Massively

World of Warcraft in liquid form

James Egan — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Humor

Frigid night breeze sweeps through the Blizzard Overlord's grand chamber atop the highest tower of his headquarters, but he remains unaffected by the cold -- or anything else -- since his recent ascension to MMO godhood. The dark castle spans miles in every direction, built with the dedication and gold of millions of the Overlord's followers, tastefully decorated with the finest objects the world has to offer. He sits upon his throne, admiring the new gauntlets of his black, impossibly dense armor, forged from the souls of the faithful and the unbelievers alike -- the very image the Lich King was patterned after. A homage to his greatness. Pondering said greatness, he barely notices a panting, scraping sound as his Minion enters the grand chamber, taking a good three minutes to cross the vast room and reach the base of the Overlord's throne. The Minions dares not look his master in the face, genuflects and awaits the inevitable orders.

Blizzard Overlord: Minion! Report! What is the state of my World?

Minion: The MMO world is yours, my lord. World of Warcraft remains unassailable, and we claim more souls with every passing second... *hesitates a moment* Although there is the probl--

Blizzard Overlord: Massively! Is it Massively again?! Are they still harping on the impediment to my Wrath in China? *telekinetically hurls a ridiculously valuable 19th century ottoman across the room, which splinters against the wall* I can suffer their existence no longer. Execute them -- burn their faces first -- and melt the servers down into tombstones. Monuments to their heresy. And don't even think of mentioning Germany!

Minion: It shall be done my lord. I do, however, have a suggestion for how World of Warcraft can transcend all borders and appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike. If I may?

Blizzard Overlord: You may proceed.

Minion: You could co-opt the power of a multinational beverage conglomerate and tie World of Warcraft into that basic human need: thirst. No one will be able to resist the thirst for WoW. In time, the need to satisfy both intrinsic human needs will be intertwined.

Blizzard Overlord: An excellent suggestion, Minion. However, I do not want my legacy tied in with any simple (scoffs) cola. I will force Mountain Dew to carry my banner to the non-MMO masses, under the guise of "game fuel."

Continue reading World of Warcraft in liquid form

World of Warcraft in liquid form originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Wait, don't we write about MMOs? edition

Elizabeth Harper — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion

During the day, of course, everyone piles into the Massively offices in their suits and ties, all prepared to settle into the daily grind of MMO writing. But at night? We enjoy slaughtering the undead as much as anyone -- and since a zombie MMO hasn't risen to fill that void in our hearts, we keep running back to Left 4 Dead.

Brendan Drain: I'll be taking it easy this weekend and working on my university masters project, which happens to be a game. If I get time I'll play some EVE and maybe check out the new expansion stuff on the test server.
Brooke Pilley: I'll be playing Warhammer Online and a bit of BattleForge beta. :)
Colin Brennan: This week it's going to be battleground premades in World of Warcraft, followed by a helping of Mabinogi and Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. Past that, it's my mother's birthday, so I'm not going to be around the computer too much. Happy Birthday Mom!
Dan O'Halloran: I'm poking my head back into EverQuest 2 after a year's absence hoping I haven't been deguilded. Also going to continue my trek towards Moria in Lord of the Rings Online as well as working on my baby Hunter in World of Warcraft.
James Egan: I'm meeting up with some friends for Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead, fueled by copious amounts of Jim Beam and Coke. On the MMO side I'm definitely going to spend a little time in EVE, probably exploring more trade possibilities.
Kyle Horner: I'm taking a weekend break from MMOs and getting my game-on with Steam. It's Dawn of War 2 and Team Fortress 2 for me this weekend, with a strong possibility of some Left 4 Dead zombie action.
Lemuel Pew: Getting the last of the Spring Fling badges in City of Heroes before the event closes on the 22nd.
Krystalle Voecks: I'm going to be boring and do some much needed studying for class, so pretty much almost no gaming for me. Although I'll probably play some Left 4 Dead with Kyle so he can laugh at my crappy FPS skillz.

That's what the Massively team is getting into this weekend -- but what are you playing?

WRUP: Wait, don't we write about MMOs? edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Feb 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Zero Punctuation braves interstellar spreadsheets in EVE Online

Samuel Axon — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Humor

Zero Punctuation's Yahtzee has reached geek culture superstardom by sacrificing sacred cows. By profanely slamming popular franchises such as Halo and Super Smash Bros., he's brought down the wrath -- and the web traffic -- of virtually the entire gaming community. There's a running joke through many of his animated reviews, though: he hates MMORPGs.

Both Tabula Rasa and Age of Conan got the full treatment, and Yahtzee has even criticized some single-player games (such as The Witcher) just for sharing gameplay elements with MMORPGs. His fans apparently thought he was being a bit too harsh. "Not all MMORPGs are the same," they presumably said. "Try EVE Online. It's different!"

And so he did. It turns out that "different" might be in the eye of the beholder. Or just as likely, MMORPGs can never be different enough for Yahtzee! The humorous (and as usual, NSFW) video review is embedded above, courtesy of The Escapist.

Zero Punctuation braves interstellar spreadsheets in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Hyborian Age edition

Mike Schramm — Fri, 23 May 2008 13:45:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture, MMO industry, Massively Meta

Don't tell us -- we already know what you're playing this week. It starts with Age and ends with Conan, and it launched on Tuesday. Everybody and their barbarian are probably heading back into the Hyborian Age to cut off limbs and fight in real-time and build up cities and do what have you.

What else could you be playing. Not Virtual Magic Kingdom, obviously (whoops -- too soon?). You might be setting foot in Dark Age of Camelot to nab some of that sweet, sweet double XP (and in the non-MMO world, we hear Halo 3 has a double XP weekend going on as well). But odds are, unless you tell us otherwise in the comments below (or just shout out your AoC allegiance), you're shedding blood in the newest kid on the block.

So tell us: What aRe yoU Playing this weekend? In the worlds of virtual worlds, where, in the parlance of our times, you at?

Previously on WRUP...

WRUP: Hyborian Age edition originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 May 2008 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Voodoo Extreme's MMO of the year poll

Louis McLaughlin — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Polls, Lord of the Rings Online, Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa

It's about the right time of year for it, and with perfect timing Voodoo Extreme has a poll up for (MMO)RPG Game of the Year.

Being in the same category as The Witcher & Mass Effect seems harsh for the MMOs listed, as some great titles went retail in 2007. Was Lord of the Rings Online really just this year? We've also had the first expansion to one of the biggest games of all time, and a minor explosion of Free-to-Play MMOs -- which of course won't feature in a commercial games poll, but they're still surging through the market even so.

Overall, 2007 has been a solid year for MMO fans. It may end up being remembered as the year of Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, and Bioshock -- but then 2008 may redress the balance somewhat.

Is there an MMO of the year for you, so far?

Voodoo Extreme's MMO of the year poll originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Xfire notes slump in PC playtime, dubs it "Halo 3 effect"

Chris Chester — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:01:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, EVE Online, Lineage 2, Lord of the Rings Online, Business models, MMO industry, Star Wars Galaxies

If ever there was an industry prone to cannibalism, it would be the games industry. If gamers aren't playing one game, chances are it's because another game has captured their attention with its siren song. According to data by Xfire and reported by Gamesindustry.biz, hours played by subscribers to its service did not pick in October as expected. July and August are typically slow months for PC games, as many players take the rare opportunity to go outside and many also make the move to college during that period. But instead of rising again as the seasons changed, October numbers actually continued to fall. They've chosen to dub this the "Halo 3 effect," as Microsoft's hit shooter sent shock waves not just through the game industry, but through the larger entertainment business as well, reportedly stunting sales of moving ticket sales through that period as well.

Xfire has a subscriber base over 8 million strong, so while they might not be the perfect indicator of larger trends in the game industry, they're certainly one of the best representative samples available. World of Warcraft continued to dominate the overall numbers, with 332,139 hours played during October, beating out perennial PC favorites Call of Duty 2 and Counterstrike: Source. The rest of the MMO crowd ambled behind, with EVE Online being the second most popular massive game, followed by Lord of the Rings Online, Lineage II, and Star Wars Galaxies.

It makes you wonder what would happen if the rumored Halo MMO comes to fruition.

Xfire notes slump in PC playtime, dubs it "Halo 3 effect" originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Nov 2007 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Speculation: Bungie's next project is an MMO?

Mike Schramm — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:59:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, New titles

I'm not quite sure where Hardcore Casual gets this from (I'm guessing it's somewhere between thin air and someplace a little more "intimate"), but he's got an interesting bit of speculation coming off of the big news last week that Halo-maker Bungie and their publisher Microsoft are cutting some ties. He traces Bungie's growth along side Blizzard's (Myth: Warcraft:: Oni: Ghost), and concludes that, now that they're free of Halo and Microsoft's direct influence, Bungie's next project will be their World of Warcraft: an MMO.

Now that is an interesting idea. Like Blizzard, Bungie has always been all about the possibilities of online play, and even though Halo 3 is not actually an MMO, there is no shortage of ways for people to interact with each other through the game-- from Forge to the different coop modes, to the "XP" system in multiplayer, Bungie knows how to get people online and keep them there. And Bungie definitely knows how to build worlds-- the Halo universe alone has inspired many books and countless pages of fan fiction and speculation, not to mention that there are big hints that it's connected to Bungie's other big series of games, Marathon. When you look at Bungie's past and the type of games that they've created, they definitely do seem like a great candidate to make a popular MMO.

Of course, whatever Bungie does next is up to Bungie, and, as Blizzard well knows, taking on as big a responsibility as an ongoing MMO can change a company all the way down to its foundation-- for better or worse. But as much as he probably just made it up, Hardcore Casual is right-- Bungie's got the reach, the funds, and the knowhow to create the next big virtual world. Whether they choose to tackle it or not is up to them.

Speculation: Bungie's next project is an MMO? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Oct 2007 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments