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Earn prizes in Allods Online's 14-day giveaway event
February 05, 2012

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Allods Online title image
To celebrate the upcoming release of Allods Online's patch 3.0, gPotato is giving away prizes to players who log in on the days leading up to and following the patch. The event starts on February 7th and will run until February 21st, with the patch arriving in the middle on February 14th. Players who log in for a full hour each day during the event will receive progressively valuable rewards, with the best reward saved for those who log in for an hour during all 14 days.

Prizes start with special coins for the first day and rapidly ramp up to consumables and costumes, with a Sinister Lion mount for players who log in during all 14 days. To qualify each day, one hour must be spent playing the game before midnight by your server's clock; the time can be split across multiple characters on your account and the prizes are limited to one set per account. gPotato requests that all players entering the contest log out before midnight each day as staying logged in may make you ineligible for that day. As this is a tiered event, players who miss even a single day will never be able to get the top prize of a Sinister Lion mount. For a full list of prizes and contest terms, head over to the official contest announcement.

MassivelyEarn prizes in Allods Online's 14-day giveaway event originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Meet the guild that's lasted over 16 years
February 05, 2012

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Ultima Online title image
Guilds are a dime a dozen in MMOs today, be they small social guilds or hardcore groups that collect a few hundred players together. Most guildmates you play with will eventually leave the guild, making way for new members giving the game a try. But what if your guild could transcend the game it was formed in, creating a community that stayed together and moved from game to game? The Syndicate is one such guild, boasting a membership of 1,200 players and a 95% retention rate. The organisation celebrates its 16th anniversary this week, having been born as an online community before the release of Ultima Online.

The Syndicate is currently active in Ultima Online and World of Warcraft, having previously been active in EverQuest, Shadowbane and other games. All members agree to follow a charter that forbids stealing, cheating, non-consensual player-killing, and immature behaviour. The Syndicate takes its identity so seriously that it's even trademarked its name and has worked with MMO companies to rename guilds using it. Developers have in turn taken advantage of The Syndicate's huge community size and code of conduct to beta test upcoming games. With its 16th birthday behind it, the guild predates most MMOs on the market today and is still going strong.

MassivelyMeet the guild that's lasted over 16 years originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Evolved: The benefits of a subscription
February 05, 2012

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EVE Evolved title image
In last week's EVE Evolved opinion piece, I tackled the question of whether it would be possible to make EVE Online free-to-play and then devised a viable hybrid freemium business model based on other apparently successful free-to-play conversions. While this was largely a thought experiment exploring the viability of a conversion, the fact that other subscription games have made the change recently makes it more than just theoretical. The possibility that executives at CCP Games have investigated the same options makes this debate an important one to hash out in a public forum.

We've established that a free-to-play EVE could potentially be viable, but this week I'd like to take the debate one step further and ask whether EVE is actually doing the right thing with its current subscription model. Subscriptions may no longer appear to be the dominant business model in the MMO landscape, but they have some major advantages that are rapidly becoming apparent as more and more games drop their monthly fees. The sale of cosmetic enhancements will only net so much money, and if a game expands into selling convenience items that circumvent grind, there's a strong financial incentive to develop grindy gameplay and then sell shortcuts. This produces a conflict of interest between developing fun games and making money that isn't present with the subscription model.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the benefits of the subscription model, the unique position CCP is in with its PLEX system, and the hidden dangers of convenience-based microtransactions.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: The benefits of a subscription

MassivelyEVE Evolved: The benefits of a subscription originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    MMO Week in Review: Don't call it F2P
    February 05, 2012

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    RIFT
    At the end of every week, we round up the best and most popular news stories, exclusive features, and insightful columns published on Massively and then present them all in one convenient column. If you missed a big MMO or WoW Insider story last week?, you've come to the right post.

    This week, classic EverQuest announced it will soon go fully free-to-play; meanwhile, RIFT boldly announced a lite version that will see its first 20 levels free as well.

    In more meta news, Massively bids a fond farewell to Community Manager Rubi Bayer as she migrates to a job with ArenaNet. Think you're the perfect person to take over her role as our Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2 columnist? We're accepting applications for this paid position through Monday.

    Enjoy the rest of the week's top MMO stories after the break.

    Continue reading MMO Week in Review: Don't call it F2P

    MassivelyMMO Week in Review: Don't call it F2P originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      The Daily Grind: What mob type is too cute to kill?
      February 04, 2012

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      SWTOR
      In Star Wars Galaxies, it was the Gubbur. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, it's the Bantha. In World of Warcraft, it's those weird flower-monsters called Lashers. Every game has a super cute mob that I just feel horrible killing. Sometimes I suspect that the devs are purposely adding adorable things to MMOs and asking us to kill them just to mess with our heads in the service of some sort of Milgram experiment. Or maybe it's just meant to put us in our place out of pure revenge: "Flame my game on the forums, will you? Here's a zone full of fluffy Vorpal Bunnies that can one-shot you. Eat it, suckers!"

      So what say you? What MMO creature is simply too cute to kill?

      Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

      MassivelyThe Daily Grind: What mob type is too cute to kill? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        WRUP: We'll miss you, Miss Rubi edition
        February 04, 2012

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        Probably the last Ari shot we'll see for a while.
        It's official: After more than two years here at Massively, our beloved Community Manager Rubi Bayer is departing for, well, exactly the pastures we all expected. (It's nice to be able to actually discuss that, if you've been waiting to hear about that since Monday's column.) She's been a wonderful co-worker, a spectacular friend, and a sterling columnist through all of it. We are richer for having had her as long as we did, and we can only hope that she won't forget about us while knee-deep in community management for ArenaNet. She certainly deserves it.

        Beyond the bittersweet, this week's installment of WRUP is here, with the remaining Massively staffers discussing our plans over the weekend. We're also talking about whether or not we could make a great game with $30 million, albeit with the understanding that we're mostly working from speculation. Check out our weekend plans just after the break, and let us know what sort of trouble you'll be getting into down in the comments.

        Continue reading WRUP: We'll miss you, Miss Rubi edition

        MassivelyWRUP: We'll miss you, Miss Rubi edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          The Road to Mordor: A fresh start
          February 04, 2012

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          LotRO
          I don't know about you, but sometimes I fall into the trap of forcing myself to do something in a game because I feel internally obliged to do it. Somewhere along the line, "setting a goal" became a Bataan Death March that absolutely had to be accomplished before I'd allow myself to do what I truly wanted. In my case, it was the stubborn determination to get through the remainder of Rise of Isengard's content even though I had slowed to slogging through it, feeling burned out on my Lore-master after well over a year of constant play on the character.

          So I sat back and re-evaluated. My reasoning for finishing Isengard was to make sure I was at the top of the game and could evaluate any new high-level content that came along for you guys, which was a noble reason. But the truth was that in so doing, I was playing something that was leeched of enjoyment for the time being and really needed to be put aside. Once I realized that, the solution was obvious.

          A fresh start. That's what I wanted: a completely fresh start to the game. Hey, it's still (sort of) a new year, so why not? And once I gave myself permission to do that, my adventures in Lord of the Rings Online brightened up considerably.

          I might be weird in this, but I absolutely love starting over from scratch in long-term games from time to time, even though it means scrapping (or putting aside) a whole heap of achievements and the effort spent acquiring them. This week I'm going to look at my fresh start with LotRO and why it has me buzzed to log in for the first time this year.

          Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A fresh start

          MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: A fresh start originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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            The Tattered Notebook: New executive producer, new wishlist
            February 04, 2012

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            Georgeson and Longdale
            I was all set to sit down and talk about raiding and the big news of critical mitigation disappearing from gear, and then some even bigger news appeared. Executive Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson has handed the reins over to Holly "Windstalker" Longdale. She is new to take the lead on EverQuest II, but she's not new to the team; in fact, she worked on EverQuest in the past under the name Vahlar.

            What's the first thing to do when there's a new leader taking over? Form a wish list, of course! EverQuest II has come a long way since its bumpy launch, but there's always stuff that would make the game that much more fun. Let's look at a few ideas, and then you can add yours to my list.

            Continue reading The Tattered Notebook: New executive producer, new wishlist

            MassivelyThe Tattered Notebook: New executive producer, new wishlist originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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              Captain's Log: A year in review
              February 04, 2012

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              ESD @nd Anniversary
              Another year has passed for Star Trek Online, and it can be described as tumultuous at best.

              It was a year that contained very little story-based content provided by the developer, Cryptic Studios, as it was put through the proverbial ringer -- first by being sold off, and second by being purchased in the midst of what many believed was the game's most critical year.

              With the focus that many players (including me) had on the lack of new missions in 2011, it was easy to gloss over what material did get released despite the challenges the strangle-held teams at Cryptic were facing.

              The game has gone free-to-play, there are visibly more players than have ever been seen before, the development team seems to be settling in to a new owner's house, and the second anniversary is upon us, so it's time to take a good look back to see what was released over the course of the last year.

              Continue reading Captain's Log: A year in review

              MassivelyCaptain's Log: A year in review originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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                The Mog Log: One year, two courses
                February 04, 2012

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                The Mog Log header by A. Fienemann
                Today does not quite mark the two-year anniversary of The Mog Log. That was back on January 24th, but I decided to run just a wee bit late with annual retrospectives. We're now close enough to the year mark for argument's sake, which gives me a chance to look back at how the past year of the column has shaken out, what's gone right, and what hasn't. That ties into the issue that one invariably finds when a single column covers two games: There's a split.

                Whether or not you like Final Fantasy XIV, you can't argue that the past year has brought an onslaught of changes to the game. On the flip side, there's been less going on in Final Fantasy XI than in any of the game's previous years of operation. As a result, I've had a difficult dilemma to try to juggle: There's one game moving at high speed and one staying rather stagnant, but I don't want to give undue attention to one over the other.

                Continue reading The Mog Log: One year, two courses

                MassivelyThe Mog Log: One year, two courses originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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