Massively

Riot rules on League of Legends Elo-Boosting, alleged DDoS attacks

Jef Reahard — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:45:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MOBA, League of Legends

Riot recently celebrated the five-million-concurrent-players milestone, but it seems that not all of those players are on the level.

League of Legends' competition committee has dropped the smack down on a number of pro players due to Elo-Boosting. The company defines Elo-Boosting as "the repetitive and intentional act of an individual playing on someone else's account (a "client") for the purpose of artificially improving the client's Elo rating." Seven players and one coach, representing pro clubs that include Curse and compLexity, have had their accounts suspended for 14 days. Additionally, the cheaters have had their Season Two rewards revoked.

Riot also issued a "first and final" warning to Good Game University general manager Sam "Hexo" Bouchard for allegedly using a DDoS (distributed denial-of-service) attack to disrupt an opponent's internet connectivity. The LoL competition committee provides an example of Bouchard's antics and it also notes that he currently boasts the worst harrassment rating among all LCS North American players.

[Thanks Officer Jenny!]

Riot rules on League of Legends Elo-Boosting, alleged DDoS attacks originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Mar 2013 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community

Brianna Royce — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Culture, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, Interviews, MMO Industry, Previews, Opinion, Interviews (Massively's), Events (Massively's Coverage), Sandbox, WildStar

At January's WildStar press event, I had the opportunity to chat with several of Carbine's developers about something near and dear to my heart: modding. During my personal demo, Jeremy Gaffney remarked offhandedly -- twice! -- that people don't really want to play the UI; they want to play the game. I know that he's right about some people, and I'm glad game developers are devoting resources toward designing a seamless blend of UI and gameplay that makes actually healing party members as fun or more fun than playing Grid-style healer whackamole. But whackamole or not, I do want to play the UI. I want to tinker.

Fortunately, WildStar intends to accommodate me in a huge way. Read on for the scoop on WildStar's planned modding tools, player councils, and player-generated content.

Continue reading Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community

Slap a rocket on a pig: WildStar's modding and PGC community originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook: Will Korea dominate League of Legends, too?

Patrick Mackey — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Contests, Events (Real-World), PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook

When I first started following the League of Legends pro scene, I was introduced to top teams like Team Solo Mid and SK Gaming. As I watched matches and player interviews, the first thing that came to my mind was this: If Korea fielded a LoL pro team, it would be incredibly scary.

When Riot Games added support for Korean League of Legends and OnGameNet began running regular tournaments, I had to check it out. Sure enough, big pro-gaming teams like StarTale and MiG started fielding pro League teams, and most of the things I suspected were true. Korean teams have amazing coordination and incredible mechanics compared to their western counterparts.

This was put to the test last weekend during Major League Gaming's LoL Summer Arena, where Korean qualifying team Azubu Blaze utterly destroyed the other teams, losing only once to Curse Gaming. Most of the matches weren't even close. What's the secret to Azubu Blaze's dominance? Can it be reproduced in the West, or is League of Legends going to end up like StarCraft -- dominated by the Korean scene?

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Will Korea dominate League of Legends, too?

The Summoner's Guidebook: Will Korea dominate League of Legends, too? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hellgate is cursed... in a good way

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (In-Game), Patches, Hellgate: London, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS

Just when we thought we'd be stuck in London forever, Hellgate Global took us across the world to the ravaged vista of Tokyo late last month. To celebrate the good times and charred corpses all across virtual Japan, the resurrected MMOFPS is bringing a set of new challenges for players to overcome.

For those who scoff at curses and camping out on top of primitive burial grounds, Hellgate dares you to activate your Curse of Dawn mode and attempt to take out Imhotep and Anaksunamun. Those who do so will be on the receiving end of rewards beyond imagination. Also, in-game currency.

Other challenges heading into the game include a guild battle system, and the return of Boss Time Attack. It's not all work and no play, as players will enjoy bonus supplies, free gifts at specific levels, and XP boosts. For a limited time champion monsters will drop lucky coupons, which can then be exchanged for rare items. These will only be in the game until the end October 15th, as luck can only last for so long.

[Source: T3 Entertainment press release]

Hellgate is cursed... in a good way originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Snag an Age of Empires Online beta key!

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Free-to-Play, MMORTS, Promotions

If you're an old school Age of Empires player, then you have fond memories of harvesting bushes for berries, scooting your peasants inside the town hall during an attack, and spreading your civilized society by the pointy end of your swords. Those good ol' memories are being made new in Gas Powered Games' Age of Empires Online, which is heading our way good and fast.

Assuming that the thought of creating a civilization from scratch to dominate your enemies pleases your sensibilities, you can now grab a free beta key from Curse. Simply nab a key while they last, then head on over to the Age of Empires Online site to redeem it and download the beta client.

We're looking forward to hearing how this MMORTS plays, so if you get in, make sure to give us your fair assessment!

