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The Game Archaeologist: Asheron's Call 2 returns from the dead

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Asheron's Call, Launches, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Game Archaeologist

No, the above picture is not some sort of long-forgotten, dusty archive picture of Asheron's Call 2 from back in the day; it's from the live game this past Thursday evening. How incredibly, insanely weird is that?

Turbine absolutely stunned the MMO community the other day when it casually announced that it was bringing back its second title, cancelled since 2005, on a new server. Our editor-in-chief burst into the office chat room screaming, "AC2! AC2! AC2!" It took us a minute to realize that she wasn't just discovering the Assassin's Creed series but had in fact learned that the impossible had happened: An old, deceased MMO had been brought back to life.

As the resident MMO historian here at Massively, I felt this was kind of like going to Jurassic Park and seeing all of those dinosaurs after spending most of my time merely reading about them. In the blink of an eye, Asheron's Call 2 went from the ancient past to the playable present. We've got a lot to talk about today, including my hands-on experiences with the title and thoughts about what this means for classic MMOs. Let's not waste any time!

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The Game Archaeologist: Asheron's Call 2 returns from the dead originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 15 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Game Archaeologist: When dead MMOs come back to life

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, The Matrix Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Hellgate: London, Tabula Rasa, Shadowbane, Mythos, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, LEGO Universe, The Game Archaeologist, Faxion Online

Maybe I'm alone in this, but my jaw just dropped when I came home this past week to see that Massively posted the news that Shadowbane is coming back to life. Granted, it's only going to happen in China, but still, that's pretty incredible. Shadowbane's been in the ground for three years now, and if I had to pick an MMO that deserved resurrection, this particular one would be farthest from my mind (no offense if you liked the game; it's just that there are so many others that are even more worthy).

But how can this not give you hope? Many of us have lost an MMO we loved or at least had a decked-out character populating the character select screen, and the thought of that game coming back against all odds is a goosebump-rising one. It may also smack of justice served, as some MMOs fail not because of faulty gameplay but because of mismanagement by the studio, complex legal wrangling, or bad marketing.

Today let's look at a few examples of dead MMOs that were brought back to life and what this may mean for the future of the industry. Zombie MMOs! Not, you know, MMOs with zombies.

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The Game Archaeologist: When dead MMOs come back to life originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard buffs the bejeezus out of WoW's Scroll of Resurrection

Matt Daniel — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items

World of Warcraft's Scroll of Resurrection has received a rather considerable buff. The feature previously allowed currently subscribed players to invite a retired friend to come back to Azeroth for a time. Now, however, the resurrected player will be provided a treasure trove of freebies to further entice retired players back to the game.

The returning player will be able to boost one character directly to level 80, which seems pretty amazing in and of itself, but there's more. Scroll of Resurrection will also supply its target with a free upgrade to Cataclysm, seven days of free game time, and free realm and faction transfers so that returning players can join their friend right away. So, retirees and recovering addicts, if you need a little more Azeroth in your life, now's the perfect time to jump back in.

Blizzard buffs the bejeezus out of WoW's Scroll of Resurrection originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Resurrecting faction warfare

Brendan Drain — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game Mechanics, PvP, Opinion, EVE Evolved, Sandbox

I think it's safe to say that most EVE Online players have never tried their hands at faction warfare, the state-sponsored bloodbath that pits Minmatar and Gallente pilots against their Amarr and Caldari rivals. When the system launched almost four years ago during 2008's Empyrean Age expansion, it was an immediate and colossal success. CCP ran news stories leading up to the expansion to show the growing tensions between the four nations, with several videos highlighting major flashpoints like the Malkalen incident. The stage was set for the war to end all wars, and players were brought to the front lines to die for their nations.

Faction warfare was originally designed to be a stepping stone for empire-dwellers who wanted to get into nullsec and to give fleet-based PvP to pilots without nullsec contacts. The first few months saw some spectacular action, with fleets of over a hundred rookie pilots happily smashing each other to bits. For over a year, faction warfare provided practically instant-action PvP on any scale you could want, from solo roaming and small gang warfare to full-on fleet battles with several capital ships. Unfortunately, CCP didn't iterate on the feature, so after a year with broken capture mechanics and no real purpose or reward for fighting, faction warfare began to grind to a halt.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I speculate on how faction warfare could possibly be resurrected.

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EVE Evolved: Resurrecting faction warfare originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Masthead releases two-month Earthrise roadmap

Jef Reahard — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, New Titles, Patches, News Items, Earthrise

It's been nearly two months since the launch of Earthrise, and Masthead Studios is moving forward with long-term development plans for the sci-fi sandbox MMORPG. In a press release this morning, the Bulgaria-based dev team laid out a list of new features planned for integration in April and May.

Citizens of Enterra will be getting some direction in the form of minimap quest hint indicators, alleviating the confusion that often results when searching for various objectives. Earthrise crafters will be able to produce paint that can be used on armor, weapons, and vehicles, and guild diplomacy mechanics will give leaders the ability to both declare war and cultivate allies.

As a result of the February Choose Your Game Feature voting, resurrection mechanics will be coming to Earthrise, and player parties will also be able to share battle points and karma from defeated enemies. Finally, various technical and performance-related tweaks are in the offing, including customizable chat windows, a friends/ignore list, AI improvements, and shadow enhancements.

Masthead releases two-month Earthrise roadmap originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GamersFirst rezzes Acclaim 9Dragons characters

Jef Reahard — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, 9Dragons, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play

Where's a good cleric when you need one? Apparently they're at the GamersFirst offices, performing the herculean task of reanimating thousands of 9Dragons characters left for dead when Acclaim (the title's original publisher) pulled the plug on the martial arts MMORPG this past summer.

If you're a former 9Dragons player and you submitted a character request earlier this year, you can now claim your rebuilt level 80 avatar at the official GamersFirst website. "We are excited to finally be able to offer character restoration options for the 9Dragons community. We want players to know that we appreciate their support during our transition. We have spent a large amount of time and effort processing and improving the template characters to get players back into the game without having to redo all their hard work from before," said David Demers, 9Dragons Associate Producer.

GamersFirst rezzes Acclaim 9Dragons characters originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Dec 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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APB's Book-Larsson talks story, game modes

Jef Reahard — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: News Items, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Crime, Dev Diaries

Bjorn Book-Larsson is back! Forgive the exclamation point, but we had to accentuate the latest in the long line of developers with action hero names (and with apologies to Atanas Atanasov and Tasos Flambouras, Book-Larsson has vaulted near the top of the spiffy name list). In any case, the GamersFirst COO/CTO has updated his APB Reloaded blog with some interesting insights into the game's story.

Yes, you read that right; we said story and APB in the same sentence, and before you think we've been brainwashed by the likes of The Old Republic, TERA, and other story-centric MMOs in the offing, consider Book-Larsson's assertion that APB was originally designed to facilitate the "open world-ish" nature of the Grand Theft Auto series. "APB actually has the beginnings of a lot of the elements that will make it a really successful game in the long term, and could in theory exploit (maybe complete) both types of interactions [story and shooter elements]; there is actually a giant backstory to the entire city (100 plus pages of it), there are deep anthologies of the various factions in the city, and there is even the foundation for a single-player mission mode," he writes.

Whether or not players will care about APB's potential to grow beyond an ordinary shooter remains to be seen. After all, Global Agenda is a similar title with a fairly deep backstory (and one that is summarily ignored by 99.9% of the players fragging it up in AvA and merc matches). The fact that GamersFirst is even considering future additions to APB is relatively exciting news, and we'll be watching with great interest.

APB's Book-Larsson talks story, game modes originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Will you be playing APB Reloaded?

Jef Reahard — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO Industry, Opinion, Free-to-Play, The Daily Grind, All Points Bulletin

Corpse rezzing is nothing new in the MMORPG space. Most of us do it, or have it done to us, several times a week on average. Reviving the smelly carcass of a dearly departed game is not quite as trivial, as death in the corporate world is usually more permanent than the inconvenience experienced by our avatars.

All Points Bulletin is currently undergoing a reanimation process of its own, and while the verdict is still out on how well the transition to GamersFirst will go, several Massively staffers are excited about the prospects of a return engagement in San Paro. Today's Daily Grind question is an easy one, but feel free to expound on it if you wish. Will you be playing the new (and hopefully improved) version of APB?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: Will you be playing APB Reloaded? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Nov 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDCO 2010: Heatwave talks Gods and Heroes

Jef Reahard — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), New Titles, News Items

MMOCrunch has checked in with an interesting bit of news from GDCO. The off-again on-again saga of the Gods and Heroes IP was the subject of a bit of show-and-tell at the recently concluded convention, courtesy of Heatwave Interactive. Development on the classical mythology MMO stagnated following the demise of project originator Perpetual Entertainment in early 2008 before Heatwave resuscitated the game.

Heatwave confirmed that players will still take on the role of a demi-god, pledging their loyalty to the Roman deity of their choice and following a class-based progression paradigm that includes control over various types of pets known as minions. While Perpetual had initially planned on each player's being able to control up to 24 minions, Heatwave hinted at the fact that the team has scaled this number down considerably to a more manageable four minions per player.

Read all about the resurrection of Gods and Heroes over at MMOCrunch, and keep your eyes on Massively for more news about the title as it happens.

