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The Stream Team: World of Warcraft's instant 90

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, Expansions, New Titles, PvE, Hands-On, Choose My Adventure, Livestream, The Stream Team, Subscription, MMORPG

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World of Warcraft
Choose My Adventure is heading into World of Warcraft this month, and it all begins with the creation of a brand-new character that will immediately receive an instant boost to level 90. Join Massively's Mike Foster as he investigates the instant-leveling process and explores the tutorial system Blizzard has put in place to explain dozens of skills to a fledgling WoW player.

The chaos begins at 7:00 p.m. EST.

Game: World of Warcraft
Host: Mike Foster
Date: Sunday, December 7, 2014
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST

Enjoy our Stream Team video below.

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EVE Evolved: The Sleepers are coming!

Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events (In-Game), Expansions, Game Mechanics, Lore, Patches, Previews, PvE, Opinion, Hands-On, Roleplaying, EVE Evolved, Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Subscription, MMORPG

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EVE Evolved title image
Ever since the announcement of 100 new wormhole systems and the unique Thera wormhole hub system, some interesting things have been going on in EVE Online. A new star appeared in the night sky and began rapidly growing in brightness like a supernova, and curiously, the light from that star was able to be seen from every star system in New Eden simultaneously in clear violation of the laws of physics. Two days prior to the event, Sansha's Nation were seen scattering from an Incursion site and leaving the area without using wormholes, hinting that something big was happening in their home system. Combined with the intruiging story of Thera, this has had even non-roleplayers scrambling through the EVE lore to come up with theories about what's to come.

Players slowly set apart picking the mystery to pieces, conducting a galaxy-wide search to find the origin of the bright star and sending people into the test server to get clues. The mystery intensified when players discovered that the star was likely near or within restricted Jove space, and soon after they began finding strange cloaked structures throughout known space. While observing these structures, players even found that an all-new form of Sleeper NPC called the Circadian Sleeper was periodically warping into the site and using some kind of scanning beam on the cloaked structure. All of this comes in anticipation of the public release of the Rhea patch on Tuesday 9th, which will introduce hidden Sleeper sites in known space and kick off the arms race to discover tech 3 destroyers.

In this lore-heavy edition of EVE Evolved, I look at everything we know of EVE's new Sleeper storyline event and try to figure out how it all fits together.

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Massively Interview: Marvel Heroes' Magneto makes his mark

Super-hero, Trailers, Video, Classes, Interviews, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes

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http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-stream-team/
Heroes are all well and good, but there is plenty of fan love for the villains. There's just something about those bad boys and girls redeeming themselves that makes those characters so interesting. Gazillion knows this and has responded by releasing Magneto, the latest of the playable villains, to the Marvel Heroes lineup. Fans of Professor Xavier's long-time nemesis/friend can now jump in and command the forces of magnetism to defeat foes and destroy the environment. We chatted with Creative Designer and Community Manager Ryan Collins about this latest addition. We even gleaned a few snippets about the upcoming Axis One-Shots and got a release time-frame for the Spider Girl enhanced costume.

For those who want to see Magneto in action, we've also included his official trailer. You can also tune in to Massively TV on Monday, December 8th, at 9:00 p.m. EST to watch him live.

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WoW, Guild Wars 2, and ArcheAge are ZergID users' top games

Betas, Business Models, Interviews, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous

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ZergID
Back in November, we told you about ZergID, a new social networking website aimed specifically at MMO players who are looking for guilds (or friends from games past) across the MMOverse. We spoke to one of the project's founders, Scott Katz, to get more information on how the service's beta is shaping up.

Massively: How many guilds have signed up since the launch of beta?

Scott Katz, co-founder, Zerg Inc.: We have more than 650 guilds currently signed up for the site, with more joining each day.

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WoW Archivist: Upper Blackrock Spire

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, Patches, PvE, Dungeons, WoW Archivist

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Whelps and eggs in the Rookery
WoW Archivist is a biweekly column by WoW Insider's Scott Andrews, who explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? It first appeared on our sister site on December 4th and is included here by permission.

You may have taken Upper Blackrock Spire, Warlord Zaela, but the classic version lives in our hearts, where your orc friends can't get to it. In 2005, UBRS was the dungeon everyone desperately aspired to run. We begged to run it. We paid to run it. We sat in capital cities for hours just hoping, dreaming, that someone, somehow, would put together an UBRS group.

The dungeon was the pinnacle of content for classic WoW's "nonraiders" and the gateway to raiding for raiders. Quests here attuned you for Onyxia's Lair and Blackwing Lair. (And who doesn't love a good lair?) Another quest allowed your Molten Core raid to summon Majordomo Executus. No endgame PvE'er could avoid UBRS, even if he or she wanted to. We didn't avoid it, though, because the original "Ubers" (ooo-berz), as players affectionately called it, was awesome.

What made it so special? Why was it so revered, and why are some players sad that it has been removed from WoW forever? Let's turn back the Empowered Hourglass to 2005 to find out.

