Massively

Warhammer Online CE head start launches, revs up the buzz

Kyle Horner — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST

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

The first day of the Warhammer Online head start is over and several servers are already full of players picking sides and clashing foreheads. Another thing that's already started is the reaction around the wider web. The buzz is strong with this one. Here's a round-up of news bits relating to Mythic's newest MMO that you may find a bit surprising:

Something Awful's Goon Squad takes to Warhammer Online like Chaos flies to a smoldering pile of Orc poo. Is this a good or a bad sign?
For the extreme completionists out there that need to know how to unlock everything in the Tome of Knowledge, you may want to check out the newest Allakhazam site. It should be interesting to see how/if Mythic evolves the ToK to compete with websites like these.
If you bought the Collector's Edition and gotten your head start code, then you were part of the group who got in today. Wondering where that special racial head for your character is at and how you can get it? Mythic would like to tell you.
The ever-vigilant Mythic community reps have posted a bit more information on the how and where of getting your CE quests, which come with special titles and other rewards.
GOA sort of makes up for earlier slip-ups by getting EU players into their CE head start nice and smoothly. Let's hope this is the start of a pattern for the EU WAR service.
Mark Jacobs writes letter of thanks and excitement to everyone involved in the official beginnings of WAR.

Warhammer Online CE head start launches, revs up the buzz originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Sep 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE's alliance warfare the largest virtual conflict ever waged

James Egan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Forums, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, News items

Alliance warfare is an aspect of EVE Online that sets it apart from virtually any other MMO on the market. It commands a devoted following of players who continually exert their collective strength to conquer new regions of space while subjugating their numerous opponents.

Although it's been said that only a minority of EVE Online's entire playerbase are entrenched in alliance warfare over 0.0 (lawless) space, this is where much of the action in the game takes place. 0.0 is where the most valuable resources in the game are found, and where the authorities do nothing to hinder player activities. The wealth, freedom and potential for power turn EVE's vast swaths of 0.0 space into hotly contested regions... the battlefield of "the largest virtual conflict ever waged," in the words of games journalist Jim Rossignol.

Continue reading EVE's alliance warfare the largest virtual conflict ever waged

EVE's alliance warfare the largest virtual conflict ever waged originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Wired chronicles pan-MMO griefing by Goons

Chris Chester — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: EVE Online, Culture, Second Life

As a general principle, it's not our focus here at Massively to highlight the exploits the griefers. We don't want to encourage bad behavior for one thing, but also most of the time the griefing that goes on is just so... pedestrian. That's why we're willing to make an exception for this cultural piece in Wired which turns the spotlight on the curious gaming sub-culture of Something Awful. Known collectively as Goons, members of Something Awful have developed smaller sub-communities of players in nearly every modern MMO, and while they have managed to get along peacefully in certain cases, in some games they gain a reputation for being, well... goons.

The Wired article focuses specifically on their shenanigans in EVE Online and Second Life. Anybody whose played EVE Online in the past two years has no doubt become familiar with their style of play, as the aptly named Goonswarm Alliance makes up the most populous faction in the game, and they use their numbers to great effect in waging war. To give you an idea of their shtick, last year they launched a massive assault on and destroyed a massive Titan-class ship worth the real-world equivalent of $10,000 for no other reason than because it would demoralized their enemies, with the hope that they'd quit the game all together. Similarly, the exploits of another group of Goons in Second Life was so prolific, so persistent, and so offensive, that one SL mogul is quoted as calling them "terrorists."

The article is a bit incomplete for my taste, as it doesn't include other Goon foibles like their prolific Star Wars: Galaxies presence nor does it really expound on the real consequences of the Goons' actions in Second Life, but the descriptions and characterizations the author does manage to bring together for EVE and SL are so bizzare, they're worth reading for a laugh, if nothing else.

Wired chronicles pan-MMO griefing by Goons originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Jan 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments