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Previously On MVTV: The week of March 17th

Beau Hindman — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Game mechanics, Previews, Opinion, Hands-on, Humor, Livestream, Miscellaneous, Previously on MV TV

Ah, livestreaming: the greatest thing we do here at Massively. Well, in my opinion at least. Playing video games live for others to watch is not just about virtual glory or showing off just how tough our rigs are (Jeremy wins, anyway), but they can act as instructional guides, introductions to new games, and special glimpses of content that has never before been seen. It's sort of a sad fact that some of these livestreams can do the work of entire columns. Pictures might be worth a thousand words, but animated pictures are worth much more.

This week we have a lot of variety as well as some old favorites for you. Be sure to check out and bookmark our MVTV Guide so that you know what is coming up and when to set your alarm clock. Once you're in the chat room, you can ask questions, point out errors (we love that), and jump into the game with the streamers!

In this week's roundup, Blake starts off with some Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Richie follows up with a bit of Guild Wars action. Next we have Mike returning to EVE Online and then popping into RIFT for some more exploration of the initial free 20 levels. I then take the time to add some animations to my otherwise-bland character in Second Life and then show off a bit of Parallel Kingdom, a browser-based MMO that is layered on top of the real-world map! Jeremy rounds things out with more Atlantica Online, showing off the Tactical Battle System that acts a lot like a boardgame within the game.

Continue reading Previously On MVTV: The week of March 17th

Previously On MVTV: The week of March 17th originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Luvinia Online leaps into launch

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Launches, Free-to-play

Following a short period in open beta, Outspark's Luvinia Online has ponied up and released to throngs of adoring fans today. If riding giant bunnies and beating up on steroid chickens in a colorful fantasy environment sounds up your alley, today might be a great day for your gaming schedule.

Outspark's Philip Yun announced that the level cap has been increased to 78, and he welcomed all of the game's supporters: "We had a great open beta and everything is coming along as expected for this exceptional MMORPG. We thank all of the players that helped out with the closed and open betas and are happy that we can finally bring the full experience of Luvinia Online to our large and eager player base."

Unlike many MMO launches, Luvinia's launch won't wipe players' beta characters but will instead roll them onto the live servers instead. With Luvinia's launch comes the opening of the in-game store, which will try to tempt players with costumes, mounts, and XP boosts in order to finance this free-to-play title.

[Source: Outspark press release]

Gallery: Luvinia-Online

Luvinia Online leaps into launch originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Speaking Episode 150

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, Opinion, Massively Meta, Humor, Massively Speaking, Livestream

Massively Speaking Episode 150 returns this week with a recording of our live show, streamed yesterday on Ustream. Unfortunately, the video itself didn't save Rubi's part (although she was seen and heard during the live stream), but the back-up audio was saved for you regular audio podcast listeners.

The topics this week include Perfect World's acquisition of Cryptic Studios, GamersFirst's collaboration with Fallen Earth, Fallout Online's rocky future, CCP's new in-game currency and item shop, Chinese prisoners forced to play WoW, and Square Enix's newest MMO, yet to be officially announced.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to shawn@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Massively Speaking is the official podcast of Massively.com. Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Shawn Schuster and Community Manager Rubi Bayer, Massively Speaking takes on the week's biggest news and dev interviews with plenty of opinion, rants, and laughs thrown in for good measure. Join us every Wednesday afternoon to listen in and see what we'll say next!

Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 150

Massively Speaking Episode 150 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Speaking Episode 131: LIVE!

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, Events, in-game, Opinion, Massively Meta, Humor, Massively Speaking

Massively Speaking Episode 131 is back this week with the very first completely live, unedited episode. Was this a good thing? Not entirely, but it sure was fun! Shawn and Rubi teamed up in Guild Wars to record the show on their livestream channel, discussing the week's news and the fashion of the listeners.

Unfortunately, the recorded video of this event didn't save because of a crash (Yay Livestream!), but the audio is included in this post and as usual, on the RSS feed for the podcast. If we do this again, we'll do it at a different time, but let us know what you think of this format once every few months.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to shawn@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Massively Speaking is the official podcast of Massively.com. Hosted by Editor-in-Chief Shawn Schuster and Community Manager Rubi Bayer, Massively Speaking takes on the week's biggest news and dev interviews with plenty of opinion, rants, and laughs thrown in for good measure. Join us every Wednesday afternoon to listen in and see what we'll say next!

