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[Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week four]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/04/choose-my-adventure-dark-age-of-camelot-week-four/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/04/choose-my-adventure-dark-age-of-camelot-week-four/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/04/04/choose-my-adventure-dark-age-of-camelot-week-four/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

DAoC
By participating in Choose My Adventure, I'm starting to realize that this column is perhaps one of the most meta projects that we do here on Massively. It's not just a popularity contest between games (although it begins that way) nor a mere hands-on play-through of a title. Instead, it's a bizarre combination of one person led by hundreds of puppet masters with the added layer of forging a path as a complete newbie so that others who follow in my wake may learn from my mistakes.

But with all of you as my puppet masters, I have the added pressure of not wanting to let any of you down. I know that last week some of you were disappointed with my progress (or lack thereof) and could identify dozens of things I was just doing flat-out wrong. That's another layer to this experience, I think: It gives experienced vets the chance to see the game through virgin eyes and to pass down sage advice that they themselves wish they had gotten right out of the gate.

So this past week was all about taking in your advice and attempting to execute it to the best of my ability. Some of it worked, and some did not, but the end result was a series of Dark Age of Camelot play sessions that were far less frustrating -- and even, dare I say, intriguing?

Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week four

MassivelyChoose My Adventure: Dark Age of Camelot, week four originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>advicebiowarecamelotchoose-my-adventureclassic-mmocmadaocdark-age-of-cameloteaelectronic-artsfantasyfeaturedhands-onlevelingmacrosmythicmythic-entertainmentmythologyopinionpollpollspvpreaders-choicervrskaldvotevotingWed, 04 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lost Pages of Taborea: Patch 4.0.3 changes]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/10/lost-pages-of-taborea-patch-4-0-3-changes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/10/lost-pages-of-taborea-patch-4-0-3-changes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/10/10/lost-pages-of-taborea-patch-4-0-3-changes/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

Runes of Magic screenshot
Last week, Runes of Magic's latest patch brought Knight skill balancing, saw the return of the Juice Festival, and tried to remove some macro functions. All in all, it wasn't a huge patch, but it was enough to light up the RoM forum with a lot of chatter.

As it turns out, many vocal players were saddened to see the removal of macro functions that gave them an incredible amount of flexibility. The abilities given to players to make scripts, macros and addons with amazing freedom have been among RoM's strong points, but they also allowed so much freedom that they skirted the boundary between "helpful addon" and "botting."

The proposed macro change may be one of the fastest retractions Frogster has ever had to make, but there's also the balancing that Knights received and the Juice Festival to talk about in this week's Lost Pages of Taborea. Grab your favorite juice and meet me after the break.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Patch 4.0.3 changes

MassivelyLost Pages of Taborea: Patch 4.0.3 changes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>addonsclass-balancediycedo-it-yourself-combat-enginefeaturedfrogsterfrogster-americafrogster-interactivejeremy-strattonjuice-festivalknightknight-balanceknight-balancinglost-pages-of-taboreamacromacro-nerfmacrospatchpatch-4.0.3patchesromrunes-of-magicrunewakerrunewaker-entertainmentscriptsMon, 10 Oct 2011 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Spotlight: An interview with CCP Zulu]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/15/eve-spotlight-an-interview-with-ccp-zulu/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/15/eve-spotlight-an-interview-with-ccp-zulu/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/04/15/eve-spotlight-an-interview-with-ccp-zulu/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

EVE Spotlight is a new bi-weekly feature in which we interview prominent members of EVE Online's player community or development team. Twice each month, we'll be shining the spotlight on a player or developer who has a significant impact on EVE to highlight the efforts of EVE's most influential people.

It's almost an unwritten rule of game development that someone from quality assurance should never be promoted into a game design role. Game testing and QA are said to be so fundamentally different to design that it's argued the roles require incompatible skillsets. Arnar "CCP Zulu" Gylfason has definitely proven that this isn't the case, successfully migrating from QA to game design and finally being promoted to senior producer on EVE Online. Taking over from CCP T0rfifrans, Arnar has become a very public figure for CCP in the EVE community.

Older players will remember Arnar as CCP Zulupark, that horrible guy who nerfed their carriers back in 2007. Alternatively, you may remember a fantastic forum thread from 2008 in which he personally answered countless player questions on game design and balance issues. Since becoming senior producer on EVE, Arnar has been a strong advocate of this kind of heavy communication with players. Through devblogs, interviews and interactions with the Council of Stellar Management, he's helped to fill the information vacuum players have become accustomed to.

