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MMObility: The year in mobile

Beau Hindman — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Screenshots, Interviews, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, Mobile, Casual, MMObility

What a year, huh? We gamers have seen a lot of changes, but especially in the mobile market. New devices came and went, technologies spread out even further in the world, and MMO gaming established itself on the smallest screens possible. Of course, the mobile market is not as large as the standard MMO market, but it is definitely growing. As more devices appear, more players come to fill up the games.

Our phones are not what they used to be, even five years ago. They are now truly tiny and powerful computing devices that are always connected. A player can literally live all of his digital life on one small device. If we look at the laptop and netbook market, we see even more growth and power. All of these devices need games to play on them, and MMOs fit perfectly into the mobile lifestyle.

Click past the cut and I'll recap many of the best stories from Massively's mobile coverage!

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MMObility: The year in mobile originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MMObility: HP pulls the old switcharoo with the TouchPad

Beau Hindman — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Humor, Miscellaneous, MMObility

If you are one of the unlucky few who decided to pick up one of the new HP TouchPad tablet PCs, I feel bad for you. First of all, pretty much all of the reviews I have read said that the device was not worth its $500 price tag. For that amount of dough, the hardware should have been sleeker, beefier, and more stylish.

Then we heard the news this week that support for the device was being terminated. Shortly after that, news of price drops started to come out, and then tech geeks starting lining up. Sure, they wouldn't pay $500 for a sub-par device, but they would pay $100 for the chance to toy around with it. I've used this joke before, but it fits perfectly here: A farmer sticks a million-dollar price tag on a pile of cow dung and people laugh at him. He keeps the sign up for about a week before changing the price to one dollar. People line up around the block to get the discounted item. The farmer laughs... it turns out they were still just buying a pile of dung for a dollar.

Click past the cut and let's examine further!

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MMObility: HP pulls the old switcharoo with the TouchPad originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wings Over Atreia: Class builds -- Cleric

MJ Guthrie — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST

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

Last week we discussed how personality influences class choice, so after some deep reflection, you have decided that it is time to reveal your true nature and be reborn as a cleric in Aion! Either that, or maybe you just wanted to solo some dungeons to horde all the loot. *cha-ching* Perhaps you already became one to impress that really cute voice in vent who is always looking for a healer. Whatever your reason, the life of servitude is for you. Now what?

Welcome to Build-a-Cleric. While some Daevas are content to just play with what they get from drops or quests, a number actually want to outfit their characters the best they can. Even if leveling too quickly to worry about uber gear thanks to mentoring and an easier grind, it is never a bad idea to keep an eye on endgame. And with the plethora of manastones, armor sets, weapons, and stigmas available -- not to mention advice, both solicited and unsolicited -- it can be a daunting task to maximize your potential. So to help you wade through the possibilities, Wings Over Atreia will be exploring each class individually and highlighting popular and effective builds. With any luck, some advance knowledge will help you make informed decisions and avoid the catastrophes of expending all of your energies in obtaining the wrong gear for your needs. Nothing shouts broke like having to re-socket entire sets or enchant new ones!

Roll up your sleeves and explore various builds for Aion's Cleric class after the cut.

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Wings Over Atreia: Class builds -- Cleric originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: How realistic do you like your games?

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Virtual worlds

In real life, if you've not noticed, we don't have hit points. Getting stabbed by a sword once is pretty much crippling if not outright fatal. Fall too far and you don't suffer some uniform amount of damage across your whole body -- you frequently wind up breaking your legs or your spine, and it can be a slow and painful recovery process if you ever recover. We can't wander through the world without ever bothering to eat, drink, or sleep, and when you get shot to death, there will not be a fresh clone waiting to get you back into the action. In the interests of being polite, we'll not even mention the usual lack of other important facilities.

We accept that there's going to be some degree of unreal mechanics in a video game, of course, but that doesn't mean that some of us don't want the game to stick fairly close to the real world. By the same token, though, some of us take the Mystery Science Theater 3000 mantra to heart -- it's just a game, and it's not all that important if it makes real-world sense in sticky parts. Where do you fall on the scale? Do you like your games fairly realistic, fairly unrealistic, or do you not care so long as the game itself is still fun?

The Daily Grind: How realistic do you like your games? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Highlights from the SOE Fan Faire 2009 community address

James Egan — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Star Wars Galaxies, Free-to-play, Casual, Free Realms

Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire 2009 is happening in Las Vegas, and of course they've had a number of things to unveil so far. SOE president John Smedley gave his community address last evening, and other speakers made an appearance as well. We've got a few highlights from SOE Fan Faire 2009 for you:

Station Cash

Smedley jumped right in by talking about the state of the SOE game lineup and some of the new directions they've explored with them in this past year. One of those new directions has been the introduction of Station Cash, and he talked about the growing adoption of Station Cash among SOE game subscribers in EverQuest and EverQuest II, as well as how it will soon be tied into new services and customization options. He announced a partnership with Hewlett-Packard which will allow players to purchase matte print images of art from the games using Station Cash. You'll be able to have your own character rendered in a high-quality art print, or even have your entire guild depicted and sent to you as a hardcopy art book.

EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate

On the topic of EverQuest, remember that mention we had of SOE trademarking new EQ properties? It turns out these are the new expansions: EverQuest: Underfoot and EverQuest II: Sentinel's Fate. Smedley kicked off the EQ announcements by reflecting back on 10 years of EverQuest and looking to where the IP is headed in the future. EverQuest II producer Alan "Brenlo" Crosby discussed the game's sixth expansion, Sentinel's Fate, where players will travel to the land of Odus and see what's happened there since The Shattering.

He dropped a few details about this next expansion, slated for a February 2010 launch, and the updates they plan to release between now and Sentinel's Fate. These updates will include the ability to downtier characters, allowing you to go back and replay older content, plus achievements are coming to EverQuest II. In addition, the EQ II level cap will increase by ten levels.

SOE hasn't forgotten about their long-term fans either, those who have stuck with the original EverQuest through the years. EverQuest producer Thomas Terrazas announced the sixteenth EQ expansion, Underfoot, which will launch in November 2009. Underfoot will feature 12-15 zones at launch, with bonus zones and additional content to release in April of 2010. Underfoot will have twice as many weapons as any of the previous 15 expansions, a new focus targeting window (allowing you to add specific targets to your list, monitor health of friends and foes), and achievement tracking that will help players remain aware of the objectives to be completed in their progression path. "In other words," Terrazas said, "you won't have to go looking online on somebody else's website so see what you need. It'll be in-game."

Fan Faire 2009 attendees will get both expansions for free.

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Highlights from the SOE Fan Faire 2009 community address originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Jun 2009 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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