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Not So Massively: GTAO's update, Hearthstone's tourney, and LoL's Summoner's RIFT revamp

Brianna Royce — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Video, Business Models, Game Mechanics, New Titles, Patches, PvP, News Items, Mobile, Consoles, MMOFPS, Community Q&A, Post-Apocalyptic, Not So Massively, Sandbox, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III, Firefall, Destiny, Star Citizen, Elite: Dangerous, Infinite Crisis, Path of Exile, Hearthstone, The Division

Welcome back to No So Massively, where every Monday we round up the highlights from the past week in the world of MOBAs, roguelikes, MMOTCGs, and other games that aren't quite MMOs.

Diablo III's new patch will add leaderboard seasons. The auction hall officially closes this week.
The Dreamhack Hearthstone tournament was shaded by cheating allegations.
Grand Theft Auto Online's I'm Not a Hipster hipster update went live, but heists have been delayed.
Heroes of the Storm expanded its alpha to more countries.
Elite: Dangerous released a dev blog and info on its next premium beta.
Firefall continued its march to relaunch.
Path of Exile removed snapshotting.
Chris Roberts talked up Star Citizen's work-in-progress flight model.
Robert Morris University has formed an official League of Legends athletic team.
State of Decay is releasing a skin pack for Minecraft.
Beasts of Prey began early access on Steam. It's a dinosaur-themed survival sandbox.
Destiny's alpha testers have played 6,461,871 games.
MechWarrior Online launched the Clan Invasion
Supergirl joined the cast of Infinite Crisis; the video is below.
Finally, League of Legends is revamping its Summoner's Rift map. The developer preview video is also embedded below.

Continue reading Not So Massively: GTAO's update, Hearthstone's tourney, and LoL's Summoner's RIFT revamp

Not So Massively: GTAO's update, Hearthstone's tourney, and LoL's Summoner's RIFT revamp originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jun 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Infinite money exploit plagues GTA Online

Jef Reahard — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Culture, Economy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Sandbox, Buy-to-Play

Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto Online is beset with hackers flooding the game's economy with billions of ill-gotten dollars. Kotaku reports that a networking exploit leads to "infinite amounts of cash," and that dupers have taken to gifting huge windfalls to random players. This is of course problematic since Rockstar flags accounts "holding obscene amounts of money" during its banning sweeps.

The company has yet to offer a comment on or a fix for the issue. Meanwhile, some players have taken to hard resetting their consoles so that the gifted money doesn't save.

Infinite money exploit plagues GTA Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost your Grand Theft Auto Online character? Have some money instead!

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 14 Oct 2013 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, News Items, Consoles, Crime, Miscellaneous

For all the problems of online games, there's a certain assumption that your character is safe no matter what technical problems might hit the server. Sure, Grand Theft Auto Online has had some growing pains, but if your character vanishes for some reason you can still -- wait, no, apparently your character is lost forever and will never return to you. That's kind of the opposite of news you were hoping for. So in the hopes that you'll be distracted, Rockstar is throwing half a million dollars at you.

Before you get too distracted, you should know that this is in-game money.

Two payments of $250,000 in-game will be provided to players on two distinct dates, hopefully by the end of next week. While this won't exactly replace the time and effort lost via vanishing characters, it should at least take the edge off of Grand Theft Auto Online's unexpected problems.

Lost your Grand Theft Auto Online character? Have some money instead! originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Oct 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GTA Online riches available for cash

MJ Guthrie — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Business Models, Economy, MMO Industry, News Items, Consoles, Sandbox

Players looking forward to Grand Theft Auto Online, available on October 1st, are probably already contemplating ways to get and spend their in-game funds for the myriad of customization goodies within the persistent world of Rockstar Game's GTA5's multiplayer mode. Well there's a new addition to the acquire list: microtransactions.

Eurogamer.net shares a find that was first caught on Reddit, namely a publicly viewable XML file on the game's online store that shows in-game cash cards in denominations of $100K, $200K, $500K, and ~~$1.5M~~ $1.25M for purchase with real-life cash along with a description inviting players to solve their in-game money problems by buying these packs. The prices for these cash cards, however, are not stated. The same file shows items from the special and collector's editions, indicating that this exclusive content may also be made available to all for purchase later.

[Thanks Potaco for the correction.]

GTA Online riches available for cash originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Sep 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Soapbox: That's not an MMO

Mike Foster — Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, EVE Online, MMO Industry, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, MMORTS, World of Tanks, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous, MOBA, League of Legends, MMORPG, Buy-to-Play

You may not be aware of this, but Massively is a website focused primarily on massively multiplayer online games. It's kind of what we do. However, the world of MMOs in 2013 is far different from the world of MMOs in 2007, when the site was founded. The niche has changed and the games industry has evolved.

There was a time when "online" told you everything you needed to know about a game because there was really only one type of online game. You knew in picking up an online game that you and some friends would be leveling, looting gear, and slaying dragons. It took a while for developers to notice that online play was actually a thing that could work in more than one particular format.

Nowadays, online games range from traditional MMORPGs like Guild Wars 2 and RIFT to MOBAs like SMITE and League of Legends. There's no clear definition for what an MMO is or isn't because so many games are massive, multiplayer, and online.

Maybe it's time to embrace MMO as a broader term than previously thought.

Continue reading The Soapbox: That's not an MMO

The Soapbox: That's not an MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Aug 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rockstar reveals Grand Theft Auto Online

Mike Foster — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real-Life, Trailers, Video, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Consoles, Sandbox, MMORPG

Rockstar Games today lifted the curtain on Grand Theft Auto Online, showing off the new title via a lengthy announcement trailer. GTA Online appears to be more than just a simple multiplayer iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and features player housing, a persistent world, and player-generated content.

The game shares game elements and geography with Grand Theft Auto V and supports up to 16 players co-habitating in their own little online world. Players will be able to purchase and customize vehicles, own property, shape their appearance, and work their way through the criminal underworld, in addition to participating all the random acts of chaos the series has offered since its inception.

In Grand Theft Auto Online, players have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto 5.

Purchasers of Grand Theft Auto V will receive access to GTA Online when it launches October 1st on PS3 and Xbox 360 (and not PC). It is unclear whether the game will be available as a standalone product; we have reached out to Rockstar for clarification.

Check out the reveal trailer after the break.

Continue reading Rockstar reveals Grand Theft Auto Online

Rockstar reveals Grand Theft Auto Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Aug 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Rockstar announcing a GTA MMO?

MJ Guthrie — Tue, 13 Aug 2013 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items

If you've been sitting back just waiting for a look at an online version of Grand Theft Auto, you'll have to wait a little longer... but at least not much! Rockstar Games has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto Online is on its way. The announcement, however, is just a teaser that the premiere of the game, along with a gameplay trailer and previews, will be incoming on Thursday, August 15th.

The move to an official online version is not unexpected. Back in January, the voice chat update brought the franchise one step closer to MMO-dom. We've even done an impressions piece on a multiplayer version of GTA San Andreas. And last month, Massively mused on the possibility of an MMO after noting some online features in the reveal trailer for GTA V. But will GTA Online be an actual MMO, or will it just be a multiplayer lobby for GTA V? The answer may be forthcoming Thursday.

[Thanks to Dengar for the tip]

Is Rockstar announcing a GTA MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Aug 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010

Kyle Horner — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Space, car chases and heroic fantasies lie in wait, plotting the demise of our nights and weekends. 2010 will soon be upon us and with it a whole new set of MMO releases, which means it's time to look at some of the most exciting ones. Some are obvious, while others are surprises even to me. Overall, however, this next year is going to be pretty crazy for fans of the genre.

These are my five most exciting titles that the coming year has to offer, whether it wants to or not.

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010

The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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