Massively

Dawntide temporarily closes beta server

Jef Reahard — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Dawntide, Sandbox

Dawntide's beta server is officially closed for business. As we told you earlier this month, indie studio Working as Intended has decided to suspend the fantasy sandbox's open beta phase in order to focus on a large-scale gameworld revamp.

WAI says that the servers will be offline "for a period of one to two months," and the company intends to keep players posted via weekly news updates and screenshots of the work in progress.

Dawntide is a non-linear open-world title featuring skill-based advancement and a deep crafting system. You can check out our first impressions of the beta client via Some Assembly Required.

Dawntide temporarily closes beta server originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic goes dark in preparation for launch

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Launches, Star Wars: The Old Republic

It's as if a million gamers cried out in... you know what? We've done that joke too many times, as has everyone else. We're officially declaring it off-limits for the remainder of this game's history. It's a trap, trust us.

And you thought that intro smelled bad... on the outside!

OK, it's all out of our system -- as is Star Wars: The Old Republic. As the game nears its official December 20th launch date, BioWare is bringing down both the servers and the website in preparation for the momentous event. From 7:00 p.m. until 12:01 a.m. EST, SWTOR will be inaccessible.

BioWare says that as the game comes back online at midnight, the studio will be adding "a large number of new servers" to facilitate the influx of launch players. Even so, the studio predicts that queues on popular servers will be present and urges players to consider rolling characters on lesser-populated realms.

Because of the recently instituted grace period, early access players have until 3:00 a.m. EST on December 22nd to register their product codes or be cut off from gameplay.

Star Wars: The Old Republic goes dark in preparation for launch originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Dec 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wizard101 offers reimbursement for Sunday downtime

Matt Daniel — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Wizard101, Family

Wizard101 players may have noticed some unplanned downtime in their gameplay Sunday afternoon. J. Todd Coleman, aka Headmaster Ambrose, stopped by the forums today to clarify the issue. The technical problem that caused the downtime has since been fixed, but Coleman has said that some players may have experienced a loss of items acquired just prior to the downtime.

But don't fret, Wizard101 players. The team keeps detailed logs of all acquired items, and any items acquired (or crowns spent) prior to the downtime will be reimbursed, even if the item was not actually lost. The team understands that erring on the side of caution such as this will result in some players receiving double the loot, but Coleman states that this outcome is "far preferable to running the risk of some players not recovering lost items. All items should be successfully reimbursed within the next 24 to 48 hours. For the full details on the problem and subsequent recovery, head on over to the game's official forums.

Wizard101 offers reimbursement for Sunday downtime originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perpetuum down today due to datacenter move

Jef Reahard — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, MMO industry, News items, Perpetuum, Dev Diaries, Miscellaneous, Sandbox

If you were planning to play a little Perpetuum today, you might want to make other plans. The sci-fi sandbox's servers are moving to a bigger location across town (in Budapest, Hungary, if you're curious), and the forums and website will down in addition to the game.

Avatar Creations' latest dev update says that the game will remain offline "for the better part of the day," and status updates will be available on the Perpetuum Facebook page. When the hardware comes back to life, Perpetuum will be sporting a brand-new website complete with everything you need to keep track of the game on the homepage, not to mention an entirely new section devoted to lore and short fiction. Finally, the newest dev blog mentions that this is not the server move that Avatar has been planning to make in order to address routing issues. Rather, this one is necessitated by a datacenter expansion to a larger facility.

Perpetuum down today due to datacenter move originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wings Over Atreia: Into the Abyss (real life) I go

MJ Guthrie — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events, real-world, Opinion, Massively Meta, Humor, Wings Over Atreia

I can stop any time I want to. Really. It would be as easy as nuking an El Roco. You believe me, right?

Has anyone ever suggested to you -- even in jest -- that you should take a break from Aion? Maybe step back, venture outside, and check out that thing called "sunshine"? (Don't worry, you really won't melt!) Sound familiar? It's not like the game will disappear without you in it. And a break might do you good, especially if the game seems stale and you feel you've "been there, done that" 50 times over.

I know I could step away, easy-peasy. But then, even on vacations across the country, I have managed to slip into game long enough for daily quests and checking the broker. Computer in the shop? Pfffft -- just steal the kids'; I did buy it for them after all. *cracks whip* Now hurry up with that homework! I could step away... if I wanted to. I just don't want to.

Well, Mother Nature obliged, succeeding where even vacations and broken computers couldn't: I have been forcibly removed from the world of Atreia for a week now. Amid my new quests of obtaining drinking water and procuring a real shower (hot water and all), I found my mind flitting back to those daily tokens I was missing. Oh, and the weeklies! This made me stop and consider how enmeshed in Aion we are (I can use the excuse it's my job, right?). Can we really completely step away from the game we love -- and love to hate at times -- or is there a point we might even miss the drama?

Is it possible to cope without wings? Check past the cut to see how I fared.

Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Into the Abyss (real life) I go

Wings Over Atreia: Into the Abyss (real life) I go originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: How do you deal with extended downtimes?

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Events, real-world, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

Sometimes, games go down for maintenance, or your power goes out, or there's an internet hiccup. You have to deal with a bit of time out of the game, and it's no big deal. But other times, you have to deal with an extended hiatus from your game of choice due to massive natural disasters or other catastrophic circumstances. You might have bigger problems than just not logging in to Star Trek Online, but it doesn't change the fact that you're going to be out of circulation for a bit.

If you've been messing around exclusively with low-level characters that have nothing time-related on their plates, naturally, you won't be affected. But if you're in the midst of endgame work in RIFT or long-term roleplaying in Lord of the Rings Online, being out for a long stretch of time can cause some issues. So how do you work around it? And equally importantly, how do you manage your time when you're taking an unwanted hiatus from one of your hobbies for a while?

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: How do you deal with extended downtimes? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Not So Massively: Dreamhack tournament edition

Brendan Drain — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Culture, New titles, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Not So Massively

Welcome to Not So Massively, our weekly roundup of the top news from popular multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) and other multiplayer online games that aren't quite MMOs. Published every Saturday, the column covers games such as League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Rise of Immortals, Bloodline Champions, and more.

Last week was massive for gaming, with a ton of exciting news pouring out of E3. We shared news of the next three champions coming to League of Legends and got talking to developers at Riot Games to find out what's on the game's horizon. We also got an in-depth look at Vorp!, the Asteroids-esque shooter by END Games. We heard about plans to add a new DotA mode to Vorp! and found out that the game could feasibly be ported to smartphones and other platforms in the future. We also looked at Realm of the Titans' crystal upgrade system and showed a MOBA Champions interview with Rise of Immortals' community manager Matthew Anderson.

Following last week's deluge of news, this week's Not So Massively offerings are a little more muted as most of the current MOBAs prepare for competitive tournaments at Dreamhack 2011 in Sweden. Competitive online gaming as a profession is an old idea, but it's one that has seen growing support in the West over the past few years. Dreamhack is the world's largest LAN party and possibly the biggest event in the competitive gaming calendar, with dozens of companies sponsoring tournaments with massive cash prizes. We also get a look at Aida Arenas' Arena Hustle gameplay mode and new online World War II RTS Operation Gamma 41.

Continue reading Not So Massively: Dreamhack tournament edition

Not So Massively: Dreamhack tournament edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 Jun 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online server offline due to DDOS attack

Brendan Drain — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:30:00 EST

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

Just over an hour ago, the EVE Online login and website servers became unresponsive and went offline. A Twitter user purporting to represent the group responsible for the major PSN outage earlier this month is claiming credit for the EVE server outage. According to the user, the DDOS is part of a series of attacks today that has also shut down the Minecraft login servers and The Escapist magazine's website.

CCP released an update on Facebook and Twitter stating that the issue is currently under investigation. "EVE Online and related services are currently offline and will return as soon as possible following investigation of some issues." CCP was unable to comment further on the outage but urges players to watch the EVE Facebook and Twitter feeds for further updates as they become available.

EVE Online server offline due to DDOS attack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Jun 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Age of Conan merging U.S. servers today, EU tomorrow

Jef Reahard — Tue, 31 May 2011 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play

It's server merge time in Hyboria. Age of Conan's launcher indicates that the U.S. servers are offline for up to 24 hours while the American PvP shards (Cimmeria and Tyranny) are consolidated. Tomorrow will see the European servers undergo a similar process, with Crom, Hyrkania, and Ishtar merging into a single PvE mashup and Fury, Aquilonia, and Stygia joining forces as the remaining PvP shard.

Funcom has thrown up a server merge FAQ for your reading pleasure during the downtime, and in it you'll find details on everything from duplicate character names to duplicate guild names to the fate of guild-controlled battlekeeps. "Since build spots for battlekeeps are limited on each server, all build spots will be cleared and guilds will be reimbursed the resources for their battlekeep. This is to make sure that the guild gets the needed resources again and every guild gets the same chance," says the FAQ.

Read up on all the details at the official AoC forums.

Age of Conan merging U.S. servers today, EU tomorrow originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 May 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE begins restoring game services

Jef Reahard — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:10:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous

Sony Online Entertainment has good news for fans of its dormant MMORPGs. Service restoration has officially begun for all of the company's online games, forums, and related websites as of May 14th. Earlier today, the company issued a press release with the details as well as a statement from Sony executive Kazuo Hirai.

"Our main priority is the safety and security of our customers' personal information. We are making consumer data protection a full-time, company-wide commitment, and have applied enhanced security technologies so that our customers can feel protected and confident about playing our games," Hirai said.

SOE provided details on its Welcome Back promotion earlier this week, and today's release provides links to a handy chart covering promotions for all of the company's games as well as a summary of the initial customer service notice and contact information. The promotions include free play time for former (not just active) subscribers to SOE's MMOs, making it a great time to return to an old favorite.

SOE begins restoring game services originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 May 2011 20:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony aiming for May 31st PSN service restoration [Updated]

Jef Reahard — Mon, 09 May 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Super-hero, EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items, Consoles, Free Realms, DC Universe Online, EverQuest Next, Miscellaneous

Sony's network security woes continued over the weekend, and the light at the end of the tunnel still seems like a distant pin prick for the embattled gaming giant and its displaced customers. Bloomberg reports that Sony spokesman Shigenori Yoshida indicated the company plans to restart Playstation Network services by May 31st, which would bring the total downtime to a whopping 41 days.

Nick Caplin, head of communications for Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, posted an update to the European PlayStation blog hinting at the reasons for a longer delay. "We expected to have the services online within a week. We were unaware of the extent of the attack on Sony Online Entertainment servers, and we are taking this opportunity to conduct further testing of the incredibly complex system," he wrote.

While the PS3 versions of both Free Realms and DC Universe Online fall under the PSN umbrella, no word has been forthcoming as to a restart date for the rest of SOE's MMO stable, which includes the PC versions of the aforementioned titles as well as EverQuest and EverQuest II.

[Update: CNET is reporting that Sony is considering a reward for information leading to the capture of the hackers. Meanwhile, Sony is apparently contesting reports about the May 31st date, suggesting no such hard deadline for PSN resumption exists.]

Sony aiming for May 31st PSN service restoration [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What do you do during downtime in the game?

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 06 May 2011 08:00:00 EST

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

MMOs, especially older ones, often suffered or benefited (depending on whom you asked) from having a somewhat more sedate pace of activities. Even in the most action-oriented games, there are periods of downtime, whether they come from travel times or waiting for the other two players in your party to come back from the bathroom. It's not enough time for you to think that you should just log off and do something else, but it is enough time that you start to find your attention wandering at least a little bit.

So what do you do during the brief downtime in an MMO? Do you read books while you wait for your World of Warcraft raid to get underway? Do you have the television on in the background while you play World of Tanks (preferably tuned to the History Channel)? Is it a simple matter of tabbing over to read another site while you warp around in Star Trek Online? Or do you just entertain yourself with emote spam, jumping, and various inventory toys?

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 do you do during downtime in the game? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 May 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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SOE acknowledges "external intrusion" responsible for website downtime

Jef Reahard — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items, Vanguard, Free-to-play, Free Realms

Sony Online Entertainment has acknowledged an issue that has caused its MMORPGs and game-related websites to be sporadically unavailable since Thursday, April 21st. SOE's Linda "Brasse" Carlson posted on the EverQuest II forums late last night, attributing the trouble to "an external intrusion."

Users have experienced connection issues in everything from Vanguard, to EQII, to Free Realms, and EQII's main website remains inaccessible as of press time. Station Cash and account services appear to be working normally.

"As a result of an external intrusion on its system, SOE interrupted its services on April 21. Promptly upon learning of the intrusion, SOE initiated an investigation and took corrective steps to bring its games and other services back up," Carlson explained. "We are working hard on bringing all of our player sites back online, but have no ETA at this time. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for bearing with us."

SOE acknowledges "external intrusion" responsible for website downtime originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Prophecy blasts off in Europe today

Jef Reahard — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Black Prophecy

T-minus three, two, one... and that sound you hear is the latest space-based MMORPG lifting off the launch pad, heading for the stratosphere and the stars beyond. At least, that's what gamigo and Reakktor are hoping when it comes to Black Prophecy, which officially takes a bow in Europe today.

Beta characters, clans, and clan sectors will be wiped for the kickoff, and Black Prophecy will initially feature both an English and a German server. Snowcrash (no, not that one) has posted a note informing customers of impending forum downtime and has also let us know that game updates will be available via the launcher application while the launch-day forum restructuring is in progress.

"This is not an end. It's a beginning; the foundation is laid and we will now move forward with the continued development of Black Prophecy after its release," says assistant production manager Chris "Snowcrash" Schutt. While you're waiting to log in -- or stuck at work -- check out our coverage roundup after the cut and get caught up on the biggest Black Prophecy news items from the past few months.

Continue reading Black Prophecy blasts off in Europe today

Black Prophecy blasts off in Europe today originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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City of Heroes a ski destination for the weekend

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Events, in-game, News items

If you live in New England, you've probably spent the past month staring at a wall of unblinking white hatred, playing video games in a desperate effort to feel less trapped. Unfortunately, this past week has been rather touch-and-go for the servers on City of Heroes, making it much harder to escape into the game whether or not you're walled in by frozen water. So the development team is offering an olive branch to players: the ski chalet just outside of Pocket D is being re-opened for the weekend.

Running until noon PST on February 8th, the ski chalet will be open to all characters to enjoy, something usually reserved for the winter holiday event. It'll also segue nicely into the start of the Spring Fling event, giving players their annual shot at earning valentine's-themed costume parts and badges. If you're one of the City of Heroes players who has been locked out by the server outages, you'll no doubt be happy for the opportunity to get in some winter fun -- unless, of course, you're still stuck in the midst of the winter's omnipresent snowdrifts.

City of Heroes a ski destination for the weekend originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Feb 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Storyboard: Putting the RP out of the G

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Browser, Roleplaying, Guides, Storyboard, Miscellaneous

Roleplaying happens in the game, that much is a given. For some players, it's a supplement to the other parts of the game; for others, it's the whole point of playing. And there's nothing wrong with leaving your roleplaying as just an in-game thing, something you put down as casually as any other in-game activity. But there's also nothing wrong with working on developing your character and her story when you aren't logged into the game, and this week, I'm going to look at some of the more effective ways to do just that.

The obvious question about taking RP out of the game in part is the question of why. It could be for any number of reasons -- maybe you can't access your main game computer at a given time, maybe you want to fill in the gaps in your character's life, or maybe you just want to make the experience of the character herself more immersive. Whatever your reasons, there are three main ways to keep your character interactive and living even if you haven't logged into the game proper.

Continue reading Storyboard: Putting the RP out of the G

Storyboard: Putting the RP out of the G originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate

Brendan Drain — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion, EVE Evolved

Earlier this week, an explosive argument broke out in the EVE Online community. Following an extended server downtime, it became known that Reddit-based alliance Test Alliance Please Ignore had used the server downtime to protect the deployment of 14 territorial claim units. Ordinarily, these claim units are vulnerable to attack for eight hours while they start up. The owner may choose to either commit a fleet to defend them for eight hours or leave them unguarded and hope nobody decides to knock them down.

This mechanic is designed to ensure that a force can't claim or attack a large number of systems simultaneously against opposition, as an alliance can't reliably defend several TCUs at once. By anchoring the structures just before the extended downtime occurred, Test Alliance made them invulnerable for their entire deployment time. A controversial debate then ensued, as GMs stepped in and Test pilots began making accusations of corruption, collusion and favouritism.

In this opinion piece, I weigh in on the latest debate to shake New Eden. I look at whether downtime deployment really is an exploit and whether there's any substance to the accusations made against EVE's Game Masters.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate

EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP explains plan to get rid of EVE's daily downtime

Brendan Drain — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST

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

The often-repeated joke that EVE Online is a 23/7 game may soon be put to rest. EVE currently has an hour each day, between 11AM and noon GMT, designated for server maintenance. During this time, important tasks that ensure the smooth functioning of the game are carried out, such as respawning asteroids and load-balancing the server. Over the past year or so, CCP Games has been working to reduce the daily downtime by changing many of these essential downtime functions to happen while the server is up without impacting game performance.

CCP's efforts have not been in vain, as the past few years have seen the duration of downtime drop from an average of 50-60 minutes to under 20 minutes. In a new devblog, CCP Hunter explains what has been done to reduce downtime and what the future holds for New Eden's daily slumber. The devblog reveals that most of the current downtime is taken up by server shutdown and startup procedures, with only five minutes of actual maintenance processes per day. Once all the processes required for the daily downtime are removed, the plan is to have the server running permanently.

CCP explains plan to get rid of EVE's daily downtime originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth patch 1.5 drops tomorrow

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Patches, News items

If you enjoy the post-apocalyptic environment that Fallen Earth offers, you can't help but look forward to each new patch as it comes along. Patch 1.5 promises to bring fast travel systems for higher-level characters, a new Blood Sports combat type, and the new "serendipity" system to generate more varied and interesting equipment drops for players. They're all enticing additions, and as a result it should be welcome news that the patch is slated to go live tomorrow.

Naturally, this comes with a bit of extra downtime for the servers -- in this case, between 6 AM to 11 AM EST. There's also a warning that any clones in the Deadfall region tomorrow might want to keep their eyes open for Outsider activity or other suspicious goings-on. Take a look at the full patch notes if you're logged in to the Fallen Earth forums, and get ready for tomorrow's patch and all the associated festivities.

Fallen Earth patch 1.5 drops tomorrow originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Jun 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Pick up and play

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind

As soon as you log on to City of Heroes, you can look up a randomly-generated mission via the newspaper or police scanner, dart off to the location, and most likely have it cleared out in fifteen minutes. A tank in World of Warcraft can log on, set themselves up via the dungeon finder, and often be done with a dungeon run before they finish their favorite episode of The Office. It's a far cry from a Dragoon in the heyday of Final Fantasy XI sitting in Jeuno for three hours without a party invitation. Say what you will about grinds, but the barrier to accessing content has never been lower.

The ability to pick up and immediately get moving in many MMOs has become quite a selling point, but there are players who feel that it rewards quantity and almost hyperactive runs through content rather than depth of play. What do you feel about systems to let players jump in as quickly as possible? Is it a major selling point you'd like to see more of, or a growing weakness that's turning persistent worlds into glorified lobbies?

The Daily Grind: Pick up and play originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion plans eight-hour downtime for 1.9 patch

Jef Reahard — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Patches, News items

Aion's 1.9 patch has gotten a lot of press recently, and rightfully so, given the game-changing updates it brings to the table. With the big day officially scheduled for tomorrow, June 2nd, the community team has updated the official site with word on the expected server downtime, which currently stands at eight hours.

The servers will go dark at 4:30am PDT at the start of the process, which works out to an estimated 1.9 launch time of 12:30pm PDT tomorrow. Check out the announcement over at the official site, as well as the patch notes. While you're at it, have a gander at some of our 1.9 coverage to get up to speed on the forthcoming changes.

Aion plans eight-hour downtime for 1.9 patch originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE database issue causes thousands of items to go missing

Brendan Drain — Fri, 07 May 2010 18:45:00 EST

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

When the EVE Online server booted up today from its scheduled daily hour of downtime, GMs began receiving reports of missing items and disappearing market orders. After some investigation, CCP decided to shut the server down for an extended downtime to get to the bottom of the issue. The problem was eventually traced back to a database script responsible for recycling old itemIDs from trashed items and assigning them to new items. It was found that some new items being created in the database weren't getting IDs and so were becoming lost in the system. Up to 114,000 items may have gone missing during the 75 minutes that the server was up.

Continue reading EVE database issue causes thousands of items to go missing

EVE database issue causes thousands of items to go missing originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 May 2010 18:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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How consistency softens the grind

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion

"Grind" is on the verge of becoming what "nerf" already is -- a word thrown around so frequently and with such broad possible meaning that it's essentially meaningless. After all, the word now gets used for any part of a game the player finds boring and repetitive, rather than the process of repeating something over and over. It's the latter meaning that Kill Ten Rats discusses with an intersting thesis -- we don't mind a grind so much as we mind one we can't advance without breaks.

Using the Guild Wars Wintersday redux as an example, the point is made that the holiday events are a straight-up grind -- but they're a constant one that you can pick up and start with no downtime, then stop whenever you want. Lord of the Rings Online and World of Warcraft have both taken the same approach with Skirmishes and the Dungeon Finder, taking the slow march to being ready for an instance out of the equation.

It's an interesting idea, that what we really dislike aren't the grinds but being stuck unable to make much progress in them. If you tend to think that grinds are the worst thing in MMOs today, it might be an opportunity to re-examine that stance.

How consistency softens the grind originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Gone fishing?

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Crafting, Opinion, The Daily Grind

If you came from an alien world and had to evaluate our culture based solely on our MMOs... well, you'd probably conclude unpleasant things about our culture, but that's not the point. You would certainly come away with the impression that one of the most important hobbies we possess is fishing, considering how many games it shows up in. Nearly any fantasy game (and several others) will give you the opportunity to stand next to a body of water with a rod, cast your line, and wait for a while until a fish bites.

Or until you realize that you're paying $15 a month to play a game that accurately simulates how mind-numbingly tedious fishing can actually be.

Do you like fishing in MMOs? For some of us, yes, it's the sort of thing we look at once or twice and swiftly conclude isn't what we'd like to spend our time doing. For others, however, the calm and tranquility of just standing by the water, taking a look at the virtual landscape, and relaxing a bit is a welcome change from the pace of the game as a whole. Do you prefer when it's there, do you miss it if it's not, or are you completely uninterested in fishing?

The Daily Grind: Gone fishing? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Expanded extracurriculars in Wizard 101 update

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Server downtime, Free-to-play, Kids, Wizard101

It's possible you didn't notice -- probable, even, unless you were on a late-night grinding session -- but the servers for Wizard 101 went down from 3 to 6 AM CST this morning. Even if you were on a late-night session in the game, though, you'd probably be willing to overlook the downtime due to the huge list of changes that came with the downtime. The October update for the game has dropped, and the patch list is truly enormous, adding mounts, new shops, crafting options, and too many additional things to list in a single sentence.

Mounts, of course, are one of the most significant and notable features being added. They can be rented with in-game currency or purchased permanently via the game's microtransaction currency, Crowns, keeping with the game's split between regular subscription and free-to-play. This update has also added in the option to move the stats of a new piece of equipment to one you find more attractive via the Seamstress NPC, an optional new dungeon that promises especially difficult encounters, and the option to pay a small fee of Crowns to get a second chance at a boss drops after defeating the boss. And even that's barely scratching the surface of everything Wizard 101 has added in this patch -- take a look at the full notes, and take a closer look at the game as a whole. It's not for everyone, but you might find more to like under close study.

Expanded extracurriculars in Wizard 101 update originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online API sends apps offline

Krystalle Voecks — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Server downtime, News items

As many EVE Online players likely already know, Tranquility's server hamsters decided to take an unscheduled nap yesterday, causing the entirety of New Eden to grind to a screeching halt. While we're glad to note that the servers came up some time later without any major problems, the forums and API remained offline until this morning's regular maintenance at 7:00 AM Eastern. While the folks at CCP were able to get the forums back online and working without incident, they opted to leave the API offline today while they're trying to figure out what happened. Better safe than sorry, we think.

For those of you who are occasional EVE Online players (are there really such beasts?) you'll notice the API shutdown in terms of changes not tracking properly in EVEmon, Capsuleer, or any other external programs that make calls to the API to pull your character information. The hope is that full functionality will be restored after tomorrow morning's regularly scheduled daily downtime. If not, might we suggest breaking out some chocolate covered espresso beans for the server hamsters?

EVE Online API sends apps offline originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exclusive: New Runes of Magic screens for patch day pondering

Krystalle Voecks — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Expansions, Patches, Runes of Magic

The teams over at Runewaker Entertainment and Frogster Interactive have been hard at work polishing up all the new content coming in the next big Runes of Magic update - Chapter II: The Elven Prophecy. Along with adding elves as a playable race, players will be treated to sweeping new lands, and even new group raid content like the above-pictured Hall of Survivors.

Considering there's going to be at least 24 hours of downtime starting at 3 AM PST tomorrow and going until 3 AM PST on Tuesday while they release Chapter II, this handful of shiny new exclusive Runes of Magic screenshots will help kill some time! We've added them to our overall Elven Prophecy gallery just in case you never checked out the other images - and to give you more to check out during the lull. Just don't forget to start your patcher up: Chapter II looks like it's going to be a big one.

Gallery: Runes of Magic: The Elven Prophecy

Exclusive: New Runes of Magic screens for patch day pondering originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 Sep 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What do you think of the WoW downtime in China

Lesley Smith — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Expansions, MMO industry, Patches, The Daily Grind

For the citizens of China, Azeroth is silent. During the transition from The9 to NetEase, the servers have been taken offline leaving millions of people with nothing to do. There are other MMOs, plenty in fact. Some from the west and loads with that distinctly eastern vibe. Yet I'm sure WoW has the vast majority of the Chinese MMO player base suffering major withdrawal and pining for Azeroth. Of course, many will have transferred to Taiwanese servers where Wrath is already live, up to date and there is no downtime but the vast majority will be left waiting.

The most contact we have with Chinese players is usually through whispers asking if you want to buy gold, gnome corpses in Ironforge linking to websites, phishing scams and bots. I admit, I've noticed a marked decrease on my own server and the corpses have moved to Stormwind instead. Gold farmers aren't exactly the most positive form of contact and most Chinese players seem to be branded gold farmers regardless (guilty until proven innocent) and treated with disdain. So readers, how have you found the last couple of weeks in Azeroth? What do you think of the forced downtime? How do you think this will effect Chinese players (and I mean players, not farmers or bots)? Do you play on a Chinese realm? Have you migrated and rerolled or are you playing the waiting game?

The Daily Grind: What do you think of the WoW downtime in China originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turbine shuts down servers/forum for problems once again

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Forums, Server downtime

Server maintenance is common in many MMOs, and it's something we seldom report on at Massively. Usually, by the time a post would be written, linked, scheduled and posted, the server maintenance would be done, or the problem would be fixed. This doesn't exactly seem to be the case with Turbine lately.

For several weeks, many of Turbine's servers have experienced problems, whether it be with Dungeons and Dragons Online, Asheron's Call or Lord of the Rings Online. In today's latest downtime, the rubberbanding or "invisible wall" problem has been running rampant in LotRO, causing the servers to be taken down and curiously enough, the forums to be locked down with a special status message, according to a recent Turbine Twitter message. Rest assured though that the dev team is on the case, and hopefully these issues will be completely resolved soon. What can you do while you wait? Why, read our LotRO Lore articles, of course!

Turbine shuts down servers/forum for problems once again originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turbine offers compensation for Asheron's Call and Dungeons & Dragons Online downtime

Kyle Horner — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Server downtime, News items

Players of both Asheron's Call and Dungeons & Dragons Online have until very recently been experiencing a significant amount of unexpected server downtime. Being right gentle- uh, developers (gentledevs?) Turbine is offering up significant compensation to players as a way of apologizing. While simply extending all player subscriptions by the time lost (one day) would've been enough, it doesn't end there.

Here's the breakdown of the additional goodies players are getting:

Asheron's Call
Bonus rare drops!
+25% bonus XP

Dungeons & Dragons Online
+25% XP
+1 bonus to loot
A special in-game item when Mod 9 launches!

Those will be for the coming weekend, so if you were a lucky player who's been too busy the past 24 hours to even notice the downtime... lucky you! We envy your uncanny ability to receive wonderous gifts. Hey, can you hook us up with some four-leaf clovers?

Turbine offers compensation for Asheron's Call and Dungeons & Dragons Online downtime originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online launches Tuesday, March 10th

James Egan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Launches, Server downtime, News items

As CCP Games rolls out the most significant expansion for EVE Online to date, Apocrypha, players should prepare themselves for an extended 13-hour downtime, lasting from 03:00 GMT to (est.) 16:00 GMT on Tuesday, March 10th. Storyline updates in the form of news reports will continue throughout downtime, kicking off the backstory of the Apocrypha expansion. Massively has a solid overview of Apocrypha for you, most recently a visual tour of the expansion and a hands-on with the developers, explaining EVE's new features.

Patch Notes for this 10th EVE expansion are up as well. Updates to the patch notes will be made in green, and you can follow the highlighted links to all of the relevant dev blogs explaining the various facets of Apocrypha. We've covered much of this content at Massively, but two recent dev blogs from CCP explain how the new exploration system will work and what exactly makes the Sleeper NPC race's AI so formidable.

Continue reading Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online launches Tuesday, March 10th

Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online launches Tuesday, March 10th originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall's forums and chat brought down due to heavy traffic, servers finally online

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Bugs, Launches, New titles, Server downtime, News items

Well the awaited hour has finally come true, Darkfall is online. While the delays have been numerous and the resulting traffic has basically crippled the Darkfall website, people are queuing up in the log in server to get a taste of what Agon has to offer them.

The delay was due to two problems -- the pre-order load and the staff had caught a critical bug in the game at the last moment. The heavy volume of pre-orders had taken longer to process than Aventurine had anticipated, leading them to delay the launch so more pre-orders could be properly processed. Afterwards, they delayed the launch again due to the wish of the development team to fix that last bug.

The heavy volume of players interested in the game's release had crippled the forums, shooting traffic to over double what it was at the launch of beta. Aventurine made the decision to bring down the game forums, instead only displaying a message regarding launch status on the forums page. This, in turn, brought more people into the Darkfall chat room run by Stratics, overloading that server and forcing Stratics to temporarily bring down the official chat.

Aventurine plans to relaunch the forums sometime today, with the hopes that they can keep the system online under all the duress. All current subscribers (those lucky few with boxes) will be given 33 days of subscription time instead of 30 to cover for all the delays.

Darkfall's forums and chat brought down due to heavy traffic, servers finally online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Your maintenance day doings

Krystalle Voecks — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind

Many MMOs have maintenance during the regular week. EVE Online's server goes down each morning between 6 and 7 AM Eastern. As I type this the World of Warcraft servers are offline, and there are rather a lot of people deciding what to do with the remainder of their day. Some are headed to school or work and the servers should be back up before they're home, hopefully. Others are planning a long day of spending quality time with their chores.

This morning we thought we'd ask - when your game has maintenance during one of your playtime windows, what do you do? Are you fond of catching up on your console gaming? Perhaps you prefer to curl up with a good book, or head out to spend some time with friends? Take up a new craft? What's your favorite thing to do for maintenance?

The Daily Grind: Your maintenance day doings originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Jan 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind-the-scenes video of EVE Online expansion Quantum Rise

James Egan — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, MMO industry, Server downtime

The EVE Online game servers and forums are presently down in an extended downtime, during which time the Quantum Rise expansion is being rolled out. While EVE players cope with the withdrawal shakes, CCP Games has released a behind-the-scenes video to check out, in addition to the Quantum Rise trailer.

EVE Online: Behind the Scenes is in some ways an introduction for new players to the setting of New Eden and the company that creates EVE. For gamers who are already EVE players, the video is a look inside the CCP Games office in Reykjavik, and features interviews with several developers in addition to some nice visuals of the new sub-capital industrial ship arriving with this expansion, the Orca. This video should really be seen in high resolution to appreciate the details, and can be downloaded from the temporary 'downtime news' EVE site which is up during the expansion deployment. In terms of when Quantum Rise is expected to be ready and the servers open up for players, the latest update from CCP is that they're currently on schedule, with the servers to open on November 12th at 02:00 GMT. In the meantime, we've got the 'EVE Online: Behind the Scenes' video embedded for you below the cut.

Continue reading Behind-the-scenes video of EVE Online expansion Quantum Rise

Behind-the-scenes video of EVE Online expansion Quantum Rise originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's Quantum Rise expansion patch notes rival Tolstoy

James Egan — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST

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

EVE Online's newest expansion, Quantum Rise, has almost arrived. EVE dev CCP Navigator writes: "The EVE Online: Quantum Rise patch will be deployed this Tuesday, 11th November. Tranquility will be down from 02:00 to 20:00 GMT. The downtime will affect the forums which will be unavailable for part of the time." The patch notes are up and are definitely worth taking a look at, as they do spell out some major changes for EVE Online.

The breadth of the changes are, quite frankly, beyond the scope of any post we could make at Massively, and we suggest you head straight to the source. As the post title implies, the Quantum Rise patch notes should have publishing rights associated with them, perhaps released as a trilogy. Sequels to the patch notes will be shown on the Quantum Rise patch notes page in green text, as CCP Games updates or revises what's currently posted. If you're one of EVE's industrialists who are looking forward to this expansion with some degree of fervor, you'll want to settle in with some hot chocolate and your copy of the Quantum Rise patch notes, and perhaps discuss the changes on the related forum thread.

