Be The Gamer

Photography enthusiasts who’d like to get their hands on an Alienware M15x laptop will want to take note of the latest Cities XL contest — “Aim, Shoot… Win!”. Cities XL developer Monte Cristo writes: “Since the city is at the very heart of CitiesXL, this competition will allow you to immortalize yours by submitting photos to our jury in one of the following categories:

• Most beautiful photo
• Best Christmas photo”

Those competition submissions should be photos of actual cities, not screenshots captured in Cities XL. If you’ve got a nice shot that would fit into either of those categories, check out the contest rules and head on over to the “Aim, Shoot… Win!” announcement and submission form for your shot at winning the laptop, plus other prizes Monte Cristo has on offer. (Those prizes include Kodak cameras, Nvidia GTX 260 video cards, Novotel gift vouchers, and copies of Cities XL Limited Edition.)

The submission deadline is 23:59 (Paris time) on January 17, 2010.

Filed under: Contests, Events, real-world, Cities XL

Win an Alienware laptop in the Cities XL photography competition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ActivegameZ is one of the fastest growing online gaming sites. To ensure visitor satisfaction, ActivegameZ has recently implemented a new chat feature as well as an ipod give away contest into their already-top-notch website. With a database nearing 10,000 games that grows each and every day, ActivegameZ focuses on the importance of pleasing their visitors, and remaining a step ahead of the game in the Internet community. ActivegameZ's efforts ensure that the public is given something they truly love: a fun variety of games, presented to them in the most appealing environment possible, all at no cost to them. (PRWeb Dec 31, 2009)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/12/prweb3384874.htm

With 2009 wrapping up today and 2010 lurking creepily around the corner, we’re eager to release our predictions on what the next year may bring to the MMO scene. Even though we try to keep our news relatively neutral, it’s the editorials and opinion pieces that garner the most reaction from the readers. Positive or negative, we appreciate that. So for this last day of 2009, we honor it by giving our own opinions (both positive and negative) about how 2010 looks to us.

Follow along after the jump for a few paragraphs from Kyle Horner, Eliot Lefebvre, Seraphina Brennan and me. In addition to our ramblings, we’d love to hear from you as well. So drop us a comment to let us know what you predict for 2010.

Continue reading Massively’s predictions for 2010

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Massively meta

Massively’s predictions for 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not only are we here at Massively passionate about covering the news, but we also deliver on unique and original content. We’re out in the trenches interviewing developers, talking about our favorite games, getting inside our games and meeting the community, and giving you our perspectives on the MMO industry. Sometimes you agree with us, sometimes you don’t, but we’ll keep writing as long as you guys lend us your support and keep reading.

This year was a real breakout year for our original content as we had a bunch of our features rock the traffic charts higher than our news. So, in the spirit of a banner year, it’s time to run down the list and name our top five features for 2009.

Once again, we’re presenting the article in gallery-vision (TM), so be sure to jump on in by clicking the link below or clicking the first image in the gallery below that. If you wish to comment, drop back by this post (not the gallery) and leave your comment in the white comment box below.

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Digital Continuum, Massively highlights, Virtual worlds, Anti-Aliased, EVE Evolved, Choose my Adventure

Massively’s top 5 original features for 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW Schools, an organization dedicated to educating players to play World of Warcraft better has released its first Reaching Gold Cap Course. (PRWeb Dec 31, 2009)

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2009/12/prweb3394414.htm

There’s been a lot of Star Trek Online coverage lately here at Massively, which is only normal given the looming early February release date. This particular feature is a look at the game over the course of around seven or eight “levels” of play. Sadly, that means I haven’t acquired my first non-starter ship, although that goal will soon be reached even if it costs me more sleep. Still, you should check out the brand new beta gallery, because I was still able to catch plenty of cool stuff — plus a classic Enterprise.

Now, onto the preview!

