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[Ragnarok Online cares and wants to give you free play time for being laid off]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/12/25/ragnarok-online-cares-and-wants-to-give-you-free-play-time-for-b/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/12/25/ragnarok-online-cares-and-wants-to-give-you-free-play-time-for-b/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/12/25/ragnarok-online-cares-and-wants-to-give-you-free-play-time-for-b/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Now that's some title, isn't it? Yet, the title doesn't lie -- Gravity Interactive does care and they do want to give their subscribers who have been laid off some free play time.

If you were a subscriber on Ragnarok Online International as of June 1st and you've lost your job on or after June 1st, then you're eligible for the new "Gravity Cares" program. All you need to do is simply fill out a short form to prove that you've lost your job and then send it over to Gravity via regular mail. Once they approve the form, you'll get a free three month subscription to Ragnarok Online so you can keep playing without having to worry so much about paying while you get back on your feet.

The program is certainly a nice gesture to those who have been hit by the troubled economy, and a unique offering in the MMO world. If you're eligible, go take advantage of it so you can keep playing with your friends.

MassivelyRagnarok Online cares and wants to give you free play time for being laid off originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 25 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>3-month-subscriptioneconomic-crisisfree-game-timefree-subscriptiongravitygravity-interactiveirolaid-offlost-jobragnarok-onlineFri, 25 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Do you play the MMO stock market?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/19/the-daily-grind-do-you-play-the-mmo-stock-market/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/19/the-daily-grind-do-you-play-the-mmo-stock-market/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/19/the-daily-grind-do-you-play-the-mmo-stock-market/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Ahhh, the stock market: The yo-yo that makes people jump for joy or jump off twenty-story buildings. Playing it can be just as exhilarating, frightening, and expensive as a high-octane weekend bender in Free Realms. Well, almost... With the quote-unquote Global Economic Crisis we've been going through, almost all stocks are down from a year ago. Does that mean that now is a good time to invest? It probably depends on whether or not you believe the market has hit the bottom yet.

Word on the street is that the video game industry is recession-proof (or not). When you're pinching pennies, MMOs in particular are one of the cheapest forms of entertainment and escapism money can buy. We're not here to offer advice one way or the other, but we are curious -- do you play the MMO stock market? We did a bit of digging and found a number of stocks from companies producing MMOs:

Based on that list, who do you think is the best investment and why?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Do you play the MMO stock market? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>atariblizzardeaeconomic-crisisfree-realmsfuncominvestingncsoftrecessionsoestock-markettdgthqWed, 19 Aug 2009 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[CCP staff offered the option of being paid foreign currency during economic crisis]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/10/ccp-staff-offered-the-option-of-being-paid-foreign-currency-duri/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/10/ccp-staff-offered-the-option-of-being-paid-foreign-currency-duri/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/08/10/ccp-staff-offered-the-option-of-being-paid-foreign-currency-duri/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

During our troubled economic times, one sometimes forgets that currency is in a constant state of fluctuation. When times get really harsh, the value of the currency can wildly go back and forth between numbers, creating a sense of unease as people don't know what their currency is worth.

CCP Games, however, took up a new approach to paying their employees when the Icelandic Krona was volatile earlier this year -- paying their employees in foreign currency.

Employees were offered the option to accept paychecks in foreign currency, if they so wished, to provide employees with a stable income from a stable currency rather than receiving checks with the Krona. The move was easy on CCP's part, as the company is located in China, Iceland, and the United States and makes most of their revenue in foreign currency anyway.

Continue reading CCP staff offered the option of being paid foreign currency during economic crisis

MassivelyCCP staff offered the option of being paid foreign currency during economic crisis originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-gameschinacurrencyeconomic-crisiseconomyeveeve-onlineicelandpaymentunited-stateswhite-wolfMon, 10 Aug 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Massively interviews EVE's Lead Economist part 2]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/19/massively-interviews-eves-lead-economist-part-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/19/massively-interviews-eves-lead-economist-part-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/02/19/massively-interviews-eves-lead-economist-part-2/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


The starbase exploit has been some big news lately. How does it impact your ability to assess the state of EVE's economy, and are there assumptions you've made in the past that you need to reassess now?

