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Star Citizen finishes gaming's biggest crowd-funding drive ever

Jef Reahard — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:00:00 EST

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

"The traditional publishers don't believe in PC or space sims. Venture capitalists only want to back mobile or social gaming startups," wrote Chris Roberts back during Star Citizen's October reveal. "I say they're wrong. "I say that there is a large audience of PC gamers who want sophisticated games built for their platform."

Boy, was he right.

As of 2:00 p.m. EST, the game has secured over $6.2 million and over 89,000 pledges. Star Citizen is now the highest-grossing crowd-funded gaming project ever, and more importantly it has met a laundry list of stretch goals over and above its initial $2 million target and unlocked a slew of additional features (including more ships, star systems, mod tools, base types, and voice-acting).

Roberts' Cloud Imperium firm has also released a new video that shows off some very early spaceport test footage. Click past the cut to get a look at the work-in-progress environment inspired by the concept art above.

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Star Citizen finishes gaming's biggest crowd-funding drive ever originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hell yeah, it's an Infinity update

Jef Reahard — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox

Being a fan of Infinity is an exercise in delayed gratification. The sci-fi sandbox MMO has been in development for-seemingly-ever, but given its nerdgasm-inducing feature set (which includes seamless transitions from space to planetary flight and huge, procedurally-generated heavenly bodies in a physics-based universe), the wait will likely be worth it.

Today is a great day for fans, though, because developer Keith Newton has published a new update on the game's website for the first time in six months. Newton states that his team is getting "ready to increase our communication significantly," and he also says that he is leaving his regular job to focus full time on I-Novae Studios and Infinity early in 2013.

Finally, there's a Kickstarter project in Infinity's near future, and Newton also fills us in on various technical details including terrain engine updates and something called pre-computed atmospheric scattering. If you're unfamiliar with Infinity, check out the pre-alpha tech demo videos embedded after the break.

Continue reading Hell yeah, it's an Infinity update

Hell yeah, it's an Infinity update originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Citizen crowd-funding tops $3 million with 10 days to go

Jef Reahard — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:30:00 EST

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

The news keeps getting better and better for fans of Chris Roberts' new Star Citizen space sim. Cloud Imperium just issued a press release trumpeting the fact that SC's crowd-funding initiatives have surpassed $3 million with 10 days to go.

The company initially launched a self-managed fundraiser on its own website that has generated over $2 million in pledges to date. This was supplemented by a Kickstarter drive that has taken in over $1 million. Roberts' pre-alpha demo reel has attracted nearly 45,000 backers as of press time, and the Wing Commander creator says that the crowd-funding success will allow the dev team to work on additional features.

"This is extremely exciting for me and our team because it will enable us to create the game we've been talking about to our fans over the past month," Roberts explained. "But we can do even more. I'm still hoping that we'll reach four million dollars before we close. This will allow us to do more sooner, especially on things like our modder tools." Cloud Imperium has also announced a pledge referral program to help reach its new $4 million goal.

[Source: Cloud Imperium press release]

Star Citizen crowd-funding tops $3 million with 10 days to go originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Nov 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Citizen well ahead of crowd-funding schedule, stretch goals added

Jef Reahard — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox

Chris Roberts' Star Citizen is one of the more successful gaming-related crowd-funding projects to date, and even though there's still two weeks left until the Kickstarter drive closes, the title has already exceeded its $2 million goal by almost $800,000.

What's going to happen to that extra money, then?

It's partly up to the game's community. The Star Citizen site boasts a new poll with additional stretch goals. Choices include more ships, star systems, NPCs, an enhanced FPS mode, Linux and Mac clients, and some sort of tactical command mode for capital ships. As of press time, new flyable ships and additional star systems were leading the vote.

Star Citizen well ahead of crowd-funding schedule, stretch goals added originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Citizen achieves Kickstarter goal with 26 days to spare

Jef Reahard — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox

Chris Roberts' Star Citizen title is well on its way if the project's Kickstarter performance is any indication. Wait, Kickstarter? Didn't Roberts set up a crowd-funding initiative directly on the game's official website earlier this month?

Why, yes, yes he did, but due to the overwhelming demand generated by thousands of starving space sim fans, the site had trouble handling all the traffic. Roberts Space Industries thus opened an ancillary Kickstarter project with a $500,000 target. When coupled with the $1.3 million raised so far on the main site, Star Citizen is within striking distance of its original $2 million goal with a lot of time left on the clock.

Check out yesterday's Massively Speaking podcast for an interview with Chris Roberts himself.

Star Citizen achieves Kickstarter goal with 26 days to spare originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hi-Rez prepping Global Agenda sequel with focus on PvP

Jef Reahard — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:15:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, Global Agenda

Hi-Rez Studios' Global Agenda is a curious concoction of third-person shooter, MMO PvE, and team-based PvP. The game is also a ton of fun even though it has a ton of issues (chief among them being its primary focus and identity).

