| The Aurora World is now in closed beta Posted: 07 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items  What we can tell you for certain is that the Asian fantasy import is in closed beta as of right now. You can get a free key at the game's official website, where you'll also learn more about the 300-player Nation Wars system, the hybrid pet/mount mechanics, and something called a "coliseum mode." You might also want to have a look at one of the game's trailers after the cut. [Source: GBE Games press release] Continue reading The Aurora World is now in closed beta
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| EverQuest, EverQuest II repeal F2P restrictions on class, race, and more Posted: 07 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, News items, Free-to-play, Massively Interviews, Anniversary  It's no secret that EverQuest and EverQuest II have had fairly restrictive free-to-play models, with severe limitations that unfortunately deterred some players from trying or sticking with the games. Although teased with a wide variety of races and classes, free (once called bronze) and silver players could choose from among only a few without dipping into their wallets. Other restrictions included limited bag slots, little to no shared bank access, and a very low cap on active quests. But if those restrictions are what put you off, fire up that launchpad again because I've got good news for you: SOE has taken a giant eraser and wiped them right off of the free-to-play matrices. And now is a good time to get back into the games as the EverQuest franchise is set to commemorate its 14th anniversary with celebrations in both games. In my interview with Dave Georgeson, the man at the helm of all things EQ, I scouted out the specifics of the F2P restrictions that will lift come the middle of next week. Georgeson also revealed some incoming updates for EQ as well as discussed the special events marking the anniversary that will kick off on March 16th. And you just know I tried to slip in a question or two about EQ Next. Continue reading EverQuest, EverQuest II repeal F2P restrictions on class, race, and more
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| 200-player Fields of War mech title looking for Greenlight support Posted: 07 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items  Fields of War is aiming for an action-MMO feel with support for 200 simultaneous players, class-based advancement, and more. [Thanks George!] Continue reading 200-player Fields of War mech title looking for Greenlight support
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| Neverwinter beta weekend features Control Wizard, new zones, Foundry content Posted: 07 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Neverwinter  Perfect World and Cryptic are also opening up a bit more of the game's player-generated Foundry functionality for public consumption. Finally, the devs have released a new video teaser which is viewable after the break. [Source: Perfect World press release] Continue reading Neverwinter beta weekend features Control Wizard, new zones, Foundry content
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| 'Don't believe the ArcheAge hype,' lengthy fan review warns Posted: 07 Mar 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, ArcheAge, Sandbox, Crafting, Housing  While most of the combat complaints can be summarized by the subjectively nebulous it-doesn't-feel-as-polished-as-game-XYZ argument, the sandbox and economic concerns are a bit more concrete. "And like the pirate system that has no reward for serious consequences, the economy has the opposite, high reward with no consequences, except to those who also play the game," the author writes. "Without money sinks and a way to balance out the economy, ArcheAge is heading toward a flatline when it comes to worth." He also alludes to the possibility that the game's extensive housing and farming systems will be lost in translation from the social gaming culture in Korea to the isolationist achiever mentality prevalent in the West. "When you apply these [housing items] to the real world/game practice you see player-run towns that don't look like towns, but rather more like FarmVille: a homestead of the same resources in bulk, such as goats (which are the most profitable resource) filling every single bit of available space. So you go from being aesthetically pleasing to a resource farm," the writer explains. "The magic of a home and town is lost to min-maxing personal gain. ArcheAge turns into Men Who Stare at Goats." [Thanks Dengar!]
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| The Guild Counsel: Dealing with problem players Posted: 07 Mar 2013 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous  It's easy to say, "kick 'em!" but that could backfire and cause even more drama. Dealing with problem players is complicated but not impossible. In today's Guild Counsel, let's look at a few things to consider. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Dealing with problem players
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| The Daily Grind: Can crafted gear coexist with loot drops? Posted: 07 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Crafting  So, assuming that you don't curl into the fetal position at the thought of needing player-crafted gear, do you think it's possible for it to coexist with loot drops or are the two mutually exclusive in your ideal MMORPG?  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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| Neverwinter Days: The allure of bite-sized gaming Posted: 06 Mar 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Free-to-play, Neverwinter, Neverwinter Days  Oddly enough, I've only been following this title very casually since its first announcement. Sometimes I get swept up in all of the pre-launch hype, and sometimes it just passes me by. In this case, I've dipped my toes into the waters of interest from time to time and found it pleasingly warm. Yet it's kind of a no-brainer to be interested in this game for me because I do love Cryptic's titles and free-to-play philosophy (especially for Star Trek Online) and also because I'm at the right point in my life to appreciate some bite-sized gaming. Bite-sized gaming? Is that just vernacular for "fun size" candy bars that are neither filling nor sized for a party? Nay, I say to you. It's just a good alternative to have in a gaming diet. Continue reading Neverwinter Days: The allure of bite-sized gaming
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| Choose My Adventure: Interfering in Star Trek Online Posted: 06 Mar 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, Polls, Culture, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Choose My Adventure  Usually when I run these polls, the winning game is one that I haven't played. In this case, the winner is not only a game that I've played extensively but one I'm very fond of despite my long absence. But I'm getting ahead of myself. It's time for a brief and not perfectly accurate recap of the game's history, followed by a set of polls and a couple of things I'm doing differently this time around. One of those things is not the bonus polls, if you were wondering. So if you've somehow missed the story so far, what's the deal with Star Trek Online? Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Interfering in Star Trek Online
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| Pathfinder Online shows off early development art Posted: 06 Mar 2013 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Sandbox  Hines discusses the fact that the game has the advantage of drawing upon a great deal of established artwork for the Pathfinder tabletop game, but it also has the challenge of adapting those visuals to the online space. He also shows off several early concept renders and sketches, stressing with each that these are still works in progress that might change before the final release. If you're anxious to look at the game instead of just forward to it, look through the full blog entry on the official site. [Thanks to matixuzn for the tip!]
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| Petroglyph puts Victory on Kickstarter, hopes for victory Posted: 06 Mar 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Historical, New titles, News items, MMORTS, Miscellaneous, MOBA, Crowdfunding  As the project page outlines, players will be given control of a squad of units, which has to either defeat the enemy units or capture and hold key locations. Units that are killed are gone, with no base management or tech trees to worry about in the thick of gameplay. The game is not being designed as a free-to-play title, but it is meant for online competitive play. If this sounds intriguing enough to cut through the fatigue of endless World War II games, take a look at all the details on the Kickstarter page.
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| Embrace your maniacal side with Age of Wushu's Jianghu system Posted: 06 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries, Age of Wushu  How do you know where you stand in relation to your fellow players? You may call some of them your friends, but words are wind. Thanks to Age of Wushu's Jianghu system, however, you'll soon be able to neatly track your relationship with others. You can partake in several relationship types, such as being Close Friends, Acquaintances, or Blood Enemies. Friendship is measured by Intimacy, which can be earned by teaming up and giving gifts and decreased by killing or kidnapping. Players can choose to add others to their Enemy List after being killed or kidnapped, and things just go downhill from there. But wait, there's more! Along with defining your relationship status, you will also be able to act in such a way as to earn the tag of Heroic, Maniacal, Evil, or Sinister. Players with a higher Chivalry than Guild rating will be named Heroic, while players with a higher Guilt than Chivalry rating will fall to the dark side.
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| Massively Interview: Re-launching Prius Online as Arcane Saga Posted: 06 Mar 2013 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Launches, Lore, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Massively Interviews, Miscellaneous  Curious about how, when, and why a company would choose to re-open a shuttered game, we sat down with Netmarble's Jon-Enée Merriex to ask. Merriex walked us through what it takes to restart a game, why good MMOs sometimes go by the wayside, and how his company plans to iterate and improve on the Prius Online experience that the title's original players enjoyed. Continue reading Massively Interview: Re-launching Prius Online as Arcane Saga
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| Allods Online upgrades gear with glyphs Posted: 06 Mar 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Previews, Free-to-play, Allods Online  Glyphs are a new type of loot that can upgrade gear to add more stats and special properties. The gear in question has to be level 51 or higher and match the type of stats that the glyph is offering. Each piece of gear can be expanded to include three types of glyph: offensive, defensive, and special. Glyphs themselves can be improved with a component that drops only in the new Dominion battleground. There looks to be several different ways to get your grubby mitts on glyphs. They can drop, you can do a quest to buy a glyph box, you can buy them from an NPC if your reputation is high enough, and some crafters are able to make them.
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| Darkfall adds salvaging, prowess point progression Posted: 06 Mar 2013 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Darkfall, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, PvE, Crafting  Fear not, though, because it's Tasos Flambouras to the rescue with a pair of forum posts detailing the new game's salvaging and prowess point character progression systems. Salvaging is basically the reverse of the crafting process, and players may salvage crafted equippable gear and broken items which drop from Agon's monsters. Prowess, on the other hand, is gained from all "meaningful interactions" with the game, which includes harvesting, crafting, PvE, and PvP. Skills and attributes are then raised via the prowess system. Aventurine notes that crafting skills are not raised via prowess. "Due to the effect crafting skills have on the economy we felt we should exclude them from the prowess-based system," Flambouras writes. "All crafting skills can be raised by creating items."
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| LotRO's Update 10 springs into action Posted: 06 Mar 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, Free-to-play  The new instances include a six-person fight, The Bells of Dale, plus a trio of 12-person raids: Flight to the Lonely Mountain, the Fires of Smaug, and the Battle for Erebor. Update 10 has beefed up fate's effects and made agility the Warden's primary stat. Also included with the patch are several new store options, the ability to turn off forced emoting, the removal of dread upon defeat on the landscape, and new scaling for all of the In Their Absence instances. You can read the patch notes on the official site.
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| So EA isn't putting microtransactions in every game after all Posted: 06 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play  Remember that one time when EA CFO Blake Jorgensen pissed off the entire internet (except for Beau) by intimating that the gaming giant would be building microtransactions into all of its upcoming games?Well, forget that, because apparently that's not what he meant. "I made a statement in the conference along the lines of 'we'll have microtransactions in our games' and the community read that to mean all our games," Jorgensen told Polygon. "And that's really not true. All of our mobile games will have microtransactions in them, because almost all of them are going to a world where they are play for free." Jorgensen goes on to say that EA will likely be putting in-house credit card processing and download support into all of its titles, but that doesn't necessarily mean a mass conversion to the microtransaction model.
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| Free for All: The continued standardization of selling power Posted: 06 Mar 2013 10:30 AM PST Filed under: EVE Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Business models, Opinion, Free-to-play, Mobile, MMOFPS, MMORTS, Mabinogi, Wizard101, Free for All, Pirate101  Still, it doesn't matter how we feel about selling power because the industry is already moving in the direction of selling power, lots of power. EA recently announced that every title it produces from now on will feature microtransactions. While that doesn't guarantee the sale of powerful items, I can promise that it will include some. This train ain't stopping. Sure, the console community seems a bit late to the party when it comes to the power-selling controversy, but that's likely because of MMOs' always-on multiplayer mode. Continue reading Free for All: The continued standardization of selling power
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| MMO Family: What exactly is a kid-friendly MMO? Posted: 06 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: A Tale in the Desert, Flyff, Opinion, Kids, Wizard101, Star Wars: The Old Republic, MMO Family, Family, Clone Wars Adventures, Miscellaneous  So what exactly makes an MMO kid-friendly? It might not be as easy to define as we think. Continue reading MMO Family: What exactly is a kid-friendly MMO?
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