Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Has an MMO made you sentimental?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/01/the-daily-grind-has-an-mmo-made-you-sentimental/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/01/the-daily-grind-has-an-mmo-made-you-sentimental/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/06/01/the-daily-grind-has-an-mmo-made-you-sentimental/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

It's a fact of life around the Massively offices that one can often find members of the staff engaging in sentimental gestures from time to time. Whether it be Shawn singing softly to his Tabula Rasa box or Larry lighting a candle to hold vigil for Darth Vader, we are no strangers to the pull of nostalgia and fond attachments.

So we totally understand that MMOs can make one quite sentimental from time to time. I was reminded of this while reading a recent post at Contains Moderate Peril, where the author took part of a final parade across Lord of the Rings Online in Europe before the service was transferred from Codemasters to Turbine.

While end-of-the-world events are often steeped in sentimentality, they don't have to be the only times where such expressions emerge. Has an MMO ever made you sentimental, and if so, will you share with the rest of the class? It's OK, we won't share it with your significant other, promise.

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!

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Has an MMO made you sentimental? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>codemastersdarth-vaderlarrylord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionsentimentsentimentalshawntabula-rasatdgthe-daily-grindturbineWed, 01 Jun 2011 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Revenant infects The Secret World]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/the-revenant-infects-the-secret-world/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/the-revenant-infects-the-secret-world/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/14/the-revenant-infects-the-secret-world/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Take one snip of Hitler's hair, a joybuzzer from Stephen King's IT, and the charred remains of Darth Vader, stir them all together in the Black Cauldron, and you'll cook up the perfect recipe for evil incarnate -- also known as The Secret World's Revenant.

MMORPG.com has the scoop on Funcom's newest monster reveal for The Secret World. Conjuring shades of Lord of the Rings' Nazgul and Silent Hill's Pyramid Head, the Revenants are about as dark as they come: cloaked figures wielding black swords and feeding on pain and death. Plus, they get the nifty ability to turn into icky creatures like rats and worms, so chances are they have one of your phobias tucked up their sleeves.

Revenants promise to be tough enemies who throw about plague and disease like it's candy, and players will reportedly encounter them in the Maine section of the game. You can check out more pictures of this big nasty in the gallery below!

Gallery: The Secret World

MassivelyThe Revenant infects The Secret World originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darth-vaderfuncomhitleritlord-of-the-ringsmainemonster-revealnazgulpyramid-headrevenantsilent-hillstephen-kingthe-black-cauldronthe-secret-worldtswThu, 14 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Game Archaeologist and the Star of the Galaxies: The players (part 2)]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/06/15/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-star-of-the-galaxies-the-players/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/06/15/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-star-of-the-galaxies-the-players/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/06/15/the-game-archaeologist-and-the-star-of-the-galaxies-the-players/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Did you hear this wildly overplayed news story about Darth Vader lately? According to a group of French psychiatrists and psychologists who have way too much time on their hands and not enough free press coverage, they broke down Vader's personality and "discovered" that he had borderline personality disorder.

Pardon my meme, but O RLY? Sure, the guy killed kids, committed domestic abuse, went on an extreme power trip, betrayed his mentor, tortured one of his kids and tried to kill the other, choked any underling who failed him and struggled with sexual repression -- but thank goodness that we have professionals around to tell us the obvious. Now, if those psychiatrists can turn their attention to George Lucas and his making of Howard the Duck, we'd be making progress.

Anyway, continuing from my history retrospective of Star Wars Galaxies and last week's interview with the first batch of SWG vets, the Game Archaeologist now ventures into a subculture long believed to be extinct: post-NGE players who love the game. Join me in welcoming our newest expedition members: Bill "Flynne Cordova" Van Malsen, Alex "Danick Jett" Wiberg, Stephanie "Jao" Koehler and Earth Eternal's Andrew "Titas Lightdust" Sipotz. Never tell them the odds and they'll get you there safe every time.

Continue reading The Game Archaeologist and the Star of the Galaxies: The players (part 2)

MassivelyThe Game Archaeologist and the Star of the Galaxies: The players (part 2) originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bio-engineercreature-handlercudarth-vaderdurnisentertainerfeaturedgeorge-lucasholy-grailhoward-the-duckinterviewjump-to-lightspeedkiller-bunnynew-game-enhancementsngeo-rlypvprodiansandboxsoeSony-Online-Entertainmentstar-wars-galaxiesswgtcgteras-kasithe-game-archaeologisttwilekwookieeyodaTue, 15 Jun 2010 13:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Fallen Earth's villainous troupe, the White Crow Battalion]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/28/fallen-earths-villainous-troupe-the-white-crow-battalion/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/28/fallen-earths-villainous-troupe-the-white-crow-battalion/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/28/fallen-earths-villainous-troupe-the-white-crow-battalion/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Without Darth Vader and the Emperor, Luke probably wouldn't have seemed so heroic to everyone. Why exactly is this kid from the desert blasting all these guys in white armor with his magical powers? What exactly did they ever do to him? Oh, they killed his foster parents and murdered his grandfather figure/teacher. Well that changes a few things, and this developer diary for Fallen Earth discusses many of these merits for their own story.

For Fallen Earth, this seems to be the role that the White Crow Battalion fills for players. As a mercenary group, they don't appear to fall into a faction -- or at least we don't think they do. Considering the opening moments of your newly created character's life revolves around picking up a weapon to stop the merc group from blowing your brains out, we're sure most people won't want to make nice. This excludes the particularly masochistic players, of course.

MassivelyFallen Earth's villainous troupe, the White Crow Battalion originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darth-vaderfallen-earthstar-warsstoryvillainvillainswhite-crow-battalionTue, 28 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/22/the-lore-of-star-wars-the-old-republic/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/22/the-lore-of-star-wars-the-old-republic/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/22/the-lore-of-star-wars-the-old-republic/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


The hotly anticipated MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) from BioWare has only just been announced, but they've already given us a clear picture of the game's setting and a bit of the lore as well. From what we can tell, you won't need to be a die-hard fan of Star Wars to appreciate the title, which is good news as there's a daunting amount of Star Wars canon out there. That said, it'll certainly help to have at least some grounding in what's going on in Star Wars: The Old Republic. To that end, Massively's put together a brief primer on the lore of SWTOR.

Who is this written for? People who've seen the films but may not necessarily have played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (KotOR) on PC or console, and especially those who haven't read the novels or various comic book lines released over the years. Read on, and we'll introduce you to the backdrop and factions of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Continue reading The Lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic

MassivelyThe Lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>biowarecoruscantdark-councildarth-vaderemperorempirefeaturedgalactic-republicjedijedi-counciljedi-orderjoystiqfeaturesknights-of-the-old-republickorribankotorlorenaga-sadowrepublicrevansci-fisithsith-empiresith-lordsith-lordsstar-warsstar-wars-the-old-republicswtortreaty-of-coruscanttythonWed, 22 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[TurpsterVision: Star Bores Fallacies]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/25/turpstervision-star-bores-fallacies/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/25/turpstervision-star-bores-fallacies/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/25/turpstervision-star-bores-fallacies/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

TurpsterVision: Putting stupid words in Alt Tags since 2008
Every Tuesday think "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Never mind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...)

Some people are born entertainers, some people are born story tellers, and others are born reviewers. I'd like to think that in this Episode of TurpsterVision that I prove that I am the illegitimate love child in their sexy, secret, and most definitely sordid, love orgies!

Join us after the break to find out if Turpster's heritage is no longer in doubt!

Continue reading TurpsterVision: Star Bores Fallacies

MassivelyTurpsterVision: Star Bores Fallacies originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>arguably-funnydarth-vaderdarthvaderforceintroductionIts-a-trapstar-warsstar-wars-galaxiesturpsterturpster-visionturpstervisionTue, 25 Mar 2008 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[One Shots: Vader seems to like me...]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/one-shots-vader-seems-to-like-me/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/one-shots-vader-seems-to-like-me/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/one-shots-vader-seems-to-like-me/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Reader Gary sends in this Star Wars Galaxies shot with no further explanation. Thus, while Vader's praise seems to reference some important event, we can't tell you where this shot was taken or anything about the events leading up to it. However, our readers are a clever bunch: would any of you like to fill in the how and why behind this shot?

We're looking for One Shots submissions and hereby challenge you, good readers, to send in your screenshots and stories! Were you there when Morpheus walked among us in The Matrix Online? Do you have screens of when Luclin came in EverQuest? Were you around for the opening of the Dark Portal in WoW? Send your screenshots to oneshots@massively.com and you could find your shot and story featured here for all to see!

Gallery: One Shots

MassivelyOne Shots: Vader seems to like me... originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darth-vaderfeaturedone-shotssoestar-wars-galaxiesswgvaderWed, 21 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[One Shots: Meet Vader]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/one-shots-meet-vader/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/one-shots-meet-vader/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/one-shots-meet-vader/#commentsFiled under: , ,


One of the most entertaining aspects of any MMO is the many places to go and people to see -- but few games have places and people as well-known as Star Wars Galaxies. Michael Zenke shares this shot showing off his character chilling with the infamous Darth Vader at the Emperor's Retreat on Naboo. Smile for the camera, Mr. Vader!

Do you have a screenshot of your own that you think expresses a unique or memorable moment in your favorite MMO? Send them to us with a description (including game name and location) and you may see it posted here for tomorrow's One Shots.

Gallery: One Shots

MassivelyOne Shots: Meet Vader originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>darth-vaderfeaturedstar-wars-galaxiesswgvaderWed, 14 Nov 2007 14:00:00 EST