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Not So Massively: Diablo III's Inferno mode and million-dollar tournaments

Brendan Drain — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Trailers, Video, Culture, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, New titles, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Not So Massively

Welcome to Not So Massively, our weekly roundup of the top news from popular multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) and other multiplayer online games that aren't quite MMOs. Published every Monday, the column covers games such as League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Rise of Immortals, Bloodline Champions and more.

It's been a huge week for online gaming, with DotA 2 being shown for the first time at Gamescom and new details being released on Diablo III. In this week's Not So Massively, we give out beta keys for upcoming online action game Brawl Busters and reintroduce MMO-esque online FPS Blacklight: Retribution. Heroes of Newerth makes some controversial changes this week with patch 2.1.5, putting a free courier in every game and reorganising items in the shop.

The biggest news came out of Gamescom this week was the conclusion of Valve's massive $1.6 million US DotA 2 tournament The International. League of Legends retaliated with the announcement of a $5 million US total prize fund for competitive tournaments in season two. Blizzard also attended Gamescom to reveal new details of Diablo III's difficulty settings, which will include a brand-new Inferno endgame mode designed to challenge even the best players.

Skip past the cut for details of this week's biggest news from the world of MOBAs and other online games.

Continue reading Not So Massively: Diablo III's Inferno mode and million-dollar tournaments

Not So Massively: Diablo III's Inferno mode and million-dollar tournaments originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Tanks becomes an e-sport

Jef Reahard — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Historical, Real life, MMO industry, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks

The phrase "serious business" is often used to poke fun at gamers who take their MMORPGs, well... too seriously. World of Tanks players are having the last laugh, though, as their game is now officially an e-sport with the potential to repay their time investment with a bit of real-world cash.

Wargaming.net's latest press release has the details, which include the fact that WoT is now a part of the Electronic Sports League Major Series -- also known as the largest gaming league in Europe. ESL boasts over 3 million registered members and upwards of 740,000 registered teams, making it a good fit for the hardcore World of Tanks community which holds the single-server player concurrency world record.

Head on over to the ESL World of Tanks portal to sign up for the first official event.

World of Tanks becomes an e-sport originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Aug 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom and Stunlock Studios to sponsor Bloodline Champions tournies

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 05 May 2011 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, PvP

Funcom and Stunlock Studios know that Bloodline Champions was just made for the tournament circuit, which is why both companies are sponsoring a pair of gaming events in May that feature this popular PvP battle arena.

First stop on the trail is this weekend's TooManyGames expo, an indie gaming event in Philadelphia that's running from May 6th through the 8th. The Bloodline Champions tournament begins on Saturday at 8:00 p.m. EDT, and any interested combatants can preregister on the website or sign up at the door.

Later in the month comes Digital Overload in Baltimore from May 27th through the 29th. Digital Overload is a giant LAN party, and with Funcom's sponsorship, it's hosting a Bloodline Champions double elimination tournament that's free to enter.

To help promote Bloodline Champions and encourage the playerbase, Funcom and Stunlock Studios plan to continue to sponsor and host events around North America this summer.

Funcom and Stunlock Studios to sponsor Bloodline Champions tournies originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 May 2011 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online Alliance Tournament VIII sign-ups open on Monday

Brendan Drain — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Guilds, Lore, PvP

The Alliance Tournament is one of EVE Online's annual highlights. Loved by participants and watched by hundreds of excited fans, the tournament is a showcase of EVE's combat mechanics and pure strategy. With the interesting new "flagship" rule to shake things up and the usual commentary on EVE TV, this year's tournament in June is definitely something to look forward to. In a recent news post, CCP confirmed that sign-ups for teams officially open on April 12th. Alliances wanting to enter have until April 23rd to submit their interest in taking up one of the 64 slots in the event.

Most of the slots for this year's tournament will be assigned to applicants completely at random, with last year's winners being guaranteed a spot. In an effort to make sure EVE's big alliances aren't excluded by the luck of the draw, eight slots will be reserved for auction. Alliances will bid against each other for one of the eight guaranteed spots, allowing eight of EVE's richer alliances to choose to secure their slots. There are enough slots left over, however, that those who don't enter the auction will still stand a very high chance of winning a slot at random. To help reduce the number of absentee entrants from last year's total, every alliance entering will also have to pay a 2 billion ISK non-refundable sign-up fee. CCP Claw has helpfully summarised the entry conditions and procedures in a post on the EVE Online forums.

EVE Online Alliance Tournament VIII sign-ups open on Monday originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bounty Bay Online's upcoming expansion to introduce PvP tournaments

William Dobson — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Historical, Expansions, PvP, News items, Bounty Bay Online

Beyond the Horizon, the free expansion to Bounty Bay Online, has been confirmed by Frogster as on track for its intended Q4 2009 launch. Along with this good news, they also updated their expansion teaser site with details that are sure to please PvPers. Beyond the Horizon will introduce a new weekly PvP tournament system, offering 1v1, 2v2 and 5v5 battles, with both prizes and a highly detailed ranking system.

But since Bounty Bay Online features sea and land combat, the question must be asked: which of these locations will the tournaments be held at? The answer is "both". Two new arenas will be added to the game, one for land and the other for sea combat. The player will get to choose which type of battle they want to register for, which is kind of too bad, from a comedy perspective -- imagine turning up for a sea battle without a boat.

Bounty Bay Online's upcoming expansion to introduce PvP tournaments originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pandemic Legion crowned EVE Alliance Tournament VII champs

James Egan — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Guilds, MMO industry, PvP, News items

The biggest PvP event of the year in EVE Online is the annual Alliance Tournament, which played out over three weekends in September. The final rounds of EVE Alliance Tournament VII were fought out today and only one alliance earned the right to call themselves the game's top PvPers: Pandemic Legion, tournament champs for the second year in a row.

64 alliance teams entered the tournament 3 weeks ago, and today's finals culminated with Pandemic Legion facing off against Circle-of-Two. It was an entertaining final match but it was decided early on, as Pandemic Legion's stealth bombers unleashed waves of destruction upon Circle-of-Two, ultimately sealing their fate in the tournament. Pandemic Legion proved to be calculating in their tactics and ship setups this year. They successfully varied between speed fitted Minmatar fleets for fast and brutal blitzes, and glass cannon stealth bomber setups for powerful alpha strikes. They remained unpredictable throughout the tournament and it paid off for them.

Continue reading Pandemic Legion crowned EVE Alliance Tournament VII champs

Pandemic Legion crowned EVE Alliance Tournament VII champs originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP Games selects player commentators for EVE Alliance Tournament VII

James Egan — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, MMO industry, PvP, News items

CCP Games holds an annual EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament where player organizations face off against one another, live, in a spectacle of explosions, cunning tactics, ... and occasionally betrayal. This year's Alliance PvP Tournament will mark the seventh annual event. CCP Games likes to get the players involved in ways beyond being tournament competitors, which is good news for the gamers themselves. Rather than having the developers comment with the play-by-play action, we've mentioned that CCP put out a call to the players, seeking PvP experts to be commentators. The final choices have been made and CCP announced the names of this year's Alliance Tournament commentators today, and it's clearly an accomplished roster of players.

Crovan (Dark-Rising), of The Drone Bay podcast fame, will be back again this year. As will Kil2 (coracao ardente), who did a great job last year, and who many players will know from the PvP videos he's released. Verone, arguably EVE's most well-known pirate, will apparently be enjoying the tournament as a viewer rather than commentator this year, but his Veto corpmate Ryas Nia will be on hand at Alliance Tournament VII. Ryas will be joined by two new commentators this year: TeaDaze from Agony Unleashed (a PvP training school in EVE) and Trzzbk from GoonFleet.

This looks like a great lineup of players chosen to speak during the matches. EVE Alliance Tournament VII will begin in early September, and will run for three weekends, culminating in the live video broadcast of the finals from Reykjavik.

CCP Games selects player commentators for EVE Alliance Tournament VII originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlantica Online selected for Game and Game World Championship 2009

James Egan — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, PvP, News items

Atlantica Online, the free-to-play turn-based MMO from NDOORS Interactive has been selected as an official title of the 2009 Game & Game World Championship (GNGWC). For those unfamiliar with this event, what is GNGWC? It's an annual Korean game festival and tournament that's held in major cities around the world representing different regions -- Los Angeles, Leipzig, Singapore, São Paulo, Tokyo, and Yongin (South Korea). Regional tournament champions are ultimately invited to the Grand Finals held in Korea. GNGWC is run by the Korea IT Industry Promotion Agency (KIPA) which aims to promote Korean games to players globally.

The announcement mentions Atlantica Online being played in GNGWC 2009: "Selected as a GNGWC title for the second year in a row, Atlantica Online features a revolutionary turn-based battle system that utilizes free PvP leagues and a new 100v100 tactical battle system for PvP combat. Atlantica has proven to be an ideal title for e-sports competitions with its unique PvP combat." Top-ranking competitors can earn prizes, including cash prizes in the Grand Finals. Beyond the NDOORS Interactive title being a prominent aspect of GNGWC, the release also mentions that Atlantica Online will be expanding to new territories in Asia: Taiwan and Vietnam.

Atlantica Online selected for Game and Game World Championship 2009 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 06 May 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pandemic Legion crowned EVE Alliance Tournament VI champions

James Egan — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Guilds, PvP, News items

The final rounds of EVE Online's annual PvP tournament concluded today, with some heated matches between the game's top performing teams in Alliance Tournament VI. In the end, it was Pandemic Legion who took the crown, having bested some of the game's top PvP pilots and defeating R.U.R. alliance in a tense final match.

While the real prize is the earned right to call themselves the game's best combat pilots, Pandemic Legion reaps other rewards: a tournament cup, gold medals for the tournament pilots, and 60 PLEX which are essentially in-game certificates that can provide the champions with a whopping (collective) 8 years of game time. In addition, Pandemic Legion will be the first alliance ever to receive a permanent in-game monument dedicated to their victory.

Massively extends its congratulations to Pandemic Legion along with the rest of the EVE playerbase, and props to all the other alliances that competed in EVE Online Alliance Tournament VI. It was an impressive showing, and the bar is certainly raised for next year's competitors.

Continue reading Pandemic Legion crowned EVE Alliance Tournament VI champions

Pandemic Legion crowned EVE Alliance Tournament VI champions originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament finals in live video this weekend

James Egan — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Guilds, MMO industry, PvP, News items

The final rounds of the EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament VI will be streamed in live video this weekend, as 32 alliances fight their way to the top. It should be tense as any loss means elimination from the tournament.

If you're not familiar with the tournament or even with EVE, that doesn't mean this weekend's live video won't be accessible for you. Really it's all about watching ships fighting in space, although long-time players will have a better angle on what's happening with tactics and setups. We recently interviewed one of the tournament's commentators, Crovan, who's also co-host of The Drone Bay podcast. He explained to us what the tournament is all about, and what makes it such a significant annual event in EVE.

Continue reading EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament finals in live video this weekend

EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament finals in live video this weekend originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively catches up with SOE Tucson director Dan Kopycienski

James Egan — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Business models, MMO industry, Trading card games

Sony Online Entertainment surprised us recently with the announcement that they'd acquired Octopi -- creators of the collectible strategy game PoxNora -- and that the studio would now be known as SOE Tucson. We had some questions about what this acquisition might mean for SOE moving into the future, as well as what changes are on the horizon for PoxNora.

Massively caught up with the former president of Octopi, Dan Kopycienski, who is now Director of Development at SOE Tucson. Although SOE Tucson is still very much a studio in transition, he was kind enough to speak with us about where PoxNora is today, and what it may become with the newfound backing of Sony Online Entertainment.

Continue reading Massively catches up with SOE Tucson director Dan Kopycienski

Massively catches up with SOE Tucson director Dan Kopycienski originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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E308: PvP in The Agency

Krystalle Voecks — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Interviews, New titles, PvP, The Agency, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

One of the many things people have been looking for in an MMOFPS environment is the ability to engage in some hardcore PvP. Shooter fans seem to absolutely love the thrill of fragging others straight off the map. While we weren't able to nail down all of the specifics from our talk with Matt Wilson, Executive Director of Development from SOE Seattle, we did manage to wrangle a few juicy tidbits from him. Some of the answers we got regarding the things they are considering for The Agency may prove to be welcome news to FPS PvP devotees.

Massively: Is The Agency going to be open to a PvP type of environment?

In the example we see in the video, the only thing you can do is actually blow up the bombs and kill yourself, that kind of thing. In PvP we'll have to flag friendly fire on or off -- if you want to shoot your team, you can. If you don't, you won't. In PvE, we're really focused on friendly fire being off most of the time because of players joining ad-hoc groups. We don't want to make the game a griefer's paradise.

Continue reading E308: PvP in The Agency

E308: PvP in The Agency originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 Jul 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cyanide Studios unveils Dungeon Party

Michael Zenke — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, PvP, Kids

All the way from beautiful Paris, France comes word of a brand-new MMO. Called Dungeon Party, it's a head-to-head team battle title that will pit teams of five players against each other in a race to the bottom of a dank and dirty dungeon. Six character classes will be offered when the game launches, with equipment further customizing character looks and abilities. At the end of the race is the labyrinth's treasure horde, which players have to not only obtain - but survive to carry out of the maze. The opposing team as well as traps and monsters will block their path.

The title has apparently been in-development for some time, and the developers at Cyanide Studios plan to open the game up to Beta testers this summer. Future plans include regular tournaments with 'higher intensity' dungeons and a real-time ranking system. We'll follow this game as it heads towards public playtesting later this year.

Cyanide Studios unveils Dungeon Party originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 25 May 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GuildCafe calls out for DIY event planners [UPDATED]

Akela Talamasca — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Guild Wars, Contests, Culture, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, News items, Free-to-play

The true strength of any successful MMO is its player community -- they're the folks who create mods, organize events, cheer/protest loudly whenever something changes that they like/dislike. In that vein, GuildCafe has sent out a call for players who already are, or would like to create and run Guild Wars events events for any and all MMOs, like tournaments, contests, or even (most ambitiously) an ARG.

GuildCafe promises to support this endeavor by providing experienced staffers to help plan and effect events, as well as to publicize and sponsor said events. This is a great way to both maintain and strengthen the GW community, and at the same time promote GuildCafe's brand recognition. Everybody wins!

[UPDATED: changed 'Guild Wars events' to reflect that this offer is open to any and all MMOs -- Thanks, Sam!]

GuildCafe calls out for DIY event planners [UPDATED] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Exclusive first look at Legends of Norrath's new expansion: Inquisitor

Dan O'Halloran — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Expansions, Launches, New titles, Previews, News items, Trading card games

This morning, SOE will announce the release date for the 3rd set of their online strategy card game, Legends of Norrath. Inquisitor is scheduled to be released on Friday, March 7, 2008 with over 250 cards introducing new game play elements, new loot redeemable in EverQuest and EverQuest II and a new lore-based campaign free to all registered users.

Massively has the exclusive first look of the new features, new cards and a new video after the jump.

Continue reading Exclusive first look at Legends of Norrath's new expansion: Inquisitor

Exclusive first look at Legends of Norrath's new expansion: Inquisitor originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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