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SWTOR: When do I get...?

Larry Everett — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Launches, Professions, PvP, Opinion, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guides

BioWare has created an enormous world with Star Wars: The Old Republic. Over and over again, developers explained that this is absolutely[TM] the biggest single project BioWare has ever undertaken. This also means that it is the most complex, and not everything you want to know about the game is easy to find.

Every week for the last three years, the community team at BioWare has released tidbits of information, and sometimes when the information trickles out over that span of time, it's hard to keep track of it all. Therefore, the crew here at Massively decided it would be a good idea to compile some of the more common questions that have been asked about SWTOR, all in a single place. Catch all the questions and answers after the break, and if you have any other (serious) questions, feel free to ask them in the comments -- we will do our best to get them answered for you!

Continue reading SWTOR: When do I get...?

SWTOR: When do I get...? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's guide to SWTOR's launch and beyond

Brianna Royce — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Classes, Game mechanics, Launches, Lore, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Massively Meta, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Guides, Dungeons, Crafting

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, we first heard mention of a new Star Wars MMO set in the popular Knights of the Old Republic era. Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare named it, and we've waited ~~patiently~~ impatiently through ~~months~~ years of hope and hype, fanboys and haters, and at least eight million articles about the fourth pillar of story.

This week, The Old Republic is the new hotness, and the Massively staffers are right there with you, champing at the bit to get in the head start already! But what if you're not an expert on Star Wars lore or TOR's gameplay? What if you don't know the first thing about purple lightsabers, astromechs, and the Kessel Run? What if you can't decide which class to play? When do you get a starship? Can you really romance your companions? How do flashpoints work? And why are there no bathrooms on Coruscant?!

Relax, young Padawan. Put your blast-shield down and let Massively be your guide... literally. We've rounded up a massive collection of helpful introductory guides for each of the eight classes, along with overviews of gameplay mechanics like companions, starships, flashpoints, warzones, and crafting. We've also curated the most illuminating lore essays from our regular SWTOR column, Hyperspace Beacon, in addition to our extensive hands-on previews from the last few years.

Take your first step into a larger world...

Continue reading Massively's guide to SWTOR's launch and beyond

Massively's guide to SWTOR's launch and beyond originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Tanks closed beta registrations hit the one million mark

Brendan Drain — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Historical, Screenshots, MMO industry, New titles, News items, War, World of Tanks

It can often be difficult to judge how much anticipation is building for an upcoming title. For MMOs, a fairly good milestone for comparison is the number of registrations entered for the closed beta phase. If its closed beta registrations are anything to go by, there's a great deal of interesting building in Wargaming.net's upcoming MMO World of Tanks. The first round of WoT's closed beta ended in August and at peak saw over 4,000 concurrent players. Last month, we discovered that the second round of closed beta testing saw a peak concurrent user total of over 53,000. Much of the dramatic increase can be attributed to release of the Russian closed beta test, as Russian players have taken a massive interest in the title.

One month ago, Wargaming.net reported the total number of active players to be 150,000 for the US/European closed beta and 350,000 in the Russian beta. These players came from a total of 700,000 registered beta accounts, half a million of which were from Russia and 200,000 of which originated in the US and Europe. Within the last month, the number of registrations has now skyrocketed past the one million mark, proving that there's significant interest in the game. On reaching this milestone figure, Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net, took the opportunity to thank players for their interest. "We would like to thank all the WoT fans for their support." he told us. "Wargaming.net will continue to work hard on adding new content to the game regularly to guarantee that our community gets maximum fun from playing World of Tanks".

To celebrate the milestone, Wargaming.net has released a series of screenshots from its closed beta tests.

Gallery: World of Tanks

World of Tanks closed beta registrations hit the one million mark originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: Don't hate the playa, hate the developa

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased

So I noticed something last week, in the comments section of my piece on UI design, that finally kicked me back into "endless rant" mode. It's a sentiment that I've noticed in the video game community at large for a while now, but I never really knew how to approach it until recently, thanks to my own life experiences with games. It's an idea that's pretty misinformed on how the industry works.

It's the idea that the developers behind any given game are an idiots. According to commenters, they're all blind, non-gamer morons, bumbling around in the dark without the slightest sense of what game mechanics are actually fun.

Why are these bumbling morons in the industry? Why don't they listen to the endless array of golden ideas that pop up on game forums? Don't they realize that these revolutionary ideas will turn every game into double-rainbow-crapping unicorns? Why haven't 15% of my readers (a totally accurate statistic, mind you) figured out how sarcastic I'm being at this point in the introduction?

This week we're going after some of the common misconceptions about developers and game design, and how making a game as complex as an MMO is really never as easy as you claim it is.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: Don't hate the playa, hate the developa

Anti-Aliased: Don't hate the playa, hate the developa originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Aug 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fantasy Earth Zero hosting double experience week

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items, Free-to-play

If you're a fan of Fantasy Earth Zero, then odds are good that you've also become a fan of the game on Facebook. (You can't escape from that site any more, really.) But if you do enjoy the game's hybrid of real-time strategy elements and fantasy battles without having become a fan of the game on social networking... you owe the Facebook fans a big "thank you." As a celebration for having reached 5,000 fans, the game is running a week of doubled experience.

Running from August 10th to the 17th, the effects are obvious -- every character will receive doubled experience, presumably from every source. While the game doesn't require high levels to be competitive in PvP, it does offer up more options. In addition, players who logged on between July 1st and August 9th will receive a few special in-game items as an additional thanks for playing. Another celebration is planned for 6,000 fans, so Fantasy Earth Zero players are encouraged to become a fan if you're not already.

Fantasy Earth Zero hosting double experience week originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online turns 7 today, BIG corp runs huge anniversary lottery

Brendan Drain — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry

On May 6th 2003, a little online space game by a relatively unknown independent Icelandic games company was officially released. Fast forward seven years down the line and that little company is a megalithic giant in the games industry. Spanning four countries and leveraging hundreds of staff, the company has begun to expand its portfolio with a console MMOFPS and a new MMO based in the World of Darkness setting. Under CCP's development, EVE Online has stood the test of time and enjoyed a steady increase in subscriptions. At EVE's sixth anniversary last year, they announced having reached 300,000 active subscriptions with a peak concurrent user total of 53,850. Some time in December of last year, the number of EVE subscriptions finally surpassed the number of citizens in CCP's home country of Iceland. That number rose to 330,000 active subscriptions by March of this year, with a peak concurrent total of 56,021. With the Tyrannis expansion around the corner, EVE is sure to see the same characteristic growth this year too.

CCP took the time to start a congratulatory thread on the EVE forums to mark the day. To celebrate, they're also donating massive prizes to EVE's oldest and most respected player-run lottery. The BIG lottery's anniversary draw is open now for entry and closes on Sunday, May 16th, with a live prize drawing the following day. The first place winner takes home a colossal 25 billion ISK prize, with the second place reeling in a huge 10 billion ISK. CCP is sponsoring prizes of a year's free game time, a battleship model from the EVE store, a copy of the new EVE: The Burning Life novel and an EVE T-Shirt. Not to be left out, E-ON Magazine is offering the latest four issues of the magazine plus a copy of their EVE Strategic Map booklet. Finally, EVE player "Ash Tre" is sponsoring the contest with a pack of faction cruisers. From all of us here at Massively, happy birthday EVE Online!

EVE Online turns 7 today, BIG corp runs huge anniversary lottery originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 06 May 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

MapleStory announces over 92 million users worldwide, 4 year anniversary

James Egan — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: MapleStory, Business models, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Casual

We often marvel at the sheer numbers of subscribers and users some MMOs and virtual worlds are able to reach. You can look at a title like World of Warcraft, with over 11 million subscribers and just picture a massive green tidal wave made of dollar bills sweeping over Blizzard HQ. Every month. But WoW's millions of customers, while impressive, pales in comparison with what Nexon announced this week with MapleStory: 92 million users worldwide, with 6 million users in North America alone.

Sure, comparing success stories of a subscription title with a free-to-play game is a bit like comparing apples and oranges. Each of those 92 million "Maplers" probably isn't dropping $15 each month to play, but the fact remains that many of those users are paying real money for their virtual goods. The numbers we ran for MapleStory's virtual items sales in the US, roughly one year ago, had 5.9 million US users spending USD 29.3 million on these goods.

Continue reading MapleStory announces over 92 million users worldwide, 4 year anniversary

MapleStory announces over 92 million users worldwide, 4 year anniversary originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 09 May 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online turns 6 today, announces over 300k subscribers

James Egan — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items

EVE Online is the first massively multiplayer online title from CCP Games, one that's redefined what we can expect from a sandbox game. They created the gritty far-future setting of New Eden, a place where EVE's players can do as they choose in a vast galaxy comprised of thousands of solar systems, both mapped and unexplored. Today CCP Games celebrates EVE Online's sixth birthday. They state, "A 6 year persistent history. A living history where truly brilliant strategies have unfolded. Truly terrible betrayals unveiled. We are excited to see what will happen next."

CCP also announced their new subscriber milestone: EVE now has over 300,000 active subscriptions (not including trial accounts), up 22% over the past five months alone. Their peak concurrent user record has also climbed to 53,850 players interacting in the same space, a record we've noticed they seem to shatter with increasing frequency. "That is exponential growth," CCP says. "We couldn't think of a better birthday present than having more people play EVE Online than ever before. It is another sweet reminder of EVE's boundless potential."

Congratulations to CCP Games from the team at Massively, and here's looking to the next six years.

[Via Warp Drive Active]

EVE Online turns 6 today, announces over 300k subscribers originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 May 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: MMO Anniversary Extravaganza!

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Events, in-game, The Daily Grind

This next week is quite a big week for anniversaries, birthdays and celebrations in our favorite MMOs. We kick off the festivities today with Lord of the Rings Online's 2-year anniversary, and finish off next Tuesday with a 5-year for City of Heroes, a 5-year for Lineage II and a 4-year for Guild Wars. Each of these games promises to have their own unique anniversary celebration in-game and out.

So the question is, which of these games have you stuck with since day one? As traditional MMOs are entering their golden years, yelling at those younger F2P games to get off their lawn, it's becoming increasingly more difficult to stick with one game. Even if it's not one of these games celebrating a milestone this week, which games have you stuck with for years and years?

The Daily Grind: MMO Anniversary Extravaganza! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC09: Interview with The Secret World's creator, Ragnar Tørnquist

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, New titles, The Secret World, Consoles, Massively Interviews

With our unveiling of The Secret World, we were also able to have some time to ourselves with Ragnar Tørnquist, the creator of Dreamfall and, of course, The Secret World. While our look at the videos and basic fact sheets were interesting, we wanted to get to the heart of the matter. What should lure us into this dark, fantastic world? What had Funcom learned since the launch of Anarchy Online and Age of Conan? And how many times can we have one man say the words, "I can't talk about that?"

We put Ragnar to the test in our interview, and his responses were certainly enlightening. Interested? Join us as we brave The Secret World with the creator himself.

Continue reading GDC09: Interview with The Secret World's creator, Ragnar Tørnquist

GDC09: Interview with The Secret World's creator, Ragnar Tørnquist originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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