Filed under: Lineage

Massively's 2009 Winter Holiday Event Guide

by Rubi Bayer Dec 16th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, Aion, City of Heroes, Dark Age of Camelot, Dungeons and Dragons Online, EVE Online, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Lord of the Rings Online, MapleStory, Culture, Events, in-game, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online, MetaPlace, Free-to-play, Runes of Magic, Dragonica Online, Cities XL

It's that time of year again -- whatever holiday you are celebrating, the denizens of your favorite MMO are sure to be celebrating it too. Whether it's Festivult in Dungeons and Dragons Online, Wintersday in Guild Wars, or the Starlight Celebration in Final Fantasy XI, the theme is the same. There are presents, some sort of sugary treats, and tons of fun. Follow along with us as we check out who's partying in your favorite MMO and what you need to do to get in on the fun.

Massively wishes you a happy Halloween

by Alex Ziebart Oct 31st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Aion, City of Heroes, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Exteel, Free Realms, Champions Online, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

Halloween is probably second only to Christmas in terms of holiday popularity. Ask just about anybody what their favorite holiday is, and they'll probably list one of those two (if it fits the culture). Naturally, as MMO players, we have fun celebrating it in our virtual worlds just like we do in the real world. And boy, this year, do we ever celebrate. Just about every active MMO out there had (or has) something going on. The 2009 lineup included:

Most of these events last a few days into November, so if there's any one in particular you're dying to experience, you might still have a chance if you have a subscription laying around. If you're not able to visit any of these in person, we have screenshots from many of these events in the gallery below. Enjoy!

Gallery: Halloween 2009

Thrice the Halloween update hath patch'd

by Rubi Bayer Oct 20th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Culture, Events, in-game, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

We are well into that time of year - Halloween is almost here and a quick look into nearly any MMO out there will show it. We've been talking about quite a few games out there and how they're celebrating, but they're certainly not the only ones putting jack-o-lanterns in their windows. Follow after the jump for a look at how some of our other favorite MMOs are celebrating.

Score some cheap NCsoft game time

by Krystalle Voecks Jul 31st 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Aion, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Lineage, Lineage 2, News items

If you, like us, are always looking for a way to save a few dollars in your monthly MMO budget, then you may be glad to hear this news. After all, replacing all those robot minions when they get trashed can be really expensive - or maybe that's just us. In either case, if you're an avid City of Heroes or City of Villains, Lineage, or Lineage II player, then you'll be glad to hear that our friends over at GoGamer have a great sale on NCsoft time cards going on now. (We'd assume they'll work on Aion as well, considering their site lists these cards as being valid for Auto Assault....)

Right now, you can score two months of prepaid game time for the seriously cheap price of $18.90. While there is a shipping cost, the charge becomes very minor compared to the overall savings when you stock up on multiple cards. Of course, if you don't really want several months of cheap game time, you could always go in on an order with friends - or just send them to us. We'd gladly take any spare pre-paid time off your hands. Expensive robot minion replacements and all that, you know.

Should MMOs have sequels?

by Brendan Drain Jun 11th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, EVE Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Lineage, Lineage 2, Business models, Culture, Expansions, MMO industry, Opinion, Runescape, Academic, Education, Virtual worlds

From movies and books to computer games, the concept of the sequel is firmly embedded in the entertainment industry. It's usually a much safer bet to make a new part to an existing successful intellectual property than it is to back an untested product. In the games industry, sequels are a great way to make more money from the same game concept but as usual MMOs have proven to be something of a different animal. Subscription MMOs don't conform to the same rules as non-subscription games, favouring recurring orders and longer-term customer commitment over single purchases. While development studios often take sequels for granted, I'm forced to ask whether MMOs should have sequels at all or if a different paradigm is more appropriate.

In this article, I explore the games industry's obsession with repetition as I ask the question "Should MMOs have sequels?"

NCSoft adds its titles to Steam

by Lesley Smith Apr 22nd 2009 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, Aion, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, News items, Free-to-play

If you're one of those gamers who prefers the digital minimalist approach as opposed to having game boxes everywhere then you're in luck. MMO-giant NCSoft have announced they will be offering their titles -- including City of Heroes, Guild Wars, and Lineage -- via Steam. They're also planning to offer their latest, most anticipated and shiny MMO, Aion as well when the game launches later this autumn.

The company seem really excited and the press release sent to Massively Towers includes not one but two quotes. NCSoft are especially keen to note that there will be plenty of special offers on their products via the site and it's a great opportunity for anyone who prefers digital downloading.