EVE's Quantum Rise expansion patch notes rival Tolstoy originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Nov 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online implements temporary population control measures

James Egan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Forums, Game mechanics, News items

We mentioned that CCP Games is working on thinning out Local in EVE Online's highsec trade hubs like Jita, but they're also looking into other ways of keeping lag at manageable levels, even if it requires taking temporary (and unpopular) measures. CCP Wrangler announced today that the latest downtime brought with it a new feature to Tranquility: EVE's stargates will check how many players there are in a given solar system and deny access if the system has hit its population limit. The temporary measures are presently being discussed on the EVE Online forums, with a few clarifications and amendments made by the devs.

There is some debate as to whether the pop limit affects Jita alone or if it affects all systems in New Eden, but regardless, the devs have stated multiple times that they're working to resolve the population issue. However, if the system population issue expands to other high traffic solar systems in EVE, this could stand to be a serious problem for the larger 0.0 alliances who rely upon their numbers to hold territory. The latest word from the devs states that only Jita is affected by population limits, and that a node crash is responsible for most of the 'traffic advisory' warnings players are receiving about multiple systems being inaccessible. These are some of the issues that can arise in an unsharded MMO, but hopefully the changes to stargates will remain as CCP states: temporary.

Update: A hotfix deployed during Monday's downtime removed the system cap from all solar systems except Jita, which now has a player capacity of 1024. CCP Explorer stated that the capacity will be raised over time as they make server adjustments. Ultimately they hope to remove the population limit altogether.

EVE Online implements temporary population control measures originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even NPC agents are running from Jita's lag in EVE

James Egan — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Game mechanics, Crafting, Server downtime, PvE

Despite being the most notoriously lag-choked solar system in EVE Online, the teeming trade hub of Jita remains a central destination for all things bought and sold in New Eden. Jita is very much a victim of its own success though, as we said before: "Not a day goes by without an EVE pilot, somewhere, cursing Jita and calling for the system to be nuked." The Need for Speed initiative launched by CCP in 2007 aims at improving both server and client performance, and their latest announcement -- the removal of agents from Jita -- is the latest effort they're using to combat lag. This writer feels you're just begging to have your mission probed out, or you might have a masochistic streak by dealing with Level 4 aggro coupled with Jita lag, but that's not for us to decide.

Apparently a number of mission runners use agents in Jita, but according to CCP Wrangler, these players will soon be receiving EVE mails "informing them that the agents are relocating and the date of the downtime when the move will take place. From that point the agents will cease to offer new missions but they will accept ongoing missions, and of course they will resume their normal activities after the move." We'll see how well removing mission runners from the fabric of Jita's lag will improve the situation, but this might be a step in the right direction. The relocation of agents is likely one of a number of steps CCP Games will need to take to deliver smooth gameplay to a playerbase that keeps growing every year, making lag issues more pressing. On the topic of being relocated, have any of you ever gotten stuck in Jita and needed to be moved by a GM?

Even NPC agents are running from Jita's lag in EVE originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Scheduled AoC patch postponed by a day again

William Dobson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Patches, Server downtime

Age of Conan players will be feeling a bit of deja vu today. As was the case last week, today's scheduled patch is not in a suitable state to go live. A fix relating to "Bind on Equip" items in fact made certain items totally un-equippable, so the update is being held in order to correct the issue.

As long as no other extra bugs come up, Funcom expects to have the patch out tomorrow, the 17th of July, at 4AM GMT.

Scheduled AoC patch postponed by a day again originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jul 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AoC update pushed back to tomorrow, July 10th

William Dobson — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Patches, Server downtime

The weekly update for Age of Conan won't be taking place today as would be the norm. During the testing of the latest patch, Funcom's QA department discovered an issue that needs to be fixed up so that it isn't unleashed on the live servers, and the patch has been rescheduled to the 10th of July, at 4AM GMT for the European servers and 7AM EDT on the US servers.

While those that are keenly waiting for a big fat update might have to hold on for one more day, it's for the best that things are ironed out properly, rather than having additional downtime on the live servers for a hotfix later on.

AoC update pushed back to tomorrow, July 10th originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Short AoC downtime today will fix socketed item bug

William Dobson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Patches, Server downtime

At least a few people will be confused when opening their Age of Conan patcher to see that there is some downtime scheduled for today, after having the now-weekly patch take place yesterday. Today's downtime could be considered an "emergency patch" of sorts, as it is intended to correct an issue that arose from yesterday's update.

The offending bug causes certain socketed items to lose their sockets -- we are assured, however, that any socketed gems are still intact, and will reappear when the problem is fixed. The blanket figure of "5 hours" has been given for the downtime, which will commence at 7AM EDT on US servers, but community manager Famine has stated that it will likely be closer to 1 or 2 hours. The patch has already been deployed to the European servers, and their downtime was roughly 3 and a half hours going by this thread.

Short AoC downtime today will fix socketed item bug originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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