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One Shots: Cult worship

Screenshots, Culture, Guild Wars 2, One Shots, The Secret World, Humor, RIFT, Miscellaneous, WildStar

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tsw
Have you ever been running along in an MMO and come screeching to a halt because other players are doing something inexplicably weird? Then perhaps you'd sympathize with reader Tyler in this situation.

"There are times in games -- especially games like The Secret World -- when one stumbles across something they simply can't explain," he submitted. "But nothing I have seen is as surreal as the sight that greeted me when I stepped into Agartha during the recent Halloween event: a circle of Atenists worshipping a girl in a bikini whilst chanting "ATEN! ATEN! ATEN!' I asked around in general. No one had any explanation for what in God's name was happening. It is a mystery for the ages."

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The Daily Grind: Have you played a console MMO?

Super-hero, The Daily Grind, DC Universe Online

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SOE recently announced that DC Universe Online has over 18 million registered users. Even if we take that with the usual grains of salt (how many concurrent users? how many of them spend money?), it's a pretty huge number. Prior to reading it, in fact, I would have guessed that the number of console players interested in every console MMO would be well under 18 million.

What do you think? Does the number surprise you? Have you yourself played a console MMO?

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!

Make My MMO: November 30 - December 6, 2014

Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Crowdfunding, Make My MMO

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This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Shards Online talked up its permadeath plans as well as how it intends to balance crafting vs. loot. TUG's devs revealed that they're hoping for an investor, while Star Citizen continued to make a lot of money and a lot of commenter rage.

Finally, Pantheon previewed a dungeon with a single screenshot and continued taking donations via Patreon. The rest of this week's MMO crowdfunding news roundup is after the break.

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Star Citizen's Hornet available to all backers this week

Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Star Citizen

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I'm a Star Citizen backer, but I didn't pledge enough to pilot the Anvil Hornet prior to launch. Thanks to Cloud Imperium, though, I'll be flying it in Arena Commander anyway, at least for the next week. The Hornet has been unlocked for all backers, according to a posting on the game's website.

"The Hornet is the civilian version of the F7A Hornet flown off of the elite Bengal carrier vanguard of the UEE Navy," CIG explains. "It may not be the prettiest ship but it is the go-to short range fighter due to Anvil's sturdy design and ability to take as much punishment as it can dish out."

In other SC news, Chris Roberts published another Letter from the Chairman last night which includes tidbits on multicrew ships, modular ship design, and exterior customization options.

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The Stream Team: Fishing for danger in ArcheAge

Fantasy, Video, Free-to-Play, Livestream, ArcheAge, The Stream Team

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ArcheAge has a plethora of activities players can partake in. If you don't feel like doing one, go do another. And this time, Massively's MJ feels like jumping into a fishing frenzy! While she doesn't have the skill (or labor points) to fully participate in deep-sea sport fishing, hopefully she can catch a raid and head out into the open waters to cast her line alongside other anglers. Failing that, she'll see about joining a PUG for a little dungeon diving. In either case, there's definitely danger aplenty. Join us live at 1:00 p.m. for this foray into fishing.

Game: ArcheAge
Host: MJ Guthrie
Date: Saturday, December 6th, 2014
Time: 1:00 p.m. EST

Enjoy our Stream Team video below.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic axes skill training costs

Sci-Fi, Economy, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic

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swtor
SWTOR penny-pinchers rejoice, for the oppressive tyranny of skill costs are about to become history. In a post on the forums this afternoon, BioWare announced that it will be abandoning skill training costs as of next week.

"One thing has become clear from the player feedback in not only this thread, but since launch: players do not like training costs. It is a situation where every level you will see your hard earned credits go to a holographic Hutt doctor in order to make yourself a bit stronger. We have been talking about this topic internally for quite some time and when you add player feedback to the mix one thing becomes clear... We should make training costs a thing of the past," the studio said.

[Thanks to the five million people who sent this tip in!]

WRUP: Troll-free eggnog

Massively Meta, Miscellaneous

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I love this job
Welcome back to Massively's What Are You Playing, the game in which we tell you what we're playing this weekend and you pour everyone another round of that eggnog. The good stuff, if you would.

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The Daily Grind: Who's your favorite child NPC?

Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

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gw2
This might be a difficult topic because in truth we have not seen an over-abundance of children NPCs in MMOs, nevermind ones that speak or are part of missions. I'm mostly reminded of the tag-along I had in World of Warcraft's Children Week when I think of young characters.

However, I'm most impressed with the handling of Taimi in Guild Wars 2's storyline. She's easily the best character of the group, and somewhat unique in being very young and also partially disabled. I love that those two characteristics don't define who she is, but instead her vivacious and sometimes reckless genius does.

So who is your favorite child NPC in an MMO?

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!