GDCO 2010: Heatwave talks Gods and Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively's hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara's dynamic content

Brianna Royce — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, Classes, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, New Titles, Previews, Opinion, Hands-On, Hands-On (Massively's), RIFT

Just a few weeks ago, I was invited to attend Trion Worlds' Gamer's Day in San Francisco to get some hands-on time with a couple of the company's upcoming titles, including Rift: Planes of Telara. If Rift seems to have come out of nowhere, that might be due both to the acquisition of EverQuest II veteran Scott Hartsman to head the project as executive producer, and to a clever name change meant to reflect the team's shift in development focus.

In fact, that shift in development focus is precisely what I was at Trion's studio to test -- I got to check out the Rifts themselves in all their glory, in the context of the greater dynamic content system that the developers are so excited about. Massively's writers have been able to play and report on character creation and the starting areas of Rift several times over the last year or so, including earlier this summer at E3. But until today's embargo lift (coinciding with the reveal at Gamescom), no one had quite seen the fabled planar invasions and takeovers in action.

Now we have.

Continue reading Massively's hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara's dynamic content

Massively's hands-on with Rift: Planes of Telara's dynamic content originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Glorious roundup of community motherland

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Patches, Opinion, A Mild-Mannered Reporter

I am still deeply disappointed that we do not have more Russia-themed content... well, anywhere, but especially in City of Heroes. Having grown up during the end of the Cold War, I want more fur coats and red stars and winter wastelands with nuclear missiles. Yes, it's stereotypical, but so are steampunk Prussians, holdovers from the Third Reich, and robed sword-wielding cultists. Wouldn't it be lovely?

Now, much as I might like to, my love of the odd post-Cold War Russian image that's now been inserted unceremoniously into pop culture is not the point of today's article. No, today we're focusing on a straight roundup of all the community discussions that have been taking place of late, and, as always, there's plenty to talk about. While the news about Going Rogue has slowed slightly, Issue 17 is just around the corner, and the City of Heroes community hasn't stopped finding things to talk about over the past six years anyhow. Jump on past the cut for highlights of the glorious motherland of community.

Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Glorious roundup of community motherland

A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Glorious roundup of community motherland originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newest Rappelz expansion launches February 24th

Rubi Bayer — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Rappelz, News Items, Free-to-Play

gPotato's free-to-play MMO Rappelz is getting a new expansion. Resurrection launches February 24th, bringing with it an old familiar face, new pets, and more.

Players will be familiar with the character at the center of this newest storyline. The Witch is the central villain in the main storyline of Rappelz, and Resurrection explores her beginnings as a young girl with mysterious powers.

Players will journey to discover the truth behind the Witch, but they won't be doing it alone. This expansion also introduces three new pets to tame: the Unicorn, Nightmare, and Ifrit. Each pet provides specific benefits to its owner: the Unicorn offers a variety of buffs, the Nightmare is a heavily armored creature that can often absorb damage targeted at its master, and the Ifrit is a magical creature that heals its owner as well as dealing damage to enemies.

These aren't the only updates that Resurrection will bring to Rappelz. Check out the new Resurrection page at the Rappelz site for changes coming to character creation, PvP, quests, and more.

Newest Rappelz expansion launches February 24th originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 10 Feb 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Are death penalties overkill?

Krystalle Voecks — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game Mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind

This is one topic that never fails to wind up as a huge discussion any time we get together with gamer friends. Some of us who have been around since the early days of MMOs remember the harsh death penalties that many of these games included. If you died in EverQuest, you would lose experience -- lose too much, and you could lose levels. You also had to run back to your corpse either without any gear on unless you could find a friendly player to rez you. Ahh, the memories.

Nowadays, death is disposable in games like World of Warcraft. You get killed by another player in front of Karazhan? No big deal. Just rez and head back. In games like WoW, death is less of an impact than it is an annoyance. It represents a whole 30 seconds you're going to have to spend running back from the conveniently-placed graveyard. Of course, you also resurrect with all your gear on you.

And then there are they hybrids like City of Heroes; you don't ever lose enhancements or inspirations, but you do lose some experience when you die. Some people feel like this is a good solid trade-off. It teaches you to be less of a loose-cannon since death does have some impact on your character. On the other hand, it's fairly easy to work off debt in CoX, and you never have to chase down your corpse to either resurrect, or to retrieve your items; you just start in the hospital or your SuperGroup's base.

So what do you think? Are the newer no-guilt, no-penalty deaths best, or were the older ones the best? Do you think death penalties teach players to think over strategy before rushing in, or do you think they'd do that anyway? What do you think of the hybrid systems that cause you to lose experience, but not gear? Which game has the best system in your opinion?

The Daily Grind: Are death penalties overkill? originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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