Archives for Sep 27th, 2011
Patch 1.19 delayed for Final Fantasy XIV
While Final Fantasy XIV players were eagerly looking toward the end of the week for the game's newest patch, it's going to take just a few days longer for everything to be finished. In his latest letter to the community, Naoki Yoshida apologized for the delay but confirmed that in order to comple...
This RIFT 1.5 update trailer is approved for all audiences
RIFT's 1.5 update is barreling down the road at us, and woe to the unprepared who will not leap but be squashed beneath its weight. Also, we think that a giant monkey is throwing it whilst guarding a captured princess. In any event, RIFT's fifth major content update looks to be a game-changer ...
Hyperspace Beacon: Timeline
When I started the Holocron Files last week, it slipped my mind that I have been doing this column for a year and a half and that not everyone has been following every issue. When I wrote about the Pureblood Sith, it was really meant to be a refresher course, not a comprehensive chronicle. It's e...
Achievements to be included in Star Wars: The Old Republic at launch
Are you the sort of person who absolutely will not rest until you've achieved every goal a game has set before you? Are you a Star Wars: The Old Republic fan? If you answered yes to both of these questions, then boy are you in luck. Everyone's favorite time-wasters have been confirmed for ...
The Game Archaeologist: Why I write
We're going to take a brief detour this week from our normal excavations and six-hour-long lectures to address a fundamental question to The Game Archaeologist series. Namely, why write it? Why give attention to games that are "past their prime," have been canceled, or never got off the launch pa...
Senior Art Director Tramell Isaac discusses PlanetSide 2's aesthetic
PlanetSide 2 fans, power down your Exo-Suits and take your fingers off your triggers for just one moment. We've got an incoming transmission that we think may be of interest. In today's comm-link, Tramell "T.Ray" Isaac, Senior Art Director on PlanetSide 2, takes some time to give players a look...
One Shots: Readying the troops
Today's One Shots image comes to us from a Massively reader and World of Warcraft player: This is my guild, Chaos Factors, buffing up for the Golemagg pull in Molten Core. I can name a dozen people in this pic -- for instance, the raid lead Gnome Mage who obsessed over his "Mage camp," the Nig...
Ragnar Tørnquist discusses TSW's skill system, investigations, and more
Dark days are coming, my friends. All the myths are true, and evil lurks around every corner. Thankfully, we've gotten our hands on a new PC Gamer interview with The Secret World's creative director Ragnar Tørnquist, which should help to cast some light on these grim prophecies. It'...
City of Heroes Freedom goes live
City of Heroes is not what it used to be as of today. It's something more, in fact, with the launch of City of Heroes Freedom. While the launch of the game's hybrid subscription model was announced some three months back, today is the day that the gates are open and players can begin enjoying the...
Drakensang Online boasts one million registered users
Bigpoint's free-to-play, browser-based MMORPG Drakensang Online has been in open beta for almost two months now, and according to the developers, it has amassed quite a following in that timespan. In a press release today, Bigpoint announced that the Diablo-esque MMO has garnered one million re...
MMObility: Glitch makes you wish you were as cool as it is
If you have kept up with my columns for a while, you know what a fan of Glitch I am. I have to admit that I've been terribly angry at the developer, Tiny Speck, for not bringing the game into a final phase yet. I wanted my little Glitch to stay as he was when I logged out; I didn't want to see hi...
The Soapbox: On armchair development
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. A couple of weeks ago I penned a Soapbox that, to put it mildly...
New Hero Engine sandbox to feature 3-faction PvP, deep crafting
Hey sandbox fans, here's another indie title to keep your eye on as we look toward the new year. Above & Beyond Technologies is working on a sci-fi game called The Repopulation, and the company has just released a new trailer filled with pre-alpha footage. The project is built on the Hero ...
Digimon Masters open beta starts today
Di-Di-Di-Digimon, digital monsters, Digimon are the champions! Err... Ahem. Sorry. Joymax announced today that Digimon Masters, its newest MMO based on the popular monster-collecting franchise, has entered open beta. Players will be able to capture hundreds of Digimon from the first five anime ...
Troy Online reveals update schedule
ALT1Games' Troy Online has been running steadily for just over a month now, and not long ago the devs dropped the news of a large-scale update coming to the game. A tentative schedule for this update was announced in a press release today, with portions of the update being carried out over the ...
ZT Online 2 open beta attracts 435K concurrent users
For the past couple of years, EVE Online and World of Tanks have been duking it out to see which game can outfox the other in the hunt for the MMORPG peak concurrent user record. As of this week there may be a new contender for the crown if ZT Online 2's open beta period is any indication. The...
Massively exclusive: Rusty Hearts prepares for the Awakening
Open betas are always a heady time for players and MMO studios alike, and Rusty Hearts is proving to be no exception to this. The fast-pace action title has been in open beta for a little under a month at this point, but Perfect World Entertainment is already putting the final touches on its firs...
Vindictus European open beta begins tomorrow
European fans have been waiting quite some time to get their hands on Nexon's dungeon-crawling hack-'n'-slash title Vindictus, and after this month's closed beta, the wait is drawing to a close. An announcement on the game's Facebook page today proclaimed that Vindictus' pre-launch stage (read:...
Turbine celebrates Rise of Isengard's launch with monsters and movies
"The more we pretend that Middle-earth is safe, the blacker the enemy's shadow grows," an ominous voice proclaims at the start of the Rise of Isengard launch trailer. While Lord of the Rings Online's third expansion was officially slated to be released today, Turbine jumped the gun and got it out...
Square Enix says FFXIV greatly damaged Final Fantasy brand
Square Enix has had a rough year since the launch of Final Fantasy XIV, and CEO Yoichi Wada acknowledged it frankly in a press conference today. "The Final Fantasy brand has been greatly damaged," said Wada. "We'll continue with our reform work, which basically amounts to fully redoing the game, ...
BioWare's Doctors: 'We have an aggressive post-launch plan'
With the question of "When will Star Wars: The Old Republic ever launch?" finally answered, inquiring minds have turned to the future of the as-of-yet unreleased MMO. In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, BioWare's Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk covered many topics, including the studio's ...
The Daily Grind: Should stores pull game boxes for games that are no longer for sale?
It's an ongoing joke among MMO fans: finding a shelf at your local Stuff Mart that contains Tabula Rasa boxes for sale or maybe a few copies of Realtime Worlds' version of APB. While doing some shopping this week, I came across a shelf of DC Universe Online boxes for $39.99, and while DCUO isn't ...
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