Continue reading Massively Speaking Episode 131: LIVE!

Massively Speaking Episode 131: LIVE! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EQII Live server merges begin this November

Jef Reahard — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, MMO industry, News items

In a move that should surprise no one, Sony Online Entertainment has announced it will be officially merging EQII Live servers beginning this fall. Sixteen shards will be affected, though notably populated servers such as Antonia Bayle, Lucan D'Lere, Nagafen, and Crushbone are not among them (nor are the Live Gamer shards Vox and The Bazaar).

EQII producer Dave "Smokejumper" Georgeson cautions that the merges won't happen quickly, as there is a lot of work to be done. The trade-off is that "bigger population density on a server is just simply more fun for everyone involved, so it's time to get it done," he writes.

For the complete listing, check out the announcement on the official website, and also hit up this thread for more discussion and details.

EQII Live server merges begin this November originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Friday Livestream: Dynasty Warriors Online... er... FFXIV [Updated]

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Free-to-play, Hands-on, Livestream

Yes, that's right dear readers, it's another edition of the Friday Livestream! It's almost time for the weekend, and that means it's time for us to get down and enjoy another MMO.

Tonight we're going to give Dynasty Warriors Online a try, because I've always had a soft spot for the Dynasty Warriors series. Sure, the games are horribly repetitive and always occur in the same timeline with the same battles in every iteration, but there's just something really satisfying about walking into a battle and taking on a whole army by yourself. It's just an amusing amount of fun.

Oh, and did I mention we're giving out beta keys to the game? Yeah, you should totally get in on that.

So, if you want to check out the action of DWO, hit the "read more" button below or click the picture above. Either way, you'll be taken to our livestream of the game, or you could visit us at http://www.livestream.com/massivelytv and join in on the live chat too!

[Update: Well that was interesting. Instead of DWO, we did World of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Final Fantasy XIV! The video is, as always, after the break for those who missed the stream!]

Continue reading The Friday Livestream: Dynasty Warriors Online... er... FFXIV [Updated]

The Friday Livestream: Dynasty Warriors Online... er... FFXIV [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday Livestream: Player's Choice edition [Updated]

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Events, in-game, Opinion, Livestream

This week we decided to do something different with the Friday Livestream. Frankly, I couldn't make a decision on what game I wanted to play in front of everyone today. I have so many games on my hard drive, and so little time to play them all! So, I did what any good confused editor does -- defer the decision to the community!

I gave you four games to vote on: The Lord of the Rings Online, EverQuest II, Aion, and Minecraft. The call went out over the Massively.com Twitter feed, and you guys didn't disappoint! The votes have been tallied, and the game has been chosen... but which one made the cut?

Find out by checking out our livestream after the break, or just click the link above to be taken straight to the video! Come and join us for another great edition of the Friday Livestream!

[Update: The livestream is over, but you can check out our recording of the event right after the break! The chosen game was Lord of the Rings Online! Grats to the LotRO community for so many votes for your game!]

Continue reading Friday Livestream: Player's Choice edition [Updated]

Friday Livestream: Player's Choice edition [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Sep 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Does beta ruin your launch day glee?

Kyle Horner — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Launches, Opinion, The Daily Grind

The common view of a beta is that it's a wonderful way for someone to experience a game's "work-in-development" state of flux. It's a magical time when you feel like you're being treated to a special preview of the game before thousands of other people in the world. That's at least one point of view, but in truth lots of people don't want to get into beta.

Why? They want to experience the game in all its unknown luster on launch day, throughout launch week and well into those first few months. There's definitely something to be said for jumping into a fresh digital world, so we pose this question to you, our dear readers: What's better: getting into beta and avoiding the first few months of launch or skipping beta and experiencing everything with everyone else in those first few hours, days and weeks?

The Daily Grind: Does beta ruin your launch day glee? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Reminder: Rise of the Godslayer preview today at 3 PM ET

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Events, real-world, Previews, News items

It's been a few days since we announced it, so we thought we'd be a kind website and drop you a friendly reminder that you can catch a preview of Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer today on Xfire at 3 PM.

