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Road ahead mapped out for Final Fantasy XI

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Consoles

It seems that Final Fantasy XI's development team is revealing all of its major plans in one large rush -- and what a rush it is. Yesterday saw the unveiling of the team's plans for the anniversary of the game, and today has seen the posting of the roadmap for the game over the next year. Among the biggest and most surprising reveals are the plans for a public test server, a feature that's been long-requested but heretofore unseen in practice. Slated for release between July and September of this year, the test server will mark a change in the version update release cycle as well as the rate of content releases.

As for actual content, while no expansions or addons were unveiled, the current plan includes a new battle system dubbed "Voidwatch," which is meant to help breathe life back into older areas of the game. The final level cap increases to 99 are also on the table for the next year, along with several job adjustments, two new battle systems with only preliminary names, and the cryptic but enticing promise of "new adventurer growth elements." Final Fantasy XI fans have a lot to look forward to over the next year, and while the game is getting a bit older, it's got plenty of life left in it.

Road ahead mapped out for Final Fantasy XI originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hiromichi Tanaka interview discusses the Final Fantasy online installments

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Final Fantasy XI, Game mechanics, Interviews, Patches, Previews, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

There's a lot of material coming up for Final Fantasy XIV. So much, in fact, that according to Hiromichi Tanaka, the game has plans that stretch out for as far off as next winter. When we last took a look at the interview, it had only been translated up through the first section, but the two additional sections include further information on the future of the new game as well as Final Fantasy XI.

Final Fantasy XI is slated for more high-level content with the climbing level cap, as much of the existing endgame content was balanced around players at the previous cap of 75. Final Fantasy XIV, on the other hand, was designed in many ways to break away from some of the conventions that its predecessor had in place, while at the same time retaining some of the elements that Tanaka believed were particular strengths. Take a look at the full interview for a rundown of what's in store for both games in the near future.

Hiromichi Tanaka interview discusses the Final Fantasy online installments originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online looks back and ahead

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Interviews, News items, Champions Online

After the anniversary earlier this month, it's been fairly quiet within Champions Online. Shannon Posniewski, the game's executive producer, recently sat down to talk a little bit about the game's past and future. It includes some interesting tidbits about the game, such as Posniewski saying that the game wasn't quite ready for launch a year ago, and he would have preferred for the game to be either delayed or to cut out some features and polish more vital elements.

Moving beyond the past, however, he outlines some of the plans the team has for the game as a whole moving in to the next year, which includes a general re-evaluation of all powers and an ongoing expansion to lower-level content. Coupled with the continued focus on adventure packs that can be played at any level, it looks as if Champions Online players will have plenty of things to enjoy over the next year of service.

Champions Online looks back and ahead originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Sep 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Star Trek Online patch structure looks forward

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Star Trek Online

While you can fault the team behind Star Trek Online for some things, failure to plan is certainly not one of them. The development team has been very public about their plans for testing and release, which made a few people rather curious when Season 1.2 launched in early June rather than late May. What would that mean for Season 1.3 and the following Season 2 patch? The most recent Engineering Report on the official forums tackles precisely that, explaining that the team has adjusted their schedule slightly and will roll 1.3 straight into the Season 2 patch.

That leaves us with an enormous list of features for Season 2, which is aimed at July. Ship interiors and a raise in level cap to 51 are the two most obvious changes, with the former offering a choice from several layouts and the latter promoting a player to the rank of Vice Admiral or Lieutenant General. There's also the addition of minigames, weekly episodes, officer trading, new episodes for the high-level band, a new fleet action, and a general surfeit of improvements to the game. Star Trek Online players are encouraged to check out the official thread and offer any feedback to the proposed changes.

New Star Trek Online patch structure looks forward originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars announces plans for 2009

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, MMO industry, News items

The team at Guild Wars has just released their newest developer update, which explains ArenaNet's plans with the game throughout 2009. This was something that was alluded to in community manager Regina Buenaobra's wiki journal last week, and speculated upon in the major Guild Wars forums. Now the word is out, and it seems promising for the majority of Guild Wars fans.

First off, the team plans to restructure their content updates and be more open about what they're working on. Their Live Team is expanding and their new goal is to release new content in "fewer yet more substantial updates". So what can we expect in the coming months? In April, a few new features will be implemented for players, including increases to account-based storage, improvements to character-based storage and account-based changes to the Hall of Monuments.

Be sure to read the entire dev update for complete information on the new direction of Guild Wars in 2009.

Guild Wars announces plans for 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mythic lets slip the dogs of WAR: Warhammer Online launches Sept. 18th

Samuel Axon — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:40:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Launches, New titles, Warhammer Online, News items

Electronic Arts and Mythic Entertainment have announced the official launch date for Warhammer Online: September 18th! That goes for the regions of North America, Europe, and Oceania.

Additionally, game time pricing has been revealed. In North America, a month-to-month subscription will go for the standard $14.99 per month. Three month and six month plans will be available at $41.97 and $77.94, respectively. For Europe, it'll be one month for 12.99€ (£10.31), three months for 35.97€ (£28.55), and six months for 65.94€ (£52.34).

Earlier today, the EA store was updated with an August 23rd date, but that apparently was an error. September 18th is it folks! Get ready for some Realm on Realm action! Check out the full press release behind the jump.

Continue reading Mythic lets slip the dogs of WAR: Warhammer Online launches Sept. 18th

Mythic lets slip the dogs of WAR: Warhammer Online launches Sept. 18th originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 Aug 2008 09:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: WRUP?

Mike Schramm — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Our good friends over at Xbox 360 Fanboy have an awesome weekly feature that we're planning to steal from them for Massively. It's called WRUP, which stands, in a cool, acronymic way, for "What are you playing?," and it's just a weekly question of what their readers (and soon, you readers) are putting their game time into each week.

It'll probably officially start up this coming Thursday or Friday, but for this Sunday morning Daily Grind discussion, I'll kick it off-- what are you going to be playing this week in terms of MMOs? Me, I've been rolling on EVE Online lately-- my (now former) corp just got flooded with war declarations, so I split from them earlier this week, and I plan to use the newfound peace and quiet to get some good mining and skill training done. I was also thinking of jumping into Hellgate: London, but the reviews haven't been as great as I'd hoped, so I may just fall back on WoW and try pushing my 68 rogue the final stretch to 70.

What are you playing this week, and what goals in those games are you aiming for?

The Daily Grind: WRUP? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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