MMO Updates

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• China gets late Christmas present of new ArcheAge beta
• The Repopulation improves housing and inquiries in November
• League of Angels announces beta events, releases trailer
• Massively's first impressions of Trion's Trove
• Sony Online Entertainment offers bonus Cyber Monday cash
• The Stream Team: Stuffed to the gills edition, December 2 - 8, 2013
• The Daily Grind: Are you participating in Cyber Monday?
• MMO Week in Review: Giving thanks
• EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity
• Prius Online closes down in South Korea
• Heroes and Villains shares character creator details
• Massively unboxes EVE Online's Collector's Edition
• Rise of Dragonian Era sunsets

China gets late Christmas present of new ArcheAge beta Posted: 02 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, ArcheAge, Sandbox, Anniversaries If you wrote to Santa asking for an ArcheAge beta, you might have wanted to specify that you meant in the west. As it is, China is the one getting the beta present the day after Christmas. The announcement of this next beta phase, called the "Divine" test, came at the Tencent Games Carnival 2013, China's largest gaming convention. Along with the beta news, the publisher unveiled the official Chinese ArcheAge trailer, showcased a live-action introduction to the game, and debuted the official theme for this version. The Chinese fans may have to wait until December 26th to get back into the game, but everyone can experience all three videos for themselves now. And that's better than a lump of coal! Continue reading China gets late Christmas present of new ArcheAge beta China gets late Christmas present of new ArcheAge beta originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments MMOCulture

The Repopulation improves housing and inquiries in November Posted: 02 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Sandbox, The Repopulation November is a time to go home, see your family, and quite possibly remember why it was you left home and avoid seeing your family for the rest of the year. The result is that it makes a lot of sense for The Repopulation to focus on things like hearth and home over the month of November. A status update for the last month has just come out, and it includes the usual array of incremental improvements along with some big new features. For example, the game has a new UI for placing structures within houses and nations, allowing objects to be rotated and scaled as the placer desires -- and there's the option to save the rotation and scale settings for easy cut-and-paste placement. A new calendar system was also introduced, and the inquiry system has been expanded to allow players a chance at tracing the source of an NPC's problems via the Diplomacy skill. Players looking forward to the sandbox title should take a look at the full rundown of November updates. The Repopulation improves housing and inquiries in November originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments November status update

League of Angels announces beta events, releases trailer Posted: 02 Dec 2013 07:30 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Events (In-Game), MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Browser You've heard of League of Angels, a new browser-based game that starts closed beta this Wednesday, but what's the story behind it? GTArcade answers that with a new trailer that takes viewers on a brief tour of the history of the angels, from their betrayal to their triumphant return. See it play out in the video below. Additionally, the studio has announced a number of special events during the seven-day closed beta that players can participate in, each with prizes that will carry over even when all other player data is wiped. The various prizes include free VIP access for leveling, free diamonds for slaying select NPCs (as well as diamonds raining down from the sky twice a day!), and more items to level your angels with the more angels you collect. Specific events will also be held rewarding players for things such as bug hunting, guide writing, and helping other players. [Source: GTArcade press release] Continue reading League of Angels announces beta events, releases trailer League of Angels announces beta events, releases trailer originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively's first impressions of Trion's Trove Posted: 02 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, New Titles, Previews, Opinion, Hands-On, First Impressions, Sandbox, Trove We're really driving home the "first" in "first impressions" with a look at the early-early alpha build of Trion Worlds' Trove. Trove is a voxel-based sandbox game that was first revealed two weeks ago. It's a game that focuses on exploration, building, and adventure, and hopes to do it with feeling. Since the game is still in early alpha, most of my impressions may change when it gets closer to launch, but we still wanted to show off the game in its current state to give you a taste of what's to come. Continue reading Massively's first impressions of Trion's Trove Massively's first impressions of Trion's Trove originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sony Online Entertainment offers bonus Cyber Monday cash Posted: 02 Dec 2013 06:30 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Promotions, Miscellaneous Cyber Monday is like Black Friday without the waiting in line or the limited-stock items left on shipping pallets throughout the store or any of that insanity. But it's very similar insofar as you can find deals that are theoretically meant to be for others but wind up mostly being presents to yourself. Case in point, Sony Online Entertainment's sale today on Station Cash. No, it's not cheaper to buy, but you get a lot more for what you buy. Until 11:59 p.m. PST today, all Station Cash purchases receive a bonus 25% Station Cash above and beyond the normal amount. That's not counting various games holding their own sales within the in-game marketplace, meaning that you could wind up with more Station Cash and individual items costing less money. So it's sort of like everybody winning, except it's really just you winning multiple times. But get on the deal soon before it evaporates. Sony Online Entertainment offers bonus Cyber Monday cash originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Sale announcement

The Stream Team: Stuffed to the gills edition, December 2 - 8, 2013 Posted: 02 Dec 2013 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Polls, MMO Industry, Massively Meta, Livestream, Miscellaneous, The Stream Team If you partook in Thanksgiving activities over the weekend, chances are you enjoyed a tasty morsel or twenty (thousand)... and that's not even counting leftovers! As much as I love the holiday, I am often glad it's only a single day because there is always just way too much food. It's certainly not uncommon for people to end the day feeling like Violet Beauregard after her brush with an Everlasting Gobstopper. And instead of a juice press, we have to settle for a bench press. Luckily, overindulging in Massively TV does not have any of those pesky side effects the holiday dinner has; you can watch The Stream Team as much as you like and never feel as if you have to roll out of the room. Why, you can even watch while using the bench press if you want. If, however, you'd rather not mix the two activities, use the schedule below to sort out when to do each. Continue reading The Stream Team: Stuffed to the gills edition, December 2 - 8, 2013 The Stream Team: Stuffed to the gills edition, December 2 - 8, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Are you participating in Cyber Monday? Posted: 02 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: The Daily Grind, Promotions, Miscellaneous Oh retail holidays, will you ever stop? Today is Cyber Monday, which is a ridiculously halfway-provocative term for a day when you're supposed to do all of your online shopping for the winter holidays. Some MMO companies are taking advantage of this day to promote their own deep discounts, while others are carrying on with business as usual. Are you seeking out the big online sales today, or is it just another manic Monday for you? 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: Are you participating in Cyber Monday? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Dec 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

MMO Week in Review: Giving thanks Posted: 01 Dec 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Week in Review, Miscellaneous At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient place. If you missed a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week, you've come to the right post. Did you think Thanksgiving is about turkey and football and gluttony and buying stuff and "giving thanks"? It's not. It's about Star Citizen. It's about livestreams and speculation and piles of money and spaceships. Lots of spaceships. The spaceships are probably rolling around in said piles of money right now. So I guess it is still about gluttony. Huh. Lumber onward for a run-down of the rest of this holiday week's top MMO stories. Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Giving thanks MMO Week in Review: Giving thanks originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Dec 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity Posted: 01 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, Culture, Economy, Events (Real-World), Events (In-Game), MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, EVE Evolved, Promotions, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Player-Generated Content, Subscription The Philippines recently suffered its worst natural disaster in living memory when typhoon Haiyan made landfall on November 8th, leaving over half a million people displaced and millions without food and basic supplies. Countries and organisations around the world have been sending relief aid into the region, and gamers have once again proven to be a generous bunch. Several livestreamers have been running donation drives; the developers behind Luvinia Online even promised to donate 100% of the income from three new in-game items to the Philippine Red Cross. EVE Online has now also joined in the fundraising by reactivating its popular PLEX for Good scheme. CCP started the PLEX for Good scheme back in January of 2010 as a way for players to donate in-game assets and ISK to help people in the real world. EVE Online players have collectively donated over $150,000 US in aid following 2010's Haitian earthquake, tsunami devastation in Japan, flooding in Pakistan, and tornadoes in the US two years ago. Players hope to smash all fundraising records this time around with dedicated fundraising auctions, events, and liquidation firesales happening across the game. There are even ways for ex-players without active subscriptions to donate their idle in-game assets to charity. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the PLEX for Good scheme, the fundraising efforts players are using to help out a country in need, and how you can donate your ISK to charity even if you've long since quit EVE. Continue reading EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity EVE Evolved: Donate your old spaceships to charity originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Dec 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Prius Online closes down in South Korea Posted: 01 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Sunsets Whether you think of it as Prius Online or Arcane Saga, the game known to its Korean playerbase as Prius Online has had a hard time keeping the lights on in the West. It's been running for five years over in its native South Korea, though... but no longer. As of December 17th the game will shut down for good, with character creation and the cash shop already disabled for its remaining time. Developer Netmarble has apparently been focusing more upon the mobile market rather than the PC game market, and the game presumably hit the spot of no longer being profitable to keep running. There had been rumors of a sequel, but this could kill any hopes for that as well as any lingering aspirations toward another American revival. It may have died many times before its final death, but it seems like this is finally the end of the road for the game. Prius Online closes down in South Korea originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Dec 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments MMOCulture

