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World of Warcraft

Massively Speaking Episode 201: No more secrets

by Justin Olivetti (11 days ago)

World of Warcraft, Podcasts, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, The Secret World, Earthrise, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous

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The Secret World
Massively Speaking Episode 201 gets into all of your dirty little secrets -- not to mention Funcom's, as well! We're joined by Jef, who gives us the full scoop on The Secret World now that the NDA's come tumbling down. Will this be another Failcom or possibly a Fabulouscom? Only Jef knows, and he's highly resistant to torture and bribery.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

Get the podcast:
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Listen here on the page:



Read below the cut for the full show notes.

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World of Warcraft unveils cross-realm zones

by Matt Daniel (16 days ago)

World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, News items

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Screenshot -- World of Warcraft
One common issue with MMOs is that certain zones become sparsely populated as the playerbase outlevels them or skips them in favor of newer, more exciting zones, which can lead to frustration for players who want or need to complete group content in those zones. Blizzard is aiming to nip that problem in the bud with a new feature coming to the World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria beta: cross-realm zones.

The feature does exactly what it says on the tin: When a zone is underpopulated, the players in that zone will be given the option to form a group with players from a select pool of realms (presumably the server's battlegroup) with whom they can run about and quest as usual. In addition to treating underpopulation, the new feature will allow overpopulated zones -- such as new race starting zones -- to be split into multiple instances to prevent overcrowding. It will also allow players to group with their RealID friends just as they would for a cross-realm dungeon, so players who want to level up with friends on other realms should be quite pleased with the addition. Between this new feature and Guild Wars 2's guesting, the days of being separated from your cross-server friends might just be numbered. The full details on the new feature can be found at the official World of Warcraft site, so if you're wondering how this newfangled technology is going to work, just head on over and check out the handy FAQ.

World of Warcraft holding steady at 10.2 million subscribers

by Eliot Lefebvre (17 days ago)

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items

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Attack of the corporate logo!
World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers had been falling at the end of last year, but they appear to have stabilized once again. According to president Michael Morhaime, the game continues to remain steady at 10.2 million subscribers through the end of March, the same as the number seen in February during the previous conference call for Activision Blizzard. Morhaime went on to confirm that the agreement with NetEase regarding World of Warcraft in China has been renewed, with the companies planning to continue their agreement for another three years at least.

The studio is also seeing definite success with Diablo III; although the game has yet to release, it's currently surpassed all of the studio's previous high-water marks regarding pre-orders. This includes units sold as part of the Annual Pass promotion, which saw 1.2 million copies purchased in total. While WoW may not have reached its previous peak, it's certainly holding on to a stalwart base for the time being.

The Daily Grind: How far would you go for cosmetic gear?

by Brianna Royce (19 days ago)

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, Endgame, PvE, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Roleplaying, Miscellaneous, Dungeons

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WoW
Massively's got so many cosmetic-gear gurus and sandbox aficionados on staff that sometimes I suspect no amount of character customization and housing and achievements and titles would ever be enough for us. We'd do just about anything for more ways to distinguish our characters in an MMO.

But what about raiding for cosmetic gear? Enter OpenRaid, a World of Warcraft website that helps players organize cross-server PvE dungeon raids and premade PvP teams for the express purpose of acquiring achievements and gear to transmogrify (i.e., map the skin of something cool onto something with good stats). While I'd hope that needing to run large-scale endgame content for gorgeous weapon skins isn't going to become commonplace in future MMOs, it's still fascinating to see roleplay-oriented players playing content they wouldn't normally touch, just to collect a dress.

So how far would you go -- or have you gone -- to get your hands on a sweet piece of cosmetic gear, title, or achievement?

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!

Artist plagiarizes Guild Wars 2, World of Warcraft illustrators

by Justin Olivetti (22 days ago)

World of Warcraft, Fan art, MMO industry, News items, Guild Wars 2, Crime, Miscellaneous

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Concept art
If you're going to steal, steal big -- or so Romanian artist Iani Papadopol thought. Papadopol put on an exhibit called "UpDate 3D loading" featuring fantastic landscapes and scenery. The only problem? Instead of painting them himself, he ripped off several well-known illustrators, including ArenaNet's Daniel Dociu and Blizzard's Mathias Verhasselt, claiming the pieces as his own.

The fraud was discovered by online fans and local artists after the exhibit was broadcast on TV. Papadopol's works were found to be stunningly similar -- in fact, identical -- to those of famous video game illustrators. Papadopol attempted to sell the prints before he was caught. There's no word yet whether charges will be filed.

"I found out from my friends," Dociu, a fellow Romanian, said on a news channel. "I recognized four pieces of my work immediately. What upsets me is that he's also Romanian with an artistic background. I will not take legal action if he admits what he did."

Papadopol's father, the acclaimed artist Constantin Papadopol, says that this is a misunderstanding. In any case, let this be the lesson to the next lazy art thief: It's perhaps best not to rip off the guy whose work was on the cover of National Geographic.

The Daily Grind: Do you think gear level should gate content?

by Brianna Royce (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Endgame, PvE, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Dungeons

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I am a mod-junkie, but I wouldn't shed a tear to see DPS meters and Gearscore disappear.
When I returned to World of Warcraft a few weeks ago, my more hardcore guildies were in a rush to show me the newest sights and latest dungeons. I don't blame them; they didn't want to run regular dungeons when they could be doing the shiniest heroic content and most cutting-edge encounters. But in modern WoW, one thing stood between us and that instant gratification: item level.

Because I'd taken breaks from the game, my max-level Shaman had fallen behind in power as the seasons wore on. And that official item level stamped on her gear was more than just a marker that I wasn't elite; it literally gated the dungeons unless I sacrificed rewards (counterproductive) or got a bunch of new gear fast. It didn't take but a weekend or two to catch up, but it was still an annoyance that slowed everyone down, especially since my guildies were overpowered enough that a few more points on my gear weren't going to make or break our success. And while I understand that item level is a useful shorthand for judging your readiness for content, it's a bit disheartening to realize that gamers are being encouraged by the game to see each other only as a numerical gearscore.

What do you think -- should items and item levels gate dungeons and other content?

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!

The Perfect Ten: Free-to-play holdouts

by Justin Olivetti (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XI, PlanetSide, Warhammer Online, Ultima Online, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, RIFT, Final Fantasy XIV, Perfect Ten

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Perfect Ten
In the increasingly diminishing field of subscription-only MMOs, two distinct camps have formed. There is the Old Guard that has its established playerbase and is simply not interested in jumping on board the F2P train, and then there are the New Kids on the Block (which would make an excellent band name, by the way), who argue that their premium features and AAA content warrant a subscription in the F2P age.

A few years ago, doing a list of the final few F2P holdouts would have been a ridiculous proposition, but now it's actually difficult to get to 10 of these. Each company has a different reason that it hasn't given these games more flexible payment options (FPO should replace F2P; pass it on!), and while some have addressed this publicly, others say nothing and leave us to speculate on it.

For today's Perfect Ten, we're going to look at the 10 biggest current F2P holdouts in the industry and muse about what's going on behind the scenes. Will this list be impossible to do in a few years or will subscription-only titles come back in a big way? Hey, I don't predict things; I just make lists.

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Woman on dating gameshow plays WoW, host is amazed

by Matt Daniel (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, Video, Culture, Miscellaneous

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WOW ANOTHER PERSON WHO PLAYS THE MOST POPULAR MMO IN THE WORLD, HOW AMAZING
We gamer nerds are often stereotyped as socially awkward and romantically challenged, perhaps due to the fact that we all very obviously spend our entire lives in our mothers' basements drinking Mountain Dew and consuming obscene quantities of Cheetos (amirite gaiz?), but a recent contestant on the UK dating gameshow World Series of Dating (yes, that's actually a thing) leveraged his World of Warcraft fandom to his advantage, proving that we're not all unlovable mouthbreathers. But then, we're also not all cute English boys with fabulously styled hair, so take that with a grain of salt.

For those of you unfamiliar with the show's premise (like us), it's basically like this: A bunch of poor chumps go on a series of speed dates with four women who judge their performances at the end of the show, naming one of them the best dater. And we thought The Bachelor was insane. At any rate, the relevant clip can be seen after the cut. Go get 'em, tiger.

[Thanks to Roger for the tip!]

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Massively's Easter event roundup: 2012 edition

by Jef Reahard (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, EverQuest II, Guild Wars, Events, in-game, MMO industry, RuneScape, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Runes of Magic, Atlantica Online, Vindictus, Dragon Nest, Miscellaneous

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Bunnies at church
Whether you're an Easter traditionalist or you simply need an excuse to eat a chocolate bunny, it's that time of year again. It's also time for a few of our favorite MMO devs to don their silly hats and introduce all manner of egg hunts and contests into games like RuneScape, Runes of Magic, and World of Warcraft.

That's just the tip of the Easter event iceberg; you'll find several more festively inclined titles in our roundup after the cut. Before you hop on over, have a look at the two bunnies above and repeat after us: d'awww.

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The Perfect Ten: MMO tributes to real-life people

by Justin Olivetti (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Dark Age of Camelot, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EverQuest II, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, Guild Wars 2, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous

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Perfect Ten
When a beloved friend, family member, hero, or role model dies, we feel the pain of that loss and grieve in many different ways. Part of that grieving and healing process is often entails those left behind constructing some sort of tribute to the dearly departed. Sometimes this comes in the form of a shrine of flowers, sometimes it's the establishment of a charity, and sometimes it's creating an in-game memorial that thousands if not millions of people will see over the course of years.

So while death and illness are depressing topics to dwell upon, I find the many MMO tributes that studios and even gamers have erected to be inspiring and a celebration of individual players' lives. With the help of my fellow Massively staffers, I researched 10 wonderful in-game tributes that serve to honor the lives of fellow gamers.

