Archives for Mar 7th, 2012
EVE Online's latest devblog is on a big bunch of little updates
Little things can make a big difference. That's the topic of the newest EVE Online developer blog by CCP karkur, which covers all of the little changes coming to the game's UI with the next point release. None of the updates is a matter of life or death, but each little change is meant to help im...
Cutter's Cry previewed for Final Fantasy XIV
When patch 1.21 goes live for Final Fantasy XIV on Friday, it brings along with it two new instanced raids. The first one, Cutter's Cry, sounds like it won't be a fun time for your character in the first place; after all, it's on the road between Thanalan and Mor Dhona, which isn't going to be a ...
MMO Family: Kid-friendly MMO roundup, part 1
With all of the buzz centered around "grown-up" MMO titles like Star Wars: The Old Republic and Guild Wars 2, it's easy for the kid-friendly games to get lost in the shuffle. There may not be as many kid titles on the horizon, but for the games that are currently out there, there's been an amazin...
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: That's really super, Super Pack
So, the Super Pack is out. Not a whole lot has changed in City of Heroes as a result. The skies have not been raining fire any more than they already do on a regular basis (superheroes, you know the deal). People still log in and play and enjoy themselves. And my enormous ranting diatribe still s...
TERA recaps the most recent closed beta weekend, concludes that PvP players enjoy PvP
TERA has just wrapped up its most recent closed beta weekend and is aiming at another this coming Friday. In this latest test, players finally got to take part in the game's PvP offerings, and the official postmortem leads to an ironclad conclusion: PvP players really enjoy killing one another. A...
GDC 2012: A look at Dark Legends with Spacetime Studios
Life, death, and a return from the grave: That sums up the life of a vampire, but it also sums up the journey of Spacetime Studios. What do the two have in common? The studio's upcoming title called Dark Legends. At GDC 2012 this week, Massively had a chance to talk with Gary Gattis, CEO of Space...
GDC 2012: A look at Otherland and Grimlands with Gamigo
Do you prefer a post-apocalyptic world or Tad Williams' vision of the internet of the future? Luckily, you can have them both by the end of the year because Gamigo is working busy at work preparing to launch two new titles. Massively had a chance to talk with Anthony Guzzardo, Gamigo's North Amer...
GDC 2012: CCP talks DUST 514 PC possibilities and World of Darkness development
GDC 2012 is now in full swing, and today we had the chance to sit down with CCP's Hilmar Petursson, Halldor Fannar, and David Reid to chat about the studio's upcoming FPS title, DUST 514. When asked about the studio's primary goal with DUST 514, the team had a simple reply: Make the best AAA free...
Free for All: Two years and counting
On March 9th, 2012, this column will turn two years old. I thought it would be a fun idea to look back on those two years and recount what I might have learned. I've learned a lot, actually. When I was first hired to write a column about free-to-play games, I thought I would be covering relativel...
MechWarrior Online kicks off Mech Warfare Month
Driving a multi-ton battle 'Mech isn't like picking your friend up at the 7-11 in your dad's Prius; it's a massive, complicated war machine that has to be understood before it can be wielded against foes. So if you think that piloting one in MechWarrior Online will be as simple as hitting the WAS...
LotRO prepares for imminent Update 6 release
It's one of the bigger content updates that Lord of the Rings Online has seen in quite a while, and if all goes well, Update 6 will be uploaded to fans this coming Monday. As time is running short between now and then, Turbine is rushing to finish up with its dev diary series covering the major f...
City of Heroes goes beastmode
The Mastermind archetype in City of Heroes is in for a treat with a new primary power set in the form of Beast Mastery! Masterminds will soon be able to call upon all sorts of animal allies to harry their foes. The Intrepid Informer: Issue #19 introduces the new power set and goes into great de...
Massively Speaking Episode 189: GDC Tuesday
Massively Speaking Episode 189 is a special GDC edition hosted by two of our attendees, Shawn Schuster and Jef Reahard. The two assemble for a short, early-morning debriefing on yesterday's PlanetSide 2 demo, which as Shawn describes it, "pretty much blew [him] away." They compare the game to its...
Have a bloody good time with Wakfu's Sacrier and Xelor classes
Ankama Games' quirky tactical MMORPG Wakfu went live about a week ago, but the studio is continuing its steady drip of promotional material. Today Ankama is giving players not one but two new videos highlighting a couple of the game's classes. In the red corner, we have the Sacrier class. These...
Choose My Adventure: Insert cartridge
Sooner or later, it had to happen. After years of resisting peer pressure from my fellow Massively writers, disapproving looks from old ladies on the bus, and two strongly worded op-ed columns in The New Yorker, I've finally capitulated to join the ranks of the few... the loud... the CMAers. I...
Firefall video diary talks open-world design, shows pretty vistas
It's March, which means it's high time for another Firefall video dev diary. Today's installment is all about (open) world-building, and unlike many of its shooter contemporaries, Firefall features a sprawling, accessible open-world map. As world-builders Bobby Ross and Nick Keith explain, the...
GDC 2012: A look at Seven Souls Online with the NEOWIZ team
Just a few short weeks ago, Seven Souls Online was in closed beta and Massively readers were scooping up beta keys to test it out. Now, with closed beta, well, closed and open beta just around the corner, the team at NEOWIZ GAMES sat down to show off the state of the game and its plans for launch...
Funcom stock price could 'double or triple' depending on success of The Secret World
Funcom has a lot riding on The Secret World, and a new piece at MCV outlines stock prospects for the company as the horror-conspiracy MMORPG's June 19th launch date draws nearer. Funcom stock has risen dramatically on the Norwegian Stock Exchange since last summer, and analysts expect further ...
Why I Play: City of Heroes
When I first sampled City of Heroes, I was just recovering from a nasty break-up with Star Wars Galaxies and looking for a new roleplaying paradise. What I found after a month was that I had a lot more fun planning my next character using the little booklet that came with the box than I actually ...
GDC 2012: SOE's PlanetSide 2 gunning for the big time
Our PlanetSide 2 bootcamp didn't start on the war-torn planet of Auraxis. It started on a plushly appointed hotel terrace in the middle of downtown San Francisco. Sony Online Entertainment brought its A-game to GDC 2012, and though its MMOFPS sequel is still undergoing internal alpha testing, the d...
The Daily Grind: What's the most epic battle in which you've ever fought?
At the end of the day, the dead and dying fade into the mist. At the end of the day, scores are tallied and winners are awarded. At the end of the day, the bruised and battered warriors enter the great feasting hall and find themselves revitalized. At the end of the day, glasses are raised and bo...
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