MMO Updates

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• WoW and FFXIV see boosted playtime on Raptr; ArcheAge playtime 'cratered'
• Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Update or Expansion of the Year
• The Secret World's killer clown is coming to get you
• Elite: Dangerous offers cash prizes in the race to 'Elite'
• SMITE explores Awilix in depth and kicks off Saturnalia
• The Daily Grind: What was your best open-world PvP experience?
• Onigiri MMO coming to consoles next year
• Global Chat: Die, DPS meters, die!
• Space strategy MMO AD2460 launches on December 29th
• Valiance Online moves to Greenlight and picks up a City of Heroes artist
• See Bless Online's character creation options
• EVE Online speeds up game installation and access
• Guild Wars 2 kicks off Wintersday events
• Massively Speaking Episode 325: End of the year roundtable
• Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade discounts its founder packs
• The Transformers Universe MOBA is shutting down
• Celebrate SWTOR's sacred Life Day by launching frozen orbs of water at each other
• WildStar's next big update and holiday surprise

WoW and FFXIV see boosted playtime on Raptr; ArcheAge playtime 'cratered' Posted: 17 Dec 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous Another month, another Raptr report. Yesterday Raptr.com posted its most played PC games list for November, and MMOs did rather well. Unsurprisingly, World of Warcraft surged up the list to #2 thanks to the Warlords of Draenor expansion. "The MMO's monthly play time was up 71.3% versus October," Raptr's press release says. And though WoW "likely" drew from League of Legends' numbers, it couldn't quite usurp the MOBA's #1 seat. Among other MMOs, ArcheAge playtime "cratered by 39.97%," but World of Tanks and Final Fantasy XIV both saw rises in theirs. Guild Wars 2 rose in rank, Raptr says, but lost playtime in November vs. October. SWTOR fell two places since October. As always, Raptr roundups come with the caveat that they represent Raptr users on PC, not all gamers; some MMO studios are also known to boost their Raptr numbers with in-game incentives. But since some of these games refuse to release population data, you might call this the next best snapshot of popularity outside of touring the servers yourself. Continue reading WoW and FFXIV see boosted playtime on Raptr; ArcheAge playtime 'cratered' WoW and FFXIV see boosted playtime on Raptr; ArcheAge playtime 'cratered' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Update or Expansion of the Year Posted: 17 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 Best Update or Expansion of the Year. Every patch, be it small freebie update or traditional paid expansion, was eligible for this category, as long as it released in 2014. 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 Best Update or Expansion of 2014 is... Continue reading Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Update or Expansion of the Year Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Update or Expansion of the Year originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Secret World's killer clown is coming to get you Posted: 17 Dec 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Horror, Business Models, News Items, The Secret World, Promotions, Buy-to-Play Some Funcom fans are getting a nice present in their email today: a ticket to play The Secret World for free for a month. "You will die. Because, hey, that's what happens when you play an MMO where killer clowns are after you. Fight back! Play The Secret World for FREE this Holiday season," reads the promo. The freebie 30-day codes in the emails are apparently valid if used by January 15th and include experience potions as well as $5 worth of points to spend in the cash shop. It's currently unclear whether the promotion is for former subbers or just everyone who has a Funcom account. The Secret World's killer clown is coming to get you originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Elite: Dangerous offers cash prizes in the race to 'Elite' Posted: 17 Dec 2014 06:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Contests, Game Mechanics, New Titles, News Items, Promotions, Elite: Dangerous, Buy-to-Play Why launch a space MMO when you can launch a space MMO and a giant competition for cash money? That's exactly what Elite: Dangerous is up to just a day after its formal launch. Frontier is offering several huge cash prizes for players who reach the "Elite" rank in various gameplay categories. Entrants must start from a fresh save on the release version of Elite: Dangerous, starting with the Sidewinder and 1,000 CR, and use 'Open Play' multiplayer mode only. They can use the slight advantage of the Eagle starship offered as part of Elite: Dangerous' Mercenary Edition, but otherwise it should be a level playing field. If in Frontier's sole opinion, there has been any cheating, then an entry may be disallowed. This is a skill-based competition with the following prizes for the first person to reach: 1. Elite in combat - £1,000 or $1,500 or €1,200* 2. Elite in exploration - £1,000 or $1,500 or €1,200* 3. Elite in trading - £1,000 or $1,500 or €1,200* 4. Elite in all three - £10,000 or $15,000 or €12,000* (* currency as applicable) Participants must clear their saves, start their journey post-release, and play entirely in open play mode. Anyone out there going for it? Elite: Dangerous offers cash prizes in the race to 'Elite' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Forums

