Massively

Betawatch: November 20th - 27th, 2009

by Rubi Bayer Nov 20th 2009 (37 minutes 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.

Several changes on Betawatch this week: Alganon made the leap to the open beta list, Dragon's Call and Allods Online (EU) began their closed beta, and Star Trek Online announced their open beta dates. (January 12th through the 26th)

CCP Games alters plans for EVE's capital ships in Dominion expansion

by James Egan Nov 20th 2009 (1 hour ago)

EVE

CCP

The EVE Online developers have announced that some of their proposed changes to capital ships will not deploy with the Dominion expansion as originally planned. This may come as good news to some of EVE's supercarrier (formerly "mothership") pilots who've expressed no small amount of dissatisfaction at how their ships were slated to be changed. With the supercarrier changes not going through, this also means that the fighter bombers -- anti-capital ship drones intended to bathe EVE's largest ships in waves of torpedo explosions -- will not arrive on December 1 with Dominion.

Changes to other capital ship weapons systems like XL Turrets, however, are another matter entirely. They're discussed at length in a dev blog from CCP Nozh titled "Capital Ships in Dominion" as are the new Citadel Cruise Missile Launchers intended to be a long range weapon system.

Steam estimated at selling to 70% of PC market

by Kyle Horner Nov 20th 2009 (2 hours ago)

NCsoft

Where did you buy your last MMO and where will you buy your next? Chances are you'll be getting it on Steam or so the story goes according to Brad Wardell, head honcho over at Stardock. We're inclined to agree with his assertion that Valve's digital distribution platform holds roughly 70% of the PC market as many of us here at Massively have been buying our MMOs -- and PC games in general -- on the service for some time now.

So is it a good thing or a bad thing for MMO players? Our experience with purchasing games like Aion and Champions Online through the service has been positive, and so long as no complications arise via patches or other client issues we see no reason to stop utilizing the service unless better offers appear.

The only real MMO-related issue we can see is with collector's editions. Some games offer a different set of bonus material for people who opt out of the physical copy and go for the digital, but certain items like art books, mouse pads and other bric-a-brac can't be delivered through a wire... at least, not until sometime in the far flung future.

Now, as far as the Steamworks integration issue goes... Well, that's a whole other sack of fishes.

Star Wars Galaxies celebrates over 3 million player created quests

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 20th 2009 (3 hours ago)

Player created quests are the hot trend right now, and Star Wars Galaxies is right there with it. Since the creation of the Chronicle Master system, over 3 million quests have been created by the always active Star Wars Galaxies community. Way to go guys! Oh, and did we mention that the system has only been available for under a month? No? Well, we did now.

And, to kill two topics with one post, Star Wars Galaxies has gone on sale this weekend on Steam. You can get the complete collection of the game for only $10 instead of the usual $20. While the game is certainly a little dated, the community is truly proving that it's worth the $10 cost. You're going to get immersed in a lot of imagination for that small sum of money.

Bill Roper on Champions Online's launch, current state and future

by Kyle Horner Nov 20th 2009 (4 hours ago)

Champions Online

SOE

Cryptic

In a recent interview with Boomtown, Bill Roper spoke his mind on everything from Hellgate: London hate to Champions Online's launch and future. In fact, the man spoke quite candidly on all topics, particularly that of Cryptic's missteps with their second superhero MMO as well as their successes.

Of particular note, there's a mention of how Champions Online will handle DC Universe Online's 2010 launch given that the superhero MMO market hasn't really expanded of late. Curiously, Roper says he feels that the Xbox 360 version will help to vastly expand Champions' user base. There's a chance Cryptic could be pushing to get into the console market by or before SOE releases their superhero MMO. Although given the headaches Cryptic has expressed at getting an MMO on Microsoft's console, we get the feeling much of the developer's focus is presently on Star Trek Online and continued live game support.

