Filed under: Fantasy, Economy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvE, Opinion, Leaderboard, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription

Yesterday's Massively Speaking took Elder Scrolls Online to task for not having an auction house. Normally I would agree, given my long-standing passion for MMO economies and crafting.

So far, though, the lack of an AH hasn't affected my playstyle at all through the first 30 levels. I'm a member of two trading megaguilds as well as my normal guild, and from the inside looking out, there's no difference between selling to thousands of faceless people in your "guilds" or selling to thousands of faceless people via an AH.

I can't say whether ZeniMax purposefully designed ESO's economy this way or simply ran out of the time and money necessary to make an AH. But it doesn't really matter, personally, because my pre-launch expectations amounted to "yet another themepark crapfest," so I continue to be pleasantly surprised by how wrong those expectations were -- even without an AH! What about you, ESO players? Does the game's lack of an AH bother you? Vote after the cut!

Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!

Continue reading Leaderboard: Does Elder Scrolls' lack of an auction house bother you?

Leaderboard: Does Elder Scrolls' lack of an auction house bother you? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, New Titles, Livestream, ArcheAge, The Stream Team

Last week Massively's MJ showed off character creation and the beginning quests for ArcheAge's feline race, the Firran. Can her continuing adventures top that first rush of leaping off a cliff with a hang glider and lighting everything on fire? There is so much more of the world to see, including farming and intercontinental transport (and definitely more trouble for her Sorcerer to cause!) Join us live at 8:00 p.m to see how the rest of the beginner quests play out.

Game: ArcheAge
Host: MJ Guthrie
Date: Wednesday, April 16th, 2014
Time: 8:00 p.m. EDT

Enjoy our Stream Team video below.

Continue reading The Stream Team: Advancing as Firran in ArcheAge's alpha

The Stream Team: Advancing as Firran in ArcheAge's alpha originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, New Titles, Patches, Free-to-Play, Housing, Player-Generated Content, Landmark

Life just got easier for Landmark developers: Today's update introduces new crafted glass props to enhance building as well as makes construction itself more precise by eliminating air when copy and pasting.

Although not a building material (yet), the glass props will enable players to put windows into their homes or construct any number of transparent creations. A more widely applicable change, however, is the ability to remove the air when putting down templates or pasting something. Previously, empty space in a template counted as a voxel itself, meaning that the space would be placed or pasted along with the filled voxels. While helpful in some cases, this same principle caused undesirable effects when trying to combine templates.

As promised previously, the light orbs that were made available for purchase in the Showcase last week can now be crafted in game. Additional tweaks and fixes, including a UI compass, are detailed in the update notes.

Today's Landmark update introduces glass, removes air originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Update notes

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Launches, Free-to-Play, Trading Card Games, Hearthstone

After a soft launch in a few countries, Hearthstone is now available to iPad owners worldwide.

Blizzard announced today that Hearthstone is on the app store as an alternative to the PC version. The title is available on iPads 2 and newer as well as the iPad minis. New and returning players will be treated to a free card pack as part of this release.

Hearthstone has a funny trailer for the Apple release, which you can watch after the jump.

Continue reading Hearthstone comes to iPad

Hearthstone comes to iPad originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Release announcement

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Free-to-Play, RIFT, Dungeons

Set your time machines back 1,500 years, RIFT players, because Patch 2.6.1 is flinging Ascended heroes into the past to help round up a few rowdy dragons.

The patch, which landed today, opens up a new Tier 3 raid called Bindings of Blood. In this raid, players are experiencing the binding of the dragons from a first-hand perspective, and in so doing they actually change the "present" history of their personal game.

Trion Worlds told us on the phone that the 20-person raid contains four portals to four instances, each with its own mini-boss, dragon, and unique theme. The instances are on separate lockout timers, and currently two are open with two more scheduled for next week. The bosses are reworked versions of Greenscale, Akylios, Laethys, and Maelforge, and will drop best-in-slot gear and weapons.

RIFT sends players back in time to fight dragons originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Fantasy, Dark Age of Camelot, Business Models, MMO Industry, News Items, Ultima Online, Promotions, Sandbox, Subscription, MMORPG

Since its acquisition of Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot in February, Broadsword Online Games has not been content to let the titles sit around merely getting older. Earlier this month, the team hosted a large state-of-the-game chat about the future of UO's design, and now the developers have posted their latest ambitions: a spot on Steam bathed in green light for the venerable old MMORPGs.