SMITE explores Awilix in depth and kicks off Saturnalia Posted: 17 Dec 2014 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Events (In-Game), News Items, Free-to-Play There are a lot of goddesses of the night or the moon, period, and there's no shortage of playable ones in SMITE, either. Awilix is also a figure without a whole lot of prominent lore trying to provide a different take on the general role of assassin. So how did the design team go from a name and a few details to a playable character? Through interplay with her pet jaguar, a different series of abilities, and an emphasis on mobility and hit-and-run tactics. Already have all of the gods you need right now? You've still got a reason to log in to SMITE as the game runs its Saturnalia event, offering free bonus gems to everyone and doubled experience gains for each match played. A series of rolling sales on the pantheons of the game will also persist through the whole of Saturnalia, so if you decide you would like to pick up some new skins, you've got that option. [Thanks to Sorenthaz for the tip!] Continue reading SMITE explores Awilix in depth and kicks off Saturnalia SMITE explores Awilix in depth and kicks off Saturnalia originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Awilix development insight, Saturnalia

The Daily Grind: What was your best open-world PvP experience? Posted: 17 Dec 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, PvP, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous As someone who usually stands on the outside of the whole PvP scene, I'm often curious about the appeal and goings-on of fighting endlessly against other human opponents, especially in MMOs. People seem to talk highly of open world battles and epic moments, although my experience has been limited to being corpse camped on a World of Warcraft server and taking part in many confusic and hectic keep battles in Warhammer Online. So sate my curiosity today and tell me a time when you had your best open-world PvP experience. What happened and why was that such a treasured memory? 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: What was your best open-world PvP experience? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Dec 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Onigiri MMO coming to consoles next year Posted: 16 Dec 2014 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Free-to-Play, Consoles The Japanese mythology MMO, Onigiri, is officially on its way to the Xbox One (and PlayStation 4) next year in North America and Europe, Windows Central reports. The title, which is developed by Cyberstep, will be free-to-play and is already live on the Xbox One in Japan. Onigiri came out on the PC in 2013. The console version may have patches slightly lagging behind the PC version, but it will otherwise be identical in form and function. There will be no cross-over play between platforms. While Windows Central says that this will be Xbox One's "first MMO," that overlooks the already-released Destiny and The Crew as well as other titles on the way, including Elder Scrolls Online, PlanetSide 2, All Points Bulletin, Neverwinter, The Division, and Warframe. Onigiri MMO coming to consoles next year originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Windows Central

Global Chat: Die, DPS meters, die! Posted: 16 Dec 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: EverQuest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Opinion, Global Chat, Miscellaneous, HEX, Skyforge Hey you! Yes, you! Are you sick of damage meters ruining your life? Do you rebel against the virtual man by questioning such long-established gaming tropes as levels? Then have we got the column for you! In our last community blog round-up of the year, we've collected some fine pieces of discussion, debate, and introspection -- not to mention a first impression or two to tide you over until 2015. We've also got an essay about the joy of healing, what it's like to play an MMO as a bear, going back to the Isle of Refuge, and more! Continue reading Global Chat: Die, DPS meters, die! Global Chat: Die, DPS meters, die! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Space strategy MMO AD2460 launches on December 29th Posted: 16 Dec 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Launches, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Browser, MMORTS, Miscellaneous, Subscription After two months in open beta, space strategy MMO AD2460 has announced its official launch for December 29th. The spiritual sequel to 2000's Planetarion, AD2460 is playable in-browser, meaning it works on mobile too. Players will be spending their time developing alliances and empires and fleets, and once the game is out of beta, they can expect to pay $1 a week in sub fees. Fifth Season's Christian Lassem dropped by our comment section earlier this fall to dispel confusion about the game and show off a slice of combat via video, which we've included below. Continue reading Space strategy MMO AD2460 launches on December 29th Space strategy MMO AD2460 launches on December 29th originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Twitter

