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[One Shots: Taking on a new form]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/one-shots/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/one-shots/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/04/15/one-shots/#commentsFiled under: ,


We've gotten a smattering of graphical love in from some people who are either still playing Age of Conan, or who recently popped into Hyborea for a look around. Today's One Shots is one such example of the DX10 graphical updates, although in this case, it's more a transformation and some texturing - still impressive! This image comes to us from Thulgor who is part of the Mist Wolves guild on the Gwahlur server. He writes in: Hi. [I] was playing with the new DX10 client and captured this shot of my L80 Herald of Xotli having just transformed into Avatar form while in the new Slaughterhouse Cellar dungeon in Age of Conan.

We're always on the lookout for art and architecture in different games, and we know we can't possibly have seen it all already. So grab some screens of your favorite game and send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name/server/guild and a quick description of what we're seeing. We'll post them here and give you the credit for sending them in.

Gallery: One Shots



MassivelyOne Shots: Taking on a new form originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanaocdirectx-10dx10funcomone-shotsscreenshotscreenshotsWed, 15 Apr 2009 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Age of Conan's DX10 put to the test]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/age-of-conans-dx10-put-to-the-test/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/age-of-conans-dx10-put-to-the-test/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/16/age-of-conans-dx10-put-to-the-test/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


It's been a long time coming, but Age of Conan's Testlive server is now running a version of the game that can output DirectX 10 graphics, a feature that many people missed at launch. The current implementation probably isn't indicative of what will end up on the Live servers, but if you just can't wait and want to see the work-in-progress, Age of Conan Vault has a number of DX9 to DX10 comparison screenshots on show right now. The test client as-is doesn't have some of the cooler features like volumetric fog or windy trees just yet, but these would be better seen in video form anyway.

The most stand-out difference between the screenshot pairings that we can pick is the upped brightness and visibility in dark areas on the DX10 side. In some (but not all) of the shots, the textures look noticeably better too. The AoC Vault reviewer experienced a significant FPS drop, from roughly 50FPS down to 20FPS, when switching from DX9 to DX10, but this is apparently not that common among other testers -- most do get their share of graphical glitches and crashing though. Hopefully it's all ironed out when Funcom decides to push DX10 to the live servers at a later date.

MassivelyAge of Conan's DX10 put to the test originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanaocdirectxdirectx-10directx-9dx10dx9fogfuncomtest-servertestlivevolumetric-fogTue, 16 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Craig Morrison discusses future Age of Conan updates and changes]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/craig-morrison-discusses-future-age-of-conan-updates-and-changes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/craig-morrison-discusses-future-age-of-conan-updates-and-changes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/11/17/craig-morrison-discusses-future-age-of-conan-updates-and-changes/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Age of Conan's game director, Craig Morrison, has written a letter to the community about the next slew of upgrades and updates coming to the game now that Ymir's Pass -- and its new PvP system -- is on the live servers. First on the list of patches will be DirectX 10, which Morrison says is something the team wanted to be really special. We're just hoping it doesn't bring any serious new bugs with it, but from the sound of things Funcom is trying to make sure the new graphics are highly scalable for various computers.

The second big project in the works are two new dungeons. Thunder River will hold both of them and they'll be aimed at max-level players. The Slaughter House Cellar is for single players, while Xibaluku is a large team dungeon. We can expect to see these released with the next update, apparently.

Continue reading Craig Morrison discusses future Age of Conan updates and changes

MassivelyCraig Morrison discusses future Age of Conan updates and changes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanaoccraig-morrisondirectx-10funcomgame-directorpvptarantia-commonsthe-slaughter-housethunder-riverupdatexibalukuymirs-passMon, 17 Nov 2008 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Before and after images of Age of Conan's DirectX 10 support]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/23/before-and-after-images-of-age-of-conans-directx-10-support/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/23/before-and-after-images-of-age-of-conans-directx-10-support/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/23/before-and-after-images-of-age-of-conans-directx-10-support/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Let's say you play Age of Conan, your computer runs on Windows Vista, and you have a fairly new video card (GeForce 8-series and better or the ATI equivalent). Honestly, we're not sure there are really that many of you that touch all those bases, but for those who are: congratulations! You can play games in DirectX 10 mode! Too bad there aren't really that many games that support DirectX 10!

Thankfully, Age of Conan will soon be one of the elite few. It looks like the difference in visual quality will be significant. We make that observation based on a handful of before-and-after screenshots hosted at Ten Ton Hammer. Give them a look to find out what you're in for if you're one of the folks who have the hardware and software to experience it, or what you're missing out on if you're not.

