Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: The day that EVE Online died]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/26/eve-evolved-the-day-that-eve-online-died/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/26/eve-evolved-the-day-that-eve-online-died/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/26/eve-evolved-the-day-that-eve-online-died/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,

I think it's safe to say that this week has been an unmitigated disaster for CCP Games. Following last week's $99 license fee fiasco for third-party developers, CCP Zulu managed to claw back some player support with a segment addressing the issue during the alliance tournament. This week CCP followed up with the release of Incarna 1.0 and its long-awaited captain's quarters. Players logged in to walk around their private rooms and check out the various cosmetic items available for purchase in the new microtransaction store.

It didn't take long for people to realise that something was fundamentally wrong with the prices on the Noble Exchange. At around $40 for a basic shirt, $25 for boots, and $70 or more for the fabled monocle, items in the Noble Exchange were priced higher than their-real life counterparts. As players made some noise about the ridiculous prices, an internal CCP newsletter all about the company's microtransaction plans was purportedly leaked. In it, plans to sell ships, ammo, and faction standings for cash were revealed, plans that strictly contradict previous promises on gameplay-affecting microtransactions. Shortly afterward, all hell broke loose as a private internal memo from CCP CEO Hilmar was leaked to the press.

In the past few days, I've been contacted by dozens (if not hundreds) of concerned EVE players who are afraid that the game they love is coming to an end. I've even been in contact with an insider who is scared of the risks CCP is taking with the jobs of over 600 employees in four countries, scared enough to leak internal documents and emails. In this week's colossal EVE Evolved, I delve into EVE's latest controversy and shed some light on the biggest community flashpoint since the T20 developer corruption scandal.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: The day that EVE Online died

MassivelyEVE Evolved: The day that EVE Online died originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 26 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bluescreenCaptains-quartersccpccp-eveccp-gamescommunicationcqcrasheveeve-ccpeve-evolvedeve-gateeve-mmorpgeve-onlineeve-radioexpansionexpansionsexpectation-managementfearlessfeaturedgpuincarnaleakleaked-memomacrotransactionsMicrotransactionsmiscommunicationmonoclemonocle-gatemonoclegatenewsnewsletternexnoble-exchangepredictably-irrationalprice-anchorradiosystem-requirementsSun, 26 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Tattered Notebook: Nerding out on Shader 3.0]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/25/the-tattered-notebook-nerding-out-on-shader-3-0/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/25/the-tattered-notebook-nerding-out-on-shader-3-0/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/05/25/the-tattered-notebook-nerding-out-on-shader-3-0/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

"Hello nerds. Look at your game, now back to me, now back to your game, now back to me. Sadly, your game isn't me, but your game could look like me if it stopped using that crappy 2000s-era shader and started using shader 3.0."

That's what she would say if she could say things other than her pre-programmed voice-over. With the release of Halas Reborn today, many players will be undoubtedly checking out the frozen north's new content overhaul. However, Halas Reborn didn't just stop with a simple content update. The storyteller system was introduced in this update, and the game's graphics had new life breathed into it via Shader 3.0.

So today, in honor of nerd day, let's take a look at what exactly Shader 3.0 does with the game's graphics and if it's worth all the hype.

Gallery: EverQuest II: Shader 3.0 versus 1.0

Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: Nerding out on Shader 3.0

MassivelyThe Tattered Notebook: Nerding out on Shader 3.0 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 May 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>eq-2eq-iiever-quest-2ever-quest-iieverquest-2everquest-iifeaturedgpugraphicsgraphics-updatehalas-rebornlightinglighting-effectsopinionshader-1shader-3soe-eq-2soe-eq-iisony-eq-2sony-eq-iithe-tattered-notebookTue, 25 May 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: Making EVE beautiful]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/12/eve-evolved-making-eve-beautiful/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/12/eve-evolved-making-eve-beautiful/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/12/eve-evolved-making-eve-beautiful/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


When it was released back in 2003, EVE Online was one of the most visually impressive games on the market. Over the coming years, the graphics aged gracefully next to competitors on the market and all seemed well. Nonetheless, CCP were not content to let their flagship game's graphics eventually go out of date. In true CCP style, they developed a long-term staged delivery plan for the complete overhaul of the game's graphics. The first stage of delivery came with the Trinity expansion, in which a premium client was launched with incredible high resolution ship models. This was just the first stage in a plan to keep EVE graphically ahead of any competitors.

In this technical article, I look at the science of making EVE beautiful and examine CCP's plans for the future.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Making EVE beautiful

MassivelyEVE Evolved: Making EVE beautiful originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>animationapocryphaccpccp-gameseveeve-evolvedeve-onlineexpansionfanfestfeaturedGPUgraphicsjoystiqfeaturesmodelneutralisernosferatuplanetsshadershipspecial effectsSpecialEffectsstasistrinityvisual computingVisualComputingwebSun, 12 Apr 2009 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[High-end graphics features planned for Second Life]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/29/high-end-graphics-features-planned-for-second-life/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/29/high-end-graphics-features-planned-for-second-life/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/05/29/high-end-graphics-features-planned-for-second-life/#commentsFiled under: ,

Linden Lab is tinkering with a set of Second Life graphical improvements for high-end graphics hardware. Dave Parks, software engineer at Linden Lab has been working on a set of features tailored to the Geforce 8 set of GPUs. Users without the required hardware would not suffer any performance reductions as a result of the new features.

The featureset (which is available as an experimental branch called shadow-draft in the viewer source repository, for the curious), includes hard Sun-shadows, per-pixel lighting, support for an uncapped number of point-lights, and lighting costs based on screen coverage.

Continue reading High-end graphics features planned for Second Life

MassivelyHigh-end graphics features planned for Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 May 2008 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dave-parksgpulinden-lablinuxmacosxnvidianvidia-geforce-8open-sourceqarl-lindensecond-lifesecond-life-viewersource-codevistaThu, 29 May 2008 02:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Linden Lab publishes viewer frame-rates]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/linden-lab-publishes-viewer-frame-rates/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/linden-lab-publishes-viewer-frame-rates/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/15/linden-lab-publishes-viewer-frame-rates/#commentsFiled under:

Linden Lab have been collecting data on Second Life viewer frame-rates and have compiled them into a handy little chart - Okay, so it's a handy big chart. The chart shows the 100 most widely used GPUs, approximate frame rate ranges and medians.

Of course some of this data will vary a little. People with more capable hardware tend to crank up the settings until things start to visibly slow down, so we expect the higher-end hardware to show a bit lower as people flip on a lot of extra rendering options and crank up their draw-distances.

Continue reading Linden Lab publishes viewer frame-rates

MassivelyLinden Lab publishes viewer frame-rates originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>gpuhardwarelinden-labperformancesecond-lifesecond-life-viewerstatisticsThu, 15 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST