Posts Tagged "MMO"

• Betawatch: May 12 – 18, 2012

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous

  This week on Betawatch, we say farewell to Diablo III, which (at least nominally) moved on from beta to official launch on Tuesday. Bizarrely enchanting new MOBA SmashMuck Champions takes its place, joining our list with a closed beta planned within the month. We’ve also added MechWarrior Online to the alpha list, as reader mblakeman2001 rightly pointed out the game is in a friends-and-family beta!

  CCP has begun sending out DUST 514 beta keys and opened registration, and we’ve also learned that Blade & Soul will leave beta and launch in July… but only in Korea. Sadface.

  Finally, The Secret World’s second beta weekend kicked off earlier today, but if you’re not in it, you can content yourself with our hands-on with the game’s combat and mission system.

  Enjoy the entirety of our Betawatch roundup post-cut!

  Continue reading Betawatch: May 12 – 18, 2012

  Betawatch: May 12 – 18, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• The Daily Grind: Do you judge all MMOs by the same standard?

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Xsyon, Sandbox

  One of the challenges facing sandbox developers is the fact that recent themepark MMORPGs have raised the bar in terms of smooth launches and relatively bug-free experiences. Aside from EVE Online, most of the current sandboxes on offer are small indie affairs known as much for their rough-around-the-edges implementation as for their feature innovations.

  And yet, many so-called sandbox fans seem to expect games like Xsyon, Darkfall, and others to be as polished as World of Warcraft, RIFT, and other themeparks with fewer features and several times the budget.

  For today’s Daily Grind, we’d like to know how much (if any) slack you cut developers of sandbox and/or indie MMOs. Do you hold these games to the same standard that you hold a triple-A themepark?

  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: Do you judge all MMOs by the same standard? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• The Soapbox: Translating Elder Scrolls Online dev speak

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, The Soapbox, Sandbox, The Elder Scrolls Online

  Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week’s writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you’re afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column.

  Language is a pretty fascinating thing, and studying a second one is something I’ve long intended to do. Aside from entertaining thoughts of learning Korean to play ArcheAge, though (seriously, I looked into it), I haven’t gotten around to much beyond college-level Deutsch.

  But as I watched last week’s interview with The Elder Scrolls Online creative director Paul Sage, I realized that I already have some pretty good second-language skills. I’m fluent in both English and MMO dev-speak, so as a public service, I’m going to translate some of what Sage said into the former.

  Continue reading The Soapbox: Translating Elder Scrolls Online dev speak

  The Soapbox: Translating Elder Scrolls Online dev speak originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• TERA Tome database unleashes the mysteries of Arborea

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Fantasy, News items, TERA, Miscellaneous

  TERA players, have you been spending weeks trying to find that one perfect weapon? Or maybe you just want to know which mob drops the crafting mats you need to pimp out your gear. Either way, the ZAM Network is here to help. En Masse Entertainment has announced on the official TERA site that ZAM’s TERA database, alliteratively named TERA Tome, is live and kickin’.

  The current version of the site includes all of the nifty features that players have come to expect from ZAM’s MMO databases, such as information on quests, items, and abilities as well as helpful forums and comments. Players trying to get a handle on their character’s build should also find the site handy thanks to its useful glyph calculator that allows players to survey all currently available glyphs without the need to set foot in the game. Just head on over to the recently launched site to crack open the tome.

  TERA Tome database unleashes the mysteries of Arborea originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: TERA official site — TERA Tome is Live! Read More...

• One Shots: Woodland critters

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Galleries, Screenshots, A Tale in the Desert, EverQuest II, MMO industry, Opinion, Massively Meta, One Shots, RIFT, TERA, Miscellaneous

  TERA isn’t quite two weeks old, but it’s already offering up some spectacular views. Kromic on the Dragonfall server paused while riding on his mount to take this shot. He writes in,

  While doing some exploring on my trusty steed in TERA, I found a great view of the capital city Velika.

  His screenshot is just after the cut, along with three more images of woodland critters doing their duty to spice up our MMO scenery.

  Continue reading One Shots: Woodland critters

  One Shots: Woodland critters originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Cryptic developer: Star Trek Online PvP is ‘fail’

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play

  How many times have you read a forum post that says insert-random-MMO’s PvP sucks? Well, in Star Trek Online PvP actually does suck, and that’s straight from the mouth of a developer. It’s so bad, in fact, that Dan “Gozer” Griffis makes no bones about the fact that it could even be removed from Cryptic’s sci-fi MMO.

  “Right now because PVP is in such bad shape we (the developers) have to decide if we think we can turn this problem around. Participation in PVP-related activities is so low on an hourly, daily, weekly, and monthly basis that we could in fact just completely take it out of STO and it would not impact the overall number of people [who] log in to the game and play in any significant way.”

