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Vivox voice chat comes to Star Trek Online

Jef Reahard — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online is the latest MMORPG to receive the integrated Vivox voice chat treatment. While players are still a few years short of tapping their command insignias and barking out orders to their party, it's a step in the right direction.

The system allows team and fleet members to chat directly without the need for third-party servers or software such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Joining a channel is automatic when you group with other players, and the implementation features the usual configuration and customization options (including, of course, a push-to-talk binding and the ability to disable the service entirely).

Read all about it at the official STO website.

Vivox voice chat comes to Star Trek Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Captain's Log: The Gospel of Tribble

Brandon Felczer — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST

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

Captain's Log, Stardate 64959.3...

Hello, compu... what the... shields up, red alert! Brace for impact! A giant Tribble is on the loose, and its name is Season Four. That's right -- the Star Trek Online public test server, Tribble, sometimes nicknamed the Trouble with Tribble, has finally reopened with the major update that we have all been waiting for. This build was first pushed last Friday but was taken down moments later due to a "major database error." The show-stopping kinks have been worked out now, so it is time to get to testing out all of the new content I have been writing about for the past couple of months.

If you have not seen the release notes for this build, there are dozens of updates that will be altering the way you have come to play the game. Not sure what to test? That is what I am here for. The goal of this week's Captain's Log is to provide you a checklist on what to hit up once you patch your game and get on your test toon. Also, if you have never installed the test server, now is a great time -- Cryptic will soon be announcing a Tribble Test Weekend, during which you can log in and receive an exclusive item on the live server just for helping test.

Ensign, warp 10! Let's share some text from the word of Tribble...

Continue reading Captain's Log: The Gospel of Tribble

Captain's Log: The Gospel of Tribble originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Captain's Log: Back to the future

Brandon Felczer — Thu, 19 May 2011 18:00:00 EST

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

Captain's Log, Stardate 64884.1...

Hello, computer (and players)! Guess what's back? That's right! Hailing frequencies are now reopened -- Captain's Log is no longer on hiatus. Over the past few weeks, there has been some great news released about the Star Trek Online universe: the winner of the Design the Next Enterprise Contest was announced, the May Ask Cryptic was released, the dev team revealed the 500-day veteran rewards, and the Featured Episode reruns began. While everyone has had his or her own opinions on these stories, there is one piece of news that everyone can agree on: the awesomesauceness of the latest Engineering Report.

As first announced earlier this week, Executive Producer Dan Stahl dropped his latest report, which describes the updates to the game coming in Season Four. As usual, aside from the imminent new content, Dan foreshadows the future for us. Captain's Log is no stranger to talking about the future of the game, so I am excited to share some more details about the upcoming updates with you. Since Season Four is right around the corner and I believe it will be the "game changing update this game has needed since launch," let's get on to this week's Log entry.

Ensign, warp 10! Let's talk about Season 4 and beyond...

Continue reading Captain's Log: Back to the future

Captain's Log: Back to the future originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 May 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Guild Counsel: To vent or not to vent

Karen Bryan — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous

As we've looked at the ins and outs of managing a guild, one issue that's often overlooked is whether to vent or not to vent. No, not the Minus 50 DKP type of vent -- I'm talking about Ventrilo and voice chat in general. Ten years ago, guild leaders didn't have to worry about this, because the choice was between typing text or hosting a LAN party. But today, with the rise of voice chat clients like Ventrilo and in-game voice services like Vivox, the culture has changed quite a bit.

In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll take a look at the benefits of type vs. voice chat, and we'll look at what role each plays in guild management. Whether you sleep with your headset on or cling to your keyboard, read on for a look at why both have their merits.

Continue reading The Guild Counsel: To vent or not to vent

The Guild Counsel: To vent or not to vent originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Runes of Magic celebrates its second birthday

Jeremy Stratton — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Events, in-game, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Happy birthday, Runes of Magic! Two years have gone by, and you're growing up so fast. Anniversary celebrations are already underway in RoM. If your account has been lying dormant, you may want to wake it up, join the festivities, and get some free goodies while you're at it. For me, these two years flew by. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I wrote a look back at the first year of RoM.

In two years, RoM has seen three major updates, and a fourth is just around the corner. The first two chapters made it into the first year, and although Chapter 4 didn't quite make it into this article, chapter 3 brought a whopping amount of content and features.

If your extra ginger beer isn't cutting it anymore and you're feeling brave, move on up by grabbing a bottle of Blenhiem's old #5 and join me for a look back at the last year of RoM.

