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 2015 AOL, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[Codemasters denies picking up APB]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/07/codemasters-denies-picking-up-apb/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/07/codemasters-denies-picking-up-apb/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/07/codemasters-denies-picking-up-apb/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

If you were holding out hope that the defunct urban crime MMO All Points Bulletin would be resurrected courtesy of the folks at Codemasters, Eurogamer has a little bit of cold water to throw on your fire. David Solari, Codemasters Online general manager, minces no words in a recent interview.

"We have not picked up APB, I can answer you definitively," he said.

Rumors circulated that the publisher might be picking up the pieces of the shuttered MMO, left scattered by the closing of Realtime Worlds, when former RTW community manager Ben Bateman updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect his new job at Codemasters. Epic Games has also been rumored as a potential salvager, and Solari says that someone will inevitably pick up APB's assets, if only for the innovative tech. "If they don't pick up the game then they will pick up the technology for sure, because the avatar and character customisation technology is incredible. Something will definitely be done to preserve that," he muses.

MassivelyCodemasters denies picking up APB originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 07 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinall-points-bulletin-gameapbben-batemancodemastersdefunctepic-gamesgame-closingmmo--industryRealtime-WorldsRealTimeWorldsrumorstechnologySun, 07 Nov 2010 15:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Ben Bateman details the fall of Realtime Worlds and APB]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/ben-bateman-details-the-fall-of-realtime-worlds-and-apb/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/ben-bateman-details-the-fall-of-realtime-worlds-and-apb/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/ben-bateman-details-the-fall-of-realtime-worlds-and-apb/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Interested in an insider's view of the fall of All Points Bulletin and its development studio Realtime Worlds? Eurogamer takes a look at the last days of the now-defunct MMOFPS in a lengthy article that focuses on former community manager Ben Bateman.

If you're looking for an in-depth exposé of why the game failed and who is responsible, you won't find that here, as the piece is heavy on the human interest angle and light on actual details beyond the plush (by game industry standards) working conditions. Still, it's worth a read, both for Bateman's perspective and his relentless positivity in the face of a uniformly bad situation.

"They essentially said, 'here are the 50 people that we want to keep on. Please go to room X.' It was tough," says Bateman, recalling the Begbies Traynor administration meeting that sealed the company's fate.

MassivelyBen Bateman details the fall of Realtime Worlds and APB originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinall-points-bulletin-gameapbben-batemaneurogamerRealtime-WorldsRealTimeWorldsshutdownTue, 02 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: What will you miss about APB?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/the-daily-grind-what-will-you-miss-about-apb/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/the-daily-grind-what-will-you-miss-about-apb/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/17/the-daily-grind-what-will-you-miss-about-apb/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

It's never enjoyable when a game or game company goes belly-up, and MMO fans have had no shortage of depressing news over the years. Whether it was Earth and Beyond, The Matrix Online, Tabula Rasa, or (now) All Points Bulletin, many of our favorite games burned twice as bright but lasted half as long.

The case of All Points Bulletin is even more aggravating due to its peerless character creation system, a unique take on music, and a payment model that attempted to blend the best of subscription-based and F2P titles. While we're the first to admit the game had its problems, it also had its charms and will be missed.

That leads us to our question of the day, Massively readers. What will you miss about APB?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: What will you miss about APB? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbclosurecustomizationearth-and-beyondgame-closureopinionrealtimeRealtime-WorldsRealTimeWorldstabula-rasatdgthe-daily-grindthe-matrix-onlineFri, 17 Sep 2010 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[APB PureSkill patch incoming [Updated]]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/apb-pureskill-patch-incoming/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/apb-pureskill-patch-incoming/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/09/16/apb-pureskill-patch-incoming/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


All Points Bulletin's frenetic multiplayer combat is about to get a substantial facelift in the form of the PureSkill ruleset. The new rules, which remove all upgrades except for ammo carrier, go into effect with today's 1.4.2 patch and will be available in specific districts that are chosen via the instance tab on the game's district select screen. The new ruleset is intended to bring tactics and player skill to the forefront of APB's competitive criminal versus enforcer matches, rather than leaving players at the mercy of the traditional MMO RNG.

In addition to the PureSkill additions, Realtime Worlds has also tweaked post-processing effects, color grading, and depth of field, and a number of exploits and bugs have been squashed with today's update. Take a gander at the full patch notes on the official website for more details.

[Update: And, apparently, APB is dying. Whoops.]

