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Guild Wars 2 crosses the pond to answer questions for EU Fan Day

Matt Daniel — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, News items, Guild Wars 2

Guild Wars 2's release is (hopefully) creeping closer and closer with each passing day, and now that the title has a few weekend beta events under its belt, enthusiasm for the game is growing. To help assuage the growing impatience for the game's release, ArenaNet brought some prominent members of the European community together for an EU Fan Day full of fun times and Q&As.

The sheer volume of questions answered by the studio prohibits us from even attempting a complete summary in the span of this post, but if you're at all interested in the game, it's worth a read. PvP rank-specific emotes, guild features, and an unrevealed PvP map that "will be very nostalgic for GW players" are all on the table for discussion, so to get the full, juicy details, just head on over to the official Guild Wars 2 Twitter and check out today's posts marked with the hashtag #EUFanDay.

Guild Wars 2 crosses the pond to answer questions for EU Fan Day originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Guild Wars 2 beta questions: Answered!

Elisabeth Cardy — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Lore, Previews, Guild Wars 2, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage, Community Q&A

The second Guild Wars 2 press beta weekend has come and gone, and Massively was there every step of the way. Stay tuned throughout the day today for even more guides, impressions, videos, and Q&As to get you ready for the highly anticipated sequel to Guild Wars.

Last week we asked for your Guild Wars 2 questions as we prepared to head into the beta weekend, and boy did you rise to the occasion! After sorting through all the questions, we made a list of the most interesting and frequently repeated ones to investigate. Have a question you don't see answered here? Tonight I'll be doing a live question-and-answer session on Massively's own livestream! Tune in at 7:00 p.m. EDT and ask away!

Continue reading Guild Wars 2 beta questions: Answered!

Guild Wars 2 beta questions: Answered! originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Center your sights with MechWarrior Online's latest dev Q&A

Matt Daniel — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Community Q&A, MechWarrior Online

MechWarriors, start your engines. It's time for another Q&A session with the fine folks at Piranha Games, the studio behind the upcoming free-to-play MechWarrior Online. Combat is the name of the game today, and developers Matt Craig, Paul Inouye, David Bradley, and Garth Eriam have taken some time to answer players' burning questions.

The Q&A covers topics ranging from the game's reticle convergence mechanics to how exactly one goes about disabling an enemy 'Mech, and just as there's more than one way to skin a cat, there are myriad methods with which to bring destruction to your foes. Players will be able to bring down an enemy BattleMech by destroying the head, disabling the torso, or literally bringing the 'Mech to its knees by crippling its legs. But of course, that's much easier said than done. The game's reticle convergence system will require players to aim their shots well and time them even better if they plan to survive for long.

The full details, for those interested in the mechanics of combat, are available for perusal at the official MWO site.

Center your sights with MechWarrior Online's latest dev Q&A originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 14 Mar 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic community Q&A addresses mobile apps, ops, and more

Matt Daniel — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Classes, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

It's time once again for another riveting episode of Star Wars: The Old Republic's community Q&A. This time around, the BioWare team covers a variety of concerns from SWTOR players ranging from the addition of a /roll command to the possibility of a mobile app. SWTOR's lead combat designer Damion Schubert had a bit to say regarding the latter, teasing that "it's almost as if this [crew skills] design was created specifically with [a mobile app] in mind, doesn't it?" Unfortunately the studio isn't prepared to give an ETA on the feature, "as [it] is a significant technical endeavour."

Non-Force-using healers also have plenty to look forward to as well, as the Q&A reveals that they'll be getting some love in patch 1.2, while Consulars and Inquisitors will have their heals brought back into line so that all healing classes and specs are (theoretically) viable. To get the full details on these subjects and more, just click on through the link below to the community Q&A at SWTOR's official site. Oh, and while we're at it, the game is on sale for $49.99 US on Origin, so if you want to get in the game and see what all the hubbub's about, now's your opportunity to do so while keeping a cool Hamilton to yourself. The sale is only happening for a limited time, though, so be sure to act quickly.

Star Wars: The Old Republic community Q&A addresses mobile apps, ops, and more originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MechWarrior Online Q&A gives you six devs for the price of none

Matt Daniel — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Interviews, News items, Free-to-play, MechWarrior Online

MechWarrior Online continues to unleash a steady barrage of new information with today's newly released developer Q&A. Piranha Games has outdone itself with the latest post, which brings you answers from not one, not two, but six MWO developers. The devs begin by giving fans some insight into how BattleMech modules will work to augment pilot abilities; for example players can sacrifice night-vision distance for higher visual detail. The remainder of the Q&A covers a great wealth of different topics, such as intelligence-gathering, the BattleGrid, and -- most importantly -- hula girls. For the full Q&A, just click on through the link below to the MechWarrior Online official forums.