Continue reading Runes of Magic celebrates its second birthday

Runes of Magic celebrates its second birthday originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champions Online discusses the future of the game, adding voice chat

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Super-hero, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play, Champions Online

The free-to-play conversion has certainly wrought some far-reaching changes for Champions Online, but as producer Rob Overmeyer puts forth in the latest State of the Game letter, there's still more to come. Aside from numerous C-Store additions for players, a new power framework and a new adventure pack are both in the works for the next couple of months. In addition, the development team is looking to add "Comic Series" missions on a regular basis, akin to the featured episodes implemented in Star Trek Online.

This letter comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Cryptic Studios will be partnering with Vivox to bring built-in voice chat to both of its current games. That benefits both Champions Online and Star Trek Online, although no details are currently available for the precise implementation of the feature or the integration timetable. Still, fans of the game should be happy to see that the change in models hasn't hurt any of the game's long-term plans for content or functionality.

Champions Online discusses the future of the game, adding voice chat originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Mar 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivox doubles user base, now serves over 45 million

Jef Reahard — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items, Miscellaneous

Last year was mighty productive for the folks at Vivox, as the voice chat firm doubled its user base and now serves over 45 million customers worldwide. While 45 million is quite a large number on its own, when taken together with the fact that Vivox served a mere 18.5 million users in early 2010, it's easy to see how the competition has its work cut out for it.

Gaming firms including Wargaming.net, Runewaker, and Bigpoint all turned to Vivox for their voice needs in 2010, and company CEO Rob Seaver says that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. "There is a clear opportunity for voice providers to reshape the social web with a communication medium that has proven to be the easiest, most intuitive channel of communication throughout [...] thousands of years of existence: voice," he said in a press release earlier today.

Vivox also provides voice services for the likes of CCP Games, Linden Lab, and Sony Online Entertainment, and you can find more coverage of the company in our interviews with VP of Product Management Monty Sharma.

Vivox doubles user base, now serves over 45 million originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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WRUP: War is actually good for a remarkable number of things edition

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous

War kind of gets a bad rap, what with the whole causing widespread meaningless slaughter. But let's face it, despite what Edwin Starr may have said, war is actually good for a wide variety of things. For example, widespread slaughter? War is totally good at that. And if countless MMOs have proven anything, it's that war is a great way to provide quest objectives, assuming that you get to respawn if you lose. Also, there are snazzy uniforms and big explosions. It's basically good for the same things as Michael Bay's cinematography.

If this has you all excited, I'm sorry to say that this week's WRUP does not feature Massively or any of its staff members going to war, not counting Bree's war on "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. It does, however, feature the staff explaining what we'll be doing over the weekend and what we like in terms of voice chat. So click on past the break to see what we'll be up to, and let us know what you'll be doing in the comments.

Continue reading WRUP: War is actually good for a remarkable number of things edition

WRUP: War is actually good for a remarkable number of things edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Jan 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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World of Tanks announces Vivox voice chat

Jef Reahard — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Historical, MMO industry, New titles, News items, War, World of Tanks

What's a military action game without angry squad leaders, four-letter words, and locker room camaraderie, amirite? In service of those ideals, and a few that are more family-friendly, Wargaming.net announces the arrival of integrated voice chat in its World of Tanks action MMO.

High-definition in-game voice will be heard around the battlefield courtesy of Vivox, Inc. "When creating World of Tanks it was critical for us to include voice communication capabilities. With proven scalability, numerous live integrations, and best in class quality -- partnering with Vivox was an easy decision," says Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi.

World of Tanks is a free-to-play, vehicle-based action game currently undergoing closed beta testing. The Vivox integration will allow seamless communication, sans third-party apps, during combat and via the game's various lobbies. You can learn more, as well as sign up for beta, at the official website.

World of Tanks announces Vivox voice chat originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Nov 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDCO 2010: Vivox's Monty Sharma talks voice integration between the PC and PS3

Karen Bryan — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

Since 2006, Vivox has provided integrated voice chat services to MMOs on the PC. At GDC Online in Austin, it made the major announcement that it has successfully implemented its voice chat service into the PlayStation 3 gaming console. This means players will be able to communicate between the PC and the PS3, which is a big milestone for cross-platform games.

This new service is currently being tested in SOE's upcoming MMO DC Universe Online, and players should see it in-game in the near future. Vivox Founder and Vice President Monty Sharma sat down to talk with Massively about the new service.

Continue reading GDCO 2010: Vivox's Monty Sharma talks voice integration between the PC and PS3

GDCO 2010: Vivox's Monty Sharma talks voice integration between the PC and PS3 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively.com and GameBreaker.TV: Coming to you live from GDC Online!

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, Livestream

GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) is rapidly approaching, and we here at Massively.com are making sure that we're on the front lines of coverage from the event. We have plenty of interviews lined up with a huge variety of companies, and we're teaming up with our friends at GameBreaker.TV to deliver live coverage of the event via GameBreaker's live show at the Vivox booth!

To get you excited for the coming conference, we've provided the list of companies we're meeting with just after the break! The list isn't fully extensive, as we'll be covering a variety of panels as well, but it will give you an idea of whom we're meeting with. Plus, keep an eye out for a link to the live GameBreaker.TV broadcast on our right-hand sidebar! Their coverage of the event will be starting on Wednesday, October 6th at 12:00 p.m. EDT!

Continue reading Massively.com and GameBreaker.TV: Coming to you live from GDC Online!

Massively.com and GameBreaker.TV: Coming to you live from GDC Online! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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APB's voice chat feature will contain advertisements

Brendan Drain — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, All Points Bulletin, Crime

With launch day closing in, crime MMO All Points Bulletin has been getting its payment scheme in order. The game's pricing structure was revealed at the end of April, including several flexible pay-per-time and monthly subscription options. In addition, the game will have a currency called "RTW points," which can be used for character customisations or converted into game time. While looking through the payment options in his account management page early this morning, one APB forum poster spied a strange button that set off a few warning bells in his head. Marked "VOIP Premium," the option removes adverts from APB's in-game voice chat for 30, 90 or 180 days in exchange for payment.

This was the first players had heard of adverts being inserted into their voice chat and speculation began to run wild in the game's pre-release forum community. Players feared the worst -- that right in the middle of their game, a radio advert would start playing over their speakers. Community Officer Toxico was quick to address concerns, explaining the exact circumstances under which the ads will be played. For an advert to play, you have to be entering a district and must not have heard an ad for the past three hours. This ensures that they'll never interrupt normal play and won't play in an irritatingly high frequency. While some forum posters are avidly opposing a premium VOIP service, most seem content with the explanation provided and the conditions under which adverts will be played.

[Thanks for the tip, Kip!]

APB's voice chat feature will contain advertisements originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlantica Online adds voice chat functionality

Kyle Horner — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Free-to-play, Atlantica Online

Vivox has brought voice communication to yet another MMORPG with today's news that Ndoors Interactive's Atlantica Online now offers the feature to its players. Interestingly, the voice-over-IP service has been made available through the game's official website, as opposed to within the game itself. While there's nothing stopping players from accessing voice chat while in-game, it's still an odd choice.

The only thing that really matters is whether or not it works, and given Vivox's fairly extensive experience via games like EVE Online, EverQuest II and Global Agenda there shouldn't be any unacceptable issues for Atlantica Online players. The feature should be available to players now, so long as you're logged into your account when trying to access voice chat.

Atlantica Online adds voice chat functionality originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Linden Lab axes Vivox SLim Second Life client beta

Tateru Nino — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: News items, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Back in 2008, quite a big thing was made of Vivox's lightweight voice/IM client for Second Life, called SLim. That buzz continued through 2009, with the announcement of voice fonts, SLim-to-SMS, and client-side recording (all scheduled for the second half of 2009) and conference calls, group text/voice chat (via SLim) and browser-based voice applets on the Second Life Web-site (scheduled for this year).

Yesterday, the news came down in a mailout from Linden Lab about the status of the SLim beta. "The program has been a great success," said the Lab and, "we have decided to end the SLim beta program, effective immediately."

Continue reading Linden Lab axes Vivox SLim Second Life client beta

Linden Lab axes Vivox SLim Second Life client beta originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivox moves beyond voice chat for gaming

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, News items

Vivox is going to have to change their site's front page very soon: " Vivox. We Put the Best Voice Chat in Games. And that is all we do." That won't hold true for much longer, as Vivox has announced plans to bring integrated voice chat to social applications.

The Social Voice Partner Program is currently being demonstrated with Facebook, Google Wave, and Ning and will be available to all social application developers this May. Social networking sites and applications are growing by leaps and bounds, and Vivox is getting on board early: "With the explosion of the social Web, there is rising consumer-driven demand for integrated voice," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "Vivox anticipated the emergence of this trend and this new program will lend communications expertise to social application developers. Our vision truly is to 'let the Web talk'- and let that experience be as high-quality and natural as it is in real life."

Vivox moves beyond voice chat for gaming originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC10: Massively's picks for the best of GDC

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, Opinion, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

GDC 2010 has come and gone and as we recover from the insanity a bit, we thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on our favorites from last week. Although the Game Developer's Conference isn't usually made to be as flashy as E3 or PAX, it is mostly catered towards students looking to break into the industry, panels and summits interesting to only other developers and a few demos.

