Massively - Daily News About MMOs

Battleground Europe lowers sub fee, adds content

by Jef Reahard Oct 29th 2010 (4 hours ago)

Quick, what was the first MMO? No, it wasn't WoW. It wasn't World War II Online either, even though it seems like the long-running game -- now called Battleground Europe -- has been around since the fall of the Third Reich. Cornered Rat's stalwart combat sim recently patched to version 1.32, adding new player-built object functionality to the game's sprawling recreation of the war-torn Europe of the 1940s.

Players can now build infantry fighting positions, gun emplacements, and forward resupply units right on the battlefield, and the developers expect the mechanic to lead to new and diverse gameplay options in both offensive and defensive combat. Future updates to the system will include minefields, pontoon bridges, flak mounts, and even landing strips.

If that's not enough to wet your whistle, how does a cheaper monthly subscription grab you? Check out the game's trial -- sans any credit card requirements -- and then pay a paltry $12.99 per month if you like it well enough to enlist.

Fallen Earth and Best Buy team up for Blood Sports discount

by Jef Reahard Oct 29th 2010 (5 hours ago)

Icarus Studios has a Halloween deal for you in the form of a $10 discount on copies of Fallen Earth. Head to your local Best Buy or visit online to pick up your box copy of the game. The discount runs for a limited time -- October 31st through November 27th, to be exact -- so don't delay.

Blood Sports features the latest game client version including the titular update that added a ton of new PvP content to the wasteland. Head over to the official website for more details, and don't forget to check out all of our previous Fallen Earth coverage to see what you've been missing.

Age of Conan's Morrison talks tech upgrades

by Jef Reahard Oct 29th 2010 (6 hours ago)

AoC

FunCom

Age of Conan's Craig Morrison is back with his latest monthly development update. The October edition is very tech-heavy, with a lot of emphasis on the tweaks and additions that Funcom engineers have been making to the game's Dreamworld engine. While a lot of the details may go unnoticed to your average player, the goal is to continue improving the game's performance as well as add tools to further content creation down the road.

Of particular note are the additions of Lua scripting capability (to facilitate dynamic events), improvements to the game's collision detection (and the implementation of nVidia PhysX), and tweaks to both DX9 and DX10 clients.

Morrison also confirms that Guardians will be the next class to receive a substantial update. He also clarifies the upcoming PvP minigame changes. Check out all the details on the official forums.

More information on crafting in Final Fantasy XIV

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 29th 2010 (7 hours ago)

Final Fantasy XIV's crafting system is rich with detail, requiring a fair bit of knowledge from players in order to successfully craft items. Not everything is explained in the game from the start, however, giving players the chance to experiment and learn what works best for themselves. There was a prior developer dispatch regarding the crafting system, but the team at Square-Enix has just released a new FAQ detailing some of the more subtle variants of crafting. While it's not full of formulae to let players make the optimal crafting build, it certainly does shed a great deal of light on the previous unknowns for the system.

Most players had noticed sparks produced from their synthesis on more than one occasion, but up until now it wasn't clear what the sparks represented. Apparently, the aetherial sparks (as they are referred to in the dispatch) come from straining the materials, either by trying to work too fast or attempting to craft something outside of your skill range. The FAQ also covers elemental destabilization and the effects of various craft-related attributes, such as Control helping to avoid both destabilization and sparking. Final Fantasy XIV's burgeoning crafter population should take a look at the news, as it might mean the difference between a fresh suit of armor and a fresh set of botched crafts.

How to celebrate Halloween with your local Global Agenda devs

by Beau Hindman Oct 29th 2010 (7 hours ago)

Halloween is a special time of year -- a time of blood, gore, and amazing effects. It is, to many geeks, what Christmas is to your Grandmother. Instead of thick sweaters embroidered with stockings stuffed with kittens, however, we prefer belt clips loaded down with ammo. What better place to celebrate than in a favorite MMOFPS: Global Agenda.

It warmed our hearts to coordinate with the developers from Hi-Rez Studios last night, and it thrilled us to hand out Halloween swag in exchange for trivia answers. Granted, some allowances had to be made (skipping questions when they were obviously not going to be answered), but overall the event ran smoothly.

In fact, here are some good rules to follow when hosting your next Hi-Rez Global Agenda Trivia Contest (what? It could happen.).

And raid -- let's not forget the Raid of DOOM!

Wasteland Diaries: Faction control points

by Edward Marshall Oct 29th 2010 (8 hours ago)

Faction control points are the newest PvP draw in Fallen Earth. They're still in their infancy, but I have already seen an increase in faction control point PvP. Factional warfare has always taken a backseat to clan warfare in Fallen Earth. At least for as long as I can remember. Right now, clan warfare vs. factional warfare is dividing the FE community. A rift between omni-clans and single-faction clans has resulted in more clan warfare, with factions completely disregarded. Faction control points were an effort to add some meaningful faction-based PvP to the game. In some ways it succeeds and in some ways it fails.

I was able to get in there and test these faction control points this week. I died plenty, but I also slew more this week than I had in a long time. I was able to test them exhaustively alone and with a group. I was able to witness the dynamic of six different warring factions in one small town. If that wasn't confusing enough, there was also a layer of clan politics muddling things up even more. After the cut, I'll give you the low-down on faction control points (FCPs for short), detailing my personal experiences with them, and how they have changed the face of FE so far.

Betawatch: October 22 - 29, 2010

by Rubi Bayer Oct 29th 2010 (9 hours ago)

Welcome to Betawatch, Massively's weekly report on the state of MMO betas. In each installment, we'll report everything from the latest open betas, closed betas and even alphas in one convenient place. Plus, we'll make sure to include as much info on each game's current status, including projected release dates (if known) and links to the sign-up forms to get yourself into that beta you've been seeking.

Our alpha testing list got a little bit longer this week, thanks to the announcement from Hi-Rez regarding Tribes Universe. Want to help alpha test? The developers are accepting applications for alpha testers, so check out the signup link in our alpha list.

CardMon Hero ventures back into closed beta, and we bid a fond farewell to several games on our beta list. The uber-cute Kitsu Saga, LEGO Universe, and Vindictus all launched this week.

Follow along after the break for the current Betawatch list.

Storyboard: The unshuffled mortal coil

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 29th 2010 (9 hours ago)

Welcome to this week's Storyboard, which originally was going to be very different than normal until I started writing my first idea. I discovered an important fact halfway through the writing -- the idea was really stupid. So I killed it, and that segues nicely into what I want to talk about: Death. Sooner or later every group of roleplayers in an MMO has to deal with it, and considering how many worlds have certain monsters roaming about whose only purpose is delivering untold harm to player characters, it's probably going to be sooner.

Of course, death poses all sorts of problems in game design anyway -- what are the penalties, what are the lingering effects, is it a major inconvenience or a small hiccup, et cetera. But it poses a unique problem for roleplaying, because as it stands, you don't stay dead for long no matter what. So how do you deal with the implications of a world where death is less of a great beyond and, at most, a lost potential character title?

Spy the SWTOR Imperial Agent!

by Larry Everett Oct 29th 2010 (10 hours ago)

Star Wars: The Old Republic

When BioWare gives out so much information about one class, where do you start? We now have confirmation of the Sniper DPS sub-class and the support/healing Operative class for the Imperial Agent. Also, we know more about the Chiss' origins, the Agent's starship, and the Agent class' combat role in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The Chiss hail from the the unknown regions of galactic space, and their advanced Ascendancy evolved independently from the Republic and the Sith Empire. Despite having a grand army these blue-skinned humanoids prefer to handle war through negotiation and espionage. So when the Sith Empire brought its fleet to conquer Chiss Space, instead of being met by brute force as in other systems, the Empire was met by diplomatic messages. These negotiations allowed for the Chiss to become the only true ally of the Sith Empire.

As with any spy for the Empire, the Agent needs the most advanced starship one can find. In this case, we are talking about the X70B-Phantom-class Prototype. The superior technology of this starship prevents it from being mass-produced, so it is only given to the best operatives. The shape and haul keep the craft off most radars, and the navigation system will not be seen on any other ship for the next couple of decades.

Generally, the training for an Imperial Agent will go one of two ways. Secrecy and stealth are the weapons of the Agent, and much like its Republic counterpart, the Smuggler Scoundrel, the Operative can specialize in medical technology as well. However, unlike the Smuggler Gunslinger DPS class, the Sniper's advantage is the distance and precision of rifles instead of the Gunslinger's rapid-fire dual short-ranged pistols.

Be sure to check out the gallery of concept art and screenshots below, and don't miss the Agent's teaser video after the break.

Gallery: SWTOR Imperial Agent

One Shots: We can't stop here

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 29th 2010 (11 hours ago)

While we normally hear about Goons in EVE Online, the group has an enormous presence that spans many, many different games. And when it comes to doing crazy things purely for their own enjoyment, that's absolutely in the Squad's nature. Today, we have a great visual treat from Final Fantasy XIV due to two intrepid Goon Squad adventurers -- Drinkfist and Goth -- who decided to set out on a long, strange trip. Since their note is lengthy, I'll simply say if you'd like to take part in One Shots, send in your screenshot, name, and story to us here at oneshots@massively.com. With that said, on with the letter:

"This is the end result of our three hour hike through the amazing scenic MMO, Final Fantasy XIV. We set out from the island city Limsa Lominsa and landed in a desert that spanned quite some distance. After dropping off the kids at Ul'dah in the desert, we headed north for Gridania, only to have to navigate the labyrinth that is the Black Shroud to reach the city. After changing our Nikes, we set out for a more dangerous zone to the west called Mor Dhona, which looked like a god smote the zone due to all the destruction and insane-looking mobs.

Discovering that Evil Eyes are in fact evil, we fled north to Coerthas. Rather than being relieved to see such a cool looking mountain range, my friend had to open his mouth and ask about the tower labeled on the map 15 malms (clicks) to the north. We raced each other to it, setting death checkpoints at Aetheral Gates and camps -- even the deer of the zone didn't appreciate our presence. (They hit for 4000 when we only have a max hp of 800.) Finally, we reached the spot on the map and bore witness to a locked city that could only be called one of the coolest castles I have seen in a game. That image is what you see here. Now all that's left is exploring the actual zones we just walked straight though. (:sigh:) Lots of area to cover."

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Cataclysm Launch	Dec 7, 2010
DCUO Launch	Early 2011

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Brianna Royce	Senior Editor
Rubi Bayer	Community Manager
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Larry Everett	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist