MMO Updates

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• Ask Massively: Scoring last year's MMO predictions
• Gloria Victis pre-alpha patch adds weather system
• Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Biggest MMO disappointment of the year
• TERA's Fate of Arun expansion arrives in Europe today
• MechWarrior Online enters beta testing for Community Warfare
• RIFT brings Fae Yule back with new mounts and sweaters
• The Daily Grind: Are DPS meters bad for MMOs?
• The Stream Team: Tag teaming The Secret World Tokyo story missions
• The Think Tank: What was the best MMO launch of all time?
• Tree of Savior reveals more classes, promises a surprise on December 12th
• Arisha coming to NA Vindictus next week
• Shards lead dev talks skill caps, pickpocketing, and more
• TERA's Korean incarnation is getting a new class this month
• Black Desert's characters still look incredible
• WildStar begins testing Drop 4 and 20-player Datascape raid
• The Secret World nerfs Tokyo mobs and buffs rewards
• Age of Conan is selling instant level-80s until January 2nd
• The Crew accidentally erases player stats

Ask Massively: Scoring last year's MMO predictions Posted: 12 Dec 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Business Models, Culture, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Massively Meta, Humor, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous One of my favorite things to do every year is go back to the previous year's staff predictions. What did we think 2014 was going to look like in the MMO world back at the end of 2013? How wrong were we, and where did we hit eerily close to the mark? I won't include everything, just some of the more prophetic and ridiculous ideas our current staff offered a year ago. Feel free to share your own fulfilled prohpecies down in the comments. Continue reading Ask Massively: Scoring last year's MMO predictions Ask Massively: Scoring last year's MMO predictions originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Gloria Victis pre-alpha patch adds weather system Posted: 12 Dec 2014 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Patches, Sandbox While it's still very much a work in progress, a weather system (with clouds!) has come to Gloria Victis with the advent of pre-alpha patch v.0.1.1. The new patch isn't solely about additions that make Weather Channel fans geek out, of course. The title added an item decay and repair system, updated the world map, included more music, improved mob AI, and further optimized performance. Still, if gorgeous sunsets and foggy days are the sort of eye candy that gets you excited about an MMO, the weather may be the biggest addition yet to Gloria Victis. Gloria Victis pre-alpha patch adds weather system originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Patch notes

Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Biggest MMO disappointment of the year Posted: 12 Dec 2014 08:00 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Biggest Disappointment of the year -- not exactly one of the more coveted awards, admittedly. For this category, we focused on single games rather than concepts, and every MMO that launched in 2014 was eligible. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Biggest Disappointment of 2014 is... Continue reading Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Biggest MMO disappointment of the year Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Biggest MMO disappointment of the year originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

TERA's Fate of Arun expansion arrives in Europe today Posted: 12 Dec 2014 07:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Expansions, Game Mechanics, New Titles, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, TERA TERA's European fans have reason to be excited as the game's first expansion, Fate of Arun, deploys today. First announced to surprised MMO gamers back in October, the content deluge includes a level cap bump to 65, new PvP modes, four new zones, four new instances, and the advancement of the game's plotline. The expansion lands in North America next week. EU publisher Gameforge has posted new screenies that should make everyone happy, though; we've included them all in the gallery below! TERA's Fate of Arun expansion arrives in Europe today originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Press release

MechWarrior Online enters beta testing for Community Warfare Posted: 12 Dec 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Expansions, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, MechWarrior Online There's a lot of stuff packaged in with MechWarrior Online's Community Warfare update: Clan 'Mechs and hardware, the new Invasion gameplay mode, new maps, the dropship mechanic allowing players to get back into the action if their 'Mechs are destroyed. But you don't have to take our word for it. The update has entered open beta, so anyone who wants to start taking part in the conflict of the Inner Sphere against the marauding Clans can do so at his or her leisure. Piranha Games has also made an update to the way that the game handles units. Previously, "disbanded" units were frequently just being remade under a different leader or faction, but the game's structure meant that keeping the same identifying marks required the intervention of customer service. This update removes disbanded units in one swoop, allowing players who wish to disband and remake a unit to do so with greater ease. Check out the full update for the fine details and the corner cases. MechWarrior Online enters beta testing for Community Warfare originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Community Warfare open beta (PC Gamer), Unit disband changes

RIFT brings Fae Yule back with new mounts and sweaters Posted: 12 Dec 2014 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), News Items, Free-to-Play, RIFT, Subscription What could be better than riding around on a festive squirrel while wearing awful holiday sweaters? Why, doing so on your way to fight a boss, of course. You'll get your chance to do just that in the latest incarnation of RIFT's Fae Yule event, running until January 7th. Players can send their minions out to find the missing Grandfather Frost, take on the new Golden Devourer boss, and take part in several new quests and special events during the event period. And what do you get out of it? Aside from a new mount to carry you into battle, you can earn new pets, minions, holiday-themed weapons, cloaks, decorations for your home Dimension... lots of stuff, in other words. So get in-game and get moving because if you have an urgent need to deck yourself in all the holiday gear available, you've got only a little time to pick it all up. And who wants to miss out on horrible sweaters? No one, that's who. RIFT brings Fae Yule back with new mounts and sweaters originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Fae Yule Returns!