We caught up with EVE senior producer Arnar "CCP Zulu" Gylfason several weeks ago at the EVE Fanfest. In this EVE Spotlight, I ask him about communication with players, the role of live events in future expansions, and other topics.

Continue reading EVE Spotlight: An interview with CCP Zulu

MassivelyEVE Spotlight: An interview with CCP Zulu originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>arnar-gylfasonbotsbottingccpccp-eveccp-gamesccp-zuluccp-zuluparkdevblogdeveloperdevelopersdevelopmenteveeve-ccpeve-fanfesteve-fanfest-2011eve-is-realeve-mmorpgeve-onlineeve-spotlightfanfest-2011featuredgame-designincursioninterviewkeynotemacromacrosmmo-industryqaquality-assuranceteam-best-friends-foreverteam-bffvideoFri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Lost Pages of Taborea: Do-It-Yourself Combat Engine]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/10/lost-pages-of-taborea-do-it-yourself-combat-engine/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/10/lost-pages-of-taborea-do-it-yourself-combat-engine/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/10/lost-pages-of-taborea-do-it-yourself-combat-engine/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

When I first started playing Runes of Magic and other MMOs, I never used addons because they broke my perceived immersion. Fast forward to today and I have well over a dozen different addons to enhance my user interface and interaction with Taborea. There are quite a few addons that I'd now highly recommend. The collection has both evolved and stayed basically the same over the months. The collection does grow, but a lot of the new addons that come along don't see any love once uploaded. Some of the great classics -- like Advanced AuctionHouse -- are constantly being updated and are very useful. Many others that come along are variations on older popular addons or they aren't popular because they are small fluff addons. Basically, there's a core of great addons that are still being updated, but good new addons are coming at a slow pace.

One new addon in particular is the Do-It-Yourself Combat Engine. DIYCE is a robust combat engine that can allow players to pre-script entire combat encounters with the push of a button. There are some ethical questions about the ability to easily program what some would call a cheat code. Is this going too far and skirting the boundaries of hacking? Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons for this program.

Continue reading Lost Pages of Taborea: Do-It-Yourself Combat Engine

MassivelyLost Pages of Taborea: Do-It-Yourself Combat Engine originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>addonaddonscombat-enginediycedo-it-yourself-combat-enginefeaturedfrogsterfrogster-americafrogster-interactivejeremy-strattonlost-pages-of-taborealuamacrosromrunes-of-magicrunewakerrunewaker-entertainmentscriptinguberflex-autocombat-systemMon, 10 Jan 2011 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: The RMT problem]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/19/eve-evolved-the-rmt-problem/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/19/eve-evolved-the-rmt-problem/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/19/eve-evolved-the-rmt-problem/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Of all the problems that plague MMOs, RMT (real money trading) is perhaps the most disruptive to normal gameplay. By design, almost every MMO has some form of tradable currency that can be collected through normal gameplay. The time it takes to collect that currency has an inherent value, which varies from player to player as not every player values his free time at the same level. It's inevitable that cash-rich players who value their time highly will often want to shortcut normal gameplay by buying the currency directly for cash.

The negative impact of RMT and its associated problems is felt in every popular MMO, and EVE Online is no exception. The direct balance issues inherent in allowing players to buy ISK with cash are just the tip of a very unpleasant iceberg. Players who buy ISK from shady websites and services are the reason that the rest of us have to put up with spam-bots in popular chat channels, rampant account hacking, and macros taking up a disproportionately large cut of EVE's in-game resources and server load.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I look into the problems caused by RMT, why macro-farming operations have become so wide-spread, and what CCP has done to combat this growing problem.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: The RMT problem

MassivelyEVE Evolved: The RMT problem originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 19 Dec 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-eveccp-gameseveeve-ccpeve-evolvedeve-mmorpgeve-onlinefarmingfeaturedhackHackedhacked-accounthackingiskmacromacrosplexreal-money-tradingrmtspamspammerssweatshopsweatshopsSun, 19 Dec 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Turbine expands on LotRO's Lua scripting]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/20/turbine-expands-on-lotros-lua-scripting/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/20/turbine-expands-on-lotros-lua-scripting/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/07/20/turbine-expands-on-lotros-lua-scripting/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Ever since hearing the news that Turbine will allow players to create mods for Lord of the Rings Online using the Lua programming language, the community's been abuzz about what this means for LotRO -- good and bad. Would this allow for the creation of game unbalancing add-ons, or perhaps the rise of a LotRO edition of WoW's controversial GearScore? Or does Turbine have a specific vision in mind for the scope of mods?

Yesterday on the LotRO forums, Narrel, Turbine's Games Systems Engineer, posted a clarifying note about why the company chose to implement this and where it plans to go with it. The devs' main priority with Lua scripting was to empower players to tweak and modify the user interface more to their liking, as the default UI cannot be all things for all folks.

While it is going to prohibit mods from botting or macros, Turbine will open the field for players to work with the inventory layout, information that the HUD displays, quickslot bars, target info, fellowship info and raid vitals. "We are very excited about this feature," Narrel said, "and look forward to the day when it goes live allowing players to have a much more customizable experience with our graphical interface."

MassivelyTurbine expands on LotRO's Lua scripting originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>add-onsaddonsbottinggames-systems-engineergearscorehudinventorylord-of-the-rings-onlinelotrolualua-programming-languagelua-scriptmacrosmodsnarrelquickslotturbineuiuser-interfaceworld-of-warcraftwowTue, 20 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Hotfix deployed for EVE Online invisibility exploit]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/29/hotfix-deployed-for-eve-online-invisibility-exploit/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/29/hotfix-deployed-for-eve-online-invisibility-exploit/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/29/hotfix-deployed-for-eve-online-invisibility-exploit/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

Last week, we brought you the news that a terrible exploit had made itself known in EVE Online. The exploit allegedly involved filtering network traffic for specific packets which told the server to join the local chat channel. As a result, the player would remain hidden in the local channel and could sneak up on unsuspecting victims for an easy kill. Most of the controversy surrounding the exploit hinges on whether or not a certain group of players from Pandemic Legion alliance had been abusing the bug to kill farmers and macros. "The MonkeySphere" and his crew have spent months killing the macro element in nullsec using an unannounced but clearly effective strategy. Suspecting him of cheating, Russian players managed to recreate a set of conditions under which a player would remain hidden from the local channel.

Although posting the actual exploit details is not permitted on the official EVE forums, the thread discussing the exploit and The MonkeySphere's alleged involvement has now exceeded 50 pages. Showing a refreshing sense of transparency, CCP opted to keep the thread open while they investigated. Players used the thread to bring forth evidence of the exploit in action and filed bug reports on the issue. On Tuesday, CCP announced that a hotfix for the exploit had been deployed which should prevent the exploit from being used. Meanwhile, debate over The MonkeySphere's involvement with the exploit continue in the original discussion thread.

MassivelyHotfix deployed for EVE Online invisibility exploit originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-eveccp-gamescheatcheatingeveeve-ccpeve-mmorpgeve-onlineexploitmacromacrosmonkeyspherepandemic-legionthe-monkeysphereThu, 29 Apr 2010 16:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Confirmed exploit allows EVE players to sneak up on unsuspecting victims]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/22/confirmed-exploit-allows-eve-players-to-sneak-up-on-unsuspecting/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/22/confirmed-exploit-allows-eve-players-to-sneak-up-on-unsuspecting/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/22/confirmed-exploit-allows-eve-players-to-sneak-up-on-unsuspecting/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

A nasty exploit has raised its ugly head in EVE Online this week, allowing players to prevent themselves from showing up in the local chat channel. Unless you're in a wormhole system, this channel is meant to show a list of every pilot in the system and must update instantly when a player jumps in. In the deep nullsec regions, the local channel is the primary way a player will know if he's safe or not. If you're alone in the channel, there's nobody else logged on in the system that can attack you. If an enemy fleet rolls by, you'll see a list of names suddenly appearing in the channel and know it's time to get to a safe place. If a pilot were able to somehow hide himself from the local channel, he could sneak up on unsuspecting victims without them knowing he's there.

Skip past the cut for an investigative look at this unsettling development.

Continue reading Confirmed exploit allows EVE players to sneak up on unsuspecting victims

MassivelyConfirmed exploit allows EVE players to sneak up on unsuspecting victims originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ccpccp-eveccp-gameseveeve-ccpeve-mmorpgeve-onlineexploitfeaturedgoose-hypocrisylol-internetsmacromacrospvprussianthe-monkeysphereThu, 22 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Masthead Studios discusses Earthrise economy]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/19/masthead-studios-discusses-earthrise-economy/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/19/masthead-studios-discusses-earthrise-economy/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/01/19/masthead-studios-discusses-earthrise-economy/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


It's an immutable law: create an online game where virtual currency is used and it'll inevitably give rise to a black market for that currency, not to mention for the various items in the MMO. Earthrise will be no different, but developer Masthead Studios aims to be proactive about the problem of gold sellers, rather than reactive. They also feel that their game will be difficult to bot. "Most of Earthrise design has followed the paradigm of requiring player interaction and skill through every aspect of combat, crafting and logistic movement so we firmly believe the game will be, by design, very difficult to automate via known methods," Masthead explains in their latest Question of the Week.

Another factor that Masthead Studios feels will curb black market activities in Earthrise, at least in respect to items, is that every use of gear slowly degrades the item in question. Of course, where there's a will there's a way. So when Earthrise enters open beta Masthead Studios will keep a close eye on the various ways players find to exploit the economy.

Continue reading Masthead Studios discusses Earthrise economy

MassivelyMasthead Studios discusses Earthrise economy originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Last week, Massively explained a bit about the war on real money trading (RMT) in EVE Online. The game's developer, CCP Games, has approached the problem from a few different angles. Central to their strategy of combating sellers of the game's currency called ISK (Interstellar Kredits) is to offer another way for players to exchange real world currency for the virtual in EVE Online -- "PLEX", or the 30 Day Pilot License Extension. PLEX is an in-game item that represents gameplay time and can be bought, sold, or traded on the open market in-game. PLEX has been integral in combating the numerous shady ISK selling websites in operation and CCP's dev blog last week showed how the playerbase is starting to embrace this system.

After all, if this practice of outright buying in-game assets with real world cash is going to happen in EVE, as with most MMOs (and regardless of what the developers try to do to curb this) it might as well be via a system the devs can regulate. It's a slippery slope, and CCP's approach to the problem does have some critics, but thus far it's been successful. PLEX has only been one facet of their battle against the ISK spammers, sellers, and the virtual armies of macro-using operations, though. CCP's operation "Unholy Rage" is a major offensive against the RMT operations exploiting the game, and is the subject of a dev blog from EVE Online's GM Grimmi.

Continue reading EVE Online's anti RMT operation Unholy Rage bans over 6200 accounts

MassivelyEVE Online's anti RMT operation Unholy Rage bans over 6200 accounts originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>banbansccp-gamesdev-blogdev-blogseconomyeveeve-onlineexploitsiskmacromacrosmmo-industryplexreal-money-tradingreal-money-transactionsrmtsci-fiunholy-rageMon, 17 Aug 2009 20:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Darkfall lays out a strict anti-macroing policy]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/04/darkfall-lays-out-a-strict-anti-macroing-policy/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/04/darkfall-lays-out-a-strict-anti-macroing-policy/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/04/darkfall-lays-out-a-strict-anti-macroing-policy/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

There are no levels in Darkfall Online. Instead, they use a skill-based progression system. For example: the more you cast magic missile, the better your magic missiles become. Once your magic missile becomes good enough, you will be able to learn a more powerful spell. Obviously a system like this can be easily exploited by macro or bot programs, so it isn't surprising that Adventurine is taking a strict stance against any such exploitation. Of course, there are also the reports of speedhacking where players can run as fast or faster than sprint without losing stamina.

Tasos does not define the term "macro" in the policy, so one must assume its definition is broad. A macro could be assigning several actions to a single hotkey (e.g., a combination of attacks in a particular sequence). A macro could also be a reactionary action (e.g., whenever you are cursed, auto-cast your "remove curse" spell). Anyone caught macroing or spamming spells in the safety of a city or tower area will be warned once, kicked, and potentially banned for repeat attempts. It doesn't seem like they'll punish macro-users in the riskier open-world unless the macros are unattended (generally called bots). Finally, anyone caught using third-party cheating, hacking, modding, or botting programs will be perma-banned no matter where they are.

[Via MMORPG.com]

MassivelyDarkfall lays out a strict anti-macroing policy originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Mar 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>adventurineanti-cheatingbottingdarkfalldarkfall-onlinemacrosmoddingtasos-flambourasWed, 04 Mar 2009 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Fight that WoW pudge with the Wii Fit board]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/15/fight-that-wow-pudge-with-the-wii-fit-board/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/15/fight-that-wow-pudge-with-the-wii-fit-board/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/15/fight-that-wow-pudge-with-the-wii-fit-board/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

When you watch the video embedded above, you may think it's just another weird hack by people with too much time on their hands. But right about the 00:44 mark, suddenly you see the potential: working off that World of Warcraft bulge!

Yes, these enterprising souls have managed to turn the Wii Fit balance board into an alternative method for traversing the Azerothian landscape. Of course, the health benefits are mitigated by the fact that there's no way you'll be able to balance on the board while trying to manipulate a keyboard at the same time, even if you are a macros master. But if you're desperate for some sort of exercise and can't abide the thought of actually going outside, this might be the device for you.

MassivelyFight that WoW pudge with the Wii Fit board originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>azerothbalance-boardhealthmacrosvideowii-fitworld-of-warcraftSun, 15 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST