Posts tagged persistence 
The Daily Grind: If SimCity is an MMO, what should we call actual MMOs?
Earlier this week, EA president Frank Gibeau doubled-down on his company's earlier claims about SimCity's MMOness, suggesting the game was built as a "massively multiplayer experience" from the beginning. Rather than pick on Gibeau's comments (already done), I want to consider what would happen ...
The Firing Line: The pleasures and pitfalls of PlanetSide 2
My time in PlanetSide was a blur. It's also a ways back in the rear view mirror, and I've played so many MMOs in the interim that I can't even remember exactly when it was. The game originally shipped in May of 2003, and I was entrenched in Star Wars Galaxies from its June 2003 launch going ...
CrimeCraft expansion to feature persistent territory control, quickplay options
Remember CrimeCraft? We do, and the tragically titled actioner is still alive and kicking (or shooting, perhaps). We bring this up because Vogster is readying its second major expansion, GangWars, which is scheduled to launch on December 5th. The update adds more of a traditional MMO feel to ...
MechWarrior Online developers answer forum questions
If you're looking forward to the future of warfare today, you're probably keeping a close eye on the development of MechWarrior Online. And the developers are no doubt aware of this, as they've just posted a lengthy set of answers on the game's official forums, covering a broad range of topics ...
The Firing Line: Defining the MMO shooter
Hello shooter fans, and welcome back to Massively's Firing Line. Last week's inaugural column hit the ground running with a visit to Hi-Rez Studios and a preview of the company's new Tribes: Ascend title. This week I'd like to pull back a little bit and lay the groundwork for some of the things ...
Land of Chaos Online rebranding as LOCO: Evolution
Land of Chaos Online is one of a large number of games that's close to being a full MMORPG but isn't quite there. The team behind the game at alaplaya has had its sights on a more full-featured experience for a while. Later this year, the game will be launching a huge update dubbed LOCO: ...
Planetside 2 to feature persistent territory control, huge battles, and player-generated content
Sony Online Entertainment's big Planetside 2 announcement came and went last night, and while we don't have a release date as of yet, we do have a trailer, plenty of screenshots, and a fairly detailed fact sheet and official press release thanks to the folks at Fan Faire. For you rookies, ...
Ask Massively: Something approaching a tribute to Safety Dance edition
Safety Dance was a song released by Men Without Hats in 1982. It is astonishing for me to realize this, but there is now a substantial portion of our audience that post-dates not only this song but the entire decade. So allow me to say right now that yes, the 1980s were a real time, they did in ...
Undead Labs talks about surviving the zombie social scene
James Phinney believes in the power of a persistent virtual world, and he's not shy in sharing his excitement when it comes to the landscape that Undead Labs is building for its new zombie-themed MMO: "We believe a persistent world should be living, dynamic, and evolving. We believe your ...
A look at the big changes in Global Agenda's 1.3 patch
The team over at Hi-Rez Studios may have bitten off just a touch more than they could chew with the 1.3 patch for Global Agenda. It's not that the patch is bad, just that they turned out to not quite be able to push some of the originally promised features through at the same time as the main ...
