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Rise and Shiny: Arcane Saga Online

Beau Hindman — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Screenshots, Video, Interviews, New Titles, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Casual, Humor, Rise and Shiny, Livestream

I sat down on Monday with NetMarble Producer Jon-Enee Merriex to discuss Arcane Saga Online, a remake/re-release/re-launch of the defunct Prius Online. I was actually very excited for Prius Online at one point, but the game fell flat once I got my hands on it. With this re-launch, would the publisher NetMarble be able to capture an audience -- and keep it -- this time?

I jumped into the first hour of the game with a bit of an unfair advantage, having Jon-Enee with me to explain many of the ideas and thought processes behind the re-launch. It all makes sense when you hear it from a developer's mouth, but how does the game translate when you just log in and start playing? It turns out that it has many issues but is quite fun a lot of the time.

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Rise and Shiny: Arcane Saga Online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Interview: Re-launching Prius Online as Arcane Saga

Mike Foster — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Launches, Lore, MMO Industry, Free-to-Play, Interviews (Massively's), Miscellaneous

Prius Online, a free-to-play, fantasy MMO published by gPotato, launched in North America in 2011. Roughly a year later, the MMO was shut down. Now, another year later, the game's original developer is re-branding, re-visiting and re-launching Prius Online under a new moniker: Arcane Saga.

Curious about how, when, and why a company would choose to re-open a shuttered game, we sat down with Netmarble's Jon-Enée Merriex to ask. Merriex walked us through what it takes to restart a game, why good MMOs sometimes go by the wayside, and how his company plans to iterate and improve on the Prius Online experience that the title's original players enjoyed.

Continue reading Massively Interview: Re-launching Prius Online as Arcane Saga

Massively Interview: Re-launching Prius Online as Arcane Saga originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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District 187 pulls the trigger and launches

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Launches, Free-to-Play

PlanetSide 2 isn't the only MMOFPS to launch today, as CJ Games' District 187 decided to pop out of the digital womb on the same date. The free-to-play shooter included a large day one patch with the launch, including its cash shop, new maps and weapons, and additional game modes.

Producer Jon-Enée Merriex hopes that trigger-happy players will give this title a chance: "This update is a testament to our global team's dedication to making District 187: Sin Streets the most robust, original and fun shooter on the market. Whether players have just started playing PC games or are old farts like me, there is something for everyone to love in this game!"

District 187 takes place in a dystopian future when SWAT players take on gang members on the street. CJ Games says that it's planning to focus heavily on the game's budding e-sports nature with tournaments coming next year.

[Source: CJ Games press release]

District 187 pulls the trigger and launches originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gamescom 2012: District 187, Hounds, and Monarch

Mike Mouthaan — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Previews, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage), Miscellaneous

During this year's Gamescom, we met with the folks of CJ Games for a coffee near Cologne's central station, away from the hectic crowds of the show floors, to talk about what the Korean giant has in store for us in the near future. Earlier this year, CJ Games opened its North American subsidiary, which is tasked with bringing some of the company's most popular games to western audiences, and we were curious as to what it's got cooking. Jon-Enée Merriex, producer at CJ Games, talked us through three of the studio's upcoming titles: District 187: Sin Streets, Monarch, and Hounds.

Continue reading Gamescom 2012: District 187, Hounds, and Monarch

Gamescom 2012: District 187, Hounds, and Monarch originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX 2011: On the (re)starting line with APB: Reloaded

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Interviews, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Events (Massively's Coverage), Miscellaneous

There's nothing like a car crash to slow down traffic as everyone rubbernecks at someone else's misfortune. Likewise, gamers and media alike were fascinated with the premature demise of last year's All Points Bulletin, craning their heads to see how extensive the damage was.

But out of the wreck a new and improved version of the game was born, and now the crowds are equally taking notice of this resurrection. Not every canceled MMO gets a second chance at life, after all. This is why we were glad to sit down with GamersFirst's Jon-Enee Merriex at PAX to discuss how APB's reloading is going, what the devs have planned between now and launch, and what other projects they're tackling.

Put the pedal to the metal and hit that jump -- this interview can't drive 55!

Continue reading PAX 2011: On the (re)starting line with APB: Reloaded

PAX 2011: On the (re)starting line with APB: Reloaded originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Aug 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2011: GamersFirst talks APB Reloaded's new features and player politics

Jef Reahard — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Real-Life, Business Models, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, MMOFPS, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage)

We told you earlier today about GamersFirst's involvement with Fallen Earth. The company is, of course, more renowned for its All Points Bulletin resurrection project, and we sat down with both Darek Connole and Jon-Enee Merriex at E3 this week to discuss APB Reloaded's open beta as well as the progress that's been made through the extensive closed testing process.

Follow along after the cut as we find out about what's new and what's coming, including a nifty iteration on the original title's witnessing system and an interesting player political experiment that evokes comparisons to EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management.

Continue reading E3 2011: GamersFirst talks APB Reloaded's new features and player politics

E3 2011: GamersFirst talks APB Reloaded's new features and player politics originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GamersFirst shows off new APB Reloaded driving footage

Jef Reahard — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Real-Life, Trailers, Video, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Crime

News of San Paro is coming at a fast and furious clip now that APB Reloaded is officially toodling around in closed beta mode. Last week we hung out with GamersFirst at GDC and got the low-down on how the team is overhauling APB for its new free-to-play incarnation.

Over the weekend, GamersFirst uploaded a new gameplay video to its YouTube portal, and the footage offers a glimpse of the driving tweaks that producer Jon-Enee Merriex told us about at GDC. The footage focuses on the Macchina Calabria vehicle in a hair-raising romp through the streets of San Paro. While this is still a beta build, APB's driving controls already seem to be quite a bit more refined than they were at release, and there's also the requisite mayhem on display in the form of collisions (both vehicle and pedestrian) and a tiny bit of shooting at the clip's conclusion.

Check it out after the break and let us know what you think in the comments.

[Thanks to Connor for the tip!]

Continue reading GamersFirst shows off new APB Reloaded driving footage

GamersFirst shows off new APB Reloaded driving footage originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC 2011: GamersFirst on resurrecting San Paro with APB Reloaded

Jef Reahard — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Events (Real-World), Interviews, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Crime

It's not often that interesting game concepts are given a second chance after an ugly crash and burn, so naturally we jumped at the opportunity to talk to GamersFirst about its APB Reloaded reclamation project. If you're new to the MMO scene, or simply haven't been paying attention over the past year: Realtime Worlds' All Points Bulletin looked poised to bring a gritty, ultra-customizable cops-and-robbers shooter to MMO players everywhere.

To say that a lot of people were looking forward to APB is something of an understatement (Massively even heralded it as our most anticipated title of 2010). The reality of the game was something of a downer, though, and while our own first impressions were disappointedly optimistic, other reviewers weren't as kind as the game went belly up along with its parent studio.

Enter GamersFirst, a free-to-play outfit bent on salvaging the considerable potential of San Paro and transforming it from a buggy mess into a playable AAA MMO. Join us after the cut as we talk with producer Jon-Enee Merriex at GDC 2011 regarding the challenges inherent in the resurrection as well as some of the new (and newly functional) features APB fans can expect.

Continue reading GDC 2011: GamersFirst on resurrecting San Paro with APB Reloaded

GDC 2011: GamersFirst on resurrecting San Paro with APB Reloaded originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Speaking Episode 103: Sword 2 with Gamersfirst

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, Interviews, MMO Industry, New Titles, Sword of the New World, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Interviews (Massively's), Massively Speaking

Massively Speaking Episode 103 returns this week with another special interview episode. This time, Shawn and Sera are joined by Jon-Enee Merriex and Myra Widodo from Gamersfirst, the publishers of the newly-announced Sword 2. Is Sword 2 the sequel to Sword of the New World? How different is it? If you're a fan of SotNW or just looking to learn more about either game, this episode is a must-listen!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to shawn AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 103: Sword 2 with Gamersfirst

Massively Speaking Episode 103: Sword 2 with Gamersfirst originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC10: Sword of the New World changes detailed

Jef Reahard — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, Sword of the New World, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMORTS

GamersFirst's Sword of the New World is primed for several interesting game play additions. We spoke with Jon-Enee Merriex at GDC 2010 to get the scoop on what's in store for the MMORTS that first launched in 2007.

Perhaps most interesting among the list of tweaks are plans to allow players to teleport between colonies controlled by their faction under the game's Political PVP system. If you're a Royalist, for example, you can look forward to jumping between Royalist-owned colonies, thereby saving considerable travel time.

The teleportation is one of several mechanics intended to allow players new and old to dive right into what the developer considers the game's primary focus. "The true focal point of Sword of the New World is all about the Political PvP system. It's all about running for office, controlling the colonies, and being a tyrant," Merriex said.

Continue reading GDC10: Sword of the New World changes detailed

GDC10: Sword of the New World changes detailed originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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