Archives for Dec 2nd, 2013
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Chaos Theory: A Secret World lexicon
LF3M 18/24 EXP KKTXBAI Look familiar? If you play The Secret World, you've likely seen this string of characters, or something similar, a thousand times over. Anyone who has done any MMO gaming is used to seeing a flood of acronyms fly by in chat channels. It's a special shorthand to convey as m...
Not So Massively: SMITE's launch date, Star Citizen's $33m goal, and Elite's cockpit reveal
Another $3 million was pledged to Star Citizen this week during the Thanksgiving livestream, pushing the total to over $33.5 million and unlocking several new ships for play. Developers now have over 50% more finance than was initially required for their ambitious plans. Meanwhile, Elite: Dangerous...
Captain's Log: Fleets for new players in Star Trek Online
Once again it's time to delve into tips and tricks for new players in this week's Captain's Log. I'm quite happy to say that many of these previous columns are still very popular and generate a lot of feedback. This week I will endeavor to help new Star Trek Online (and MMO) players with questions ...
The Stream Team: Space mining in EVE Online
The primary goal of EVE Online is simple: Make money without getting blown up. One of the most reliable methods of doing so is mining valuable ore from the asteroid belts that litter New Eden -- as long as you can avoid the mercenaries and pirates who patrol low-security space. Tonight, Massively's...
SOE planning 'additional personal progression systems' for PlanetSide 2
You probably knew that PlanetSide 2 recently celebrated its one-year anniversary. You may not have known that SOE devs took to Reddit earlier today for an Ask Me Anything session. Several PS2 luminaries participated, but one of the most interesting answers was given by creative director Matt Higby....
Ever, Jane meets Kickstarter goal
Good news, Austenites: Your shared dream of a backstabbing dinner party MMO is one step closer to coming true today as Ever, Jane has met its Kickstarter goal. "Thank you all so, so much!" Lead Developer Annabel Smyth gushed. "I can't quite put into words what I feel right now -- overjoyed, overw...
Line of Defense approaches beta test phase
After a few months of silence, Derek Smart is back with a Line of Defense update. He reports that the title is preparing to transition from alpha to beta testing, even with "setbacks" due to switching the game engine. The team transitioned the game from an internal engine to the Havok Vision eng...
Final Fantasy XIV livestream details upcoming changes and the Crystal Tower
Final Fantasy XIV recently hosted its tenth Letter from the Producer livestream, in which producer Naoki Yoshida (or as the fans call him, Yoshi-P) tackles a number of questions regarding the game's upcoming changes and new content. The livestream itself is available for viewing in all of its two-...
Star Trek Online creates a gingerbread colony for the holidays
Not since Aunt Beru's blue milk has science fiction looked this tasty! Star Trek Online's mischevious Q is creating a gingerbread colony for the game's annual Winter Wonderland event. As part of the event, players will be shrunk down to defend the colony from snowmen by flinging snowballs and fi...
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The Stream Team: Zombie Pandemic with Beau. Argh!
Zombie Pandemic is a browser-based post-apocalyptic survival MMORPG. Do you like those things? Well then watch Beau Hindman as he attempts to survive while figuring out how the game works. Turn-based combat, scavenging, guts and gore -- it's all there! Game: Zombie Pandemic Host: Beau Date: Mo...
Neverwinter announces Hunter Ranger booster pack
Cryptic today revealed a new booster pack bundle that will go live with Neverwinter's upcoming Shadowmantle expansion. Designed specifically for the Hunter Ranger, the Hunter Ranger booster pack offers a few key goodies that should soften the starting experience for players checking out Neverwinter...
The Nexus Telegraph: Examining the Chua of WildStar
Last week I proposed a theory about two of the game's races, one of them being the Mordesh. That theory, in case you didn't catch it (and it wasn't stated outright anyway) proposed that WildStar's dirty little secret races are that way in part because they say something about their home fashion. Th...
Age of Conan to receive some new world bosses
Do you like finding huge monsters out in the world and taking them down? Then you'll have reason to be excited about Age of Conan's upcoming world boss system. The most recent game director's letter explains that these bosses are an outgrowth of the anniversary event designed to make the game world...
Lineage 2 launching Valiance expansion December 11th
Though the Goddess of Destruction failed to obliterate Aden, that doesn't mean all was destined to stay peaceful and quiet in Lineage II. On the contrary, on December 11th, old threats (including four returning raid bosses) will resurface and new challenges will arise when L2's newest expansion, Va...
Bylos talks Tokyo, new scenario difficulty, and more in TSW's November letter
In his November Game Director letter for The Secret World, Joel Bylos covered a variety of topics, from Issue #8's augments and scenarios to holiday events and Tokyo. The biggest news involving The Venetian Agenda is that a new level of difficulty is being added to the scenario system; on top of No...
China gets late Christmas present of new ArcheAge beta
If you wrote to Santa asking for an ArcheAge beta, you might have wanted to specify that you meant in the west. As it is, China is the one getting the beta present the day after Christmas. The announcement of this next beta phase, called the "Divine" test, came at the Tencent Games Carnival 2013, C...
The Repopulation improves housing and inquiries in November
November is a time to go home, see your family, and quite possibly remember why it was you left home and avoid seeing your family for the rest of the year. The result is that it makes a lot of sense for The Repopulation to focus on things like hearth and home over the month of November. A status up...
League of Angels announces beta events, releases trailer
You've heard of League of Angels, a new browser-based game that starts closed beta this Wednesday, but what's the story behind it? GTArcade answers that with a new trailer that takes viewers on a brief tour of the history of the angels, from their betrayal to their triumphant return. See it play ou...
Massively's first impressions of Trion's Trove
We're really driving home the "first" in "first impressions" with a look at the early-early alpha build of Trion Worlds' Trove. Trove is a voxel-based sandbox game that was first revealed two weeks ago. It's a game that focuses on exploration, building, and adventure, and hopes to do it with feelin...
Sony Online Entertainment offers bonus Cyber Monday cash
Cyber Monday is like Black Friday without the waiting in line or the limited-stock items left on shipping pallets throughout the store or any of that insanity. But it's very similar insofar as you can find deals that are theoretically meant to be for others but wind up mostly being presents to your...
The Stream Team: Stuffed to the gills edition, December 2 - 8, 2013
If you partook in Thanksgiving activities over the weekend, chances are you enjoyed a tasty morsel or twenty (thousand)... and that's not even counting leftovers! As much as I love the holiday, I am often glad it's only a single day because there is always just way too much food. It's certainly not...
The Daily Grind: Are you participating in Cyber Monday?
Oh retail holidays, will you ever stop? Today is Cyber Monday, which is a ridiculously halfway-provocative term for a day when you're supposed to do all of your online shopping for the winter holidays. Some MMO companies are taking advantage of this day to promote their own deep discounts, while...
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