The game wasn't financially successful, but the developers nonetheless learned a lot of valuable lessons which led to Tribes: Ascend. While Tribes was well-received, it's something of a niche game due to its high player-skill requirements.

According to a blurb posted last night on the Hi-Rez forums, Global Agenda 2 is officially in the works and it will feature a focus on PvP. "We plan to add new maps, game modes, class weapons, and build it all on our newest platform," Hi-Rez says. The company hasn't officially named the title as of yet, but it expects to start beta testing by the middle of 2013.

[Thanks to Zeds for the tip!]

Hi-Rez prepping Global Agenda sequel with focus on PvP originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 03 Oct 2012 08:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Skyrim Online MMO-ish mod gaining momentum

Jef Reahard — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items

Skyrim Online isn't really an MMO. Heck, it's not even a fully functioning mod yet, nor will it ever be officially supported. It's pretty cool, though, particularly given that its aim is to enable co-op play within the sprawling world of Bethesda's latest Elder Scrolls epic.

When we first heard of the mod last winter, it was pretty rough, with other players displaying as inanimate prisoner NPCs sans any clothing or armor. Now, though, the devs have managed to add some armor, basic run and walk animations, and general chat. There's still a lot left to do, including a party system, trading, AI synchronization, and PvP, but you can see a video clip of the recent progress after the break.

[Thanks Sandboxer for the tip!]

Continue reading Skyrim Online MMO-ish mod gaining momentum

Skyrim Online MMO-ish mod gaining momentum originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EverQuest II's GU63 tweaks crafting, adds hundreds of new items

Jef Reahard — Mon, 21 May 2012 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Classes, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Crafting

If you've been slacking when it comes to keeping up with EverQuest II tradeskill news lately, the recent Game Update 63 (otherwise known as Skyshrine) featured quite a few noteworthy tweaks. Sony Online Entertainment has posted a dev interview detailing some of the larger changes, including the addition of several hundred new craftable items.

SOE's Brian "Omougi" Ferguson says that Carpenters and Alchemists got a lot of love during this patch, and combat-only players will be pleased to know that crafters can now make even more handy upgrades. There are two new consumables for each class archetype, and Ferguson is particularly fond of the tank versions which gives meatshields an additional 20% damage reduction for 12 seconds.

Full details are yours at the official EQII website.

EverQuest II's GU63 tweaks crafting, adds hundreds of new items originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 May 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: Looking forward to the winter expansion

Brendan Drain — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, Expansions, MMO Industry, PvP, PvE, Opinion, EVE Evolved

Since EVE Online's release in 2003, CCP Games has been the center of one of the most interesting success stories in the games industry. Produced by a tiny indie development studio on a frozen volcanic rock, EVE was the perfect example of how to do things right. The game's publishing deal with Simon & Schuster allowed CCP to buy back the rights to the game several months after its initial release. With no publisher taking a cut of the profits, CCP ploughed subscriptions back into the game's development and grew the development team organically. As a one-game company, CCP worked closely with players to make EVE the best game possible for its loyal playerbase.

In a recent letter to the players, CCP CEO Hilmar laments that somewhere along the line, things changed for the worse. The CCP of today bears little resemblance to the "little indie studio that could" of 2003, not just housing over 600 employees in offices around the world but also developing upcoming MMOs DUST 514 and World of Darkness. Resources are spread thin, and EVE Online has suffered for it. Last month I looked back at the blockbuster Apocrypha expansion and asked why every expansion since then has cut down on the in-space development players want. Hilmar's letter and its accompanying devblog answered that question this week with a solid plan for iteration on flying in space features during the winter development period.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I look forward to the winter expansion and explain why each of the issues being tackled in the coming expansion is a big deal to players.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Looking forward to the winter expansion

EVE Evolved: Looking forward to the winter expansion originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hi-Rez puts Global Agenda on sale, 100% of proceeds going to disaster victims

Jef Reahard — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Global Agenda

Lots of game companies are stepping up to offer financial support to the victims of the recent disasters that have devastated Japan. Atlanta-based Hi-Rez Studios is going one better, as the indie MMO developer has placed its flagship title on sale for the weekend and is donating 100% of the resulting proceeds to Red Cross relief efforts.

That's right, we said 100%, and from March 18th through March 20th, purchasing Global Agenda from the Hi-Rez online store will not only net you the premier MMO shooter at a $20.00 discount but send much-needed funds to our friends in the Pacific.

Global Agenda is completely free-to-play after the initial client purchase, and Hi-Rez offers booster packs to speed your in-game advancement and credit/token acquisition.

Hi-Rez puts Global Agenda on sale, 100% of proceeds going to disaster victims originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GamersFirst rezzes Acclaim 9Dragons characters

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

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

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

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

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

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