Massively

Free for All: From realistic dragons to a dragon icon

Beau Hindman — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Screenshots, Culture, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Free for All

Ah, graphics. If ever there was a deciding factor for most gamers, it would be graphics. How does a game look? How do the graphics make you feel as a player? I'm as guilty as anyone else who might consider himself to be a graphics snob of sorts, but I lean more in the opposite direction. For whatever reason, I am not as easily impressed as I once was and tend to go for more representational graphics. I'm not quite at the stage where my MMO gaming has been reduced to a blob of text on my screen, but I definitely enjoy simplicity.

The problem is that many MMOs do not provide that precise formula to hit my graphics sweet spot, or as in the more common scenario, there are parts of certain titles that I would adore if only they hadn't been packaged with the rest of the game. Ryzom, for example, is one of my favorite freemium titles. To this day, it packs more graphical punch and originality than games a quarter of its age.

Now I find myself leaning more toward very basic graphics delivered smartly through my browser. I've even gone through an Anime obsession! Yes, it's been one of those years.

Continue reading Free for All: From realistic dragons to a dragon icon

Free for All: From realistic dragons to a dragon icon originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Mar 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video series chronicles the evolution of MUDs to MMOs

Jef Reahard — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous

If you're looking for a reasonably short video primer on the history of MMOs, look no further than a series of clips recently uploaded to YouTube. According to some genre heavyweights, though, you shouldn't take all the info presented at face value. Former sandbox (and current social games) developer Raph Koster weighs in on the clips at his personal blog, and he offers up a laundry list of "oddities, errors, and omissions."

MUD pioneer Richard Bartle shows up in Koster's comment thread, and he's even more direct. "I wonder why so few of those who make this kind of documentary actually ask the people they're talking about whether what they're saying about them is factually correct? It's not like we're dead or anything," Bartle muses.

Why watch the vids, then? Mainly for the exposure to pre-2004 MMORPGs, according to Koster. The clips are "worth a look, even if only to get a rare glimpse of actual video footage from some of the older games that many folks today don't even know existed," he says. Check out all three installments after the break.

Continue reading Video series chronicles the evolution of MUDs to MMOs

Video series chronicles the evolution of MUDs to MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The memories

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, Everquest Online Adventures, Consoles, The Game Archaeologist

It's been a good month looking back at EverQuest Online Adventures, wouldn't you agree? Educational, almost. While this title is just about as far from the mainstream MMO eye as can be these days, it's heartening to know it's still out there, still running, and still capable of evoking fond memories from current and former players.

While we did attempt to contact SOE for an interview to see if we could find out anything new -- or even old -- about EQOA, it failed to materialize. As a wonderful consolation prize, however, this week we'll hear from three players who have extensive experience in the game. So let's hit this column running and equip our +2 Ears of Paying Attention!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The memories

The Game Archaeologist's excellent EverQuest Online Adventures: The memories originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Nov 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred blogger

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, Shadowbane, Free-to-play, The Game Archaeologist

I've long since enjoyed doing this column because, to me, it feels like the next best thing to having been there back in the day, playing these games. No one MMO player can occupy all titles at once, so experiences are bound to pass us by. Fortunately, the gamers who were there have long memories and are often more than willing to share a story or two if given half the chance.

After last week's initial foray into our Shadowbane retrospective, I fished around for a hearty veteran of the minotaur wars who was willing to step up and answer a few questions without succumbing to post-traumatic stress disorder. Within a minute, my good friend Grimnir bit into the topic, and I reeled him in as he flopped and gasped for air. At some point, this metaphor got away from me, but no worries. Hit that jump and let's cast our nets down memory river and see what we can dredge up!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred blogger

The Game Archaeologist uncovers Shadowbane: The battle-scarred blogger originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist sees The Shadow of Yserbius

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Virtual worlds, Humor, The Game Archaeologist

Really, I blame my parents for not being filthy rich. If they were, we could've afforded the $130/month unlimited subscription fee to the ImagiNation Network (INN) back in the early '90s. Just think! All of the gaming, the socializing, and the roleplaying that you could handle -- for such a low price! I mean, sure, there were hourly options, but who'd want to play for a mere five hours a month?

