Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: 'Twas the night before Isengard...]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/23/the-road-to-mordor-twas-the-night-before-isengard/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/23/the-road-to-mordor-twas-the-night-before-isengard/http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/23/the-road-to-mordor-twas-the-night-before-isengard/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Road to Mordor
I feel it. It's those excited butterflies that appear somewhere in my navel region when I realize that I'm on the verge of something new, fun, and possibly involving an alien xenomorph bursting out of my insides. It's the thrill of anticipation almost realized. For this time next week, we'll be well on our way to Isengard.

I've never been around for a Lord of the Rings Online expansion release, which makes this a first for me. Sure, I have my concerns about Rise of Isengard, but on the whole I'm ready to jump into an untamed region and explore the living deeds out of it. I'm not in a rush to get through it all and start raiding or anything, so my Lore-master will be taking his sweet time milking each quest for the calcium-rich story within. Oddly enough, I'm most excited about the prospect of cool new cosmetics because I have a sick obsession with them that's going to require a full-scale intervention.

I'm not quite sure how LotRO's third expansion will be taken by the larger community, and I probably won't know until the launch fever dies down and we evaluate how useful, entertaining, and engaging it is over the long term. I'm just glad we're moving forward.

In this week's Road to Mordor, I want to look back at the build-up to Isengard's release, what we know so far, and what changes are in store for our characters. Might as well tidy up the place since it's going to get hecka messy soon enough.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: 'Twas the night before Isengard...

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: 'Twas the night before Isengard... originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>a-casual-stroll-to-mordorbetaclass-balanceclassescontestdraigochexpansionf2pfeaturedfree-to-playinstancesisengardlord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromonster-playndapvmprise-of-isengardround-uproundupsarumanstoreturbineTurbine-Entertainmentturbine-storewrapupFri, 23 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Choose My Adventure: Star Wars Galaxies wrap-up]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/18/choose-my-adventure-star-wars-galaxies-wrap-up/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/18/choose-my-adventure-star-wars-galaxies-wrap-up/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/08/18/choose-my-adventure-star-wars-galaxies-wrap-up/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of posts and galleries here on the site. Then, as our two months are up, we'll do it all over again in a new game!

This week I wrap up my time in Sony Online Entertainment's Star Wars Galaxies here on Choose My Adventure. From the basics of character creation onwards through the first steps in this familiar-yet-strange land and more, you all have had a chance to see some of the many things to do in this world. For those who are joining us late, our readers chose my locale, server, gender, race, tied on profession (class), and gave me great advice along the way. In this week's column I get a chance to sit down and record my overall impressions of what I've seen.

All caught up? Great! Join me behind the break as I look over my weeks spent in Star Wars Galaxies!

Gallery: Choose my Adventure: Star Wars Galaxies

In a strange new place, looking for the scum and villainy.Bantha! Don't try to run them over in your landspeeder. It doesn't work very well.If the terminator was Mon Calamari...Say hello to Bintall. He's very handy with a blaster!Mo'ag and I had to put the Tuskens in their place.

Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Star Wars Galaxies wrap-up

MassivelyChoose My Adventure: Star Wars Galaxies wrap-up originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>choose-my-adventurecmafeaturedimpressionsop-edopinionrocky-horror-picture-showsoesony-online-entertainmentstar-warsstar-wars-galaxiesswgwrap-upwrapupWed, 18 Aug 2010 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[GDC09: Best of show (to me)]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/29/gdc09-best-of-show-to-me/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/29/gdc09-best-of-show-to-me/http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/29/gdc09-best-of-show-to-me/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , ,


This year's Game Developers Conference has come to a close, and I just wanted to take a second here to reflect on what I got out of the show. I literally can't count the number of times I've been asked, "So what was the best thing you saw so far?". I was even asked this by a random guy in the Men's restroom at one point. Dude, I'm trying to pee, seriously.

So these questions inspired me to write up my thoughts on what I enjoyed the most. This isn't meant to be a complete review of every single panel and every single game company present at the convention. It's an opinionated, slightly biased rundown of the best and brightest from an old jaded gamer who doesn't pay any attention to anything but MMO news. So ... there's that.

Continue reading GDC09: Best of show (to me)

MassivelyGDC09: Best of show (to me) originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featuredgdc-09gdc-2009gdc09joystiqfeatureswrapupSun, 29 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Day 2 BlizzCon 2008 coverage from WoW Insider]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/12/day-2-blizzcon-2008-coverage-from-wow-insider/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/12/day-2-blizzcon-2008-coverage-from-wow-insider/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/10/12/day-2-blizzcon-2008-coverage-from-wow-insider/#commentsFiled under: , ,

BlizzCon 2008 came to an end, yesterday, drawing to a close ground zero for World of Warcraft, StarCraft, and Diablo players fandom. Another solid round of panels, interviews, and presentations for fans of Blizzard's numerous games fleshed out the second and final day of the event. WoW Insider, Massively's big sister site, was onhand to get all the info you want to hear about. So ... here it is: BlizzCon Day 2.
WoW Raids and Dungeons Panel
We'll be blogging the Raids and Dungeons panel live from the floor of BlizzCon, which should prove to be awesome. Full updates will be behind the break, so make sure you keep up! It will be starting in just a moment.
WoW PvP Panel
We're liveblogging the PvP panel from the floor of BlizzCon. Updates start after the break.
WoW Insider meets The Guild
We here at WoW Insider have been big fans of The Guild since day one -- way before Felicia Day sold appliances or hung out with Dr. Horrible, we knew she and her show were something special. And so, when we finally got a chance to meet The Guild today at BlizzCon, we made sure to take it.
Day 2 class panel
I know what you're thinking. "Didn't we have a class panel yesterday?" Well, of course we did, but as exciting as it was we had to come back for a second helping. We're live on the BlizzCon show floor, bringing you the latest class news and information straight from the developers' mouths and starting... right now!

Gallery: BlizzCon 2008 Art Gallery

Continue reading Day 2 BlizzCon 2008 coverage from WoW Insider

MassivelyDay 2 BlizzCon 2008 coverage from WoW Insider originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>blizzardblizzconblizzcon-2008world-of-warcraftwowwow-insiderwrapupSun, 12 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Warhammer Online launches!]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/warhammer-online-launches/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/warhammer-online-launches/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/09/18/warhammer-online-launches/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

The long wait is finally over! Warhammer Online is now live, and players around the world are settling in to their first day of widespread waagh! Massively will be providing tons of new content all day long on this much-anticipated title. In order to kick things off, though, we want to be sure you know what we have to offer from the past. Massively has been talking about WAR since we launched last year, and in that time we've racked up a lot of great content. Even discounting our Massively goes to WAR series, we have an impressive number of words to offer up. Check out these posts, and click through below the cut for even more! Happy waagh day!

A World of Warcraft player's guide to Warhammer Online
Warhammer's a brand new world, with a lot of different sights, cultures, and expectations. To help you out as a brand new WAR player, we've compiled a guide to ease that transition, in the same tradition as our guides to Age of Conan and Guild Wars. WoW players, welcome to a brand new world ... one without gnomes!
Picking Mark Jacobs' brain about the Warhammer launch
We talk a bit about the long, hard road that the Mythic team has traveled to get where they are now. We also go over the team's launch plan, Jacobs' decision to start blogging publicly, and more on World of Warcraft's role in the industry.
What makes Warhammer Online special, by Paul Barnett
The man himself was kind enough to elaborate on these notes, for a feature encompassing the things that make WAR special. These are the things that Barnett has noticed players going ga-ga for, especially players that have jumped into MMOs in the past. From the Tome of Knowledge to little things like inventory management, check out the 11 things that make Warhammer the game it is today - in Paul Barnett's own words.
The early days of Mythic Entertainment
A snippet from our Massively goes to WAR series back in June, covering the long distant history of Mythic as a startup.
Warhammer Online Coverage Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!

Continue reading Warhammer Online launches!

MassivelyWarhammer Online launches! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Sep 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>featuredmythic-entertainmentroundupwarwarhammer-onlinewrapupThu, 18 Sep 2008 07:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Connect08 Wrapup: LotRO lowdown, Jumpgate juicies and D&D delights]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/17/connect08-the-lowdown/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/17/connect08-the-lowdown/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/03/17/connect08-the-lowdown/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

Codemasters' Connect08, held last Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, was an interesting event in a number of ways. We Europeans rarely feel much love from Stateside publishers -- we're shuttled off on to our own servers, we have to wait longer for patches and news, and we're even not sure we're even being listened to half the time. That's why it was great to see not only an event for European players (I met people who'd travelled from Italy, Holland and Germany to be there) but also a major news announcement on my home turf.

Of course, Codemasters aren't the only ones doing this -- NCsoft have a blockbuster event next weekend, and have held others in the past, plus Blizzard occasionally run the odd knees-up in that Gallic pays du vin to the south. Here's hoping we'll see more of the same.

Connect08: The coverage you don't want to miss
Lord of the Rings Online
Volume II, Mines of Moria, was announced; we investigated the teaser site, got you more information (including pixplz) and topped it off with a Q&A and interview with producer Jeffrey Steefel.
Jumpgate Evolution
We previewed this upcoming title from NetDevil and quizzed president Scott Brown on the game. More on its way in coming months!
Dungeons & Dragons Online
All your burning Monk desires are sated with the player Q&A and preview, which also talks about the crafting changes. Tonsure-tastic!

Gallery: Codemasters' Connect08

Jeffrey Steefel announcing Mines of MoriaEager audience for Steefel's announcementArchLord PCs

MassivelyConnect08 Wrapup: LotRO lowdown, Jumpgate juicies and D&D delights originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 17 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>codemastersconnect08ddofeaturedjoystiqfeaturesjumpgate-evolutionlord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromines-of-moriamonknetdevilturbineukwrapupMon, 17 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST