Filed under: MMO industry

GDC10: Torfi Frans Olafsson gives details on Tyrannis, Incarna and more

by Brendan Drain Mar 14th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Professions, PvE

For the last few weeks, EVE Online players have been getting excited about the up-coming Tyrannis expansion with its Planetary Interaction feature. We received our first taste of what Tyrannis will hold last month when the expansion was announced and since then we've speculated on how its planetary interaction feature might work. Although CCP haven't answered our interview questions on Tyrannis yet, we caught up with EVE Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson at GDC 2010 to get the inside scoop. Torfi was keen to point out that a lot of what CCP are doing in Tyrannis is laying the foundation for future updates and expansions. He calls Tyrannis "a stepping stone toward something even bigger."

In addition to providing some inside info on the upcoming Tyrannis and Incarna expansions, Torfi revealed that there are more people working on EVE today than ever before. In contrast to MMOs that cut down their development team sizes once the game is out, CCP's ranks have been increasing at a huge rate in recent years. The ever-increasing revenue generated by EVE subscribers allows them to fund a large development team dedicated to making the game better for EVE players. "We've never had as many subscribers as we have today", says Torfi, "330,000 subscribers, like actual paying subscribers, not counting trials." It's thanks to all those subscribers that CCP are beginning to realise dreams they were never able to achieve when the game was less popular.

Skip past the cut to see what Torfi Frans Olafsson had to say about Tyrannis, Incarna and more.

GDC10: Massively's day 4 roundup

by Jef Reahard Mar 13th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Video, Aion, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Hands-on, Casual, Champions Online, DC Universe Online, Black Prophecy, Vindictus

Day four of the Game Developer's Conference is in the books, and was one for the books as well. Massively managed to score a number of interviews, hands-on features, and we even got our mug in front of the cameras at one point during all the craziness. As you're aware by now, there is still much more to come from our trip to San Francisco, so take this opportunity to catch up on any stories you may have missed.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for our final day coverage as well as a wrap up of all our favorites from the show.

GDC10: NCSoft speaks out on Aion 1.9

by Jef Reahard Mar 12th 2010 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, Patches, News items

We've covered a lot of newly released (and as yet unreleased) games this week at GDC 2010, so it's always good to check in with an MMORPG that's been around for awhile to see what's coming down the pipe. Today we caught up with NCSoft's Andrew 'Tamat' Beegle, North American Community Manager for Aion, and asked him all sorts of questions about Aion's big 1.9 patch.

The update, already live on the game's Korean servers, will be coming to the States and Europe in short order, so read along after the jump to get a taste of what NCSoft has in store for it's loyal Daevas.

BioWare details new TOR planet, web comic

by Jef Reahard Mar 12th 2010 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Video, MMO industry, New titles, Wallpapers, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

BioWare has released preliminary details on another planetary play field from their upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG. Belsavis plays host to an ominous Republic prison facility, apparently used to process all manner of Sith, Mandalorians, and troublesome aliens of various species. Check out Belsavis' HoloNet entry, don't forget to watch the video, oh and there's also the media section featuring screens, wallpapers, and lore.

BioWare has also partnered up with Lucasarts and Dark Horse Comics to bring you Blood of the Empire, a new web comic by senior writer Alexander Freed. The title, set prior to the Treaty of Coruscant, promises to shed some light on the machinations of the Emperor's inner circle as well as inform portions of The Old Republic's extensive back story.

Check out a preview panel from the forthcoming comic.

CCP looking for lots of new people

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 12th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: EVE Online, MMO industry, News items, World of Darkness, DUST 514

Are you one of the myriad pilots in EVE Online? Does the idea of DUST 514 make your thumbs twitch in anticipation? Are you waiting for any news on the World of Darkness MMO? If you answered yes to any of the above, you have experience working on games, and are looking for a change, then you'll want to check this out.

CCP have posted a gobsmackingly enormous amount of openings on their website for any game development folks currently looking for a new spot -- or to just make a career change. The current openings are in their studios around the world: Atlanta, GA (USA); Newcastle, UK; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Shanghai, China. Positions listed are for everything from Programmers and QA Testers to more specialized spots like Lead Fashion Designer.

Some of the spots are more obvious than others: console designers are undoubtedly tied to the development of DUST 514. The QA job in Atlanta references "our upcoming MMO" which, along with White Wolf being headquartered there, reinforces it as the likely spot for the World of Darkness MMO. Iceland, of course, is the long-held bastion of EVE Online -- and The Party on Top of the World will be local if you land a spot there!

So if the idea of becoming part of a company that seems to understand that working hard and playing hard can happen in the same place, then get that resume shined up and head on over to CCP's job listings.

GDC10: Vivox's Monty Sharma interviewed

by Jef Reahard Mar 12th 2010 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Events, real-world, MMO industry, News items

While often overlooked among gamers due to the prevalence of Ventrilo and Teamspeak, integrated MMORPG voice chat is a service that is steadily gathering steam, and leading the charge is Vivox, Inc. Founded in 2005 and headquartered in Framingham, Massachusetts, Vivox has pioneered integrated voice technology in games as diverse as EVE Online, EverQuest II, and Second Life.

We sat down with Monty Sharma, Vice President of Product Management and Marketing at this week's Game Developer's Conference to talk about the company's past, present and future.

Hit the jump for the full interview.

Derek Smart: big changes in store for Alganon

by Rubi Bayer Mar 12th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Alganon

"Dave Allen didn't 'depart'. I fired him back in February for insubordination and for acting against the best interests of the company, the LLC investors (who I represent), the game and the team."

Well, there you go. Wednesday night we brought you the news that David Allen was gone from Alganon. Shortly after that, Derek Smart spoke out in a big way regarding the event. He has a lot to say and the full post is a great read. He pulls no punches and he seems to have a lot of plans, but you can follow along after the jump for the highlights.

GDC10: Massively's day 3 roundup

by Jef Reahard Mar 12th 2010 at 10:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Star Trek Online, Free-to-play

We're back with the latest edition of our GDC10 roundup. Yesterday was another big day in the world of MMORPG news, and Massively staffers were working overtime to bring you fresh scoops on the latest projects from your favorite developers. As always, there's a lot more to come as the Game Developer's Conference rolls on, but take a moment to check out these stories you may have missed.

Stick around as we're gearing up to bring you interviews with Bioware, En Masse, Gamigo, and The Secret World's Ragnar Tornquist later in the week.

The Daily Grind: Do you follow industry personalities?

by Eliot Lefebvre Mar 12th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Culture, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind

Every field has celebrities of one stripe or another, and MMOs are no different. Some of them start off as programmers, some start as producers, and some start as commentators that later move into an official capacity. Some have a track record of success, some have a big success and a big failure, and some are considered to be solely at fault for anything that goes wrong in a game. But no matter what the background, they're personalities of note, whose words start having an impact on people even when they're not working on a big project. People listen to them, quote them, and take note of their various projects.

Especially in light of recent personality-based developments, it's certainly worth asking how much people really follow the paths of programmers outside of playing their games. The MMO industry doesn't follow Richard Garriott like mainstream media follows Brad Pitt, but he still finds ways to be seen even when he's between major projects. Do you follow specific people in the gaming industry, either out of liking what they've done or wanting to avoid what they're working on? Or does the practice annoy you, and all you want to focus on is the actual games they produce?

CCP: Unreal Engine 3 will power Dust 514

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, New titles, News items, MMOFPS, DUST 514

EVE Online developer CCP Games has announced a partnership with Epic Games China that will bring Unreal Engine 3 technology to their forthcoming console MMOFPS known as Dust 514. Set in the same universe as their successful PC MMORPG, Dust 514 is a console-only title that will enable players to interact with EVE pilots as they battle for control of New Eden's resource-rich planets.

"The dynamic large-scale battlefields of DUST 514 presented an interesting challenge for us," said Hilmar Petursson, CEO of CCP. "We determined Unreal Engine 3 to be the perfect solution because its tremendous flexibility allows us to easily integrate new technology and produce stunning results."

Hit the link for the full press release.

[Thanks Amethyst Lynx!]

Runes of Magic will be heading to Facebook with RoM: The Challenge

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 11th 2010 at 3:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, Casual, Runes of Magic

When it comes to Facebook games, some MMO players look at them as being a scourge; a strange offshoot of a genre they know and love. To others, it seems the next logical step in gaming. And nobody can doubt the revenues involved are sweet for companies who manage to hook casual gamers into their games. But now, we have a heads-up from the team at Frogster Interactive that they plan on trying to cross their successful Runes of Magic IP into the Facebook casual gaming market.