Heroes and Villains shares character creator details Posted: 01 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Galleries, Screenshots, Miscellaneous One of the applicants for the position of City of Heroes' spiritual successor, Heroes and Villains, has new details regarding its character creator to share as well as several pieces of concept art from the game. Players will start their journey in the character creator by picking an alignment (hero, villain, or freelancer) which will determine the type of stories that they'll experience. Apparently, alignment isn't permanent, but can be changed over time via actions. The next steps for a budding superhero will be to pick an origin, an archetype, power themes, non-combat skills, positive and negative traits, an optional secret identity, and visuals for the hero's body and costume. You can check out what some of the costumes and game locales may look like as well as the first shot of the character creator in the gallery below. [Source: Plan Z Studios] Heroes and Villains shares character creator details originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively unboxes EVE Online's Collector's Edition Posted: 01 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, EVE Online, Economy, MMO Industry, Previews, Opinion, Hands-On, First Impressions, DUST 514, Promotions, Sandbox, Subscription Sci-fi MMO EVE Online initially launched as a physical disc sold in stores back in 2003 and saw limited success in the fledgling MMO space. A decade of regular updates and digital distribution has seen EVE grow organically into the largest sci-fi sandbox on the planet with over half a million subscribers, but until now something has been missing: EVE has never had an actual collector's edition box. To celebrate 10 successful years of operation, last month CCP officially released the EVE Second Decade Collector's Edition box. I recently received a review copy of the Collector's Edition from CCP and have put together an unboxing video with my general impressions of the items within. The collection comes in a sturdy presentation box and contains a 192-page commemorative hardback book looking back on the first decade of EVE's history, along with an anniversary re-release edition of CCP's board game Danger Game and a physical Rifter model that doubles as a USB hub. The pack also comes with a new account key with 60 days of game time, a soundtrack CD of the EVE music played by the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra, and keys to unlock billions of ISK worth of virtual collectables in-game. It's pretty expensive at around €150 or $150 US, but the virtual items can be sold in game to claw back some of the cost in the form of PLEX. Enjoy our look at the new CE! Continue reading Massively unboxes EVE Online's Collector's Edition Massively unboxes EVE Online's Collector's Edition originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Dec 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rise of Dragonian Era sunsets Posted: 01 Dec 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-Play, Sunsets If an MMO that few people played shut down, how long would it take the community to notice? Apparently "a couple of weeks" is the answer, as we're only now getting word that Rise of Dragonian Era (RODE) sunset this past November 13th. In a shutdown notice on the game's now-defunct Facebook page, the studio posted, "RODE services will close permanently. We apologize for this unfortunate event. But we look forward to seeing our RODE players a part of our Netgame community again in the future." RODE launched in early 2012 and featured a permanent dragon companion and aerial combat as its main selling points. [Thanks to Holden for the tip!] Rise of Dragonian Era sunsets originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Shutdown notice

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