Snag an Age of Empires Online beta key! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Waging WAR: Guide to addons

Greg Waller — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, Opinion, Guides, Waging WAR

This week in WagingWAR Greg takes a look at the basic interface offered in Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Well, he said he would take a look, but then he mumbled something about needing a blindfold first. Instead, he writes about all the great ways it can be changed via third-party add-ons and shows us why WAR's modding community really is just the bee's knees.

Let's be honest with ourselves right off the bat and agree that the WAR default interface, although functional, is lackluster in some respects. That's not to say that the developers of WAR made a disastrous UI for us to play with; in fact, the truth is quite the opposite. The standard UI is functional, genre-standard, and provides all the necessary information at a glance. It gets the job done. It also offers a layout editor that allows for simple, easy customization. But sometimes, someone else's idea for a UI element is simply better. Thankfully, WAR supports the Lua programming language and enjoys a strong and talented modding community.

Continue reading for the lowdown on what I consider to be the best of the best of what WAR's mod community has to offer as of patch 1.4.

Continue reading Waging WAR: Guide to addons

Waging WAR: Guide to addons originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Dec 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Curse.com sued by Games Workshop over Warhammer Alliance's name

Rubi Bayer — Fri, 07 May 2010 22:15:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News Items, Legal

Members of Warhammer Online fansite WarhammerAlliance.com found a startling announcement posted on the site today: "We wanted to inform our community here on WarhammerAlliance.com that Games Workshop has filed lawsuit against Curse for operating and maintaining WarhammerAlliance.com."

A look at the official complaint revealed a litany of allegations including cybersquatting, unfair competition, dilution (of the IP), and more. Part of Games Workshop's problem with all of this, according to the complaint is that Curse's use of the Warhammer name and trademarks "literally states and implies that Defendant and their business are in an "alliance" with Plaintiff and its products and services offered under the WARHAMMER Marks," and that this "conduct as aforesaid has caused great and irreparable injury to Plaintiff, and unless such conduct is enjoined, it will continue and Plaintiff will continue to suffer great and irreparable injury."

Not much is known at this point beyond the complaint document from Games Workshop and the forum announcement on the WarhammerAlliance site, but we will certainly keep our eyes open for new information as it comes.

[Thanks to everyone who sent us emails on this!]

Curse.com sued by Games Workshop over Warhammer Alliance's name originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 May 2010 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE trademark filings hint at new EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions

James Egan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Expansions, MMO Industry

Sony Online Entertainment's fantasy MMOs EverQuest and EverQuest II may be due for new expansions if what Kody over at Curse has unearthed holds true. SOE has filed trademarks for two new EQ properties with the US Patent and Trademark Office. They are EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate.

It's a good find, but more of a tease than anything right now as no further details are available about either expansion. As Curse notes though, SOE Fan Faire is very close, just over a week away, and an announcement could be made then.

Have a look at what Kody has to say about the potential for new EverQuest expansions in his post at Curse.

SOE trademark filings hint at new EverQuest and EverQuest II expansions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion NDA drop and first database revealed

Brooke Pilley — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Aion, News Items

We just received the official word from NC West and can confirm that the North American NDA has dropped for Aion. This is great news for the 5% of testers who exhibited enough self-control to uphold the NDA, while the other 95% spoke freely as if it didn't exist at all. Some bloggers even took the loophole approach and downloaded the Chinese client so they could share their early impressions without breaking the NDA.

We can expect to see all sorts of new goodies release now that the NDA is no more. One such tool is called the Aion Armory, which is a database project partnership between AionSource and Curse. Anyone familiar with WARDB or WOWDB will find themselves quite at home on this site. AionSource also opened a new free guide subforum you may want to check out before participating in the Asmodian beta event taking place this weekend.

An early September release is looking more and more likely every day.

Aion NDA drop and first database revealed originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Herald recommends Book of Grudges mod

James Egan — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, PvP, Warhammer Online

If you're hoping to add a little extra something to Warhammer Online's Realm vs. Realm gameplay, look no further than the "Dammaz Kron: The Great Book of Grudges" mod. Valkea, the creator of Dammaz Kron, describes the mod as a "PvP Black-Book" designed to look like a new section of the Tome of Knowledge. All transgressions against you are recorded in The Great Book of Grudges, as are your own acts of retaliation. Best served cold, and all that.

It's also gotten the nod from Mythic Entertainment. In their words, "The Book of Grudges transforms your fighting experience by adding a meta game and another objective to RvR. Just in case you need another reason to perpetuate the extermination of your enemy Dammaz Kron has your answer." Dammaz Kron can be downloaded from Curse and all the info about the mod is listed there as well.

Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Warhammer Herald recommends Book of Grudges mod originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: Too much information

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

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

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

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

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

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

Continue reading Behind the Curtain: Too much information

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

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The Shadow Odyssey's Befallen dungeon featured at EQ2 website

Samuel Axon — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, EverQuest II, Expansions, Lore

SOE posted a preview of Befallen, one of the classic EverQuest dungeons that will be reborn in EverQuest II's upcoming The Shadow Odyssey expansion. Included are several screenshots of the dungeon along with its background in the game's lore. The aesthetic of the old Befallen seems to be preserved -- and amplified -- in EQ2's newer graphics engine.

The story goes something like this: a bunch of Knights of Marr built the keep in the Commonlands as a headquarters in their quest to chase off the giants and orcs that terrorized the people in the countryside. Their fortress became their tomb, though, as orcs laid siege to the keep. A warrior named Gynok Moltor came to them to help, but it turned out that he had been cursed. He betrayed the Knights and turned Befallen into the dangerous mass grave that it is today.

It's standard fantasy fare. Cool enough, but we're sure most of you just care about the loot.

Well met, fellow Norrathian! Make sure to check out all of our coverage of the next EverQuest II expansion, The Shadow Odyssey as well as Seeds of Destruction, the next expansion to EverQuest!

The Shadow Odyssey's Befallen dungeon featured at EQ2 website originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Interview with AoC CM pulls some punches

Chris Chester — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Forums, Interviews

If there's one individual whose position we're glad we haven't been in for the past few months, it's that of Age of Conan Community Manager, Glen "Famine" Swan. We've long been aware of the trials and tribulations that are part of the every day life of your average CM. It's an experience that is trying enough to have forged the bonds of a community management... community. We've seen only small snippets of the almost illogical anger that Age of Conan's troubled launch has provoked, and we can only imagine what it must be like being the front man for such player disappointment.

We were a little disappointed then to see that a recent interview with Famine really failed to dig into any juicy tidbits. Of course, we understand that he wouldn't be able to recount any of the truly horrible details of the last month in print, lest he raise the ire of his community, but we'd have hoped some of the questions would have at least attempted to give the poor man an outlet. At the very least, he mentioned that they're trying to put together a class lead system on the official forums that should help channel feedback to the developers more efficiently than at present.

Interview with AoC CM pulls some punches originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall developer sets the record straight

Shawn Schuster — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, Rumors

In a recent post over at Darkfall's official forums, associate producer Tasos Flambouras gives us an unofficial update for the community on the state of the game as it stands. He spends most of the post shooting down rumors created by the community, and letting us know the reasons behind the most recent delay in any official updates.

As for real information though, we get word of the thought behind the universal banking system and how vehemently opposed the devs are to introducing even more NPCs to the game. Their reasoning is that there are already too many games out there with controllable NPCs to add to your party. Flambouras says, "Even if it's all the rage in MMOs lately we want to further the multiplayer real-time aspect with Darkfall rather than go the other direction. There is no progress in having to introduce single player features such as more NPCs to a MMORPG."

Darkfall developer sets the record straight originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Age of Conan Armory coming soon

Michael Zenke — Sat, 31 May 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan

Curse Gaming sent along word that they've got a project in the works that should be a boon to every Age of Conan player. Linked from the official AoC site, even, this web-based database appears to be an analog to the World of Warcraft Armory service for Funcom's game. The current version of the website is very limited in functionality. At the moment it just features a Feat calculator for the game's twelve classes. The Curse site hints at future additions, including an item database, maps, syndication tools (assumably for characters) and even a wishlist for future items. If you're a player, make sure to keep your eyes on the site for those updates.

The Age of Conan Armory coming soon originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 May 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion gameplay video shows some personality

Kyle Horner — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Aion, New Titles, News Items

Over at Curse there's an interesting video preview of NCsoft's upcoming Aion as well as a couple of screenshots showing off the game's flexible user interface. The entire interface can be adjusted to however a player would prefer and in the screenshot above you can see that Aion is well aware of the popularized WoW-style layout. We're always in favor of letting players easily organize their interface in the way they see fit.

Continue reading Aion gameplay video shows some personality

Aion gameplay video shows some personality originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 06 Apr 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WoW News Special Edition: Patch 2.4

Krystalle Voecks — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:15:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Betas, Fantasy, Patches, News Items

There's been a great deal of World of Warcraft news to come out since last night's announcement of the 2.4 patch going live on the test realms. While character transfer is currently either suspended or overburdened and timing out on the US side of the house, there are still those poking around in the back end and discovering all manner of interesting tidbits. For those of you who spend the lion's share of time in Azeroth, we've compiled a truly massive newspost to give you all the latest and greatest!

We'll kick off our roundup with all the news and a fantastic first-look gallery from our sister site, WoW Insider. For those hungry for even more news, check out the extended coverage from all over the web after the jump!

WoW Insider

2.4 patch notes up -- Read and enjoy!
Sunwell Isle map and PTR news -- Ready for the Sunwell? We are!
Bornakk announces region free test servers -- Could we eventually see region-free live servers?
PTR copy enabled, Rocket Boots changed
PTR up "soon," WSG changes coming
Patch 2.4: Hyjal and Black Temple attunements removed
Badges of Justice topple the Black Temple
Hunters, say hello to Thor'idal -- A bow that removes your need for a quiver or ammo? Legendary!
Blues confirm more changes to come in patch 2.4

Gallery: Patch 2.4 Sunwell Isle

Continue reading WoW News Special Edition: Patch 2.4

WoW News Special Edition: Patch 2.4 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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