Shopping list: Milk, bread, MMO game time cards...

by Seraphina Brennan Jul 28th 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Super-hero, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Lineage, Lineage 2, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Tabula Rasa, Exteel, Free-to-play

Let's face it, getting time cards for your favorite game is a necessity. It's up there with the milk, bread, and eggs that you need for your daily survival. We have enough stories about MMO withdrawal to fill a shopping cart, so why not sell our addiction where we can easily grab it?

NCsoft got the message and is pushing their time cards out to the masses by partnering up with Target, Rite Aid, and Best Buy. Now you too can literally walk down the street to the drug store and pick up your favorite addiction -- more play time. More importantly, if you're a subscriber to City of Heroes/Villains, grab yourself a time card because it will unlock an in-game jet pack for you to use.

The approach isn't anything new, as Nexon has already been providing their cash cards to customers of 7-Eleven convenience stores for some time now. What all of this does show is a marketing push by more game companies to get their cards into the mainstream market of consumer products.

Lastly, as a friendly reminder, when you're running out to get those "essentials" at Rite-Aid or Target before that "big storm" hits, remember your desktop computer doesn't work when the power is out.

ION 08: What can game developers learn from web 2.0?

by Barb Dybwad May 13th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Anarchy Online, EverQuest, Lineage, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Ultima Online, Runescape, Massively Event Coverage

This is becoming a popular topic. Adam Martin, lead core programmer at NCsoft, tackled this topic today in one of ION's morning sessions entitled "Web 2.0: How I learned to stop worrying and love the internet." In light of the low cost, high audience model of web destinations like Facebook and Myspace, are MMOs even a good idea at all? Is WoW the last major MMO we're going to see?

Martin started off with a brief history of MMOs starting with Ultima Online and Lineage in 1997. UO did well for years, remaining in the top 3 or 4 properties in terms of subscriber numbers, while Lineage was absolutely dominating the Asian market. When Everquest came along two years later it addressed a number of the technological problems that had been massively underrated previously, although patching was still a big and painful issue.

MMOS X: A roundup of MMOs for the Mac

by Mark Crump Apr 14th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, EVE Online, EverQuest, Lineage, Minions of Mirth, Vendetta Online, Second Life, Free-to-play, Mac, Casual, MMOS X

MMOS X is a bi-weekly column dedicated solely to gaming on the Macintosh natively. "Running Boot Camp or Parallels" is not an option here. This column is for people who want to get the most out of their Mac gaming, as meager as it is.

This week's column is a round up of sorts. I'll be talking about what MMOs with Mac clients are out there and links to the developer's site. If I've played them, I'll share any observations. I'm trying for bullet-points this time; some of these may warrant a closer look in a future column. So, most of these are just very brief overviews. For semantic reasons that likely make sense only to me, this time around I'm not mentioning multi-platform browser titles, and am instead focusing on games the developers have created a Macintosh client for.

Massively's Visual History of MMORPGs, Part I

by Samuel Axon Mar 31st 2008 at 2:40PM

Filed under: Galleries, Screenshots, Lineage, Meridian 59, Nexus: The Kingdoms of the Winds, MMO industry, The Realm Online, Ultima Online

The MMORPG genre has come so far in these past few decades, it's almost difficult to believe. The journey from text MUDs to America Online-based dungeon crawlers, and all the way up to Age of Conan and Warhammer Online has been a truly impressive one. We here at Massively would like to invite you to step into the time machine with us and take a visual tour of that journey. We're taking a close look at the most important titles in online role-playing game history!

What was the first MUD? Howabout the first 3D MMO? When did these games transition from niche curiosities to global, cultural phenomenons, and who's responsible? In this series, we'll tackle all those questions and more. Plus, we'll see just how far these fancy graphics have come over the years! Sound like fun? Jump into the gallery!

Gallery: Massively's Visual History of MMORPGs, Part I

GDC08: Cartoon Network's FusionFall

by Akela Talamasca Feb 26th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Lineage, Lineage 2, Culture, Game mechanics, Lore, New titles, News items, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Tabula Rasa, Ultima Online, Toontown Online, Free-to-play, Marvel Universe Online, Hands-on, Casual, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage, FusionFall

We were invited to check out Cartoon Network's upcoming kid-focused MMO FusionFall, and while clearly still in development, it shows a lot of potential. Developed in part by Korea's Grigon Entertainment, makers of Seal Online, QRing, and Gambledon, this is a title with a great deal of pedigree under the hood. Among the notable names on this project are Sam Lewis, former systems and content designer for Star Wars Galaxies; Robert Knopf, recently of Ultima Online; and Richard Weil, the community relations manager for many MMOs, including City of Heroes/Villains, Lineage I and II, Tabula Rasa, and Auto Assault.

