Michael Zenke
Madison, WI - http://www.mmognation.com
Michael has been writing about MMOs since 2003. He's had the pleasure of writing about videogames on a number of websites, including Gamasutra, 1up, The Escapist, and GameSetWatch. Before becoming a lead blogger at Massively, Michael was editor of the games subsite at the popular tech news site Slashdot.org. He maintains his own games blog at www.mmognation.com.
by Michael Zenke 
Feb 18th 2009 (8 months ago)
EQ2
SOE
Eurogamer has begun a novel way of 'reviewing' MMOs, a hilarious head-to-head competition premise for this notoriously finicky genre of games. The
series is called the "Ten Levels Test", and it couldn't be easier to understand. The writers are going to install each of the games involved in the test, and then play through the first ten levels of the content. Whichever game is more fun will stay in the running, while the other will be uninstalled. There are going to be several rounds of gaming goodness, each pitting 'similar' games to each other in a trial of the second tier of massively multiplayer titles.
Full details on the competition are available on the Eurogamer editor blog.
The first competiion was between
EverQuest 2 and
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes ... and the
result is not what you might have expected. Despite being welcomed into an
EQ2 guild early in his career, writer Oli Welsh found that
Vanguard was ultimately the more engaging world. A different twist on the typical fantasy, interactive combat, and a very fresh approach to storytelling grabbed the author, and gave the troubled title the clear win. Welsh points out that the starting experience in
Vanguard was just recently added, and so its clear quality may be disarming or short-lived. Still, the purpose of this series is only to explore the first ten levels.
Vanguard was the clear
by Michael Zenke Feb 12th 2009 (8 months ago)
WAR
Mythic
Patch days are like mini-holidays for MMO players. They're worth a beer, a cheer, and a heck of a lot of investigating. The upcoming
Warhammer Online Patch 1.2 is worth a lot of cheering, as it ushers in the first of the proper
Call to Arms expansion live events. What's more, at 55 pages, you'd cheer your throat raw before the improvements ran out. The biggest news, of course, is
the addition of two brand-new character classes for the Greenskins and Stunties. The Choppa and Slayer will inject some much-needed enthusiasm into the game's playerbase.
Here are some of the other highlights the devs have chosen to single out:
- A brand-new Tier 4 Scenario called the Twisting Tower. Much like the Reikland Factory during the Heavy Metal event, this is a limited-term engagement. Make sure you check it out while the event is up and running.
- All-new systems are being put into place for Open RvR! A "Rallying Cry" will draw players to conflicts in the first two tiers, while a new Zone Control Domination system will give players incentives to truly conquer those zones.
- Itemization has been revamped across the board, with dungeons, fortresses, and PQs all recieving tweaks and reconsideration.
- "Easy-mode" Public Quests are being added throughout the 2-4 tiers, allowing solo players and small groups to get that sweet PvE loot without having to grind Stage 1.
- Crafting is being given a significant overhaul. All the 'gathering' skills are now extraordinarily streamlined, and the 'creation' skills are now definitively associated with two gathering skills.
Beyond the above there are
numerous changes to classes,
user interface improvements,
brand new mounts, and
an army's worth of bug fixes. The scope of this patch is daunting to contemplate, let alone read through, but if you want to give it a try the full and unadulterated list is available at the Warhammer Herald. Put on your helmed horn and go check it out.
by Michael Zenke Feb 12th 2009 (8 months ago)
The announcement of streamlining and
clarification of crafting coming to Warhammer Online has us thinking: what do you think of crafting in MMOs? Most AAA games offer some sort of non-combat opportunities, but generally they're far less engaging than the combat component of the gameworld. There are exceptions, of course, such as the minigame offerings of
Puzzle Pirates or the elaborate tiers of pre-NGE
Star Wars Galaxies.
EverQuest 2 has made enormous improvements on its simple design by adding vibrant rewards and unique non-combat instances into the mix.
The popularity of
World of Warcraft has made their simple one-click crafting schema the 'defacto' standard, and a lot of players seem to enjoy that. What about you, though? If crafting was offered in a radically different way or was a central component to an MMO, would you be more inclined to participate? If it wasn't as simple as grinding through simple point-and-click recipes, would you join the noble ranks of the crafting elite?
by Michael Zenke Feb 9th 2009 (9 months ago)
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Over the weekend it was announced that
The Old Republic would be arriving much sooner than expected. In comic book format, at least.
The Threat of Peace will be an ongoing webcomic series written by one of
BioWare's finest and produced by the same folks that handle the Dark Horse title
Knights of the Old Republic. We had the chance to learn more about this undertaking
thanks to an interview with the comic's writer over at IGN. Their discussion with Mr. Rob Chestney unveils a number of different infobits, including who will be doing art on the project (Alex Sanchez).
According to Chestney the writers on the comic have a very specific length in mind, but they're open to more spin-off stories if the series does well. Readers will have the chance to familiarize themselves with characters they'll see in-game; as the comic will act as a sort of prequel to the
Old Republic MMO, we should all have a greater appreciation for those characters when we meet them on quests. They'll apparently be posting three pages a week starting on the 27th, and that publishing rate should increase as they closer to the game's launch.
Check out the interview for full details, and we'll be sure to give you a heads up when the first comics drop.
by Michael Zenke Feb 7th 2009 (9 months ago)
EQ2
SOE
The next big content drop for
EverQuest 2 is coming in Game Update 51. As we discussed at the end of last year
the developers are doing an 'EverFrost redux' on the Lavastorm zone, and
now there's a preview of the new content up on the official EQ2 site. They'll be streamlining and refining the content that's already in place, making it easier to traverse the zone and enjoy the ongoing battle with the Sootfoot Goblins. In addition to this existing content two new dungeons, dozens of new quests, and a brand-new crafting zone for tradeskilling players. One of these dungeons will be an "x2", while the other will be an "x4", varying sizes of raid dungeons.
