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EVE Evolved: Setting the record straight

Brendan Drain — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Lore, Opinion, EVE Evolved, Sandbox

On Monday the story broke that EVE Online's new CSM 7 chairman The Mittani said something extremely controversial during the Fanfest alliance panel. The story rapidly spread across the major games industry blogs, and in true telephone-game-style, it got progressively more bizarre with each version. The most disheartening part of it all was the absolute deluge of comments suggesting that the EVE community is made entirely of sociopaths and griefers. If you think that EVE has a poor community, start a trial and ask random people to help you out. You'll be surprised by what I think is the friendliest and most tightly knit MMO community on the planet.

Jester's Trek wrote an article attributing part of the whole Fanfest debacle to the various different personas that The Mittani embodies. Jester described how The Mittani wears three hats: EVE spymaster and ruthless Goon leader The Mittani, CSM chairman Mittens, and the real-life person Alex. Jester asserts that these three personas clash terribly and may be incompatible and that the alliance panel talk slip-up was made from the perspective of The Mittani and not his CSM persona.

In this week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I drill down into some of the details of the recent drama, from the proliferation of media coverage to exactly what line was crossed.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Setting the record straight

EVE Evolved: Setting the record straight originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Apr 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth developer blog talks territory control and world events

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Post-Apocalyptic

The conversion to free-to-play has gone live, but there are more changes in store for Fallen Earth. A new developer blog entry has just been unveiled, discussing two of the bigger features in store for the game -- world events and territory control. The former will be dynamic content that appears at random, with multiple events able to feed upon one another and create some changing landscapes for players to explore.

Territory control, by contrast, will start off in a single region north of Blaine. The region will have a total of 13 different control points for factions to hold, with six of them out in the open and seven in more fortified locations. There will be notable rewards for players holding these objectives, including resource nodes, increased experience gain, and improved death toll. It should certainly lead to some interesting battles in the wasteland as players fight over the region's spoils.

Fallen Earth developer blog talks territory control and world events originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Warcraft bloggers fight back against RIFT

Jef Reahard — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, MMO industry, New titles, News items, RIFT

While RIFT is certainly a four-letter word, it's becoming that kind of four-letter word for certain bloggers in the World of Warcraft community. Reala of Click the Lightwell went so far as to whip up a graphical badge certifying WoW blogs as RIFT-free zones in response to the amount of virtual ink devoted to Trion's title on Azeroth-centric websites.

"Many of us are experiencing tough times in WoW, we have lost friends, guildies, entire guilds have crumbled and fallen. I don't begrudge RIFT the shelf space, but when there are more RIFT posts on a WoW blog than WoW posts... well... I don't like it," Reala wrote.

While we doubt that Blizzard is circling the wagons just yet -- or scheming up ways to fend off the new kid on the block -- the fan community is clearly feeling the heat of what some are calling a sizable migration.

World of Warcraft bloggers fight back against RIFT originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What MMO would you like to see covered more?

Justin Olivetti — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Let's face it: Life isn't fair, and as a result, every MMO in existence doesn't get the same amount of coverage by the press, blogosphere, and fans. Some MMOs are just more popular; some have much better PR reps; and some are simply newer than the rest.

Although we at Massively do try to make the rounds to cover as many MMOs as possible, there are always a few titles that seem to get noticed less than others. It's not uncommon for us to hear from fans of a niche title, "Why haven't you talked about GAME X for two years?" It's also not uncommon for many MMOs to simply be so quiet as to negate any news at all.

So if wishes granted more coverage -- not just by us, but by everyone -- what MMOs would you love to see get the spotlight more often? Perhaps it's an older title that's limping along with a skeleton dev team or a game that's a little more unconventional than the rest. Sound off: Be the voice that stands up for these MMOs!

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: What MMO would you like to see covered more? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Feb 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost Pages of Taborea: Community spotlight

Jeremy Stratton — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, Lost Pages of Taborea, Guides

Runes of Magic's second anniversary is not far off now. In the nearly two solid years since the official launch, a thriving gaming community has been cultivated. Within this active community are some talented players who weren't satisfied with just playing RoM. For whatever reasons, these players ventured outside the digital confines of the game to share their talents and their adventures through the land of Taborea.

I wanted to highlight a handful of members of this talented community that has evolved around RoM. Some have made outstanding guides, while others have made useful websites or fun blogs. There's a lot of great talent on the official forum and within the addon community, to be sure, but I tried to focus on examples of great forum guides and others who have stepped further away to do their own thing. Click past the break to see if you made the list.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Community spotlight

Lost Pages of Taborea: Community spotlight originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Feb 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor: Community check-up

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

It's a quiet week around these here parts, what with the Thanksgiving holiday in NA and the lull before the November Update hits on the 29th. As such, I thought it'd be a great time to catch up on the current state of the community, especially as we've seen so many new bloggers and sites and podcasts arrive on the scene in the past year.

I've always said that Lord of the Rings Online is truly blessed with not just a stellar community but an active one as well. Some MMOs see very little in the way of fan-created sites, keeping most of the community action centered on official forums and the like. However, when it comes to LotRO, we have not only the MyLotro.com blogs set up by Turbine, but a cornucopia of web delights fashioned by hard-working players.

So to say "Thanks!" to this wonderful community, today I want to highlight some of the best LotRO resource websites, blogs and podcasts that consistently go above and beyond in making our slice of the MMO landscape a delight to visit.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Community check-up

The Road to Mordor: Community check-up originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mog Log: A spotlight on our webwide community

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Culture, Forums, Opinion, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

We're generally a fairly verbose and chatty bunch on Final Fantasy XI, with a strong sense of community. Whether this has been helped or harmed by the difficulty of getting any official word from Square-Enix is a debate topic for another time -- what's indisputable is the sense that the game's players are one big family, if not always a happy one. (It's hard to be happy when cousin Ike has had a few Yagudo Drinks too many and starts talking about how much he hates Scholars.)

On the other hand, Final Fantasy XIV isn't even yet in beta, but there's already a community forming around it, as is frequently the case for new games in the series. It's attracting several people who have either been burned by Final Fantasy XI or are still fans but look forward to some new gameplay, not to mention MMO gamers hoping for something new and exciting. So let's take a look at some of the more interesting, provocative, or just plain noteworthy community threads and discussions that have been happening recently.

Continue reading The Mog Log: A spotlight on our webwide community

The Mog Log: A spotlight on our webwide community originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fan-run contest lets EVE Online players win game merchandise

James Egan — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Contests

Our friend and EVE Online fanatic CrazyKinux periodically runs an EVE Blog Banter, where the growing number of bloggers focused on the sci-fi MMO tackle discussion topics. The end result is usually some well thought-out commentary or lively debate about an aspect of the game experience. His latest Blog Banter has a different twist; it's actually a contest where the top ten winners can score merchandise from the official EVE Store. (The prizes: $100 worth for first place, $50 for second place, $25 for third and fourth, fifth through tenth place winners will each get 14 days of EVE time.)

Entering is pretty simple. CrazyKinux asks: "What is it that makes this particular virtual world so enticing, so mysterious and so alluring that we keep coming back for more. Why is EVE one of the very few MMOs to see continuous growth in its subscribers? To put it simply: Why do you love EVE Online so much?" Answer this question on your own blog while linking back to CK's contest post in your intro, then let him know about it in his contest post's comments. Be sure to check out the contest rules first, but you've got until January 31st to enter. Winners will be announced on February 5th; the contest will be judged on the merits of quality, structure, approach, and originality.

So there you go -- if you're an EVE Online player and a decent writer as well, this could be easy money for you. Good luck to any Massively readers who decide to go for it.

Fan-run contest lets EVE Online players win game merchandise originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Mog Log: Community guide to Final Fantasy XI and XIV

Eliot Lefebvre — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Opinion, Final Fantasy XIV, The Mog Log

The great thing about being a fan of Final Fantasy XI is that you're not lacking in any sort of resources online. After such a long lifespan, pages have been created to suit almost any need the community might have. And for a game whose mechanics can be obtuse at times, that's a good thing.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we? The Mog Log is Massively's new weekly column focusing on all things both Final Fantasy and online, meaning both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. For our first installment, we're taking a look at the multitude of fan pages, guides, and other resources for players. Needless to say there are a few more options for the former game than the latter (due to only one of them actually being released yet), but there's already a community building in anticipation of Eorzea's adventures.

Continue reading The Mog Log: Community guide to Final Fantasy XI and XIV

The Mog Log: Community guide to Final Fantasy XI and XIV originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Age of Conan director asks how you like your communication

Rubi Bayer — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture

Craig Morrison, the Game Director for Age of Conan, posed an interesting question in his latest blog entry: How do you like your information?

MMOs, whether they are still approaching beta or have been around for years, are constantly changing as developers add improvements here, remove bugs there, work on new content and expansions, and just generally tweak things to keep it all attractive to the players.

The question for development teams is this: How much of the process do you share with the players? Do you say "We are working on stuff, and you'll know about it when we release it. Just trust us," do you share every step of the process with your fans along the way, or do you strike one of the hundred compromises in between?

Morrison's blog entry talks quite a bit about the difficulty of finding that balance, and how it's often a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" situation. He winds up with an interesting question, though: What do you as a player prefer? Take some time to read his thoughts on the issue, and then give your own.