MassivelyAPB PureSkill patch incoming [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbpatch-1.4.2pureskillpureskill-patchRealtime-WorldsRealTimeWorldsThu, 16 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[APB weapon and mission changes incoming]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/06/apb-weapon-and-mission-changes-incoming/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/06/apb-weapon-and-mission-changes-incoming/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/06/apb-weapon-and-mission-changes-incoming/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


All Points Bulletin's 1.3.1 patch is nearly upon us, and the forthcoming update will bring about significant changes to both weapons and missions. The patch, currently scheduled for August 10th, addresses problems with continuous, full auto-fire on both the N-Tec and the OCA-EW automatic weapons. Each gun has had its base accuracy lowered in addition to several other balance-related tweaks.

Realtime Worlds' lead system designer JerichoNA, posting on the official forums, pre-emptively addresses concerns players might have regarding the testing and implementation of weapon tweaks such as these. "It''s not simply as a concession to people raising concerns on the forums. When weapon balance issues come up, we correlate these with feedback from our QA department and from team members who play regularly on the live service," he writes.

In addition to the weapon tweaks, criminal vs. criminal matchmaking has been disabled, as have been system-generated bounties. The full patch notes will be available this Tuesday. In the meantime, check out the details on the official forums.

MassivelyAPB weapon and mission changes incoming originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbjerichoNAmission-changesn-tecoca-ewpatchpatch-1.3.1Realtime-WorldsRealTimeWorldsweapon-changesFri, 06 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[New official website for All Points Bulletin opens up]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/23/new-official-website-for-all-points-bulletin-opens-up/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/23/new-official-website-for-all-points-bulletin-opens-up/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/12/23/new-official-website-for-all-points-bulletin-opens-up/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Signs of forthcoming news are beginning to make their appearance for All Points Bulletin as Realtime Worlds has recently updated the title's official website. There's even a tease for eventual forums! Oh, how we await the heated discussion of whether or not dual-wielding pistols should be nerfed. All semi-sincere joking aside, the new website is leaps and bounds above the old from a visual standpoint. Anyone looking at the current page will definitely get the impression that this is a well-funded title. We're also particularly fond of how responsive the high bandwidth version of the site runs.

Don't overlook the handy link at the bottom-center of the first page that allows any interested parties to, uh, register their interest, aka registering for some sort of eventual beta event. We know, it's some heady stuff.

[Thanks, Tammy]

MassivelyNew official website for All Points Bulletin opens up originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbapb-evolvedbetaclosed-betaopen-betarealtime-worldsrealtimeworldsTue, 23 Dec 2008 11:00:00 EST<![CDATA[All Points Bulletin beta interest page goes live]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/14/all-points-bulletin-beta-interest-page-goes-live/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/14/all-points-bulletin-beta-interest-page-goes-live/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/14/all-points-bulletin-beta-interest-page-goes-live/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Following yesterday's announcement from Realtime Worlds concerning their upcoming beta for All Points Bulletin, we now have confirmation that the "Register your interest" page has gone live. This is all thanks to the overwhelming response from APB fans who became members of their Facebook fan group yesterday. Their initial goal of 500 was achieved within 3 hours of posting the news!

So now, much earlier than expected, Realtime Worlds has launched the interest page for anyone looking for a chance to get into the APB beta. This is simply the first step in the process, but rest assured that more news will be coming soon. Plus, if you haven't had a chance to sign up to their Facebook group yet, you can join and help them grow even further.

MassivelyAll Points Bulletin beta interest page goes live originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbbetacrimeinterestrealtime-worldsrealtimeworldsThu, 14 Aug 2008 14:30:00 EST<![CDATA[All Points Bulletin nearing the beta stage]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/all-points-bulletin-nearing-the-beta-stage/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/all-points-bulletin-nearing-the-beta-stage/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/all-points-bulletin-nearing-the-beta-stage/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

In light of the recent positive news surrounding Realtime Worlds' upcoming crime MMO All Points Bulletin, they've just announced that beta signups will begin soon. In anticipation of this, they've set up a website where fans can register their interest in the beta, which will enable fans to get their email added in anticipation, and ensure up-to-date news from Realtime Worlds regarding APB and future projects.

Before Realtime Worlds decided to create the "Register Your Interest" page as part of their growing community activities, they wanted to make sure there would be enough enthusiasm for the game. So to gauge this enthusiasm, they promised that the sign-up page would go live after they reached 500 members on their APB Facebook page. Well, they reached that goal in only a few hours, proving that this game is very highly-anticipated.

MassivelyAll Points Bulletin nearing the beta stage originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbbetacrimefacebookrealtime-worldsrealtimeworldsWed, 13 Aug 2008 16:00:00 EST