Virtual World News
Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2
Twitch has been touting the ability to stream at the touch of a button as "the next big thing" for publishers and developers over the last year, and SOE's upcoming sci-fi MMOFPS will be the first title to bring the technology to market.
The firms note that the technology is still technically in beta given PS2's operational status, but it will be fully functional by the game's November 20th launch date.
[Source: SOE/Twitch press release]
PlanetSide 2 to feature one-click Twitch streaming originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Humor, Miscellaneous, MMO Blender
Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that they exist. But every single game that features bards uses them wrong. The bard is always a back-line character, someone who sits in the back and heals people through gently strumming on a lute. And that depresses me, because I want to see some bards that actually rock. I want to see some music used offensively. I want to have the option of making my bard kill things through careful use of sweet riffs.
You can say it sounds ridiculous, but tell me that it's somehow more ridiculous than having a bard heal you via magical singing and I will call you a liar.
So let's go for it. Let's dedicate an entire MMO to bards who aren't about muzak and nurturing new age songs, but bards that are going to defeat things through the unmitigated power of rock. My only regret is that this is a week too late for Rocktober.
Continue reading MMO Blender: Eliot's rock odyssey
MMO Blender: Eliot's rock odyssey originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Fantasy, Asheron's Call, Anniversary
Asheron's Call released on November 2nd, 1999. It was originally published by Microsoft until 2004, when Turbine (which developed the title) purchased the rights. According to the forums, the team is still chugging forward despite recent Turbine layoffs, and there's a February update in the making.
You can read Massively's history of Asheron's Call in our Game Archaeologist column.
Asheron's Call turns 13 today originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Turbine Twitter feed, AC forums
Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Dev Diaries, Sandbox
Vehicles can carry multiple players including a driver, gunners, and passengers. You'll be able to upgrade and customize your vehicles with regard to things like speed, steering, shields, armor, and weapons. The update also features blurbs on performance and world scalability issues, as well as the usual laundry list of bug fixes and tweaks. Check it out at the official Repopulation website.
[Thanks to J.C. for the tip!]
The Repopulation's monthly update details multiplayer vehicles originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: October update
Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Classes, Game mechanics, New titles, News items
Icarus Online will also have a political system that allows for guilds to become their own factions as well as own land and castles. Players can capture mobs out in the wilds and train them as fighting companions as well as mounts, then take those pets into battle against their foes during siege warfare.
Get a glimpse of what's to come in the teaser trailer after the break, then head to Steparu.com for a look at the gameplay of each of the classes.
Continue reading Icarus Online's new website and teaser videos show off classes
Icarus Online's new website and teaser videos show off classes originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Steparu.com
Filed under: Culture, Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous
Stated more simply -- plotting out your character in detail or not plotting your character out in enough detail are both equally detrimental to your roleplaying.
Ever since I've been writing this column, I've been trying to develop a good way to actually handle this issue, and a fairly recent post from Websnark actually kicked me down a new path. For ease of reference, I'm calling it plotting by concept. I can't say that it works perfectly forever and ever, but it's been producing good results for a while, so I'm just going to outline how it works in the hopes that other people can find it useful too.
Continue reading Storyboard: Plotting concepts
Storyboard: Plotting concepts originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items, War, Free-to-play, World of Tanks, MOBA
But folks logging into the game will do more than just fill the coffers of a few tournament winners, they will also directly influence the amount donated to five different veteran-focused charitable organizations. Wargaming.net will take the number of concurrent users at its peak and convert it to a cash donation, splitting the amount between the organizations.
One note: All tournaments will be run concurrently, so teams can only sign up for one of the three. For full details or to sign up, visit the official Veteran's Challenge announcement.
[Thanks to RMS_Gigantic for the tip!]
World of Tanks Veteran's Day tournaments will support veterans charities originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: WoT Veteran's Challenge
Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, in-game, News items, Free-to-play, Consoles, MMOFPS, DUST 514
Reid stated that the team wants to take its time with the beta. Nobody has ever really attempted this sort of connection between a console game and long-standing PC MMO before, and Reid says that the testing process will take time to ensure the kind of quality that CCP and fans expect of the game.
This is, of course, terrible news for anyone who isn't a PlayStation Plus member (and is therefore unable to access the closed beta), since we all know that the world is going to end in late December. CCP's belief that the world will persist long enough for DUST 514 to go into open beta is noble, if ultimately foolish.
CCP's DUST 514 will stay in closed beta into 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Joystiq
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events, in-game, News items
The open beta test runs from 1:00 p.m. EDT on Friday the 2nd until 11:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday the 7th. All of the expansion's seven dungeons are available for testing, as are all the leveling zones and a battle with Crucia herself. Full details (and a link to download the beta client) can be found on the official beta page.
What are you waiting for, hero?
RIFT's Storm Legion beta open to all Trion account holders originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: Official beta
Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Star Wars: The Old Republic
Based off of Knights of the Old Republic's HK-47 (who is also in SWTOR), HK-51 is a more advanced droid assassin model that prizes "efficiency over brutality." While remarkably effective at killing, the HK-51s were all but destroyed. Only a single crashed ship carrying the remainder of their kind is reported missing on Belsavis. BioWare also mentions another starship that may have design blueprints for the droid, but it too is lost.
The droid assassin will be obtainable in a new area on Belsavis that also comes with the update, although free players will need to purchase this content to gain access to the companion.
SWTOR uploads new companion HK-51's backstory originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Nov 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: HK-51 lore entry