  Griffis goes on to say that he is the only developer currently working on PvP, and as such he has to make some hard choices. He has a plan, and though he hasn’t shared specifics on it yet, he says there are huge changes in store over the next year.

  [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

  Cryptic developer: Star Trek Online PvP is ‘fail’ originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: STO forums Read More...

• Betawatch: May 5 – 11, 2012

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous

  The Spirit Tales open beta launched this week, bumping that game up a tier on our beta list. In fact, the game proved so popular that an additional beta server was added to accommodate the avalanche of fans of all things cute.

  City of Steam has announced an alpha test for July, while Storybricks is accepting alpha signups for its alpha demo right now. Compounding the season’s MMO drama is Phantasy Star Online 2, which is aiming to open up its beta early this summer.

  The Secret World, with its 1,000,000 beta signups, is is kicking off its first beta weekend starting today. Meanwhile, Glitch’s epic beta housing patch is finally upon us, World of Warcraft has unveiled cross-server grouping in the Mists of Pandaria beta, and Guild Wars 2 announced a surprise stress test for pre-purchasers this coming Monday.

  Finally, if you’re bored this weekend, why not check out Diablo III-rival Path of Exile? Tipsters Don and James report it’s holding a public stress test starting right as this post is published at 8 p.m. EDT tonight.

  The full Betawatch roundup lies in wait behind the break.

  Continue reading Betawatch: May 5 – 11, 2012

  Betawatch: May 5 – 11, 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• The Daily Grind: Do you use mobile authenticators?

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Promotions, Miscellaneous

  A recent listener of the Massively Speaking podcast sparked a lively debate about the mobile authenticators that MMO companies are so fond of asking us to use as an extra layer of security for our accounts. He suggested that companies that encourage authenticators are doing so less for our security than for their own financial interests or responsibility — after all, if I’m using an authenticator, they can save money on support and security staff. Our listener also pointed out that authenticators are annoying to the point that MMO studios sometimes have to bribe us with minipets and other goodies to get us to enroll, which suggests that maybe more people than we’d think avoid that extra tier of security.

  What about you — do you use mobile authenticators when they are available, and if not, how do you and the games you play safeguard your accounts?

  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: Do you use mobile authenticators? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• MMObility: The pros and cons of Tibia’s browser version

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Miscellaneous, MMObility

  Tibia is an MMO that has been hanging in there for many, many years. You have to give it respect for that alone. When you add on the fact that the game seems to be updated relatively frequently and boasts a pretty good-sized playerbase, it becomes even more intriguing. I’ve played it in the past and have enjoyed the simple graphics and slower-paced gameplay. I like how NPCs chat with you, old-school EverQuest-style, and how there seems to be a lot more to the game than meets the eye.

  There are plenty of eyesores, however. The developers recently released Tibia in a beta browser form. While the client was always easy enough to download and run on my multitude of devices, I always prefer to just jump into my browser and load it up.

  I found a lot of neat little systems but also quite a few bugs or odd design choices. Colors and layout can be a problem, and I am not the biggest fan of Flash-based MMOs. Still, I am enjoying myself so far and look forward to more. Let’s talk about what I found over these last several hours with Tibia‘s browser-based version.

  Continue reading MMObility: The pros and cons of Tibia’s browser version

  MMObility: The pros and cons of Tibia’s browser version originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• EVE producer: F2P converts were "failing," subs still viable

  Hots Games
  

  Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Culture, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, DUST 514, Sandbox

  The death of the subscription model has been greatly exaggerated according to CCP. This view isn’t terribly surprising, given the fact that the company’s fortunes ebb and flow with sub-based EVE Online. What is somewhat surprising is the frankness with which EVE producer Jon Lander talks about the free-to-play mania that’s gripped western dev studios in recent years.

  “You look at the companies who did go free-to-play. They retrofitted it on, and that was because their games were failing. They didn’t care about the tiny nugget of players who were still playing, because they knew they would get a huge number of other players and it would be more profitable,” Lander told PC Gamer, before going on to explain how such a retrofit would kill EVE’s essence.

  Overall quality and the desire for long-term play also factor into a title’s business model, Lander says. “If you have a really good game [...] and people want to spend a long time playing it, not like a month or two but like EVE players for years at a time, they’re prepared to pay a subscription fee for a good quality gaming experience.”

  He also mentions EVE’s PLEX system, which allows for real-world money to be injected into the EVE economy sans shady third-party brokers. And of course CCP is experimenting with free-to-play via its new DUST 514 shooter, which Lander says was built from the ground up for the new business model. It’s not necessarily the future, though. “People say the subscription MMO is dead. I fundamentally disagree with that. It’s simply not the case,” he says. Hit the jump for video excerpts from the interview.

  Continue reading EVE producer: F2P converts were “failing,” subs still viable

  EVE producer: F2P converts were “failing,” subs still viable originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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