Massively

World of Tanks deploys its second video tutorial

Larry Everett — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Video, New titles, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks, Miscellaneous

All right, listen here, soldier! You learned all about the garage in the first World of Tanks tutorial. Now it's time to get into the action. Wargaming.net just released its latest lesson about playing this unique MMO. There is a lot to learn, and although the controls may seem familiar at first there are a few twists that may throw you for a loop.

This is where the actual fighting starts. By the end of this second World of Tanks tutorial, you should have all the basics down on how to engage an enemy. The step-by-step instructions will teach you how to read the mini-map, target enemies at specific ranges, lock on targets for close ranged battles, and maneuvering your monstrous vehicle.

If you are into strategy and war gaming or if you just like to blow stuff up, check out the video after the break, then march on over to the official World of Tanks website to sign up for beta testing. Ten hut! Forward march!

Continue reading World of Tanks deploys its second video tutorial

World of Tanks deploys its second video tutorial originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

CCP delaying Incursion to ensure excellence

Krystalle Voecks — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST

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

With the Sansha set to descend on EVE Online en masse, a new character creator that is the precursor to Incarna (when all will be blessed with feet), and a plethora of other goodies large and small, Incursion has been garnering a lot of attention from both active and retired capsuleers. According to a dev blog posted today by EVE's Senior Producer, CCP Zulu, the company has made a tough decision about the release date for its eagerly anticipated expansion. Rather than push it out with potential bugs and issues, CCP is opting to split up Incursion into a three-part deployment. The important part is that by doing so, CCP expects to be able to give each particular chunk of the expansion the time it needs to be "excellent."

The first chunk, which will release on November 30th, offers a host of requested and needed tweaks. While CCP isn't willing to confirm the exact list of features at this time, the list of potentials is expansive, including changes to rockets, T2 ammo, 80 new storyline missions, faction ships' addition to the market, and more. From there, the second patch will be released in December and will contain wonders that "only Santa knows." January 2011 is when the company plans to release the third chunk, which should deliver Incursion's new character creation tool to the masses. If you're curious about more details on the reasons for the change in deployment dates as well as a bigger listing of all the things to come, pop on over to the EVE Online site and check out the devblog.

CCP delaying Incursion to ensure excellence originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE dev blog charts much improved customer support experiences

James Egan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

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

Long petition queues, particularly related to expansions, has long been a problem in EVE Online. These long waits may very well be a thing of the past, according to GM Nova, Senior Game Master for EVE Online. GM Nova's latest dev blog, "Such stuff as dreams are made on," deals with the deployment of the Empyrean Age 1.1 patch in early September, as seen from a Customer Support perspective. "We at Customer Support, being at the front lines so to speak, are in a unique position to judge or evaluate whether a patch was successfully deployed and if ther is any fallout or unexpected problems involved, as the potential torrent of problems are directed at us to pass on," he said.

GM Nova points out how that 'torrent of problems' has slowed down to a trickle, using graph data of the Trinity expansion deployment (predictably an insane amount of petitions), the subsequent Empyrean Age 1.0 patch (so smooth they thought their petition system had crashed), and finally Empyrean Age 1.1. The trend evidenced by the graphs is that their patch deployments are becoming less fraught with complications, meaning happier players in the long run. GM Nova goes on to discuss some of the structural changes made to CCP's Customer Support department that improve petition response time, saying,"We are happy to announce that our average petition age is currently two days with most normal requests handled in hours. We hope our efforts shine through in the level of support we are able to offer." Would you agree with GM Nova's assessment, and have your own petitions of late in EVE Online been resolved in a reasonable amount of time?

EVE dev blog charts much improved customer support experiences originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tabula Rasa's Deployment 12 hits public test server

James Egan — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Tabula Rasa

Some potential changes to Tabula Rasa have arrived on the Public Test Server in the form of "Deployment 12," which we recently hinted was on the way. NCsoft has posted the patch notes for Deployment 12 which include changes and improvements to much of the game.

One of the more significant updates mentioned is the Omega Labs instance, which is only available to level 50+ players, but numerous other changes to maps and missions are detailed at the Tabula Rasa site. Improved game mechanics, fixed interactions, and enhancements to how shadows and hues are displayed are all outlined in the patch notes as well. The changes on the Public Test Server are extensive, so be sure to see the full breakdown for a look at how Tabula Rasa is gearing up for the next Deployment.

Tabula Rasa's Deployment 12 hits public test server originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

A preview of Tabula Rasa's Deployment 9

Michael Zenke — Sat, 24 May 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Patches, Tabula Rasa

This week's Tabula Rasa Friday Feature is all about Deployment 9, coming soon to the live servers. The primary systems change slated for this next update is called "Squad Merge". Essentially, it will allow players in two separate groups to band together into one group through a simple command. The TR dev team is also working on a content tag: "PTS Only"; this will be applied to certain content that they want explored purely on the Public Test Server. Some of this content may eventually migrate to the live servers, but some might not.

They're looking for more testers, and are providing a number of new tools to PTS players who want to try out in-development content. Sign up if you're interested. The first content that tag will be applied to is the new Velon Hollow instance. It's (obviously) going to eventually make it to live. In the meantime, though, the PTS will be the only place you can take on this new 30-32 map just off of the Plateau. Formerly known as Howling Death Burrow, it can be accessed via the "Book of the Velonar" questline in New Velon Village.

A preview of Tabula Rasa's Deployment 9 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 May 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments