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Buy your friends a present in Guild Wars 2 with gem store gifting

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 10:15:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play

All right, let's be honest -- you screwed up bad last night in Guild Wars 2. And you'd prefer to not have all of your friends hate you. You're going to need to give gifts, and we're talking real gifts here. Why not take advantage of the fact that the Gem Store now offers the option to gift items to your friends? You can choose the item to gift, select as many recipients as you'd like, and then send them all with a personalized message of your choice.

But what will you gift them? Maybe one of the new items to go along with today's content patch? We're sure some of your friends would like some of the Aetherblade Armor Skins, or perhaps a new Tybalt Backpack Plushie, or a Custom Arena Starter Kit. And after you're done buying gifts, you could always buy more for yourself. Charity starts at home, right? You deserve a treat.

Buy your friends a present in Guild Wars 2 with gem store gifting originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Jun 2013 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gain a clearer understanding of RIFT's new REX

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 29 May 2013 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Free-to-Play, RIFT, Dev Diaries

Is your forehead scrunched up in that cute little way you sometimes have when you're trying to understand a topic that's running circles around you? You might be trying to get a grip on RIFT's upcoming free-to-play REX (RIFT exchange) mechanic. A new official dev article seeks to enlighten us all by laying out what REX does, how it's attained, and how it can be spent.

In short, REX is a middle-man currency that is purchased with real money and can then be converted into item store credits (although, as the post states, it's a better deal to directly buy the credits). The twist here is that before it's converted to credits, REX can be sold to other players on the auction house. This effectively gives players with in-game money ways to obtain store credits and players with excess real money ways to inflate their in-game piggy banks.

The post also explains the much simpler topic of gifting store items to other players. You probably have it figured out just by reading the previous sentence.

Finally, last night we told you about RIFT's promo this weekend. According to a tweet this afternoon, that promo is live early -- in fact, RIFT is freely playable for former subbers right now.

Gain a clearer understanding of RIFT's new REX originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 May 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Would you want an MMO for a gift?

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:00:00 EST

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

We're into the part of the year when everyone's thinking about giving gifts. But for all that I like receiving games as gifts, I'm not all that happy at the thought of getting an MMO for a gift. It's kind of like someone buying you a pet -- sure, it's a nice gesture, but it's also going to ask for a lot of your time and effort in the future. This isn't something you pick up and leave alone for an extended period of time.

On the other hand, sometimes MMOs can make wonderful gifts. I bought a friend a copy of City of Heroes in years past to help introduce him to one of my favorite games. Several of my friends wound up in World of Warcraft because I originally volunteered to purchase the game.

So what do you think? Would you like to get an MMO for a gift this holiday season? Or do you think MMOs are really something you should buy for yourself?

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: Would you want an MMO for a gift? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Nov 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wings Over Atreia: Too much of a good thing

MJ Guthrie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Opinion, Wings Over Atreia

Seriously NCsoft, enough is enough!

Now, I know that in the not-even-too-distant past, I openly admitted how much I liked the shiny surveys that popped up occasionally in Aion. Whether they were during events or just out of the blue, the surveys were like a random present just because. And who doesn't like presents? Sometimes you would know what you were getting; other times it would be a complete surprise. I love clicking that little icon and being rewarded with dyes, pets, emotion cards, and other assorted relatively harmless fluff. Yes, I also hoarded the platinum medals and ancient crowns that sprang up infrequently with a near maniacal glee. But there reaches a point when you really can have too much of a good thing (sadly, much like decadent cheesecake) and actually encounter negative repercussions.

Last week I mentioned that the leveling rewards, at least under level 25, got to be a little much. But that doesn't compare to the glut of goods available to every player who logged in during the month of October. I was initially appreciative of getting a few of the "October Special" (stacks of multiple scrolls and power shards). However, the surveys got out of hand before long.

Click past the cut for (no, not a free gift!) Wings over Atreia's look at how over-gifting can actually be damaging to Aion.

Continue reading Wings Over Atreia: Too much of a good thing

Wings Over Atreia: Too much of a good thing originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Nov 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lost Pages of Taborea: A history of Diamonds

Jeremy Stratton — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Runes of Magic, Lost Pages of Taborea

It's been a long time since we've heard anything about Diamonds being reinstituted into Runes of Magic's auction house. Since that fateful day they were removed, a lot of new players have joined, veterans have left and some things that should not have been forgotten... were lost.

Having Diamonds in the auction house is an important feature that was planned from the get-go. It allows for seamless trading and player-controlled price fluctuations that keep all items obtainable for everyone. It's about having the freedom to play multiple ways. Options are more numerous than simply paying and having everything opened up or not paying and being stuck. With RoM's cash-shop items being integrated into the title's gameplay, there's a grayscale that lets players have many more options in how they want to play.

It's not an overly complex issue, but one worth looking back on. Getting Diamonds back in the auction house isn't a lost cause, but the issue has dragged on to the point that long time players may have given up all hope. This edition of Lost Pages of Taborea is all about looking back at the beginning and bringing players up to speed on diamonds in (or not-in) the auction house.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: A history of Diamonds

Lost Pages of Taborea: A history of Diamonds originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ways of designing social into virtual spaces

Kyle Horner — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO Industry, News Items

One of the strongest glues between a person and their favorite MMO is friendship and community. However, those two things don't come without strong socialization, which in turn is something that doesn't happen in an MMO entirely by accident. A recent blog post by Raph Koster discusses the many ways of making virtual spaces more social by thoughtful design, a subject that we here at Massively take a lot of interest in, strangely enough.

While the first two chunks of Raph's post are arguments for actionable design to encourage socialization, it's the last piece of the post where the fleshy part resides. While there are numerous good suggestions for designing better social opportunities, the ones that strike us as our most desirable for MMOs are gifting, mentors, looking for conversation tools and alternate advancement systems for social elements. Those four items are certainly something that more titles could use -- especially as more and more games integrate web tools similar to Facebook.

It's hard to say whether or not we'll actually see any of these taken to heart in many MMOs, but it's nice to wish for things -- and maybe if we pester developers hard enough they'll figure it out sooner rather than later.

Ways of designing social into virtual spaces originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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