Virtual World News
Filed under: Betas, Horror, Sci-fi, MMO industry, The Secret World
Senior Vice President Morten Larssen sees this as a shining omen for a dark world: "Shattering our previous beta records gives us great hope for The Secret World's launch and its future. Combining this positive number with the excellent feedback we have received from both beta testers and the press that have played the game, make us very optimistic for a successful launch of The Secret World."
Anyone who's pre-ordered The Secret World can get in on tomorrow's beta weekend, the first of several that Funcom's planning as it leads up to release. This beta weekend will be focused on the Templar starting experience and the area of Solomon Island.
The Secret World reaches one million beta signups originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: The Secret World
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, Free-to-play
The site features bits about the fantasy title's story, its customizable weapons and gear, and plenty of info on skills and character classes. There's also a section devoted to Waren Story's mercenary mechanics, which allow players to hire a wide variety of powerful combat allies. Elf archers, dwarf warriors, and Dryad queens are all yours for the taking, Aeria says.
Head to the game's new web destination for further details, and don't forget to sign up for the closed beta while you're there.
[Source: Aeria Games press release]
Aeria launches Waren Story website, offers beta signups originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play
The devs have added guild islands, sigil stones, and a sweetheart system to the current build, so there are plenty of things to do even if you get tired of fighting fantasy mobs in Spirit Tales' whimsical 3-D world.
There's also an enhanced pet system, new legendary gear and instanced dungeons, and a level 45 cap (beyond which lies "exclusive new content," according to KoramGame). More info, including signup details, is available at the official Spirit Tales website.
[Source: KoramGame press release]
Spirit Tales open beta starts today, new features abound originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous
This week's Ask Massively does not discuss this particular state of awesome. Instead, it discusses the deferred awesomeness of switching combat styles on the fly and what games feature something similar. If you've got a question you'd like to see answered in a future installment of the column, leave it in the comments below or send it to ask@massively.com. Questions may be edited slightly for brevity and/or clarity.
Continue reading Ask Massively: Always on the wrong weekends edition
Ask Massively: Always on the wrong weekends edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Betas, News items, Miscellaneous
The site seems to be getting slammed at the moment, so some patience may be required before you get your hands on the game proper, but if you're at all interested in Storybricks' particular brand of tale-weaving, it's definitely worth a look. And stay tuned, because later today we'll have a hands-on impression of the alpha client as well as an interview with the folks behind it all. In the meantime, though, just click on through to the alpha client below and jump right in.web
Storybricks' alpha web client goes public originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Storybricks official Twitter
Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, PvP, News items, Free-to-play
This last bit involves "re-tooling the team matchmaking system," PWE says. The changes allow for three teams of up to 180 players to duke it out in a single battle arena (that's 540 players at once if you're counting at home).
There's also a new trailer for the Lost Omen expansion. Check it out by clicking past the cut.
[Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release]
Continue reading War of the Immortals expansion adds new class, 540-player PvP arenas
War of the Immortals expansion adds new class, 540-player PvP arenas originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous
Nexon exceeded its first-quarter performance projections on the strength of F2P growth in the Korean and Chinese gaming markets. These gains were "slightly offset by an underwhelming performance for its games [in] North America," which was blamed on "certain operational challenges."
Though Nexon's monthly active user count declined from 86.2 million to 82.8 million, its paying user rate increased (from 8.3 to 10.9 percent in year-over-year comparisons).
Nexon grows in Korea and China, "underwhelms" in America originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Gamasutra
Filed under: Business models, Economy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous
Nexon exceeded its first-quarter performance projections on the strength of F2P growth in the Korean and Chinese gaming markets. These gains were "slightly offset by an underwhelming performance for its games [in] North America," which was blamed on "certain operational challenges."
Though Nexon's monthly active user count declined from 86.2 million to 82.8 million, its paying user rate increased (from 8.3 to 10.9 percent in year-over-year comparisons).
Nexon grows in Korea and China, 'underwhelms' in America originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Gamasutra
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Guild Wars 2, Dev Diaries
According to O'Brien, while the feedback from the event was quite positive, the team had to struggle with unexpected demand for the game. Even after the management temporarily turned off the ability for players' ability to pre-purchase the title through ArenaNet, the game's 48 servers couldn't contain the influx of testers and beta tourists.
It wasn't just a PR stunt, however. "This was definitely a real beta, designed to find problems, gather player input, and learn what work still needs to be done before we ship the game," O'Brien stated.
The team is anticipating a bigger crowd with the next beta weekend, which is why it's running a seven-hour stress test on May 14th to test new changes.
Mike O'Brien: Guild Wars 2's beta weekend 'overwhelming' originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: ArenaNet blog
Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Free-to-play, Earthrise, Post-Apocalyptic, Sandbox
According to the press release, the studio is currently working on a complete overhaul of the game, from backstory to gameplay to technology. SilentFuture plans to have the game up and running again sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. Earthrise will return as a free-to-play title in which players "no longer find themselves in a post-apocalyptic world" but rather are "part of the apocalypse itself." Sounds promising! Hopefully we can look forward to more details in the coming weeks, but at least we know one thing for sure: Earthrise is back!
[Source: SilentFuture press release]
German studio SilentFuture resurrecting Earthrise originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 10 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.