Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots
Today's
One Shots is actually one from this blogger's personal archives. This Troll Rogue is enjoying the holiday fireworks in Booty Bay from
World of Warcraft, taken before
Burning Crusade was released. American MMOG-industry companies are off for the holiday weekend, and we are running on a skeleton crew as well. However, those of us still lurking around the offices are keeping an eye out for news for you.
In the meantime, we hope those of you stateside have a great (and safe) holiday with friends and family. To the rest of you out there, don't worry - we'll be back up to speed once we've had a chance to sleep off all the partying!
And hey, if you have the chance to snap some screenshots while enjoying in-game holiday events this weekend, send them in to us at oneshots AT massively.com! We'd love to see what you're up to.
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Filed under: Fantasy, Podcasts, Guilds, Warhammer Online
The Podcast of Reckoning recently had the chance to sit down with
Josh Drescher, the Associate Producer for
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Their lengthy discussion covered a lot of aspects of the upcoming Guild Beta, information we imagine you'd be keenly interested to see in print. Thankfully the GreenSkin is all over it, offering up
another '50 bits of information list' culled from the podcast. Some of them are just wacky fun, but others are really interesting and give us a good sense of
EA Mythic's dedication to the art of
WAR. Some examples:
- The developers have joined some of the major pre-release guilds in secret, to get a better 'feel' for player interests.
- Exploring the world and engaging in multiple parts of the game will offer players a more 'well rounded' character than one who simply power-levels through the game.
- There are extensive guild tools in the game built from the ground up by and for guild leaders and members.
- The developers see the testers as a part of the team, and treats their feedback with a great deal of gravitas.
- Drescher's wedding was actually scheduled to avoid Warhammer's development period. That's dedication.
Make sure to check out the 'cast as well.
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I am legends, or at least I'm fighting with them.
SOE announced the latest addition to its Living Legacy Program, “Fight with Legends.” Earn up to 20 months of free EQII playtime among a host of other rewards, including special in-game events showcasing the upcoming expansion.
As a way to recruit new players and entice others to return to EQII, SOE is promoting many of its community building tools such as the use of the Mentoring System to allow players of any level to group up and gain additional experience regardless of the players' level differences. Additionally. the Guides Program provides new players an excellent resource for learning the game and the best of the best guides will be featured in a story on www.eq2players.com and during SOE's Fan Faire next month. For those who never left, EQII will reward you for recruiting players to the game with a month's free subscription for each friend you bring to EQII.
Read the full schedule of events on the Living Legacy website.
Lockpick Entertainment has announced that they will be compensating premium members for a bit of confusion surrounding trait points.
A first glimpse at Sony Online's MMO for PC and PS3.
We’ve all been there. That boss we just can’t beat, that puzzle that we just can’t solve, that last bit of the collection that we just can’t find. Frustrating, annoying, and yet somehow - if we can get past it - the rush of victory is like nothing else.
Finding the balance is hard. Especially for [...]
Well, I'm not really back from vacation. I am now here in Alabama visiting with my grandparents, and I'm stealing internet from one of their neighbors. (Hey back at home I keep my own internet unencrypted so others can do the same, it's no big deal). I must admit, I have gotten pretty behind on the blog. I have sooo many pictures piled up to show you (and they are good ones, otherwise I would have deleted them by now.)
I really thought I was going to have to fight this guy, but nope, he was really rather friendly and just cared for this swamp. I was more than happy to help him out.
What you see behind me, is actually tunnels through the mountain that lead from the dwarf lands to the swamp. (I think) Cool tree!
The dwarfs have shifted from manufacturing, to archeology! Cool lore!
When you die in the World of Warcraft you end up here, in the spirit world.
OK that is some gross armor.
Hehe, I haven't posted one of these in awhile. This is a good one!
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Exploits, Game mechanics, PvP, News items
Factional warfare in
EVE Online, by design, ensures that ships of a much greater ship class cannot engage smaller ships in certain deadspace mission pockets. If you and your fellow
militia pilots are in a zone designated for nothing larger than frigates, for instance, you shouldn't find yourself getting locked by battleships fighting for your rival militia. Apparently this has started to occur; some players have found that the jump gates to these zones don't actually prevent them from warping in ships of a magnitude not allowed in such areas.
GM Grimmi had this to say at the
EVE Online site:
"Flying bigger class ships than allowed by the jump gates to Factional Warfare complexes has been classed as an exploit. If you are found doing this we will be forced to take in-game actions as abusing game mechanics is not allowed." So there you go. You might still be able to get in there with something obscenely overpowered and pop frigates like balloons, but you'll say goodbye to your account over it.
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Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and in
Runes of Magic (AKA
Radiant Arcana),
Runewaker Entertainment has taken all they loved about
Ultima Online and
World of Warcraft, combined that with elements from
EverQuest,
EverQuest II and
Final Fantasy XI Online to make a free-to-play MMORPG combining all the elements of both Western and Eastern games. It's like a highly-concentrated booster shot of high fantasy goodness -- and it's free!
Runes of Magic will include a dual class system, where you will choose a primary and a secondary class, armor dying, player housing, crafting, an auction house, unique mounts, a fully customizable user interface and either click-to-move or WASD controls.
The starter zone of Taborea has
a deep and rich lore, a colony struggling to stave off the darkness, with your help. You'll need a PDF reader to read that, but we have
some of the highlights in our gallery. Can a free-to-play homage to some of the Western world's greatest MMOs succeed on in North America? Distributor
Frogster is looking for a US publisher to take that chance.
The game play video from the Chinese open beta (you can find that after the break) shows clearly the developers at Runewaker loved
World of Warcraft perhaps more than is really healthy. Still, a free-to-play
WoW clone may be exactly what players want, and
Runes of Magic may just be different enough to make it interesting.
Continue reading Runes of Magic unveils the starting area of Taborea
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Filed under: World of Warcraft, Video, EverQuest, Second Life, Cinemassively, Machinima
On this 232nd day marking
Independence in the United States, we wanted to feature some of the patriotic videos created in MMOs. They range from quick videos showing off fireworks in platforms such as
Second Life,
Everquest, and
World of Warcraft, to
artistic videos set to Bruce Springsteen, all the way to
silly safety tips from the
Red vs. Blue boys. As you're planning your real life festivities this year, considering taking some time to pop into your favorite game to get in on some of the action. Happy 4th of July!
If you have machinima or movie suggestions from any MMO, please send them to machinima AT massively DOT com, along with any information you might have about them.
Check out more videos after the jump!
Continue reading Cinemassively: Happy 4th of July
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Realtime Worlds, developers of the upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin (APB), is looking for community officers. The job is based in Scotland and the press release can be read by clicking "read more".
I may be the walrus, but you can be a Seal Master.
Tales of Pirates offers up a video to showcase the Seal Master class. The class which becomes available to those with the fortitude to master herbalism. The Seal Master uses the herbs gathered to curse and weaken opponents before unleashing even more destruction. Describing the Seal Master as invaluable to any party, you can view the “Cute” and “Powerful” new class here directly. For complete game details, head to the official Tales of Pirates website.
Two lucky winners to become trading cards!
You ought to be in pictures, or at least on a trading card. Revving up the hype engines for Fan Faire 2008, SOE announces the Legends of Norath Living Legacy Photo Contest (say that five times fast):
”SOE will select two winners, one EverQuest player and one EverQuest II player, who will each have their photo likeness crafted into a Legends of Norrath online trading card illustrated by SOE artist Kieran Yanner for release in a future Legends of Norrath set. To enter, players can submit an unenhanced or unaltered digital picture of themselves dressed up as their favorite EQ or EQII character. Each winner will also receive a trip to the SOE Fan Faire 2008 for the unveiling of his or her Legends of Norrath image at the Grand Banquet scheduled for Aug. 16, 2008, in Las Vegas, Nev., as well as a print of their winning image and a special in game likeness in EQ or EQII, depending upon game preference. "
SOE recommends having some fun with your entry, so grab the nearest farm implement and jump in front of a camera. You only have less than three weeks so get hopping, entries are due by July 23rd.
Read the website for complete rules and regulations.
And don't forget to check out the SOE Fan Faire 2008 website to view and plan your Las Vegas trip.
MMORPG.com would like to wish all of our American members, who make up the largest percentage of visitors to the site by nationality, a happy Independence Day on this 4th day of July, 2008.
As a point of trivia, The United States of America was formed on July 1st, 1776 making it 232 years old today!
In other birthdays, our Managing Editor Jon Wood was also born on the 4th of July and is celebrating his 228th birthday today. Happy Birthday old man!
In this week's Feedback Friday feature on the Tabula Rasa community site, NCsoft announces that Deployment 10, the game's next update, is now on the test server.
CCP has posted notification to EVE Online players that piloting larger class ships than the size allowed by the jump gates to Factional Warfare complexes is now considered to be an exploit.
NetDevil has posted a guide to help players sign up their guild for the Jumpgate Evolution beta.
Blizzard has announced that they have opened the Wrath of the Lich King Beta Opt-In program, giving players the chance to be selected for the beta process.
Filed under: Mac, PC, Online, MMO
Blizzard has opened US registration for the
Wrath of the Lich King beta.
American
World of Warcraft players should probably head over to
this page now and register for a chance to opt in. Two helpful reminders:
- Registering for the beta does not guarantee you a chance to play. It just adds your name to a pool of potential players that Blizzard will choose from.
- Beware of e-mail scams. This is the official URL: https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/beta-opt-in.html
Whether or not you get into the beta, be sure to check out
WoW Insider for up-to-date coverage.
[Via
WoW Insider]
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Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World.
AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies.
http://www.ageofempires3.com/We've added two new pieces of fan art to the
Lineage II Fan Art page. Check them out!
Part One of Ten - Know Your Gods is a new, original lore series by Cicadymn (Sam).
Ever wonder what life would be like if you lived in the Warhammer universe? Well for one it would probably be a lot more depressing, but that’s another segment. Similar to our world, there are many different “religions” in [...]
Filed under: World of Warcraft
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Ask Massively: Be careful what you ask for...
Most of the time, when writing Ask Massively, it is fairly simple to keep my personal and professional life separated from my life as an MMO gamer and columnist. Today, I'm going to break down that barrier for just a little while. |
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Winterblink: asset control and consolidation in EVE Online
Warp Drive Active podcaster Winterblink is a man who's got everything, apparently. And too much of it, scattered throughout his hangars in New Eden. It's a common problem in EVE Online, particularly for players who roam a lot throughout the galaxy. |
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X-play opens the Stargate and brings back Stargate Worlds gameplay video
G4's X-play gained access to the FireSky Studios where the developers are hard at work on Stargate Worlds. G4 was allowed to open the Stargate and returned back with gameplay footage, while undergoing their mission they infiltrated ... |
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Vivendi and Activision merge nears completion as Delaware Court denies preliminary injunction
It's a hectic summer over at Blizzard HQ. Inundating the masses with Wrath of the Lich King across the pond at the World Wide Invitational, announcing Diablo 3 on top of that, and battling it out in the courts ...
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Ghetto grid: Katharine Berry slams Lab's negligence
Famous Teen Second Life user Katharine Berry has spoken out on conditions in Linden Lab's Teen Grid. While, of course, there are rules about content and conduct, they're neither well-followed, says Berry, nor well-enforced. |
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Filed under: New titles, News items, Champions Online
Cryptic Studios was the developer to bring us a superhero MMO with
City of Heroes. Since that time thousands of people have spent a lot of time both creating and playing their fantasized superheroes over the past years, including us here at Massively. Essentially, we've always felt like Cryptic games were pretty damn good. Recently, Jack Emmert
made a post sharing with the community how the
Champions Online team stopped development of new content for two weeks in order to thoroughly play and polish a single zone.
Is this a sign
of things to come from Cryptic? We certainly hope so, because with three titles in development --
Star Trek Online being a
strongly-rumored guess for one of them -- there's already quite a lot that's different about the guys that brought us
City of Heroes back in 2004 these days.
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Here’s wishing our American readers a Happy Independence Day! For the rest of you, Happy Friday!
Turbine posted their downtime schedule for this upcoming Monday:
The Game Servers and http://myaccount.turbine.com will be offline for maintenance on Monday, July 7 from 7:00AM to 11:00AM Eastern (-4 GMT). The websites, forums, and wikis will remain up and readable, but players may not be able to log in. Thanks for your patience, and we'll see you back in the game following the maintenance!
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