Linden Lab to raise Xstreet fees, loses vendors, products

by Tateru Nino Nov 20th 2009 (5 hours ago)

This week, Linden Lab announced that it was going to start charging listing fees and minimum commissions on its Second Life Xstreet Web-shopping adjunct in the near future. Within hours, vendors took down thousands of products, many abandoning the service entirely in favor of alternative services.

It's unclear just how many vendors have abandoned the Xstreet SL system, but it apparently was enough to temporarily overload the Web-sites of third-party sites such as Slapt.

Star Trek Online ship tactics, part 2

by Adam Holisky Nov 20th 2009 (6 hours ago)

STO

Cryptic

Part 2 of the Star Trek Online starship tactics video premiered over at IGN, and there are a couple concepts clarified over a few subjects -- but as with the last video, it's nothing really new. The gameplay footage that's attached to the explanation is quite compelling however, especially with the boarding parties where you can see the little shuttlecrafts head towards the Romulan ship. Let's take a closer look at each of the concepts the video covers.

Power management.

Power management is going to play a big role, which we known about for a while. You can see some detailed pictures of part of the power management UI in yesterday's article, located along the bottom of the screen with words like Defense, Attack, and Speed. Say you have 100 units of power, in STO you're going to be able to devote 25 of those units to the shields, 10 to auxiliary systems, 50 to weapons, and 15 to the engines. Power allocation will not be immediate, it will have some sort of delay associated with it. That means you'll have to think ahead about your strategic choices.

Fallen Earth screenshot contest winners announced

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 20th 2009 (7 hours ago)

It's a beautiful day in the badlands, with the sun shining down on you unprotected in the wilderness, surrounded by horrible creatures and with only a few dozen bullets left before you are completely defenseless. What's not to be thankful for? Fallen Earth might not seem like the most appropriate setting for a Thanksgiving celebration, but the game recently held a screenshot contest for either what the player's character is thankful for or a "traditional" celebration in the wasteland. Yesterday, the winners were announced, with the top entries all receiving special in-game food that offers buffs and the essential proper nutrition for surviving the hostile environment. The first-place winner also receives a Fallen Earth t-shirt.

A small gallery is also available, with the three winners and the honorable mention available for viewing. It's not every game where appropriate holiday celebration includes heavily-armed men standing on a farm surrounded by corpses, but it works for Fallen Earth and should provide the game's players with some appropriate chuckles. Or, given the context, perhaps "inappropriate" is more apt.

One Shots: Happy scavenging!

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 20th 2009 (8 hours ago)

Wake up, grab a quick bite of something that isn't too tainted, clean up a bit, toss on your gear and ride. It's another day in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallen Earth, where players have to work hard to survive. You can scavenge and find items to create things you need or want, trade others for things you've made, fight for whatever cause your character feels is right, or so much more. Today's great Fallen Earth screenshot comes to us from Shrike Song of The Older Gamers clan (or TOG as they're known) who writes in: My junkyard scavenger Shrike Song looking for the scrap lottery in every junk pile and scrapped car she can find. With the ruins of freeway overpasses in the background and a rusted T bird as a resting and scouting perch, no wonder that scavengers like her love their trusty horses so much. Hopefully that car netted you a bunch of fasteners!

Are you playing a niche game that you love and want to show off to the world? If so, why not take a moment and send us your image and thoughts! We'll be glad to post them. Email it to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in.

Gallery: One Shots

MMOrigins: The only living boy in Vana'diel

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 20th 2009 (9 hours ago)

When I was still young, I was out on a walk with my father in the woods next to my great-aunt's house. The woods were an offshoot of the Devil's Hopyard state park, which meant that they were old and vast. As the family often congregated around the house, there were a number of paths we knew that wove their way through the forest, but I remember where we always stopped, and I remember the day when I asked what was further along.

My dad grinned, and we kept walking. It was about ten minutes from there to a beautiful, moss-covered waterfall that was right on the edge of the state park, with an alcove just large enough that I could squeeze underneath the falls. That sticks with me every time I start up a new game, because that was when I started to really wonder about where paths might lead. Everything leads somewhere. Finding things out is one of the things I love, probably what attracted me to video games in the first place.