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CCP still planning to expand EVE's station gameplay

Jef Reahard — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Promotions, Sandbox

Just when you internet-spaceship-only types thought it was safe to resume your relationship with CCP, the EVE Online studio has dropped a dev blog detailing its plans for further Incarna-style avatar development.

The recent CCP reorganization put bidpedal gameplay on the back burner due to a player outcry in favor of the game's flying-in-space elements, but as it turns out, CCP "still believes in the vision to bring your characters fully into the world of EVE." CCP t0rfifrans says it will simply take a bit longer for the firm to realize its ambitious sandbox goals. He also says those goals are currently up for debate, and while gambling minigames, corporation-owned hubs, and contraband trading haven't been ruled out entirely, Team Avatar has gone "back to the drawing board" in the interests of identifying rewarding gameplay and developing a prototype.

In other New Eden news, CCP's Power of 2 promotion is making a return engagement, and you can create a second account at a discount price through April 1st.

[Thanks to Kane Hart for the tip!]

CCP still planning to expand EVE's station gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New EVE video takes you behind the core technology curtain

Jef Reahard — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox

Holy cow, would you believe that CCP has put out another positive press blurb? We know, it shocks us too, and the unfailingly chipper Icelandic development firm is winding down a week full of dev blog updates with a behind-the-scenes look at EVE Online's core technology team.

Thankfully there's a video involved, as a text-based behind-the-scenes look would be almost as boring as a New Eden mining run. Also, flying-in-space fans, beware: There are some stretches of the clip that focus on full-body avatars and other "non-essential" gameplay elements. Aside from that, there are bits dealing with ship shadows, readability and usability issues with the star map, and some details on the new open source crash reporting system.

Click past the cut for the full clip.

Continue reading New EVE video takes you behind the core technology curtain

New EVE video takes you behind the core technology curtain originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Neal Stephenson talks MMORPGs and virtual economies

Jef Reahard — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, Interviews, MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous

"The virtual reality that we all talked about and that we all imagined 20 years ago didn't happen in the way that we predicted. It happened instead in the form of video games," says Neal Stephenson, nerd icon and noted author of Snow Crash and The Diamond Age.

In a new interview at Forbes, Stephenson talks up his latest sci-fi opus, Reamde, and also offers his opinion on everything from the Metaverse to gamer stereotypes to players converting their in-game labor into real money. "It's undoubtedly happening right now on an informal level all over the place. A huge amount of money is changing hands, and the thing that prevents it from coming out into the open and working the way it's depicted in the novel is a number of legal and regulatory hang ups," Stephenson says.

He also mentions his own gaming experiences as well as his new novel's tendency towards adventure in place of the brainiac speculative fiction he's famous for. Head to Forbes for the full report.

Neal Stephenson talks MMORPGs and virtual economies originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Sep 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Prophecy unveils Space Superstar contest

Jef Reahard — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Contests, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Black Prophecy

Feeling like a Black Prophecy superstar? The recently launched free-to-play space shooter is looking for a few good designers to take advantage of the game's character creation tools. The Space Superstar competition will feature three winners, one each in the categories of coolest, funniest, and most beautiful avatar.

What do you get for your trouble? Immortality (or at least, the MMORPG version of it). Each category champ will have their character entered as the new preset in Black Prophecy's character creator. The contest kicked off yesterday and it runs through Wednesday, August 3rd, so what the frak are you waiting for?

Black Prophecy unveils Space Superstar contest originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Jul 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New EVE Online trailer highlights the player behind the space ship

Brendan Drain — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:15:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, Lore, PvP, News items

Hot on the heels of today's announcement that EVE Online will soon be making its way to Japanese gamers, CCP released a new trailer for the Incarna expansion. Rather than focusing only on in-game action, the new trailer entitled "I was there" tells the tale of a memorable battle from the perspective of a player. Although the dialogue is pretty corny, the story and feeling behind it are things any player involved in gang or fleet warfare can identify with. We all carry stories of the epic fights we've turned around in our favour, and we all like to remember that we were there.

The trailer highlights the very real rush of fleet warfare, the real bonds we form with the players behind the ships and the communities we build and defend together. That sense of community is even extended outward into the real world, as attendees at the annual Fanfest or any one of several unofficial EVE meet-ups find out every year.

At the 2011 EVE Fanfest in March, CCP and EVE players in attendance raised $11,000 US for charity Get Well Gamers. Notable items sold included the official CCP Banhammer from the GM department, as seen in the company's absolutely not safe for work music video HTFU, and a tour of the CCP offices led by CEO Hilmar Pétursson. CCP Soundwave's impromptu art print auction raised a massive $1,500, bringing total donations up to the $11,000 mark. The money was delivered to Get Well Gamers this week and will go to help buy gaming systems for sick children to play during their stays in hospital.

Skip past the cut to watch the new Incarna trailer, embedded in HD.

