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[MMObility: The constants of the console]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/17/mmobility-the-constants-of-the-console/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/17/mmobility-the-constants-of-the-console/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/05/17/mmobility-the-constants-of-the-console/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Once again I find myself envious of the console gamer lifestyle. If you think about it even for a bit, you can see how they almost have the best of all gaming worlds. Most popular console titles support some version of multiplayer that can simulate an MMO. Granted, players don't have access to potentially thousands of players at once and all that "massive" entails, but if we are even mildly honest, we'd admit that a great many MMO players spend their time in an instanced dungeon with the same handful of people, most of the time.

A console is also portable and standard. If you buy a console game, you pretty much know it will run on your system. Sure, there are hiccups here and there, but those would be generally the same hiccups that all players would have. The games are made for the console, not the other way around. My jealousy has begun to affect how I play -- I am starting to find ways to step further and further away from the standard PC setup, and hopefully I will never utter the words "upgrade my PC" again.

Browser-based and portable gaming are much like the console market. Let's discuss how so and why this really makes me feel good. Click past the cut!

Continue reading MMObility: The constants of the console

MassivelyMMObility: The constants of the console originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 May 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>androidbeau-hindmanbrowserbrowser-basedbrowser-based-MMOsfeaturedflash-basediphonejavammobilitymobilesmartphoneunityTue, 17 May 2011 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[RuneScape: Sixth anniversary retrospective]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/29/runescape-anniversary-retrospective/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/29/runescape-anniversary-retrospective/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/03/29/runescape-anniversary-retrospective/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

When it first launched back in 2001, RuneScape was a primitive beast. Its blocky three-dimensional world was littered with hand-drawn two-dimensional sprites, and most of its sound effects could have been created by whacking random objects with a hammer. Only a handful of quests and skills existed, and there wasn't much land to explore. After over a decade of development, the RuneScape we have today bears little semblance to its primitive ancestor. The map is an order of magnitude larger, the list of quests has grown immensely, and there are countless things to do in the world.

With several million actively playing free accounts and over a million paid subscribers, RuneScape has risen from its humble beginnings to be one of the world's most popular free-to-play MMOs. It's been a long road, with a few important milestones along the way. Today marks the sixth anniversary of the date that the RuneScape 2 beta was officially completed and the game's first major overhaul was launched live to players. Anyone who played back then will remember the beta fondly as the rebirth of a game they loved. Since then, regular game updates have added a huge amount of depth and content every year.

In this retrospective article, I look back at RuneScape's past to see how it got to where it is today and what's new to the game over this past year.

Continue reading RuneScape: Sixth anniversary retrospective

MassivelyRuneScape: Sixth anniversary retrospective originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anniversarybirthdaybrowserDaemonheimdungeoneeringelemental-workshopfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playfree-tradegraphicsHatihati-wolfiterationjagexjavammo-industrypvpquestquestsrmtrunescaperunescape-classicsixth-anniversarytradewildernessTue, 29 Mar 2011 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Free for All: A look at WURM Online]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/20/free-for-all-a-look-at-wurm-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/20/free-for-all-a-look-at-wurm-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/20/free-for-all-a-look-at-wurm-online/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

WURM Online is no ordinary MMORPG. Sure, we have seen some systems like this in a few other games and are seeing more games come out that promise features like this, but WURM has a charm and a community that make it second to none. Essentially it is a game of survival, pitting the player against themselves. There are many ways to die but those can be avoided if you use your head and practice some patience.

I have a short history with the game, recently playing it with my social network site and for my blog, but after a few months break I decided to check out some of the changes that came along. There have been some tweaks to character models (which are essentially slightly animated dummies) and improvements to performance (the game runs in JAVA) but it was nice to see some of the same buildings still standing and to hear the familiar sounds of sawing and wolves howling.

Continue reading Free for All: A look at WURM Online

MassivelyFree for All: A look at WURM Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>casualfeaturedfree-for-allfree-to-playjavasurvivalvirtual-worldswurm-onlineTue, 20 Apr 2010 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Funcom reveals first details on its free-to-play MMOs]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/18/funcom-reveals-first-details-on-its-free-to-play-mmos/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/18/funcom-reveals-first-details-on-its-free-to-play-mmos/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/18/funcom-reveals-first-details-on-its-free-to-play-mmos/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Funcom, who are probably better known for Age of Conan, have started spilling the details on several free-to-play MMOs. According to Gamasutra, the company is currently working on not one but two titles, one based in Java and the second in a web browser. Funcom outlined the plans as part of their latest financial report, outlining some of their short and long-term goals which included branching into free-to-play MMOs.

While neither of the two titles has a confirmed release date, Funcom did go into a little more detail about the logistics involved. For example, the Java-based game has a team of seventeen people and is being aimed at a young demographic, possibly tweens or teens. From the images they have released, the game appears to have a traditional fantasy setting and the ability to ride animals. Meanwhile the browser-based title is being aimed more at gamers and has fourteen people working on development. The company has also stated that they hope to reach a 'combat milestone' this summer.