This in mind, we compiled a short list of what made the biggest impact on us, pertaining to MMOs. Although there were plenty of other exciting demos, booths and panels, we're keeping these awards strictly to MMO-related topics. Follow along after the jump for our complete list.

Continue reading GDC10: Massively's picks for the best of GDC

GDC10: Massively's picks for the best of GDC originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 17 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC10: Massively's day 4 roundup

Jef Reahard — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Video, Aion, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, Champions Online, DC Universe Online, Black Prophecy, Vindictus

Day four of the Game Developer's Conference is in the books, and was one for the books as well. Massively managed to score a number of interviews, hands-on features, and we even got our mug in front of the cameras at one point during all the craziness. As you're aware by now, there is still much more to come from our trip to San Francisco, so take this opportunity to catch up on any stories you may have missed.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our final day coverage as well as a wrap up of all our favorites from the show.

GDC10: Massively's day 4 roundup originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC10: Vivox's Monty Sharma interviewed

Jef Reahard — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:30:00 EST

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

While often overlooked among gamers due to the prevalence of Ventrilo and Teamspeak, integrated MMORPG voice chat is a service that is steadily gathering steam, and leading the charge is Vivox, Inc. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, Vivox has pioneered integrated voice technology in games as diverse as EVE Online, EverQuest II, and Second Life.

We sat down with Monty Sharma, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at this week's Game Developer's Conference to talk about the company's past, present and future.

Hit the jump for the full interview.

Continue reading GDC10: Vivox's Monty Sharma interviewed

GDC10: Vivox's Monty Sharma interviewed originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Runes of Magic announces integrated voice chat

Jef Reahard — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic

Runes of Magic's 2.8 million players will soon have something besides their favorite MMORPG to talk about: each other. Runewaker Entertainment just announced a partnership with Vivox to provide in-game voice chat for the hit free-to-play title.

High definition voice chat will be available in public and private channels, and is already live on the game's Taiwanese servers. The service will debut on American and European servers very soon according to company representatives.

"We have been looking forward to bringing voice chat to Runes of Magic for some time knowing the extraordinary benefits it brings to the community," said Runewaker Entertainment's Tony Tang. "Vivox is the only voice chat provider capable of delivering high definition voice to gamers."

Runes of Magic announces integrated voice chat originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda to hold another developer chat

Rubi Bayer — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Global Agenda

It's been about a month since Global Agenda launched, and overall player feedback is pretty positive. Hi-Rez wants to continue the open communication between the developer side and the player side, however, so they'll be holding another developer chat thanks to Vivox Voice chat for Facebook.

The chat is scheduled for this Wednesday, March 3, at 9pm US Eastern, 6pm US Pacific (02:00 GMT on Thursday, March 4), and Hi-Rez has a few tips for fans to get the most out of the event. First of all, there are 100 seats available, so if you decide to wander in five minutes after it starts to see what's going on, it's probably not going to happen for you. This isn't an invitation to go all Black Friday and start camping the room right this minute, but you do want to get there a bit early. If the room does fill up and you can't get in, never fear. The session will be recorded and posted as a podcast.

If you've got a question you want addressed, submit it in advance. To prevent general chaos and confusion, only the Global Agenda team will have access to the microphone during the event, so to speak. They'll only be answering questions submitted ahead of time.

Check out all the details on the event here, and enjoy the chat!

Global Agenda to hold another developer chat originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda to feature Vivox voice integration

James Egan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, MMOFPS, Global Agenda

Massively has been following the growing prevalence of MMOFPS games poised to enter the market in the coming months and years, with the most notable of these being Global Agenda. The game's developer Hi-Rez Studios got in touch with us today to let us know about their partnership with Vivox, who will provide voice features for Global Agenda. Vivox will enable push-to-talk voice chat and in-game news broadcasts "that describe key victories and events associated with Global Agenda's persistent territory control gameplay," states Hi-Rez Studios. An additional (subscriber-only) feature will be out-of-game voice chat that will keep agency members in touch when they're not fragging their rivals. According to Hi-Rez, "Players can use a variety of access methods including the Vivox Web Voice within the toolbar controls, Vivox Voice on Facebook, or calling into a specified chat channel from their phone."

Hi-Rez also announced they will hold a dev chat via Facebook on Wednesday, November 18th, from 10-11pm (Eastern), which will require participants to download the Vivox Voice app for Facebook. A Facebook group announcement from Hi-Rez today states that the dev chat will be limited to 75 people who will pose questions to the Global Agenda devs.

