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AGDC 2009: Wizard101 hits 5 million accounts, mounts coming, and more

Krystalle Voecks — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Casual, Kids, Wizard101

If you're a fan of Wizard101, then you're in for a serious treat. Brent from VirginWorlds posted a video of Darren from Common Sense Gamer sitting down with a "gaggle" of people from KingsIsle Entertainment during AGDC. It seems that Darren had a nice long talk about the past, present, and future of Wizard101, and they were all too happy to give him lots of choice tidbits of information.

While this video clocks in at almost a whopping 30 minutes, it covers a large amount of territory fans and curious onlookers alike will be interested in. The various topics touched on during the course of this interview include the news that Wizard101 has also crossed the 5 million account mark; the account structure and parental controls available in-game; some interesting tidbits about just who is playing; and even a look at the upcoming mounts that will be available for players in October. Also, be sure to check Common Sense Gamer for screenshots of those upcoming Wizard101 mounts. Looks like an exciting time to be a Wizard between all this information and the first birthday celebration going on now!

AGDC 2009: Wizard101 hits 5 million accounts, mounts coming, and more originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC09 Breaking: Turbine confirms console MMO in the works

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Consoles

During his talk at AGDC entitled "MMOs to Consoles -- Challenges, Opportunities, Emerging Trends," Turbine's Craig Alexander, the VP of project development for the company, has confirmed that they are working on a console MMO.

The project has been in Turbine's production house for a year and a half now, and the staff is actively seeking to launch the title on Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles. Turbine does also have plans to develop for Wii in the future, although they did not go any further into that topic. Over 20 million dollars has been spent on developing the platform for this title. The targeted release date for this project is early 2011.

Craig also said during the speech that he believes that consoles will eventually pass PCs in the MMO market, making this a lucrative endeavor. He also hinted briefly at a free to play subscription model, saying that MMOs should have "minimum friction to access."

Turbine has said in the past that they will completely confirm their console MMO plans in early 2010, but speculation is still in the air as to if this is a brand new IP, ~~or perhaps one of their former titles repackaged for the console~~. (Edit: Craig has now said, and we quote, "Under no circumstances should you attempt to port a title." This now looks to be a brand new console IP for Turbine.)

We'll keep this post updated with new information as we receive it.

Gallery: AGDC09: Turbine talks consoles

AGDC09 Breaking: Turbine confirms console MMO in the works originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC09: Jeff Hickman speaks on WAR's shortcomings

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, News items

During one of the many speeches being given at the Austin Game Developers Conference, Jeff Hickman, producer of Warhammer Online, spoke candidly on what he thought were WAR's failures and where Mythic could have done better. While Hickman has cited more than a few reasons WAR has been caught in the mire, the central theme to all of them is the ease of PvE gameplay and a game that doesn't inspire social interactions.

Hickman points out that they wanted the game to include a full battery of social features, including open groups, public quests, and other grouping tools, but they failed to design the game itself to encourage grouping. Part of this lies in the player versus environment quests where the gameplay was too easy and players didn't have a reason to group up.

Continue reading AGDC09: Jeff Hickman speaks on WAR's shortcomings

AGDC09: Jeff Hickman speaks on WAR's shortcomings originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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DCUO offers up new screens for AGDC

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Screenshots, New titles, DC Universe Online

With AGDC getting started today, we've been keeping our eyes out for anything new and cool to bring your way. As if to answer our early eyes, Sony Online Entertainment have decided to release a handful of new screens from DC Universe Online as well. These new screens continue to develop on the S.T.A.R. Labs screens we saw coming out of GamesCom, as well as offering us another look at that fan favorite - Green Lantern!

While we're glad that the team at SOE are taking as long as they need to make an awesome game, we'd be lying if we didn't say we're waiting with bated breath for beta access. We can't help it - many of us grew up reading Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and myriad other DC titles so the idea of playing alongside our childhood heroes sounds pretty cool in our books. Perhaps we'll get some other tidbits of DC Universe Online out of AGDC with luck!

Gallery: DC Universe Online

DCUO offers up new screens for AGDC originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Online gaming on Google's Lively to take on "corporate mentality"

Samuel Axon — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Browser

Kevin Hanna, creative director of Google's Lively, said at AGDC that he hopes that Lively will become an online gaming platform that will challenge the status quo in a game industry he says is currently dominated by a "corporate mentality" that is "sucking the life out of what should be the most creative and innovative medium out there."