The Daily Grind: Are DPS meters bad for MMOs? Posted: 12 Dec 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Dungeons In the comments of Eliot's Soapboxes about MMO raiding, one Massively reader declared his own most-hated element of the raiding scene: DPS meters. In MMOs that allow mods, players invariably find a way to slice and dice the combat logs with a plugin that parses who did what and how much of it, spitting those data out into a tidy list that shows who's king of DPS and who's just being "carried." I don't think most MMO players want to see math and numbers driven from the genre in favor of rock-paper-scissors simplicity -- I sure don't, anyway; I like my crafting spreadsheets. But the vast majority of MMO combat really truly doesn't require the rotational precision of the top raiding guilds in the world, so why do we see DPS meters being trotted out for every basic dungeon? Repeatedly seeing people as numbers isn't exactly generating warmer MMO communities, and sometimes I wonder whether our obsession with judging everyone around us "by the numbers" is a crutch to help us avoid unpleasant conversations. Did we really need a DPS meter to clue us into the fact that Bob is half AFK tapping his 1 key over and over instead of paying attention to the fight? I think we knew that without the mod. What do you guys think? Are DPS meters bad for MMOs? 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 DPS meters bad for MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Dec 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: Tag teaming The Secret World Tokyo story missions Posted: 11 Dec 2014 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Horror, Real-Life, Video, The Secret World, Livestream, The Stream Team, Buy-to-Play Spoiler alert! Massively's MJ and Justin are diving deep into the Tokyo story missions in The Secret World. If you don't want any spoilers, you might want to look away or turn the sound down, but then you'd also miss all the hilarious moments that happen when these two team up together! Decisions, decisions. Justin is looking forward to showing of his new AEGIS build, and MJ is glad to have some extra muscle along. Join us live at 9:00 p.m. to see how the pair fares in the streets of Kaiden. Game: The Secret World Host: MJ Guthrie & Justin Olivetti Date: Thursday, December 11th, 2014 Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Tag teaming The Secret World Tokyo story missions The Stream Team: Tag teaming The Secret World Tokyo story missions originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Think Tank: What was the best MMO launch of all time? Posted: 11 Dec 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Launches, MMO Industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, The Think Tank After any year of bad MMO launches -- so, you know, pretty much every year -- we pause for a moment of reflection and comparison. Was this launch really the worst ever? Or is it just the freshest? We're going to turn that question on its head for today's Think Tank. I didn't ask our writers about the worst MMO launch ever; I asked them to name the best. Plus, everyone knows Anarchy Online was the worst. Everyone! So which high-profile MMO launch was so great that future MMOs should be aspiring to match and exceed it? Continue reading The Think Tank: What was the best MMO launch of all time? The Think Tank: What was the best MMO launch of all time? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Image source

Tree of Savior reveals more classes, promises a surprise on December 12th Posted: 11 Dec 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Classes, Previews, News Items Whether or not you think that Tree of Savior is going to be a game to watch out for, you have to respect the game's dedication to class diversity. A new batch of classes has been unveiled by fan translation work, and it's certainly a far cry from the usual fare. How many other games expect you to choose between Doppelsoldner, Pied Piper, Murmillo, and Schwarze Reiter? And that's just out of this group! At character creation, players will choose between four basic classes (Swordsman, Wizard, Cleric, and Archer), which leads into the extremely diverse lineup of advanced classes such as the aforementioned additions. You can see some of these classes on display in the game's trailer from G-Star 2014, embedded past the break. The game has just put up a teaser site promising a reveal on December 12th, possibly the game's first beta test. Continue reading Tree of Savior reveals more classes, promises a surprise on December 12th Tree of Savior reveals more classes, promises a surprise on December 12th originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 2P, Steparu

Arisha coming to NA Vindictus next week Posted: 11 Dec 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, PvE, Vindictus Last summer we told you about Arisha, the latest Vindictus mercenary and a playable character that Nexon has labeled the Sorceress of Blades. She's coming to the game's North American servers next week, according to a Nexon PR blurb. "Though Arisha's main weapon is her sword, she performs Intelligence-based attacks," the firm explains. "When she fights, she dances across the battlefield in a whirl, insulting her foes with cocky taunts before delivering the killing blow." Arisha uses a mana system that allows for "super-fast" sword slashes and teleports and separates her from all other Vindictus mercs. [Source: Nexon press release] Arisha coming to NA Vindictus next week originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Shards lead dev talks skill caps, pickpocketing, and more Posted: 11 Dec 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Crowdfunding Citadel Studios CEO Derek Brinkmann was interviewed by Worlds Factory this week, and the subject of course was indie sandbox Shards Online. The piece explains Shards' debt to both Neverwinter Nights and Ultima Online, the latter of which Brinkmann helped develop. He explains Shards' current skill cap (each skill tops out at 50 while the total cap is 250) as well as everything from hirelings and tamed companions to housing, pickpocketing, and guild wars! Shards lead dev talks skill caps, pickpocketing, and more originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Worlds Factory

TERA's Korean incarnation is getting a new class this month Posted: 11 Dec 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Classes, News Items, Free-to-Play, TERA Have you ever been playing TERA and thought that what the game really needed was more guns? Because the upcoming additional class (tentatively translated as Arcane Gunner) brings exactly that to the game. More guns. All of the guns, in fact. There's no space for any more guns because the ladies of this class are hauling around cannons as big as they are. Yes, ladies; much like the Elin-only Reaper, the new class is limited to High Elf and Castanic women. Aside from the aforementioned huge gun, the new class will also be able to summon sentry drones and robot helpers whilst it blows everything away. There will even be new hairstyles available. No word on when the class will arrive in the game's local incarnation, although based on the last added class, it'll be four or five months. You can wait on gunplay until April, right? TERA's Korean incarnation is getting a new class this month originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMO Culture

Black Desert's characters still look incredible Posted: 11 Dec 2014 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, Black Desert Had enough Black Desert trailers yet? Good, we haven't either. This latest one gives us an eyeful of the fantasy sandbox's singular character design. The two-minute clip features NPCs, mobs, and some really slick-looking avatar outfits (with damage!). See for yourself after the break. Continue reading Black Desert's characters still look incredible Black Desert's characters still look incredible originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Steparu

WildStar begins testing Drop 4 and 20-player Datascape raid Posted: 11 Dec 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, Previews, WildStar, Dungeons, Subscription WildStar's upcoming Drop 4 is now on the public test realm, and despite Carbine's reluctance to post patch notes, the news on the street is that this content update will be a doozy. Among the changes and additions coming to next year's Drop 4 are new costumes for all of the races, more daily and weekly quests, an underground bunker housing option, the ability to see different armor models at character creation, a character customization vendor, loads of class changes, and a low-level shiphand mission called Fragment Zero. Datascape, the former 40-player raid that is now being retooled as a 20-player instance, is also on the test server for those with 19 good friends. WildStar begins testing Drop 4 and 20-player Datascape raid originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Forum #1, Forum #2, Costumes, Imgur #1, Imgur #2, Imgur #3, Imgur #4, WildStar Fans

The Secret World nerfs Tokyo mobs and buffs rewards Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Horror, Patches, The Secret World, Post-Apocalyptic, Buy-to-Play Players struggling to progress through The Secret World's Tokyo zone will now find it a more pleasurable experience, thanks to today's hotfix that makes mobs easier to kill while increasing rewards across the board. Mobs in Kaidan will now have reduced damage and health, making them easier to kill. Better yet, TSW is increasing AEGIS XP from containers, lowering the cost for memory expansion modules, and giving AEGIS peripherals as part of the Issue 9 and 10 story missions (and will retroactively award these to players who have completed them). [Thanks to Tyler for the tip!] The Secret World nerfs Tokyo mobs and buffs rewards originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Hotfix list

Age of Conan is selling instant level-80s until January 2nd Posted: 11 Dec 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Free-to-Play, Promotions Getting a high-level character in Age of Conan now requires you only to break out your wallet and plunk down a few bills. Funcom announced today that players can purchase an instant level 80 character on the cash shop for $40 (or $30 if that player already has another level 80 toon). These new level 80s will come equipped with a set of rare gear, a fast mount, the riding skill, a 56-slot bag, 79 expertise points, and other goodies. If you're planning on picking up one of these "go straight to buff" packages, you'll need to do so before the promotion ends on January 2nd. Age of Conan is also offering bonus free months of subscription and other goods when you sign up or extend your membership by at least three additional months. Age of Conan is selling instant level-80s until January 2nd originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Sale announcement

The Crew accidentally erases player stats Posted: 11 Dec 2014 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Bugs, Launches, Miscellaneous, Buy-to-Play Whoops: It seems as though The Crew's launch wasn't without a few speed bumps after all. Ubisoft admitted that the game's servers had been erasing or showing incomplete player statistics due to a minor issue. Before you get frightened that the game has erased your identity and progress entirely, know that the good news is that "major data" weren't affected at all and that a patch is coming to fix the problem. The Crew launched on Tuesday, December 2nd. Ubisoft refused to provide the media with review copies of the game. The Crew accidentally erases player stats originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Dec 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Forums Via: VG247

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