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['RIFT Lite' announced, makes first 20 levels free to all [Updated]]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/rift-lite-announced-makes-first-20-levels-free-to-all/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/rift-lite-announced-makes-first-20-levels-free-to-all/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/01/rift-lite-announced-makes-first-20-levels-free-to-all/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

RIFT Lite, with less calories
Trion Worlds has just announced that its fantasy MMO RIFT, which released to wide acclaim just 11 months ago, will today launch an introductory version of the game known as RIFT Lite. Similar to Warhammer Online's Endless Trial and World of Warcraft's Starter Edition, RIFT Lite will allow "anyone with a Trion account to experience the game's first 20 levels at no cost and with no playtime restrictions." Players will be able to access the capital cities as well as Terminus, Mathosia, Freemarch, and Silverwood, all the way up to level 20 and on any server, for the low, low cost of zero dollars.

In the press release, RIFT Executive Producer Scott Hartsman, who told fans last November that Trion had "absolutely no plans whatsoever" to turn RIFT F2P, stated that his company believes "a Lite edition with no time limit is the best way for players to see what an amazing experience RIFT continues to be."

Diet RIFT launches today in conjunction with the latest patch, Carnival of the Ascended, which brings player weddings, dungeon overhauls, and PvP tweaks to Telara.

[Update: The official RIFT Lite website has now gone live.]

Massively'RIFT Lite' announced, makes first 20 levels free to all [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>carnival-of-the-ascendeddiet-riftendless-trialf2pfree-to-playfree-to-trylevel-20litemini-f2ppatch-1.7riftrift-litescott-hartsmantelaratriontrion-worldsWed, 01 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Funcom threatening to delete noob Age of Conan characters]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/11/funcom-threatening-to-delete-noob-age-of-conan-characters/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/11/funcom-threatening-to-delete-noob-age-of-conan-characters/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/11/funcom-threatening-to-delete-noob-age-of-conan-characters/#commentsFiled under: , ,

When it comes to character deletions, just about every MMO out there has a clause in their Terms of Service that indicates they have the right to delete your characters at any time and for no reason whatsoever. With that said, there are very few companies that choose to exercise that right.

Up until now it has been Square Enix as part of Final Fantasy XI (even then they occasionally restore characters as part of 'welcome back' promotions), and Alganon's new "trial" which allows you to play for 30 days free before they wipe your character if you don't subscribe. However, as you can see from the above image, Funcom has opted to join the ranks of "will delete characters" in regards to Age of Conan.

When contacted for comment about whether or not this was true, Erling Ellingsen, Director of Communications for Funcom said, "Yes, that's correct. It's a database clean-up. We're going through all accounts that's (sic) been inactive for a long period of time, deleting characters under level 20 to free space in the database."

Continue reading Funcom threatening to delete noob Age of Conan characters

MassivelyFuncom threatening to delete noob Age of Conan characters originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 11 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanaocbreakingcharacter-deletionerling-ellingsenfuncomlevel-20low-level-charactersMon, 11 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Get your keys for the third Aion beta weekend, before they're gone]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/07/01/get-your-keys-for-the-third-aion-beta-weekend-before-theyre-go/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/07/01/get-your-keys-for-the-third-aion-beta-weekend-before-theyre-go/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/07/01/get-your-keys-for-the-third-aion-beta-weekend-before-theyre-go/#commentsFiled under: , ,


It's going to be another weekend of angels flying around the world, except this weekend you're going to get to choose which side you want to support! Yes, that's right, it's the third weekend for the Aion beta test.

This weekend's testing focus will be on both the Elyos and Asmodian sides and testers will be able to progress all the way up to level 20. No more getting capped at 10 just after you grab your wings! The test's doors open tomorrow, July 2nd, at 12 PM PT / 3 PM ET.

If you haven't gotten your key for the beta yet, run on over to Fileplanet and grab one! Sadly, at the time of this post, there are no more keys left for standard users, but Fileplanet subscribers still have the opportunity to grab an entrance into the beta. Oh, one more thing -- these keys are for North American users only.

MassivelyGet your keys for the third Aion beta weekend, before they're gone originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aionasmodianbetabeta-testelyosfileplanetlevel-20ncsoftweekendWed, 01 Jul 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The pros and cons of free to play Dungeons and Dragons Online pt. 2]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-online-pt/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-online-pt/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-online-pt/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


The cons of the whole switchover

Item malls that offer players the ability to purchase items or item upgrades degrade the gaming experience. We've been over this before -- letting Mr. Moneybags deck out his character at level 1 so he's 10x more awesome than everybody else is a major downer to people who don't have the money.

While I've pored over the text that Turbine is released, it doesn't appear that they will be offering items like weaponry or armor. They will be offering "items of convenience" to the players. My best guess is things like potions, perhaps portals, resurrection scrolls, things such as these. Even though these are low powered items, they can still annoy you when Moneybags can teleport all over the place and you're left walking and taking the slow route.

This con is, however, offset by the fact that points can be earned by actually playing the game. It sounds like they are attempting to make the cash shop available for everyone, not just the Moneybags of the world. This will be interesting to watch, as no other developer as truly tried this in the American market.

"I could easily see some players offering up items in the auction house above the amount that a free player's wallet could hold."
The big con to this is the limited play that free players get. Limited auctions and limited mail are two nasty inconveniences in their own right, but limited gold storage and limited chat seem to be the features that take the cake. How would you like it if you couldn't chat in all of the chat channels, or were restricted to how much you can say in game? Even worse, limited gold storage may mean that you might not be able to purchase the best items from the auction house simply because your wallet just doesn't hold enough.

I could easily see some players offering up items in the auction house above the amount that a free player's wallet could hold. This is going to inconvenience the player further because it's going to restrict how the player can interact with the auction house and interact with the vendors in the world.

Another two bites out of the pro pile are the fact that free players rank lower than DDO VIP subscription players in the login queue and free players don't get access to customer support. This means that a constant influx of DDO VIP players could easily keep bumping free players back in the login queue, should the server become overpopulated. While I don't exactly see this happening, it could become problem should the lines really get backed up. I know I wouldn't like to see that my place in line as number 27 get jacked backward to 30 or 35 just because a few subscribers chose to log in.

Lastly is the fact that free players are stuck with the online knowledge base and the forums as their source of aid should they encounter problems. I can foresee some free players attempting to play the game, getting stuck on some odd technical problem, and then becoming unable to solve it simply because the knowledge base doesn't have their problem on file. You're going to inevitably lose some people over this, just because they don't want to deal with the frustration of attempting to make a free game work. It's a free game, so if it doesn't work, just move onto the next game.

The bottom line?

The final thoughts for all of this is you should weigh it for yourself. If you want to save some cash and you like Dungeons and Dragons, then this might just be the experience for you. If you're looking for a second quality MMO to have as a side-game, then this might also be what you want to pick up.

If you're someone who's easily frustrated by limitations, however, then you might not enjoy this experience. Some of the stuff, like decreased auctions, gold storage, and chatting capabilities might hamper gameplay just enough to turn off some people.

But, don't take my word for it. Judge the game for yourself when it hits free to play status later this summer.
Turbine has just announced that Dungeons and Dragons Online will be moving to a free-to-play business model, and we have the inside scoop. Be sure to read our complete coverage of the changeover, and look for more info as DDO Unlimited approaches launch.

MassivelyThe pros and cons of free to play Dungeons and Dragons Online pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>consddoddo-storedebatedecisiondnddungeons-and-dragonsdungeons-and-dragons-onlineeberron-unlimitedfree-to-playitem-mallitem-shoplevel-20module-9prosturbineWed, 10 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The pros and cons of free to play Dungeons and Dragons Online]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-online/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/06/10/the-pros-and-cons-of-free-to-play-dungeons-and-dragons-online/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


Dungeons and Dragons Online going free to play is undoubtedly an awesome announcement. But exactly how awesome of an announcement is it?

Yesterday we were all over the announcement, covering the basics of what can be expected with this changeover from subscription based to free to play. But now, I'd like to break that down even further, and really look at the changes in an in-depth manner.

Certainly not everything about the new version of DDO has been defined by Turbine, but we're going to take a look at the basics of what this new version offers and compare the ups and downs of what's being offered. By the time we're done looking over the new system, you'll be able to answer that one burning question that's plaguing your mind.

Is free to play DDO worth it for you?

Continue reading The pros and cons of free to play Dungeons and Dragons Online

MassivelyThe pros and cons of free to play Dungeons and Dragons Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>consddoddo-storedebatedecisiondnddungeons-and-dragonsdungeons-and-dragons-onlinedungeons-and-dragons-online-eberron-unlimitedeberron-unlimitedfree-to-playitem-mallitem-shoplevel-20module-9prosstormreachturbineWed, 10 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST