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Armories arrive in DC Universe Online

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Game Mechanics, News Items, Free-to-Play, DC Universe Online, Housing, Subscription

So you're max level in DC Universe Online, and you have a lot of different options available to you. You have a setup you like to use for dealing damage, a setup for healing teammates, even a setup for when you absolutely need to get across an entire zone in less than three minutes. Swapping between those is a bit more taxing, though. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just instantly swap between a full loadout and appearance with just one click?

Yes, that's exactly what Armories do: they allowing players to save an alternate build that can be accessed out of combat instantly. A free armory slot is given to every character following a quest, with additional slots (for additional builds) available in the marketplace for $6 (or less if bought in bulk). Each player base can hold four slots for a grand total of 16 Armory slots, giving you plenty of space to store all the alternate builds you could ever want.

Armories arrive in DC Universe Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Jan 2014 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's tools of the raid

Larry Everett — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Classes, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guides, Hyperspace Beacon

I've mentioned that I don't like the idea of judging other players by arbitrary numbers. It annoys me when a person is included or excluded from an event or guild simply based on something like gearscore or pure DPS numbers. However, the importance of these numbers shouldn't be undervalued in a game like Star Wars: The Old Republic.

A couple of weeks back, I wrote an article about how the gear grind is "unfun." I don't like the grind, but I do like building good gear. I hate to admit it, but there is a little bit of min-maxer in me (just a little!).

With SWTOR turning nine months old, many news and guide sites have settled into a routine. Surprisingly, the sites that I visited pre-launch are not the sites that I visit now. Now I am interested in the more granular sites that help me with very specific tasks of the game. Granted, I still visit Darth Hater and TORWars when I'm looking for news, but I have a completely different set of sites and tools for character building. These are the three sites I use almost daily.

Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's tools of the raid

Hyperspace Beacon: SWTOR's tools of the raid originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gamescom 2012: End of Nations trailer spotlights customization

MJ Guthrie — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Video, New Titles, Previews, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMORTS

Whether they're sporting traditional or tie-dye or polka-dots, players meeting on the battlefield in End of Nations won't have to worry about blending in with the crowd thanks to the variety of customization options available in the Armory. Trion Worlds released a trailer at Gamescom 2012 showcasing some of these available customizations in the upcoming free-to-play MMORTS.

The customization in the Armory, however, goes beyond just a colorful outer shell; players also use this feature to set load outs, design and create companies, and modify units. Want different armaments? The Armory is where you get them.

Check out the variety of options as well as some in-game footage in the trailer after the break. And players interested in experiencing the feature for themselves can sign up for the beta on the official site.

Continue reading Gamescom 2012: End of Nations trailer spotlights customization

Gamescom 2012: End of Nations trailer spotlights customization originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stalk your friends with Diablo III's new character profiles

Brianna Royce — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Miscellaneous, Diablo III

If you're familiar with World of Warcraft's elaborate online armory database, then you probably already suspected Diablo III was next in line for a character brag-board. Fortunately, your wait is over today because a new character profile system for Blizzard's hack-and-slash title is now live on Battle.net.

The new profiles allow you to poke around your characters' gear and stats, view your progression through the game's difficulty modes, and see just how much you love your Witch Doctor compared to the other classes. And when you tire of reminding yourself how awesome you are, you can paw through your friends' profiles too. Your flatmate could really use an amulet upgrade, and you should take any opportunity to tell him so.

Says Blizzard, "We like profiles so much that we plan to add even more functionality to them as Diablo III evolves, including detailed statistics and tabs for achievements and artisans."

Check out the new toys on Battle.net.

Stalk your friends with Diablo III's new character profiles originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 06 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom unveils armory-like Chronicle for The Secret World

MJ Guthrie — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, Real-Life, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, The Secret World

Imagine that -- keeping an upcoming feature of The Secret World a secret! Yet Funcom pulled it off, announcing today via a letter from creative director and senior producer Ragnar Tornquist the aptly named new player record that will actually chronicle a player's journey through TSW.

Starting now, players active within the last four days can log into Chronicle and check out their stats on their profile page and compare themselves with players across the world using the PvP and PvE leaderboards. But that's only the beginning. Tornquist goes on to say,

"We have a lot of great features planned, and we will be integrating the service more with the game and also, hopefully, with mobile devices and social networks in the future. We are going to add more stats, more features, more leaderboards, and more user control. We might also look at giving rewards tied to your status and standing on Chronicle."

The beta is public so the team can gather as much community feedback as possible, so jump in, check it out, and give your feedback to help shape Chronicle's future.

[Source: Funcom press release]

Funcom unveils armory-like Chronicle for The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Jul 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Exclusive: Trion previews End of Nations' armory

Jef Reahard — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Screenshots, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMORTS

Trion's super-secret End of Nations is moving right along in its alpha cycle, and today Massively has an exclusive piece of news for you regarding the upcoming MMORTS.

The game differs from traditional real-time strategy titles because it doesn't have base-building, but what it does have is something called an armory. Trion tells us that players will "set their loadouts, create companies, modify units, customize skins, and more" inside the armory. The dev team has just revamped the armory mechanics, and you can get a good look at the armory window in the image after the cut (click on it to zoom in!).

Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Trion previews End of Nations' armory

Massively Exclusive: Trion previews End of Nations' armory originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: I've got nothing to hide

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

So, it's late night on Wednesday night, I just got done watching Top Gear, and I need something to write about. Lucky for me that Blizzard has given me the perfect topic -- MMO privacy. Thanks to a new development in their World of Warcraft Armory program, privacy advocates are up in arms and I've got a topic to discuss.

For all those of you who may be late to the game, Blizzard is adding RSS feeds to the Armory. Basically, the Armory will now report on the exact time you do an "Armory worthy" activity, such as boss kills, achievements, item pickups, and more. People can subscribe to your RSS feed, so then they know exactly when you do something in World of Warcraft.

This has, of course, sent privacy advocates into a tailspin of anger. There's no opt-out button for the Armory, so your playing style in World of Warcraft is going to be exposed whether you like it or not. The topic has even spawned a 59+ page thread on the European forums!

So what's my take on it? Well, I'm glad you asked. Here at Anti-Aliased, I've got nothing to hide.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: I've got nothing to hide

Anti-Aliased: I've got nothing to hide originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online announces iPhone app: Champions Companion

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, News Items, Champions Online

It seems like these past two days have been "everyone gets an iPhone app" days. Developers, we love you, but did you all have to release your apps at the same time?

Anyway, back to the original point, Champions Online is on your iPhone. Thanks to the Champions Companion app, you can take CO wherever you go. Much more than a simple "armory" application that lets you look at your character's stats and show your hero off to friends, the Companion lets you view the in-game news, view your friends list and friend activity streams, and even send and receive in-game e-mails. Companion is free for all account holders, so jump over to the iTunes store and grab yourself the app today.

So, next time you're out at the mall and your best friend logs into Champions, you can shoot them an e-mail while you're sitting in front of the Express and waiting for your girlfriend. Be super, wherever you go.

Champions Online announces iPhone app: Champions Companion originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW armory revamped to show achievements and more

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Endgame, News Items

World of Warcraft players finally have the moment they've been waiting for. Well, okay, one of the many moments they've been waiting for. The armory has finally been revamped into the updated form Blizzard promised some months ago that will allow players to off the achievements they've earned. The armory version of achievements also contains the same tracking bars and lists for in-progress achievements as are on the in-game interface. For the World of Warcraft player who really likes achievments, this armory update should prove to be a gold mine of things to poke around and plan during lunchtime. (You'd never consider wasting company or class time reading about MMOs, we're sure.)

Also added in this pipin' hot armory update is a series of statistics tracked on accounts since the 3.0.2 Echoes of Doom patch. Everything from how much gold your character has made to how many times you've wound up spending special cuddly time with the floor due to overaggro is there in black and white for you (and anyone else) to read. Additionally, there seems to be additional information in regards to overall World of Warcraft guilds. Whether or not any of this new information - like say, the achievements showing you've cleared certain endgame raid instances - will play into other things like guild recruitment or choosing guilds to join is unknown. With so much information openly available, we're going to hear more about this, we'd bet.

WoW armory revamped to show achievements and more originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Yarrr! There be treasure hidden in them thar data servers!

Brenda Holloway — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry

Have a need to embed Pirates of the Burning Sea information in your website, blog, or toolbar? Then you'll want to read Flying Lab's PotBS developer Brendan Weitzman's latest developer journal. There he talks about the special Crawler server. You can't play on this server -- Crawler's job is to go through all the data on the live servers, figure out what has changed, and copy the changes to itself so that the developers -- and the wider world -- can use this information. What sorts of information Crawler can give you, how much of it you can use and how often -- all these are answered within.

Will this info change your life? Well, probably not. But isn't it a nice feeling to know if you did need this information, it would be there for you? See if your server is up without logging in -- or set up email alerts when your port gets thrown into contention. You can make those sorts of apps with this data. And maybe in the future, as they prepare ever more of their data for players to use, you could build something like WoW's Armory. We're just beginning to realize how games will be played in the future. They will be everywhere -- in your browser, on your cell phone, on your iPod.... This is how it starts, with a developer explaining how players can get at their data when they are not in the game.

Yarrr! There be treasure hidden in them thar data servers! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dungeon Runners releases characters in XML

Mike Schramm — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Dungeon Runners, MMO Industry, Tips and tricks, Free-to-Play

This isn't quite the idea of MMO-to-go yet, but it's the first step towards something really huge in MMO gaming: a character API. An API is an Application Programming Interface-- basically a document or method of how to get computers to talk to each other through different applications. Facebook apps are made with the Facebook API, applications that hook into iTunes use the iTunes API, and so on. With an API, programmers can take information from one source, and do almost anything they want with it in other programs. Players have already done some amazing things with World of Warcraft's Armory (even without an actual API-- I'm pretty sure most of that is just HTML scraping), but now NCSoft's Dungeon Runners has upped the ante-- they've made all the character data in the game available to anyone as an XML file. With just a URL, you can access info on any player in the game, already marked up in XML.

What does this mean to you as a player? It means that programmers can create any number of applications using this data-- they can display your DR character's info almost anywhere at any time. And a skilled programmer could even track the info over time-- tell you how fast you leveled, how often you change your armor or gear, or how fast you've earned gold in the last day. And who knows what else people could come up with-- the best part about opening up information like this is that it gets used in all sorts of ways that no one could ever predict.

Jeff Freeman's exactly right: "This is really cool... just in case you don't get that." We're just scratching the surface of this stuff, but eventually you'll be able to do things like get text messages on your phone when your WoW auctions sell, or be able to monitor your guild's bank or your PvP team's wins via RSS (which itself can then plug into almost anything) When developers break out data like this for players, the possibilities are endless.

Dungeon Runners releases characters in XML originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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