Global Agenda to feature Vivox voice integration originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Voice chat - zOMG!

Rubi Bayer — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Free-to-play, Browser, Casual, Gaia Online

Well, yes, we are happy about this, but zOMG! is the name of the MMO, not an expression of our excitement. Vivox, the company that provides voice chat in quite a few of our favorite games, has added one more to their list. They've partnered with Gaia Online to provide in game voice chat for zOMG!, their free-to-play browser based MMO.

"Gaia Online has defined the social web experience for millions of teens and young adults," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "And voice is the ultimate social glue. By adding voice chat to zOMG!, Gaia Online proves, again, its commitment to providing a truly social experience for its players."

Vivox voice chat is live in zOMG! now for players to "gab to your heart's content using the power of your own face-hole, saving valuable keystrokes for more efficient monster bashing," according to the zOMG! monthly newsletter. True to form, zOMG! has added their own twist on it as well: players can purchase voice fonts in the storefront to give their voice a unique twist. Congratulations to Gaia Online and Vivox for their partnership!

Voice chat - zOMG! originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Fanfest streaming in live video Saturday, Oct 3

James Egan — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST

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

Are you disappointed you couldn't attend EVE Fanfest 2009 in Reykjavik this week? If so, there's some good news. CCP Games announced today that they're going to stream live video of the Fanfest presentations on Saturday, October 3rd, from 12:00 - 17:00 GMT. The live video stream can be viewed at the EVE Fanfest 2009 site and will feature keynotes on the future of CCP Games and EVE Online -- namely DUST 514 -- and Senior Producer Torfi Frans Ólafsson's keynote on the Dominion expansion (recorded Friday evening). CCP Games will also stream video of the finals from this year's Fanfest PvP tournament with its free-for-all and Tech III matches.

If you're unable to view the video stream, you can also listen in on the keynotes through the EVE Online Facebook page thanks to Vivox. Information will be made available on the EVE Facebook page tomorrow, and this audio will stream from 15:00 - 17:00 GMT.

EVE Fanfest streaming in live video Saturday, Oct 3 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Second Life racks up 1 billion voice minutes last month. Linden Lab announces new services

Tateru Nino — Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Business models, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Linden Lab has announced that it is currently averaging one billion voice-minutes per month. That's time actively engaged in a voice session, not just time spent with voice support enabled. That's quite a statistic. That puts Second Life's voice service right up there among the top VoIP providers, and around 12% of Skype. That's very impressive.

In the 18 months since voice was introduced, roughly 15 billion voice-minutes have been served, through Vivox's voice services for Second Life. Additionally there are new products/services. Some available from today, and some scheduled for later this year.

Continue reading Second Life racks up 1 billion voice minutes last month. Linden Lab announces new services

Second Life racks up 1 billion voice minutes last month. Linden Lab announces new services originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 20 May 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Masthead Studios announces GNi as worldwide server host for Earthrise

James Egan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Business models, MMO industry, Earthrise

Masthead Studios is a relative newcomer to the massively multiplayer online game industry and is presently developing the post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise, a sandbox game where players will vie for control over finite resources in a large, open world. As players of another prominent sandbox MMO know very well, ensuring smooth operations in an unsharded game requires a substantial investment in server technology. To this end, Masthead Studios has partnered with server infrastructure provider GNi to host Earthrise.

GNi's 'Infrastructure as a Service' (IaaS) offers "dedicated storage, network, and server capacity on a pay-as-you-grow model." With this week's announcement, Masthead Studios joins companies like Vivox and Frogster Interactive Pictures AG as a GNi client.

[Via IGN]

Masthead Studios announces GNi as worldwide server host for Earthrise originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Gaming blog Imaginary Cogs focuses on MMO operations and server technology

James Egan — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, Server downtime

There's a fair number of people out there blogging about their preferred massively multiplayer online games as well as the industry itself, and more all the time it seems. One area that isn't covered very often, however, is MMO operations, largely because it's something many bloggers have little direct experience with. However Bryant Durrell from Imaginary Cogs certainly does.

In the month since Durrell first started writing Imaginary Cogs he's offered up an industry insider's perspective on topics ranging from server technology to the ops that keep our games running, tapping his past work experience with Vivox and Turbine. Durrell's blog is a peek behind the curtain into how massively multiplayer online games operate. If you've ever been curious about the tech that powers massively multiplayer online games and how it's used, you might want to check out Imaginary Cogs.

[Via Zen of Design]

Gaming blog Imaginary Cogs focuses on MMO operations and server technology originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Apr 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Digital Continuum: What's up with APB?

Kyle Horner — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Opinion, The Digital Continuum, All Points Bulletin, Crime

I'm not entirely sure what's going on with All Points Bulletin and the only reason I'm bothered enough to consider worrying about a game that we know only fractions of is because those fractions are amazingly potent pieces of excitement. The depth of customization, the level-less progression wrapped around a GTA style game make for powerful appeal.

I was hoping that because it'd been a year since the last GDC, when All Points Bulletin was first revealed to a dumbstruck media, we would be treated with a delightful updated look at the game. That just wasn't the case at GDC 2009, and frankly it has me slightly worried.

Continue reading The Digital Continuum: What's up with APB?

The Digital Continuum: What's up with APB? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivox to provide voice solutions for urban crime MMO All Points Bulletin

James Egan — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, News items, All Points Bulletin, Crime

If you're a fan of GTA-style urban crime games, you might be interested in what Realtime Worlds is cooking up for the MMO space: All Points Bulletin, which could very well prove to be the online evolution of single-player games like Grand Theft Auto and Crackdown. While new details on this title are still light, Vivox announced today that they'll be providing voice solutions for APB.

The integration of Vivox with the All Points Bulletin client will include voice fonts, where players will be able to alter their voices to better fit their character. Vivox has already established its presence in EVE Online and Second Life, and recently announced plans to extend gaming VOIP to web browsers as well. There could be interesting times ahead with this agreement between Vivox and Realtime Worlds in All Points Bulletin.

Vivox to provide voice solutions for urban crime MMO All Points Bulletin originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivox to offer cross-platform browser plugin for game VOIP

Krystalle Voecks — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, News items

Vivox, already firmly entrenched as the in-game voice over IP option for EVE Online, several of SOE's games, and Second Life, is now upping the ante by announcing that they intend to take their service cross-platform - and potentially cross-game, if the developers allow it. If they manage to do that, it means you could play EverQuest II and still hang out and talk smack with your friends flying through space in EVE Online, or checking out the latest in Second Life. Not only are those options interesting, but in releasing it as a browser plugin, they open up the option for guilds to potentially use it on their own sites; allowing people not logged in to still talk to those playing. Depending on cost and scalability, this could potentially take a bite out of the market Ventrilo and TeamSpeak are in, as we'd bet 99.9% of gamers already have browsers on their machines, and many run them while gaming anyway.

Add to that Vivox's plan to allow users to eventually call in to the chat from cell phones (late to the raid - call ahead) and you can see where this is definitely an interesting development to those playing MMOs. They'll be discussing the specifics at GDC, so hopefully we'll get more details on just how this will happen, if players will have to (or be able to) host their own servers, and the potential roll-out dates for this new service.

Vivox to offer cross-platform browser plugin for game VOIP originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Real-time online community software, aka 'Voon' enters beta

Kyle Horner — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, News items

Just recently, Voon entered its beta for Windows and Mac users, which means almost anyone can download it and give it a go. Although, you may be wondering, "What the heck is Voon?" Simply put, Voon is a sort of online community system that can work like a chat room or like Ventrilo. You just download it and use it, no sever or vast knowledge of VoIP technology needed.

Its users can interact for the sake of argument or they can all discuss a event that's being broadcast through Voon itself. Eventually, Voon users may be able to talk between the Voon client and other Vivox in-game clients such as EVE Online or any Sony Online Entertainment title. Each company will be choosing how such a system might work.

For instance, right now Voon users can listen to daily re-airings of Massively Speaking and comment vocally or textually in real-time with one another as the podcast is being aired to them. It's all very cool and meta -- but in a good way that doesn't make everyone feel a bit uncomfortable. So check it out!

Update: Noted that communication between Voon and in-game clients is something companies get to decide for themselves.

Real-time online community software, aka 'Voon' enters beta originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Fanfest 2008 keynotes broadcasting live, November 8

James Egan — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST

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

EVE Fanfest 2008 is in full swing in Reykjavik, but fans of the game who can't make that trek to Iceland this year have let out a collective grumble that EVE TV isn't streaming live content, as they have in prior years. Rather, the EVE TV team is recording the events and interviewing players, with the aim to make the video footage available to everyone after Fanfest. But for those who really want to connect with what's happening in Reykjavik now, CCP Fallout announced another way for players to listen in:

"For those pilots who are unable to warp to Fanfest this year, we are please to announce that we will broacast t0rfifrans's and Oveur's keynote addresses live in-game. Those of you who would like to listen in should join the 'Live Dev Blog' in-game channel on Saturday, 8 November at 13:00 GMT."

We've also gotten word that CCP Games CEO Hilmar V. Pétursson, (aka CCP Hellmar) will be delivering a keynote at 15:00 GMT on November 8th, which will also be broadcast live. As with all of the Live Dev Blogs, players need only activate audio via the right click menu to listen in on the keynote presentations.

EVE Fanfest 2008 keynotes broadcasting live, November 8 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 07 Nov 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands-on with the new SLim release

Tateru Nino — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, News items, Second Life, Hands-on, Virtual worlds

Among all the current Second Life kerfuffle and protests going on about unexpected price-rises and policy changes surrounding certain categories of virtual land, it might have been forgotten that Vivox is preparing to release the SLim lightweight instant messenger system, and Linden Lab is preparing a Second Life viewer that is able to communicate with it.

The release of the former, and the first-look version of the latter appears to be very close now. We got our hands on both (as they appear to be available for download now), and took them for a bit of a spin to see how they might have improved over the demonstration versions that were temporarily available earlier this year.

Continue reading Hands-on with the new SLim release

Hands-on with the new SLim release originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Vivox to provide voice services for 38 Studios' upcoming MMO

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry

Announced today at the Austin Game Developers Conference, Vivox has struck a deal with 38 Studios to provide all of their voice services for the studio's upcoming MMO. You may remember 38 Studios as the powerhouse that employs such rockstar names as Curt Schilling, R.A. Salvatore and Todd McFarlane. Their current MMO project, codenamed Copernicus, will use the same in-game voice technology of EVE Online, Second Life and upcoming titles from SOE, Icarus Studios and NCsoft.

Check out the complete press release after the jump for more information on how Vivox plans to work with 38 Studios, and what 38 Studios says about the collaboration.

Continue reading Vivox to provide voice services for 38 Studios' upcoming MMO

Vivox to provide voice services for 38 Studios' upcoming MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Second Life removes VoIP client

Tateru Nino — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Bugs, News items, Second Life, Virtual worlds

In a lot of ways, we've got a bit of a traditional streak here at Massively. We like the good, solid, family values like "Kill a monster. Steal it's treasure". One tradition that we hold particularly dear is "Announce the software and then make it available". Yes, we know that makes us awfully old-fashioned in the modern, cool, vaporware world of the kids these days.

In the wake of our announcement and hands-on piece with the new Second Life SLim VoIP/IM client, Linden Lab has in turn announced it, stamped it "coming soon" and yanked the availability of the web-page and associated setup process. This all seems a bit backwards, to be honest.

Granted, the software doesn't actually work very well at all, and appears to be little more than a stripped down copy of Vivox Connector with most of the features removed (we think that it is exactly that, in fact), but still, it is supposed to be a Beta.

Perhaps it's the little details like the fact that Lindens can't hide their online status from it that have caused it to be pulled, rather than any other inherent kind of breakage. Since Linden Lab's PR people won't answer any queries about the product, all we can do is speculate.

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Second Life removes VoIP client originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EverQuest patch highlights: Station Voice and weightless coin

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:20:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items

EverQuest players rejoice! You now have the ability to use Station Voice for your in-game communications, thereby saving you typing -- or your own Vent or TS server costs. Eventually, this will also include the ability to get in-game voice mail, allow players to receive external voice connections (like phone calls) and even offer voice synthesizing. This should help players change their voice for role-playing their characters. Best of all, Station Voice is completely free to current EverQuest players with accounts in good standing.

Aside from that, all EQ players will be glad to know that SOE has removed the weights on EverQuest's coinage. No longer will you have to stop and run to the bank to change out all those pesky coins that like to pile up. This particular change may not seem like it would be all that large a thing to other MMO players. However, EQ players who have ever had their run speed decreased because they spent a little too long out playing and landed bags heavy with coin weight will understand why we're cheering for this particular (no pun intended) change.

If you're curious what else changed in today's update, join us past the break for the full update notes!

Continue reading EverQuest patch highlights: Station Voice and weightless coin

EverQuest patch highlights: Station Voice and weightless coin originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hands on: The Second Life SLim client is here

Tateru Nino — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, News items, Second Life, Hands-on, Virtual worlds

Linden Lab's unannounced SLim lightweight Second Life client is available now. We grabbed it out of the starting gate and took it for a bit of a spin for an hour or so. It looks a great deal like Linden Lab needed some new feature or API in the SLS-1.24 server deployment to support this. As a result, preparation of the SLim software for release prior to an announcement at this year's Virtual Worlds -2008 conference in Los Angeles must have been awfully rushed.

We expected this to be the first purpose-designed client for Second Life to come out of Linden Lab since the original in 2002, but actually ... it isn't. The real story is rather more surprising.

SLim is a Vivox product and it connects to Vivox servers. Connection with Second Life and its grid and servers is only very peripheral. How much involvement Linden Lab actually had with any of this is debatable.

The short version: It does a lot less than you'd hope, and setup of the whole show is far clunkier than you'd like. On with the show...

Are you a part of the most widely-known collaborative virtual environment or keeping a close eye on it? Massively's Second Life coverage keeps you in the loop.

Continue reading Hands on: The Second Life SLim client is here

Hands on: The Second Life SLim client is here originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Station Voice goes live today in EQ2 and SWG

Dan O'Halloran — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: EverQuest II, News items, Star Wars Galaxies

Back in February, we reported on EverQuest II's announcement of built-in chat coming to the game. Today, Sony Online Entertainment officially announced that Station Voice has arrived not only in EQ2, but also in Star Wars Galaxies and is coming to EverQuest next month.

What's included in the Vivox technology? Along with the usual controls you'd expect (moderation, private channels, etc.) you can set the levels of each person in group. Always good to have when dealing with the serial shouter that inevitably ends up in your group/raid. Other features are planned including the ability to mask your voice in different ways and to talk to your friends in-game without having the game loaded up yourself.

More information can be found on the new Station Voice page.

Station Voice goes live today in EQ2 and SWG originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Preview EQII's Game Update 47, Storm Break

William Dobson — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Patches

The EQ2Players community site has a short preview of EverQuest II's next major patch, Game Update 47, the "Storm Break". As we already knew, GU47 is the patch that will finally bring Vivox voice integration to EQII. Here's the list of features that will be available straight away:

Create your own password-protected custom channels

Automatic channels for Guilds, Raids and Groups

Group and Raid windows have speaking indicators

Leaders can invite any other players into Guild, Group and Raid channels

Moderator controls (kick, ban, mute, etc.)

Logitech G15 keyboard integration

Ability to individually mute and set volume per user that you can hear

Troubleshooting tools to get you chatting instantly

Other new feature coming in this update: a revamp of items for levels 1-59, a change that is sure to make alts and newcomers awfully pleased. A large amount of old-world items will automatically be improved, to be more in line with newer rewards. This includes items that you already own -- there's no need to go around collecting your gear for a second time. It also looks like Guild Housing will soon be in the game, judging by construction near Freeport and Qeynos. Storm Break still holds more surprises, and we're promised a second part to this preview later in the week.

Preview EQII's Game Update 47, Storm Break originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Test patch notes posted for Star Wars Galaxies Update 5

Michael Zenke — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Patches, Star Wars Galaxies

We've had a lot of lead-up to this GU and finally it looks like it's here. Yesterday the Test Center patch notes for Star Wars Galaxies Game Update 5 hit the official forums. From the inclusion of Vivox voice chat to heavy structural changes to the Beast Mastery expertise, you'll find all the information you need if you're planning to check out the content early. With the festivities surrounding the fifth anniversary, there's been some preview activity surrounding this patch already. To just run down the biggest changes:

Vivox voice chat has been added to the game, with a number of new UI and supplemental elements.
There's a new in-game web browser now as well, which can be accessed via the /browser command.
The 60-month veteran reward is being added in, a one-person hoverchair vehicle.
Beastmaster tweaks are mostly quality of life issues, with eggs now using their type name to identify them in inventory and the ability to stuff a beast added to the game.
The process to craft all weapons has been updated, completely changing how Munitions Traders play. Cores are new crafted subcomponents used to select the level of the weapon the trader is crafting. These cores can be mounted into any 'shell', meaning the Munitions Trader can customize a weapon for a customer based on look and level both.

Test patch notes posted for Star Wars Galaxies Update 5 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online patches rolling out July 1

James Egan — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Patches

Some new changes in EVE Online will be deployed on Tuesday, July 1, Community Manager CCP Wrangler announced today. Empyrean Age patch 1.0.1 will reportedly bring fixes to EVE Voice and will also include the previous two optional patches. Further details on what Empyrean Age patch 1.0.1 will include are not currently available, but will be noted at EVE's Patch Notes site, with updated information highlighted in green text. The patch will add roughly 30 minutes to the regularly scheduled downtime, meaning Tranquility will be down from 11:00 to 12:30 GMT.

EVE Online's website -- in its entirety, including the EVE API -- will also be down on July 1, from 12:00 to 16:00 GMT, as CCP Games upgrades its website database server. CCP Wrangler began a discussion thread on the patch at the EVE Information Portal.

EVE Online patches rolling out July 1 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 30 Jun 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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