Archives for Nov 3rd, 2011
Beta registration opened for upcoming sci-fi MMOFPS Repulse
It's proving to be quite the year for MMOFPS fans, with several upcoming titles aimed in precisely that direction. Repulse is another entry in the genre from Aeria Games, set in a future setting wherein human beings have polluted the planet beyond repair. The remaining parts of humanity have foun...
Ask Massively: Paying-to-win edition
I'd like to announce the launch of my brand-new MMO, Ask Massively Online. This game should put to rest any questions of whether or not cash-shop users have an advantage over those who choose to play straight, as the game is using an actual pay-to-win model. If you pay me money, you win. No payme...
Aeria releases new Lime Odyssey video, screenshots
Aeria Games is starting to ramp up the publicity for its Lime Odyssey free-to-play MMO. The team behind the upcoming fantasy title recently released a new website, trailer, and a gaggle of screenshots, and have followed suit today with another trailer and still more screenshots. The clip is ta...
Star Trek Online opens up testing for the dilithium exchange
The economy of free-to-play games can be a tricky business. Usually, they're managed by keeping a strict distinction between in-game currency and purchased currency, but Star Trek Online is taking a slightly different approach. The upcoming overarching currency dilithium can be traded for Cryptic...
This Week in MMO: MechWarrior edition
In this week's TWIMMO, Mike B aka Fony, Josh Allen, and Mike Schaffnit join host Gary Gannon for Gamebreaker.TV's weekly chat about recent MMO stories. They kick things off by pondering how a video stuffed with anti-gay slurs slipped by Blizzard Entertainment (and a lot of the folks in the live c...
Alt1 Games shutting down Troy Online
After only three months of commercial operation, Troy Online is going to be discontinuing operations as of November 30th. According to the official notice, within the short span of time that the game has been available, Alt1 Games has noticed a level of bugs and errors that the developers conside...
The Guild Counsel: Are you in a guild?
I'd like to do a little experiment for this week's Guild Counsel, and I need your help. In years past, studies have been done that showed the importance of guilds in MMOs. (And by guilds, I mean any organized grouping of players, be it a clan, empire, corporation, etc.) Back in 2008, Dr. Nick Yee...
Captain's Log: A two-minute read could save you 15% or more on nerdrage insurance
Captain's Log, Stardate 65340.3... Hello, computer (and players)! Welcome to this week's edition of Captain's Log, brought to you by "Geko" Insurance. (And let's just say, you may want to purchase a policy). If you are a Star Trek Online player who watches Cryptic's official forums, you know t...
PAX East tickets on sale now
Convention-goers, start your engines. PAX East 2012 tickets are now on sale, and if you're planning on attending, you better get movin'. Single-day tickets should last for at least a little while, but three-day tickets are always the first to go. Do take note that the convention does fall on Ea...
WildStar Wednesday tackles the sandbox vs. themepark debate
Sandbox or themepark? It's a never-ending debate around these parts of the internet. Carbine Studios knows both sides of the argument all too well, and it shows. Which side of the argument does WildStar fall on, though? If today's WildStar Wednesday dev diary is to be believed, the game straddl...
The Game Archaeologist salutes Asheron's Call's 12th anniversary
Turning 12 is a wake-up call for most people because they realize that next year they will officially be teenagers. We just hope that Turbine's ready for that when Asheron's Call breaks curfew, sasses back, and starts developing a romantic interest in other MMOs. One of the privileges of writi...
Marvel Universe Online reveals Thing as newest playable character
Watch out, Marvel Universe Online fans. It's clobberin' time! The Fantastic Four's Ben Grimm has been announced as the latest addition to the MUO cast. For those of you who are keeping count, Thing's arrival brings the total playable character count up to five. So keep the guesses comin', folks...
Boss around your minions with EverQuest II's tradeskill apprentice system
MMOs are great for escaping the real world on occasion, particularly if you're stuck working for the man. EverQuest II's new Age of Discovery expansion is turning those tables by introducing new tradeskill apprentices that will allow players throughout Norrath to become the man. The new mechan...
Massively exclusive: WindSlayer 2 PvP dev diary
The fount of information about Ignited Games' WindSlayer 2 continues to gush forth, as the studio continues to release developer diaries about its upcoming title. We've already heard about WindSlayer 2's economy, ranged classes, and melee classes, not to mention an overview of the game proper. ...
