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 Summoner's Guidebook: Get back, get back!]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/23/the-summoners-guidebook-get-back-get-back/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/23/the-summoners-guidebook-get-back-get-back/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/02/23/the-summoners-guidebook-get-back-get-back/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

Last week, I said I would avoid doing articles on the situational "soft skills" in League of Legends. Well, this week kind of ruins that already. Today we're going to talk about lane positioning, zoning, and harassment. These things are not something I can just give you blanket tips on. There are a lot of nuances involved in good positioning, and every single matchup is completely different. You do not stand in the same places laning against Cassiopeia as you do against Kennen, and those positions change depending on which character you're playing, too.

Even though there is a lot of matchup-specific knowledge involved in lane positioning, there are some general tips I can provide. This week I'm going to only teach you about the basics of lane safety but give you some dirty mindgame tricks that will absolutely ruin your opponents. Interested? Read on!

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Get back, get back!

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Get back, get back! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aioncounter-logic-gamingcounterpushingcurse-gamingdoppler-effectf2pfeaturedfree-to-playgankingganksguideharassmentkorealane-harassmentlaninglast-hittingleague-of-legendslollolpromobaopinionpatrick-is-a-beast-at-image-editingpeak-concurrent-userspushpushingriotriot-gamesshureliastarcraft-2starcraft-brood-warsudden-attacksummoners-guidebookteam-dignitaszone-controlzoningThu, 23 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST<![CDATA[GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/10/gdc-online-2010-spacetime-studios-cinco-barnes-talks-mobile-de/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/10/gdc-online-2010-spacetime-studios-cinco-barnes-talks-mobile-de/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/10/10/gdc-online-2010-spacetime-studios-cinco-barnes-talks-mobile-de/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,

Spacetime Studios, the developer of the popular mobile MMO Pocket Legends, was started back in 2005 to create large-scale MMOs. Its founders decided to make a mobile platform MMO upon seeing the obvious marketing opportunity that the iPhone provided. After all, the players would already be connected and would be accustomed to microtransactions through exposure to iTunes and the app store.

Of course, development could prove disastrous if the wrong game plan were followed, so Spacetime decided to keep it simple. How simple? Cinco Barnes of Spacetime was on hand at GDC Online to explain how his team members did it. What they found was a chance to do more than they'd initially planned on -- and an audience ready to gobble up everything the studio could create.

Continue reading GDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design

MassivelyGDCO 2010: Spacetime Studios' Cinco Barnes talks mobile design originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>app storeAppStorebeau-hindmancash-shopEQ2EQIIEverQuest-2everquest-iif2pfeaturedfree-to-playfreemiumftpgame-developers-conferencegdc-2010gdc-onlinegdc-online-2010guild-warsGuild-Wars-2guild-wars-nightfallgw2instancingipadiphonemicrotransactionMicrotransactionsmobilemobile-mmomobile-mmorpgnightfallpocket-legendsspacetime-studioszoningSun, 10 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST<![CDATA[APB's Chris Collins details zoning, missions]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/apbs-chris-collins-details-zoning-missions/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/apbs-chris-collins-details-zoning-missions/http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/04/26/apbs-chris-collins-details-zoning-missions/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

Many of us here at Massively are anxiously awaiting the release of Realtime Worlds' urban crime MMORPG All Points Bulletin. Though the title is currently deep into beta, there hasn't been a huge helping of news regarding the city of San Paro as of late. Now, German fan site OnlineWelten has come to the rescue courtesy of an interview with Community Manager Chris 'Deum' Collins.

Collins highlights the game's talking points including creativity, conflict, and celebrity, in a wide-ranging piece that discusses everything from PvP, to mission systems, to server structure and player population. "Servers (or worlds as we refer to them as) consist of 100,000 players. These servers then break down into a number of districts. These districts hold between 100 and 250 players at any one time, so if one version of a district is 'full', another will be available for them to join. If you have friends or clan-mates that are in another district, then you can simply pull up the social panel and join them. The game will then spawn you in their district," Collins says.

Check out the full interview at OnlineWelten.

[Thanks Trikki!]

MassivelyAPB's Chris Collins details zoning, missions originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>all-points-bulletinapbchris-collinsmissionspvprealtime-worldsserverszoningMon, 26 Apr 2010 09:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Daily Grind: Do zones kill immersion?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/24/the-daily-grind-do-zones-kill-immersion/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/24/the-daily-grind-do-zones-kill-immersion/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/06/24/the-daily-grind-do-zones-kill-immersion/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


One of the complaints we hear rather frequently of Age of Conan is that the game's scattered zones have the effect of discouraging exploration amongst players. Those accustomed to traversing World of Warcraft's (mostly) seamless world have levied their displeasure at the fact that Age of Conan feels like a series of disparate maps instead of a single unified world.

The explanation in terms of lore is rather obvious -- the universe created by Robert E. Howard's fiction is simply too large to contain within a single MMO world. But is that just hiding behind a convenient excuse? What would you rather have, a zoned game that fits more closely with the game's lore, or a seamless world that allows you to explore from one area to the next?

MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Do zones kill immersion? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 24 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conanhyboriamapseamlessthe-daily-grindworldworld-of-warcraftzoneszoningTue, 24 Jun 2008 08:00:00 EST<![CDATA[Player vs. Everything: Loading...]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/21/player-vs-everything-loading/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/21/player-vs-everything-loading/http://massively.joystiq.com/2008/04/21/player-vs-everything-loading/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , ,


A few weeks ago, I was reading an Age of Conan interview with Shannon Drake where he was discussing several of the features that would be present in the game. One of the questions he was asked was why Funcom made the choice to use world zones for AoC instead of a seamless world. If you haven't heard the terminology before, games with world zones are games like EverQuest, EverQuest 2, and Guild Wars, where you have a loading screen when you pass from area to area. Seamless worlds include games like World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings Online, and Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, where you can pass between different game areas without a loading screen. Seamless worlds still have loading screens, of course-- just not for most major zones that you'll be traveling through.

Shannon's answer was interesting. He admitted that their choice was partially due to the trade-offs required when designing a next-gen game (graphics are a major resource hog), but then he also talked about immersion and world design. Although Hyboria was supposed to be an enormous landmass, they didn't want to make a game that took forever to walk across. On the other hand, they didn't want to reduce the epic scale of the world by reducing a cross-continent journey to five minutes. Now, maybe that's just their canned answer to keep the fans happy with loading screens, and maybe it really was part of their game design-- probably a nice helping of both. Either way, it's worth considering. Do loading screens really help your game immersion?

Continue reading Player vs. Everything: Loading...

MassivelyPlayer vs. Everything: Loading... originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>age-of-conaneverquestfeaturedimmersionlandscapeloadinglord-of-the-rings-on...lotroplayer-vs-everythingtraveltravel-timevanguardworldworld-of-warcraftworld-sizezoneszoningMon, 21 Apr 2008 15:30:00 EST