Filed under: Galleries

Choose my Adventure: Reaching the Crystal Desert

by Shawn Schuster Jul 1st 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Guild Wars, Culture, Events, in-game, Lore, Quests, Massively meta, Roleplaying, Choose my Adventure

Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of journals and galleries here on the site. Then, as the ultimate goal is reached, we'll do it all over again in a new game!

When last we saw our Guild Wars heroine, she had just finished exploring every city in Kryta and was off to do the same in the Maguuma Jungle. According to your votes, Moira Zonk the Necromancer headed off to unlock each of the eight cities in the Jungle and ultimately reach the Amnoon Oasis in the Crystal Desert.

Now that she sits at the Oasis, recovering from her travels, she's ready to head off in whatever direction you'd like. Keep reading below for more on her travels and the newest poll where you can vote on where she ventures next.

Massively hands-on with Cities XL

by Shawn Schuster Jun 30th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Galleries, Screenshots, Game mechanics, New titles, Opinion, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on, Cities XL

As the Cities XL closed beta continues to run strong, we got word that the beta's NDA has lifted [Edit: for press] and we can spill the beans on our first impressions of the game so far. Now, two very important points to be made here include the fact that this is not a review (MMO reviews are bad, mmkay), and this is still in early closed beta stage.

With that in mind, we're here to give you some facts on how the game stands now, with a bit of healthy opinion thrown in for good measure. If you're at all curious about how this city-builder MMO can possibly work, follow along below.

Earthrise wallpapers show Eastern Gardens denizens and tamed mutants

by James Egan Jun 28th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, New titles, Wallpapers, Earthrise

Masthead Studios just got in touch with us and sent over two new wallpapers for their upcoming post-apocalyptic game Earthrise. One image shows off a group of kabuki-masked ~~freaks~~ denizens of the Eastern Gardens, one of the more outwardly utopian zones to be found in Earthrise's island setting of Enterra.

Fallen Earth Twitter screenshot exclusives coming to a close

by Shawn Schuster Jun 19th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, MMO industry, New titles

Have you been following Fallen Earth on Twitter lately? If not, you have missed out on some exclusive screenshots the team has been featuring on their Twitter feed throughout the last week.

But don't fret! They couldn't just keep them entirely secret from the rest of us. Compiled into a gallery, these new screenshots show some more of the game that is still set to launch within Q2 09, last we've heard. There are some shots of ghouls, burning cars, burning ghouls on cars and our personal favorite, a collection of a few available mounts compiled into one shot (shown above). So if you're not already, go ahead and follow the Fallen Earth team on Twitter. Who knows, they may have more of these exclusives soon!

Choose my Adventure: Conquering Kryta

by Shawn Schuster Jun 17th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Guild Wars, Lore, Hands-on, Choose my Adventure

Join me as I brave my way through lands unknown in an adventure dictated entirely by you, the Massively readers! Vote for everything from game played to character creation to ultimate goal and watch it unfold in a series of journals and galleries here on the site. Then, as the ultimate goal is reached, we'll do it all over again in a new game!

You voted and I listened, as this week's adventure took me through every town and outpost in the entire Krytan area. Eight cities later, I'm here to beg for more!

I found it very interesting that the readers wanted me to stay in Kryta and finish out the exploration of this area. It either means that you want me to take my time and do things the right way (although I did run down to Sanctum Cay and Riverside Province from Temple of the Ages), or you simply want my time in Guild Wars to last a bit longer. Either way, I'm here to do your bidding! Speaking of that, it's time to vote for next week's goal! Click through after the jump and let me know what will be next for our beloved Moira Zonk. Also be sure to check out her ongoing in-character journal and gallery, starting this week as she leaves Lion's Arch.

Gallery: Choose my Adventure: Guild Wars

Cities XL releases new screenshots in preparation for beta

by Shawn Schuster Jun 15th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Galleries, Screenshots, MMO industry, New titles

Monte Cristo has just released a few new screenshots for their upcoming city-builder MMO, Cities XL. Of course, we've talked about Cities XL in the past, including a few interviews with the team, and we're very excited to see the game progressing so well.

With a closed beta coming soon, and a launch later this year in France and Germany (crossing our fingers for the global release soon after!), all city-builder fans should be ramping up their excitement levels just a bit. These seven new screenshots included in our gallery below might help with that. Check them out, as well as our previous coverage of the game for more information.

Gallery: Cities XL

Blackstar briefly resurfaces, flaunts more concept art

by Colin Brennan Jun 12th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Galleries, MMO industry, Blackstar

It's been a while since we heard from Spacetime Studios and their science-fantasy epic, Blackstar. Rest assured, however, that the company is still chugging along fruitfully with their game, despite earlier hiccups in the development process.

Their latest blog is short, sweet, and to the point -- Blackstar concept art. Normally we don't all hyped up about a few pieces of concept art, but Blackstar has always been the exception to the rule. Spacetime's concept art team has developed a look to the game that really resonates for simple concept art. While the images that were posted this time around aren't anything high resolution, they still offer that same bold artistic style that all of B* has shown up to this point.

So, all in all, Blackstar is still on track. They're in stealth mode right now and are keeping their game close to their chest, but we can handle stealth mode when they continually produce quality like this.

New Jumpgate Evolution screens show fighters in action

by James Egan Jun 11th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Jumpgate Evolution

Massively recently took a look at Jumpgate Evolution at E3 2009, and we liked what we saw, which would be clear to anyone who listened to the latest Massively Speaking podcast. We put up some of the new screenshots for you to accompany our most recent feature story on Jumpgate Evolution, but the team at NetDevil released 14 new screenshots today.

We've added them to our core Jumpgate Evolution gallery, so have a look through our images below for the latest shots of the Quantar and Solrain fighters in action.

Gallery: Jumpgate Evolution Gallery

Fallen Earth Developer Diary: New Flagstaff University

by Shawn Schuster Jun 11th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Fallen Earth, Culture, Lore, MMO industry, New titles

Massively is proud to host a brand new five-part developer journal from the Fallen Earth team which will explore various levels in Fallen Earth, their storylines and how they make the player experience richer. This fourth one takes us through New Flagstaff University, and was written by Wes Platt, Content Team Lead for Fallen Earth.

Higher education's never been quite so deadly as it is in New Flagstaff University.

The campus was established by GlobalTech in the Northfields section of the Grand Canyon Province soon after the megacorp took over the national park from the federal government. A prominent and well-funded university, NFU provided top-notch scientific research and experimentation programs. In the century since the Fall, the school-like the great city that yielded its name-has crumbled into disrepair. However, it still contains equipment that's useful for scientific tinkering.

E3 2009: The evolution of Jumpgate Evolution

by Mike Schramm Jun 8th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Video, Jumpgate Evolution, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, Hands-on

The last time I personally saw anything about Jumpgate Evolution (Netdevil's re-imagining of the the very early space MMO) was almost two years ago when I spoke with the executive producer. At that time, we had little more than a few screenshots and concept art. Massively has spoken with Peterscheck and covered the game multiple times since then, but when I stepped into Netdevil's little booth at E3 (so little, in fact, that it didn't even have their name on it -- it was labeled with Gazillion Entertainment, their publisher), I didn't have any idea what to expect.

What I found was both surprising and impressive. Way back in that first interview, Peterscheck told me that they were trying to make a space shooter MMO that depended on skill rather than stats, that offered up a fully realized universe for players to explore, and gave some new options for PvP and space combat that we hadn't seen before. Sitting in their booth watching the game get played on three big screens, I saw all that and more. Hit the jump (gate) below for impressions and even a gameplay video from last week's show.

Gallery: Jumpgate Evolution E3 2009

Fallen Earth Developer Diary: Exploring the Cult of the Dead lair

by Dev Blogger Jun 4th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Fallen Earth, Lore, MMO industry, New titles, News items

Massively is proud to host a brand new five-part developer journal from the Fallen Earth team which will explore various levels in Fallen Earth, their storylines and how they make the player experience richer. This third dev journal from Grace Hagood leads us into Sunset Cemetery, the lair of The Cult of the Dead.

There is no peace for the dead at Sunset Cemetery. Vile cultists have desecrated the graves, while their vampiric masters lurk in the dank mausoleums. Beware, stranger, or you may join the mouldering corpses there.

Sunset Cemetery, also known as the Cult of the Dead lair, is a small instance available to players in the Northfields area of Fallen Earth. Unlike the massive Old Kingman Prison instance or the sprawling Hoffa Bunker level, the Cult of the Dead lair provides a linear experience. The tone of the story and instance design represents a departure from earlier gameplay.

New Lord of the Rings Online screens show Book 8's fiery crafting halls

by James Egan Jun 3rd 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches

Massively has been keeping an eye on what Turbine will deliver with Lord of the Rings Online Volume II Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-Dûm; in fact, we were given a dev tour of the Book 8 content and showed you some of the quest revamps and new instances. Beyond that we've taken a look at the Scourge of Khazad-Dûm teaser trailer and highlighted some of the crafting enhancements that are coming with Volume II Book 8. Now Turbine's given us a look at some more Book 8 content, with six new screenshots released today that show off the fiery crafting halls.

Click on through our LotRO Volume 2: Book 8 gallery for a peek at what you can expect in the June release of Scourge of Khazad-Dûm.

Gallery: LotRO Volume 2: Book 8

Gallery: LotRO Volume 2: Book 8 Dev Tour

Choose my Adventure: Leaving Pre-Searing

by Shawn Schuster Jun 1st 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Guild Wars, Game mechanics, Massively meta, Hands-on, Choose my Adventure

Gallery: Choose my Adventure: Guild Wars

LotRO dev tour: Massively's look at Book 8

by Shawn Schuster May 29th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Hands-on

Once again, Turbine has been kind enough to offer us a sneak peek look at the newest Book update to Lord of the Rings Online. This newest one, Volume 2, Book 8, introduces two new 3-man instances, a 6-man space and their largest instance to date: an enormous 12-man instance with six bosses! In addition, there's a revamp of quests in the 15-25 level range, many crafting system improvements and the Summer Festival, complete with new events and a different way to win the festival horse.

This dev tour was given by Aaron "Rowan" Campbell, Live Producer for LotRO and Adam Mersky, Turbine's Director of Communications. It focused mainly on the new instances, as we were shown the highlights of each space, including the incredibly difficult bosses at the end. Follow along in our 26-image gallery below for more on what we saw in Book 8.

Gallery: LotRO Volume 2: Book 8 Dev Tour

Fallen Earth Developer Diary: Exploring Hoffa Bunker

by Shawn Schuster May 28th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Fallen Earth, Lore, MMO industry, New titles

In the rugged hills of Toro Bend, far north in the Plateau region of the Grand Canyon Province, slouches a fenced town called Trailer Park. It's comprised of big-rig trailers and cargo containers left over from before the Fall. The inhabitants are mostly castoffs who can't fit in anywhere else – and in a mad world after the apocalypse, that's saying a lot.

Billy Bob Swayhill, a shopkeeper in town, talks a great deal. However, not much of it makes much sense. Beyond preaching the glory of soup, Swayhill mostly rants about the treasures waiting to be found in the Hoffa Bunker. He claims that's the final resting place of the treasures owned by Jimmy Hoffa, an assassinated President of the United States, who managed to get his hands on Al Capone's cash, the gold from Fort Knox, and Andy Warhol's soup supply.

Massively Features

Featured Games

Events Calendar

Name	Date
Fallen Earth Launch	Q2 2009
Global Agenda Closed Beta	July 2009
CrimeCraft Launch	Aug 25 2009
Champions Online Launch	Sep 1 2009
Cities XL EU Launch	Sep 3 2009
Aion Launch	Sep 22 2009
Earth Eternal Open Beta	Q3 2009