He said that game developers and publishers seem eager to be "first to be second." That is, they have no interest in creating anything genuinely new. They just want to capitalize on ideas that have already been proven. His hope is that Lively will lower the barrier to entry so would-be developers ("passionate startups and kids in college") can experiment with new ideas with less risk.

So far, the aspects of Google's vision for Lively as a game development platform that we've seen have looked like a greatly scaled back, poor man's version of MetaPlace; just the tools for creating simple arcade-like games, without any of the loftier purpose. But Hanna's comments suggest that at least some folks on the Lively team have grander ambitions after all.

Online gaming on Google's Lively to take on "corporate mentality" originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC08: The meaning of life in EVE Online really is 42 (no joke)

Michael Zenke — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Academic, Massively Event Coverage

Last week at AGDC we had the chance to sit in on a number of really interesting panels. One that was near and dear to our tech-loving, MMO-playing hearts was the Wednesday-finale entitled "The Server Technology of EVE Online: How to Cope With 300,000 Players on One Server." Presented by CCP CTO Halldor Fannar Guðjónsson, it was an in-depth look at the way EVE Online is constructed from 'the back end'. They've talked before about their backend elements, about their decision to go with Microsoft's SQL Server and Stackless Python. Halldor offered a number of new elements in last week's talk, though, touching on the world-girding supercomputer network that keeps New Eden flying.

While much of the talk was highly technical in nature, one fun element we took away was the mathematical nature of the EVE Online galaxy. When 'putting the universe together', the designers had to make a few fundamental decisions. How would it happen? On what level would the universe be simulated? What method would they use to make planets? Today we have a short clip of the talk, touching on those very subjects. Despite the depths to which most EVE players know their game world, we're betting you might learn something new about the depths of space, as created by CCP. Read on for the details.

Continue reading AGDC08: The meaning of life in EVE Online really is 42 (no joke)

AGDC08: The meaning of life in EVE Online really is 42 (no joke) originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC08: Devs on why MMOs have a web-based future

Samuel Axon — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, MetaPlace, Browser

A write-up at Gamasutra of an AGDC panel featuring MMO developers who have begun working on web-based projects gives us an opportunity to explore the new (some would say it's actually the old) frontier of massively multiplayer gaming.

There are many MMOs that are experienced via a web interface (such as Sherwood), but traditional gamers have largely shunned the trend. Why, then, did some of the most hardcore MMO developers (including Dan Ogles, Raph Koster, and Scott Hartsman) abandon the traditional MMO in favor of this new frontier? Some of their work, like Ogles' Loudcrowd, is barely recognizable to traditional gamers.

They offered some answers on the panel. For example, Koster (originally of Ultima Online and Star Wars Galaxies fame, now working on the creative platform MetaPlace) said that game devs have more to learn from web devs than vice versa. Ogles talked about using Adobe Flash so anyone can embed elements of the game anywhere on the web they like. It's worth a read if you're able to work through some pretty technical development speech.

AGDC08: Devs on why MMOs have a web-based future originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The debatable concept of ownership in virtual spaces

James Egan — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Crafting, Opinion, Virtual worlds

Game security news and analysis site PlayNoEvil recently looked at the concept of ownership in the virtual space, in an article called "The Quixotic Quest for Avatar Rights." It explores the question that's been around since the very beginning of virtual interactions: Does the player who invests his or her time into finding, creating, and using an item 'own' it, or is it really just server data that's company property?

For most game and virtual world operations, there's little room for debate. They create the environment and everything in it, right down to a gamer's or user's avatar. However one view expressed at an Austin GDC panel is that while companies work to ensure their legal claim to virtual property, they also foster the illusion that the player has some degree of ownership. While the mindset of the industry isn't likely to change any time soon, there are those involved on the development and business end that would like to see changes regarding 'avatar rights.' Others are pushing for an improved EULA which would ensure the continued growth of virtual worlds, where users have greater control over their own created content. What's your view on this? Do companies have any responsibility to their subscribers or users to relinquish control over player-created content? Are gamers and virtual worlds users unreasonable in thinking the situation should change?

The debatable concept of ownership in virtual spaces originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivox to provide voice services for 38 Studios' upcoming MMO

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry

Announced today at the Austin Game Developers Conference, Vivox has struck a deal with 38 Studios to provide all of their voice services for the studio's upcoming MMO. You may remember 38 Studios as the powerhouse that employs such rockstar names as Curt Schilling, R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane. Their current MMO project, codenamed Copernicus, will use the same in-game voice technology of EVE Online, Second Life and upcoming titles from SOE, Icarus Studios and NCsoft.

Check out the complete press release after the jump for more information on how Vivox plans to work with 38 Studios, and what 38 Studios says about the collaboration.

Continue reading Vivox to provide voice services for 38 Studios' upcoming MMO

Vivox to provide voice services for 38 Studios' upcoming MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Icarus Studios demos iPhone MMO software this week

Samuel Axon — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Mobile

Icarus Studios -- developer of Fallen Earth and the associated Icarus Platform virtual world development tools --announced via press release that this week it is demonstrating its 3D MMO platform running on Apple's iPhone at the Austin Game Developers Conference.

The demo is modest -- a "360-degree panoramic tour of a sample virtual world location." Users control the camera with the phone's accelerometer. Apple recently threw down the gauntlet, saying that the iPhone and the iPod Touch platforms are "the best portable device for playing games." No reason that future can't include MMOs, right?

The iPhone client is scheduled to launch in Q1 of 2009. Does this mean that within months everyone on the New York subway, the Chicago El, and the London Underground will be immersed in a never-ending, time-sinking quest for teh phat lewtz?

Icarus Studios demos iPhone MMO software this week originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC08: On avatar rights and virtual property

Michael Zenke — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:45:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Academic, Massively Event Coverage

If you're anything like the average MMO gamer, you click through that 'shrinkwrap license' without even batting an eyelash. The End User License Agreement, or EULA, is just a speedbump in the logon process for game players. For game companies, though, they're extraordinarily important documents. They require legal consultation, careful thought, and even more careful wording. They do exactly what the name says, spelling out the rights a player has in an online world.

Noting that he really enjoys it when panel participants argue and disagree, Erik Bethke brought together a group of people to debate and discuss the issue of user rights. Along with Bethke, author Erin Hoffman, legal representative Greg Boyd, startup VP Scott Hartsman, and noted industry designer and analyst Raph Koster filled out the panel. Read on for notes from their fascinating discussion, which covered everything from government intervention in online worlds to the 'ownership' of virtual property.

Continue reading AGDC08: On avatar rights and virtual property

AGDC08: On avatar rights and virtual property originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively reports from AGDC!

Michael Zenke — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Massively Event Coverage

Warhammer may be already well into launch mode, but some of us aren't all about play this week. That's right, Massively.com is reporting live from the Austin Game Developer's Conference! AGDC is traditionally one of the year's biggest MMO love-ins, as developers and publishers get together to talk about the field of online games. Today through Wednesday we'll be offering up blog posts about panels, keynotes, and events from Austin, Texas.

And, of course, that's just the start. Look to this space next week for interviews and deeper insights about the events of this week. If you have a chance between RvR scenarios and Public Quests, be sure to check back for tons of news from AGDC 2008!

Massively reports from AGDC! originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ZeniMax Online is hiring at Austin Game Developers Conference

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Business models, Economy, Events, real-world, MMO industry

If you're a talented game professional and you're planning to attend the Austin Game Developers Conference this coming week, you may want to head on over to booth 100 and speak with ZeniMax Online Studios (which has a brand-new official site). As they've just announced, ZeniMax will be looking for potential employees with experience in Art, Programming, Design, Server Technology, Customer Support, QA and Marketing. Despite the fact that ZeniMax is located in Hunt Valley, Maryland, this may be a great opportunity for those developers in the Austin area who have suffered through the area's recent set-backs.

ZeniMax Online is the sister company of Bethesda Softworks, most famously known for their development and publishing of the Elder Scrolls Series and the upcoming Fallout 3. However, don't mistake their association with Bethesda to any connection with the Fallout MMO, which is currently in development by Interplay.

ZeniMax Online is hiring at Austin Game Developers Conference originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Austin Game Developers Conference previews the evolving face of MMOs

Michael Zenke — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Academic

Worlds in Motion has continued to announce some of the highlights of the upcoming Austin Game Developer's Conference. We've previously talked about featured speakers like Nexon's Min Kim, and interesting events showcasing the collaboration between casual gaming and MMOs. These newest events continue to explore some topics we've returned to several times before here at Massively. The business side of massive gaming, for example, will be explored in a panel entitled Evolving Business for MMOs. Speakers will include Turbine Business Development VP Robert Ferrari, CCP CEO Himlar Veigar Pertursson, Funcom Business Development VP Nicolay Nickelsen, Nexon America director Min Kim, and ImaginVenture SA COO Jessica Mulligan.

Other talks will include tips for the changing face of MMO business models, focusing on free-to-play and RMT models. Another will discuss some of the challenges of running a Beta test, with hands-on knowledge from Keneva's Jonathan Hanna. Check out the full listing of MMO-related talks and panels over at the official AGDC website today.

Austin Game Developers Conference previews the evolving face of MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AGDC announces first keynote address

Michael Zenke — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Academic

The Worlds in Motion site notes that the first keynote address has been announced for this year's Austin Game Developer's Conference. Last last month the first speakers, such as Damion Schubert and Min Kim, were announced for the MMO-focused event. This week the event's first keynote has been announced, and it's very different from your average early-morning droner. Fans of The Office rejoice! The folks behind the Dunder Mifflin social networking game will be offering up ways of "driving user behavior and increasing engagement".

Other events announced include a technical discussion on Tabula Rasa's shading technology; that's an in-depth session aimed at MMO developers looking for cost/benefit tradeoffs. Probably the most exciting announced talk this week is Nick Fortugno's talk entitled What Your Mother and Your Ten-Year Old Can Teach You About MMOs. He gave a similar lecture at this year's IMGDC event, previously discussed here on the site. Interested parties will get early bird status through August 27th.

AGDC announces first keynote address originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Austin Game Developer's Conference announces speakers

Michael Zenke — Sat, 31 May 2008 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Academic

This year's Austin Game Developer's Conference, slated for early September, sounds like it will be a good one. Though the ION 2008 event was a fantastic MMO-focused design and development thinktank, AGDC traditionally fills that roll. CMP (the event's organizer) has announced some of the speakers that will be participating in the event. The list includes industry heavyweights like Nexon America's Min Kim, BioWare's Damion Schubert, and Cryptic's Gordon Wei.

We're particularly interested in Mr. Schubert's talk. Last year his Zen of Online Game Design discussion was one of the highlights of the conference, and his discussion for this year sounds equally engaging. Entitled "Endgame: How to Build High-End Gameplay for Your Most Devoted Players", it would seem to be tackling one of the issues that a lot of MMO players find very pressing. Make sure to check out the descriptions of the events, and if you're thinking of going make sure to register soon. Early registration is only open through the end of July. And, of course, you can look forward to extensive coverage from Massively.com; we'll be at the event in force!

Austin Game Developer's Conference announces speakers originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 May 2008 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Damion Schubert interview pt. 2

Michael Zenke — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:32:00 EST

Filed under: Endgame, Opinion, Massively Interviews

Another element you seemed to feel strongly about in your talk was guild tools. We're talking about designers who play their own games, have a feel for their own spaces. Why are these designers, who are playing their own games, not turning around and creating the kind of guild tools that we feel should be available? More and more they seem critical, why aren't they being addressed?

Damion: Because they're hard.

The number one guild-killer is drama. At the end of the day it's not raid slots, it's not even loot distribution. Most guilds have a system, they use it. Most players suck it up and live with it or they move on to another guild. Most of the time it's two guys crushing on the same girl, or a guy deciding that he's sick of the guild master and undercutting him, or a guy getting drunk and launching profanities in the guild chat channel ... these are problems that can be addressed by tools, but what makes the guildmaster's life hard right now is the drama. If we can find a way to reduce drama, to help police the drama, to know what's going on inside the guild it will become much easier for guild leaders to keep their guilds together.

Continue reading Damion Schubert interview pt. 2

Damion Schubert interview pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare Austin's Damion Schubert explains his endgame philosophy

Michael Zenke — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:28:00 EST

Filed under: Endgame, Opinion, Massively Interviews

We had the pleasure of sitting down with Damion Schubert at AGDC 2008 earlier this month. A longtime commentator and respected developer, Schubert is currently the lead combat designer on BioWare Austin's un-named MMO. While discussion of that still somewhat secretive project was verboten, Schubert kindly gave us a chance to follow up on his talk at this year's conference about the MMO endgame.

We chatted with the designer about a number of issues, including the role of the endgame for new or casual players, the dangers of guild drama, and the overall problems with the endgames of today. Schubert was very careful in his discussion of that last question ... "I think that if somebody could find a way to create a good 25-man PvE experience that could be done ad-hoc, that could be less about "We need these people here at this time" and more about "Hey, show up if you can and we'll try to get this done." I think that's something that players would find a lot less scary."

Read on for our full interview, with insights on the MMO endgame from an industry icon.

Continue reading BioWare Austin's Damion Schubert explains his endgame philosophy

BioWare Austin's Damion Schubert explains his endgame philosophy originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Sep 2007 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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