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April Fool's jokes streak across the MMO community

by Justin Olivetti (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, Guild Wars, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Humor, Free Realms, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Miscellaneous

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SWTOR
It may be the weekend, but that's never stopped pranksters in the past from pulling off truly epic April Fool's jokes. Many MMO studios, bloggers, and fan site operators are lining up to take a shot at the jester's crown today, hoping that their blatant (and entertaining) lies will at least amuse, if not trick, players.

It would be fool-hardy (har har) to try to round them all up, so suffice it to say that office clowns have been quite busy thus far. From Star Wars: The Old Republic's announcement of playable ship droids and City of Heroes' offer of ludicrous marketplace sales to Blizzard's focus on educational kids games and StarCraft 2's playable supply depots to SOE scaring visitors with Chatdy, the gags are flying fast and furious. We might be the most impressed with a deeply detailed wiki entry for a Guild Wars mission called Annihilator 2: Searing Day, during which players are sent into the past to save Gwen from the G-1000.

If you've spotted any other pranks, please share them in the comments!

Blizzard opens the Mists of Pandaria floodgates for 100,000 annual passholders

by Matt Daniel (1 month ago)

World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Expansions, News items

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Kick, punch, it's all in the mind. If you wanna test me, I'm sure you'll find that the things I'll teach ya are sure to beat ya, but nevertheless you'll get a lesson from teacher.
As everyone who isn't willfully ignoring recent news is aware, World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria expansion is currently undergoing beta testing, and we know that many of you can't wait to get your hands on all the new content for yourselves. Well, if you're a World of Warcraft annual passholder, today might just be your lucky day.

Bashiok stopped by the official forums to let players know that Blizzard is in the process of sending out a whopping 100,000 MoP beta invites to annual passholders. Bashiok closes the announcement by reminding players that all annual passholders will be invited to the beta before any opt-ins, though there's no telling how many of them are still awaiting invites or how long it will take before the poor/cheap among us get a crack at Pandaria, but hopefully it will be soon rather than soon™.

Blizzard already talking about post-Pandaria WoW expansions

by Jef Reahard (2 months ago)

World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, MMO industry, News items

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World of Warcraft - More expansions post-Pandaria?
So World of Warcraft is getting a new expansion. Old news, right? Mists of Pandaria, kung-fu pandas, yada yada. Well, not so fast.

CVG is reporting that Blizzard has officially confirmed expansion number five, and COO Paul Sams told the site that the dev team already has plans for several more expansions after that. Details are sketchy, of course, but it sounds like WoW is pretty far removed from the state of decline that recent sub losses seemed to indicate.

The first post-Pandaria expansion is currently "an idea, a general framework," and Sams says that Blizzard's Chris Metzen has already pitched WoW's sixth expansion and is "pretty geeked up about it." In fact, he says, the devs "already know what they're going to be doing for multiple expansions ahead."

The MMO Report: Aztec pandas make no sense edition

by Brianna Royce (2 months ago)

World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Video, Culture, Game mechanics, Interviews, Lore, Opinion, Races, Humor, The MMO Report, Dungeons

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The MMO Report
Morgan Webb dethrones Casey this week on The MMO Report, having made the journey to Anaheim to interview Blizzard's reps about World of Warcraft's upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion. J. Allen Brack and Tom Chilton focus on the philosophy of this expansion and its shift from previous expansions' ominous tone to a more playful theme of adventure, exploration, and oh yeah, the war between the Alliance and the Horde.

The pair also highlight changes to underdeveloped zones, pet battles, repurposed classic dungeons, phased farms (actual farms!), and solutions to the faction grind problem. Most interestingly, they tell Morgan that Pandaren came first... and the Asian motif followed. After all, they joke, it just wouldn't have made sense to put Pandaren in Aztec ruins.

Get your panda on in the full video behind the break!

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WoW's Mists of Pandaria beta download surfaces on Battle.net [Updated]

by Jef Reahard (2 months ago)

World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, News items

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World of Warcraft - Mists of Pandaria install screen
Kung-fu panda fever is gripping the World of Warcraft community, and the latest tremor comes courtesy of the Mists of Pandaria beta page that showed up on Battle.net last night. Our sister site WoW Insider reported that some players jumped at the chance to begin downloading the expansion's beta client, but the early birds were subsequently stopped by an error page stating that the download server was, well, down.

WoW Insider continued updating its news post as the night wore on, and interestingly enough, Mac users were indeed able to download the patch (no such luck for PC folks, though). Blizzard also published a beta character copy page on Battle.net, where players got a good look at all the test servers ready and waiting for a slew of avatar imports.

Thus far Blizz hasn't commented on an official start date, but the company has said that it's sending out MoP beta invites in waves.

[Update: MoP beta is now live!]

Pandas, pagodas, and pet battles are en route in World of Warcraft's upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion! Stay tuned to Massively and WoW Insider as we bring you FAQs, previews, analysis, and impressions in the lead-up to launch.

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