Gameforge laying off 100 employees, canceling at least two games
Another month, another round of MMORPG-related layoffs. This time the bad news comes courtesy of Gameforge, a German browser MMO maker responsible for Gates of Andaron as well as the upcoming Star Trek: Infinite Space and the European version of Wizard101. Gamasutra reports that Gameforge is r...
The Secret World beta coming 'before Christmas,' forums erupt [Updated]
Conspiracy theories abound on The Secret World's official forums due to a video released by the Montreal Gazette in which Funcom Canada CEO Miguel Caron mentions that the studio is aiming to open beta testing "before Christmas." Caron also goes on to mention that subscription fees for the game ...
DCUO registers 120,000 new players, sees concurrent user spike [Updated]
If the early returns are any indication, DC Universe Online's free-to-play conversion is looking pretty successful. Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley recently tweeted that the superhero MMO picked up 120,000 new player registrations since its Tuesday evening cutover. Smedley also sai...
EVE Online introducing new nebulae
The final frontier is about to get a whole lot prettier, as CCP has announced in a dev diary today that it's working on introducing a smattering of new nebulae to EVE Online. The team hopes that doing so will make the game more immersive and realistic to players. On top of that, the new ne...
Star Wars: The Old Republic releases server details
On top of the exciting news this morning that Star Wars: The Old Republic has launched into its third guild phase, CM David Bass posted a healthy wall of text on the forums listing the server types and details associated with each. It will probably not come as a shock that SWTOR is sticking wi...
The Perfect Ten: MMOs in movies and television
While 1982's Tron explored what virtual life might be like inside a massive video game, it wasn't until fairly recently that real MMOs have crossed the divide between niche and mainstream to be referenced in television and films. Depending on how you see it, this mainstream acceptance of geek cul...
DragonSoul pries a website and trailer out of its opponent's cold, dead hands
We're often asked here on Massively about what makes one start-up F2P MMO different from the others. What's the "hook," so to speak? Well, with DragonSoul the hook is easy to identify because the hook is dripping with blood and gore. It's a tad adult-oriented, let's just say. This PvP MMO with...
Behind the Mask: How freeforms work
This week on Behind the Mask, we'll be looking at freeform characters and how they work. This is more of a primer for players who are interested in the Gold subscription and would like to know more about how freeform characters differ from archetypes. I'm also spotlighting it to show just how arc...
Maverick Studios working on Unveiled: The Supernatural horror MMO
Apparently CCP and Funcom aren't the only development firms working on horror MMOs with sexy graphics. Upstart Maverick Studios has been slaving away on Unveiled: The Supernatural since 2009, and the game features four races (hunters, witches, vampires, and werewolves) in addition to some sort of...
BioWare launches phase three of SWTOR's guild program
Those of you looking to get a leg up on guild creation in Star Wars: The Old Republic will want to head to the game's official website this morning and have a look at the latest news blurb. It seems that phase three of the pre-launch guild program has begun, and BioWare says that "any guild that ...
The Repopulation update talks tutorials, testing
Development on The Repopulation is moving right along, and Above & Beyond Technologies has updated fans with a lengthy October recap. The lion's share of the work during the past month went towards preparing the sci-fi sandbox for testing, and the news blurb mentions a new tutorial system ...
Try the newest Flyff expansion exclusively from Massively
The open beta for Flyff's newest expansion has gone through a brief delay, not quite meeting its original set date of October 28th. While that's definitely not abnormal -- most MMO players prefer a polished product over one hustled out the door -- Flyff players are certainly looking forward to th...
Warhammer 40K planning multiple payment options
Despite being one of THQ's biggest projects, the upcoming Warhammer 40,000: Dark Millennium Online won't be hemmed in with a single subscription option. Instead, the company said that it is investigating a wide range of possible payment options to be as flexible as possible for players all over t...
The Daily Grind: Are you tempted by Lineage II's 'truly free' model?
NCsoft recently announced its new "truly free" free-to-play model for Lineage II. This is interesting for two reasons. One, the title insinuates that all those other free-to-play games aren't actually free. And two, well, I just ran out of excuses for not returning to the world of Aden. The ne...
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