So instead of becoming part of a growing online community, I had to be content with my SNES and copy of Chrono Trigger -- hard times, indeed. Sometimes I think how my life would've been different if we had subscribed to Sierra's colorful online world, because I would've had a chance to get in on one of the first graphical MMOs: The Shadow of Yserbius.

It was a step forward in graphic quality from the text-only MUDs of the day but perhaps a step backward from the complexity that many MUDs brought to the table. Still, for a few shining years, it entranced thousands who lined up to delve dungeons deeply alongside their friends (and a couple of complete strangers with odor disorders).

Today we're going to take a quick peek at one of the first MMOs that stepped into the realm of lush color and animations and see what made The Shadow of Yserbius so enduring.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist sees The Shadow of Yserbius

The Game Archaeologist sees The Shadow of Yserbius originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 03 May 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

This is the end, my only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end. Of everything that MOOs, the end. No safety or aggro radius, the end.

Man, listening to The Doors early in the morning does not put you in a happy state of writing, let me tell you!

In any case, we've extended our MUD/MU* month here on the Game Archaeologist Channel to include a few more first-hand testimonies of Massively readers' favorite text-based MMOs. As much as anything else we've talked about in this column, it's vital that we not forget the roots from which our current MMOs were born nor neglect to take the opportunity to expose a whole new generation to a graphically simpler but textually richer experience.

So let's kick the tires and light the fires of nostalgia as we talk with five of the baddest MUDders you'll ever know!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2

The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Lore, MMO industry, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

You know that sinking feeling when you get into something that's way, waaaay over your head and you have no choice but to swim furiously or drown? That's exactly how I felt when I started to do research for this month's series on MUDs -- Multi-User Dungeons -- and their descendants.

At first I was thrilled, because I knew that along with Dungeons & Dragons and Bulletin Board Systems, the MUD was one of the key predecessors to the MMORPG as we know it today. It was, and still is, vital gaming history that helped to shape the genre. The only problem was that for various reasons -- mostly a lack of good internet access in college and general ignorance -- I'd missed out on MUDs back in the day.

But it's not like that stopped me from covering any of the other games in this series that I never experienced first-hand way back when; after all, there are few among us who can honestly say they did everything. So the problem wasn't the lack of first-hand knowledge but the sheer, overwhelming scope of this subject. One game alone is a manageable subject -- MUDs are an entire genre unto themselves. It's intimidating, to say the least.

It doesn't still my excitement, however, nor will it stop us from diving into this topic no matter how deep the waters get. This week we'll take a look at the brief history of the MUD/MUSH/MOO/et al. and then get into specific games later this month. So hold your breath and jump on in with me!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history

The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: The history originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist and the SysOp's Sinister Stratagem

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, The Game Archaeologist

When you think of MMORPGs, I wouldn't blame you if your mind stayed rooted firmly in the past decade or so, perhaps taking a brief vacation to 1997 before returning to today's 3-D polygonal glory. But it's not like people just woke up in the late 90's, looked at each other, and said, "Hmm. Online multiplayer RPGs. Let's make it happen!"

On the contrary, history had been building up to that moment for quite some time. Tabletop RPGs and computer MUDs (multi-user dungeons) were both important ancestors of modern MMOs, just as was a mostly forgotten piece of software lore: the bulletin board system, also known as the BBS.

In layman's terms, BBSes were like pocket internets -- host computers that allowed anyone to dial up and use special programs remotely. While BBSes weren't (initially) tied together like the world wide web, they featured a lot of the elements that would make the WWW so popular, such as email, forums, and, yes, online games.

Today's special one-shot Game Archaeologist will take a brief look at the history of the BBS, as well as a couple of its games that could be considered "MORPGs" (like the renowned website, the "Massively" part would be a while in coming). Dial up, gentle readers, and make your hissing modem noises!

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the SysOp's Sinister Stratagem

The Game Archaeologist and the SysOp's Sinister Stratagem originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Game Developers Choice Online Awards to knight Richard Bartle as a "Game Legend"

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Ultima Online

If it's cool to be officially dubbed an "Online Game Legend," then it's doubly cool to be the first person to ever receive such an award. Richard Bartle will be rocking cool two ways from Sunday this fall, as the Game Developers Choice Online Awards plans to honor the good doctor this October. The Online Game Legend Award stemmed from a pool of open nominations and was chosen by the GDC Online Awards advisory committee. They specify Bartle's co-creation of MUDs and his 2003 book Designing Virtual Worlds as the key reasons why he deserves to be named a capital-L Legend.

Bartle isn't the only one due for a special award, however. Ultima Online will be inducted into their Hall of Fame as "a specific online game that has resulted in the long-term advancement of the medium, pioneering major shifts in online game development and games as a whole."

The full awards ceremony will take place on October 7th, and will include a number of other categories including Best Online Game Design and Best New Online Game. You can eyeball the full details over at GDC Online Awards' website.

Game Developers Choice Online Awards to knight Richard Bartle as a "Game Legend" originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Do you feel like you missed out on the golden days of MMOs?

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Depending on who you talk to and their personal perspective, I could be considered either a MMO newbie or a seasoned veteran. While I tinkered around with Anarchy Online a bit back in 2003, I never started seriously playing MMORPGs until City of Heroes and World of Warcraft in 2004 (and haven't stopped since!). While six-plus years of gaming isn't inconsequential, there are plenty out there who cut their teeth on older titles: the EverQuests, the Dark Age of Camelots, the Ultima Onlines, and even the MUDders. To them, I'm a greenhorn and forever will be.

For those of you who haven't been there since the beginning, do you feel like you missed out on the golden era of MMOs? Do you regret not hopping on board earlier, either to experience these titles in their wild youth or to gain gamer cred by being able to say "I was there back when"?

While I have no delusions that those earlier days and older MMOs were as user-friendly (or even as fun) as games are today, I do wish I had hopped on board right at the beginning. Heck, if I had known about MUDs in college, you bet I would've been in one instead of spending time with girls and textbooks (oh, wait...). I would've liked to have seen those communities in action, and would've loved to seen the genre grow from the very start instead of the middle. How about you?

The Daily Grind: Do you feel like you missed out on the golden days of MMOs? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Redefining MMOs: More than lore

Kyle Horner — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lore, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Redefining MMOs

There's a self-created paradox in the MMO industry. This genre asks its participants to invest copious amounts of time and people do want to spend a hours and hours within a single, expansive virtual environment. The downside is that videogames tend to spin on a single mechanical axis: conflict.

In the MMO realm, conflict generally means combat. The problem is endless conflict becomes excruciatingly tedious. Crafting, socialization and sometimes even mini-games have been employed to counteract this, yet it remains a substantial issue. Whereas the story and plot development -- our topics this week -- have largely taken a back seat.

With professional MMO development soaring and a whole new generation of promising titles on the way, we stand on the cusp of what could be the next big evolutionary leap for online gaming. In the coming weeks and months, Massively will be examining how the MMO genre has been redefined during the current generation of games and where it's headed in the next. If you have something important to say on the topic, feel free to post a comment on page two or even write your own "Redefining MMOs" blog post and leave a comment with the URL -- we'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic.

Continue reading Redefining MMOs: More than lore

Redefining MMOs: More than lore originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, New titles, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Earth Eternal, Massively Interviews

How have the launches of FusionFall and Free Realms affected Earth Eternal? Have you changed your development or goals in any way because of the success of those two games, or have you stayed the course and continued to build things your way, disregarding those two games?

Not really, no. Games like Runescape and Habbo have had more influence on our plans than either of those two games, simply because they're so much bigger. FusionFall and Free Realms have gotten a lot of press in the last year, but neither of them have achieved the level of success that games like Runescape and Habbo have.

Actually, nobody really knows how Free Realms is doing outside of SOE. Three million registrations doesn't tell you much about how many active players they have as you don't know how quickly players are churning out of the experience. With the massive dollars they spent on marketing too, it'd be surprising if they couldn't get a few million registrations. The challenge for them (and everyone else in this space, including us) is to convert that fleeting attention into long-term, loyal players.

"We're more in the vein of a classic fantasy MMO than a collection of minigames."

How will Earth Eternal separate itself from the growing free-to-play genre in America? What will make this game stand out?