The high level adventuring content sounds particularly interesting, as the Sootfoots turn from their dark magics to seek help against even greater evils. They'll be available as a faction that can be developed, without a doubt eventually leading to factional benefits and rewards. Full details on the Sootfoots, The Ward of Elements, and The Order of Flame are
available on the official EverQuest 2 Players site.
by Michael Zenke Feb 7th 2009 (9 months ago)
Star Wars: The Old Republic
The official
Old Republic website has a great announcement up today, undoubtedly the surprise that Sean Dahlberg
mentioned in yesterday's Friday design post. In collaboration with Dark Horse Comics,
BioWare writer
Rob Chestney is going to be penning a comic book entirely within the world of
Star Wars: The Old Republic. What's even better: the comic will be entirely web-based and free to read.
Here's the precis:
"War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire has gripped the galaxy for generations, but the sacking of Coruscant and a subsequent peace treaty are changing everything. As the Republic scrambles to re-establish order, the Sith Empire moves quickly to consolidate power within its new dominion. Behind closed doors, however, individual Sith Lords engage in a quiet but deadly power struggle, and discord breaks out among the Jedi as they wrestle with the moral implications of the new galactic balance. During these chaotic days, the stories of several critical characters interweave as they pursue their passions, stand up for their convictions and ultimately lead the galaxy back to the brink of a catastrophic conflict."Read
the announcement over at the official site, or dig into the full press release below the cut.
by Michael Zenke Feb 7th 2009 (9 months ago)
Star Wars: The Old Republic
Every Friday like clockwork the fine folks at
BioWare Austin offer up a new tidbit to sink our teeth into. Last week was kind of a blowout, with
the enormous video of Tython and how it was made. If you haven't had a chance to check out the best look we've had to date at
Star Wars: The Old Republic, you owe it to yourself to do so. This week's offering was quite a bit more focused,
delving into the design process used by the team to create a piece of the gameworld. Dallas Dickinson, Senior Content Designer for the game, walks us through the numerous steps required to get even one planet prepped for play.
Beginning with the all-important research phase, the designers and developers iterate endlessly on the dialogue, writing, area layout, and art of a planet. What's striking is the sheer amount of interdependency and coordination required for something of this scale. Get a sense of that scale by
reading through Dickinson's entry and mulling through the
enormous amount of content the developers released last week to accompany the Tython video.
Plus!
Sean Dahlberg drops in near the end of the comments on the post to let us know something is coming. Make sure to keep your eyes peeled tomorrow for a special announcement!
by Michael Zenke Feb 6th 2009 (9 months ago)
WAR
Mythic
Last week we brought you the news that
the Night of Murder would be the precursor event to
the ambitious Call to Arms live expansion to
Warhammer Online. As February 14th inches ever closer (remember,
your leveling partner might like a gift or two), the developers have pushed the first of these in-game events live to the servers. To accompany the new event, the Herald has
a brand-new Grab Bag of bountiful information for you to sink your teeth into.
Some highlights:
- All tasks for the event are unlocked from the get-go. No need to wait to get into the thick of it.
- Roughly 2 out of every 10 players will be marked, so there should be plenty of death to go around. Additionally, all keep lords are marked.
- Credit for marked kills goes to the group that killed the marked player; keep lords slain during the event bestow credit to everyone involved in taking out the keep.
- Rewards for the event include: a special title, a unique Night of Murder trophy, and at the top tier a unique trinket that will give you +5% renown when you're participating in RvR. That last item has a level 35 item restriction placed on it.
For the full story, make sure to check out
our interview with Jeff Hickman about the event,
the official event page on the WAR site, and
the full Grab Bag about the Night of Murder.
by Michael Zenke Feb 5th 2009 (9 months ago)
SOE
We were just recently talking about
how much Vanguard: Saga of Heroes has improved over the years. Make that, as of this week, two years exactly as
the MMO celebrates its anniversary with an in-game event. The actual
birthday was on the 30th of January, but we're not going to quibble. While you missed the first night of festivities last night, tomorrow night there's a whole 'nother round for weekend warriors. They're giving out cake and fireworks for free, along with the chance to meet some of the well-known CMs and developers in-game.
This week also saw the release of
a brand-new update to the game. Unlike
the massive Game Updates that have given
Vanguard players so much in the way of new content, this is just a bug-fixing backend sort of thing. Highlights include a handful of new quests, some fixes to the appearace slot and general appearance systems, a few class tweaks, and some general housekeeping. Our favorite patch note:
"The waters around the towers of BOD are now shark infested. Beware those who like to skinny dipping."by Michael Zenke Feb 4th 2009 (9 months ago)
WAR
Mythic
Joystiq is reporting today that
Mythic Entertainment has been hit by another round of layoffs, this one much more substantial than the first. Using information corroborated by Massively.com sources, they're reporting that anywhere between 60 and 130 people have been let go from the company. Unlike
the last round of layoffs, which primarily affected infrastructure positions, these have cut deeply into the design and development departments. Including, it is rumored, cutting into the ranks of the senior designers.
This comes less than a week after the announcement of
the Call to Arms expansion to Warhammer Online. The ambitious live event expansion is to introduce two new character classes and an entirely new zone's worth of content to the title, which just launched last year. Both Massively and Joystiq have extended invitations for comment to EA and Mythic, and we hope to have more information on this news soon.
Update: Mark Jacobs, in a post to the Warhammer Herald,
attempts to assuage possible player anxiety over today's layoffs. He describes the layoffs as a part of moving from the pre-launch to post-launch footing, alongside layoffs in line with EA's general cost-cutting measures.
