crime posts

EVE Online is as much a setting as it is a massively multiplayer online game. EVE's galaxy of New Eden spans thousands of charted solar systems, with thousands more waiting to be discovered in the uncharted frontiers reachable only through wormholes. For all the myriad opportunities New Eden offers players to explore and create, there are just as many risks. The dangers that other pilots can pose also provide memorable stories that few other MMOs can match. The outlaws of EVE Online halt the calming lull of mining lasers, inject some thrills into otherwise routine trade runs, and disrupt the rote completion of mission objectives. More often than not, encounters with New Eden's pirates will leave you with a pounding heart and surge of adrenaline to go along with the flaming wreckage of your ship, if not a one-way trip back to the cloning facility. They create that fear of what threats lie on the other side of the next star gate and ultimately set the tone for New Eden. But even among these criminals there are a few whose accomplishments truly stand out.

The capsuleer called Mynxee is a well-known pirate in New Eden's underworld. Hers is a name remembered well by the many victims who've met their end under rapid fire from her autocannons. She is the founder and CEO of Hellcats, an all-women pirate corporation in EVE Online, and a central figure in EVE's criminal society. Outside of New Eden, Mynxee has built up quite a following through her Life in Low Sec blog and is one of EVE's more active pilots on Twitter as well. If there is such an individual in New Eden that can be viewed as its pirate king, Mynxee is undoubtedly its queen. She first caught Massively's attention years ago with her flashy red dress (size -10), but she's since become a pivotal figure in New Eden, popular with players from all walks of life in EVE.

Massively recently spoke with Mynxee about the allure of being an outlaw, and how she has expanded the scope of her piracy -- bringing it out of the shadows of low security space and into the light, where players feel they are safest.

Fans of the upcoming urban crime game All Points Bulletin may have noticed there's been a bit of a hiatus with the video podcasts that Realtime Worlds has been releasing. (Although Massively did have a good interview with Chris Collins and EJ Moreland about APB this week.) The APB video podcasts are back for 2010 now, though, and Collins has announced that the next few will focus on the game's audio features. They're beginning the series by showing fans the game's music editor, demonstrated by Stuart Ross, All Points Bulletin's Senior Sound Designer.

These in-game audio tools in the Music Studio will allow players to create "death themes" -- very short sound clips that play when you take out another player -- or even create loops and tracks from scratch using software instruments. While the tools look fairly comprehensive, there are simple preset themes for those not familiar with audio tools. Even better, player-created themes and songs are fully tradeable. Players will be able to place their tracks on market for other Criminals or Enforcers to purchase. Stick with us after the jump for a video embed of the All Points Bulletin podcast episode 16: The Music Editor.

While you're unlikely to find Billy Bob Thornton running around in the landscape of CrimeCraft, recently players were treated to all the strange Santas they could handle in the recent holiday event "Mall Santa Photo Booth." Now as to how some weirded-out Terminator Santa got in there, we've no idea. Thankfully Victor B. was there to capture this image from the event, and might be able to shed some light on it:

CrimeCraft is a persistent online third-person shooter with an "over-the-shoulder" view similar to Gears of War. It takes place in a near future urban metropolis that revolves around gang warfare. Players can create gangs, craft weaponry, tailor clothes, and manufacture drugs. Game play in instances features a kill streak reward system similar to COD4. It grants experience points, which allows a player to upgrade their skills (skills are like perks such as martyrdom and explosives).

Well, perhaps a reader will explain the festive cyborg-looking thing on the left, eh?

If you'd like to join in the fun, send in screenshots from your favorite MMO to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to add your name, the name of the game, and a quick description in the email. We'll post the image out here for everyone to check out and give you the credit! Also, please make sure your screenshot is at least 1024 pixels across and has no visible UI elements.

Today's post-holiday Question of the Week for Earthrise concerns the game mechanics of being (and killing) criminals in the post-apocalyptic MMO. Players who opt to become felons will build up "Criminal Karma", what seems to be a sort of quantified notoriety. From what the developers are saying, it seems that going outlaw won't be a trivial choice, given such characters will be kill-on-sight in the more secure regions of Enterra island. Also, it may be difficult to wipe the slate clean if a character has a shady past.