MassivelyBefore and after images of Age of Conan's DirectX 10 support originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanaocdirectxdirectx-10funcomgc-2008graphicsleipzigscreenshotsvistawindows-vistaSat, 23 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Funcom announces Leipzig Games Convention details]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/funcom-announces-leipzig-games-convention-details/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/funcom-announces-leipzig-games-convention-details/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/funcom-announces-leipzig-games-convention-details/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


This year's Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany should be a big event for Funcom, who will be showcasing new Age of Conan content. Funcom's latest press release states they will be showing attendees new locations, content, and features that will make it into Age of Conan in the coming months.

The event will also showcase demos of Blue Orb Inc.'s software which enables gamepad play as well as a look at Matrox's TripleHead2Go, for widescreen gameplay across three screens. Funcom adds that they will reveal the title's forthcoming DirectX 10 features to the press at the Games Convention, so expect more details about the long-awaited features to be announced later this month.

MassivelyFuncom announces Leipzig Games Convention details originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanblue-orbdirectx-10fantasyfuncomgames-conventionleipzigmatroxpreviewstriplehead2gowidescreenFri, 15 Aug 2008 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[New DirectX 11 details emerge]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/new-directx-11-details-emerge/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/new-directx-11-details-emerge/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/new-directx-11-details-emerge/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Not many MMOs take advantage of the DirectX 10 API and its instruction sets but that's not stopping progress on DirectX 11. The new DirectX version will work on Vista and future versions of the Windows operating system dubbed Windows 7. Yesterday, at Gamefest -- Microsft's XNA conference, the conglomerate disclosed some upcoming key components that the new technology will possess.

There's full support, and compatibility with DirectX 10 and 10.1 hardware, and this support extends too new DirectX 11 hardware. A new compute shader technology will open a GPU's capabilities to coincide as a parallel processor. More optimized power as multi-threaded resource handling will increase performance on multi-core machines. That's great since 8-core processors are not far-off from market sale. The last technical DirectX 11 feat announced is support for tessellation, a big fancy term that more or less makes your graphics smoother and prettier when viewed close-up. It could be a year or more before a MMOG takes full advantage of DirectX 11's capabilities. For example early DX10 adopters that play MMOGs are still waiting for Age of Conan's DX10 client.

MassivelyNew DirectX 11 details emerge originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>directxdirectx-10directx-11directx10directx11dx10dx11gamesfest-2008graphic-shadersgraphicsmicrosofttechnologyvideovideo-technologywindowswindows-operating-systemWed, 23 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Massively's E3 Week Prediction Bingo]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/12/massivelys-e3-week-prediction-bingo/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/12/massivelys-e3-week-prediction-bingo/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/07/12/massivelys-e3-week-prediction-bingo/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,



AoC is Huge!
Firefly MMO News
No BioWare MMO News
MMOs the Future of PC Gaming
Red 5 Announces Their Game

Consoles are the Future of MMOs
"We're not after WoW Numbers"
Animal Crossing: the MMO
Free Realms
Info
Microtransactions - Future of MMOs

Guild Wars 2 Info
Cryptic's Star Trek Online
Free Space
The Agency Info
Secret World Info

DirectX 10 Compatible!
Social Tools the Future of MMOs
Champions Online Info
APB Info
DCUO Info

Free to Play the Future of MMOs
Valve MMO Announced
38's Copernicus Unveiled
Carbine's Game Announced
Turbine's Next Project
Every year it's customary to roll out predictions on what will and won't show up at the current year's E3 event. With Massively heading in the direction of the LA Convention Center already, we thought it might be fun to offer up some likely (and highly unlikely) predictions of what might get talked about next week. In reality, this is sort of a "future of the MMO industry list" as everything on here is more-or-less a current or upcoming trend. The only question is whether any given item will get discussed next week.

Each of those nice images is a link, which will take you into our E3 Predictions Gallery. Don't know who Carbine or Red 5 are? Not sure about Copernicus? If you don't understand one of our bingo squares, be sure to dig down and find out what all the fuss is about. We'll be bringing you all the MMO dirt you can stand next week, so hopefully this will tide you over until then. Enjoy!

Gallery: Massively's E3 2008 Bingo

Age of Conan is Huge!Firefly MMO News No BioWare MMO NewsMMOs the Future of PC GamingRed 5 Announces Their Game

MassivelyMassively's E3 Week Prediction Bingo originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 12 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanall-points-bulletinanimal-crossingapbbiowarecarbinechampions-onlineconsolescopernicusdc-universe-onlinedirectx-10e3e3-2008e3-bingoe308featuredfree-realmsfree-to-playguild-wars-2joystiqfeaturesmassivelymicrotransactionspredictionsred-5secret-worldsocial-networkingstar-trek-onlinethe-agencyturbinevalveworld-of-warcraftSat, 12 Jul 2008 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Games that shouldn't be MMOs]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/28/games-that-shouldnt-be-mmos/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/28/games-that-shouldnt-be-mmos/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/02/28/games-that-shouldnt-be-mmos/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Here's a corollary post to an earlier story. Our cousin site, Cinematical, has brought teh funneh with a post about which board games would make awful movies. In that spirit, we now present to you a list of games that would make terrible MMOs, in no particular order.

