Hands-on

As with many of the games I choose for this column, I am a bit lost as to how long the game has been in existence, what sort of time has passed since the game first began to allow players into its world, and what the exact state of the game currently is. With PlaneShift, a game that seems to have existed since I was 12 years old and has remained in some sort of testing or beta phase since then, I am even more unclear. Really, it shouldn't matter, but I can see the importance of knowing whether the game you are about to play is in testing or has even been released yet.

Without those key words, a player can become confused. Is this quest broken, missing parts, or just poorly designed? Is the game world empty because it's midnight or because the testing crowd is on at different times? I've heard from developers who keep their games in a beta state for years and years, and it usually means that they simply want a sort of explanation as to why the game feels incomplete. I say release it already and perhaps you'd attract more players anyway.

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I thoroughly enjoy reading your comments, especially when the discussion turns to game design or suggestions for development. I decided it was high time that I sat down and experienced, even if just a little, how the design process goes. I've had plenty of peeks at different studios, but I wanted to know what it is like to actually make a game from basically beginning to end.

So for the next four weeks, I will be doing something special. I invited indie developer Dave Toulouse, maker of Golemizer and Star Corsairs, to help me in this journey. If you'd like to find out more about Dave, you can visit his official website, follow him on Twitter, or even read an interview I did with him a while ago. He really is the epitome of the indie spirit, and I am so thankful that he volunteered to do this with me.

The goal is to start with a basic idea and framework, and using input from our discussions and from reader comments, assemble a very basic working mobile MMO. So let's get started!

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I would like to start off by saying that Urban Rivals, a multiplayer collectible card game, is not an MMO. While I always try to play MMOs for this column, occasionally my "grab a random MMO, one that was recommended by a reader a while ago, and write about it" method needs some tweaking. I don't always get a chance to vet a game mainly because I want to go through the very first stages of play while streaming live on Mondays, so sometimes less-than-Massive games squeeze through. File this under Not So Massively.

Other than that, I found some neat design in the game. I didn't find anything that would just blow us away as gamers, but it has some cool ideas and artwork all the same. There's also the mobile version of the game to consider -- a universal app for the iPhone or iPad that allows for gaming anywhere.

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Glitch is a wonderful game, but it can be a bit confusing. The sheer number of items, places, and ingredients can make navigating the world of Ur difficult. I decided I needed some assistance living in the world of the giants. It took but one post on the forums before the helpful community overwhelmed me with choices. The developer of Glitch, Tiny Speck, made sure that players and third-party developers can have a go at making applications or websites that connect to the game's information and characters. I had no idea how many people had created some sort of app or website so far!

I started to try them all out, and as of the time of this writing, I have barely scratched the surface. There are apps or websites for almost anything you can think of. I have already found some that I really like, and I wanted to share them with you. Feel free to let me know which ones you like, and why, in the comments section.

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This week on Behind the Mask, we're going to take an in-depth look at Champions Online's new Earth powerset. It took me quite a while to review Wind, and Earth is relatively new. Why the time disparity?

The real answer is that I looked at Wind long before last week, but I didn't really find anything fun or exciting at a first look. Earth is a lot different. Earth has a lot of potential for combining powers between the set; it can Stagger enemies and then exploit that Stagger for damage or bonus effects. Because a lot of the Earth tricks eat your Stagger stacks, you have to choose between keeping Stagger on your targets for the debuff or eating it for the bonus power effects. On top of that, it has the first viable Brick archetype heal, making the Mountain the second reliable Archetype tank. Earth is a lot of fun.

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I love my MMORTS games, for sure. I've had to work on my ability to look at them with the freshest eyes that I can possibly muster, mainly because I see so many of them. It really is a genre of details. The gameplay in different titles is often almost exactly the same, but little details will set them apart. Thirst of Night, a new MMORTS by Kabam, tries hard to set itself apart from the pack, but does it do enough?

I also have to consider that, for many players, these experiences I go through every week are brand-new experiences. For a good number of people, the games I cover are their first or second ones. While it is hard for me to fathom, I have to keep that in mind. So while I saw a game this week that was lacking and tired in some areas, I know that those same areas would be pretty exciting to a new gamer.

Like I said, I'm working on it.

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You know what I love about discovering new mobile games? It's that moment when I realize they are actually pretty good and might give me some real MMO action on my smartphone. The biggest issue I have these days is separating the true MMOs from the social, multiplayer and singleplayer games that bombard the market. While I enjoy games from those genres, many of them arrive on my phone disguised as something else. Many of them even call themselves "MMOs" without having any real multiplayer interaction or persistence.

So you can imagine how happy I am when I find real, persistent MMOs that are available for my HTC Inspire Android phone and iOS. Yes, there are more of them out there than you might think. Let's take a look at a couple of new ones that I have found.

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Champions Online released two powersets recently, and I finally got time to sit down and crunch numbers on the new Wind powers. Wind has been live for a few weeks now, and the Squall archetype uses its powers to push enemies around the battlefield and rock the damage charts.

Wind has been one of the most frequently requested powersets since Heavy Weapons hit the game, and I was excited to play around with the set. Does the Wind powerset meet the expectations players had for it? This week on Behind the Mask, I set out to find the answer to that question.

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Who doesn't love checking out a game's new content? I love it, for sure. So I was more than happy to sit down and ride along with the developers of Fiesta as they showed off their new expansion, Expedition to Adealia. The tour wasn't all rainbows and kittens, that's for sure. I found myself surrounded by towering monsters, crazy children brandishing giant knives, and massive, fire-breathing boss-monsters. It was fun, but I had no idea this cute Anime title could be so hardcore!

Luckily for me, my hosts had the ability to heal or resurrect me when needed. I didn't do too shabbily, though, and I shot arrows like bullets, bringing down every mighty beast I came across. It was fun, yes, but a real slaughter. Well, for the monsters at least.

And for those of you who'd like to host your own dance party in the game, Outspark was kind enough to provide Massively with plenty of goodie bag codes to give away. To get this free item, head to the redemption page and enter the item code MassivelyFiesta. You have until the 31st of January to redeem it.

Journey on to see just what I found during my tour of the Adealia expansion!

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In June, I drove down to Austin, Texas, to once again participate in GDC Online. I do it every year if I can, and I love it. It's a smaller event when compared to the larger E3s and other conventions, but it is more personal and up-close. My favorite speaker at this last event had to be David Calvo from Ankama Games. When he first came out barefoot, I was honestly worried that the chat would be all about goofy, "deep" design techniques that had no real use in practice. In the end, his talk was deep but was really just asking developers to have fun and try new things. Yes, I know: new things. Crazy, huh?

If Wakfu is any proof, those design theories are put to practice every day at Ankama. Wakfu, for me, is a breath of fresh air in so many ways. Even though I am somewhat used to the design and art style, thanks in large part to playing the previous title Dofus, I still find myself loving how simply complex much of Wakfu is.

There are issues that come with complexity, however.

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The Kingdom of Loathing is no new kid on the block. The hand-drawn indie hit has been around for nine years now. There are fansites and 24-hour radio stations dedicated to the game, and there are even conventions hosted in its honor! Needless to say, the game has a following. I knew that I would be stepping into a huge puddle of "snark" when I decided to take a look at the game this week. I knew darn well that I would be tested, that my limits as someone who cannot stand to chat with anyone who answers everything with the equivalent of "your mom" would be pushed and pushed hard. I had a feeling.

Surprisingly, I found some really charming aspects to the game. Unfortunately, the game didn't seem to share my enthusiasm for its quaint design. Because it's existed for nine years, I expected to find some fine-tuned stick figure gameplay, but the game seemed content with sort of rehashing the same stuff over and over. Of course, since this column is all about playing a game enough to form only a first impression, I did not reach the higher levels and might have missed something. I just wish the game would have been more confident in its delivery.

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1100 AD is a new browser-based MMORTS that is published by Aeria Games. It's new to me, at least, even though I find a lot of the design and ideas behind the title to be pretty familiar. The truth is that the MMORTS genre is about as repetitive and ordinary as the standard MMO model. Players will come across the same concepts as they have seen in a score of other titles. It's sort of the quandry of the massively multiplayer player: You have to play a lot of games to find that one true gem.

Where does 1100 AD fall in the grand line of copycat MMORTS games? Well, it's hard to say within a week, especially since I have not experienced much of what the game might have to offer like massive wars, alliances or world-changing events. But I can comment on what I found so far in this short week of playing.

Click past the cut and I'll tell you!

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It's Christmas time, and what better way is there to celebrate than to smash some internet people to bits in your favourite MOBA? League of Legends leads the charge with a gift of 450 RP delivered to every nice player who hasn't been banned in the past two months, and it shows off upcoming champion Victor the Machine Herald. Heroes of Newerth gives all players two free Christmas alt avatars and has a limited-time offer to buy a pack containing every previously released hero for just $10.

Rise of Immortals takes part in Steam's Great Gift Pile promotion that gives you the chance to win discount coupons or free Steam games, and it releases an immortal spotlight on Kavashiir. CrimeCraft: Gang Wars also offers players a Steam prize for playing its festive Snow Brawl game mode. Firefall clarifies the beta process and reminds fans that the game will be "done when it's done," and Torchlight developer Runic Games announces a new armour design contest. Finally, of all the intellectual properties to be made into an online game, did you ever think Doctor Who would make the list? BBC Worldwide has released an open preview of Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, a team-based puzzle game by the makers of Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights.

Skip past the cut for details of this week's biggest news from the world of MOBAs and other big online games that aren't quite MMOs.

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If you've been checking out this year's Christmas Steam sales, you'll undoubtedly have seen the Great Gift Pile giveaway. By completing various game achievements and objectives, Steam users unlock prizes that can be anything from a lump of coal to discount vouchers or even a full copy of any game on Steam. There are reports of people winning massive prizes like Skyrim or the Valve complete pack, and even if you just get a lump of coal, it's still a valuable prize; seven lumps can be exchanged for a new random prize, and those left over at the end of the holiday event will count as tickets in a lottery to win a copy of every single game on Steam.

While many of the achievements require the purchase of cheap indie titles, there are several ways to get your hands on a gift from the great pile absolutely free. Checking your Steam inventory page and trading any item with another user will get you two free gifts, and joining the 2011 Holiday Group will net you a third. Two more prizes can be collected by completing the Son of a Nutcracker! achievement in Spiral Knights and the All I Want for Christmas is Sewers achievement in Rusty Hearts, both of which are free-to-play MMOs available through Steam.

Skip past the cut for details on how to beat the Steam gift achievements for Spiral Knights and Rusty Hearts, including full walkthrough videos.

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Among the hundreds of changes brought by EVE Online's recent Crucible expansion, the new tier 3 battlecruisers certainly rank as player favourites. Rather than giving each race a bigger, tougher battlecruiser, CCP gave the new ships the ability to fit battleship-class weapons but heavily limited their defensive capabilities. All four tier 3 battlecruisers are turret-based, letting them output massive damage with close-range guns or hit for solid damage at battleship sniping distances.

As with all new ships, it can be difficult to figure out how to fit the new tier 3 battlecruisers to make full use of their unique combination of high damage output and high mobility. Last week I looked at three viable setups for the Caldari Naga, which proved to be an absolute monster with 1,000-1500 DPS when using close-range blaster setups and a terrifying 650 DPS when sniping at 100km-130km. This week I take a similar look at the Gallente Talos, a ship designed specifically for close-range combat. I explore a traditional armour-tanked blaster fitting with dual webs, a shield-based variant that packs a huge 1,500 DPS punch, and two long-range blaster fits that give the Naga a run for its money.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I explore four solid PvP fittings for the Talos, with both shield and armour setups.

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