Continue reading New EVE Online trailer highlights the player behind the space ship

New EVE Online trailer highlights the player behind the space ship originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Incarna and the captain's quarters

Brendan Drain — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, EVE Evolved

When we first heard about Incarna, it was as "Walking in Stations" back in 2006. At the 2006 EVE Online Fanfest, details of the ambitious project were released to excited fans, which was followed by a lengthy devblog from CCP t0rfifrans on what would be involved. The sheer scope of Walking in Stations seemed immense, but in-engine screenshots of what came to be known as "Ambulation Man" created a sense that a lot of work had already been done on it. Over the years following that announcement, we saw snippets of information and work-in-progress screenshots from various prototypes. Players saw those prototypes as the current state of the feature in development, and it became reasonable to expect a release in the near future.

Miscommunication

In reality, CCP's insistence on doing the feature right has caused several prototypes to be completely scrapped. Walking in Stations became Ambulation, and we were shown a full work-in-progress demo of a character walking around in a bar and playing a minigame. That prototype was similarly scrapped, being reborn as Incarna at the 2009 Fanfest. In developing each of these prototypes, CCP quickly discovered that the underlying technology to do it the way the team wanted to simply didn't exist.

In this opinion piece, I look at the summer expansion's planned captain's quarters event and what it could mean for EVE Online.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Incarna and the captain's quarters

EVE Evolved: Incarna and the captain's quarters originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online Fanfest 2011 roundup: Day 2

Brendan Drain — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

It's day two of CCP's enormous party at the top of the world, and Massively is right here to find out what the future holds for EVE Online. In yesterday's day 1 roundup, we covered a fantastic presentation on Incursion by CCP Soundwave, an enlightening question-and-answer session with EVE's Council of Stellar Management, and the hilarious (but absolutely not work-safe) alliance leader panel. Today has been similarly packed with activity. We've seen some great presentations on what's to come in the summer expansion, and the keynote speech discussed some very exciting developments due to hit EVE in the near future.

Highlights of today included a video of Incarna's "captain's quarters" that we'll be getting as part of the summer expansion, details of massive server upgrades heading to Tranquility, and details of some awesome quality-of-life changes coming soon thanks to Team Best Friends Forever. There was so much awesome information to share that we unfortunately had to miss the chessboxing match to get it out in a timely manner. We missed Icelandic game developers punching each other in the face to write this up, so I hope you find it interesting!

Read on for a roundup of what happened today at the EVE Fanfest, along with detailed explanations of a few personal highlights from today's festivities and what we can expect to come later.

Continue reading EVE Online Fanfest 2011 roundup: Day 2

EVE Online Fanfest 2011 roundup: Day 2 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Making a better avatar

Brendan Drain — Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

Since the game's release in 2003, EVE Online's character creation has served a very limited role in the game. Customisation was limited to a head and pair of shoulders, and the final output was nothing but a small passport photo to go next to our names in chat and our posts on the official forums. Despite this, our avatars have always had a big impact on the way we formed communities and interacted with each other. On the rare occasion that the portrait image server went down, the forums turned from a discussion amongst acquaintances into a sea of faceless and emotionally anonymous posters. There's a lot of personality in those little icons, and they produce an instant recognisability that a name on its own just doesn't accomplish.

I'm a firm believer in the idea that seeing the icons next to someone's name in the in-game chat channels helps to form closer associations between players. After seven years of EVE, however, those portraits were beginning to look a little outdated. With the Incursion expansion, we finally got our hands on a new, powerful, full-body character creator. Characters can be created in minute detail by manually deforming areas of the face and body, not just by dragging slider bars. The resulting avatar is still currently used to create a portrait, but when the Incarna expansion hits, each avatar will be walking around inside stations in all its full-bodied glory.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I give a run-down of the new character creation process and share a few personal tips I've picked up on making a better-looking character.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Making a better avatar

EVE Evolved: Making a better avatar originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: How realistic do you like your avatars?

Krystalle Voecks — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

From the highly detailed characters in EVE Online to the beautifully impressionistic avatars in LOVE, there's a wide variety of avatar types available in MMO games. Whether you use your avatar purely for humorous results as the above EVE Online pilot did, attempt to create a character that looks at least somewhat like you, or are out to create a completely foreign fantasy being to role-play, choice abounds these days. Character creators go from automatically generated with no choice to insanely complex and detailed -- and everywhere in-between.

Nonetheless, with the sheer number of options out there, this morning we thought we'd ask which you prefer? Do you like your avatar so realistic that it's almost bordering on uncanny valley? Perhaps you prefer more middle-of-the-road options like Guild Wars or other games in that general neighborhood -- not too realistic, not too cartoony? Or do you prefer to go as far into your imagination as the character creator will let you with avatars such as the ones in LOVE or World of Warcraft's stylistic, non-human offerings?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: How realistic do you like your avatars? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First PlanetSide Next character model revealed

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, PlanetSide, Previews, MMOFPS

He's tough, he's gruff, and he ain't going down without a fight: This is the Terran Republic Soldier in PlanetSide Next. While we've seen a number of vehicle models for the upcoming MMOFPS, this is the first PlanetSide Next character model to grace the public domain.

SOE has been using fansite PlanetSide Universe to promote the game by passing along exclusive pictures, although the studio has remained tight-lipped about the project as a whole (and has yet to release a PlanetSide Next website). The character model here -- a grim, dark-eyed soldier with a buzz cut -- shows a much higher level of detail and resolution than PlanetSide's current avatars. The red, black and grey color scheme puts the Terran Republic in somewhat of a sinister light.

You can catch up on all of the revealed pictures of PlanetSide Next in the gallery below.

Gallery: PlanetSide Next

First PlanetSide Next character model revealed originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's EVE CSM interview: Incarna and nullsec PvP

Brendan Drain — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Opinion

In part one of our interview with EVE Online's player-elected Council of Stellar Management, we asked council member Deirdra Vaal about EVE Gate, the upcoming forum revamp, CCP's microtransaction policy and other topics discussed at the December CSM summit. In three meeting sessions, CCP and the CSM tackled some hard-hitting issues, the biggest of which were Incarna and nullsec PvP. Most of the details on Incarna are currently locked under NDA, but that didn't stop us from asking the CSM about it. Nullsec PvP has also been a hot topic recently with the revelation that levels of PvP have actually been declining since the Dominion expansion. Dominion was intended to open up nullsec for smaller entities, but we still see EVE's political landscape dominated by massive coalitions of alliances spanning several regions.

Massively: The CSM expressed significant concerns about the Incarna development plans it had access to. Does the CSM think that CCP is heading in the wrong direction with Incarna?

Deirdra Vaal: We feel that the approach taken to Incarna is the wrong one, and we emphasised this to CCP. However, CCPs general idea to set Incarna as an "off the grid" environment where we go for shady deals is something the CSM is reasonably happy with. It's just that so far we haven't really been shown any compelling gameplay. So we think they might be heading in the wrong direction, if they are lazy about it. They might also be heading in the right direction, but so far we haven't seen compelling gameplay that would support this assumption.

Skip past the cut for the rest of our interview with EVE's CSM on Incarna, nullsec PvP and the future of EVE.

Continue reading Massively's EVE CSM interview: Incarna and nullsec PvP

Massively's EVE CSM interview: Incarna and nullsec PvP originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 23 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Freddie Mercury spotted in EVE Online

Brendan Drain — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Expansions, Humor

EVE Online's new character creator went live yesterday in a mammoth 1.2 Gb patch. While some players (myself included) are still waiting for the patch to finish downloading, it's already clear that the new characters are a big hit with the EVE community. Immediately following the Incursion expansion's final release yesterday, the forums exploded with topics full of people trying out the new avatar customisation process -- with hilarious results. Players have even begun faithfully re-creating real-world celebrities, from Freddie Mercury and the Village People to the cast of Star Trek. On the other side of the fence, some visually impressive, realistic and even emotive avatars have been produced.

Before the new character creator went live, people had some reservations about it. While the new characters were expected to look very realistic, some players prefer to pull funny faces and create hilarious avatars that better suit their clownish approach to the game. Other players expressed concerns that there might not be enough variety, and that all the members of one bloodline would look almost identical. While the choice of clothing is likely to remain limited until Incarna, it seems that all other fears have been squarely put to rest as players continue to make some fantastic and often hilarious avatars.

Freddie Mercury spotted in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Old EVE portraits to be backed up -- log in today for high-res captures

Brendan Drain — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, News items

EVE Online's Incursion expansion's final phase is upon us, bringing with it the cataclysmic destruction of several hundred thousand disembodied heads. Those passport-photo-style mugshots next to characters' names on the forum and in-game chat channels will all be removed in tomorrow's patch. In their place, we'll create new photos using an advanced new full-body avatar generator. We've seen this new character generator in action, and it can produce some really impressive results that far outshine the old avatars we currently use. More importantly, the new avatars will be full-bodied characters for use with the upcoming Incarna expansion, rather than just small passport photos.

Players have expressed concerns about losing those EVE character portraits they've have had since as far back as 2003. In response, CCP has announced that all of the current portraits used on the forum are being backed up to an alternative web-server which will be kept open to public access. However, these portraits are limited to a width and height of 256 pixels. If you'd like to capture your current character in full high-resolution glory, you'll need to log in tonight to capture it. In a new last-minute devblog, the hilariously-named CCP Purple Tentacle has just posted details of the portrait backup service and instructions on exactly how to capture your character in high definition.

If you're caught away from your PC tonight and unable to capture your portrait, we'd like to help out. Please leave a comment with your character name and I'll be available for the next few hours to log in to capture the image for you. I'll then email the image to the email address you use on Massively. If you'd like it sent to a different email address, please include it in your comment or mail your request to ~~brendan@massively.com~~ ~~and I'll send it to that address~~. When I'm no longer available to process requests, I will update this post.

UPDATE: The deadline has now passed and old portraits an no longer be catured in high resolution. Lower resolution portraits of up to 256 width and height can be downloaded using CCP's portrait backup service, which is now live.

Old EVE portraits to be backed up -- log in today for high-res captures originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Jan 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDCO 2010: CCP talks EVE, Dust, and World of Darkness

Jef Reahard — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, Sci-fi, Video, Events, real-world, Interviews, New titles, News items

Gamebreaker.tv recently sat down with CCP's Nathan Richardsson at GDCO for a lengthy video interview about EVE Online, Dust 514, and World of Darkness. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the EVE discussion focuses on the new character generator, recently made live on the Singularity test server and representing the first step towards 2011's long-awaited Incarna expansion.

Richardsson doesn't have a lot to say regarding Dust 514, even though he talks about it for several minutes. The gist of the conversation is that CCP will release it when it's ready, and they're not even close to being prepared to talk about it. He does reiterate the game's console focus, stating that "our goal is delivering the EVE experience on different platforms, console being one of them of course. We'll be looking at more platforms, we already are."

