Mac

If you've been desperately hoping for a Pokémon MMO all these years but have been disappointed by Nintendo's unwillingness to release one or let anyone else develop one, you might be interested in upcoming MMO Panzer Pets. Panzer Pets is set in a post-apocalyptic world in which robots have taken over, but robot builders have found a way to build their own pets to fight back. In Panzer Pets, rather than capture creatures, you'll hunt for robot parts and design your own customisable 3-D pet robots.

The game focuses on the exploration opportunities that a post-apocalyptic setting delivers, with a world filled with randomly generated zones, dungeons and towns to explore, and robot parts to collect. Players will be able to trade parts with each other, challenge other players to battles, form guilds, and embark on quests together. As it uses the Unity 3-D engine, the game will be released on iOS, Android, and both PC and Mac web browsers.

New studio Gamundo has been working on Panzer Pets for free so far but now needs support to work on the game full-time and complete it. If you're interested in exploring a post-apocalyptic world with a customised pet robot in tow, you can help Gamundo finish the game by pledging money to its Kickstarter campaign, which launched last night. The estimated date for completion of the game is October 2012, and the team needs to raise $85,000 to make it that far without giving a publisher or investor a controlling interest in the game.

A week ago I sat here writing up what I thought was going to be the epitaph for EverQuest's odd foray into an Apple-only product, EverQuest Macintosh. The word came down from on high that with the coming of free-to-play, EQMac's diminutive server population would be ushered out the doors as Al'Kabor got sent to the retirement home.

That was a week ago. Boy, what a difference a week makes, right?

Since the writing of that article, we received word that not only did Sony Online Entertainment reverse its decision to kill EQMac but that it will be making the server completely free for its community for the indefinite future. I learned that while under the influence of a 102-degree fever, so I initially thought it was just my brain cooking in my skull. But no, it was the truth. So what happened in the span of that week? Why did SOE do a 180 and keep alive an ancient relic of its flagship MMO?

For the whole, unadulterated truth, I called up SOE President John Smedley to get the full scoop on the wild rollercoaster he's taken this loyal community on these past few weeks. Finding out what he said will only cost you one click. It's worth it, trust me.

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Nothing gold can stay, it seems. EverQuest on the Macintosh, affectionately dubbed EQMac, was announced as facing a shutdown in wake of the game's impending free-to-play transition. John Smedley confirmed this, players mourned, and our own stalwart Game Archaeologist lamented its passing. And so, as the game approaches its final month, Smedley has... apparently rescinded the entire thing via a late-night Twitter post that has taken the entire EQMac community by surprise.

Yes, there is apparently both a Santa Claus and a Tooth Fairy, because John Smedley has stated that not only are the EQMac fans "a wonderful group of players," the game will be left running. Better yet, it will continue to run as-is and with no subscription fees. If you're part of the fanbase, no, you don't need to pinch yourself, this is actually a thing that is happening. Further details are to be announced soon, but just the facts alone should make fans very happy.

War. War never changes... the platform war, that is. But even those of us who game from the comfort of decked-out PCs can feel sorry for our Mac brethren when one of the Apple MMO offerings, already in short supply, goes dark. That's exactly what's happening to the Mac version of classic EverQuest: SOE is sunsetting the single Mac server due to low population and ancient code. Apple gamers must get a PC or sample one of the other Mac-friendly MMOs like Warhammer Online, Fallen Earth, Ryzom, or Free Realms.

So today we ask: Do you play MMOs on a Mac, and if so, which games? And is it really as bad as PC-loyalists like to think?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Mac MMORPGs have come a long way. Titles as wide-ranging as World of Warcraft, Fallen Earth, and Free Realms now boast their own native clients, and Conquer Online is set to join the ranks of OS X-flavored MMOs on May 3rd.

TQ Digital has just announced the creation of a new Conquer Online server (dubbed Garden of Eden) exclusively for Mac users. The free-to-play title originally launched way back in 2003 and sports a 2.5D game world set in ancient China. The Mac version of the game is undergoing beta testing through April 26th, and you can download the beta client via a number of sources including FTP and bit torrent. Mac beta testers will be kitted out with equipment, skills, and necessary in-game items according to a TQ press release, and you can learn more at the official Conquer Online website.

Years ago I had to find a job in my new home state of Texas. Luckily for me, my wife hooked me up with a friend who helped me get hired at Starbucks. At first, I hung my head in shame. Later, though, I enjoyed dealing with customers and the free coffee. I had a co-worker, a real chin-scratching, coffee house wanna-be intellectual who would often spend more time dreaming about some game than about getting people on their breaks. He even brought his Macbook to work to sneak in time in the game.

I glanced over his shoulder one day and was delighted to see an odd-looking, cartoony, turn-based game on his screen. It turned out that the game was Dofus. I tried it immediately and fell in love with it, but that was years ago. I still found time to revisit the game, but once I started working at Massively, most of my time became dedicated to every other game in the world.

Well, it's time to visit it again. During the first part of this week, though, I thought this was going to be a disaster. I stayed strong and battled my way through bot after bot, spam message after spam message, and eventually found the great game I remember. Click past the cut to see exactly what I found!

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Mac users rejoice, you've got another option when it comes to MMORPGs thanks to SOE and Free Realms. While OS X fans have seen their list of available titles grow in recent years, AAA games are still fairly scarce, with World of Warcraft, EverQuest, and Fallen Earth being a few of the more notable exceptions.

Free Realms isn't dumping you on a Mac-segregated server either, but rather the same shards inhabited by the free-to-play title's PC users. With fourteen million registered players, you're bound to find someone to hang out with, so head over to the official website to download the client and get started.

Free Realms features a large virtual world, customizable avatars, and a huge variety of minigames designed to provided hours of safe online entertainment for kids and whole families. Check out Massively's in-depth look at the game for more information.

While there have been many attempts at reproducing the MMORPG experience on Apple's incredibly popular iPhone and iTouch devices, the limitations in technology and connection speed have kept these applications from hitting the big time. Spacetime Studios hopes to change all that, as they just revealed a new MMO for the app store: Pocket Legends.

Boasting 3D graphics, three classes and accessibility across iPhone, iTouch and iPad devices, Pocket Legends might be considered an "MMO-lite," but it still contains all the necessary ingredients. Players can choose from one of three anthropomorphic animal classes -- a cat sorceress, a bird archer, and a bear tank -- and head off for a career full of dungeon running, chest looting, and stat leveling. Grouping is also possible (and encouraged!), with thousands of players connecting over a server. Spacetime promises that players can not only play Pocket Legends on almost all of Apple's portable devices (except the first edition of the iPhone), but the game can be accessed via WiFi, 3G and even EDGE networks.

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There's been quite a bit of talk coming out of Nexon from the time of the GDC -- revealing two games, more news on the venerable MapleStory, and even a developer initiative announced shortly before the conference. But if you were waiting for the other shoe to drop, there is one after a fashion, because the company still has no plans to develop anything for the Mac or for consoles. Both Vindictus and Dragon Nest are apparently popular choices for players to request on consoles, but according to Nexon America vice president Min Kim, neither one is planned for development for the console platform.

Kim went on to explain that his company's base of operations in Korea meant that Mac support was a distant afterthought at best -- the market for non-PC games in Korea is minimal. Of course, in both cases he said that the support is something they would like to expand to eventually, but for now there's just not enough reason to expand. Which is sad news if you're one of the many users who prefer a fruit-based computer, especially with more and more games expanding to be playable on any platform.

[Thanks Tracey!]

The Imprudence project has released version 1.2 of their Second Life viewer. Imprudence is one of our favorite after-market Second Life viewers, and after some months in beta (and a couple of false starts), the latest release version of this viewer is available.

There are some user-interface changes this time around, the ability to backup and restore your own intellectual property, an improved radar/minimap, improved third-party simulator support, RLVa support, optional vertical IM tabs, double-click go-to and teleports, more world map data and a host of other tweaks and features.