Age of Conan director asks how you like your communication originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Stop playing your favorite game

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Academic

Do we have everyone's attention? Great. Now do exactly that. Stop playing your favorite game. Not forever, just for now. Just let it rest and play something else for a while. That's the idea proposed by Bio Break in an entry about letting go. The idea, as it's put forth, is that the best way to fight burnout is to prevent it from happening in the first place. If you're really enjoying a game and are just a few days away from a major goal, why not put it down and savor that instead of pushing forward until the game has stopped being fun?

Of course, it's hard for us to behave that way -- if we're enjoying a game, our inclination is to keep playing until we aren't, at which point burnout kicks in and we start almost dreading logging in. But it's an interesting idea and a different approach to keeping ourselves engaged. It's a lot easier to go back to a game if you've just let it sit for a while and have had some time to think about it fondly without being reminded of its blemishes. Absence can indeed make the heart grow fonder, and perhaps you should let your favorite game be absent for just a little while. You'll still be almost at your next major checkpoint when you get back, after all.

Stop playing your favorite game originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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More details on Allods Online gameplay

Rubi Bayer — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, New titles, Free-to-play, Allods Online

The second round of closed beta testing is underway for Allods Online, and Keen from Keen and Graev's Gaming Blog is one of the participants. Luckily for us he's in a sharing mood, and passed along some great advice in his latest blog entry.

Keen has spent a fair amount of time exploring the game and getting a feel for how things work, particularly some aspects of gameplay that are a little confusing for new players. Things like rest experience and your allotted fatigue amount can be a bit hard to understand at first glance, but Keen offers some valuable tips on understanding the system. Similarly, his advice on stat allocation will give your character a jump-start, as well as prevent you from making some mistakes thanks to poorly translated tooltips and guides. He also checked out a dungeon, and gives a quick overview of his experiences there; as with the other areas, this provided some handy tips and a nice overview of the dungeon area.

If you're considering Allods Online, the full entry is something you'll want to read. You'll thank us -- and Keen even more so -- if you do.

More details on Allods Online gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Dec 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crafty WAR marketing reveals the "Rosetta Bones," hints at upcoming contest

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Contests, Culture, Events, real-world, Expansions, MMO industry, Warhammer Online

First it was a movie and a box of hair dye that announced the coming of the Choppa and Slayer in Warhammer Online. Then it was the infamous "violent valentine" cards that announced the Night of Murder event coming to WAR. Now... now we have blogs receiving bones with glyphs and letters on them. You have to hand it to Mythic's marketing department. They have some pretty inventive ways to do announcements, one has to admit.

This announcement however, is pretty big. In conjunction with the release of the Land of the Dead, blogs all about the blogosphere will be getting "Rosetta Bones." These bones will feature different symbols on their faces, each linked with a letter of the alphabet. The bones will also be accompanied with a map that points out special tomb unlocks, a flag to show which version the bones belong to (Europe or North American audiences will be getting different bones) and a parchment page containing storyline clues for what will be occuring in the future.

Continue reading Crafty WAR marketing reveals the "Rosetta Bones," hints at upcoming contest

Crafty WAR marketing reveals the "Rosetta Bones," hints at upcoming contest originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaming blog Imaginary Cogs focuses on MMO operations and server technology

James Egan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Server downtime

There's a fair number of people out there blogging about their preferred massively multiplayer online games as well as the industry itself, and more all the time it seems. One area that isn't covered very often, however, is MMO operations, largely because it's something many bloggers have little direct experience with. However Bryant Durrell from Imaginary Cogs certainly does.

In the month since Durrell first started writing Imaginary Cogs he's offered up an industry insider's perspective on topics ranging from server technology to the ops that keep our games running, tapping his past work experience with Vivox and Turbine. Durrell's blog is a peek behind the curtain into how massively multiplayer online games operate. If you've ever been curious about the tech that powers massively multiplayer online games and how it's used, you might want to check out Imaginary Cogs.

[Via Zen of Design]

Gaming blog Imaginary Cogs focuses on MMO operations and server technology originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer's 1.2 patch to go live March 3, 2009

Brooke Pilley — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Warhammer Online, News items

The 1.2 patch for Warhammer Online is going to be huge. Mark Jacobs gave fans a highlight reel of what it will deliver back in early February, which includes fixes to over 500 bugs, two new careers, class balance, and much more. Since that time, Mythic put 1.2 up on the public test server for everyone to give feedback on. Here is a summary of some blog feedback we found (because not everyone can view the beta forums atm):

Keen shared his thoughts on the new Choppa career.
Book of Grudges has a good review of Slayers.
Part 1 of Garrison of WAR's review (map improvements, realm status changes, and new mounts).
Part 2 of Garrison of WAR's review (rage mechanic and how it performed in both PvE and RvR).
Part 3 of Garrison of WAR's review [additional map improvements (more accurate group and warband dots), the new parties and warbands window, potions persisting through death, and how all MDPS careers will receive a pick lock skill that lets them enter postern keep doors].
Stunty Stomper and Obsessive Focus talk a bit about crafting changes.