According to Moll, the Earthrise Community Manager: "Criminals cannot clear their records, nor do they generate additional Karma by killing other criminals in safe zones." She adds that criminals who hunt down other criminals won't do so to repair their faction standings, rather there may be a good chance of obtaining loot by taking out a fellow wrongdoer. However, beyond such scenarios where 'evil fights evil', Earthrise's law-abiding citizens will have incentives for killing the criminals of Enterra; successfully knocking off criminal players will garner them extra Contribution rewards (faction standing).

The latest All Points Bulletin video podcast is a Q&A where Realtime Worlds devs field questions from fans of the upcoming urban crime title. Lead Gameplay Designer Jesse Knapp and Lead Designer EJ Moreland discuss a wide range of topics this week. They go into the possibility of releasing browser versions of the editors and letting players experiment with APB's extensive customization system -- although this won't be something we'll see at release. The APB devs also explain the limitations of layers in customizing your character's look, the next wave of beta invites (January), and reaffirm they're still looking at a Spring 2010 launch.

The video Q&A is also sprinkled with bits of footage showing things such as the damage states of vehicles (no broken glass though) and how layers can be used to alter your character's appearance. Stick with us past the jump for embedded footage of All Points Bulletin's 15th video podcast.

All Points Bulletin developer Realtime Worlds recently introduced fans of the urban crime game to some of the underworld organizations of San Paro. After focusing on the bad guys first, Realtime Worlds has released a follow-up video about the Enforcer vigilantes who hunt those criminals. Whether that makes Enforcers 'bad guys' too might depend on how morally flexible you are, but APB Lead Creative Designer Stephen Hewitt (aka 'Kitkat'), introduces viewers to the enemies of San Paro's criminals:

The Praetorians are something of a well-funded private corporate strike force, while the Prentiss Tigers are only jocks trying to keep their city safe. Hewitt also gives more info on the backstory of All Points Bulletin from the Enforcer perspective. Stick with us after the jump for a video embed of All Points Bulletin's The Organizations of San Paro part 2, a closer look at the game's NPC factions.

All Points Bulletin is definitely on the radar for a number of fans of urban crime games seeking a deeper multiplayer environment. While many of us would enjoy a perpetual cascade of felonies (or arrests), Realtime Worlds wants players to have a sense of San Paro as a fleshed out urban setting where they can create their own stories. Realtime Worlds Lead Creative Designer Stephen Hewitt (aka 'KitKat') discusses the stories that will run throughout All Points Bulletin in the latest video podcast and introduces viewers to the criminal organizations players will tangle with at some point.

We get a look at the G-Kings gang, who are essentially punks clawing their way up the criminal hierarchy of San Paro. Hewitt also gives us a glimpse at the Blood Roses, an organization comprised of trust fund club kids dipping their toes into a life of crime just for the thrills. Stick with us after the jump for the latest All Points Bulletin video podcast, The Organizations of San Paro.

Urban crime (game) enthusiasts, rejoice! The All Points Bulletin closed beta has begun, according to reports at both Eurogamer and Kotaku. It was rumored that the beta would begin this month and it seems there are presently three windows of gameplay a week in the All Points Bulletin CBT -- Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings, says Eurogamer's Oli Welsh. Those interested in ripping up the streets as either a Criminal or an Enforcer can still apply to become an All Points Bulletin beta tester at the game's official site.

APB is in development at Realtime Worlds in Scotland, and aims to bring a new level of online interaction to multiplayer urban crime games. Check out Massively's coverage of All Points Bulletin for more on what Realtime Worlds is creating.

All Points Bulletin from Realtime Worlds is eagerly anticipated by the GTA and Saints Row set, bringing much greater online interaction to the urban crime game genre. All Points Bulletin has been accepting beta applications and, according to Gamesindustry.biz, the beta will begin next week. They report that Realtime Worlds CEO Gary Dale mentioned the beta going live during Tech Media Invest 2009 in London. If all goes as planned, this is certainly good news for those of you who applied as beta testers.

APB video podcast 10 is also out, and shows us a continuation of the GamesCom 2009 footage from last month. In fact, this video quite literally picks up where the previous footage left off, showing off a bit of the Last.fm integration into All Points Bulletin, and how the unobtrusive heads-up display guides you to mission locations. We've got an HD embed of the video for you, so stick with us past the jump for a closer look at APB's gameplay.

The MMO industry is always changing, and if we're going to stay ahead of the curve, we need to re-evaluate some of our views and ingrained notions from time to time. The Redefining MMOs series at Massively is our look at the state of massively multiplayer online games as it is today, and where we see it going. This week we're going to look at how shooters have invaded the MMO space, give you a run-down of some promising MMO shooters on the horizon, and finally tackle the question of whether or not they should be covered here at Massively.

Something we're seeing more and more is a blurring of the lines between formerly distinct game genres -- this is especially true of shooters and MMOs. There are a number of shooters on the horizon that fit the bill as MMOs (although not RPGs), but such games are a radical departure from the DikuMUD pedigree shared by most MMORPG titles we cover at Massively. These shooter-MMO hybrids may have quests, levels, and classes, but they cast few illusions about being true RPGs. They're shooters through and through, but have persistent settings or are massively multiplayer -- traits which catch our attention.

It's no secret that some of us at Massively are looking forward to playing All Points Bulletin, an urban crime title on the way from Realtime Worlds. We learned a bit more about the game at PAX 2009 but we're always hoping to find out more. Fortunately, the company released a new video podcast today filmed at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne that many of our readers have been waiting for -- one with actual gameplay.

The series of videos released prior to this focused on the extensive customization options All Points Bulletin will offer. Although we see quite a bit of gameface from the audience in this latest video podcast, we also see a bit more of that attention to detail emphasized in the previous video footage playing out in the mean streets of the waterfront district. Among other things, the footage shows some very detailed gun animations w. shell ejects and, unsurprisingly, a lot of polish on the look of the vehicles. The user interface is also rather unobtrusive, particularly with the clear compass to guide players.

Interested in checking it out? We've got an HD video embed of APB Video Podcast 9: Viva Cologne for you after the jump.

CrimeCraft's launch date is just around the corner now, and if you haven't pre-ordered yet but plan on doing so, there really isn't a lot of time left! While the retail distribution of the game in North America and Canada is exclusive to particular stores (Best Buy for NA and Future Shop in Canada), there are a few choices when it comes to making a digital purchase. Future players will be able to buy and download the title from CrimeCraft.com, Direct2Drive (IGN), Steam and Best Buy Digital. All of the digital downloads come with a few in-game perks (different from each other), and all of them bar Steam offer some extras for pre-ordering. No matter which way you go, the suggested price of US$49.95 includes two months of premium subscription, including a ration of gold bars that are used for in-game microtransactions.

All of the information you need to know in order to make your choice is just past the break -- be sure to check it out if you plan on getting CrimeCraft digitally.

The team at Realtime Worlds has put out the 7th video podcast for their urban crime title All Points Bulletin, continuing their theme of focusing on customization options in the game. They've already shown us how we'll be able to embed symbols into everything from our clothing and vehicles or even our own skin.

This latest video podcast shows some of the fashion influences from their local city of Dundee, where they visit Arkive clothing, while showing a little more footage of the style that you can give your Criminal and Enforcer thugs in All Points Bulletin. Stick with us after the jump for the HD video embed.

Fans of urban crime games like Grand Theft Auto should have something to look forward to in 2010, with the release of All Points Bulletin from Realtime Worlds. It's an MMO-like game where you'll be able to go on rampages through city streets with hundreds of other players, either as criminals or the vigilantes who hunt them. We learned at E3 2009 that All Points Bulletin is slated for an "early 2010" release, in partnership with Electronic Arts, but now rumor has it that APB will release in March.

UK gaming site MCV reports, "The hotly-tipped APB by Scottish developer Realtime Worlds will arrive at retail in March, MCV can reveal." EA is still sticking with "early 2010", however, according to our parent site Joystiq. If we get any solid confirmation of the All Points Bulletin release date, we'll definitely give this a mention.

The crime-focused title All Points Bulletin is one of the upcoming games we've taken a fairly keen interest in here at Massively. While we're still hoping for more gameplay footage in the video podcasts that APB developer Realtime Worlds has been releasing since E3 2009, but there's been a fair amount of general info revealed about the game in recent interviews.

Although APB's design is a departure from some of the game mechanics found in massively multiplayer online games, Realtime Worlds is banking that their urban crime title will have the longevity of a solid MMO. Dave Jones, Creative Director on All Points Bulletin, says they could be looking at five to ten years of life in the game.