Moving on to the recently announced World of Darkness, Richardsson again declines to answer most of the pressing questions, though he does drop an interesting nugget relating to control of the game's intellectual property. Turns out that CCP's plans for a WoD virtual world required a certain level of control over the IP that wasn't possible with it residing in the hands of another company, hence the acquisition of WoD parent company White Wolf.

Check out the full 30-minute interview after the cut and on Gamebreaker.

Continue reading GDCO 2010: CCP talks EVE, Dust, and World of Darkness

GDCO 2010: CCP talks EVE, Dust, and World of Darkness originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New EVE avatars coming soon to Singularity

Jef Reahard — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, News items

Those of you excited by the prospect of EVE Online's impending Incarna expansion might want to check out the latest dev blog from CCP senior producer Torfi Frans Olafsson. Heck, even if you hate the idea of Incarna, you'll probably want to check it out since it heralds the first of some rather significant changes in the offing for the sci-fi MMORPG.

The change in question is the upcoming test-server release of the new character generator, and in addition to a couple of nifty screenshots, the blog features a hypothetical question-and-answer session that details several aspects of the new system. For starters, Olafsson reiterates the fact that Incarna is coming in 2011, and these character changes are merely the first step. He also notes that the changes are not optional and that the player portraits are some of the last remaining original art assets from the game's launch in 2003. "The assets we are replacing are some of the oldest in the game. Most of our avatars were built in 2001-2003. That's a very long time ago. Nokia banana phones were still considered cool and futuristic," he writes.

Olafsson also notes that CCP is sympathetic to those veteran players who may balk at the changes to their traditional portaits. That said, progress waits for no avatar, and it's clear that this is merely the first salvo in an upcoming onslaught of improvements and additions to the universe of New Eden.

New EVE avatars coming soon to Singularity originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Will Incarna get you to try EVE?

Jef Reahard — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, News items, Opinion, The Daily Grind

OK, I admit it, I'm one of "those" EVE Online players. You know the type I mean: toodling around high-sec on a five-year old account that's somehow still south of 10 million skill points. EVE is something of a paradox in the MMO space: people love to read and talk about it, but for whatever reason, relatively few of those people actually play the game consistently.

With the recent announcement by CCP that the long-awaited Incarna (a.k.a. "walking in stations") expansion is not only well underway, but slated for Summer 2011, interest in the sci-fi sandbox is bound to increase over the coming months. Hopefully I won't be the only semi-permanent resident of New Eden who finally puts down roots in one of the genre's last proper virtual worlds (with several humanoid-avatar-loving friends in tow).

The question of the day, Massively readers, is how does Incarna's looming reality alter your perception of EVE Online? Do you see yourself trying it out (or returning for a lengthier stay)?

The Daily Grind: Will Incarna get you to try EVE? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Incarna scheduled for summer 2011 release

Brendan Drain — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, MMO industry, News items

EVE Online is often said to be a game that's not for everyone. One of the biggest points of contention a lot of new players have with the game is the lack of any real avatar. The faces we customise on character creation are little more than passport photos, sitting next to names in chat channels and posts on the official game forum. Without a full body avatar to interact with the world, a lot of new players find it difficult to relate to their EVE characters the way they would in other MMOs. Originally named Walking in Stations, the Incarna expansion is intended to rectify this problem by giving players the ability to walk around and socialise inside the space stations of New Eden.

Until now, it wasn't known for sure when the expansion would be released. It's been in development since as early as 2008 but has been pushed back several times since then as the enormity of the project began to fully unfold. Earlier today, Eurogamer reported that a release schedule for Incarna has finally been revealed. The first step in the feature's release will come with the Incursion expansion this winter, in which we'll get access to the new character creation and customisation process. After that, CCP's goal is to release the first iteration of Incarna, complete with the ability to walk around station environments, with the next summer expansion. Barring any major setbacks, it's reasonably safe to say that Incarna is on track for a summer 2011 release.

Incarna scheduled for summer 2011 release originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A look into the nuts-and-bolts of EVE Online's single-shard architecture

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics

Have you ever wondered why MMOs have multiple servers and limitations on the number of people that can be squeezed onto each? It's a good question, especially when you consider EVE Online's impressive single-shard (single-server) setup, where tens of thousands of concurrent players can log on in the same environment.

CCP's Kjartan Emilsson wrote an article for Gamasutra explaining why most MMOs choose to separate their population onto several severs. The main problem, Emilsson said, was the issue of avatar density. Too many players in too small of a space creates a miserable experience for all involved. So either the game has to put limits on how many avatars can be in an area, or create a playing field that is so large as to render this issue null.

Emilsson went on to argue the case for single-server games that create a united society instead of a fractured one. He detailed the setup of EVE's server architecture, which is held together by a single database at its nucleus and has been steadily growing and improving over time. If you love to read the nuts-and-bolts of the underlying technology that makes games like EVE run, then do yourself a favor and give this article your time.

A look into the nuts-and-bolts of EVE Online's single-shard architecture originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: The development of Incarna

Brendan Drain — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, MMO industry, Virtual worlds, EVE Evolved

One of the biggest differences between EVE Online and most other MMOs is the lack of a humanoid avatar. Even when you're docked up in a station, you can't leave your ship and walk around. The detailed avatars we create on starting the game are not so much avatars as passport photos; seen only as little square mug shots in chat channels and the official forums. In their never-ending quest to make EVE the definitive Sci-Fi simulation, this is something the game's developers CCP have always endeavoured to change. The introduction of a full body avatar feature, code-named "Walking in Stations", "Ambulation" and now known as "Incarna", has been undeniably the most anticipated feature since EVE went live. It's been in development since 2006 but has proven a much larger task than CCP originally anticipated. With the expansion tentatively slated for winter this year, new information on it is still harder to find than a sober Icelandic game developer.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I take a look at Incarna's development so far and why it hasn't been released yet.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: The development of Incarna

EVE Evolved: The development of Incarna originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avatar dress codes might happen sooner than you think

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

You're in a business. Your business has a presence in Second Life. In your business, you have two furries, three hot vixens who probably belong in a strip club, the token emo goth guy, and the dude who made his avatar just like his real world self. Everyone's happy with how they look and how they represent the company, right?

Well, according to the analysts at Gartner Inc., the winds of change might be blowing through virtual companies. The analysts are saying that over 70% of all virtual companies will end up adopting avatar dress codes by the end of 2013, in a move to look more professional and focused.

While avatar dress codes aren't the best option in the world, we too understand that some level of conformity in virtual business is needed. Of course this all depends on the business, as more independent companies can take a looser stance on dress codes. But, in a world where you can be literally anything, you might want to add some level of professionalism to your business avatar.

Avatar dress codes might happen sooner than you think originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sweden extending taxation into the virtual

James Egan — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry, Legal, Virtual worlds

Sweden is taking aim at online tax evasion and the estimated five billion Swedish krona (SEK) in annual undeclared income by the country's citizens. (This equates to roughly USD 645 million.) While much of this is revenue from "online marketplaces, porn, and astrology sites", undeclared income from games and virtual worlds are included in that figure. In fact, the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) looked at the sales of avatars and characters in 'computer games' over a 14 month period, with a collective advertised sum of 662 million SEK (USD 85 million). No income was declared on any of these transactions so it's a safe bet they'll be scrutinizing these sales moving forward.

Although the specific virtual worlds and games aren't named, GameCulture adds that the virtual property Skatteverket is looking at exchanged hands between 7000 gamers and residents. Also interesting is what GamePolitics turned up on the situation -- "even U.S. citizens could be subject to Swedish taxation on such virtual transactions, according to the Economics of Virtual Worlds blog."

Sweden extending taxation into the virtual originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Evolve your 3D avatar

Tateru Nino — Thu, 21 May 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Evolver (currently in alpha) is an interesting service. It allows you to build a 3D avatar either from scratch and components or from a photograph of yourself, and export that avatar as an image, a functional 3D model in a couple of different formats (presently Maya [MA] or Kaydara 3D Data Exchange Format [FDX]), or a ready-made avatar for a number of 3D virtual environments.

They've got more planned it seems, like the ability to potentially embed a little animated 3D avatar in places where you might today be using a 2D image. Think Gravatars only in 3D.

Continue reading Evolve your 3D avatar

Evolve your 3D avatar originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 May 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tokens matter

Tateru Nino — Thu, 07 May 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Virtual worlds

Recently there's been some talk about avatars in virtual environments and MMOGs as playing pieces or tokens. Tobold says that "Ultimately your avatar is just a playing piece", while Raph Koster takes the position that "Avatars aren't tokens".

We hold a marginally more complex opinion. Avatars are tokens (or playing-pieces, if you will), but tokens matter. Avatars don't, as Tobold points out, intrinsically represent cultural, social or political viewpoints. What they do represent, we aver, is us: The users/players.

If tokens didn't have that some sort of deep significance for us, there'd never be any arguing over who gets to be the race-car in Monopoly, or who gets a particular color playing piece. If how we were represented didn't matter very much, then arguing over the choice of Monopoly tokens wouldn't have reached anywhere near the sort of cultural entrenchment that it has.

Continue reading Tokens matter

Tokens matter originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 May 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Future Xbox 360 games may award clothing for avatars as achievements

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, MMO industry, Previews, Virtual worlds

Rare let it slip earlier today to news site VG247 that they were interested in making avatar clothing and accessories into part of the rewards scheme with achievements in their Xbox 360 games.

Up until this point, the 360 avatars have been dressed in their launch clothing, plus a few additions such as the winter fun pack of avatar coats and gloves. So the idea of being able to play a game on your console, unlock an achievement, and then get a wearable piece of avatar clothing to show off to your friends (especially if it's related to the game at hand) is a really nice touch.

Rare hasn't released any more details on who they're working with or what games this function would be available on, but it's a nice look into the future for what achievements may hold in online settings.

Future Xbox 360 games may award clothing for avatars as achievements originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Virtual worlds, PlayStation Home, Anti-Aliased

Problem number two is Sony's lack of action. Moderators are few and far between, the automated system in place doesn't work too well, and people feel that they can get away with whatever they want. There's no sense of authority or control in Home, and that's a detriment. Now, I'm not pushing for everyone to be horribly oppressed, but there needs to be some sense of order and control that's apparent to the players. When word spreads that you can't get away with certain behaviors, the behavior begins to diminish over time.

And, finally, problem number three -- there are avatars involved. Even if your turn off their voice chat and visual text chat, you still have a crazy annoying avatar chasing after you, clipping your torso when you go to bowl that next frame. The answer to this problem is to simply ignore him, as he will probably go away, but this phenomenon is still annoying and not fun for any user. You just want to play your game sans problems, right?

Xbox Live seems to have have found the solution to these problems by sheer accident. Then answer is simply to avoid these problems by not doing them. It doesn't over-promise content, it does provide control for the users, and it avoids visual avatars in most games. (Except in the case of the Xbox Live vision camera; we're just going to temporarily forget about that. Especially as it only works with a few games.)

The success comes from the fact that if you mute someone and report them for harassment, Xbox Live makes sure you avoid that player in your online play. If the automatic matchmaking has a choice between game A and game B, and game A has a person you hate in it, you'll be placed in game B without noticing it. Home does not have that luxury because the entire world is linked together. You mute someone and there's no guarantee that you'll never see him again.

So what can Home do? I say introduce the ultimate ban -- avatar removal. You mute someone and it removes their avatar from on screen for you. You don't see them, you don't hear them, you don't worry about them. Sure, you might end up banning half of the Home community, but now you have control over what you see and do in Home.

In the end, that's what it all comes down to -- user control. Let the user determine their own experience; don't force it on them.

Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who really likes all of the controls that Xbox Live provides, even if he can't buy a virtual couch for his Xbox Dashboard. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running Epic Loot For All! with his insane friends. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.

Anti-Aliased: See the griefing, taste the griefing pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kotaku outlines differences between PlayStation Home and Second Life

Alexis Kassan — Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Second Life, Consoles, Virtual worlds, PlayStation Home

There has been plenty of speculation on PlayStation Home and how it compares and contrasts with Second Life as a virtual world. Heck, the creative director spoke about it months ago stating that Second Life players would probably not find much of interest in PS Home. Well, Kotaku has stepped in to explore just that subject.

For those not wanting to get too down and dirty with the full tale, Second Life has much more personal customization. Everything from outfits to dance moves to land masses can be user-generated and added to the world. On the other hand, PlayStation Home allows for minimal add-ons, focusing on creating rich, stable environments - even if that means sacrificing little things like avatar diversity. But with much more content promised, PS Home may well become a better contender for virtual world time.

Kotaku outlines differences between PlayStation Home and Second Life originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Do you think of your avatar in the first person?

James Egan — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

A recent post over at the Terra Nova blog is the inspiration for today's The Daily Grind. In that post, Rutgers Law Professor Greg Lastowka observes that some MMO players and virtual world residents refer to their avatar as "I", while others refer to it as a he, she, or even it.

Many people form some degree of attachment to their digital personas. For some it's through customizing the look of a character, while for others it might be creating the perfect class build or acquiring pets. Given all the time you spend in MMOs and virtual worlds with your characters, is your avatar something you associate with yourself in some way, thus causing you to refer to it in the first person? Or do you view your avatar as something 'other' that you puppeteer... something separate from you, making the avatar a thing you refer to in the third person?

The Daily Grind: Do you think of your avatar in the first person? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare releases new SWTOR concept art

Shawn Schuster — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, New titles, Star Wars: The Old Republic

New concept art has been announced for BioWare's recent MMO project Star Wars: The Old Republic. This new concept art shows a few new character, weapon and environmental designs such as as Assassin Droid, a Medical Droid, a Jedi and Sith Lightsaber, a few forms of the Blaster, Jedi and Sith scenery, buildings and more.

Plus, the team has also added ten new forum avatars to their community section. These new avatars allow you to customize your profile with even more races, additional female options, and Republic and Empire allegiance icons. Head on over to the SWTOR forums for more information, and check out the new concept art added to our SWTOR Concept Art Gallery linked below.

Gallery: Star Wars: The Old Republic Concept Art

BioWare releases new SWTOR concept art originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fanfest details emerge on EVE's Walking in Stations expansion

James Egan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, MMO industry, News items, Races, Roleplaying

In further news coming from EVE Fanfest 2008, CCP Games has given a press-only presentation detailing the upcoming Walking in Stations expansion for EVE Online. While this is an aspect of the game that's so far been a divisive issue among EVE players, the expansion will allow players to step out of their ships and interact as highly detailed avatars in ship station interiors and captain's quarters aboard their own ships (presumably while docked in a station hangar).

Walking in Stations is a project that's drawn on the talents of "special effects artists from the world of television and movies into the video game medium, a number of whom have been brought on to the team at CCP," writes Jon Wood of MMORPG.com, reporting from Reykjavik.

Continue reading Fanfest details emerge on EVE's Walking in Stations expansion

Fanfest details emerge on EVE's Walking in Stations expansion originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pirates of the Burning Sea to get revamped avatar combat

James Egan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Game mechanics, PvP, News items, PvE

Swordfighting in Pirates of the Burning Sea is going through a major overhaul, not unlike how ship combat has evolved since the game launched. Flying Labs' Isildur has written a dev blog titled, "Avatar Combat Revision" which explains why changes were necessary, and how they envision the new system working.

Ultimately, the changes are intended to bring Pirates of the Burning Sea's combat closer to Isildur's ideal system: "I wanted a system that would let me slice through armies of minions like a hot knife through butter, but that would be tactical and complex in a one-on-one duel between evenly matched opponents." Read on below the cut for a listing of the fundamental changes coming to the game's avatar combat.

Continue reading Pirates of the Burning Sea to get revamped avatar combat

Pirates of the Burning Sea to get revamped avatar combat originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Habbo crests 100 million avatar milestone

Chris Chester — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, in-game, News items, Habbo Hotel, Virtual worlds

One hundred million. 100 million. 100,000,000. No matter how you look at it, it's an extraordinarily large number. It's the number of colors most women are capable of seeing. It's the number of websites that existed in 2006. It's a song by the rapper Birdman. It's also, rather incidentally, the number of avatars created to date in the simple and spectacularly successful Habbo Hotel.

Naturally, that doesn't correlate to 100 million users (Habbo usually clocks in at about 8 million a month), but it's still a testament to the power of a simple virtual world aimed at an extremely active demographic. The lucky sap who created the actual 100 millionth avatar was awarded one of those fancy new Macbook Airs, as well as a slew of in-game goodies like a specially designed room, in-game currency, and rare items. Here's hoping they see 100 million more!

Habbo crests 100 million avatar milestone originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab puts out new newbie avatars

Tateru Nino — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Second Life

If you check the Library folder of your inventory, and look in Clothing, you'll see that Linden Lab appears to have selected the new Second Life newbie avatars from the set that Torley Linden was running the survey for earlier this week. We are not totally sure that these avatars are on offer to newbies today, but if they aren't, then it is probably only a matter of days before they become available to new signups at the selection screen.

The new avatars are from Nylon Pinkney, Adam n Eve, Renegade Clothing, Wraith Unsung and Grendel's Children. We recall that there were a number of fantasy/role-play themed avatars in the mix, but apparently none of those made the final cut. You can be a dragon, but not a dragon-slayer.

Pictured above are five of the new avatars. From left to right, they are: Gamer Female, Professional Female, Clubgoer Female (although at only five-feet two, she's easily mistaken for a minor. The underside of the prim-skirt on this avatar is messed up as well), Boy Next Door (as long as the boy next door to you is six foot, five inches -- he could be!), and Cardboard Boxbot. Older residents can access these avatars by dragging the folder onto themselves from the library which will generate a copy in your personal inventory.

[Thanks to sharp-eyed Sean Heying]

Linden Lab puts out new newbie avatars originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Jun 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newbie avatar survey

Tateru Nino — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:30:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Second Life

Linden Lab has been collecting new candidate avatars for new Second Life users to start with. As a part of the selection criteria for the final set, Torley Linden is running an unofficial survey to see which ones people like better.

The poll also takes into account the gender, age-group and nationality of the respondents, presumably to see if there's demographic groupings that lean toward specific choices. The survey doesn't take very long to complete. Head on over, give it a go, and make your preferences known.

Newbie avatar survey originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SmallWorlds announces open beta

Brenda Holloway — Wed, 21 May 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Galleries, Launches, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Virtual worlds

There must be something in the (virtual) air. If this year doesn't see everyone moving en masse to Flash-based, personal virtual worlds cum social spaces, then it certainly isn't for lack of trying. SmallWorlds joins Whirled and Metaplace as virtual worlds you can embed in your own blog, forum, home page or what have you. Need a place to watch "The Guild" with your friends between rousing games of Chinese Checkers? You got it. SmallWorlds can bring YouTubes, Twitters, Flickrs, games and more into your little isometric 3D corner of the web. Avatars are fully customizable, and so are their pets (!!!).

SmallWorlds is going into open beta June 2 after eighteen months of development. They'll be letting the first thousand people who sign up for the beta in a week early. If you're at all interested in seeing what you can build with their tools and how many friends you can crowd into your little virtual cabana, why not visit their site and sign up for the beta?

Gallery: SmallWorlds beta

SmallWorlds announces open beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 May 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Gaming Iconoclast: Whither Shortcomings?

Rafe Brox — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Game mechanics, Opinion, Tabula Rasa, Roleplaying, The Gaming Iconoclast

Many MMO aficionados cut their roleplaying teeth on one of the many pencil-and-paper titles that formed the early generation of multi-player gaming. In addition to rolling (and rolling, and rolling, and rolling) some dice to come up with their basic stats and traits, character generation involved a lot of "wet work" when it came time to acquire skills. Often, players would bargain with their Game Master to get special dispensation for pushing the envelope.

Player: I want to run this adventure as a zombie elf with three arms.
GM: Okay, but if you do that, none of the other characters will trust you. Also, you will spend 50% more on shirts and body armor. Still want to do it?

Thus, the mechanic of trading character flaws for enhanced abilities was born. One of the hallmarks of tabletop gaming is this trade-off -- saddling yourself or your character with a shortcoming in order to obtain an advantage elsewhere, either as a skill, or a talent, or just another way to go about Min/Maxing. The huge number of available options in some games (Vampire: The Masquerade, for instance) ensures that any player, with only a few minutes' consideration, will have an almost absolutely unique character, fully their own creation.

And yet, almost without exception, the online iterations we all enjoy seem to have omitted this altogether. We are an immense legion of perfectly-formed, mentally-stable, socially-adept übermensch. Even the so-called "ugly" races -- World of Warcraft's Forsaken or Tabula Rasa's Hybrids -- don't explore the depth and breadth of this concept too deeply. Racial traits and differentiation are the merest tip of this particular iceberg.

Why does this rich milieu, this fecund ground of roleplay fodder and character diversity, languish? (And who left this thesaurus on my desk?)

Continue reading The Gaming Iconoclast: Whither Shortcomings?

The Gaming Iconoclast: Whither Shortcomings? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MMO MMOnkey: Short Circuiting Social Stereotypes with MMOs

Kevin Murnane — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Opinion, Races, Virtual worlds, MMO MMOnkey

I was playing Lord of the Rings Online one night when a player agreed with something mentioned in general chat by saying "Indeed!" Without rancor or hostility another player laughed at this stilted language and asked whether people really talked like that. Of course the question was answered with a chorus of "Indeed!" but in the ensuing conversation the player who had laughed said that he or she was from an economically disadvantaged area where the use of language like "Indeed" was wholly foreign. S/he was surprised to discover that language differed so radically among different socio-economic groups. And I thought, "Now, this is one of the reasons why MMOs are such interesting places."

People categorize each other based on visual attributes like age, gender, hair and clothing style, and skin color. We also use political, religious, and social ideologies, musical, cinema, and leisure time preferences, and socio-economic class differences to divide ourselves up into different groups. The tendency to categorize and divide has more to do with the basic functioning of the human information processing system than bias or narrow mindedness on people's parts, and it is useful in allowing us to function effectively in the complex, dynamic, and often dangerious environment we call the real world. However, it does have it's drawbacks. It's long been known that people have a marked tendency to identify themselves with a group, identify people who are not members of their group as members of an out-group, and assign negative characteristics to the out-group. Moreover, we tend to spend most of our time with people who are like us. In other words, we hang out with people who look and think like we do and tend to think about people who are not like us in negative terms.

Continue reading MMO MMOnkey: Short Circuiting Social Stereotypes with MMOs

MMO MMOnkey: Short Circuiting Social Stereotypes with MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Inside the Lab" podcast with the Windlight team!

Brenda Holloway — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:30:00 EST

Filed under: Podcasts, Game mechanics, Interviews, Patches, Second Life

Second Life is looking a lot more like First Life. The new viewer based on Windlight technology completely rewrites the lighting and rendering of the world -- more realistic lights means better looking textures and skins, and a world that looks and feels more real and up to date.

Linden Lab's own Melissa Linden sat down with the Windlight team for a wide-ranging discussion on what Windlight can do for the user experience, how well the new viewer works with creaky old graphics cards, the extra features Windlight adds in for free, and what new things are to come. More on all these things ... after the break.

Continue reading "Inside the Lab" podcast with the Windlight team!

"Inside the Lab" podcast with the Windlight team! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Apr 2008 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Avatars outnumber people in the USA

Kyle Horner — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Virtual worlds

Did you know that there are now more avatars than people in the United States of America? We think that's a pretty cool statistic, even if it takes into account our many alts over the last few years. The number is only going to grow as virtual worlds and massively multiplayer online games continue to evolve over the coming years. The article this little fact-slice comes from also discusses the walled garden issue, by where avatars are stuck in their respective world and cannot explore other worlds.

That kind of misses the point though, as many of us enjoy the difference each avatar brings from different worlds. Then again, it could be argued that having one avatar to build upon would be much more ideal. Either way, the possibility that avatars may some day outnumber the entire world is still an intriguing thought.

Avatars outnumber people in the USA originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pump up your local forum with Metaplace!

Brenda Holloway — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, MetaPlace, Browser, Virtual worlds

Got a small or medium sized community forum? Want to add YouTubes, mini-games, customizable avatars and heck -- a whole world all your own (why not?) -- in it? Then Areae wants to talk with you. Their Metaplace minigames for the masses / virtual world portal needs beta testers who wouldn't mind giving their new tech a trial run in their forums. You will probably need to paste some PHP code here and there -- but if you know what that entails, are comfortable doing it and want to give your community members reasons to spend more time on your forum, then head over to Metaplace for more details.

This could be your chance to get in on the ground floor of the Next Best Thing. Give it a shot, and if it works out for you, tell us about it!

Pump up your local forum with Metaplace! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Apr 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New avatars introduced for the LotRO forums

William Dobson — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Forums

I'm sure we've all been there. Sitting around depressed, refreshing the Lord of the Rings Online forums over and over and wishing for more avatar choices. None of the 119 avatars available really capture the essence of you, do they?

Well cheer up friends, as community specialist Saffron has dropped the bomb that there are now almost 100 new avatars to choose from, and there's bound to be one with your name on it. Early feedback from the fans appears overwhelmingly positive, and Saffron gives instructions on how to set your fresh new look:

You can choose or change your avatar by clicking on the User CP button above and clicking on the "Edit Avatar" section on the sidebar.

We all hope you enjoy with these new avatars!

New avatars introduced for the LotRO forums originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Jan 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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