MMORTS

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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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Call of Gods may not be a household name when it comes to MMORTS titles, but the free-to-play offering from Aeria Games must be doing something right. The company has just announced the addition of a fifth server, as well as a list of server-wide events designed to bring fame and fortune to some of its players.

Events include a ranked player competition, group boss fights, alliance quests and upgrades, special hero and gear customizations, and "mystical rewards" for the top five alliances.

Call of Gods is a browser-based MMORTS, and you can learn more about it at its official website.

[Source: Aeria press release]

It feels like we've barely recovered from the giveaway whirl that was Massively's 12 Days of Giveaways, but don't think that's it for freebies from us. Our latest giveaway is a big one, and it's sure to warm the hearts of MMORTS fans far and wide.

Dawn of Fantasy has a purchase price of $29.99 US -- unless you happen to be a Massively reader. Reverie Studios has given us 1,000 digital copies of the game to share with some of our community. Simply visit our giveaway page to pick up your code, then get the game via our download link. When you're asked for your CD key during installation, enter the key you picked up from us and you're all set!

The codes are only good until January 27th, so grab yours right away, enjoy the game, and thanks to Reverie Studios for the giveaway!

The dev team behind Star Supremacy is gearing up for its first update of 2012. The Colony Starship patch features new optimizations to the alliance system, under-the-hood performance tweaks, and new items in the cash shop (as well as a few price changes).

The patch isn't quite live yet, but you can look for it this time tomorrow. In the meantime, Barbily Games has also issued a reminder about its latest Facebook promotion. When the game reaches the 500- and 1,000-like milestones, all players will receive in-game gifts. When the 30,000-like barrier is broken, three randomly selected players will win Ear Force X11 headsets.

Age of Empires Online is getting a skirmish mode courtesy of the upcoming Skirmish Hall booster pack. The new gameplay will allow players to team up and fight AI opponents in pursuit of experience and loot.

Skirmish mode will pit you and a friend (or computer ally) against four computer-controlled enemies, and each AI can take on a variety of different playstyles. Each style is represented by a unique leader, and there are eight of these to choose from.

Also of note is the fact that skirmish mode unlocks all of the game's units regardless of your overall level. If you want to preview some powerful Age of Empires units that are hidden away behind hours of advancement gameplay, skirmish mode is the way to go. Check out the skirmish mode trailer after the break for more details.

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If you've followed stories on Dawn of Fantasy, you know that the game offers an MMORTS mode in addition to its offline modes. What you may not know is exactly how the MMO side of gameplay works out in practice, and that's the sort of thing that's really important to know before you dive into a game. The team at Reverie World Studios has helpfully put together a video diary detailing the Online Kingdoms mode, showing off how players can experience the game in a persistent online world.

The focus of the game, naturally, is on creating and running one's own city; it takes some time to turn your plot of land into a functional city, and in the midst of all that you still have troops to recruit, train, and improve. It's a mixture of quest-based gameplay and more traditional RTS mechanics, but you don't need to take our word for it. Jump past the break to watch the full video and see if it looks like the right mix of both tastes for you.

[Source: Reverie World Studios press release]

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If there is one thing we MMO gamers love about our favorite games, it's the fact that they go on almost forever. Even when we log off, the virtual worlds we inhabit exist without us. Players continue to adventure, craft and explore the game world as we sleep. It's exciting, and it separates MMOs from the rest of the gaming flock. But what if the world ended? What if the ending of the world was part of the gameplay, an understood happening that marked not only the end of one chapter but the fresh beginning of another?

Time-limited servers end, just as I described. While I have not seen the mechanic much in "standard" MMOs, only appearing really in a handful of titles like A Tale in the Desert, there are quite a few MMORTS titles that use it. In fact, some of the most popular MMORTS games out there use time limits in their games. It would seem that many players enjoy the occasional destruction or closing of their worlds.

Would the mechanic work for other games? How can mobile gaming benefit from the short-term servers?

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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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Fun fact about Santa: Not only does he have to visit all of the houses across the world in the span of a single night, but apparently he's on galaxy duty as well. Jolly St. Nick will be making the rounds in Star Supremacy during the game's Xmas event, during which he'll be making appearances on the neutral planets twice a day. He's not there for pleasantries, however; Santa needs players to help him find his sleigh, and he's prepared to dish out Christmas stocking bounties as rewards.

Barbily Games is also preparing to roll out its Gemini update, which will bring back three PvP systems for players to conquer. The update will also include a helping hand to lowbies' energy regeneration, new equipment, improved construction, and the ability to retreat.

You can get a good look at the update in our new Star Supremacy gallery below!

Who says MMOs don't have live events anymore? Triple-A titles, listen up: Your F2P brethren are doing what you won't. On Thursday, the citizens of Illyriad awoke to find that a massive rift had opened in the Northern section of the in-game map. A forum post later detailed the events and told of a mage from the Circle of Five who had recently been tampering with magical uses for the body parts of animals. Soon after, a blast was "felt by all for hundreds of miles in every direction." Scouts, armies and caravans were dispatched from curious cities. The next night, skeleton armies poured from the rift and attacked the investigators.

Illyriad is a free-to-play MMORTS that features city-building, resource management, deep strategy, free-for-all PvP, and a player-driven market. Thanks to HTML5, it works on any device. If dynamic live world events sound interesting to you, check the game out at the official site.

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Designing your own spaceship is probably pretty high up on the list of things to do for most sci-fi geeks. If you're a sci-fi geek and a free-to-play browser-based MMORTS fan, Star Supremacy is a title that might be of interest.

The devs recently held a design-your-own-starship contest, and according to a post on the game's official boards, the results are in. Barbily Games is also open to player suggestions for similar events in the future, and the company is actively soliciting related feedback on the forums.

Star Supremacy is set in the far future and it features three human factions locked in a struggle for expansion and conquest in the wake of a resource shortage on the planet Earth.

"I gotta present for ya!" What RTS fan doesn't remember the classic Command & Conquer franchise with extreme fondness? If you're one of the legions of supporters, then this is a good time to be alive. It seems as though C&C is slated for a revival soon, with BioWare working on Command & Conquers Generals 2 and EA prepping Command & Conquer: Tiberian Alliances.

The recently announced Tiberian Alliances is being shaped as a free-to-play MMORTS in which players can choose one of three factions (The Forgotten, GDI, and NOD) and duke it out over a war-torn battlefield. Developed by German studio Phenomic, Tiberian Alliances will be playable in a browser and is currently accepting applications for its beta testing program.

Will this be the MMORTS for you or will you call in an orbital strike on its prospects? Hit the jump to see the announcement trailer for your first taste of the latest chapter in C&C history.

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