Please note that these are merely our particular opinions, and we're not saying that a cleverer-than-thou developer couldn't make a great MMO out of these games ... but for reasons we'll state here, it's highly unlikely. Then again, sometimes the best-sounding ideas turn out some awful games themselves (*cough* Fury *cough*), so it all evens out. Excelsior!

Continue reading Games that shouldn't be MMOs

MassivelyGames that shouldn't be MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ace-attorneyasynchronousbrain-damagecinematicalcodpiececonnecteddirectx-10dung-beetlesfeaturedfuryGUIhumori-alonejamiroquaikatamari-damacyking-of-all-cosmoslagleisure-suit-larrylittle-princelivepachinkopegglephoenix-wrightpink-floydpugrock-bandsexual-revolutionsisyphusstereo-mcsvirtual-insanitywidespread-panicThu, 28 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Winners picked for final week of Turbine's DX10 screenshot contest]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/20/winners-picked-for-final-week-of-turbines-dx10-screenshot-conte/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/20/winners-picked-for-final-week-of-turbines-dx10-screenshot-conte/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/20/winners-picked-for-final-week-of-turbines-dx10-screenshot-conte/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Turbine's DirectX 10 screenshot contest for the LotRO community has finally come to an end. Three winners and one runner-up have been selected for the final week.

Airak and Eoheryn of Landroval, and forum member Fatty_Lumpkin were the three winners. The honorably mentioned screenshot (included above) was taken by Rendo Gnollen. Why did Turbine pick three winners and one honorable mention instead of just saying there are four winners, since there are no prizes anyway? Who knows.

Turbine also assured everyone that there will be another screenshot contest next year, and that DirectX 9 users will also be eligible.

MassivelyWinners picked for final week of Turbine's DX10 screenshot contest originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 20 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>contestsdirectxdirectx-10dx10lord-of-the-rings-onlinelotropicturesscreenshotsturbinevistaweek-5winnersThu, 20 Dec 2007 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Turbine announces fourth pair of DX10 screenshot contest winners]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/13/turbine-announces-fourth-pair-of-dx10-screenshot-contest-winners/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/13/turbine-announces-fourth-pair-of-dx10-screenshot-contest-winners/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/13/turbine-announces-fourth-pair-of-dx10-screenshot-contest-winners/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Week four of Turbine's screenshot contest for The Lord of the Rings Online has come and gone, and the fourth pair of winners has been selected.

This time the winners are players Morreion and Brisbanoch. Their entries have been posted on the official LotRO forums. Morreion's screenshot is pictured here. It shows off the dynamic tree shadow effects you can enable if you're playing with a DirectX 10-ready video card in Windows Vista.

Turbine's been hosting this contest to celebrate LotRO's place as the first MMO to fully support DX10 features. It's not too late to send in an entry yourself if you've got the high-end hardware needed to support DX10 -- and if you run Windows Vista. That's a big if at this point.

MassivelyTurbine announces fourth pair of DX10 screenshot contest winners originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>directxdirectx-10dx10graphicslord-of-the-rings-onlinescreenshot-contestscreenshotsshadowsturbinevistaweek-4windows-vistaThu, 13 Dec 2007 23:00:00 EST<![CDATA[LotRO DirectX 10 screenshot contest crowns week 3 winners]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/lotro-directx-10-screenshot-contest-crowns-week-3-winners/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/lotro-directx-10-screenshot-contest-crowns-week-3-winners/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/lotro-directx-10-screenshot-contest-crowns-week-3-winners/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Week 3 of the Lord of the Rings Online DirectX 10 screenshot contest has rolled around, and there are two more winning snaps to share (full-sized versions available from the forum post). Both of the winners this week have shots that show off some nice tree shadows, and the reflection of the castle in the above shot is good too. Incidentally, an upcoming patch to the game will improve performance of DX10 with shadows in particular.

If you missed the other winners so far, here is our coverage of Week 1 and Week 2. There should be two more weeks of entries still ahead, and we'll be sure to report them when they come through. It's also not too late to enter, if you have a ridiculous machine to back you up, so check out the contest rules if you want to get a chance at having a featured screenshot.

MassivelyLotRO DirectX 10 screenshot contest crowns week 3 winners originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>directxdirectx-10dx10lotroshadowstree-shadowsturbineweek-3winnersWed, 05 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST<![CDATA[Downtime for LotRO will fix Troll and Ranger PvMP]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/downtime-for-lotro-will-fix-troll-and-ranger-pvmp/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/downtime-for-lotro-will-fix-troll-and-ranger-pvmp/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/12/05/downtime-for-lotro-will-fix-troll-and-ranger-pvmp/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The Lord of the Rings Online forums have spilled the beans on what will be getting fixed with the game's imminent update. The downtime will occur on December 6th, from 6:00AM (ET), and is expected to last until 12PM. This patch does not really contain any new content, however, one of the fixes will open up another option for PvMP players -- or rather, re-open.