Valiance Online moves to Greenlight and picks up a City of Heroes artist Posted: 16 Dec 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, MMO Industry, News Items So you want to back Valiance Online as a longtime fan of City of Heroes, but your Kickstarter budget right now is at a solid $0. Good news, then; you can support the game just by voting for it on Steam Greenlight. It's still early in the testing cycling, but the game has added a rather significant feather to its cap with the addition of its newest staff member, former City of Heroes animator Ron Friedman. Friedman's stated duties will be training the team on animation methods for the superheroic game, reviewing and modifying existing animations, and creating new animations as necessary. It's a good sign that the game will inherit a fair chunk of City of Heroes visually, so if you've been on the fence, now might be the time to consider voting for the game after all. Valiance Online moves to Greenlight and picks up a City of Heroes artist originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Greenlight page, Ron Friedman announcement

See Bless Online's character creation options Posted: 16 Dec 2014 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Classes, Free-to-Play Getting a closer look at character creation options when a title is deep in testing is always useful, especially to those of us who lack access to the beta. Steparu.com took Bless Online's character creator out for a spin as the title's closed beta test revved back up, and you can enjoy a sneak peek as a result. Steparu noted that it doesn't look as though classes are gender-locked, although players may be wedded to a faction once they roll up their first character. You can watch the character creation video after the jump, and make sure you bounce over to Steparu.com for more videos on several of the game's classes. Continue reading See Bless Online's character creation options See Bless Online's character creation options originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Steparu.com

EVE Online speeds up game installation and access Posted: 16 Dec 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Previews, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Subscription To "get people into the game quicker," CCP is smoothing out the download and installation process for EVE Online. This new method of deployment is scheduled to go into service at the start of 2015. This means that the installation package will go from a 7GB download to a zippy 200MB one instead. Once that game client is up and running, it will then download the rest of the game's resources as needed. "On a fast connection you probably won't notice much of a difference -- load times may be slightly longer at times. As you play more, more resources will be cached and fewer and fewer need to be downloaded. The client will be smart about pre-fetching resources it expects will be needed soon," the team said. EVE Online speeds up game installation and access originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Download on demand client

Guild Wars 2 kicks off Wintersday events Posted: 16 Dec 2014 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Patches, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play The event avalanche of Guild Wars 2's Wintersday has gotten up to full speed and is currently roaring down upon the game's population. Today's update activates the previous years' Wintersday content as well as a few new additions. There's the Wondrous Workshop to explore, jumping puzzles, bell choir minigames, the Snowball Mayhem battle royale, and a quest to track down Grawnk to get a Wintersday tree for home instances. The patch also activates a couple of PvP events, new Wintersday-themed cash shop cosmetics, the daily login rewards, and the latest overhaul of the daily achievement system. Guild Wars 2 kicks off Wintersday events originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Wintersday 2014, Sales, Patch notes

Massively Speaking Episode 325: End of the year roundtable Posted: 16 Dec 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Podcasts, MMO Industry, News Items, Massively Meta, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous 2014 was a heck of a year here at Massively. And for all of the ups and downs that we weathered, we like to think that we've emerged a little smarter, a little wiser, and a little ready for a less dramatic 2015. On today's episode, we invited to staff to come in talk about MMOs we've played, our awards picks, and what we're going to do in the new year. Get all of our opinions and analysis on the most important stories of the past week right here on Massively Speaking, the industry's leading MMO podcast. And if you have a comment, question, or topic for the podcasters, send an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air! Get the podcast: [RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly. [iTunes] Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. [Stitcher] Follow the podcast on Stitcher Radio. Listen here on the page: Read below the cut for the full show notes. Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 325: End of the year roundtable Massively Speaking Episode 325: End of the year roundtable originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade discounts its founder packs Posted: 16 Dec 2014 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Business Models, News Items, Warhammer 40k, Miscellaneous Just in time for the holidays, Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade is discounting its founder upgrade packs. "We have big plans coming in 2015," says Behaviour Online, "and want to allow our fans the chance to get some extra upgrades now." Starting December 17th, the game will offer a 25% discount on pack upgrades, which makes the cheapest packs $30 and the elite Dawn of the Imperium pack $97.50. Founder packs count as preorders, even at the lowest tiers. While the game will be F2P upon launch, free players are restricted to the Ork Boyz faction. We've included the latest video, a teaser for the studio's Friday Twitch event, below. Behaviour will be hosting a Razer product giveaway and showing off a brand-new war zone. Continue reading Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade discounts its founder packs Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade discounts its founder packs originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube, press release