"We are in the process of getting UO on Steam but need your help. Please go here and vote for UO! Thank you for all your support!" wrote UO Producer Bonnie Armstrong on the official site today. DAOC's Steam Greenlight campaign is likewise now live.

You heard the lady. Chop, chop.

Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot embark on Steam Greenlight campaign originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: UO Herald, DAOC Steam Greenlight, UO Steam Greenlight

Blizzard expands the availability of Hearthstone to iOS devices and announces that a new Adventure Mode is in development.

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Patches, News Items, Consoles, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription

The Elder Scrolls Online didn't have a bad launch by any means, but it was certainly not free of lag or of bugs. Not much can be done about lag, but bugs exist to be squashed, and the latest patch from the game aims to do that. The patch notes clearly outline several known quest issues that should be eliminated after this latest update, giving players a much more stable story experience than has been on the table before.

Other minor fixes and improvements include slight UI tweaks and minor bugs regarding movement and abilities. Players will also no longer accidentally deconstruct their equipped helmets, which is good news for players but bad news for the haberdashers of Tamriel. Check out the full list of fixes and changes in the official patch notes, and enjoy a smoother questing flow the next time you log into the game.

The Elder Scrolls Online patches for quest bugs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Patch 1.0.3

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Hands-On, Buy-to-Play

If you're still reeling from playing dress-up and retraiting your stable of characters thanks to Guild Wars 2's feature pack launch yesterday, then friend of Massively Richie "Bogotter" Procopio has just the video for you. He's put together a patch primer that walks current and returning players through the new wardrobe system, dye system, and trait system. He also gives a few more obscure tips that aren't obvious from the patch notes.

Meanwhile, ArenaNet has posted that the patch's promised megaserver tech is slowly rolling out to key zones. Here's what's been activated so far: The Grove, Heart of the Mist, Black Citadel, Timberline Falls, Southsun Cove, Rata Sum, Straits of Devastation, Fields of Ruin, Brisban Wildlands, Hoelbrak, Iron Marches, Blazeridge Steppes, Dredgehaunt Cliffs.

Enjoy the primer video after the break!

Continue reading Guild Wars 2's megaserver update and patch primer

Guild Wars 2's megaserver update and patch primer originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Megaserver post, Bogotter's YouTube

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Classes, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, PvE

WeMade Entertainment's new fantasy MMO Icarus Online began its Korean open beta yesterday. ThisIsGame was there, and the site has published a 14-minute video detailing the tutorial, early gameplay, and a few cutscenes.

The open beta client features five classes (Berserker, Guardian, Assassin, Wizard, and Priest) as well as a level 25 cap, the new Hakanas Ocean map, and a new raid. TIG reports that WeMade will add a dedicated player-killing area and an Archer class "after the OBT."

Click past the cut to watch the gameplay clip.

Continue reading Watch the first 14 minutes of the Icarus Online Korean open beta

Watch the first 14 minutes of the Icarus Online Korean open beta originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: TIG

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Subscription

There are two million people playing Final Fantasy XIV right this second. All right, maybe not quite that many, but it's certainly possible. The launch of the game's PlayStation 4 version has seen the game climb to surpass two million registered accounts, an increase of 500,000 over the 1.5 million stated in November.

No hard data have been offered on how many of those accounts are subscribing to the game at this point, although an interview with Naoki Yoshida in March stated 500,000 players were logging into the game daily. With a recent patch and a new platform, the revitalized game seems to be doing quite well for itself as it approaches the one-year mark for its relaunch.

[Source: Square-Enix press release]

Final Fantasy XIV surpasses 2 million registrations originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Via: Joystiq

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Contests, Free-to-Play, Sandbox, Music, Trove

Trion Worlds is empowering the Trove community even further by inviting players to pitch ideas for a new biome and class to be added to the game.

A Reddit thread has the details of how this process will unfold. Players will begin by brainstorming ideas for biomes, and after some time, the dev team will pick the best (and top-voted) submissions and allow players to vote on the very best one. Following that, the team will poll players for decorations, dungeon designs, and enemy ideas, and then get the biome into the game within the month. There are also plans for a similar pitching-and-voting process afterward in regard to a new class.

On a phone call, Trion told Massively that it's looking to push the crowdsourcing aspect further and further as time goes on. The team is incredibly impressed with what the community has created so far with weapons, hairstyles, dungeons, and hats, and it can't wait to see what comes from this experiment.

One thing that the team revealed is the upcoming addition of music blocks: Physical objects that make notes (and even chords) when walked on. We asked if Trion was looking to crowdsource the soundtrack for the game as well, and while the devs said that no players had yet stepped forward, they promised that if some did with great tunes, those would definitely be included into the game proper.

Trove empowers community to pitch biomes and classes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Reddit

The tempo of operations has picked up a bit in Deklein.  The rumor on coms is that The Mittani has returned from some press junket and is getting all the veterans of foreign wars, now loafing about the region, warmed up and engaged so that we are ready to go when all eyes turn towards […]

(This is part of my journey playing through Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within. You can follow the entire series on the Nostalgia Lane page.) We rejoin our werewolf hunter-slash-pervert creeper as he casually breaks into people’s rooms to see what … Continue reading →

TESO has avoided the traditional/historical MMO pit of 30 powers on your character toolbars, leaving you bewildered if you have been away for more than 3 days. Infact much of the skill system centres around passive skills that are unlockable against armour, race, weapon or class. This allows you to gain bonus such as benefits […]

Filed under: Fantasy, Massively Meta, Hands-On, Choose My Adventure, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription

As I make the approach to level 10, I realize that The Elder Scrolls Online is not "just another fantasy MMO" as it's sometimes billed by skeptical players. I'm continuously finding myself pleasantly surprised by the storyline, the crafting, and world, and the execution of it all.

And even though I'm playing it as a single-player game still at this point, it's not a single-player Elder Scrolls game. I'm dying way too much for that.

Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Approaching level 10 in The Elder Scrolls Online

Choose My Adventure: Approaching level 10 in The Elder Scrolls Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Sci-Fi, Video, EVE Online, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, Guides, Sandbox, Subscription

If you're confused by EVE Online's UI, CCP Karkur has made a new video that you'll want to watch. Actually, you'll want to watch it even if you aren't confused, because it's full of tips and tricks relating to searches, inventory, the market, fittings, fleet settings, and more.

Click past the cut to have a look!

Continue reading Here are lots of helpful EVE UI tips

Here are lots of helpful EVE UI tips originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Announcement

PAX East 2014 helped reinforce the notion that the MMOG industry is moving into a new era, but will WildStar truly be the last triple-A subscription-based title released?

Meet and get to know former Justice League of America superhero and Happiness Engineer extraordinaire, David Cole.

We’re pleased to announce that QuakeCon 2014 online pre-registration for the Swag Pack Presented by Logitech® G as well as general attendee registration will open today, April 16th at 7pm CT/8pm ET at: registration.quakecon.org. The Swag Pack includes: Swag Pack Presented by Logitech® G Full of Limited Edition Items $120 (500 packages available) Official QuakeCon […]

Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, Defiance

Defiance's fifth DLC pack -- Arktech Revolution -- is now live for PC and Xbox 360 players. PlayStation 3 ark hunters will have access to the new content on April 29th (North America) and April 30th (Europe).

Trion's update page divides the DLC into free and paid feature lists, the former of which includes an EGO cap rating increase, EGO rating progression, new enemy difficulty tiers, expert co-op maps, and more. Paid features include a new titles, a new outfit, daily contracts, 15 new perks, and more.

In addition to the release notes, the Defiance website also features an article by creative lead Trick Dempsey on the game's EGO changes.

Defiance's Arktech Revolution DLC is live for PC and Xbox 360 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Release notes

Filed under: Historical, Video, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, Browser

We haven't heard from Heroes & Generals in a while, but that's because the devs at Reto-Moto have been working like dogs to update the F2P FPS.

What's Heroes & Generals, you say? It's a nifty blend of massive online shooter and strategic persistent elements that gives you the ability to fight in the trenches, in the air, or as a campaign mastermind. If you'd like to know more about it, see our various hands-on articles, or just go to the game's website and play it for yourself.

The latest update, codenamed Oster, adds plenty of new weapons, more campaign battlefields, improved weapon handling and avatar behavior, the ability to steal vehicles, and more. Click past the cut for the update vid.

Continue reading Heroes & Generals gets a huge update

Heroes & Generals gets a huge update originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Apr 2014 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Newsletter

Friday night we got ourselves together in the designated Google hangout in order to return to our game of Civilization V. Mattman, Potshot, and I were ready to go, but Loghound had some guests to evict or some such, so we got the game warmed up and ready while he set about pointing people towards […]

The final season one DLC for Defiance has hit the servers and we've got a simplified overview of what the DLC is and why you might want to give the game a second look with some of these surprising changes.