War

I was this close to saving myself a lot of time by finishing this article with only a few simple words: Why do I play PlanetSide 2? Because it's fun. I'm pretty sure my boss would want me to expand on it just a bit, however, but let me drive those three words home: Because it's fun. I think we are all familiar with the word "fun," but it's something that we really don't hear enough about in MMOs. I don't think we play MMOs mainly because they're fun; I think we play them because they pull out other emotions in us, emotions like wonder or awe. They might help fill in social needs that are sometimes hard to fill out in real life. These are all positive and worthy reactions, but they're different from sheer fun.

I have oodles of fun in PlanetSide 2. Gobs of it. Barrels of fun. The fun is powerful in this one. You get the point. PlanetSide 2 actually makes me laugh to myself, makes me yell at the screen -- you know, those noises you hear from someone who is having a blast. Of course, there are a few other reasons I play PlanetSide 2 as well, so I'll fill you in on those.

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You may be familiar with Wargaming through the development studio's wildly successful game World of Tanks, but did you know that the company has been around for 15 years and has developed almost a dozen other games?

To help celebrate this special 15th anniversary, Wargaming has announced a global World of Tanks tournament that will see winning teams from Europe, North America, Russia, South Korea, Southeast Asia, China, Vietnam, and more represent their regions with an all-expense-paid trip to the World of Tanks studio in Minsk, Belarus.

The tournament will be a traditional 7 v 7 format and will run from May until the end of June. Check out the Wargaming site for more info.

The military MMO formerly known as World of Planes (not to be confused with World of Warplanes) has announced a console connection today. War Thunder, currently in open beta, is coming to the PlayStation 4 in time for the 2013 holiday season.

Gaijin Entertainment's creative director Kirill Yudintsev commented on the announcement: "Partnering with Sony Computer Entertainment is the most natural progression for the War Thunder brand, from our hugely successful beginnings on PC with more than 1.5 million players, to our recent announcement that War Thunder is under development for mobile devices. We are excited to bring War Thunder to the leading next-generation platform, the PS4."

Be sure to check out the brief War Thunder Ground Forces teaser trailer just after the jump.

[Source: Gaijin Entertainment press release]

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From tanks to planes and now ships, Wargaming is definitely known for the exquisite detail of its WWII-period vehicles. And today the company released new screenshots and renderings showing off that detail in the battleships of the upcoming naval MMO World of Warships.

While the screenshots show a variety of vessels, the renderings draw attention to the USS New Mexico, a battleship that served the US Navy for decades and was a force to be reckoned with during World War II. Get a glimpse of some of the giant warships setting sail in WoWS in the gallery below.

[Source: Wargaming.net press release]

Heroes and Generals is a new browser-based game set in the wonderfully bright and shiny world of... World War II. OK, so it's really a gritty game, and it's sluggish at best, but I have a feeling that combat during that amazing time was from the "two steps forward, one step back" school of warfare anyway. I tried to keep that in mind as I slogged through round after round of being shot in the head.

It's not that the game is boring. It's fun-ish, but when I compare it to many other MMOFPS titles, I find it small and slow. It's an instanced-based lobby sort of design. That's not normally a bad thing, and we certainly cover that style of game here on Massively, but this one just sort of felt a bit too small. There's more coming, I hear, so maybe in the future, the game will feel larger.

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Wargaming and Future have announced a partnership today that will see a new 148-page "bookazine" for World of Tanks fans entitled PC Gamer Presents World of Tanks.

This special publication provides "beginner tips and tricks, a history of Wargaming, exclusive developer interviews, map strategies and an analysis of the game's top tanks." The print version will go on sale in the UK for £9.99 and in US Walmart stores for $11.99. A digital version is also available through the PC Gamer smartphone app for £6.99.

Wargaming's UK PR manager says that this is the first in a series of partnered bookazines published by PC Gamer. Because nothing says objectivity quite like a series of sponsorships, right?

[Via Wargaming press release]

If SOE was going for the Award for Largest Patch Notes in Recent Memory, it just might have achieved it with its recent update to PlanetSide 2. Just for the sake of journalismistic investigationism, we did a rough count and discovered over 3600 words in the official post. And it's not just a patch about a few bugs and bits of tweaking; there's a new vehicle in town called the Harasser. According to its description, the Harasser is a "speedy armored assault buggy that plays a dual role as both a transport and strike vehicle." It also carries three units: the passenger (who can be a MAX unit), a driver, and a gunner. We imagine it running up, guns blazin', dropping a heavy and tearing away to pick up another. Brilliant!

Among the changes is a tweak to certifications for the Lightning, the best small tank in the world of PlanetSide 2. But we might be a tad biased. Check out the game for free on the official site.

It's nearly May, and that means that World of Tanks developer Wargaming.net is keeping up a tradition that's run since the game first became playable. May is National Veteran Appreciation Month, and every year the studio offers package deals to players offering a variety of in-game benefits at a discounted price while donating some of the proceeds to veteran support groups.

This year features two bundles. The first offers 2,000 gold and 2 million credits for $23.39; the second offers 10,000 gold, 1.2 million credits, 90 days of premium account status, and a special T-34 tank and garage slot for $115.99. 10% of each sale will be donated to Homes For Our Troops, AMVETS, and the Military Families Fund. So if you want to trundle along in a semi-historical military playground while supporting the brave individuals that made that possible, you can pick yourself up some nice toys in the process.

[Source: Wargaming.net press release]

War Thunder, a new instanced-based WWII flying battle, uhm, thingy, didn't really seem that appealing at first. It looks nice, and yes, the planes can be controlled in a few different styles ranging from an FPS twitch style to a more "realistic" mode, but I was worried it would be just another slogging grind until I was able to have any fun. There's some truth behind my worry about the grind, but overall I had an incredible time in the game. The only real shame is that I didn't get to put as much time in it as I would have liked. The game had infrequent connection issues, but when they cropped up, they lasted a while. Even so, each match lasted long enough to give me a pretty good taste of combat.

I stuck with the "arcade" style of gameplay. It's a simpler way to control the planes that allows players to point the mouse pointer for control. You might need to land for repairs and take off again, but it's as simple as slowing down until you touch down. I started to take the more realistic mode's tutorial, but as soon as it told me I had to manually control much more of the plane's controls, I gave up. Call me a wimp, but I just wanted to shoot planes.

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World of Tanks' 8.5 update is here, and it's brought a bunch of updates with it. Chief among them are expanded tank rosters for both Germany and the USSR as well as the introduction of premium feature options for free players.

Previously, premium consumables were only purchasable with gold, the in-game currency purchased with real-world money," Wargaming.net's press release explains. "In addition, all players, both paying and non-paying, will be able to create 3-member platoons and companies."

Finally, the patch features the new Pearl River battle arena and visual revamps to Siegfried Line, South Coast, and Malinovka. The 8.5 patch releases on April 24th in Europe and April 25th in the U.S. You can view the 8.5 teaser video after the break.

[Source: Wargaming.net press release]

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War Thunder, formerly World of Planes, has been soaring through open beta for several months now. Gaijin Entertainment decided that it's time to make a few flight adjustments, however, and announced that it has opened up a separate US gaming cluster to improve latency times for North American players.

The developer also let slip that it has begun development on a mobile version of the game for both iOS and Android platforms.

Gaijin said that War Thunder has attracted 1.5 million active users who have flown a total of 224 million missions since the start of beta. The developer recently put out version 1.29 for the flight sim; the patch makes a number of significant improvements such as four new aircraft, improved damage models, and a new economy.

[Source: Gaijin Entertainment press release]

If you have a World of Tanks account, you will want to change your password. Developers report that "some personal information may have been compromised due to a security incident." Time to change the locks on your tanks, folks. Thankfully, you gain more than just personal peace of mind by taking the time to change your account security information. Wargaming.net is rewarding each customer with 300 gold when his or her password is successfully updated.

Changing your password is simple: Just log into your account management page and fill in the appropriate blanks. Wargaming suggests that your new password consist of capital letters, lowercase letters, and numbers. The devs also say that the longer your password is, the better your protection becomes. This a very important tip considering your Wargaming ID carries across all current and future Wargaming.net games, like the upcoming World of Warplanes.

Developing a mobile app to go along with your MMO is so in right now. Sure, not every developer can afford such a luxury, but it's always good to see three-dimensional developers include our mobile devices in the fun. These apps are also a good way to suck players into a game and keep them there thanks to the word of the day: accessibility. While some player is at her office, theoretically working for a living, she is also busily checking in on her favorite game. Brilliant! Even if the application offers just information without much interaction, it can be a great way to keep players plugged in.

SOE has just published a mobile app for Planetside 2, and we thought it would be great to check out how the apps worked alongside the game and how it performs across different devices.

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Mechwarrior Online is about to hit its fifth month of open beta, with promises of a late summer launch. With that launch comes continued production, new content, plenty of bug fixes, and tweaks. With all of the new content -- said to be delivered on a regular schedule -- comes plenty of challenges for the developer team.

We sat down with Piranha Games' creative director, Bryan Ekman, and president, Russ Bullock, to talk about how things have been going and where they're going in the future. Not only did we get the scoop on the next community-designed Mech to be released, but we also found out about new HUD improvements, aid for players who suffer from high ping, and much more. Click past the cut for all the details!

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Today marks the second anniversary of World of Tanks in the US, and Wargaming is inviting players to join the festivities. To celebrate, the studio is hosting a 12-hour livestreaming marathon from 10:00 a.m. EDT through 10:00 p.m. EDT today, April 12th. Throughout the livestream, various prizes will be awarded to viewers, from WoT apparel to GUNNER eye-wear to assorted Logitech, NVIDIA, and Mad Catz gaming paraphernalia. Check out the official stream schedule for a look at what's happening which hour.

The birthday bash also includes an extravaganza of special deals. Throughout the weekend, players will enjoy 50% discounts, five times the XP earned on every first victory of the day in each vehicle, and various credit increases. But those who want to take advantage of these anniversary deals will need to be quick -- they end at 7:00 a.m. EDT on April 15th.

[Source: Wargaming press release]