The update should bring back the option to choose Trolls and Rangers in session play, which we reported on a few weeks ago when they were disabled. At the time, they did not say how long it would be before they were reintroduced, so it's good to see this feature back in the game before Book 12 is out. The question is, will there have been other tweaks to how they play, to address the balance issues many have been complaining about? Or, looking at this thread -- do people even want them back? The scale seems to tip heavily towards 'no', with the topic-creator keeping a tally: 12 for them, and 25 against.

Other notable fixes for this update include some DirectX 10 performance improvements with shadowing. Full pre-patch notes can be found after the break.

Continue reading Downtime for LotRO will fix Troll and Ranger PvMP

MassivelyDowntime for LotRO will fix Troll and Ranger PvMP originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>directx-10dx10lotropvmprangersession-playtrollupdateWed, 05 Dec 2007 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Turbine picks DX10 Screenshot Contest winners for Week 2]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/turbine-picks-dx10-screenshot-contest-winners-for-week-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/turbine-picks-dx10-screenshot-contest-winners-for-week-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/28/turbine-picks-dx10-screenshot-contest-winners-for-week-2/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


As if people with GeForce 8800 GT video cards weren't lucky enough, Turbine has been hosting a screenshot contest just for them on the official The Lord of the Rings Online website. Players submit screenshots of the game running in DirectX 10 and Turbine posts the best screenshots each week.

The water effects in LotRO are jaw-droppingly gorgeous; last week's winners both focused on those. Now this week's winners have been selected, and water still plays a part in one of the screenshots (pictured above), but it's not the sole focus. It's too bad none of the winning screenshots are presented in a variety of wallpaper resolutions. They would make excellent desktop backgrounds.

Still, they're nice to look at. Enter the contest yourself if you think you have l33t virtual photography skillz!

MassivelyTurbine picks DX10 Screenshot Contest winners for Week 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>contestcontestsdirectxdirectx-10dx10lord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroscreenshotsturbinevistaWed, 28 Nov 2007 21:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Turbine selects the first DirectX 10 screenshot contest winners]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/turbine-selects-the-first-directx-10-screenshot-contest-winners/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/turbine-selects-the-first-directx-10-screenshot-contest-winners/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/21/turbine-selects-the-first-directx-10-screenshot-contest-winners/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Last week we reported that the LotRO crew at Turbine would be having a screenshot contest to promote how awesome they are for making LotRO the first MMO to support DirectX 10. Each Monday, the best shots from the previous week's submissions would be featured at the official website.

Well, the first Monday (plus two days) has arrived, and two winners have been selected, which is a surprise since the original announcement said there would be three winners each week. They're both very good screenshots that feature very pretty water effects; one of them -- which we think is a view of the lake in Evendim -- appears above.

You can look at the other one in the official forum post. The contest will continue until December 17th, so if you have a GPU that supports DX10 and if you're running Windows Vista, send in a submission!

MassivelyTurbine selects the first DirectX 10 screenshot contest winners originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>contestsdirectxdirectx-10dx10lord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroscreenshotsturbinevistawindows-vistaWed, 21 Nov 2007 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[LotRO downtime today for Book 11 Patch 1]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/lotro-downtime-today-for-book-11-patch-1/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/lotro-downtime-today-for-book-11-patch-1/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/lotro-downtime-today-for-book-11-patch-1/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Book 11 provided a huge chunk of content for Lord of the Rings Online players. Player housing, Balrog raids, the Harvest Festival, revamps to the Lore-master and Burglar classes, the introduction of Gollum, the list goes on. And with every fat patch comes a swarm of bugs that make it to the Live servers.

Today, Turbine is stomping on a number of those bug with Book 11 Patch 1. Servers are down from 7am - 1p EST while the new patch is implemented on the Live servers. Along with usual pathing problems, stability adjustments and mob AI tweaks, fixes include DirextX 10 support coming out of beta, fixes to the Hooks in housing used to place decorations and nerfing some Conjunctions used in Player vs Monster Player combat.

For a complete list of patch notes, check out LotRO's Lorebook wiki.

MassivelyLotRO downtime today for Book 11 Patch 1 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>balrog-raidbook-11-patch-1conjunctionsdirectx-10gollumharvest-festivallord-of-the-ringslorebooklotroplayer-housingplayer-vs-player-monsterpvmpthe-riftturbineWed, 14 Nov 2007 11:02:00 EST