We're a different kind of experience from FusionFall or Free Realms. We're more in the vein of a classic fantasy MMO than a collection of minigames. I think where we stand out is by offering the best browser-based fantasy MMO out there. We've made the decision to have no humans, elves, or dwarves (or gnomes, hobbits, or anything else too close to human), preferring instead to offer everything from humanoid lizards and falcons to the Clockwork and Yeti. We're definitely fantasy but we want to stay away from the pack, almost all of whom have the humans/elves/dwarves thing going on. We've also got an enormous number of races for players (unlike the two games you mentioned) - 22 at launch.

Considering all of Earth Eternal's development, what part of the game are you the most proud of? What is that one feature you can't wait to show off?

The number one thing I'm proud of is how much our team has managed to do on relatively little funding for an open world 3D MMO (about five million dollars.) As far as game features go the biggest feature I'm looking forward to showing off is our Groves system, which will be introduced at final launch, a few months after we go into open beta.

Thanks so much for your time, Matt!

Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, New titles, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Earth Eternal, Massively Interviews

With Sparkplay Media's first game, Earth Eternal, going into beta, we got the chance to sit down with the CEO of the company, Matt Mihaly, and pick his mind on a variety of things related to setting up shop in the free to play genre.

Matt's no stranger to the massively multiplayer space, holding a strong background as the CEO and founder of Iron Realms Entertainment, a company dedicated to creating multi-user dungeons (MUDs) including Imperian, Aetola, Achaea, and Lusternia. If that wasn't enough, Achaea was one of the first games to introduce the sales of virtual goods, making him one of the pioneers of the base that free-to-play games now stand on.

So what's his thought process behind Earth Eternal? What are some of the things we can expect from the MMO that's sporting over 22 races? Hit the continue reading link, and find out!

Continue reading Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal

Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: Too much information

Craig Withers — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, Patches, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Behind the Curtain

So, just the other day I hit level 30 on my latest World of Warcraft alt - a Dwarf Priest. I hopped on the nearest Gryphon to Ironforge to train up some skills, and noticed that I had unread mail. Skipping gaily towards the nearest mailbox, I was most surprised to find a letter from Ultham Ironhorn, the Dwarven Riding Trainer, letting me know that I was now eligible to purchase a mount from his fine establishment.

For those of you unfamiliar, originally in WoW, you had to wait until you'd hit level 40 before you could buy a mount. Patch 2.4.3 changed that, and lowered the level requirement for a standard mount to level 30. I hadn't read anywhere though, that, upon reaching level 30, your character would be told about it.

Back in-game, I checked with my guildies to see if they knew anything about the mail. They didn't, none of them having levelled up an alt in some time, so it was news to all of us. We all agreed that Blizzard must have implemented it to point players in the direction of a mount, when they might otherwise have missed out on the early availability.

It got me thinking about information and the availability of it in game.

Continue reading Behind the Curtain: Too much information

Behind the Curtain: Too much information originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 25 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Koster: MMOs removed more features from MUDs than they added

Samuel Axon — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Opinion

Areae president, MetaPlace developer, and all-around-MMO-authority Raph Koster wrote up a blog post about the influence of MUDs on today's graphical MMOs. The post is part of the broader, cross-blog discussion that began with our interview with Richard Bartle last week. You can read Koster's post in that context if you really want to, but it's interesting on its own.

He started out by saying which MUDs influenced the developers of which early MMOs. For example, LP MUDs had an impact on Ultima Online. Then he named a handful of the best innovations of the modern MMO -- "advanced raiding," instances, improvements to combat via spaciality, etc. After saying all those positive things though, he dropped a bit of a bomb, saying that despite all that, "MMOs have removed more features from MUD gameplay than they have added, when you look at the games in aggregate."

Oh noes! Are the Warhammer Online fans fuming yet? Well, they shouldn't be. "Failure to evolve more radically isn't a flaw," said Koster. He finished up by positing that all the current MMOs "are already Old Guard," and that "the mudder crew is already the Older Guard. So in a sense this is kind of like an argument between art rockers and disco musicians."

Koster: MMOs removed more features from MUDs than they added originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Player vs. Everything: The MMO clone wars

Adam Holisky — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Business models, Game mechanics, Warhammer Online, Player vs. Everything

You can say a lot of things about a game you don't like. You can say that it sucks or that it's poorly balanced. You can say that the art direction is all wrong, or you can say that it's lacking in any number of features a good game should have. But sometimes a game takes flak for committing the most grievous sin of all: copying another game. One of the most commonly cited complaints about any given game is that they copied "feature X" from "game Y."