The Transformers Universe MOBA is shutting down Posted: 16 Dec 2014 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Business Models, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous, Transformers Universe, MOBA, Sunsets Bad news today, folks: MOBA Transformers Universe will close before it even leaves beta as part of Jagex's and Hasbro's efforts to "realign their plans and focuses for 2015." UK developer Jagex had posted about impending layoffs for the TU team back in November, but it appears that it's really game over now: The shutdown period will begin from today. As part of the winding down we will be refunding all those that have purchased a Founders Pack, as well as anyone that has purchased relic bundles and starter packs. These refunds should be all processed in the next 30 days. In addition we will be closing the ability for new players to make accounts, those of you that already have accounts will continue to be able to use them until the closure date. [...] We will also be pushing an update live today that will switch off the ability for players to buy any more relic packs, or starter bundles. [O]n 31st Jan 2015 @ 10am GMT we will be shutting down all servers and forums and will freeze all Transformers Universe related accounts. These accounts will then be live for another 60 days (approx.) for any final queries before deletion on 31st March 2015. Between now and the date of closure the Jagex CM team will continue to operate on the forums and we will provide relevant updates on the website as necessary. Jagex asks players to contact the customer services team if they have not received their refunds by January 16th. Our hearts go out to the players and developers who hoped to see the title succeed. The Transformers Universe MOBA is shutting down originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Celebrate SWTOR's sacred Life Day by launching frozen orbs of water at each other Posted: 16 Dec 2014 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (In-Game), Free-to-Play, Humor, Star Wars: The Old Republic If there's a Christmasy holiday in MMOs these days, you can bet your bottom credit that there will be a snowball fight somewhere in it. Apparently, MMO developers worldwide got together in 2009 and signed a sacred pact to feature snowball fights in all of their games in December. And so it is with Star Wars: The Old Republic and this year's Life Day. SWTOR's Life Day celebration begins today and will go through January 6th. It will feature snowball fights that have a chance of awarding parcels that can be traded for rewards, grumpy parcel droids that need a good cooling off, and several new cash shop items including a mini Wampa pet. Get in the spirit of Life Day by listening to Princess Leia's legendary song from the Star Wars Holiday Special and downing some Wookie eggnog. Celebrate SWTOR's sacred Life Day by launching frozen orbs of water at each other originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Life Day

WildStar's next big update and holiday surprise Posted: 16 Dec 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Patches, Previews, Endgame, News Items, WildStar, Dungeons, Subscription, Buy-to-Play The first major WildStar update of 2015 is available on the test servers now. Yes, there's a little time before it actually goes live for everyone. Creative Director Chad Moore took the opportunity today to explain to the community everything contained within the new update, starting with the addition of two new dungeons (the Protostar Academy and the Ultimate Protogames), a new Shiphand mission, and the addition of veteran-level Shiphand missions that can still be cleared solo or in a group as you'd like. This update also includes new housing options, cosmetic options for characters (including the ability to edit your appearance post-character creation), and the addition of the new Glory currency for completing dungeons and raids, which can be exchanged for high-end equipment. Last but not least, it's the update that includes the long-discussed drop of the Datascape raid down to 20 players, making it less of a challenge to assemble a roster for this content. While it remains to be seen how well the update actually plays, it looks to be filled with a number of positive changes for the game. In other WildStar news today, the studio is running holiday promotion during December. "Carbine wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holiday and spread some cheer by giving out 12 Days of Boom Boxes," wrote Community Manager Tony Rey yesterday. "Everyone that has logged into WildStar during the month of December (12/1-12/15) will receive these sweet little bundles of potential." WildStar's next big update and holiday surprise originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Dev post

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