MMO Updates

---

• PAX South 2015: Slaying giants in Motiga's Gigantic
• PAX South 2015: O'Brien and Johanson on Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns
• The Daily Grind: Which MMO devs cause you to follow a project?
• PAX South 2015: The Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns experience
• Make My MMO: January 18 - 24, 2015
• Norrathian Notebook: Five reasons to support EQ Next and Landmark
• PAX South 2015: The Untitled Game is whatever you want it to be
• PAX South 2015: SWTOR reveals its plans for this year

PAX South 2015: Slaying giants in Motiga's Gigantic Posted: 25 Jan 2015 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Video, Events (Real-World), New Titles, PvP, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, MMOFPS, First Impressions, Events (Massively's Coverage), MOBA Motiga's Gigantic is one part Team Fortress, one part Dota, and one part Monster Hunter. The basic match structure will sound familiar to MOBA lovers -- two teams of five slug it out for superiority by controlling resources, leveling up, and killing one another -- but the skill-based mechanics, multiple maps, and shifting strategy priorities make the game more than a three-lane farm fest. Gigantic isn't about last-hitting or memorizing meta. Instead, it's about slaying giants and aiming true. I hopped in on a quick Gigantic match with some other press folks this afternoon at PAX South 2015, and in the midst of delivering an absolute drubbing to the scrubs (kidding!) on the other side of the table, I was able to get a feel for the game's combat system, characters, and the way its massive guardians change the way battles play out. Continue reading PAX South 2015: Slaying giants in Motiga's Gigantic PAX South 2015: Slaying giants in Motiga's Gigantic originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 Jan 2015 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX South 2015: O'Brien and Johanson on Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns Posted: 25 Jan 2015 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Expansions, Interviews, New Titles, PvP, PvE, Guild Wars 2, Events (Massively's Coverage), MMORPG, Buy-to-Play ArenaNet's Mike O'Brien and Colin Johanson (and Commander Shepard) took to the PAX South 2015 stage yesterday morning to announce Heart of Thorns, the first-ever expansion for Guild Wars 2. If you're not up to speed, check out our post covering the announcement and the official site to get the broad strokes on the expansion's new zone, new profession, new progression system, and more. News of the expansion raised many a question from our readers (and our staff!). Massively's Larry Everett and I sat down with O'Brien and Johanson to try to get those questions answered and dive a little deeper into the changes coming to Guild Wars 2's living world. And no, there isn't a release date. Continue reading PAX South 2015: O'Brien and Johanson on Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns PAX South 2015: O'Brien and Johanson on Guild Wars 2's Heart of Thorns originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 Jan 2015 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Which MMO devs cause you to follow a project? Posted: 25 Jan 2015 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind Raph Koster's involvement with Crowfall has increased my interest in the game. I still doubt the title is for me, but given Koster's role at the forefront of my two favorite MMORPGs, I kinda have to pay attention. What about you, Massively readers? Are there any MMO devs whose involvement causes you to follow a project? 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: Which MMO devs cause you to follow a project? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 Jan 2015 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX South 2015: The Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns experience Posted: 24 Jan 2015 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events (Real-World), Expansions, PvE, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Events (Massively's Coverage), MMORPG, Buy-to-Play As MMO players surely know by now, Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns is the first expansion ever for the ArenaNet MMORPG. In fact, most everyone suspected the announcement thanks to the leaked trademark information. But that didn't stop fans from being excited about it, nor did that bit of information satisfy their hunger. The emcee for the reveal event was none other than voice actor Jennifer Hale, whose voice players might recognize as Queen Jennah's. President and CEO of ArenaNet Mike O'Brien and game director Colin Johanson teased the PAX South crowd of over 1,500 fans waiting in the main theater. But the anticipation for the new expansion started well before anyone even came to the stage. Continue reading PAX South 2015: The Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns experience PAX South 2015: The Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns experience originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Jan 2015 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Make My MMO: January 18 - 24, 2015 Posted: 24 Jan 2015 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Crowdfunding, Make My MMO This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Star Citizen's release window made headlines, as did the new VAT tax that's about to hit Euro fans of the space sim opus. We also heard from TUG and Shroud of the Avatar, while Pantheon hosted a dev roundtable and promised a public vision. Click past the cut for our weekly crowdfunding news roundup. Continue reading Make My MMO: January 18 - 24, 2015 Make My MMO: January 18 - 24, 2015 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Jan 2015 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Norrathian Notebook: Five reasons to support EQ Next and Landmark Posted: 24 Jan 2015 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Opinion, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Sandbox, Norrathian Notebook, Landmark I like Landmark and am looking forward to EverQuest Next. There, I said it. It should be no surprise. And as such, I certainly have a vested interest in how these games fare throughout their development and launch. I want to see them succeed. But the thing is, so should you -- whether or not you actually want to play them. Unfortunately, it seems all too fashionable lately for folks to tear something down instead of build it up. So often when I'm following the discussions about EQ Next and Landmark, I hear plenty of reasons why folks don't like the games, and the reasons frequently have nothing to do with the games themselves. Detractors are going on about longstanding gripes and grudges instead of judging the games on their own merits (a practice that the whole world could certainly do without). Amid all the scathing comments I've heard directed at SOE for slights real and imagined, one recently gave me pause and made me reflect on the reasons that supporting these two MMO endeavors is worthwhile. Continue reading Norrathian Notebook: Five reasons to support EQ Next and Landmark Norrathian Notebook: Five reasons to support EQ Next and Landmark originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Jan 2015 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX South 2015: The Untitled Game is whatever you want it to be Posted: 24 Jan 2015 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, Interviews, PvE, Hands-On, Events (Massively's Coverage), Sandbox, Crafting, Crowdfunding, Player-Generated Content, MMORPG The Untitled Game, better known as TUG, is one of the many recent titles that have earned a small crowdfunding fortune by shouting the word "sandbox" as loud as the internet will allow. The game's initial Kickstarter campaign raised $293,000; launching on Steam's Early Access marketplace helped Nerd Kingdom rake in an unspecified amount of additional dollars. The studio had a bold plan for an open-world, innovative crafting MMORPG, and it appeared as though players were ready to pay for it. Things haven't gone so swimmingly since then. Funding issues in late 2014 forced the studio to lay off around half of its staff. Many MMO industry followers have been wondering whether the project will ever be released or it's just another crowdfunded pipe dream. I took a look at TUG on the show floor at PAX South 2015 and talked to COO Brennan Priest about crowdfunding, layoffs, and killing things with axes. The one thing I can say for sure is that there is definitely a game here, and it seems as if it could be a good one. Continue reading PAX South 2015: The Untitled Game is whatever you want it to be PAX South 2015: The Untitled Game is whatever you want it to be originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX South 2015: SWTOR reveals its plans for this year Posted: 24 Jan 2015 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (Real-World), PvP, PvE, Free-to-Play, Races, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Dev Diaries, MMORPG When Eric Musco, the Star Wars: The Old Republic community manager, took the stage at the Community cantina last night at PAX South, he revealed that in 2015 the team wants to do something a bit different with this and future cantina crawl events. In the past, it has been policy not to reveal anything at the cantinas; they were intended to be social events where players could get some face-time with the developers of the game that they both enjoyed. However, going forward, the community and development teams have decided that each cantina will reveal that had not been mentioned before. The reveal at this weekend's cantina came in the form of the yet-to-be-published producer's letter by Bruce Maclean. The completely made-up story is that it was stolen from his computer while he wasn't looking and printed out to share with us at the cantina. After the break, you'll find a copy of that letter as it was dictated to cantina goers. The caveat, of course, is that this is not the final version of the letter that will appear on the official site in two weeks, so everything is subject to change. Continue reading PAX South 2015: SWTOR reveals its plans for this year PAX South 2015: SWTOR reveals its plans for this year originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Jan 2015 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

You are subscribed to email updates from Massively To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States