For some reason, MMOG players in particular just love to cite the classic "It's just a clone of (whatever)" when they're trying to challenge the very essence of a particular title. If a game is a copy (the reasoning goes) then clearly the designers are wholly uninspired, worthless, and incapable of creating anything interesting or original. It really seems to irk players who feel that their game is being somehow wronged when another game uses similar ideas. But is this really such a bad thing? Might cloning features, or even cloning games, actually be the best possible thing for the games industry?

Continue reading Player vs. Everything: The MMO clone wars

Player vs. Everything: The MMO clone wars originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Player vs. Everything: What if WoW sold its code base?

Cameron Sorden — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Virtual worlds, Player vs. Everything

I could bore you all today by starting my article with a lengthy story about the pre-history of your beloved MMORPGs, but I'll cut to the important part: Once upon a time there was a little game called DikuMUD. Similar in nature to the popular Dungeons and Dragons tabletop roleplaying game, it quickly took off with the geek crowd and became something of a phenomenon. In 1991, the source code for the game was made public and it grew into the most popular code base out there for the creation of multi-user dungeons, largely attributed to the ease with which the code could be set up and run. This led to an explosion of rather similar games that eventually gave rise to the more modern virtual fantasy worlds like Ultima Online, EverQuest, and World of Warcraft (each of these have been compared to DikuMUDs at various times). What's the point of rehashing all of this?

Simply this: While many people would probably disagree with me, the proliferation of a popular, established code base that was proven to attract players and was easy to set up "out of the box" allowed enormous innovation and creativity to flourish. At one point, there were so many MUDs available on the web that you could go to a website designed specifically to sort out what features you wanted in yours (and play it free of charge, most of the time). Given the wild popularity of World of Warcraft today, I can't help but wonder what would happen to the online gaming industry if Blizzard decided to start selling their source code to people interested in starting up their own game.

Continue reading Player vs. Everything: What if WoW sold its code base?

Player vs. Everything: What if WoW sold its code base? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Apr 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crackwhip, your source for MUD-style D&D gameplay

Akela Talamasca — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, Launches, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser

One of the greatest things about the Web is that there's no such thing as obsolescence. Anything you have ever loved is out there, somewhere, waiting for you to find it and love it again. Such is the case with old-school MUDs, where virtually everything, from gameplay to character creation, is text-based. Well, the creators of Crackwhip have been missing those days, so they've brought the glory back with their browser-based text adventure.

Alongside the text you'll find simple graphics that represent objects, areas, and characters from the game. Additionally, these guys understand addiction -- from the press release: 'Want to play CrackWhip at work? No problem; at the top there are check boxes, uncheck these to turn graphics off, this way your computer screen will not reveal graphics as you quest for glory and coinage at your place of work.' Ironically, of course, those of us with jobs that are somewhat graphics-rich will be firing off a huge flare when our supervisors see a text-only screen.

Regardless, if you've been pining for the days of yore and want to return to a time when imagination was the killer app, check out Crackwhip.

Crackwhip, your source for MUD-style D&D gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 31 Mar 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A brief history of botting

Brenda Holloway — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Exploits, MMO industry, MUDs

Botting -- the act of using a program (a 'bot') to kill mobs, perform quests, harvest nodes and so on -- usually is explicitly banned by a game's EULA, and at least ethically gray even where it wasn't directly ruled out. Right or wrong, botting has been with us since the very dawn of massively multiplayer games, in MUDs -- text-based Multi-User Dungeons.

Raph Koster -- Ultima Online developer, Star Wars Galaxies architect and CEO of game-development-for-the-masses Areae -- brings us back to the days of yore when MUDs first met botters -- and how they dealt with it. It's a stirring tale of autohunters, deathtrap rooms, trigger phrases, healbots and the devs who loved them.

A brief history of botting originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dewmocracy: from Mountain Dew marketing to MMO?

