Blizzard posts

LFG in Call of Duty?

by Rubi Bayer Nov 19th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Business models, Launches, News items

Well, it's a possibility, at any rate. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was officially released November 10th with what the LA Times described as a "Hollywood-scale launch". The launch expenses turned out to be money well spent, as the game had generated $550 million in sales as of last Saturday. Fans lined up days in advance to pick up their copy of Modern Warfare 2, complete with free night vision goggles.

While this was all very nice for Activision Blizzard, it was the end of the article that really got MMO fans interested: "One person close to the company said it also was considering adapting Call of Duty as a massively multi-player online world. The genre, in which Activision's Blizzard Entertainment subsidiary is a leader, requires huge upfront investments but can be very profitable as players pay a monthly subscription fee."

The possibility of a Call of Duty MMO is an exciting one for a very large group of gamers, and Blizzard is certain to be aware of that. We will definitely be keeping an eye out at Massively for more news on this possibility.

[Thanks Abel!]

Tags: activision-blizzard, blizzard, Call-of-Duty, call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2, infinity-ward, launch, modern-warfare-2

One Shots: My little pony

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 11th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots

You ever have one of those days when you're out working hard for The Man, and you get smacked down? Well, normally in MMOs, one would think you'd avoid this, but apparently Arthas had a bad-side-of-the-bed morning and decided to take it out on Jayden Beresford as she writes in: For the people who don't play this game a fairly large part of World of Warcraft lore was the attack on the people's of Azeroth by the Scourge. Many brave lives were lost in this fight, the warriors of the magnificent Horde and the pesky Alliance defeated by the legions of undead under the command of Arthas, the Lich king. My poor Troll warrior met her fate this way, her body forgotten on the battlefields until claimed and resurrected by the Scourge and turned into one of their own, a death knight who's purpose is to fight against the races she once defended. With only her master's voice in her head my reborn Deathknight supervises ranks of undead archers seeking to bring an end to life. Pity her Master saw fit to play a joke on her and assign a pony from Darkmoon Faire as her trusted war steed.

One Shots is in need of more screenshots, so if you've got some time while out adventuring, why not gather some up for us and send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com? Add your name, the game it's from, and a description -- guild and server welcome too -- and you're set!

Gallery: One Shots

Tags: blizzard, jayden-beresford, one-shots, screenshot-contest, screenshots, world-of-warcraft, wow

Electric Playground sits down with Blizzard to talk Cataclysm

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 10th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, Interviews, MMO industry

The gang over at Electric Playground just recently wrapped up their "Week of WoW" segment with a fitting conclusion -- a look into Cataclysm with Frank Pearce, Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Product Development, and J. Allan Brack, the production director on Cataclysm.

While the interview doesn't cover new information, it does give insight as to why Blizzard has chosen to go back and recreate the mainland of Azeroth. Thanks to lessons learned in The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard wants to take their new knowledge and apply it to their old zones, hence the diversity and changing of quests that Cataclysm is bringing to the table.

But don't take our word for it! Check out Electric Playground's interview for the full story.

Tags: blizzard, cataclysm, electric-playground, frank-pearce, interview, j-allan-brack, video, world-of-warcraft

The Digital Continuum: Five exciting MMOs in 2010, part 2

by Kyle Horner Nov 9th 2009 at 12:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Tags: bioware, blizzard, ea, electronic-arts, gazillion, gazillion-entertainment, jge, jumpgate-evolution, lucasarts, netdevil, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, the-digital-continuum, tor, world-of-warcraft, wow

Microtransactions and the splits in philosophy

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 9th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Business models, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion

No one was expecting the current 900-pound-gorilla of the MMO market to throw its hat in the ring regarding microtransactions, but the fact that it's in the mix has forced a large number of people to take a look at the philosophies and patterns of the business model. Killed in a Smiling Accident recently put down some thoughts regarding the differences, explaining that World of Warcraft's model is, in their opinion, inferior to the one found in the equally-significant microtransaction model of Dungeons and Dragons Online. The former has a store consisting of fluff items with no equivalent in the game, while the latter largely puts forth offerings that can be obtained in the normal game if you want to take the time.

Of course, there's the obvious counter brought up in the comments: that it's better to have microtransactions selling something you can't otherwise get in the game. Simply take a look at Champions Online and the controversy over retcon pricing to see how the two can be better left untethered. Getting something unique is a nice bonus for a game you enjoy -- for example, look at the bonus costume packs that City of Heroes sells. However, with items on sale that can be obtained from gameplay, the game can feel a bit more disjointed. There's a case to be made for both sides, and with the free-to-play model gaining speed, it should be interesting to note where the majority of MMO players draw the line.

Tags: blizzard, business-models, champions-online, city-of-heroes, city-of-villains, co, coh, cov, cox, cryptic, culture, ddo, dungeons-and-dragons-online, free-to-play, game-mechanics, killed-in-a-smiling-accident, microtransactions, mmo-industry, ncsoft, turbine, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Daily Grind: Your thoughts on Blizzard's new pets

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 5th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Business models, Opinion, The Daily Grind

In a move some expected and others didn't, Blizzard decided to remove that last layer insulating its game from the practice of RMT: real money transactions. Previously, players had to purchase the trading card game to get the special extra pets for the game, and that was rather a dicey proposition. You could just pay a high price and get the card directly, or you could take your chances with your money, much like Charlie in his pursuit of a golden ticket. Now, you can just go to the Blizzard store and purchase a Pandaren or a Lil' KT pet for $10USD.

Considering how several people were unhappy with the Champions Online microtransaction store, we can't imagine this is going over too well with everyone. Some feel that these are just pets and -- while pricey -- aren't anything to make a fuss over. Others feel that this is the top of the slippery slope that will eventually see some form of in-game benefits gained through store purchases, much like many item mall games. This morning we thought we'd ask you. Do you think this is a wonderful idea, and you're glad to see Blizzard exploring the territory? Do you think it's a good idea but the price is way too high -- a macrotransaction rather than a microtransaction. Are you leery but trusting for now? Or is this all a load of crap, and subscription games should make everything available if you're willing to grind it?

Tags: blizzard, opinion, tdg, the-daily-grind, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Digital Continuum: Torchlight my fire

by Kyle Horner Nov 2nd 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Opinion, Free-to-play, The Digital Continuum

For the past week I've been delving deep into the dungeons of Runic Games' Torchlight and found the experience to be nothing short of joyous. Granted, like many other people I also wish some kind of co-op shipped with the game (even over LAN) but thankfully the developer's next project will be an MMO built upon the foundation laid down by last week's release.

My joy for this game most definitely bleeds into its MMO incarnation, which has led to far too much thinking on additions I'd like to see made. So this week, I'm going to get them all off my chest in the hopes that I'll stop obsessing over them. Of course, there's never a guarantee with these things.

Tags: blizzard, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-ii, featured, mythos, perfect-world, persistent-world, pve, pvp, runic-games, the-digital-continuum, torchlight, world-of-warcraft, wow

One Shots: It's a bird! It's a plane!

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 29th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots

Sure, the peace between the Alliance and the Horde in World of Warcraft is supposed to be present, but it doesn't stop them from trying to take each other out whenever they can. Take for example today's One Shots sent in to us from Minifig of the Darkness Beyond Twilight guild. While this is obviously a Horde base on the Isle of Conquest, it doesn't stop Minifig from flying straight into it, in what appears to be a crazy attempt to ram straight into their zeppelin. Crazy or brave? You make the call!

With millions of World of Warcraft players, we actually don't get too many screens from that game. If you'd like to send one in from WoW or any other MMO, we'd be glad to post it. Drop it into an email addressed to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll show it off to all our readers and give you the nod.

Gallery: One Shots

Tags: blizzard, minifig, one-shots, screenshot, screenshots, world-of-warcraft, wow

Jagex cancels MechScape at significant cost, restarts anew

by Kyle Horner Oct 29th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Mechscape

Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard has indeed confirmed the cancellation of MechScape, although you wouldn't quite know it from his comments, which seem excited to be working on a different title with a new direction. This isn't the first time an in-development MMO has been rebooted in favor of a completely new direction, although Tabula Rasa at least kept its original name.

Why the sudden decision? According to Gerhard, MechScape wasn't able to avoid the same pitfalls of RuneScape. Of course, making such a move is going to cost Jagex millions, but their current financial success will be shouldering the weight. The new game -- known as Stellar Dawn -- should be coming in 2010 and will be based on the MechScape graphics engine.

The big changes planned for Stellar Dawn are content and combat focused, although no specifics were given by Gerhard. It's a bold move, no doubt, and sometimes this industry favors such decisions -- other times it punishes them significantly. Whether you look at this as stalled (Tabula Rasa) or prolonged (everything Blizzard) development, you have to admit it creates a notable amount of interest in Jagex's 2010 game.

Tags: 2010, blizzard, breaking, cancel, cancelled, eurogamer, jagex, mark-gerhard, mechscape, runescape, stellar-dawn, tabula-rasa

Massively interview with Aion's new community manager part 2

by Kyle Horner Oct 28th 2009 at 11:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Massively Interviews

Tags: aion, blizzard, community, daoc, dark-age-of-camelot, everquest, lineage-2, lineage-ii, nc-west, ncsoft, ncwest, planetside, soe, sony-online-entertainment, tamat, world-of-warcraft, wow

The Digital Continuum: 'Comfort' grind

by Kyle Horner Oct 26th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: MMO industry, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Often times grind is lambasted as the worst part of this genre, something to be minimized and removed to any and all extent. I understand all too well why; hundreds of hours of brain melting repetitiveness. Only here's the rub: the very nature of MMOs -- persistence -- creates a grind. Unless you keep it under a reasonable number of hours played, it'll turn into a festival of grind.