Betawatch: November 29 - December 5, 2014

Betas, Launches, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous, Crowdfunding

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Betawatch Landmark
Landmark's beta is getting PvE in 10 days! Because it's actually a beta! What else is new in the world of MMO testing? We've also purged the heck out of the Betawatch list after the cut thanks in large part to the eagle-eyed observations of Massively reader greaterdivinity. A number of games, including Archlord 2, Argo Online, Eclipse War Online, Face of Mankind, Legend of Silkroad, Legion of Heroes, Margonem, Strife, and Taikodom, have departed or moved around in our list due to changes in their open beta status (most of them soft launches, but some of them, like Argo, have simply disappeared from the internet... again). Many thanks to greaterdivinity!

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World of Speed's BMW Z4 roadster profiled in new vid

Real-Life, Classes, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items

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Ready for your weekly dose of car porn? Thank Slightly Mad Studios, which released a new World of Speed trailer focused on the BMW Z4 sDRIVE30i. The tiny roadster puts out 255 horsepower which allows a 250 KM/H top speed and a 0-to-100 KM/H time of six seconds.

See for yourself after the cut!

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World of Warplanes teaches you how to do a canopy roll

Video, War, Free-to-Play, Guides, World of Warplanes, MOBA

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wowp
When Peppy Hare's advice to do barrel rolls fails to get you out of tricky situations in the sky, then you need to turn to the real aviation experts. The devs over at World of Warplanes say that in the event of an enemy dogging your tail, the most effective move is actually a canopy roll.

In a new video -- which we coincidentally have for you after the break -- you can get a quick lesson on how to perform the three varieties of canopy rolls and which fighter craft are best suited for such maneuvers.

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Tree of Savior might be getting published here according to an unofficial interview

Betas, Fantasy, Interviews, News Items

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We're big fans!  Please let us play the game?
Tree of Savior got a pretty strong showing at G-star 2014, where the staff announced that Nexon will be handling the publishing duties for the game in its native country. But what about worldwide releases? There might be hope yet. A fansite for the game has posted an interview with members of the imcGAMES staff who asked to remain anonymous. These anonymous interviewees state that the company is still looking into worldwide partners and has considered simply publishing the game itself in foreign markets.

Other revelations include the prospect of developing the game for mobile devices in the future and that the game will most likely work as a free-to-play title with a cash shop. The interview also notes that these statements may not reflect the official view of imcGAMES and are subject to change without notice. Still, the full interview is worth a look, even if you need to take everything with an appropriately sized grain of salt.

EVE Online's Rhea update launches with photo-realistic spaceships

Sci-Fi, Video, EVE Online, Patches, Previews, Sandbox

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eve
The many sleek and styling spaceships of EVE Online are about to get a visual upgrade with today's Rhea update, thanks to something called physically-based rendering. By applying this tech, spaceships will have "a natural, photo-realistic look."

Of course, when it comes to visuals, they must be seen or they didn't happen. So see! After the break, that is. CCP says that this new tech will be initially limited to spaceships but eventually will be used on stations and other space objects. You can also check out the patch notes for Rhea as well.

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Console popularity powers DC Universe Online past 18M registered players

Super-hero, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Consoles, DC Universe Online

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dcuo
Eighteen million sets of eyeballs on your MMO is no number to dismiss, and SOE is definitely glad that DC Universe Online is the subject of so much attention. The studio said yesterday that more than 18M players have registered with DCUO since its inception.

The real reason behind DCUO's phenomenal growth is thanks to the reception it's been getting on the PlayStation 3 and 4, as over three-fourths of the game's playerbase is on consoles. SOE President John Smedley said that 40% of new registered users are on the PlayStation 4 these days, and they have created almost 3M superheroes to date.

Even more interesting, it seems as though console players are willing to spend more on this free-to-play title than their PC counterparts. Smedley said that PlayStation sales per capita accounted for 3.5 times more than PC sales.

Frontier teases Elite: Dangerous trailer, gives away old-school Elite for Mac

Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Promotions, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Elite: Dangerous

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Frontier has published newsletter #52 for Elite: Dangerous. It contains a bit of lore, a sneak peek at the game's newest trailer, and a nifty offer for Mac users in the form of the original 1984 Elite game.

It's free, and all you need to do is log into Frontier's store, put the title in your cart, and check out. If you're currently playing the Elite: Dangerous Gamma or you're planning to play at launch later this month, don't forget to peruse the newsletter's comm chatter section to see how your fellow pilots are flying.

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The Stream Team


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Release Dates

Core Games | In Testing | Crowdfund Hopefuls
The Crew Dec. 2, 2014
Destiny: The Dark Below Dec. 9, 2014
SWTOR: Shadow of Revan Dec. 9, 2014
Elite: Dangerous launch Dec. 16, 2014
TERA: Fate of Arun Dec. 16, 2014
FFXIV: Heavensward Spring 2015

Meet the Team

Brianna Royce Editor-in-Chief
Jef Reahard Managing Editor
Justin Olivetti Contributing Editor
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