With so many experienced and creative people behind it, FusionFall definitely stands to make a splash in the 8 - 14 year old demographic that Cartoon Network is shooting for. This isn't to say they don't have a few challenges ahead of them, however. We'll explore this, and show you the trailer, after the break.

Gallery: Cartoon Network's FusionFall

O'hare Airport really hasn't changed that much

I dunno... Stranglethorn Vale just isn't the same after Cartoon Network got ahold of it

Q4 2007: NCsoft's subscription numbers & Tabula Rasa's financial flop

by Matt Warner Feb 21st 2008 at 9:30AM

Filed under: City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Tabula Rasa, Academic

NCsoft crunches their numbers every financial quarter and releases this information in the open since they are publicly traded company. With all this information it provides a fantastic insiders look at one of the biggest MMOG publishers in the world. Another Massively writer already reported on the gist from the latest round of numbers, but with all the recent hoopla surrounding Tabula Rasa, let's take a closer look at NCsoft's subscription numbers across the board, and come up with a subscription number for Tabula Rasa.

Lineage
[Worldwide]: 1,049,763 subscriptions (down 93,936 from Q3)
[North America]: 6,414 subscriptions (down 585 from Q3)

Lineage 2
[Worldwide]: 926,570 subscriptions (down 4,693 from Q3)
[North America & Europe]: 79,986 subscriptions (up 943 from Q3)

City of Heroes/Villains
[North America & Europe]: 136,250 (-3,063 subs from Q3)

Guild Wars
[North America & Europe]: 4,878,000 boxes sold (+378,000 from Q3)

Subscriptions continue to decline, but the impact isn't very noticeable unless you look at the loss over a greater period. Over a million subscriptions have been lost since the Lineage franchise peaked. No exact subscription numbers are given for Tabula Rasa, but an educated guess is discernable with the available projections given by NCsoft's CFO Lee Jae-ho. Tabula Rasa's given projection stands at 16 million for 2008. Its subscription fee is the standard $15 a month, added up for the year that amounts to $180. 180 into the projected 16 million and you get 88 thousand users.

NCsoft releases sales numbers for 2007

by Chris Chester Feb 14th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Lineage, Lineage 2, Business models, MMO industry, Tabula Rasa

NCsoft's corporate monkeys released their sales numbers yesterday, showing off a solid net profit of $48.4 million, an increase of over 18% last year. Something has to be said for NCsoft's execs like new President Chris Chung, as the company was able to post a strong increase in profit, even as global sales dipped 3% since last year to $355.1 million. Sales for the crucial fourth quarter were up however, jumping 11% to $95.9 million on strong sales from the Lineage series and the launch of Tabula Rasa in November.

Korea continued to be NCsoft's dominant market, accounting for 59% of global sales, as compared to the 17% attributed to North America. This, of course, would account for the fact the relative success of the various franchises. Lineage and Lineage II, which are still wildly popular in Korea, ran sales of $34.2 million and $36.4 million, despite their age. Tabula Rasa, a title ostensibly aimed at the North American market with it's sci-fi and shooter fascinations, saw relatively meager sales of $5.4 million since it launched in November. This is further proof that the Asian market is simply too big to ignore. Companies looking to break Blizzard's grasp on the market may do well to look abroad.

GigaMedia partners with XLGames for world-rocking new MMO

by William Dobson Dec 12th 2007 at 7:30AM

Filed under: Lineage, MMO industry, New titles, News items

GigaMedia Limited has issued a press release to say that they are investing in and partnering with XLGames, a development studio headed by Jake Song. Song is known for being the creator of Lineage and also The Kingdom of the Winds. GigaMedia has gained board representation and some strategic rights to XLGames after their investment.

President of GigaMedia Thomas Hui said, "We are thrilled to partner with such a tremendously talented team and look forward to working closely with them on their new MMORPG, which should rock the world." There are no other details yet on this new MMO, but Song brings quite a pedigree to the project with the aforementioned games and having been NCSoft's Executive Vice President at one point, so we will fortify nearby buildings in anticipation of further announcements.

[Via Yahoo Finance]