Massively

ZT Online 2 open beta attracts 435K concurrent users

Jef Reahard — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play

For the past couple of years, EVE Online and World of Tanks have been duking it out to see which game can outfox the other in the hunt for the MMORPG peak concurrent user record. As of this week there may be a new contender for the crown if ZT Online 2's open beta period is any indication.

The game is a sequel to Giant Interactive's popular ZT Online martial arts title, and the recent open beta period featured an impressive 435,000 simultaneous players online. Gamasutra has the details, culled from a Giant press release, and the company also indicates that approximately 400 developers have worked on the title over the past three years.

ZT Online 2 open beta attracts 435K concurrent users originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: If you could play another race, what would it be?

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Races

Whether it be Lord of the Rings Online's four, Warhammer Online's seven or EverQuest II's whopping 19, sometimes MMOs never quite have the race you really want to play. Although race selection is often overshadowed by class picks, a character's race is still quite important to most players. Whether it be the aesthetic style, the implied attitude or the inherited place in the world, a race matters.

Yet there usually comes a point where the mind starts to wander over to the forbidden valley and dabble in the "What if?" of racial choices. Maybe there's a race/class combination that's forbidden in your game, and you're denied your favorite race just because you are in love with a class. Or perhaps there's a race that you've encountered in your journeys that you think would be a popular player pick if only the devs would return your phone calls.

So if you could play another race in your MMO, what would it be? Would you love to be a giant, towering above all others and crushing your foes with impunity? Would you like to be a monster that looks more terrifying than anything else you might encounter? Or have you latched onto the idea of being a cyborg zombie -- Zomborg, they're called? Speak up, sonny -- I can't hear you!

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: If you could play another race, what would it be? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Chinese online games market saw 63% growth in 2008

James Egan — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Economy, MMO industry

Business is booming for online game operators in China. The market grew by 63% in 2008 according to analyst group Pearl Research. They also predict that online gaming in China will be a $5.5 billion market by 2012, as reported by Gamasutra's David Jenkins.

In a country where broadband speeds are continually improving coupled with the widespread adoption of the web, China's netizens have embraced the relatively low-cost entertainment that online gaming offers. This is good news for gaming companies, particularly in these lean economic times. Jenkins writes, "Online operators in China have apparently seen little downturn in their business during the world economic crisis, with six companies now making revenues greater than $200 million (Tencent, Changyou, The9, Netease, Shanda and Giant)." You can see the full story on China's online games growth over at Gamasutra.

Chinese online games market saw 63% growth in 2008 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, MMO industry, PvP, PvE, Free-to-play, Mabinogi, Massively Interviews

Mabinogi's latest expansion, Pioneers of Iria, has recently gone live on the servers after much anticipation by the fans. Now players are able to not only explore the brand new continent of Iria, but also able to take advantage of new races in character creation, such as the giant and the elf, and the brand new exploration system.

We here at Massively recently had a chance to catch up with Nexon's Matthew McCullough, the associate producer on the North American version of Mabinogi, to ask him some questions about their brand new release. Is all of this new content truly real? Is it really free? Can elves and giants live together with one another in harmony?

Hit the continue reading link below, if you want the answers to these burning questions! Also, if you're a Mabinogi fan, look forward to our hands on with the Pioneers of Iria expansion later on in the week!

Continue reading Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria

Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New races, continent, skills, and more coming to Mabinogi

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Patches, News items, Mabinogi

Nexon America as just informed us of a huge expansion coming to Mabinogi, titled Pioneers of Iria, which will be featuring a huge brand new continent, two new races for players to create characters as, new skills, new magic, a new exploration system, dungeons, cities, the works.

Pioneers of Iria, due to release sometime late in February, will introduce the brand new continent of Iria -- a land mass over three times bigger than the current continent of Ulad. Iria is also the home of the races of Elves and Giants, which will be featured as brand new player races.

Continue reading New races, continent, skills, and more coming to Mabinogi

New races, continent, skills, and more coming to Mabinogi originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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China puts in policy to discourage foreign MMOs

Chris Chester — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Culture, MMO industry

China has always been a market that businesses have stumbled over each other to secure. Students of history might remember how Coca-Cola was one of the first companies to recognize the fact that a country with a billion people is a country with a billion potential customers, and was literally right on the heels of President Carter when negotiations relaxed the restriction of foreign goods in 1979. So too are MMO makers starting to realize the enormous potential of an increasingly connected Chinese mainland. Sure, World of Warcraft's 10 million subscribers seems good now, but what happens when a game comes along that captures the attention of the Chinese market, estimated to grow to 59 million in 2008?

Unfortunately for developers in the U.S., Korea, and elsewhere looking to cash in on this burgeoning market, recent regulations imposed by the Chinese government will allow domestic Chinese gaming companies to effectively postpone the release of foreign-developed games indefinitely by submitting a complaint to GAPP, China's censorship agency. Curious that they'd run a protectionist racket on an industry that they recently likened to "spiritual opium," but the Communist government didn't take power in order to be a bedrock of consistency.

The political science major in me is actually excited by this prospect, because it means that MMOs are likely about to enter into the field of political discourse. Just as they do with farm goods and automobiles, it might not be too much of a stretch to imagine U.S. politicians publicly wrangling with Chinese officials to allow American MMOs unrestricted access to the Chinese population. In the next few years, it's possible your Congressman will talk, at length about World of Warcraft or Warhammer Online in front of one of the chambers of Congress. And this time they'll actually be speaking in favor of the game industry. What a thought!

China puts in policy to discourage foreign MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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