MassivelyFuncom reveals first details on its free-to-play MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>browserbrowser-basedfree-to-playfuncomgamasutrajavajava-basedMon, 18 May 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Funcom's Q1 2009 report shows solid revenue]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/funcoms-q1-2009-report-shows-solid-revenue/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/funcoms-q1-2009-report-shows-solid-revenue/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/funcoms-q1-2009-report-shows-solid-revenue/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , ,

Funcom has released a report detailing their financials for the first quarter of 2009. They brought in over US$7 million in revenue for the period, and although this figure is slightly less than the previous quarter (but without the disastrous US$23 million depreciation loss), they are pleased with the stability of their earnings during the economic turbulence of recent times. The report also mentions some positive trends in their flagship game Age of Conan:

  • Longer average subscription periods, demonstrating customer loyalty
  • The number of new customers per month is much higher than Q4 '08 (the introduction of free trials helped here)
  • A solid and stable customer base for the quarter
  • Higher levels of activity in game than in previous periods
Not to be left out, The Secret World made it into the report as well, mostly just to say that the recent reveal was well-received, and the project is on track. Anarchy Online only really had a one-line entry in the report, and it was to say that revenues from the game were slowly declining. The casual and free-to-play games that Funcom referred to in their Q4 '08 report are also keeping to their development schedules -- the screenshot above is from a java-based MMO that is currently in the focus-testing and gameplay tweaking stages. For now though, with TSW and the other casual games still on the horizon, the overall success of Q2 '09 will once again hinge on the performance of AoC.

MassivelyFuncom's Q1 2009 report shows solid revenue originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 May 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conananarchy-onlineaoaocbrowser-basedcasualearningsf2pfinancial-crisisfinancial-reportfinancialsfree-to-playfuncomjavarevenuesubscriptionsthe-secret-worldtswSat, 16 May 2009 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Wurm Online releases rockin' trailer]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/wurm-online-releases-rockin-trailer/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/wurm-online-releases-rockin-trailer/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/17/wurm-online-releases-rockin-trailer/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


Last month we reported on a contest thrown by the developers of Wurm Online regarding lyrics needed for the racial theme songs. If that competition didn't quench your inner bard, head on over to their main site and check out the game's new trailer just released this weekend. It shows off some of the features in the game including grouping, building, fighting monsters and generally lots and lots of landscape panning. Plus, you'll have that theme song in your head the rest of the day, whether you want to or not.

/airguitar

Despite the release of this trailer now, the game has actually been around for awhile. Earlier this month they celebrated their two-year anniversary. This feat is highlighted by the fact that it is basically run by one person and a team of global volunteers. Their funding comes almost entirely from premium subscribers (there is an option to play for free), but their low overhead has helped the game thrive for this long.

MassivelyWurm Online releases rockin' trailer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>browserfree-to-playjavatrailerwurmwurm-onlineTue, 17 Jun 2008 16:30:00 EST<![CDATA[How Lila Dreams was able to do a lot with a little]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/28/how-lila-dreams-was-able-to-do-a-lot-with-a-little/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/28/how-lila-dreams-was-able-to-do-a-lot-with-a-little/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/28/how-lila-dreams-was-able-to-do-a-lot-with-a-little/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Here at Massively, we're slowly becoming bigger and bigger fans of Lila Dreams, a tiny little MMO with some big ideas so far. The latest post over at the dev blog talks about how they made the best use of things that would normally be thought of as limitations in MMO design, and actually came out of it with more creativity than if they'd used more traditional MMO technology. The game is built in Java and Flash and is only 2D, but instead of settling for cheap animation, the designers actually used the drawback as a benefit, and designed a 2D scheme that lays down a set of bones, which can then be customized with any art that the designer wants to put in. What that means for players is customization -- the animation is designed around movement, not specific art, so lots of clothing or items or shapes can be put in their places, and the animation will still work.

It also means, they say, that anyone can be designing animation, since instead of drawing frames or creating movement, you're just dragging keyframes around until they look right. The idea itself isn't necessarily new (lots of designers have used this "paper doll" philosophy, and of course letting anyone do animation doesn't guarantee that Lila Dreams will be anything special), but it's a good sign of the creativity of the Lila Dreams team that they took what most MMO developers would see as a negative (the limitations of Java and Flash), and made something interesting out of it. Can't wait to see they game they're cooking up.

MassivelyHow Lila Dreams was able to do a lot with a little originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2dbrowser-basedcreatrix-gamesdesignflashjavalila-dreamspaper-dollphilosophyFri, 28 Mar 2008 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[TurpsterVision: Battle of the Beards]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/18/turpstervision-battle-of-the-beards/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/18/turpstervision-battle-of-the-beards/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/18/turpstervision-battle-of-the-beards/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Mmmm....Sexualit-T
Every Tuesday think "T" for Turpster and take the "a" in "day", capitalise it, remove the little bit in the middle, turn it upside down and you get a "V". Put the two together and you'll have TV for TurpsterVision -- the best Internet video podcast on Massively! (Never mind that business about it being the only video podcast on Massively...)

I really hoped that I haven't peaked as an MMO reviewer, because this week's episode, complete with costumes and musical accompaniment, might be the best TV yet.This week our friendly co-lead blogger, Mike Schramm, punished me by having me review what many regard as an absolutely terrible game.

With that said we invite you to join us after the break to see if Turpster can survive against such a title and hopefully answer the question on the lips of players around the world: Can Turpster really sing? I fear the answer to that question is no, but that doesn't stop him from trying!

Continue reading TurpsterVision: Battle of the Beards

MassivelyTurpsterVision: Battle of the Beards originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Mar 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bad-gamesdress-upfeaturedfree-to-playfunnyjavajoystiqfeaturesKnightlionel-richielollost-the-gameparodyrunescapeSongthe-tturpsterturpster-visionturpstervisionTue, 18 Mar 2008 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[DOFUS Arena's Cedric Gerard takes his turn at an interview]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/dofus-arenas-cedric-gerard-takes-his-turn-at-an-interview/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/dofus-arenas-cedric-gerard-takes-his-turn-at-an-interview/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/13/dofus-arenas-cedric-gerard-takes-his-turn-at-an-interview/#commentsFiled under: , ,

DOFUS Arena poses a problem to us here at Massively because of it's name. On one hand we're completely into a massively game in the vein of turn-based strategy RPGs like Disgaea or Final Fantasy Tactics. While on the other hand, the name of this game makes us want to burn our eyeballs and then bury them. So when we saw this interview with Ankama Game's Cédric Gérard, it was a difficult call to make; burn and bury our eyes or write about the interview?

Continue reading DOFUS Arena's Cedric Gerard takes his turn at an interview

MassivelyDOFUS Arena's Cedric Gerard takes his turn at an interview originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ankama-gamescedric-gerarddofusdofus-arenaflashjavaThu, 13 Mar 2008 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lila Dreams devs are blogging up new MMO insights]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/03/lila-dreams-devs-are-blogging-up-new-mmo-insights/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/03/lila-dreams-devs-are-blogging-up-new-mmo-insights/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/03/lila-dreams-devs-are-blogging-up-new-mmo-insights/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Back in late January, Eliah posted about an interesting little MMO called Lila Dreams, that was intriguing for a few reasons. Not only is it being developed as a 2D game in Java and Flash on Kongregate.com (a website probably most known for the extremely popular Desktop Tower Defense game), but the premise sounds terrific: the game takes place all inside a little girl's dream, with platforming and "gardening," and "mood-based world altering." Sure, it might not appeal to the Counterstrike crowd, but to experienced game players and developers that just sounds perfect.

Since we first posted about it, the developers of the game have been blogging, and now there's quite a bit to read there about the process behind the game, including some good tidbits about how to make an RPG without a grind, and how to include microtransactions that vibe with both players and the people who want to make money from them.

It'll definitely be interesting to see what comes of this. It certainly seems new, and as a great movie once said, the new needs friends.

[Via KTR]

MassivelyLila Dreams devs are blogging up new MMO insights originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 03 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>2dcounterstrikecreatix-gamesdesktop-tower-defensedev-blogflashgardeningjavakongregatelila-dreamsmmoMon, 03 Mar 2008 21:30:00 EST<![CDATA[One Shots: It's an epidemic!]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/one-shots-its-an-epidemic/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/one-shots-its-an-epidemic/http://massively.joystiq.com/2007/11/27/one-shots-its-an-epidemic/#commentsFiled under: , ,


In our never-ending quest for game news and views, some of the writing staff have been heading out to the four corners of the MMO market. This generally means logging time into games we wouldn't normally play. Much like Eloise, I recently headed into the world of RuneScape, and admittedly found much the same experience with some of the players. Now this isn't to say I didn't like it at all; personally I found the stalkers and beggars downright hilarious. Of course, I also freely admit that I have a weird sense of humor.

So today, I share with you the above screenshot I took to show what happened to me literally not 30 seconds after I'd completed the tutorial and landed in the main RuneScape world. "Money plz" he repeated to me about 15 times as I spoke with the kindly old man who was helping me find my first quest. "money need kthx." All the while I was howling with laughter at someone hitting the very obviously just-spawned me up for cash. A quick ignore and I was on my way, but it raises the question -- how do you handle the inevitable beggars and annoyances? Do you give them an earful, or just laugh at them for being so utterly stereotypical?

Do you have a story to tell, or a screen to share from the far-off corners of the MMO multiverse? If so, send them to us at oneshots@massively.com. Your image and story could be featured next for us to all enjoy -- or cringe at.

MassivelyOne Shots: It's an epidemic! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Nov 2007 14:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>beggarbrowserfeaturedfree-to-playjagexjavaoh-no-you-didntone-shotsrune-scaperunescapesillystalkerTue, 27 Nov 2007 14:04:00 EST