MechWarrior Online Q&A gives you six devs for the price of none originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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MechWarrior Online interviews a trio of devs, hilarity ensues

Matt Daniel — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Interviews, News items, Free-to-play, MechWarrior Online

Piranha Games, the studio behind the upcoming MechWarrior Online, has Hposted a new developer interview with not one, not two, but three members of the MWO team: David Bradley, Bryan Ekman, and Paul Inouye.The devs give a short history of their gaming industry experiences before being pelted with a barrage of questions detailing what they bring to the game, what makes MechWarrior Online different from their past projects, what playstyles they prefer, and more. There are a few nuggets of good information in the post, as well as some great humor as the devs banter with and antagonize one another. For the full Q&A, just head on over to the MechWarrior Online official forums.

MechWarrior Online interviews a trio of devs, hilarity ensues originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Paradox's Björn Johannessen hosts Salem Q&A

Matt Daniel — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, News items, Free-to-play, Sandbox

Paradox Interactive's upcoming MMO Salem has garnered a good bit of attention due to the game's unique frontier-fantasy setting and the fact that it will feature -- gasp! -- permadeath. Of course, as with any mold-breaking game that comes along, there are bound to be a lot of questions about how the game's mechanics will work. Salem's Creative Director, Björn Johannessen, realizes this, and decided to stop by Reddit for an AMA session. For the uninitiated, AMA stands for "Ask Me Anything," and that's exactly what the fine Redditors over at /r/IAmA did.

A wealth of information can be found over at the thread, whether you're interested in the game's influences, the way permadeath will work, the reasoning behind permadeath's inclusion in the game, or more. So if you're interested in Salem to any degree, head on over to Reddit and give the thread a look.

Paradox's Björn Johannessen hosts Salem Q&A originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The story of saving APB

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Business models, MMO industry, Free-to-play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, MMOFPS

While many of us are aware of the basics behind the rise, fall, and re-rise of All Points Bulletin, it's only been from a partial, fragmented perspective. GamesIndustry.biz conducted an in-depth investigation into the story of how GamersFirst swooped in to save the drowning APB, which barely had 130,000 registered users at the time of its shutdown last year.

As the game and company went into administration, GamersFirst sent in a team to assess the title and see what could be done. The company decided to purchase it and convert it to a free-to-play model, although Bjorn Book-Larsson said that the price tag for the company was higher than initially anticipated: "It ended up not being a cheap deal for us, but obviously a lot cheaper than the initial development."

In restructuring the development team, GamersFirst reduced the number of developers by 90% to make it more agile, often recruiting former Realtime Worlds employees who showed promise. "Our production designer used to be the lead QA person. He'd spent years taking notes on how things should have been different. Essentially, when I met him the first time he rattled off a huge list of what he thought should have been different. Just an insane amount. We just said, maybe we should just hire you as a designer," Larsson said.

So far, it looks as though the restructuring and new focus is paying off, as APB Reloaded's beta is currently seeing five times as many players as those who registered for the box product last year.

The story of saving APB originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 31 Oct 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TERA exalts its game testing team

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, TERA, Dev Diaries

"You'll probably never see our names until you read the credits, but we have one of the most important jobs in game publishing," writes Scott James Magner. He heads up the "unsung heroes" of the TERA development team -- the game testers -- and he's written up a few fun insights into the behind-the-scenes process that is helping to refine this MMO as it heads to launch.

According to Magner, the En Masse QA team's been flooded with requests to join the testing and feedback process as they continually poke and prod at all of TERA's systems and content. "At this point," he says, "we've played every class and race multiple times, but no one is tired of coming to work."

The team is currently testing fights against "Big-Ass Monsters" in the Celestial Hills, and Magner says he's still learning new combos and techniques even after a full year of testing. While the testing team usually is far out of the spotlight, he says that its job is crucial to the game's success and that all of the testers are "you" at heart -- passionate gamers who want the best for this title.

[Thanks to Joseph for the tip!]

TERA exalts its game testing team originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 27 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Transformers Universe NYCC panel recap

Matt Daniel — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Lore, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Transformers Universe

Autobots, transform and roll -- Oh, hi. No, I wasn't playing with action figures. Anyway, how about that new Transformers Universe game that Jagex is making, huh? Well, there's some new information about it straight from the Q&A panel at New York Comic Con, so let's talk about that and not the action figures I wasn't playing with.

The panel covers a veritable smorgasbord of information, ranging from lore to gameplay to voice acting to technology and security. The team points out that the game will not tie into the Michael Bay movies in any way, as it takes place in the franchise's Prime universe. The game will be browser-based and free-to-play, though the team isn't ready to announce how the game will be monetized. PvE and PvP will both be available -- as if a Transformers game would be complete without Autobot vs. Decepticon action -- but the team says that both tie in to story elements within the game. The devs also note that players' Transformers' vehicle modes will be more than just mounts (that is to say, vehicle mode will tie into combat somehow) but they're not ready to discuss specifics.

The full panel addresses much more in greater detail, so click on through the link below to read the full report.

Transformers Universe NYCC panel recap originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Exclusive: Elsword developer Q&A, final round

Matt Daniel — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, News items, Free-to-play

That's right, Elsword fans, it's time for the final installment of the ongoing Elsword dev diaries. This last episode includes only a lone pair of questions, both of which focus on the developers' favorite things about the game -- particularly, their favorite bosses and best and worst moments while playing the game. What boss would the developers most like to see as a playable character? What have been the best and worst moments in their Elsword gaming career?

For the developers' answers to these questions, including a rather amusing anecdote regarding having one's face smashed in by an elementary school kid, head on past the cut.

Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Elsword developer Q&A, final round

Massively Exclusive: Elsword developer Q&A, final round originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect

Brandon Felczer — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Captain's Log

Captain's Log, Stardate 65056.3...

Hello, computer (and players)! The slingshot effect is a maneuver, shown throughout the Star Trek franchise, which allowed starships to move back through the time continuum. By traveling at a high warp factor towards a star with a large gravitational pull, the ship would whip around it and time travel. While this seemed to only exist within the realms of the IP, it looks as though Star Trek Online's Executive Producer Dan Stahl took us on a reverse slingshot course, giving us a glimpse into the future of the game. Before we returned to the original timeline, he made sure to write up everything we saw along the way for those who couldn't make the trip.

In layman's terms, for those of you who missed the news earlier this week, July's Engineering Report has been released. While this is a monthly publication that contains the development pipeline for STO, including some items that have been featured in past issues, there are always a few bullet points added that seem to spark a healthy amount of debate -- one of these includes the ability to auction off your in-game Emblems, a form of currency, for C-Store points that have been paid for with real money. For information on this, including a response from Cryptic's PR department, and more, read ahead past the jump for this week's Captain's Log entry.

Ensign, warp 10! Let's pull a slingshot maneuver of our own...

Continue reading Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect

Captain's Log: The reverse slingshot effect originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 21 Jul 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E3 2011: Trion Worlds talks Defiance

Matt Daniel — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Events, real-world, New titles, PvP, News items, PvE, Consoles, MMOFPS, Miscellaneous

Straight from E3, we have some brand-new information on the upcoming project Defiance from Trion Worlds and Syfy. Three members of Trion Worlds got up on stage to demo the game and answer questions from the audience (which included our own Rubi Bayer), and there's a wealth of new information to cover, so let's dive in, shall we? Follow on past the cut for all the Defiance goodness you could ask for.

Continue reading E3 2011: Trion Worlds talks Defiance

E3 2011: Trion Worlds talks Defiance originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Jun 2011 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ultima Online developer Q&A video covers... way too much for this headline

Matt Daniel — Fri, 27 May 2011 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Interviews, News items, Ultima Online

An Ultima Online developer Q&A was released today for all the undyingly loyal UO fans out there, and boy is it packed with information. Allow us a moment to take a deep breath and get a glass of water as we try to break it down for you.

In the Q&A, UO Producer Cal Crowner (Uriah) and Associate Producer Bonnie Armstrong (Mesanna) cover a ton of territory, including spring cleaning, bug fixes, the potential addition of rare titles, and... woodchucks. A few notable responses, though, involved new additions coming to Ter Mur, the upcoming new player experience update, and the oft-discussed classic shard.

Regarding the former two, the devs say that the tweaks to Ter Mur aren't finished just yet, with a new live event arc -- which will "encompass the history of Ter Mur" -- coming this June, while the new player experience is getting a huge revamp with the sweeping adjustment of many classic dungeons and the early play experience.

And lastly, but very certainly not least in terms of "how likely is this to raise a firestorm from the deepest and most depraved depths of Hades," is the discussion of a classic shard. The verdict? There won't be one... for now. The team says, "We hear you... and yes it would be great, but there are so many ifs that people can't agree on... that it would be a really bad pursuit right now with what we're doing." That's right, light your torches and pitchforks, classic UO-lovers, and riot on past the cut for the full video.

Continue reading Ultima Online developer Q&A video covers... way too much for this headline

Ultima Online developer Q&A video covers... way too much for this headline originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 May 2011 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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TERA day in the life blog from QA Senior Tester Patrick Sun

Matt Daniel — Tue, 24 May 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, TERA, Miscellaneous

Everyone seems to think that working in quality assurance at a game company is a walk in the park, playing video games all day and loving every second of it. Well, En Masse's Patrick Sun is here to put you in your plac -- What's that? "Best. Job. Ever."? Oh. Well. Nevermind then.

But as he's quick to point out in the most recent post on TERA's blog, QA testers' jobs don't entail just playing TERA while looking for bugs and other issues of that ilk, but also ensuring that the game's localization is going smoothly. He offers one example about the Korean idiom, "A mute person who's eaten honey," which refers to someone who keeps silent about a secret in spite of others' suffering. Of course! I mean, who couldn't figure that one out? For more information on what the QA workers over on TERA keep busy with, check out the official post.

TERA day in the life blog from QA Senior Tester Patrick Sun originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 May 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Cryptic: Champions Online gets an April encore

Jef Reahard — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Champions Online

The first round of Ask Cryptic: Champions Online for the month of April was a bit on the short side, at least compared to its Star Trek Online counterpart. Happily, Champions producer Rob Overmeyer is back with a second segment that is quite a bit longer than its predecessor.

The encore covers a wide range of superhero-related questions from the free-to-play title's fans including the next power set revamp (telekinesis), feedback acknowledgment and pricing adjustments regarding the controversial costume slots, and some interesting bits about the last 10 levels of the game (as well as future level cap increases).

"In order to increase the level cap we need to update how itemization and rewards work post-40. This is something that we are actively discussing now. Revamping rewards is a huge task and there are no quick solutions," Overmeyer explains. There's a lot more interesting Champions info to be found in part two of this month's Ask Cryptic, so head to the official website and see for yourself.

Ask Cryptic: Champions Online gets an April encore originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Spotlight: An interview with CCP Zulu

Brendan Drain — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Culture, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry

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

EVE 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.

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PAX East 2011: Stalking through DDO's Update 9

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Massively Event Coverage

One of the scariest games I ever played has to be the original Silent Hill. A nearly empty town shrouded with fog and featuring one of the most terrifying elementary schools ever devised? Yes, this is why I didn't sleep much in 1999. So when I started to get flashbacks as Fernando Paiz took me through the creepy alleyways of Dungeon and Dragons Online's upcoming update, I had to excuse myself and run around the PAX East show floor for a few minutes while shrieking like a tormented cat.

OK, it wasn't that frightening, but I definitely was getting a Silent Hill vibe from the latest adventure pack that Turbine has crafted for the game. Coming "soon" (TM, all rights reserved, void in Utah and the Yukon Territories), DDO's Update 9 promises to bring a wide assortment of lavish treats to a hungry populace. At the center of it is a level 15 quest chain that centers around mysterious abductions, a skittish population, and nightmares made flesh.

Hit the jump as I recall my brush with certain death in these adventures and relate the other jewels of Update 9!

Continue reading PAX East 2011: Stalking through DDO's Update 9

PAX East 2011: Stalking through DDO's Update 9 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ArenaNet QA tester offers peek behind the scenes of Guild Wars 2 testing

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2

QA testing is an important part of the development process of a game, particularly as the game approaches beta. Now that we've got a closed beta window for Guild Wars 2, the testing process and QA team have moved a little further into the spotlight.

Yamen O'Donnell, a member of ArenaNet's QA team, treats fans to a look behind the scenes of game testing in the newest ArenaNet blog post. Much of it focuses on the fun and excitement of working with such a dedicated team, but there are also several details on how things work. The QA team is present in every facet of development, so there are plenty of new details about various areas of testing along with stories of company-wide play sessions.

Assuring Quality is a look at both the fun and difficult aspects of testing -- it's a great read for any Guild Wars 2 fan.

ArenaNet QA tester offers peek behind the scenes of Guild Wars 2 testing originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gods & Heroes lead designer and art team hosting live community chat

Jef Reahard — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, New titles, News items, Livestream, Miscellaneous

Normally, pre-release fan communities are overflowing with questions for a game's developers. Whether they're specifics on combat, crafting, or any of the traditional ingredients that make up our favorite genre, queries and concerns abound during the information void that usually accompanies an MMO's beta stages.

Gods & Heroes is looking to rectify this situation with a live Q&A event featuring the game's lead developer and members of the art team. Heatwave Interactive is hosting a USTREAM chat today at 6:00 p.m. CST, and the devs will be fielding live questions from the streaming audience as well as those submitted prior to the broadcast.

Get in on all the action by visiting the Gods & Heroes USTREAM channel, and don't forget to submit your questions ahead of time via the game's forum, Facebook, and Twitter pages to increase your chances of being heard.

Gods & Heroes lead designer and art team hosting live community chat originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mytheon releases class trailer and internal Q&A

Jef Reahard — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Mytheon

What's next for the makers of Mytheon now that its trans-continental relocation quest is complete? How about a new class trailer and a lengthy internal interview session detailing various behind-the-scenes development initiatives? The clip sports some pretty high production values as well as in-game footage related to the Warcaster, Eidolon, and Elementalist classes. While the video is fairly short, it does whet our appetites for more footage from the forthcoming free-to-play fantasy title.

UTV True Games has also released a Q&A document outlining some of its aims for Mytheon's beta phase and beyond. Join us after the cut for discussion about high-level content, guild improvements, and more.

Continue reading Mytheon releases class trailer and internal Q&A

Mytheon releases class trailer and internal Q&A originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

What a difference a year makes, eh? One year ago, and you didn't have to put up with me yammering at you every Friday like a hyperactive badger with a personality disorder. One year ago, and we weren't free-to-play-anything, Turbine was its own company, the festivals were nowhere near as cool as they are today, and shrews freely roamed the land without fear of reprisal.

So in my last Road to Mordor (of the year, stop rejoicing over there!), I thought it'd be great to look back at the wild rollercoaster that was 2010 in Lord of the Rings Online. I also thought I'd get an easy column out of all this, but that was before I had to read through 1,337 posts and my eyeballs began to lose pressure.

January

Stuff happened. Let's move on.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth

The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Undead Labs answers fan questions

Jef Reahard — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Horror, New titles, News items, Post-Apocalyptic, Miscellaneous

Undead Labs has published a list of reader questions (and a few select answers) regarding its zombie-themed console MMORPG currently in development. New community manager Emily Diehl checks in on the official Undead Labs website to bring us a wrap-up from the queries submitted on the game's forums.

The topics range from the title's shooting and aiming mechanics, to vehicle implementations, to its persistent qualities. Regarding this last bit, Undead Labs seems intent on putting to rest any notion that the game's console nature will result in anything less than a traditional open world experience. "This may seem like a no-brainer, but we're building an actual world. We want it to live, breathe, change and evolve over time, responding to the choices you make while immersed in it," the studio writes.

Check all the questions and answers on the game's official site.

Undead Labs answers fan questions originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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ArenaNet preparing for gamescom and PAX

Rubi Bayer — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Guild Wars 2

As gamescom and PAX approach, a fair amount of attention is on ArenaNet -- specifically Guild Wars 2. The prospect of being able to play GW2 for the first time is an exciting one for fans.

ArenaNet has released a few details of what we'll see during gameplay over the past week, including the information that we'll be playing with some staff back at the ArenaNet offices. In the most recent blog post, we hear directly from four of those staffers. Bob Green, Joe Belousek, Anthony Ordon, and Joe Longworth are members of the Guild Wars 2 QA team, the group working to make sure the demo runs smoothly. Check out the latest ArenaNet blog entry to see what they're most looking forward to in the demo.

While the demo is easily the main focus of ArenaNet's presence at these events, there is more to check out while you're there. The event schedule for PAX Prime was finally released yesterday, and it includes a Saturday morning presentation entitled "Guild Wars 2: Designing Dynamic Events." Eric Flannum and Colin Johanson will give insight into how the dynamic event system in GW2 was created -- it's a talk that fans won't want to miss.

It's a ticketed event, so be sure to check the schedule for details on how to attend.

ArenaNet preparing for gamescom and PAX originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 14 Aug 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What would your MMO dream job be?

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

I'll be Frank and you'll be Ernest, and we'll both admit that we as players have the tendency to be armchair game designers. No, no, don't deny it; it just makes you look defensive. If there's a single theme that pervades every official MMO forum out there, it's that the players think they know what's best for the game, even more than the devs themselves, and if they were making the calls, Game X would be mopping the floor with World of Warcraft.

So hey, why not indulge in the daydream -- what if tomorrow you could have any job in the MMO industry? If you could make a very real, very direct impact on the games that are being made or are operating in live mode, what would it be? Would you be a writer, finally free to pen the perfect quest? Would you be a project manager, in charge of the direction and goals of the teams at your disposal? Would you be a big-shot CEO, making the major calls and shaping the future of the company? Or would you settle into a creative role as an artist or composer, helping to contribute to the game's frills?

No, wait, I got it. You'd totally want to be a quality assurance tester. Those guys and gals get all the glory, am I right?

The Daily Grind: What would your MMO dream job be? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall community Q&A follow-up offers more details

Jef Reahard — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Interviews, News items

Aventurine's Tasos Flamboras has donned his flame-retardant gear and ventured into the eternally blazing forest that is the Darkfall forums in an attempt to douse the fires raging after the publication of a lengthy Q&A session earlier this week. Put together by noted Darkfall blogger Paragus, the community-generated question list was initially answered by a three-man team that included Flambouras as well as developers Claus Grovdal and Kjetil Helland. Controversy erupted when community members balked at the perceived evasiveness of the answers.

"When we say that we're looking into something, or considering, or have plans for, it doesn't mean that we're being evasive or diplomatic in our answers. If that was our intention, we simply wouldn't answer. It means that we're trying to give you actual insight or confirmation on what we can't go into detail about," Flambouras says. He goes on to briefly outline Aventurine's information-revealing methodology before expounding on a few of the answers from the Q&A as well as new tidbits like armor dyes, significant improvements to crafting, a completely redesigned UI, and of course the prestige class system. "Prestige classes are the largest feature ever added to Darkfall and will definitely change the face of the game," Flambouras states.

Darkfall community Q&A follow-up offers more details originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Ask Massively: Send us your questions!

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 14 May 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, Ask Massively

While we here at Massively may not know everything about eggplant parmesan recipes or mathematical theorems, we do know our MMOs. In fact, we often get asked questions on every facet of MMOs, but don't have an organized place to receive or answer these inquiries publicly. Until now.

If you have questions regarding anything related to MMOs, we want to hear! Are you confused about the lore in Aion? Are you wracking your brain trying to remember which MMOs closed in 2008? Do you sit awake at night trying to remember what Brad McQuaid is famous for? We might just be able to help. Welcome to the rebirth of Ask Massively!

Simply send along your MMO questions to ask AT massively DOT com or leave a comment to this post and we'll take it from there. Each week, we'll present something resembling an answer to your question, or just make something up. Either way, fun should be had by all.

Ask Massively: Send us your questions! originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 14 May 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Peek inside Lord of the Rings Online's QA team

Eliot Lefebvre — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches

Working on a QA team is simultaneously one of the more important and least glamorous parts of any game's development. On the one hand, QA has the important job of trying to make sure that everything plays smoothly and correctly; on the other hand, a QA team has best done its job when there's very little that the player notices as missing. Lord of the Rings Online has recently posted a QA team diary, with Amanda "Brynhildr" Cosmos discussing the process involved in testing the recent Volume III update for the game.

Contrary to some popular beliefs, testing generally doesn't consist largely of playing the game -- it's more about finding areas of the game that might be a bit weak and straining them to the breaking point. As the diary points out, it's also about investigating the smaller areas of gameplay that might not be immediately apparent from looking at the big picture. Travel routes, pricing on small-scale consumables, and minor text quibbles aren't easy to spot unless you're looking specifically for places that can be shored up. The full diary is worth reading not just for Lord of the Rings Online players, but anyone interested in seeing what the QA teams are actually responsible for in an MMO's production.

Peek inside Lord of the Rings Online's QA team originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth's developers talk patch 1.3

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Events, in-game, Patches

Patch day is an exciting time to be playing an MMO, assuming you can look past the various instabilities, server crashes, and inevitable bugs that come with a major update. Even then, there's still the sense of doing something new and different in a familiar game, however touch-and-go the new content might be. Fallen Earth is not too far from their next major patch day, but if you can't wait for the patch to go live, there's a new developer diary and Q&A from Dev Team Lead Marie Croall and Live Team Lead Ian Lemke.

