Archives for Oct 23rd, 2012
A look at Final Fantasy XIV's new character creator
Final Fantasy XIV players already knew that the game's character creator is being overhauled when the game's relaunch goes live. Now, the development team at Square-Enix has finally given us a clearer picture of what to expect from the creator in A Realm Reborn with five new screens showing off s...
Jukebox Heroes: Vanguard's soundtrack, part 1
Remember what we talked about a while ago about divorcing any stigma a game carries from its music? Let's apply that to Vanguard, possibly one of the most stigmatized MMOs of all time. For all of its negative reputation, Vanguard's been slowly recognized as a gem in the rough, and its soundtrack ...
EVE Online $6,000 ship kill may be a hoax
EVE Online player "stewie Zanjoahir" made history yesterday when he reportedly lost a tiny ship with cargo worth over $6,000 US. Now it appears that the value of the kill may not have been accurate or that the kill could even be a hoax. Evidence that the kill may not be authentic surfaced last ni...
SOE Live 2012: Building your business and selling homes with Player Studio
We've all had that moment. In your mind's eye, you see the perfect item; whether you are a decorator or adventurer, you've imagined that one item that would look perfect in your EverQuest II house or on your EverQuest character. But alas, since you aren't on the development team, your awesome ide...
Allods Online crafting professions set to merge in Patch 3.05
Crafting professions in Allods Online are getting quite a revamp with Patch 3.05 at the end of this month. Following in the footsteps of the Alchemy changes, all professions will be merged with their appropriate gathering counterparts to make for a more self-sufficient process. According to the d...
Meridian 59 player teases 3-D client
Now that Meridian 59 is available to anyone to tinker with as an open source project, we've been curious what the playerbase might do with this granddaddy of MMOs. One enterprising soul has started the Meridian 59: Community Client Project to bring the title fully into the realm of 3-D. In a b...
TERA revs up Masquerade Mayhem event
Creepy and kooky, mysterious and ooky, that's TERA's Masquerade Mayhem in a nutshell. The game's first Halloween event kicks off today with a huge assortment of activities, events, and prizes to behold. Players will be treated to free gifts just for logging in, although it'll take some blood, ...
Tossing fireballs and bashing shields: Hands-on with the Forge Beta
Dark Vale's upcoming PvP-centric title, Forge, is an MMO like no other. The game has no PvE content to speak of, instead demanding that players earn their progress by killing one another in timed arena-style deathmatches or objective-based games. It's built in the Unreal Engine, features an over-...
Star Wars: The Old Republic launches the Cartel Market on the PTS
Since the free-to-play announcement, Star Wars: The Old Republic fans have been asking what exactly will be offered in SWTOR's microtransaction cash shop. Fans on the public test server now have the chance to find out. This morning, BioWare shut down the PTS for a few hours and brought it back on...
Guild Wars 2 previews upcoming structured PvP features
Guild Wars 2 is getting on top of its game -- its PvP game, to be precise. ArenaNet posted a preview of the improvements and features coming to structured PvP in the near future. PvPers who win in paid tournaments will soon be granted qualifying points (QPs), which not only allow players to me...
Massively Speaking Episode 221: Chris Roberts, Space Interviewee
Today we have a Very Special Guest Star for a Very Special Episode: That's right, it's TV's Blossom, who's here to talk to us about the wonderful changes the human body goes through during puberty. No, that's next week; this week we have Wing Commander's Chris Roberts, the driving force behind th...
Bigpoint cutting 120 jobs, abandoning U.S. development
Browser game outfit Bigpoint can be forgiven if it doesn't look fondly on 2012. Last summer the firm noted for Battlestar Galactica Online and an upcoming Game of Thrones spinoff vacated its mobile development business and jettisoned a couple of executives. Now GamesIndustry.biz reports that the ...
Hyperspace Beacon: Will free-to-play save SWTOR?
Last week, I discussed the reasons I still play a game that literally a million people have quit playing. I believe a huge part of that discussion stemmed from my expectations of the game. I truly believe that many people expected Star Wars: The Old Republic to be the answer to all MMO problems a...
BioWare details SWTOR's Kira Carsen companion
So, companions. Apparently they're a thing in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They're also a thing in Firefly, but we won't go into that right now. In SWTOR they're a thing that has spawned a web series called Companions 101, which features screenshots, biographical info, customization details, and ...
The Soapbox: Meeting the 'Asian gamer' stereotype on common ground
I originally thought I would craft this Soapbox to discuss the differences between Western and Eastern gamers. But in my research, I ended up noticing the differences and the similarities between the two gaming cultures -- in fact, the similarities were more prominent. Yes, there are gamers who g...
New making-of video chronicles Defiance's cinematography, writing, and music
There's a new Defiance making-of video floating around YouTube this week (that's Defiance the TV show, not Defiance the MMORPG). Sure, they share the same universe and will purportedly affect one another, but the three-minute clip that we've embedded for you after the break focuses exclusively on...
Warhammer's Daemon Moon Rising event now playing
If you haven't firmed up your MMO Halloween plans, we've got another event to tell you about. Warhammer Online's Daemon Moon Rising shindig is going on now through November 1st. It features a Daemonball Rally public quest, a Daemon Mask event quest, and the High Pass Cemetery Scenario which of...
Roberts talks Star Citizen boarding parties, customization, and more
Can't get enough Star Citizen news? We can't either, which is why we cajoled Chris Roberts into joining us on this week's Massively Speaking podcast to talk about his new labor of love. That's later today, though, so in the meantime you'll have to content yourself with a transcript of Roberts' re...
Flameseeker Chronicles: Preparing for the Mad King in Guild Wars 2
By now, Lion's Arch probably looks a little different than we're used to. It had already taken on a decidedly ghoulish cast in Guild Wars by Friday, so I guess the Mad King's influence shifted by a few calendar days over the course of the 250 years between Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. Long...
The Daily Grind: How intense are you when you play?
We all play at different intensity levels. It's human nature. Some of us sit down for a night of dungeons in World of Warcraft and we play primarily to have fun, with no more intensity than we would devote to playing Tetris until the screen fills. Other people sit down for a night of dungeons wit...
Featured Stories
Massively Speaking Podcast
Massively Speaking Episode 331: The long goodbye
Latest episode: Saturday, January 31st, 2015