I used to think this was a colossal problem, yet lately I'm beginning to rethink my stance.

Tags: aion, blizzard, borderlands, comfort, eq, everquest, featured, gearbox-software, ncsoft, opinion, soe, sony-online-entertainment, the-digital-continuum, world-of-warcraft, wow

One Shots: Outland skies

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 20th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots

With Patch 3.3 bringing in lots of goodies, the holiday event coming up, and Cataclysm looming on the horizon, Outland may not be the place a lot of people are spending time these days. Nonetheless, the skies over this strange other-world remain a beautiful place to stop and enjoy a moment of quiet. This great World of Warcraft One Shots comes to us from Tristalus of the Crimson Alliance - a guild that he says has been together for 12 years this December! He writes in: Many of us have moved on from Outlands for some time now. One day while I was flying through gathering some materials, I looked up. Everything came together in the sky for a beautiful screenshot! You can almost picture flying through that can't you?

When your server goes down for maintenance, why not take a little time and dig through that screenshot folder. That way if you find something tasty from your travels, you can email it to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. Any other info you'd like to share about your guild, group, character, etc, is welcome as well. We'll post it out here and give you the thanks for contributing to One Shots!

Gallery: One Shots

Tags: activision-blizzard, blizzard, crimson-alliance, one-shots, screenshot, screenshots, tristalus, world-of-warcraft, wow

Should MMOs in general slow their roll?

by Kyle Horner Oct 14th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Culture, News items, Opinion

Over at Keen and Graev's blog, Keen brings up a rather interesting point about the pace at which we play MMOs nowadays. He's concerned that everyone -- developers included -- are too concerned with leaping and bounding through each and every moment they play an MMO.

There may really be no 'right' answer to the question this observation raises: Do we move too fast through an MMO? Or even more to the point -- in our opinion -- is this genre becoming too concerned with imitating a singleplayer game? Those two questions are most definitely connected and it really comes down to what people want, which ultimately reaches the question of how people spend their money.

Walled garden games -- we're talking World of Warcraft and such here -- most definitely thrive on pushing players forward. It's the sandbox games that ask their players to move around horizontally; to actually talk to someone for a reason other than finishing a quest to level or craft. It's all a matter of preference. If the sandbox loving, slow rolling players aren't being properly served, someone will capitalize on that. Why, we're pretty sure there's a new game called Fallen Earth that some of you may be interested in checking out.

Tags: activision-blizzard, blizzard, fallen-earth, fallen-earth-llc, keen-and-graev, social, world-of-warcraft, wow

Chinese agencies taking stake in online gaming

by Eliot Lefebvre Oct 13th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, News items, Rumors

It's ironic that just as the GDC in Shanghai is getting into motion, the Chinese government is making some moves regarding the future of online games in China. It's a sweeping change, at that -- the General Administration of Press and Publication, the regulator of games in China, made a declaration officially preventing any foreign companies from operating a game in China, through joint ventures or otherwise. The move is fairly clearly intended to prevent any foreign companies from muscling in on China's lucrative online gaming market, but it's possible that liberal interpretations of "investors" might even include foreign players on Chinese servers.

However, the GAPP's declaration isn't the end of the story. As it turns out, the Chinese Ministry of Culture is at odds with this announcement, claiming that the authority to make such decisions passed to them on the seventh of September. Tuo Zu Hai, the vice director of the Ministry of Culture's Market Department, said he was "shocked to hear the news", indicating that there was a communication lapse between the two agencies and the ultimate resolution is still up in the air. It's unsure of how much impact this will have on NetEase, whose recent acquisition of World of Warcraft was a major coup for the company and who would be directly affected if Blizzard was blocked from interacting with them.

[ via GamePolitics ]

Tags: blizzard, chinese-gaming, gdc, gdc-china-2009, mmo-industry, netease, world-of-warcraft, wow

GDC China 09: Netease speaks on combating botters

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 12th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play

GDC China 2009 is currently in high gear until tomorrow, but that doesn't mean we can't talk about some of the panels today! One of the highlights for the MMO industry was certainly the talk given by Yunfeng Lin, the design director at NetEase, on keeping up with botters and bot programs.

NetEase, the operator of the three Westward Journey games, Flyff (and here's the American version of Flyff), and the 100 pound gorilla that is World of Warcraft, is in a very unique position to speak on the troubles botters present to online communities. Westward Journey and World of Warcraft both draw huge numbers of people in China, but that also means they draw a huge number of botters.

Tags: blizzard, bots, botters, gdc-china, gdc-china-2009, gold-farmers, netease, online-community, world-of-warcraft, wow