The patch's major focus was a thorough revamp of the area around the starter towns, and between those towns and the central cities. It might seem odd to add such a large patch to improve the first few levels of the game, but from the developer's point of view, it's those levels that really first get a player hooked on the game, so they wanted to make it as memorable as possible. There's also some information on Deadfall Point, a new encounter area in Sector Three, offering the higher-level players something new to experience. Be sure to take a look at both features to get a picture of what's coming in the near future for your clone in Fallen Earth.

Fallen Earth's developers talk patch 1.3 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: A Cryptic opinion

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Super-hero, Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, Star Trek Online, Champions Online, Anti-Aliased

So, wow, what a set the last week and a half has been. There seems to be a very strong theme going on in my inbox recently, and that's, without a doubt, Cryptic Studios. I've read unflattering comments about my integrity as a journalist, the usual statements of how this site is Cryptic's lapdog due to all of the Star Trek Online and Champions Online coverage, and, even more oddly, people want to know my opinion of Cryptic's recent actions -- specifically Star Trek Online and Vibora Bay.

Well, I was never one to shirk from the truth. I've been wanting to give my personal opinion on these events since Vibora Bay hit, so I might as well dedicate this column to my evaluation of Cryptic Studios. But, before we get to Cryptic, I have a few ground rules that I want to go over with you guys. Some facts that I'd like to set straight for, oh, I dunno, the fifth time.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: A Cryptic opinion

Anti-Aliased: A Cryptic opinion originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall offers up community Q&A session

Eliot Lefebvre — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Interviews, Previews, Professions, PvP

Darkfall has pegged itself from the beginning as a niche title, focusing on a brand of open PvP that doesn't necessarily appeal to everyone. And it's certainly handled that title with aplomb, earning our staff pick for best PvP in a 2009 MMO. But one of the most important aspects of its existence as a niche game is a strong sense of community among the players, a goal that Aventurine has been meeting more than adequately. Tasos Flambouras, Claus Grovdal and Kjetil Helland recently took part in a question-and-answer session, with the results just posted for all of the game's players to see and enjoy.

Summarizing the breadth of the questions and details released is difficult at best. The game's third large content update, preliminarily named "Darkfall 2010," is discussed in depth, and it promises a variety of changes and improvements. Aside from graphical improvements such as DirectX 11 support, it promises to add a variety of new crafting items and an armor dye system. The developers are also keeping a close watch on PvP hotspots and balance, as well as promising to expand the game's specializations and diversify player skills. Read through the full Q&A for a great deal of information about what's promised and coming soon.

[ Thanks to Paragus for the tip! ]

Darkfall offers up community Q&A session originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rumor: Mythic layoffs hit QA, playtest and customer support

Kyle Horner — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Warhammer Online, News items

Speculative information is coming down the vine via Joystiq that Electronic Arts' new cost-cutting initiative has "cost" Warhammer Online roughly 21 customer support staff, half of its QA department and all of it's playtesting group. According to EA, they currently has no plans to make any additional cuts -- although that doesn't mean we aren't worried about it. And when asked about the future of the game and it's team, EA was unable to give any answers to Joystiq.

Our deepest condolences go out to everyone who lost their jobs, and we sincerely hope that all land on their feet as soon as possible. To those who remain, we definitely hope that don't see anything similar happen to their livlihoods at anytime in the future.

Rumor: Mythic layoffs hit QA, playtest and customer support originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Jan 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE dev blog charts much improved customer support experiences

James Egan — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Patches, News items

Long petition queues, particularly related to expansions, has long been a problem in EVE Online. These long waits may very well be a thing of the past, according to GM Nova, Senior Game Master for EVE Online. GM Nova's latest dev blog, "Such stuff as dreams are made on," deals with the deployment of the Empyrean Age 1.1 patch in early September, as seen from a Customer Support perspective. "We at Customer Support, being at the front lines so to speak, are in a unique position to judge or evaluate whether a patch was successfully deployed and if ther is any fallout or unexpected problems involved, as the potential torrent of problems are directed at us to pass on," he said.

GM Nova points out how that 'torrent of problems' has slowed down to a trickle, using graph data of the Trinity expansion deployment (predictably an insane amount of petitions), the subsequent Empyrean Age 1.0 patch (so smooth they thought their petition system had crashed), and finally Empyrean Age 1.1. The trend evidenced by the graphs is that their patch deployments are becoming less fraught with complications, meaning happier players in the long run. GM Nova goes on to discuss some of the structural changes made to CCP's Customer Support department that improve petition response time, saying,"We are happy to announce that our average petition age is currently two days with most normal requests handled in hours. We hope our efforts shine through in the level of support we are able to offer." Would you agree with GM Nova's assessment, and have your own petitions of late in EVE Online been resolved in a reasonable amount of time?

EVE dev blog charts much improved customer support experiences originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 01 Oct 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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AoC update pushed back to tomorrow, July 10th

William Dobson — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Patches, Server downtime

The weekly update for Age of Conan won't be taking place today as would be the norm. During the testing of the latest patch, Funcom's QA department discovered an issue that needs to be fixed up so that it isn't unleashed on the live servers, and the patch has been rescheduled to the 10th of July, at 4AM GMT for the European servers and 7AM EDT on the US servers.

While those that are keenly waiting for a big fat update might have to hold on for one more day, it's for the best that things are ironed out properly, rather than having additional downtime on the live servers for a hotfix later on.

AoC update pushed back to tomorrow, July 10th originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Amidst speculation, Blizzard VP implies completely new game

Samuel Axon — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, News items, Rumors

Blizzard fans all over the internet have worked themselves up into a frenzy over a vague splash screen at the company's website -- a melting wall of ice adorned with rune or sigil-like markings. Everyone's speculating. Is it Diablo 3? Maybe it's just a promo for Wrath of the Lich King. After all, the ice motif seems to fit, right?

Maybe not. During a Q&A session at GDC Paris 08, Blizzard VP Rob Pardo was asked to comment on "the new game." He replied saying, "So you want me to announce the game before the announcement?" That was a classic press conference or Q&A blunder; you're not supposed to accept the premise of an unwanted or hostile question!

Continue reading Amidst speculation, Blizzard VP implies completely new game

Amidst speculation, Blizzard VP implies completely new game originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Jun 2008 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New TR patch shoved out the door

Chris Chester — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:05:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches, Tabula Rasa

Well, that was quick. I'm not too sure why I'm surprised, but players woke up this morning to find that Tabula Rasa's patch 1.5 had snuck out the door last night, and is patiently waiting on player desktops. Players didn't quite have a full week to fully digest the patch notes after they showed up on the public test server before they're going live, which is either helpful or incredibly reckless depending on how much stock you put into the QA process. In this case we're going to go with "reckless" because early reports (confirmed after we ourselves downloaded the patch) show a strange bug where the game resets your resolution every time you load up the game, causing crashes for some (this blogger included).

As to the content of the patch itself, we've already talked about some of the neat things that players will find within. One of the changes we didn't get around to talking about are the changes to the Spy class. They've reworked the way Traitor works in PvP to make it more like a traditional Mind Control, in addition to throwing in a new melee attack for Spies that is similar to other players' melee attacks, and takes into account bonuses to damage and knockdown given by putting pumps into hand-to-hand. (Spies are one of only two melee classes in the game, so this new attack is distinguished from their normal blade attacks.) Oddly enough though, Spies do not get a respec.

Full patch notes available after the jump.

Continue reading New TR patch shoved out the door

New TR patch shoved out the door originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The purpose of beta testing

Mike Schramm — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Bugs, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Tabula Rasa

Anyway Games has some good thoughts up (I especially like that continuum in the title between "testing" and "fun") about what beta tests are really for these days. It seems you can't publish an MMO without having a beta test-- the world is so big and meant to support so many players that you not only need volunteer help for QA, but you have to have enough people to stress the servers, just in case.

But is it OK to invite players into a game that's not actually done yet? Richard Garriott blames TR's slow start on a poor beta reception, and I was one of those players who wasn't impressed with the early beta (although I don't know if the game has actually improved since then). I also have been playing the Pirates beta since a few weeks ago, and after playing it again yesterday afternoon, I was pretty astounded at how far the game has come just within a week or two of development. There is no question that the game I was playing a while ago was definitely unfinished compared to the game as it is now, and even though it's in open beta, there will undoubtedly be improvements before the game goes live.

So what's the purpose of a beta? Is it marketing for the game, or a massively multiplayer quality assurance session? Every developer has to decide for themselves, obviously-- there's no golden point at which the game is good enough to be played, but buggy enough to still be tested by the unwashed volunteers. The best you can ask for, at this point, is a development schedule that gives you a game strong enough to give a great experience while buggy, and a beta testing crowd interested enough to stick around and help you fix the bugs that are left.

The purpose of beta testing originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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