Massively^™

Happy Friday! Time once again to ask the most important question there is to ask here at Massively: What are you having for lunch? I just had a Potbelly open up down the street from me and... no, I'm only kidding. We want to know: What aRe yoU Playing?

Tateru Nino, as usual, is eating hardy -- she's got Second Life and City of Heroes queued up, as well as a slew of non-MMOs to play. Chris Chester is planning on diving into Age of Conan as soon as he gets a chance, and I know that most of the Massively staff are heading to the Hyborian Age as well. As for me, World of Warcraft continues to be a staple, but truth be told, I probably won't be able to step foot in an MMO this weekend -- I'm going out of town for most of it, and when I do get back, I have a recently purchased Wii system now hooked up to my television. As a first game, I'm planning to check out LostWinds (and if you have any other recommendations besides Super Mario Galaxy, which I'm already sold on as a huge platformer fan, let me know). Of course I'm anxiously looking forward to news of an Animal Crossing MMO now, too -- as if the offline version wasn't addictive enough. Curse you, Tom Nook!

So what are you up to in the world of MMOs for the next seven days?

Happy Friday! We don't know about you, but it's been a long week here at Massively, so we are thrilled to be at the point where we get to ask you, as we do every Friday: What aRe yoU Playing?

Our own Akela Talamasca has been busy -- he's been playing lots of Mythos lately, as well as Warrior Epic and City of Heroes. Tateru Nino continues playing her cavalcade of games -- Second Life is in there, of course, as well as LotRO, and even a little Hello Kitty Online beta action. And me, I'm just a few levels away from getting another 70 in WoW, I'm getting my Guild Wars on, and I'm hoping to head into the Age of Conan this weekend as well, time permitting (outside of the MMO world, it's also a travel weekend for me, so I'm going to try out The World Ends With You -- it does have some MMO-like features, though, since you can not only come into contact with other players with your DS' wifi, but even buy and sell items from them).

But enough about us -- what are you up to? Are you checking out AoC's beta, or maybe looking at issue 12 in CoH? Are you playing something we've never heard of? Tell us about it!

Previously on WRUP...

All right, so May Day was yesterday, but MMO holidays never take just one day -- they usually last a whole weekend. So we're extending Massively May Day to all this weekend, and as usual on Friday afternoons, we want to know: What aRe yoU Playing in the world of MMOs?

Tons of you are probably headed into the Age of Conan open beta -- even if you haven't finished downloading the patch yet (13 gb?!?), Massively's got the hookup with pics, video, and good time guides to what's going on in there. Personally, I've got an invite to the exclusive beta of Hello Kitty Online to break open (don't be jealous), and I'll be continuing leveling up in Guild Wars and World of Warcraft as usual. And if all that wasn't enough, I'll be continuing to pour my time into a decidedly non-MMO game that nevertheless has one of the most, if not the most, detailed open world environments I've ever seen. The multiplayer on GTA IV may not actually be massive, but it is just incredible running around that open city with 15 other players.

So what are you up to in terms of gaming this weekend?

Previously on WRUP...

Given the answers to our weekly WRUP query lately, we've got a pretty good guess what you'll be doing online this weekend: it starts with "book" and ends with "13". Yes, the Lord of the Rings Online patch is out, and odds are that quite a few of you will be heading off into Middle-earth to survey the new content. But don't leave us too far behind -- Massively's got tons of great coverage for you to look over before you head out there.

Are you rolling into LotRO? Is WoW more your style this weekend? (It's mine -- I'm still working on getting my Hunter to 70 -- 63 and climbing!). Are you trying to dip into a certain beta test that's becoming more and more open lately? It's Friday, and the weekend's here, so let us know: What aRe yoU Playing?

Congratulations! You finished your taxes (at least you did unless you're Wesley Snipes, or an extension-getting slacker like me), and now there ain't nothing to do but sit back and... work for another year only so you can pay them again. But in the meantime, there's lots of MMO playing to do! So, since it's Friday, we're asking yet again: What aRe yoU Playing in the world of MMOs?

Massively's people are super busy playing games. Cameron Sorden and I are both hooked on WoW still; "I'm addicted," Sorden says, "which is why all of my articles are WoW-flavored lately." Tastes like chicken. Krystalle is busying playing Phantasy Star Universe on the Xbox 360, and says she's about to finish Story Mode. And Chris Chester is still grinding away in Tabula Rasa: "Must reach level 30. It won't happen, but I can try."

So what are you up to this weekend? Back in CoX getting ready for Issue 12? Playing a game that's almost in open beta? (We know you're out there playing that game, folks -- we can see right through that NDA!) WRUP this weekend?

Previously on WRUP...

We reported on the closing of Disney's Virtual Magic Kingdom the other day, and at the time, it seemed like business as usual -- Disney had created the virtual world for an event, and the event was over, so it was time for the world to close. But the comments thread over on this Virtual Worlds news post about the closing has to be seen to be believed: fans of this place loved it completely and are painfully heartbroken over its closing. There are tons of eloquent, emotional comments lauding VMK for its sense of community, the friends made there, and the opportunity to connect on a virtual level with other people and Disney's attractions when, for various reasons, the same can't be done in real life.

What's most amazing here is that, from these comments, it seems VMK was one of the strongest virtual communities out there. This is why we play these MMO games -- to connect with others online, to experience things that can't be experienced any other way, and to create connections that otherwise wouldn't be there. It's an amazing story -- here's an MMO that worked perfectly in terms of building community and developing social connections between players, and yet Disney chooses to close it down.

There is a petition online, with 11,000 signatures as of this writing, to keep VMK open. Disney has responded to this emotion with a short statement only saying "we hear you," and the game itself is still set to close down as planned on May 21st.

[Via Waxy.org]

Happy Friday! Maybe it's just because sickness set in at the beginning of this week, but for some reason the past five days have seemed unreasonably long, so the break of the weekend is a welcome sight today. Friday also happens to be the day where we ask: What aRe yoU Playing in this wide and wonderful world of MMOs?

Kyle Horner says he's been enjoying himself in Ikariam lately -- he says it's a free-to-play browser based game that's "kind of like Civ," which makes it a must-check out. Michael Zenke tells us he's got Mythos and WoW on the docket for this weekend, along with another super secret game that we can't quite tell you about yet. But our own Tateru Nino takes the cake. Here's what she says she has planned for this weekend: "Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, Half Life 2 (original recipe), Team Fortress 2, UFO: Afterlight, The Bard's Tale, Imperium Romanum, City of Heroes, LotRO, The Longest Journey (original game), Two Worlds, Bioshock, Dream of Mirror Online, Neverwinter Nights 2, plus time in SL." Yowza. That's a lot of gaming.

So what are you up to? Taking advantage of the extra XP in Pirates of the Carribbean Online? Trying to sign up to play Age of Conan? Or just desperately trying to finish up your taxes? Leave a comment below and let us know what's on your MMO plate this weekend.

Previously on WRUP...

(Because, you know, we came in like a lamb.) Yes, March is over and we are a full week into the fourth month of 2008 -- time flies when you're having fun with MMO games. It's Friday, so it's time once again for us to query: What aRe yoU Playing?

Massively's own Kyle Horner says he's back in Mythos as a level 11 Cyclops Bloodletter, and has also been digging on Whirled lately, "creating rooms" or whatever you do in there. I've found myself back in World of Warcraft, doing the Sunwell dailies on my main, while also leveling my 62 Hunter up to the level cap (R6V2 is also getting a good bit of play from me -- love hunting terrorists). And Krystalle Voecks, co-lead at Massively, is still playing EVE -- she recently joined up with EVE University and is still mining and dabbling in PvP and missions.

So tell us: what are you playing in the world of MMOs? Does Tabula Rasa still have your fancy or has Patch 2.4 pulled you back to Azeroth? What are you, dear readers, interested in playing lately?

Previously on WRUP...

Techcrunch is reporting that developers Realtime Worlds (makers of last year's Crackdown, which could be an MMO, and the upcoming All Points Bulletin, which we heard lots about at GDC) have picked up a whopping $50 million in funding from a round of investment capital, including lots of it from Maverick Capital.

So good news for APB fans -- of course, it's just a fraction of that billion dollars that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick claims anyone will need to take on World of Warcraft, but $50 million buys a lot of artists, programmers, and servers, all things that a great MMO needs for a strong launch. APB is still in the development stages of course -- we've heard that it'll drop this year, though at this point (and with the extra cash going into a little extra development), we're probably looking at a spring 2009 release.

