Filed under: Comics

What does Disney buying Marvel have to do with us?

by Shawn Schuster Aug 31st 2009 at 4:30PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Comics, Marvel Universe Online

Earlier today, it was announced that Disney is buying Marvel for $4B, divided among the current Marvel shareholders. This type of news is nothing groundbreaking, and it probably doesn't affect you, as an MMO gamer, right?

You're mostly right. Disney's purchase of Marvel will certainly affect the enormous hold that Marvel has on general gaming now (in a good way, we hope), but don't forget there's also a Marvel MMO in the works. When we asked Gazillion Entertainment how this purchase will affect their Marvel Universe Online project, we were told that all they can relay at this point is a quote from Lowell Singer, Disney's senior vice president of investor relations: "On the video game front, Marvel has some smart licensing agreements with some of the best video game manufacturers in the business. As these licensing deals expire we have the luxury of considering what's best for the company and the products."

Gazillion also reminded us that their MMO licensing deal with Marvel is until 2019.

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Incumbent versus Reform

by Lemuel Pew Aug 7th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Comics, Humor, Grinders

The superhero MMO debate is upon us, with hot button topics like PvP and Character Customization being thrown around as if we were trying to reform health care. Grinders has not picked a side, but in a year or two when the fresh car smell is gone from Champions Online and City of Heroes has either sank or swam, we'll have a clear idea of what we really actually want out of these games. Still, the competition is healthy for the market, and I say pile it on.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be allowed to hack into your brain. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and inventing a paint-drying MMO, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.

Massively webcomic: Grinders - A Backup Plan

by Lemuel Pew Jul 31st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

Looks like the Matrix Online is taking it's last breath today, which is just the way these things go sometimes. It was a niche game, but the idea of playing a video game inside a computer world is still a nifty hall of mirrors. Personally I hope the new TRON movie revitalizes the franchise and puts an MMO on the table. I sure would like to take on the Master Control Program myself someday.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be allowed to hack into your brain. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Massively webcomic: Grinders - See, It's a Metaphor

by Lemuel Pew Jul 24th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

Especially during press and publicity events like San Diego's Comic Con, we are teased with what future games are to come, and lament the games that we cling to yet so desperately yearn to abandon. Grinders understands your pain. We're also pretty entertained by all the silly acronyms.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be allowed to ripen on the vine. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Free Realms comic to be released on July 29th

by William Dobson Jul 22nd 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Free-to-play, Comics, Free Realms

The first issue of a brand new comic based on Free Realms will be released next week, on the 29th of July. The series comes from a collaboration between WildStorm and SOE, with J.S. Lewis (best known for his Grey Griffins series of children's books) writing the story. MMORPG is also reporting that those who pick up the first issue will be eligible to receive an in-game item, the "Spider Bite Sword". Each comic in the series should continue in this manner, offering a new in-game item for the 12 issues that are planned.

A handful of pages from the first issue can be previewed right now, along with a short snippet of the plot:

The story begins when a young boy is abducted and dragged into a darkened forest teeming with twisted monsters. It's up to a relic hunter and a pixie to save him, but their mission is cut short when a horde of troll-like creatures captures them!

Maybe we're just wusses, but that sounds kind of scary.

[Via MMORPG]

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Cronyism Cronies

by Lemuel Pew Jul 17th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

The Grinders gag today is from our own James Egan, who made a critical typo while working on an All Points Bulletin article. Swapping words in the title gave us a whole different game concept, the gritty underground world of white collar crime. Which reminds me, time to check my Swiss bank account, I'm sure Realtime Worlds' check has cleared by now.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be held over the shredder until they talk. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Leave the Vase, Take the Cannoli

by Lemuel Pew Jul 10th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Comics, Humor, Grinders

Every MMO with a floating economy seems to have problems with gold farming, but Final Fantasy XI makes the issue even more peculiar by having actual plant cultivation involved in the process. With Grinders I'd prefer to imagine some angry moogle mafioso running an underground botanical operation for money and power.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be ruthlessly sold by moogles for fun an profit. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Gender Equality

by Lemuel Pew Jul 3rd 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Super-hero, Comics, Humor, Grinders

City of Heroes continues to fulfill items on the long list of player requests, next up being the option to change your height and gender, the only to pieces to the costume editor left static. While I think it's neat you'll finally be able to make that Mr. Hyde knockoff you've been waiting to build, Grinders today reflects other possible gameplay options.

On a side note, I wonder what this'll do to the character gender debate. Now in CoH, your character doesn't need to have a gender, just a costume slot does. You could make a character that is in fact five distinct characters. Food for thought.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will also probably involve boobies in some form or another. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and making glib social commentary, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.

Massively webcomic: The Haves and the Have-Nots

by Lemuel Pew Jun 27th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Free-to-play, Comics, Humor, Grinders

I suppose I should legally declare that Grinders is not paid by Sony to do comics about Free Realms, but on a completely unrelated note, I do so enjoy flossing my teeth with hundred dollar bills.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be put under a microscope and checked for the latest strain of Murloc Flu. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and sporting a fancy tophat and monocle, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Urban Adventurers

by Lemuel Pew Jun 19th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

Welly welly well. It's about time the MMO scene started seeing some real deviation. Grinders is more than proud to get revved up for Cities XL, and try out some more playstyles than just leather armor and pest control. Though, it'll be really interesting to see what similarities do come out of the game. It'll also make us rethink what an MMO is, because if 'lots of players' and 'online' are the only two sticking points, I don't think that it'll stay a genre of its own for much longer.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will he harangued for showing up the rest of them and upsetting the curve, but will be probably worked into the comic somehow.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and taking naps at his desk with his nose on the H key, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Hot or Not

by Lemuel Pew Jun 12th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

Sticking to the theme of horrible MMO ideas that shouldn't, but are, the Grinders thinktank has aimed its sights at the new Seventeen MMO. Though, I bet calling it an MMO is really starting to abuse the term, much like Virtual Laguna Beach and Habbo Hotel have caused us to do in the past. Still, I expect there will be a few fun-loving fuggos who will want to mix up the bubbly suburban content. You've been warned.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will he harangued for showing up the rest of them and upsetting the curve, but will be probably worked into the comic somehow.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Massively webcomic: Grinders - MMOs for Anything These Days

by Lemuel Pew Jun 5th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

I like to think of Grinders as having the potential to be a window into the absurd, which is exactly what category a Tom and Jerry Massive Multiplayer game would fall under. As it is with these things, truth is stranger than fiction. Still, if I had my hands on the art direction I'd gritty it up a bit.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will probably not involve Tom or Jerry in any way, and will be worked into the comic somehow. Magic, I bet.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Lemuel Pew is a webcomic artist and MMO player with the attention span of a guppy. Between sketching gamers in cartoon form and making too many alts in City of Heroes, he draws an online comic called Blank It. Feel free to watch his Twitter at your own risk.

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Didn't Make the Cut

by Lemuel Pew May 29th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-play, Comics, Humor, Grinders

Often times Grinders is a story of something that has actually happened, but today we dabble in the wonderland of the Free Realms that could have been. Honestly I think taxidermy would work great with the Pet Trainer job. Keep little Bella around forever. Yeah, I'm sure you named your pet cat Bella.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be put under a microscope and checked for the latest strain of Murloc Flu. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Massively webcomic: Grinders - Spies in the Spyhouse

by Lemuel Pew May 22nd 2009 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Comics, Humor, Grinders

So, this week's Grinders is clearly not an MMO, which would be a gross infraction if it wasn't such a raw truth; whenever Team Fortress 2 undergoes a class update, the online gaming community all shifts to one side of the boat, dropping their MMOs to grind the new unlockable weapons. This of course means a certain shift in the team populations. Valve's trying something different this time with two class updates instead of just one, but see if that'll really help. Really.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be tenderized into a square patty and grilled on the barbie for our next luau. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic

Massively webcomic: Grinders - The Best of the Best

by Lemuel Pew May 15th 2009 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-play, Comics, Humor, Grinders

As depicted in today's Grinders, there's a lot of variety to the jobs in Free Realms. However, not all of them are best suited for combat, as Morgan and Wendy experienced. Still, I think the idea of a kart racing class is pretty darned cool.

Have a funny story of your own? Submit your tale complete with a screenshot to lemuel@massively.com. The best will be tenderized into a square patty and grilled on the barbie for our next luau. Or just put in the comic.

Gallery: Grinders Webcomic