MMO Updates

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• Hyperspace Beacon: Five SWTOR predictions for 2015
• One Shots: Brain Boy
• The Daily Grind: Have you ever been hacked in an MMO?
• Not So Massively: TUG gets funding, Shroud of the Avatar gets a plan, Marvel Heroes gets Venom
• The Stream Team: Goodnight, World of Warcraft
• Gloria Victis plays host to Santa
• The Stream Team: A very Venom Marvel Heroes Monday
• City of Titans shows off socketed model
• MMOs and gaming psychology, part one: The research

Hyperspace Beacon: Five SWTOR predictions for 2015 Posted: 30 Dec 2014 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Classes, PvP, Endgame, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon, MMORPG It's that time again to make my educated guesses on what BioWare will attempt to accomplish in the coming year with Star Wars: The Old Republic. In the last Hyperspace Beacon, I gave my grade card for how I think 2014 went, but now I extinguish the Force ghost of Christmas past and get a visit from the blue-glowy of Christmas yet to come. I don't always get everything right, but I like to make a guess anyway. When you've finished reading my predictions, let's continue the discussion in the comments. I want to hear your thoughts as well. Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Five SWTOR predictions for 2015 Hyperspace Beacon: Five SWTOR predictions for 2015 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Dec 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

One Shots: Brain Boy Posted: 30 Dec 2014 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Screenshots, Culture, One Shots, Champions Online, Miscellaneous Boy howdy, I do love seeing the wonderfully bizarre superheroes that players can whip up in MMOs. Here's another winner from reader Dynatos, who shows off a rather... unique hero from Champions Online. "Born with an oversized (and over-active!) brain, Alistair Chester Grayson VI was never content with his 'weak' flesh -- so he put his brain to work augmenting his body with cyborg components he created!" Dynatos revealed. "Here he is hovering over the Renaissance Center." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots! One Shots: Brain Boy originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Dec 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Have you ever been hacked in an MMO? Posted: 30 Dec 2014 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Business Models, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Hands-On, Miscellaneous The Massively tip line frequently receives notes from MMO gamers who are upset about being hacked in one MMO or another. Sometimes it's the result of a serious security flaw in the game, but sometimes it's just a lapse in a player's personal security. One way or another, it sucks. I've never had an MMO account of mine hacked, but a guildie or two of mine has in the past, which has resulted in our guild vault being cleaned out. Fortunately, the studio (Blizzard, in this case) restored the accounts and every scrap of loot and gold that was taken. But I know not all studios respond that way when it's not their fault but ours, and some folks find they've lost their accounts and characters forever. Have you ever had an MMO account hacked? How did the studio handle it? And what did you do to safeguard yourself afterward? 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: Have you ever been hacked in an MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Dec 2014 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Not So Massively: TUG gets funding, Shroud of the Avatar gets a plan, Marvel Heroes gets Venom Posted: 29 Dec 2014 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, News Items, Massively Meta, Marvel Heroes, World of Tanks, Miscellaneous, Not So Massively, Shroud of the Avatar Welcome back to No So Massively, where every Monday we round up the highlights from the past week in the world of MOBAs, roguelikes, MMOTCGs, and other games that aren't quite MMOs. Shroud of the Avatar got a nice big update for the holidays as Release 13, um, released. The development team also rolled out the game's plans through early 2015, so you know there's stuff in the pipeline. World of Tanks rolled update 9.5 onto the live servers. It includes British tanks and a new map! Who doesn't love those things? After some worries regarding its future, TUG has confirmed that more investment capital is secured, thus placing fan concerns about the future of the project to rest for a little while. Marvel Heroes goes just a little bit crazy for Venom and all of his hastily added brain-eating ways. It's like the 90s Spider-books all over again. Some holiday or another took place over the week. One of the big ones. Halloween, maybe? We weren't paying close attention. Continue reading Not So Massively: TUG gets funding, Shroud of the Avatar gets a plan, Marvel Heroes gets Venom Not So Massively: TUG gets funding, Shroud of the Avatar gets a plan, Marvel Heroes gets Venom originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: Goodnight, World of Warcraft Posted: 29 Dec 2014 04:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, Expansions, PvE, Hands-On, Livestream, The Stream Team, Subscription, MMORPG World of Warcraft's Choose My Adventure is coming to a close and Massively's Mike Foster is trying to get as much out of it as possible before the new month begins. Join him tonight as he storms a couple of battlegrounds, completes a few quests, and takes advantage of his brand-new garrison buildings. It's the last hurrah for Warlords of Draenor as a CMA subject! Tune in at 7:00 p.m. EST for all the action. Game: World of Warcraft Host: Mike Foster Date: Monday, December 29th, 2014 Time: 7:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Goodnight, World of Warcraft The Stream Team: Goodnight, World of Warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Gloria Victis plays host to Santa Posted: 29 Dec 2014 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Patches, Sandbox Over this past weekend, Santa Claus had the opportunity to visit the in-the-making Gloria Victis and delight testers. In the newest pre-alpha patch, Santa appeared on Stoneholm Island and regaled listeners with his... rather unusual adventures. The patch also implemented a new gathering system, animations for said gathering, added in a few new locations, and buffed bow-and-arrow attacks. The team also had a special message for the game's supporters: "Thanks to all of you who put your trust in ourselves. You gave us the chance to continuously create the project of our dreams. You are our everyday Santa Clauses and support the Gloria Victis developing in any possible way." [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!] Gloria Victis plays host to Santa originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Changelog

The Stream Team: A very Venom Marvel Heroes Monday Posted: 29 Dec 2014 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Video, Classes, Marvel Heroes, Livestream, The Stream Team If Spiderman is just a wee bit too clean cut for you, you might enjoy Marvel Heroes' newest playable villain instead. Venom, the dark antithesis to the colorful web crawler, has recently joined the ranks. Of course, that means Massively's MJ has got to check him out in all his symbiote glory. And part of that glory is using ichor as a resource builder, which just happens to drain his health in order to power up his skills. That means MJ could actually cause her own deathblow if she's not careful! Join us live at 5:00 p.m. to see the dark side of Spidey powers (and if MJ can survive her new powers). Game: Marvel Heroes Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Monday, December 29th, 2014 Time: 5:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Stream Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: A very Venom Marvel Heroes Monday The Stream Team: A very Venom Marvel Heroes Monday originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

City of Titans shows off socketed model Posted: 29 Dec 2014 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, Screenshots, Dev Diaries, Miscellaneous There's a long way to go before City of Titans reaches the superheroic heights of its spiritual forebears, but the team is eager nonetheless to show that progress is being made. That's why it's putting on a 12 Days of Devmas series, kicking off with the revelation of the fully socketed body model that the team is using for testing purposes. "Odo's an artist's model we're using while we continue to develop the base body mesh," the team posted. "He lets us continue work on the rest of the game while we develop the sliders and other parts that make the characters super. Of course, you'll notice he still has every joint that the final character will have. Fingers and all. He's the digital version of a wooden artist's mannequin, with all the flexibility of our real model." In successive posts of the series, Odo is shown with various weapons including a slide rule and keytar. [Thanks to Bryan for the tip!] City of Titans shows off socketed model originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: 12 Days of Devmas

MMOs and gaming psychology, part one: The research Posted: 29 Dec 2014 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Opinion, Miscellaneous Last month, Massively wrote a short article about research on the relationship between shyness and online game friendships. The topic is of interest to me not just because of the MMO connection but because I myself am someone who used to identify myself as shy but believe online games help me cope with and surmount it. Games are what I rely on to help myself meet new people as cultural and language barriers prevent me, an American, from making strong attachments in Japan, the country where I live and work. In preparing for this two-part article, I spoke to the research paper's lead author, Dr. Rachel Kowert, who helpfully provided me with a reader's digest version of recent research in this subfield of psychology. Tomorrow, we'll tackle our interview with Dr. Kowert herself, but today, we'll have a look at the research to bring us all up to speed. Continue reading MMOs and gaming psychology, part one: The research MMOs and gaming psychology, part one: The research originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Top image credit: Lars Frantzen

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