Yes -- whether you noticed it or not, we are now officially one week into Spring of 2008, which means we're one season closer to the biggest releases of this year, Warhammer Online and Age of Conan. But as is our custom on Friday afternoons, it's time to focus on something happening a little sooner: What aRe yoU Playing this weekend?

Azeroth has taken up most of my time, personally -- since the patch 2.4 release earlier this week I've been enjoying the new Sunwell Isle, as well as pushing my 62 Hunter up towards 70 to get in on the fun as well. Massively's own Elizabeth Harper is also pushing towards the Shattered Sun Offensive with her paladin. And Tateru is playing SL (of course) as well as a little bit of CoH and Lord of the Rings Online when time allows.

So what are you readers up to this weekend? Let us know what you're playing in the comments below!

Previously on WRUP...

Here at Massively, we're slowly becoming bigger and bigger fans of Lila Dreams, a tiny little MMO with some big ideas so far. The latest post over at the dev blog talks about how they made the best use of things that would normally be thought of as limitations in MMO design, and actually came out of it with more creativity than if they'd used more traditional MMO technology. The game is built in Java and Flash and is only 2D, but instead of settling for cheap animation, the designers actually used the drawback as a benefit, and designed a 2D scheme that lays down a set of bones, which can then be customized with any art that the designer wants to put in. What that means for players is customization -- the animation is designed around movement, not specific art, so lots of clothing or items or shapes can be put in their places, and the animation will still work.

It also means, they say, that anyone can be designing animation, since instead of drawing frames or creating movement, you're just dragging keyframes around until they look right. The idea itself isn't necessarily new (lots of designers have used this "paper doll" philosophy, and of course letting anyone do animation doesn't guarantee that Lila Dreams will be anything special), but it's a good sign of the creativity of the Lila Dreams team that they took what most MMO developers would see as a negative (the limitations of Java and Flash), and made something interesting out of it. Can't wait to see they game they're cooking up.

Just in case you have been waiting with bated breath to play Sho Online, an MMO based on an old Chinese mix of history and fantasy, your chance is almost here -- after inviting 1000 beta testers into the game last week, they have reached their final closed beta test event, and open beta seems to be just around the corner.

As you can see from the video above, it doesn't look much different from your average Korean MMO, but the Chinese lore and history might add a little bit to the mix that we haven't seen before. There's supposed to be lots of faction warfare involved as well -- the two factions are called Yin and Zhou. Plus, it'll likely be free-to-play, with microtransactions included, which means as a download-and-play distraction, it might be worth a look. Interested?

We first reported on PMOG here on Massively back at the end of January. It's the product of a videogame startup called GameLayers, Inc., and claims to be a "passively multiplayer game." But unlike most online games, there are no clients or servers -- the game itself is played with just an extension for the Firefox browser, and instead of wandering a vast virtual world with dragons or aliens, you wander around the weirdest virtual landscape out there... the Internet itself.

It's an interesting idea, but does it work? I've been playing PMOG for about a month (the game is now in open beta), and I've amassed quite a stash of virtual cash and almost reached level four. Read on to see my impressions of the "passively multiplayer online game," and find out whether it's something worth extending your browser into.

Did you forget? Sunday is Easter, which means it's all about the eggs, chocolate, and hopefully a nice dinner with your family. But of course you can only handle your family for so long, so it's time once again to ask our weeky query: What aRe yoU Playing this weekend in the world of MMOs?

Massively's Kyle Horner is still playing Lord of the Rings Online, but says that most of his time will be spent "leveling up" in the MMO-esque new shooter, Rainbox Six Vegas 2 (I'd be playing the same thing, except that my preordered copy hasn't shown up in the mail yet, and it's driving me nuts). And our co-lead, Krystalle Voecks, says that she's back in EVE Online, with a brand new Retriever to do some big time mining for her. She's also been listening to The Drone Bay, and may start up a little pirating, but for now, she says, it's "lots and lots of mining."

So what are you up to in the world of MMOs this weekend?

What were you playing? (Previously on WRUP...)