Chris Chester — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, Free-to-play, Browser

When it comes to MMOs, we here at Massively see it as our charge to explore every type of game out there, whether it be multi-million dollar blockbuster title in the making like Warhammer Online or a simplistic browser-based game like Dofus. We don't discriminate. Except, as in the course of my warm-up lap around the internet this morning, when I see the term MMO co-opted as a corporate buzzword for "anything online that appeals to the 18-35 male demographic." When I found a story claiming that Mountain Dew's new "Dewmocracy" campaign was part MMO, and a successful one at that, I was skeptical, as you can well imagine. Part of the spirit of the campaign is a story (penned by Oscar winner Forrest Whitaker no less) set in a sort of dystopian future where a man's soda options are enforced at the business end of a policeman's baton. Players are tasked with coming up with the newest flavor of Mountain Dew, which will be put to a national taste test later this year, and presumably free mankind from the long arm of tyranny.

Instead of factions in the tradition sense, you align yourself with whatever new flavor of Mountain Dew you like best. At this stage of the game, most of the preliminary flavor choices have already been made, so it's largely about branding. Using a flash-based interface that is strangely reminiscent of the MUDs of yore, you're tasked with making logos and other branding pieces to be voted on by other players of your faction. This is linked with a number of little mini-games that are derivative even by Webkinz standards. The only really "massive" aspect of the game is the fact that players get to vote on their favorite flavors and advertising materials.

What's perhaps most startling is that, even though this Dewmocracy thing hardly qualifies as an MMO in even the loosest sense of the term, their VP of Marketing has expressed an interest, and here I assure you I am not joking, in "expanding it into a long-term MMO." Pirates of the Unquenchable Thirst? Tabula Cola? World of Dewcraft? The mind reels in horror.

Dewmocracy: from Mountain Dew marketing to MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Jan 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sci-fi MMO, you're my only hope...

Eli Shayotovich — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion

The Ancient Gaming Noob wrote a fascinating article about why sci-fi MMOs haven't flourished. It's certainly not a new topic, but the Noob backs his argument up with credible facts and a strict analytical comparison (as opposed to the boisterous blatherings of the typical forum troll) that prove his point.

In Is there hope for a science fiction MMORGP?, the Noob posits that fantasy MMORPGs came about (and became more popular) due to a series of environmental factors that were present for the fantasy genre, but not for sci-fi. He compares four major factors: literature, table top RPGs, computer RPGs, and MUDs (aka Multi-User Dungeons). The body of historical fantasy literature provides the major ground work for the other three categories. While "The Lord of the Rings" might pop into your head first, Tolkien's great novels were not the beginning of the fantasy genre. As illustrated by the Noob, much older works such as Sir Walter Scott's "Ivanhoe," and Sir Thomas Malory's "Le Morte d'Arthur" existed. But the trump card? The 11th century Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic poem written in the English language. It's a fantasy story. The entire fantasy genre has been ingrained into our collective human psyche for centuries.

And what does science fiction have? Uh, not much. At least not compared to those legendary scripts. Granted there are some "old" science fiction tales, but the genre as we know it today didn't exist until the early part of the 20th century. I don't mean to knock the likes of Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, or Kevin J. Anderson, but in a historical context the space traveling genre is the new kid on the block. And as the Noob so eloquently points out, some of Asimov's own underlying scientific theories haven't held up so well over the years.

Take a gander at Noob's article then come back here and let us know what you think. Are you a fantasy fanatic? Or do you yearn for a great sci-fi game that will even the decidedly lopsided MMO table back in the favor of ray guns and aliens?

Sci-fi MMO, you're my only hope... originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ancient Gaming Noob talks to WorldIV about how far we've come

Mike Schramm — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Guides, Interviews

One of the things I love about being a gamer (and especially an MMO gamer in particular) is that we're here to see history in the making right now. We were around when Ultima was being played, and when World of Warcraft was being formed and becoming known as the first mainstream MMO. The guys writing on blogs right now and the players playing in game at this very moment are literally the pioneers of the field. And so it's exciting to see what we gamers have to say-- that's why this interview with Ancient Gaming Noob is such a great read.

Not only does he talk about some of the great MMOs he's played since 1985, but you can get a real sense of how far gamers and games have come. Just thirty years ago, they were the realm of arcade games and quarters, and now, AGN is finding time for them among his family, and picking LEGO Universe as a game he and his daughter can play together. He also has some great insights on blogging about MMO gaming, and it's completely true: "more than crickets" is all you can really hope for.

Nice read. So exciting to think that for all the progress and evolution online games and gaming has made, we're still living in the first generation of gamers. Us kids playing MUDs and Asteroids are grown with families of our own now, and it's amazing to look back at all the different audiences playing games nowadays and realize that it's still only the beginning.

Ancient Gaming Noob talks to WorldIV about how far we've come originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Dec 2007 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dofus embraces permadeath with new hardcore servers

Samuel Axon — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:01:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dofus, Game mechanics, News items, Casual

Richard Bartle once said, "Do you want permadeath or pedophilia? Both seem equally attractive to most players." In other words, permanent death in MMORPGs is pretty much unheard of, and most people who hear the idea are horrified that it should even be suggested. A few MUDs have it, but in the graphical world, there's almost no such thing. The original Lord of the Rings MMO that was developed by Sierra and eventually canceled was going to have it. That's the closest we've gotten to mainstream MMO permadeath.

The developers of Dofus, then, are either completely insane or just very daring. They've announced plans to open up "hardcore" servers in December. On hardcore servers, player characters will receive significantly more experience and gain new items and abilities much faster than on normal servers. But when they die, that's it. They've passed on. They are no more. They have ceased to be. Bereft of life, they rest in peace. They've joined the bleeding choir invisible. They are, in their entireties, ex-Dofus toons.

At various stages in an age-old debate, proponents have suggested that if executed in the right way in a certain kind of game, permadeath could enrich the online gaming experience. Battles would be more intense and PvP would be more meaningful, for example. Will you play on Dofus' hardcore servers, or is permadeath an affront to everything you believe in?

Dofus embraces permadeath with new hardcore servers originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 20:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How the MMO crawled out of the MUD

Mike Schramm — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:15:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, MUDs

Clockwork Gamer has a good juicy post up about how MMOs first learned how to do things from MUDs, and since today is Old School Day, I thought it was appropriate. Wait, you haven't heard of Multi-User Dungeons? If you've never played one, you'll probably be shocked that they used to fascinate people-- imagine an old-school computer, with its green text on a black screen, dialing into another computer and entering a text-based virtual world. As in, you dial up your favorite BBS, and a message greets you "You are in an inn. There are exits north and west," and from there, you type in words telling the computer what to do, while other users play the game with you. You can try the whole thing with the java client here if you want.

A far cry from the virtual worlds we know today, yes, but that's where it started. CG actually focuses on the higher level of things (in many MUDs, players could actually form guilds, and wander around the world together-- "go north"-- killing dragons-- "attack dragon with great mace"), but even the most basic of MMO thrills was originated in the MUD world. "Seeing" a virtual character pass through the room you're in ("Kingofworld enters the room. Kingofworld leaves the room.") was a thrill, because you knew that there was someone else, looking at a screen just like you, behind that character. On the other hand, as CG points out, there were a lot of things that MUDs could do that graphical MMOs can't nowadays.

Continue reading How the MMO crawled out of the MUD

How the MMO crawled out of the MUD originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 11:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Podcast looks back at Meridian 59 history

Samuel Axon — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:31:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Meridian 59, Interviews, MMO industry, PvP

Want to work on your old-school cred? Check out Virgin Worlds' "Online Gamer's Anthology" podcast episode #5 and learn a bit about the history of arguably the first graphical MMO ever, Meridian 59.

The podcast starts out with a somewhat awkward skit which pays homage to Meridian 59's gameplay, but if you skip ahead about 30 minutes you'll get straight to the meat of it -- an in-depth, tell-all interview with developer Brian "Psychochild" Green, who has worked on the game since 1998. He talks about what makes the game unique and relevant, its demise at the hands of 3DO, and its resurrection by his own company, Near Death Studios. Here's a highlight from the interview -- Green explaining why re-launching Meridian 59 was important to him:

If you don't have a good sense of history it's really hard to move forward. Looking at more modern games, you have the level and class based system of EverQuest or World of Warcraft. I think a lot of times people look at only the most recent things and think, "Oh, that's the way it's always been, and that's what we have to follow." I think having a wider range of history -- the Meridian 59s, the Ultima Onlines, even those older games back into the proprietary systems -- knowing more about those can kind of give you a wider perspective.

Podcast looks back at Meridian 59 history originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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