Dubbed Runes of Magic: The Challenge, this new social media game (currently under development) will use the lore from Runes of Magic in a whole new casual game. The Facebook game is said to use networked gaming and viral communications and will give players "adventure, exploration, and strategy elements." Through playing the casual game, people will gain cards with key codes that work inside Runes of Magic -- thereby potentially drawing some new players off of Facebook and into the full MMO.

Our team at GDC has an interview with the Frogster Interactive and Runewaker Entertainment teams coming up later today, where we're sure we'll hear far more about this interesting new gaming development. We'll bring you all the details as soon as we have them!

Black Prophecy networking physics explained

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, Black Prophecy

Reakktor Media Technical Director Cyrus Preuss is back with his fourth and final dev diary regarding Black Prophecy's game physics. This time around, the focus is on the networking side of the equation, and the article does a good job of presenting the Reakktor team's networking challenges to the lay person.

"It must be noted that we are talking about a real first-person, respectively third-person MMO. So no server-sided dice play but real physical hit detection," Preuss says. "All of these mechanisms serve to determine what actually happens as precisely as possible. Every parameter adjustment has "logical" consequences as well as side effects that you can only track down with precise analysis."

Whether you're a physics major, or your eyes gloss over at the thought of balancing your checkbook, it's clear that Black Prophecy is a labor of love for Reakktor.

Hit this link to jump to the original article, as well as the first, second, and third parts of the Game Physics dev blog. Also be sure and stick with Massively all week as we will be interviewing the Reakktor team at GDC 2010.

GDC10: Massively's day 2 roundup

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Galleries, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, Browser, Crime, Poisonville, Battlestar Galactica Online

Welcome to another edition of Massively's GDC 2010 daily roundup. Yesterday brought a fresh onslaught of news about many a forthcoming MMORPG, and our tireless reporters were once again on the front lines. The day was definitely quality over quantity, as we settled into the rhythm of the conference and sat down for several interviews that we'll bring you later this week, including chats with Virtual Fairground and Turbine's Fernando Paiz. For now, check out our GDC stories from yesterday that you might have missed.

Also, you can browse our Poisonville gallery below, and be sure to check back throughout the remainder of the week as we bring you more GDC 2010 coverage.

Gallery: GDC10: Poisonville

GDC10: R.A. Salvatore talks Copernicus

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, News items

One of the great joys of game journalism is the opportunity to talk with a large cross-section of creative minds, all of whom share a passion for the art form. It's even more fun when you get to talk to something of a living legend, as Massively did today when we had the chance to interview multi-million selling author R.A. Salvatore at GDC 2010.

For the three of you who've been living under a rock since the late 1980s, Salvatore is the creative force behind 22 New York Times bestsellers, including the The DemonWars Saga, Star Wars: The New Jedi Order - Vector Prime, and the Dark Elf series, whose protagonist Drizzt Do'Urden is one of the more celebrated fantasy characters in the genre's history.

We sat down to talk with Salvatore about his role at 38 Studios, and how he's bringing his unique storytelling abilities to their top secret Copernicus project, an MMORPG sharing the same universe as the Project Mercury single-player RPG announced yesterday at the Game Developer's Conference. Hit the jump below for the full interview.

EA: SWTOR is our largest project

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic may or may not live up to its advance billing as a potential World of Warcraft competitor. If it doesn't, it won't be for lack of a budget, according to a statement given by Electronic Arts' chief financial officer Eric Brown yesterday.

While meeting with Wedbush Morgan Securities in New York, Brown characterized the forthcoming Star Wars MMORPG as the "largest ever development project, period, in the history of the company." Brown declined to give specific financial details, but it's clear that EA and Bioware aren't leaving much to chance when it comes to spending money on development.

According to Eurogamer, Brown went on to discuss the estimated costs of bringing Blizzard's World of Warcraft to market back in 2004, and noted that the lifetime development costs likely topped $100 million "to actually ship it and obviously then there's maintenance subsequent to ship and expansion packs."