filed in General on Nov.30, 2009
It’s a good thing that Tony Hawk: Ride is meant to be played with your feet, because if there ever was a game that made you want to throw your controller across a room, this is it.
Ride, the 10th videogame starring the world’s most famous professional skateboarder, might not have been so disappointing if, like [...]
filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Gamasutra is reporting that Hakkyu Kim, RO’s creator, is working on two new MMOs. One a more basic MMO that features the control of a single character, and another MMO that is done in the 2D sprites/3D backgrounds style of RO, except with a focus on action.
While neither of these games will be a new Ragnarok, as Gravity Interactive holds the license to the Ragnarok series, it’s good to see Kim returning to his roots after his work on Granado Espada, more commonly known as Sword of the New World in the US.
Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, Ragnarok Online, News items
Ragnarok Online creator to make new MMO in the vein of Ragnarok originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Mark this one down under the “good news” category, but with a lot of conditionals: Warhammer Online has updated the list of acceptable server transfers for the upcoming shutdown. We reported earlier on the planned closing of Phoenix Throne and Dark Crag, bringing the game’s remaining servers to four. Unfortunately, the decision hasn’t been reversed, but the former limitations on what servers could be chosen as a destination for transferred characters has been expanded. In a fresh release, it was announced that characters from the closed servers would be allowed to transfer to any of the four remaining servers.
When the announcement was first made there were a number of people who protested the selections for destinations, as players had seen some of the writing on the wall and had already begun transferring over to other servers in anticipation. This move seems to be aimed at engendering some more positive community feelings after the understandably unpopular announcement, although how much help it will actually provide remains to be seen. The announcement goes on to serve as a reminder that the server merge will be taking place on December 2nd, so if your server is on the list to be merged and you wish to say goodbye, now is the time.
Filed under: Fantasy, Server downtime, Warhammer Online, News items
Updated transfer list for Warhammer Online’s server merge originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Sure, it’s not the first time that an FPS system has been used in an MMO. PlanetSide is an FPSMMO, Tabula Rasa ended up incorporating an (awesome) FPS view shortly before it kicked the bucket, and Neocron is built on FPS concepts, but that doesn’t mean that an FPS perspective isn’t a huge amount of fun in an MMO or any less original.
Continue reading Why You Should Be Playing Fallen Earth: First person combat
Filed under: Fallen Earth, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, MMOFPS, Why You Should Be Playing
Why You Should Be Playing Fallen Earth: First person combat originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
filed in General on Nov.30, 2009
I have come to the realization that, for me, the Professor Layton series is very similar to the John Madden Football games that you kids seem to enjoy so much: One comes out every fall, and it’s the same as the last one, but I buy it anyway and love it.
Professor Layton and the Demon [...]
filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Since last week was all about space combat, we wanted to round things out nicely for this week’s Star Trek Online community Q&A. So, with that in mind, this week we’d like you to give us your best and most burning questions about ground combat and how it fits into the game.
We’ll give you until the end of Wednesday, December 2nd to submit your questions in the comments section below. Following that, we’ll round up a cross-section of the most popular and most poignant ground combat questions and by next week your answers will be here, straight from the folks at Cryptic. As before, we’re open to suggestions on next week’s Q&A topic, so feel free to throw your hat into that ring while you’re typing up those Q’s for Cryptic’s A’s.
Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Star Trek Online
Massively’s Star Trek Online community Q&A: Ground combat originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
The revealing of Star Wars: The Old Republic’s final two classes has incited much discussion amongst the community and inside my own brain. On one hand, lots of people are happy to have more Sith and Jedi classes to choose from. However, on the other hand, some people are disappointed in the lack of creative and unexpected class options.
In all reality, BioWare probably made the right choice, but let’s look at the view of both sides for the sake of argument and to have a little fun.
Continue reading The Digital Continuum: SWTOR’s ‘inquistoring’ Consular conundrum
Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Star Wars: The Old Republic
The Digital Continuum: SWTOR’s ‘inquistoring’ Consular conundrum originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Lord of the Rings Online fans have one thing on their mind today: Siege of Mirkwood. The expansion launches tomorrow, and players are spending today waiting, speculating, and wishing tomorrow would arrive a bit sooner. Turbine has made the wait easier by releasing patch notes for you to read over while you wait.
All things Mirkwood are covered in the patch notes, from the highly anticipated skirmish system down to the fact that festival gift boxes will no longer contain coal or taters. The full patch notes are very extensive, and while they cover several things we’ve already heard about, there is a wealth of new information to be had.
The notes include a long list of bug fixes, highlights, and items “of special note”, before moving down to the full release notes. There you will find all the information to guide you through the changes that Mirkwood brings: classes, instances, auctions, and quests. The little things like hobbies and emotes that help to make the game what it is are also covered.
The full patch notes can be found here, and we’ll see you in Siege of Mirkwood tomorrow to check them out firsthand!
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Launches
LotRO Siege of Mirkwood patch notes released originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
The Dominion expansion for EVE Online will arrive tomorrow, December 1st, after a lengthy downtime of roughly 19 hours (02:00 GMT/UTC to 21:00 GMT/UTC). Access to the EVE website and forums will be down for much of this time, as will the EVE API, but CCP Games has compiled a tome of Dominion patch notes to occupy at least some of that time. There’s also a player discussion of the Dominion features and changes on the game’s forums with some clarification on details from the CCP devs.
If reading through the full patch notes (10,000 words and climbing with updates) isn’t really your thing, a few of the EVE bloggers have discussed the highlights of what’s new in this expansion. Mynxee covers the good, the bad, and the comical in Dominion on her Life in Low Sec blog. We also recommend checking out Casiella’s take on the Dominion patch notes over at the Ecliptic Rift blog. Casiella discusses the myriad features that haven’t gotten much attention so far: voice fonts added to EVE Voice in chat channels; the in-game jukebox now using MP3s with playlist support; and how player actions for the Caldari race via factional warfare now impact the rival Gallente storyline missions.
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Launches, Server downtime
EVE Dominion patch notes long but packed with info on game changes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
dimeRocker Revealed, Developer Beta Registration Now Available (PRWeb Nov 30, 2009)
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/11/prweb3274144.htm
filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Vogster’s MMOFPS CrimeCraft hasn’t had the easiest time, and it took another hit last week when it was banned in Australia. The Australian Classification Board refused classification of the game thanks to the availability of Boosts, drugs that give the player character various buffs. The reason given? “In the board’s opinion, there is insufficient delineation between the ‘fictional drugs’ available in game and real-world proscribed drugs.”
The board elaborated a bit on their decision, pointing out strong similarities to real-world drugs: “In addition, the names of boosts mimic the chemicals and colloquial names of proscribed drugs. Examples include K-Dust, Birth, Chimera, Majoun, Betadyne ResistX and Zymek Stim-Ex, as well as the anabolics Raze and Frenzy.”
Australia currently does not have any sort of R18+ classification, so a game that would receive that rating is banned. Valve worked around this in October by submitting a censored version of Left 4 Dead 2, so CrimeCraft may not be entirely without hope.
Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, News items, Crime, MMOFPS, CrimeCraft
CrimeCraft banned in Australia originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
The Lord of the Rings Online expansion Siege of Mirkwood is set to go live tomorrow, and for LotRO fans who have been waiting for it, that final day can feel pretty long. How can anxious fans pass the time while those last hours tick away?
Almazar at LotRO Reporter has been making his wait easier by posting ideas on how to…well, make the wait easier. Speculating about what you’ll do when the expansion arrives is half the fun of the wait, and he has a nice list of possibilities. Excited about Siege of Mirkwood and dying to dive right into the new areas and explore? He’s got something for you. Interested in visiting the newly revamped Lone-lands? Couldn’t care less about any of it? LotRO Reporter has you covered as well.
You can read the full entry here, and feel free to post your thoughts on what you can’t wait to see in Mirkwood tomorrow!
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Launches
How to spend your first day in Siege of Mirkwood originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
Is beta testing something of a mystery to you? Do you wonder about the how and why of a developer’s beta process?
Well, you’re in for a treat! We recently got in touch with several MMO developers to ask them each a series of questions about MMO beta testing. In this feature you’ll find opinions from Cryptic Studios, Fallen Earth LLC, Mythic Entertainment, Turbine, Runic Games and Hi-Rez Studios. It’s a four-page long read, but we think you’ll find lots to enjoy within those pages. For commenting, hit up page four — we can’t wait to read your thoughts!
Continue reading Developer round table: MMO betas
Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Massively Interviews
Developer round table: MMO betas originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
filed in General on Nov.30, 2009
Recession be damned: Desert Bus For Hope collected $132,608.94 for the Child’s Play charity over the long holiday weekend.
Beginning on November 20, the crew from comedy troupe LoadingReadyRun played a non-stop marathon of the tedious “Desert Bus” mini-game from the unreleased Sega CD game Penn & Teller’s Smoke and Mirrors. So long as donors kept [...]
filed in Site on Nov.30, 2009
In a surprising surge, we’ve heard a great deal of things about Star Wars Galaxies lately. From SOE offering new rides to our friend Petter M checking it out and chronicling his adventure, it seems more folks are giving it a try who hadn’t before. Then when we hear of great role-play events going on in game, such as the Sizzling Summer Cantina Crawl from earlier this year, we can understand why more and more people are taking a second look! Here’s the scoop on the above image from Mandash Grim:
As Landroval is to Lord of the Rings Online and Virtue is the City of Heroes, Starsider has long been the unofficial role-playing server of Star Wars Galaxies. So successful, in fact, that it’s currently the largest population server in the game and everywhere you run into folks with RP tags. While not the oldest Player Association still on Starsider, Holowood Galactic Studios is one of the most popular as they help other PAs and player cities organize events and coordinate Storyteller adventure campaigns. Sounds like a good server to start on if you’re going to give SWG a look!
We love MMOs: from the old to the new! But we rely on readers like you to tell us about the cool and interesting things going on in your favorite games! So, why not take a moment to email a screenshot to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We’ll post it out here and let folks know what’s going on.
Gallery: One Shots
Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Star Wars Galaxies, One Shots
One Shots: Sharing summer’s sizzle originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
filed in General on Nov.30, 2009
Hot on the heels of the trailer for the Prince of Persia film, Ubisoft has announced that the next Prince of Persia game will be available in May 2010.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will abandon the new storyline from last year’s series reboot and go back to the world of Sands of Time, the [...]