It's a good thing that you mentioned the starbase exploit because we are in the final stages of creating a very thorough dev blog on that, which will hopefully be published very soon. [Note: this interview was conducted just prior to the release of the investigation's findings.]

There are certain things with the POS exploit that made it very difficult to detect. You basically needed to be able to go to that particular starbase and look at it, look at the setup and so on. It was difficult for us to detect it otherwise, except from the code once we knew what we were looking for.

From a market perspective the EVE economy has become so big that in order for you to impact the market you will really have to have large quantities. And as will be shown in this dev blog that will be published, the scale of the exploit really didn't start until late 2008... to the large industrial scale so that it started to impact the market.

Continue reading Massively interviews EVE's Lead Economist part 2

MassivelyMassively interviews EVE's Lead Economist part 2 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>alchemyccpccp-gamescontroversycouncil-of-stellar-managementcsmdr-eyjogeconomic-crisiseveeve-onlineeve-time-codesexploiteyjolfur-gudmundssongame-mechanicsicelandindustrymassively-interviewsmmo-industryplexpos-exploitreykjavikrmtsandboxstarbase-exploitThu, 19 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Economic crisis may force CCP Games to leave Iceland]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/22/economic-crisis-may-force-ccp-games-to-leave-iceland/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/22/economic-crisis-may-force-ccp-games-to-leave-iceland/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/22/economic-crisis-may-force-ccp-games-to-leave-iceland/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


The global financial crisis is hitting many companies and individuals very hard. This is especially prevalent in Iceland, home of CCP Games -- the developers of the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online. The collapse of Iceland's banking system and currency has been devastating to the nation. "Icelanders are reeling from the shock of having everything they knew virtually disappear overnight," Valur Gunnarsson reports from Reykjavik for The Guardian.

Despite these economic woes, Hilmar V. Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, gave assurances all is well with the company back in October. He's stated that CCP is "well isolated" from the banking crisis, that their holdings and assets were diversified enough (due to partner relationships in different parts of the world) to stave off the ruin that many other Icelandic companies are facing. But there's a potential downside to that diversification: restrictions on access to foreign currencies have gone into effect in Iceland. Specifically -- as it relates to CCP Games -- on foreign investment coming into the country. Are these restrictions enough of a hassle that CCP Games would ever need to leave Iceland?

Continue reading Economic crisis may force CCP Games to leave Iceland

MassivelyEconomic crisis may force CCP Games to leave Iceland originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>business-modelsccpccp-gameseconomic-crisiseconomic-impacteconomyeveeve-onlineguardianheadquartershqicelandrelocationreykjaviksci-fithe-guardianvalur-gunnarssonMon, 22 Dec 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Blizzard: World of Warcraft will do fine, global economic collapse be damned]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/17/blizzard-world-of-warcraft-will-do-fine-global-economic-collap/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/17/blizzard-world-of-warcraft-will-do-fine-global-economic-collap/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/17/blizzard-world-of-warcraft-will-do-fine-global-economic-collap/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Alright, so the sky is falling. Pretty soon, the world will be dominated by mohawks, black leather and hand-built muscle cars in a never-ending deathmatch over who gets to eat the roadkill. Okay, maybe it won't be that bad -- but unless you've been stranded on a desert island for the past year, you know that there's a global economic crisis going on. But worry not: MMOs -- World of Warcraft in particular -- will be just fine, according to Blizzard Executive VP Rob Pardo.

He said that WoW is immune to economic downturn because it offers an excellent bargain: "People might not want to go out to the movies and spend $100 for a couple of hours and then go to a restaurant. You can go home and pay $15 a month for 100 hours of entertainment if you're staying at home more." A comparable situation from history: during the Great Depression, movies in the United States were only a nickel -- far cheaper than competing, live forms of entertainment, so the movie industry thrived. In fact, some folks credit the Great Depression as a contributor to the rise of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Think the same'll happen to MMOs if this gets bad?

MassivelyBlizzard: World of Warcraft will do fine, global economic collapse be damned originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardblizzconblizzcon-2008blizzcon2008economic-crisisgreat-depressioninterviewrecessionrob-pardovalueworld-of-warcraftwowFri, 17 Oct 2008 13:00:00 EST