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One of the nicer aspect to EVE Online, in terms of accessibility, is that you can play it across the trinity of operating systems: Windows, Mac, and Linux. The latter two have been made possible through the CCP Games partnership with TransGaming Technologies, via their Cider and Cedega technology, respectively. Unfortunately, while the Mac client has attracted (and retained) a number of users, the same cannot be said for the EVE Linux client. We received word from affected players over the weekend that CCP is dropping support for the Linux client, but it's official as of this morning.

CCP Whisper stated, "I am sorry to announce that from the 10th of March onwards CCP will no longer be officially supporting the Linux operating system. The low amount of users of the Linux client did not justify the degree of additional complexity having three operating systems imposes on our development and release schedules." He states that he and CCP Games are fully aware of the disappointment this will cause but the resources the company has devoted to Linux support could be put to better use elsewhere, in ways that benefit more players.

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NCsoft just announced that City of Heroes will soon have a Mac client, joining the likes of World of Warcraft and EVE Online as MMOs that can played on OS X. It'll be made possible through partnership with Transgaming, the creators of the Cider portability engine, which acts as a 'wrapper' for the standard PC client, allowing it to run within OS X on an Intel Mac.

While Blizzard's Mac client for World of Warcraft was written from the ground up, NCsoft's newest City of Heroes 'Good vs. Evil edition' client will be playable through Transgaming's Cider, and thus will be the same client gamers are accustomed to on the PC. This method of bringing the PC client to Mac without porting or rewriting is the same avenue CCP Games took with their EVE Online client for OS X. The City of Heroes Mac Special Edition includes two exclusive items:

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Most people don't pick up a Mac to use as their primary gaming machine, but for players of titles like World of Warcraft and EVE Online, the OS X client makes MMO gaming possible for them. But the majority of MMO clients are PC only, requiring Mac users to turn to Boot Camp and dual boot Windows XP or Vista. Another option open to MMO players who use Macs is CrossOver from Codeweavers, which allows virtualization of PC programs and games within OS X (and Linux), with no Windows license required.

Our friends over at TUAW came across a one-day price reduction on CrossOver... that price being 'free'. That's right, all of Codeweavers' products -- CrossOver Mac, CrossOver Games, and CrossOver Linux -- will be free on Tuesday, October 28, but only for that day. There's a bit of a story behind this, which you can read all about over at TUAW, who have all of the details and restrictions related to this offer. But for MMO gamers who are into their Macs, all you really need to know is that CrossOver will allow you to play quite a number of games, MMO and otherwise. Check out the full list of games supported, and get ready to download your free copy. Your 24-hour window to get CrossOver begins at midnight on Tuesday, October 28th. The CrossOver deal is a $40 license giveaway, limited to one license per person, and requires an Intel Mac running either Tiger or Leopard.

First up, great to be back! I wont bore you all with words and phrases strung together to create some form of coherence, instead I will jump right back in! I am extremely proud to invite you once more to join in with the fun right here at Massively that is TurpsterVision!

Howdy Folks! I have returned! When we last left our hero I was battling off legions of lowbies on my quest to become a raid boss of Epic proportions. I have so much to tell you all, as I recently discovered the existence of 'T-chlorians' in all living things (They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the T. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you). I have also proven once and for all that 'Jaffa Cakes' are indeed cakes - so everyone's a winner!

To mark my return I have chosen a controversial game; Aurora Feint The Beginning. An MMO in the making? Or just the reason that I now have RSI and haven't showered in four weeks? There is only one way to find out ... click through below the cut.

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Back in May, Linden Lab said it was considering dropping support for Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther). Well, the deliberations are over, and the Lab has just announced that that is what is going to happen.

Development for Panther 10.3.9 will cease, and no more QA will be done. If you are one of the few remaining users logging into Second Life with this venerable operating system version, you'll need to stay with the 1.19 viewer series. Eventually, that's going to stop working -- and you won't have access to many new features (like the upcoming Mono).

Support for all other supported systems (Windows XP, Linux, Windows Vista, and later Mac OS X versions) is not planned to change.