Arbitrary of the Book of Grudges is also reporting that the latest US WAR newsletter in her inbox says patch 1.2 will go live March 3, 2009. The Bitter Rivals live event will start March 4, 2009.

Warhammer's 1.2 patch to go live March 3, 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New blogging community forms around Warhammer Online

James Egan — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, News items

When gamers passionate about their MMO of choice form a close-knit community of bloggers, it provides a collective window into the game that readers wouldn't be able to get from the major sites alone. A prime example of this is the very active EVE Online blogging community brought together by our friend CrazyKinux, where EVE's players contribute opinions, tips, even tutorials on a daily basis. Given how successful this has been with EVE Online, why can't MMO gamers rally around another title?

It's possible that the next blogging community focused on a single MMO title will be based around Warhammer Online. The WAR-centric blog "Wizards & Wenches" has put out a call to the game's player base in WAR: Age of Blogging. They're declaring January '09 to be the WAR: Age of Blogging month, and encourage any Warhammer Online players with something to say to jump in and start writing, even first-time bloggers. (For those who are relatively new to blogging, there's some support to be found at Blog Warhammer where they can help you get set up with a blogging platform like WordPress or Blogger.)

Massively wishes the new Warhammer Online bloggers the best of luck, and we'd love to see the player community build something that turns out as well as The EVE Blog Pack. If the prospect of joining the ranks of the WAR bloggers has caught your interest, be sure to see the announcement post over at Wizards & Wenches for more info on how you can get involved.

WAR has gone 1.1! Check out our full coverage of the 1.1a patch, along with our interviews exploring upcoming content and the open RvR changes. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

New blogging community forms around Warhammer Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games highlights community efforts of EVE bloggers

James Egan — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:30:00 EST

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

It's been pretty eventful lately in terms of EVE Online news. As a recap: the Quantum Rise expansion was announced, new features are on the way, the backstory was advanced through a new video, controversy and even outright rage ensued over disabling ghost training, a Quarterly Economic Newsletter was released, and there have been concerns over the future of EVE given Iceland's economic woes.

While some of these news items are mentioned in the latest EVE Online newsletter (aside from the ghost training fiasco), CCP Games has also given some attention to the EVE community itself, something Massively has been been taking note of as well. It seems our friend and EVE community puppetmaster David Perry (aka CrazyKinux) has just gotten the nod from CCP for his latest effort.

Continue reading CCP Games highlights community efforts of EVE bloggers

CCP Games highlights community efforts of EVE bloggers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dungeon Runners announces guilds and player blogs

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeon Runners, Game mechanics, Patches

Dungeon Runners has just released its newest patch which introduces players to some exciting new features to this free-to-play NCsoft title. Build 147 (Chunk 4) has added posses to the game, which act much like a guild in other games. It's basically described as a persistent group of friends in-game who have their own entry on the social window and their own chat channels. Although this build will officially add this feature to the game, it won't be active for another week or so.

This build also adds a brand new player blog system that tracks events via RSS. These events include login, logout, level up, quest completion, deaths, pvp match results and more. This certainly isn't the end of the new additions though as we get treated to a new dungeon, a wishing well feature, bug fixes, upgrades and even a free trial period for the Bling Gnome. Check out the complete patch notes for more details on this mega-patch.

Dungeon Runners announces guilds and player blogs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What is your favorite MMO blog?

Michael Zenke — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

We promise we're not fishing here. Nope, we definitely don't want you to proclaim your love for a certain website you might be reading right now. Not at all. Instead, we're interested: what MMO blogs do you read on a regular basis? Are you a fan of Raph Koster's view of the world? Maybe you're an aficionado of Van Hemlock's Tuesday Noob Club or the Ramblings of Ole' Bald Angus the Monk?

Whatever your preference, let us know. We're always looking for new folks to read and inspire new features, articles, and (of course) posts of our own. What's your favorite MMO-related blog?

The Daily Grind: What is your favorite MMO blog? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pumping Irony gets philosophical on patchers

Seraphina Brennan — Sat, 03 May 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Patches, Academic

Patchers. The upside and downside to online gaming. Sure, they bring you oodles of new content, but they can also result in wait times before you get in to play you favorite game. But did you ever stop to think about the difference in patchers across the genre? The subtle difference that's exhibited in each company's updating program, like logging in before downloading your update, or the amount of updates in a game?

Pumping Irony did. That's why they sat down and looked at the patching process amongst different games and began to get philosophical on your favorite (or most hated) launching device. Is requiring a player to log in helping you with your download times? Or is it just another barrier to keep you waiting longer before you get in to play, which may offset companies getting subscribers back into action? These questions and more are described within, and it's certainly worth the read for any MMO junkie.

Pumping Irony gets philosophical on patchers originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 May 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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