Filed under: Fantasy

Aion developers acting to correct server imbalances

by Rubi Bayer Jul 31st 2010 at 9:00AM

Aion's July community address mentions the upcoming 2.0 patch, of course, but that's not what grabbed the attention of the fans.

The recent server merge created some predictable imbalances, and the Aion team has made a few decisions on how to begin rectifying them. NCsoft's Lance Stites, who penned this month's address, tells fans that server transfers have been temporarily disabled while the devs sort things out: "All the associated Aion teams are working on a solution to allow character transfers to resume with appropriate limits in place to prevent radically unbalanced servers."

Furthermore, race creation is "selectively" limited on each server, in the hopes that it will help balance things out. "For instance, if you're playing on a predominantly Elyos server, Asmodian creation will be the only race available for new characters," says Stites.

The situation is only temporary, and hopefully only a first step in sorting things out on the newly-consolidated Aion servers. Take a look at the Aion site for the full July community address.

July letter available from Warhammer Online's executive producer

by Eliot Lefebvre Jul 30th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, in-game, Patches, Previews, PvP, Warhammer Online, News items

Back when she was first placed in the position of Executive Producer for Warhammer Online, Carrie Gouskos promised to try for a letter every month. She's stayed true to that promise, and as the end of July approaches at breakneck speeds, there's a new letter for the fans. After a quick recap of the known news about the game (the testing of patch 1.3.6 and the European migration), there are several other updates, starting with the return of the Wild Hunt to the game with the coming patch.

The letter also contains the promise of a new 6v6 scenario for the Weekend Warfront rotation, citing the matchup as a popular format that needs more representation. We also get a hint of future plans to help encourage RvR whilst leveling, said plans involving new enemies with high XP values being added to the RvR lakes. There's also a promise of a rework to the mechanics of some of the ranged classes, a coda to the most recent letter which should have several points of interest for dedicated Warhammer Online fans.

Frogster releases Mythos cinematic

by Jef Reahard Jul 30th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, New titles, News items, Mythos, Free-to-play

Looking to get your Mythos fix prior to the game's 2011 release? Look no further than the just-released trailer courtesy of Frogster. The video, which runs a little over a minute and a half, serves as both a teaser and the upcoming free-to-play MMO's opening cinematic.

Mythos, a throw-back dungeon crawler, has somewhat of a checkered history, given that it was originally developed by now-defunct Flagship Studios before being shuttered and subsequently kick-started by HanbitSoft. The game is now being published by Redbana in North America and Frogster in Europe, and it features solo and group PvP, three distinct classes, and a unique visual style inspired by comic books.

Check out our interview with the Mythos dev team and don't forget to sample the trailer after the cut.

Soul of the Ultimate Nation sees the spreading Shadow

by Eliot Lefebvre Jul 30th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Trailers, Classes, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Soul of the Ultimate Nation

It might seem like everything is all fine and dandy in Soul of the Ultimate Nation, but there's a shadow on the horizon. More specifically, there's Shadow, the newest character added to the game. A combination of dark sorcery and assassin skills form Shadow's potent, solo-friendly skillset, something the game's development team had been hinting at since the beginning of the year. But that's hardly all that's new in the game, which has expanded the high-level content as well.

Player characters over level 100 have access to nearly two hundred added quests, as well as new high-level areas in Helron's Castle. Neville's Swamp and Bronze Moon City, as well as the area conquest for the aforementioned castle, are all open. To cap off the experience, players have access to the fourth village in Soul of the Ultimate Nation, giving high-end players a spot where they can congregate with one another. Rather than forcing you to just read the text, however, we have both a set of preview images in our gallery, and two trailers for the update embedded past the cut.

Gallery: S.U.N.: Shadows Fall

Party like a rock star in Final Fantasy XIV

by Eliot Lefebvre Jul 30th 2010 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Previews, News items, Final Fantasy XIV

There are players out there who might be dreading parties in Final Fantasy XIV. Well, not precisely; they might well be dreading that the mechanics will be similar to the parties from Final Fantasy XI, where some classes could seemingly wait for ages without a trace of a group. Mercifully, the fine bilingual team at FFXIVCore has continued its apparent tradition of translating information to coincide with the new beta testing, with the newest translation being a guide to getting a working group in the game.

Guildleves are the game's core leveling mechanics, but new ones can only be accepted every so often, and they can be hard to complete on higher settings alone. By grouping up, players gain access to more guildleves from other players and more support in tackling the game's bigger challenges. The full translation has information on everything from the interface to form a party to the game's battle regiments, the equivalent of Final Fantasy XI's skillchains. (We're guessing they meant regimens, but that's the challenge of translation.) Final Fantasy XIV fans are advised to take a look at the article to start gearing up for the game's release in two months.

Exploring Eberron: Six things to do on your first day in game

by Justin Olivetti Jul 30th 2010 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Free-to-play, Exploring Eberron, Guides

So you've given into temptation, downloaded DDO onto your hard drive, and decided to see what all the hubbub was about with Turbine's quirky MMO-that-could. Good for you -- personally, I think you're in for a terrific time. Of course, there's a small but steep learning curve at the start of the game, which I envision claims the lives of many gamers who run all willy-nilly into said wall screaming, "Where is the auto-attack keyyyyy?" You want to avoid that. You want your DDO experience to be face-smashing-wall free.

Therefore, I have pulled myself out of a Fun Dip coma (soooo much sugar) to cobble together six vitally important tasks to perform on your first day in game in order to save the princess. Or make your life easier, I don't know. I'm assuming that you've already made your first character and are itching to test drive that bad boy or girl and see how quickly you can die.

Man, I bet you really wish Rubi were back already, huh? Wish harder, dude!

One Shots: Norrathian safari

by Krystalle Voecks Jul 30th 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, EverQuest II, One Shots

You know why we love to get more than one game's screenshots from one person? Aside from the fact that it's fun to see what you're all up to, it tells us we're not the only ones with multiple-MMO ~~addictions~~ subscriptions! Indeed, that's part of what makes the readers of Massively so awesome -- you're just as crazy about these games as we are. Today, we have the second screenshot of the week from shanert, who sent us the Vanguard one a couple of days ago. This time, we catch up with his Ratonga, and have a look around the world of EverQuest II. He writes a rhymey line to explain:

"Running around the borderlands of Freeport with my little rat and see,
how beautifull a six year old game can be."

There are tons of interesting sights out there in MMO land, but we need you to make One Shots happen. So while you're out playing this weekend, why not grab a screenshot of something interesting for us! Then all you have to do is email it to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy, and give you the credit.

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

The Road to Mordor: Gated communities

by Justin Olivetti Jul 30th 2010 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Patches, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

This past week, many of us were shaken out of our self-absorption with LotRO's F2P switch as we were suddenly joined by -- of all things -- the good folks at EverQuest II. I don't think anyone could've predicted two such high-profile MMORPGs moving to a subscription/free-to-play hybrid model this year, which makes LotRO and EQII comrades-in-arms for the time being. Both titles are currently in testing, with their F2P release coming this fall.

Other than the mutual surprise of two game communities that were taken off guard (except for that one guy who, y'know, totally called it and won't stop crowing about it), there are a number of similarities as both SOE and Turbine look to replicate DDO's F2P success and bolster both the number of players and number of dollars coming in to both games. However, there's certainly a major difference in how the freebie players will be handled: LotRO is integrating them with subscribers on normal servers, whereas EverQuest II Expanded will segregate the free players on their own unique servers.

So I thought that this would be an excellent time to talk about one of the crucial factors of F2P switches, which is the potential growth and/or fracturing of the game's community. Which MMO has the better idea, LotRO or EQII? Hit the jump for my thoughts.

Guild Wars 2 level cap confirmed at 80

by Rubi Bayer Jul 29th 2010 at 10:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, New titles, News items, Guild Wars 2

It's been a huge question for months: What will be the level cap for Guild Wars 2? Eager fans have grabbed onto every piece of information looking for clues over time, and tonight Isaiah "Izzy" Cartwright, Guild Wars 2 game designer, confirmed it: the level cap will be 80.

No, hold on, there's still no grind. Grind in most games with a high level cap comes in because it takes longer to level the higher you go. In Guild Wars 2, this is not an issue, says Izzy: "Instead of taking longer and longer to reach each level, it takes about the same time to go through each level."

In short, it's still all about the content and the journey, and you won't find yourself stuck at level 60, endlessly grinding the same mob to advance. Check out the newest ArenaNet blog post for all the information.

Lineage II: Freya PTS open, launch date and patch notes released

by Rubi Bayer Jul 29th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Lineage 2, Patches, News items

The Lineage II Freya patch has been in the works for a while, and NCsoft let us know last week that it's nearing completion.

The company promised more information soon, and it arrived today along with access to the Play Test Server. The official release date for the Freya patch was given today -- Freya will be available to everyone on August 24th.

The full patch notes were released today as well, and if you want to read through them be prepared to spend some time. The list of bug fixes, new items, content additions, and so on is long enough to warrant 13 forum posts from the community manager. The notes may be long, but they're broken down into manageable sections this way, which helps quite a bit.

Until the August 24th release date, feel free to download the Play Test Server to get a feel for the patch. For a bit more of a preview, follow along after the jump for a new video depicting some brand-new emotes.

What to do in Limsa Lominsa when you're in the Final Fantasy XIV beta

by Eliot Lefebvre Jul 29th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Previews, News items, Consoles, Races, Final Fantasy XIV

If you're one of the lucky souls in Final Fantasy XIV's recently expanded beta testing, you might well be a new arrival. And even though the beta build isn't the final release of the game, there's still a lot of different things to do. So where do you begin? Thankfully, there's a new guide available from Famitsu (translated by FFXIVCore) that should give a fair picture of where players can start. It covers everything from sights in the city to the options available for retainers.

Once players pick a race for the retainer, a wide variety of appearance is available, but said assistant's name is fixed. You can give a nickname, however, which opens up a number of affectionate (and horrible) possibilities. Of course, that does little for the players not involved in the Final Fantasy XIV beta, but Square-Enix has also released a video on the development of character models and customization in the game. Embedded past the cut, the trailer won't quite take the edge off being unable to use the guide in practice, but it's the next best thing.

First Impressions: Might and Magic Heroes Kingdoms

by Beau Hindman Jul 29th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Reviews, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, Might and Magic, MMORTS, First Impressions

Browser-based games have come a long way. A few years ago, I would have never predicted that they would be as popular and varied as they are now. I wouldn't have believed that the quality would rise, while still being contained in the 2-D walls of your favorite browser. But, here we are, discussing Might and Magic Heroes Kingdoms, another browser-based game that has raised that level of quality once again. It's a subtle difference, but the improvements should still be noted and enjoyed.

First of all, I want to say that I am generally horrible at any type of PvP. I rarely think of conquest and would rather trade with my fellow players than attempt to murder them. Call me old-fashioned! So, when I signed up for a game that promised that type of epic conquest (and diplomacy as well, lest we forget) I was a little more than worried that the following First Impressions would consist only of the words "I SUCK."

What I found, after giving in and joining the very first alliance that offered membership, was a game that is heavy on the chin-scratching and light on difficulty. And it's fun, too.

Latest LotRO free-to-play screens show new starting areas

by Rubi Bayer Jul 29th 2010 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play

Part of the transition to free-to-play for The Lord of the Rings Online includes some cosmetic changes here and there. We got a glimpse of that a few weeks ago, and now Turbine is giving us a look at another area that's undergone some changes.

The man and hobbit starting areas will have a new look when free-to-play arrives this fall. You'll see some familiar faces, and you'll still have the standard assortment of shadowy figures, backstory, and angry creatures to fight, but things will look a bit different.

Check out the newest addition to the gallery below for a look at the new man and hobbit starting areas.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online free-to-play screenshots

Phase 2 arrives tonight for Final Fantasy XIV's testers

by Eliot Lefebvre Jul 28th 2010 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

Whether you're playing to find potentially game-breaking bugs or just to get a sense of the game before it launches, betas are a magical time for all involved. Specifically, the magic of Final Fantasy XIV's beta has been the sort of magic that ends the world every so often. But luckily for everyone involved in the testing, tonight is the start of phase 2 of the testing, and that marks an important change in the nature of the tests.

Prior to this point, testing was only available when the servers were up, which was not constant. Starting tonight at 7:00 PM PDT (or 10:00 PM EDT), the servers will be up at all times for the second phase of testing. That's according to an official tweet on the game's Twitter feed, which is good news for any and all testers of Final Fantasy XIV. No word yet on whether or not phase 3 involves profit, but the increased availability should be profitable to the players.

New DDO screenshot gives first look at Update 6

by Rubi Bayer Jul 28th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Patches, Free-to-play

Dungeons and Dragons Online's next update will bring more content to the game, and the excitement for Update 6 has been high in the DDO community, thanks to one little detail: underwater combat.

That's right, the next update will not only bring a new wilderness area -- the Red Fens -- but it adds underwater combat to DDO. We'll meet up with our old friends the Sahuagin and take to the waters.

It's an exciting addition to the game, and if you feel you simply can't wait until Update 6 drops, maybe you don't have to. VIP players can copy characters onto the Lamannia server and try it out for themselves right away!

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
GenCon Indy	Aug 5-8, 2010
SOE Fan Faire	Aug 5-8, 2010
Xsyon Prelude Launch	Aug 15, 2010
GamesCom Expo	Aug 18-22, 2010
Earthrise Launch	Q3 2010
Dragon*Con	Sep 3-6, 2010
PAX Prime	Sep 3-5, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV Launch	Sep 30, 2010
GDC Online	Oct 5-8, 2010
LEGO Universe Launch	Oct 26, 2010
DCUO Launch	Nov 2, 2010

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Seraphina Brennan	Senior Editor
Brianna Royce	West Coast Editor
Dan O'Halloran	Features Coordinator
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Rubi Bayer	Contributing Editor
Tateru Nino	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