MMO Updates

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• Flameseeker Chronicles: Rooting through Guild Wars 2's Point of no Return
• Das Tal boasts that it will 'do things better' than ArcheAge
• Did you get a World of Warcraft anniversary statue?
• Hungry? Elder Scrolls Online is revamping provisioning
• Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5 is live
• The Daily Grind: What constitutes a 'niche' MMO feature?
• Not So Massively: Closed beta for HOTS; tourneys for Hearthstone and LoL
• Albion's alpha trailer highlights a whole bunch of new stuff
• TUG is pushing out multiplayer updates
• Pantheon dev roundtable promises a public Vision
• The Mog Log: A primer for Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5

Flameseeker Chronicles: Rooting through Guild Wars 2's Point of no Return Posted: 20 Jan 2015 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, Patches, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Races, Flameseeker Chronicles, Buy-to-Play How about that Guild Wars 2 season finale, huh? Although it's not the major event last year's was, it threw a huge chunk of fuel on the ol' rumor bonfires. Despite the buzz surrounding GW2 lately, I know a lot of players expected ArenaNet to underplay the last chapter of season two. Instead, we got a massive reveal and a surprise look at what ArenaNet plans to show off at PAX South on January 24th, and it's more full of exciting possibilities than I could have predicted. This article will necessarily contain spoilers, more spoilers, and even more spoilers, so make sure you're up to speed before reading further. Or don't, and suffer the consequences (I love saying that). Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Rooting through Guild Wars 2's Point of no Return Flameseeker Chronicles: Rooting through Guild Wars 2's Point of no Return originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Das Tal boasts that it will 'do things better' than ArcheAge Posted: 20 Jan 2015 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, PvP, Free-to-Play, Dev Diaries, ArcheAge Consider the gauntlet thrown down from one sandbox to another. Das Tal Head of Communications David Wells posted a new essay today in which he says that his title will best ArcheAge: "Unfortunately I, like a lot of others, have come to the conclusion that ArcheAge is probably one of the worst MMOs to come out recently -- but the reasons why are not straight forward. I am going to go over the good and bad, as well as shamelessly point out how our game will do things better." Wells says that ArcheAge stumbled with a messy housing system, bad monetization, cultural differences, hacking, heavy grind, lackluster PvE, no solid PvP, shaky server tech, and a lack of good communication by Trion. He goes on to provide a counterpoint for each these items, explaining how Das Tal will succeed where ArcheAge has failed. Or, if you're looking for a TL;DR version, "How we do it better: To put it simply, we give a s**t." Das Tal boasts that it will 'do things better' than ArcheAge originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Das Tal vs. ArcheAge

Did you get a World of Warcraft anniversary statue? Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:30 AM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Anniversaries, Subscription The World of Warcraft community is abuzz with the revelation that Blizzard is sending out a special thank-you to its most dedicated fans for its 10th anniversary: a physical 9" statue of an Orc. Only fans who have been with the game for the entire ride are eligible to get the statue, however,. According to Blizzard's qualifications, "A player must have created a World of Warcraft account within 60 days of the game launching in the NA or EU regions and maintained their subscription or game time for all 10 years." Our question today is, if you qualify for this, have you indeed received your spiffy statue? And do you have a picture to prove it? Did you get a World of Warcraft anniversary statue? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: WoW Insider, Battle.net Via: Joystiq

Hungry? Elder Scrolls Online is revamping provisioning Posted: 20 Jan 2015 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Dev Diaries, Crafting, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription When The Elder Scrolls Online's Update 6 launches later this month, characters with the provisioning skill should go make us a sammich. Just kidding. But if you do decide to make us a sammich, you'll find the process much more streamlined and effective, as ZeniMax is plotting a major overhaul of the profession. In a dev blog posted last night, the studio explained that it will be reducing the overall number of ingredients in the game, adding new recipes, updating the cooking UI, and giving food additives some oomph. Roleplayers will be happy to learn that lootable food-related objects will soon yield appropriate ingredients (apples from apple baskets, for example), and food buffs will make a bit more sense, like "meat dishes [that] increase your health and fruit dishes [that] increase your magicka." If you're not actually a cook yourself, all you really need to know is that you should start skinning fish, cows, and chickens for meat and that drink buffs won't suck anymore. Hooray! Hungry? Elder Scrolls Online is revamping provisioning originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ESO dev post

Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5 is live Posted: 20 Jan 2015 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Endgame, News Items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Dungeons, Subscription The day that Final Fantasy XIV players have waited for is finally here. Patch 2.5 has gone live, and it brings with it a host of improvements and additions to the game. The full patch notes also contain no shortage of items that had previously been held back from the preliminary notes, including new crafting recipes, new vendor wares, and new items available for quick exploration ventures. While this is only the first part of the game's 2.5 patch series, it includes three new dungeons, the new World of Darkness raid, three new trials, and the first half of the pre-Heavensward story conclusion. The servers are up and running, so if you have the day off or just don't have to go to work yet, you can get a jump on all of the new endgame content and start working your way through everything that's been added. Otherwise you can console yourself with the patch notes. Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5 is live originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What constitutes a 'niche' MMO feature? Posted: 20 Jan 2015 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Endgame, Opinion, Massively Meta, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Dungeons In the wake of WildStar's rocky first half year, some players have defended the game's self-destructive gameplay decisions by declaring traditional gameplay tropes "niche." It's meant to be a niche game for that tiny niche of hardcore raiders, defenders argue, and therefore criticism is unwarranted. And in the sense that apparently a very small proportion of MMORPG fans actually participate in raiding (unless forced?), they're right. But that hasn't stopped most themepark MMOs since EverQuest from brandishing raids as a mostly inadequate talisman to ward off playerbase churn. Even if we outright refuse to raid, most of the MMOs we play are designed around raiders and raiding. It's easy to not raid, but raiding is hard to ignore because it's not being treated as niche by so many of the biggest titles and studios. The disconnect between development plans and playerbase desires is reflected in this same disconnect between what we think of as a niche MMO feature and what actually is niche by the numbers. How would you sort it out? If raids, one of the core and defining features of so many themeparks, are niche, then what isn't niche? What exactly constitutes a niche MMO feature? 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 constitutes a 'niche' MMO feature? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Not So Massively: Closed beta for HOTS; tourneys for Hearthstone and LoL Posted: 19 Jan 2015 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Trailers, Video, Business Models, Game Mechanics, PvP, News Items, Trading Card Games, Consoles, MMOFPS, MMORTS, World of Tanks, Miscellaneous, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III, Crowdfunding, Destiny, Elite: Dangerous, Path of Exile, Buy-to-Play, Hearthstone, E-sports, OARPG 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. Heroes of the Storm is now in closed beta. Blizz also previewed the Sky Temple map. Blizzard announced the 2015 Hearthstone World Championship. Riot announced League of Legends' mid-season invitational for May, pushed patch 5.1 live, and revealed Nemesis Draft, a new featured game mode. The game will also be celebrating Aussie players on Oceania servers later this month. Elite: Dangerous mapped out the beta schedule for its inbound updates and teased future expansions. Path of Exile completed PvP season one with its invitational tournament this weekend. Marvel Heroes pubbed its level 52 Hulk review. Diablo III patched 2.1.2 and ended season one. Borderlands Online revealed its four classes. World of Tanks introduced personal missions. MOBA Nosgoth's open beta is set to begin on January 21st. MMORTS Elvenar explained how to upgrade buildings. Square Enix publishe a dev blog for MOBA Lord of Vermilion. Infestation: Survivor Stories EP Sergey Titov admitted that the post-apoc game's original name, The War Z, was a "terrible choice." King of Wushu released videos for three new playable characters. Massively's Jukebox Heroes column reviewed Destiny's soundtrack. The game will launch the hardmode version of Crota's End this week. Dota 2 now boasts over 10 million players. Netmarble and Visual Toys announced they'll launch MOBA Pirates: Treasure Hunter next month. Former pro League of Legends team Vulcan leaped into fantasy e-sports. MOBA Summoner's Legion opens its first official server this coming Wednesday. Way, way too many devs think MOBAs are smart and sustainable for it to actually remain true. Ahem. Continue reading Not So Massively: Closed beta for HOTS; tourneys for Hearthstone and LoL Not So Massively: Closed beta for HOTS; tourneys for Hearthstone and LoL originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Albion's alpha trailer highlights a whole bunch of new stuff Posted: 19 Jan 2015 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, PvE, Sandbox Albion Online's upcoming alpha event begins on January 26th, and in case you're not already excited, Sandbox Interactive has released a new trailer that may put you in the mood. The clip runs just over a minute in length, which is more than enough time to tease updated environments and textures, the new farming system, new visual effects, and large-scale PvP. Click past the cut to have a look! Continue reading Albion's alpha trailer highlights a whole bunch of new stuff Albion's alpha trailer highlights a whole bunch of new stuff originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

TUG is pushing out multiplayer updates Posted: 19 Jan 2015 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Patches, Dev Diaries, Sandbox The multiplayer lifestyle will be all the rage in TUG in the coming weeks, as the devs have said that they're preparing to push updates out to get more people playing together. Survival and creative modes will both be getting multiplayer love, although the team has asked for players to help spot and report bugs during this testing cycle. The team did warn that these builds will start small: "Multiplayer in this iteration is still fairly early, so don't expect crazy furry parties just yet. With more time and more tech, the experience and player count will improve. As to what that count is, we still cannot say." TUG is pushing out multiplayer updates originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Kickstarter

Pantheon dev roundtable promises a public Vision Posted: 19 Jan 2015 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Dev Diaries, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen You know how the other day we reported on how Pantheon's maiden podcast was teasing an upcoming developer roundtable? Well, that roundtable has arrived indeed, and you can listen to the full hour-and-a-half discussion with the team after the break. One of the topics was over the team's "foundational principles," which players say they were promised over a year ago. Brad McQuaid apologized for not having posted those tenets yet and said that they would be forthcoming on the website before too long. "The Vision of Pantheon as a whole has not changed," he assured listeners. Continue reading Pantheon dev roundtable promises a public Vision Pantheon dev roundtable promises a public Vision originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Dev roundtable

The Mog Log: A primer for Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5 Posted: 19 Jan 2015 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lore, Patches, Endgame, Opinion, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log, Dungeons, Subscription Ladies, gentlemen, and those who fall into neither category: The end approaches swiftly. Final Fantasy XIV's last pre-expansion patch is about to drop, and just like the bass, it won't be the same afterward. Tomorrow you've got a whole lot of new content to play through, enough to probably keep you well occupied for the next three months. The fact that the second portion of the patch will be dropping in about a month just makes it all the more occupying. As we've done many times before, today's column is meant chiefly to take apart the patch elements we know of and get you up to speed so you can start playing without any issues once you can log in again. So let's start in on the first part of Before the Fall, complete with its new mystery trial and the promise of many revelations. Even if the big fireworks are coming in March. Continue reading The Mog Log: A primer for Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5 The Mog Log: A primer for Final Fantasy XIV patch 2.5 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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