Continue reading Hands-on with Star Trek Online’s early levels

Filed under: Betas, New titles, Star Trek Online, Massively Hands-on

Hands-on with Star Trek Online’s early levels originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://www.massively.com/2009/12/31/one-shots-necrosteampunkanomicon/’; While many feel that Allods Online is teetering close to World of Warcraft in the art department, we’d like to note that while glowy green stuff was definitely present in the hometown of the Forsaken, you didn’t really find characters that looked like the guy above. To our eyes, he looks rather like some weird undead steampunk Terminator thing — kind of a scary idea in and of itself! Today’s Allods Online image comes to us from Jason B. who writes in: Gotta love mechanized undead. Here’s my Arisen Occultist from the Allods Online beta hanging out in the Imperial Square in Nezebgrad. Long live the Empire!

Screenshots from large MMOs to small — we want them all! Just email those snaps in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. Please make sure your images are at least 1024px across, and have largely no UI elements visible. We’ll post them out here and give you the credit for mailing them in!

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots, Allods Online

One Shots: Necrosteampunkanomicon originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Craig Morrison, the Game Director for Age of Conan, posed an interesting question in his latest blog entry: How do you like your information?

MMOs, whether they are still approaching beta or have been around for years, are constantly changing as developers add improvements here, remove bugs there, work on new content and expansions, and just generally tweak things to keep it all attractive to the players.

The question for development teams is this: How much of the process do you share with the players? Do you say “We are working on stuff, and you’ll know about it when we release it. Just trust us,” do you share every step of the process with your fans along the way, or do you strike one of the hundred compromises in between?

Morrison’s blog entry talks quite a bit about the difficulty of finding that balance, and how it’s often a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation. He winds up with an interesting question, though: What do you as a player prefer? Take some time to read his thoughts on the issue, and then give your own.

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture

Age of Conan director asks how you like your communication originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/pc_games/Fleeing_fugitive_caught_through_World_of_Warcraft’; If you thought you could hide online, think again. Alfred “Rastlynn” Hightower just found out that when you’re playing World of Warcraft, you can’t hide from the law.

Hightower was wanted in Howard County, Indiana for two charges of dealing a controlled substance and for dealing marijuana, but had fled the country to Canada. Howard County sheriffs had enlisted the help of the U.S. Marshals to track down the suspect, and were working with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to extradite him. However, they had to locate him first.

Continue reading From Azeroth to Canada: Tracking down a fugitive in World of Warcraft

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, Legal

From Azeroth to Canada: Tracking down a fugitive in World of Warcraft originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yesterday I posted the interesting find that Gamasutra readers had voted in World of Warcraft as the game of the decade, which inevitably caused a huge spark of rage in the comments. Some readers lashed out against WoW while other readers defended the game’s award. Needless to say, this is a very opinionated topic on our site.

On Twitter, the choice was more clear cut. I asked my Twitter followers in a non-scientific Sera Survey (TM) if they believed that World of Warcraft deserved the game of the decade award. Of the 32 people who responded, all 32 said that they believed Warcraft deserved the honor. Some even went the extra step and said that while they personally didn’t play anymore, they felt that the honor was well-deserved.

When it comes to this subject, I’m completely torn in half. As a former raid leader and player of World of Warcraft during much of its five year existence, I too agree that the game is worthy of this very weighty title for a number of reasons. However, once I begin to pan backwards and look at the rest of the market, all I can see is how we as an industry may be haunted by the ghost of success.

World of Warcraft changed this industry in many ways, and not all of them are worthy of laurels.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: How the game of the decade haunts us

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

Anti-Aliased: How the game of the decade haunts us originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On the list of all-time classic burns, “we don’t want your money” is pretty far up there, especially when it’s a charity saying it. Atlantica Online has been burned pretty badly. We reported recently on the company offering an in-game grab bag in the game’s item mall that would result in donating an unstated amount to Child’s Play. Unfortunately, due to negative feedback, Child’s Play has requested that they be withdrawn from this charity drive.

Why would players complain about donating to charity? Some facts have surfaced, chief among them the official statement that the donations would be 5% of gross revenue. For a $40 purchase, only two dollars actually wind up going to charity, which feels a bit duplicitous when one of the main selling points is a charitable donation.

Atlantica Online’s official announcement is almost petulant — it boils down to the company stating that they wanted to just do something nice before complaining players ruined it for everyone. Although the announcement goes on to state that they will look for an alternative recipient of the donation, for the time being none is listed. It’s sad news all around, even in light of the popular charity’s record donations this year.

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events, real-world, News items, Free-to-play, Atlantica Online

Child’s Play pulls out of Atlantica Online charity drive because of negative player feedback originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t, sadly, warp time to go back a full year. Once we do something, for better or for worse, we’re stuck with it. But we can try and learn from things that happened the last time around, and there have certainly been things to learn from 2009, which we touched on yesterday. That’s where the whole tradition of resolutions for the new year comes from. And as we all know, the second-best way to force yourself to do something is to make it public. (The first is to have someone following you around with a shotgun.)

So, today we ask you just before the clock ticks over: what are you going to do differently in the coming year? Was there a single event that you learned from, or were there multiple events that contributed to you wanting to make a change? It could be anything from trying to avoid getting too invested in the pre-launch hype of a game to just trying not to die quite so often when playing a melee character, but we’re sure you have at least one thing you’d like to try differently in the new year. (And if you do find a way to rewind time, please, let us know.)

Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Academic

The Daily Grind: What will you change in 2010? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Solid sequels, a surprisingly menacing superhero and remakes done right made 2009 a great year for gamers.
While the depressed economy caused some videogame makers to drop or delay major titles, others blew our minds with titles nobody expected to be worth a damn. When Wired.com strung together its “Top [...]

Snowmen in the Snowhill area of Free Realms are nothing new, but lately they’re a little different. While they’ve got the basics of snowman fashion down — top hat, scarf, sticks for arms — these days they don’t look quite as jolly and friendly as one would expect a snowman to look.

They got a bit aggressive during the holidays, and began attacking adventurers on sight, providing a fun new challenge for Free Realms players. It seems to have been a hit with players, and it looks like their feisty new attitude is here to stay. A note on the Free Realms site yesterday informed players “No one knows who made the snowmen or who cast the magic spell that animated them, but they are here to stay.“

So if you enjoyed duking it out with the snowmen, and think you’ll want some frosty cool hunting grounds in the summer months, Snowhill might just be your new favorite place!

Filed under: PvE, Free-to-play, Free Realms, Kids

Free Realms: Evil snowmen are here to stay originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been quite a year for Second Life, through 2009. This or that media outlet still pronounces it to be dead, though it is quite a bit less common than last year or the year before. After five years of obituaries with no sign that they’re any more credible now than they were before, a number of routine nay-sayers have turned their attention elsewhere, writing obituaries for Facebook and Twitter.

From a business perspective, Second Life seems to have had a good year. No major growth, but no major declines either. There’s a minor decline in concurrent users over time, though it’s hardly become a significant data point. Still, we’re very much looking forward to the metrics and time-frames that Linden Lab will use in coming weeks to announce ’strong fourth quarter growth.’

Continue reading Second Life 2009: The year in review

Filed under: Opinion, Second Life, Massively meta, Virtual worlds

Second Life 2009: The year in review originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s that time again! Time when we look backwards and try to identify the top 5 big news stories that we covered here at Massively. 2009 was a pretty turbulent year when it comes to the MMO industry, as we were involved in lawsuits, game closures, multiple major releases, a rising set of indie studios, and more news than you could handle.

So are you excited to look at the year’s stories in review? Well, I certainly am! So excited that we’re going to do this story in gallery-vision. That’s right, for every story you get to have an awesome picture accompanying it. It’s brilliant, if you ask us.

So if you’re ready to start the tour-de-force, click on the link below or simply start at the first image of the gallery below that. Don’t try to skip ahead either, we have poison arrow codes loaded into these pages so if you skip ahead, then your monitor will shoot a poisoned arrow at your neck. Gotta just love HTML 5 — it does everything!

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items

Massively’s top 5 news stories of 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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