Today's streaming preview will be composed entirely of features and areas from the new expansion, played by the developers themselves. The presentation will last about an hour and will be streamed entirely from the Xfire site, so no need to rapidly re-install Xfire if you're looking to watch. Just go to the page at a little before 3 PM, watch the video, and chat live with other viewers.

If you can't make it, don't feel like you're missing out! We'll be putting up a synopsis of what went on in the presentation after it ends to keep you in the loop. So don't fear, we've got your backs!

Reminder: Rise of the Godslayer preview today at 3 PM ET originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 07 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games selects player commentators for EVE Alliance Tournament VII

James Egan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, MMO industry, PvP, News items

CCP Games holds an annual EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament where player organizations face off against one another, live, in a spectacle of explosions, cunning tactics, ... and occasionally betrayal. This year's Alliance PvP Tournament will mark the seventh annual event. CCP Games likes to get the players involved in ways beyond being tournament competitors, which is good news for the gamers themselves. Rather than having the developers comment with the play-by-play action, we've mentioned that CCP put out a call to the players, seeking PvP experts to be commentators. The final choices have been made and CCP announced the names of this year's Alliance Tournament commentators today, and it's clearly an accomplished roster of players.

Crovan (Dark-Rising), of The Drone Bay podcast fame, will be back again this year. As will Kil2 (coracao ardente), who did a great job last year, and who many players will know from the PvP videos he's released. Verone, arguably EVE's most well-known pirate, will apparently be enjoying the tournament as a viewer rather than commentator this year, but his Veto corpmate Ryas Nia will be on hand at Alliance Tournament VII. Ryas will be joined by two new commentators this year: TeaDaze from Agony Unleashed (a PvP training school in EVE) and Trzzbk from GoonFleet.

This looks like a great lineup of players chosen to speak during the matches. EVE Alliance Tournament VII will begin in early September, and will run for three weekends, culminating in the live video broadcast of the finals from Reykjavik.

CCP Games selects player commentators for EVE Alliance Tournament VII originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2009: Free Realms and The Dares set world record concert event

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Free Realms

Last night at SOE's gigantic E3 booth, attendees were actually a part of history. The Dares -- that youthful pop-punk band that sings the light-heartedly rebellious theme song for Free Realms -- performed a small set for a live concert audience at E3 and simultaneously in the game. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, who awarded the bandmates a plaque after the concert, this is the first time this has been done. Yeah, sorry Second Life fans.

If you're interested in seeing the live performance of "It's Your World", and thereby getting it stuck in your head for the next three weeks, check it out after the jump below. There's also a separate video showing the Guinness World Record reception, as well. Congrats goes out to those guys, although I'm pretty sure they'll never read this.

Continue reading E3 2009: Free Realms and The Dares set world record concert event

E3 2009: Free Realms and The Dares set world record concert event originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Richard Garriott live on stage, one night only!

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Real life, Sci-fi, Culture, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Tabula Rasa

As a game developer, there's no denying that Richard Garriott is a legend. I think by now most people reading this realize his importance in creating Ultima Online, and his "come-back" attempt with Tabula Rasa. Since then, Garriott has expressed a desire to leave gaming to pursue his rediscovered love for space travel, and then gaming again, and now space travel again.

If you find yourself compelled with the space flight of Richard Garriott, and you feel like paying $65 a ticket for the opportunity, he'll be telling his story live on the ZACH Theatre's Whisenhunt stage in Austin, TX for one night only. On Saturday, January 24th, at both 2:30pm and 8pm, you can listen to Richard Garriott talk about his experiences in space and his future plans with the space program. There will even be a Q&A session afterwards. I can think of a few questions I'd like to ask him. How about you?

Richard Garriott live on stage, one night only! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Attend the WoW Insider Blizzcon meetup tonight, meet cool people

Samuel Axon — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Podcasts, Events, real-world, News items

Blizzcon starts tomorrow in Anaheim, CA, and WoW Insider and Massively are already on-site to provide the best coverage we can! If you're in town, we want to invite you to the WoW Insider meetup tonight at 8:00 PM Anaheim time. You'll have chances to win cool prizes and swag if you know your World of Warcraft trivia, and the WoW Insider podcast will be taped in front of a live audience, so you can be a part of that mayhem as well.

The meetup will be at The Lost Bar at 1150 W. Magic Way, near the Disneyland Hotel. The party will go on through much of the night, so even if you're not getting in until after 8:00, feel free to show up late and relax with the WoW Insider crew post-flight or drive.

Attend the WoW Insider Blizzcon meetup tonight, meet cool people originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gamer streams WAR preview weekend gameplay live

Shawn Schuster — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, New titles, Previews, Warhammer Online, Hands-on

If you won't get a chance to take advantage of the Warhammer Online preview weekend this weekend, we've found the next best thing. A WAR fan named Saban is streaming his gameplay from this weekend completely live for all to see. Not only that, you can chat with other observers and comment on what's going on in the game. Saban even includes information on the computer he's using, his character and Vent server info to join him and others in some hardcore WAR discussion.

We anticipate once this site gets more popular, the streaming won't be so... streaming, but it's worth a shot for anyone still on the fence about what to expect with WAR. From what we're watching at the time of this writing, the streaming is still flawless, which even includes streaming music from Saban, but of course that depends on your connection and your computer.

[Via Cuppycake]

Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Gamer streams WAR preview weekend gameplay live originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Aug 2008 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Xfire to broadcast WoW's Sunwell Plateau raid live

Samuel Axon — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, Events, real-world, Endgame, News items

This Wednesday at noon (EDT), Xfire will run a live broadcast of a raid in World of Warcraft's top instance -- the Sunwell Plateau. The raid will be performed by famous uberguild Nihilum, and the broadcast will run on the Dyyno technology.

This is the second raid broadcast by Xfire, but this time around advances in technology enable a higher number of viewers and better quality. Up to 4,000 people may tune in. Four different points of view will be provided -- those of a Warrior, a Hunter, a Druid, and a Warlock. The raid is expected to last between three and four hours. To watch, you'll have to head over to Xfire's website and install both the Xfire client and the Dyyno plugin.

What do you think, readers? Pro-level raiding as a spectator sport? Is that something you're actually intrigued by, or does it sound like a terrible waste of time? We're skeptical, but maybe we're just not as l33t as j00.

Xfire to broadcast WoW's Sunwell Plateau raid live originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Games that shouldn't be MMOs

Akela Talamasca — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fury, Culture, Game mechanics, New titles, PvP, Opinion, Humor

Here's a corollary post to an earlier story. Our cousin site, Cinematical, has brought teh funneh with a post about which board games would make awful movies. In that spirit, we now present to you a list of games that would make terrible MMOs, in no particular order.

Please note that these are merely our particular opinions, and we're not saying that a cleverer-than-thou developer couldn't make a great MMO out of these games ... but for reasons we'll state here, it's highly unlikely. Then again, sometimes the best-sounding ideas turn out some awful games themselves (*cough* Fury *cough*), so it all evens out. Excelsior!

Continue reading Games that shouldn't be MMOs

Games that shouldn't be MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Majorem's MMORTS Ballerium launches

William Dobson — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Launches, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMORTS

WarCry has brought our attention to the fact that a new MMORTS has gone live. Ballerium, by game development studio Majorem, is now free to download and play from the game's homepage. Some of the features of Ballerium are thousands of players on a single map, seven races to choose from, a persistent multi user environment, and interestingly, AI that will finish fights for you if you disconnect.

The homepage's feature section also says that you can earn status and prizes outside of the game by participating in the Ballerium community, creating videos and fan art, and later on, making creatures and levels. If you register for the game before the end of this month, you'll be in the running for a $50 Jinx.com gift card.

This isn't the only MMORTS we've heard from recently, with Saga announcing their final beta date a week ago.

Majorem's MMORTS Ballerium launches originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 16 Dec 2007 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Entire guild Unhallowed Triad moved from EQ2 Test Server to live

William Dobson — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:05:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Guilds, News items, Rumors

A thread on popular forums EQ2Flames is asserting that a guild from the EverQuest II Test Server, Unhallowed Triad, has been moved over to the live server Unrest. This is something that SOE had said would never happen, due to the doubled experience gain on Test making it unfair on live players. The poster also claims that there was a GM account in the guild that assisted them in killing things that they could not take down on their own, in order to obtain some of the best gear in the game.

Continue reading Rumor: Entire guild Unhallowed Triad moved from EQ2 Test Server to live

Rumor: Entire guild Unhallowed Triad moved from EQ2 Test Server to live originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 13 Dec 2007 20:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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