featured posts

New Star Trek Online video shows tactical combat, UI

by Adam Holisky Nov 19th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, New titles, Star Trek Online

Cryptic has released the first part of a series looking at the tactical ship combat in Star Trek Online. It's definitely worth watching, especially if you've been following the progression of Star Trek Online's combat development; in this regards it's nice to finally see some in-game action as we'll experience it when STO releases in February.

There are a few points that STO Director of Production Craig Zinkievich, Game Designer Zeke Sparkes, and Producer Daniel Stahl make which are worth noting. We've already heard most of it, but the in-game footage demonstrates most of these concepts nicely.

You can watch the video above, or head over to our sister site Big Download to grab the hi res version. The hi res version of this video is worth it.

After the break we'll take a look at the major points, as well as talk about some of the high resolution screen grabs of the UI shown in the video.

Gallery: Star Trek Online Beta User Interface

Tags: craig-zinkievich, cryptic, cryptic-studios, daniel-stahl, featured, lcars, star-trek-online, star-trek-online-ui, star-trek-online-user-interface, star-trek-online-video, sto, sto-ui, sto-user-interface, sto-video, user-interface, zeke-sparkes

Massively Speaking Episode 77

by Shawn Schuster Nov 18th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Culture, Opinion, Massively Speaking

Massively Speaking Episode 77 is back with Rubi and Sera joining Shawn for discuss on the week's MMO news. Discussion includes: Funcom's beta promotion for The Secret World, Stargate World's new screens, Blade & Soul teaser and a ton of Star Trek Online news.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
[Zune] Subscribe to Massively Speaking via the Zune service.
[RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator.
[Digg] Like the show? Digg it.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
[VW] Listen at VirginWorlds.com
Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Tags: featured, massively-speaking, podcasting, podcasts

Choose my Adventure: Doing you a Favor

by Shawn Schuster Nov 18th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Culture, Free-to-play, Massively meta, Hands-on, Choose my Adventure

In this week's Dungeons and Dragons Online adventures, the Critical Mass guild came across a bit of a challenge, and not in the game. With last week's vote guiding our hero to spend his hard-earned Turbine Points on an adventure pack, not everyone in the group had those same points to spend. So we spent our playing time gaining favor, which can be turned into Turbine Points.

In lieu of an in-character story this week, I'm going to spend some time explaining Favor and the DDO store for anyone who is curious about how this all works. I'll also explain our next poll, as I'd like you to vote on the specific Adventure Pack in which our hard-earned points will be spent. Follow along after the jump for more!

Tags: choose-my-adventure, ddo, ddo-store, dungeons-and-dragons-online, favor, featured, polls, turbine, turbine-points, voting

The Digital Continuum: LotRO's feature future

by Kyle Horner Nov 17th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

There are many wonderful features within Lord of the Rings Online, especially with Siege of Mirkwood edging upon the horizon like a merchant's ship carrying treasure chests full of shiny new features. However, for many a person, the game just doesn't click into place. Whether it's because of a missing feature or the pace of combat, some people find themselves unable to acclimate a groove.

So let's talk about features and changes that would help attract fresh blood while keeping the old guard happy -- because changing the core of an MMO is never truly a good idea, but bring in fresh blood doesn't hurt.

Tags: featured, lord-of-the-rings, lord-of-the-rings-online, lotro, mines-of-moria, opinion, siege-of-mirkwood, som, the-digital-continuum, tolkien, turbine

ReSubbed Episode 1: Asheron's Call

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 17th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Asheron's Call, Opinion, Humor, ReSubbed

At this point in time, we probably have you intrigued enough to read this paragraph. You're wondering what this new column is, aren't you? Well, wonder no further, dear readers, as you're looking at the second ever weekly Massively video feature -- ReSubbed.

What's this show all about? Simple -- take willing saps, er, participants, and subject them to a random MMO each week while recording the insanity. It's a preview, a review, a revisit, and a drunken raid all recorded live, hosted by Seraphina Brennan. We go inside the game so you don't have to. Plus, you can laugh at our misfortune. What could be better?

This week on ReSubbed, Sera has recruited Kyle Horner as her wing man as she subjects him to Asheron's Call in honor of the game's 10th anniversary. What happens when Kyle figures out that all of his emotes are bound to the keys of the keyboard? Check it out, right after the break.

(The management would like us to inform you that ReSubbed does contain one instance of profanity this week. So, be warned, we're slightly NSFW.)

Tags: 10th-anniversary, 1999, asherons-call, featured, glados-has-nothing-on-this, humor, opinion, portals, resubbed, video

Gameforge introduces Gates of Andaron in developer tour

by Rubi Bayer Nov 16th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Free-to-play, Massively Hands-on, Gates of Andaron

Gates of Andaron, the free to play MMO from German developer Gameforge, recently arrived in North America, and we were fortunate enough to take a tour of the game. Community Manager Ben Buchwald and Senior Marketing and PR Manager Marcel Jung were our guides, showing us around and giving us some insight into the land of Iberia. Follow along after the jump for a look.

Tags: ben-buchwald, developer-tour, featured, gameforge, gates-of-andaron, marcel-jung

Ships! Star Trek Online community Q&A answers

by Kyle Horner Nov 16th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: New titles, News items, Star Trek Online, Massively Interviews

It's a bit late due to some scheduling issues, but your first batch of Star Trek Online community questions are here and they're all about ships as promised!

Of course, we noticed many of you had space combat questions. While those unfortunately weren't answered this week, our new topic (up later today, so be on the look out for it!) will in fact, be, space combat. Still, many of your questions are answered below. As the weeks continue to go by, we endeavor to fulfill your quest for as much information on Star Trek Online as possible. Enjoy!

Tags: atari, community-qna, cryptic, cryptic-studios, featured, federation, klingon, klingons, ships, star-trek, star-trek-online, starship, starships

EVE Evolved: Trading: The basics

by Brendan Drain Nov 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, Academic, Education, EVE Evolved

Of all the moneymaking endeavours you can take in EVE Online, trading is perhaps the one with the highest potential for profit. While mission-running profit tops out at a few tens of millions per hour and the profit margin from production isn't that big, trading is limited only by the amount of effort you're willing to put in and is much improved by inherent business talent. At the low end of the trading spectrum, beginners can make a healthy income ferrying items from A to B. At the other extreme, a market-savvy individual can pull billions per week out of the players in EVE's great conglomerated marketplaces.

In this first guide in a short series on trading, I look at the different types of trading options available to newer EVE players.

Tags: buying, ccp, ccp-games, contracts, courier, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, guide, hauling, isk, market, professions, profit, pve, refining, selling, tips, tips-and-tricks, trading

EVE Evolved: Trading: The basics, page 2

by Brendan Drain Nov 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

Tags: buying, ccp, ccp-games, contracts, courier, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, featured, guide, hauling, isk, market, professions, profit, pve, refining, selling, tips, tips-and-tricks, trading

MMOrigins: The play's the thing

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 13th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Opinion, MMOrigins

When it comes to my roots in MMOs, I actually have to start fairly early on with my general introduction to tech geekery. Growing up in my house was a somewhat strange affair. You see, back when computers used to take up entire rooms and ran on giant reels of tape -- later plastic key cards and paper tapes -- my father was working with them. Being part of our household meant one was essentially living with a highly technical mind that worked on and loved things like supercomputers. I experienced ideas and machines that many in the world hadn't, save in movies or on TV. It also meant that there were some pretty strange technical odds and ends floating around our home.

Tags: cosplay, featured, larp, live-action-role-playing, mmo, mmorigins, mmorpg, mmospg, opinion, role-play, role-playing, vampire-the-masquerade, vtm, wod, world-of-darkness

MMO Family: Virtual worlds for kids

by Lisa Poisso Nov 13th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Club Penguin, There, Habbo Hotel, Gaia Online, Barbie Girls, Kids, Moshi Monsters, MMO Family

MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family ... From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family.

Nestling somewhere in between MMOs and social networking, virtual worlds are a virtual sandlot for millions of kids worldwide. Think avatar-based chat and mini-games alongside other kids of the same age range and interests, and you'll catch the appeal of these kid-friendly destinations. While a gaming parent might consider virtual worlds mere training wheels for games still to come, kid-friendly virtual worlds seem to fit the attention spans, chatty nature and niche-y interests of kids to a T.

The sheer variety of worlds appealing to children makes it easy for kids to find a spot where they'll want to hang out. As of early 2009, kids could choose from 112 virtual worlds designed for children and teens, according to Engage Digital Media, with more than 80 new worlds under development. The numbers of kids who've found a virtual home in these worlds rivals even the fat figures of MMO big dog World of Warcraft. Research firm eMarketer estimates that in the United States alone, 8 million kids hung out in virtual worlds regularly during 2008; that number is projected to swell to more than 15 million by 2013.

Tags: action-allstars, barbie-girls, bella-sara, build-a-bearville, children, dizzywood, family, featured, parents, pixie-hollow, poptropica, ridemakerz, roblox, seapals-world, secret-builders, teen-second-life, toontown, tootsville, tygirlz, virtual-worlds, webkinz

Betawatch: November 13th - 20th, 2009

by Rubi Bayer Nov 13th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Massively meta, Betawatch

Welcome to Betawatch, Massively's weekly report on the state of MMO betas. In each installment, we'll report everything from the latest open betas, closed betas and even alphas in one convenient place. Plus, we'll make sure to include as much info on each game's current status, including projected release dates (if known) and links to the sign-up forms to get yourself into that beta you've been seeking.

We bid farewell and good luck to Bright Shadow -- they launched on Wednesday. Alganon makes the jump to the open beta list, and Allods Online and APB move to the closed beta list. (Check out our First Impressions of Allods Online!)

Follow along after the jump for the complete list.

Tags: alpha, beta, betawatch, closed-beta, featured, massively-meta, open-beta

Aion live server numbers crunched

by Brooke Pilley Nov 13th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, New titles

Aion has been out for roughly 6 weeks so we thought it might be fun to crunch some of the numbers NCsoft provides on their official North American website. We've taken a look at realm balance, class balance, and what level Aion's population is at. Data collection occurred on November 12 at noon Eastern. A spreadsheet containing all data can be viewed here.

Realm population balance (Elyos vs. Asmodian)

Realm population balance is 50/50 on 3 of 14 servers. The remaining 11 servers have the Asmodians ahead of the Elyos by a 51:49 ratio. It appears as if NCsoft's forced realm population balance mechanic is keeping things under control, but one wonders how rampant these disparities would be if character creation was unrestricted. We've seen unbalanced two-faction MMOs before.

It should be stated that these numbers only represent a tally of Elyos and Asmodians across all servers and not how organized or active each realm is in PvPvE.

Tags: aion, featured, ncsoft, ncwest, number-crunching, numbers, population-balance, realm-balance, server-metrics, server-statistics

First Impressions: Allods Online

by Shawn Schuster Nov 13th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Video, New titles, Previews, Opinion, Free-to-play, Massively meta, First Impressions, Allods Online

Because we don't do straight reviews on this site, a First Impressions piece is the closest you're going to get. In First Impressions, we run through the first 5 to 10 levels of a game and let you know what we thought.

In this one for gPotato's upcoming free-to-play Allods Online, we did something a bit different. Instead of just a write-up, we've also done a short video to show the visual side of our impressions. Why? Because Allods Online deserves it, in our opinion. Keep reading after the jump for the embedded video and a brief run-down of what we thought.

Tags: allods-online, featured, first-impressions, gpotato

Anti-Aliased: We put the no in innovation

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 12th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Anti-Aliased, Alganon

So, yesterday I was browsing our site, and I was happy to see that our community interview with David Allen had gone up, as I didn't get the chance to read it. We had lots of great questions sent in, and I think the ones that Shawn chose were really some hard, direct questions, that I felt someone really had to ask.

Reading David's answers left me thinking, however. David is a person who I certainly admire, as he was the brain behind Istaria, and he really presented some very innovative gameplay mechanics in that game. Alganon, however, is not innovative nor is it cutting edge. It is, quite frankly, another World of Warcraft. Something that, in my opinion, this genre does not need another of.

David's rationale as to why Alganon looks and plays like Warcraft is the part of the interview where I was left in thought. While I understand he wanted to make a game that players could easily adapt to... did it have to resonate of Warcraft so strongly? Furthermore, are we, as a genre, stuck in a rut?

Editor's Note: (As always, if you wish to comment on this edition of Anti-Aliased, please do so on page two of the column. Thank you!)

Tags: alganon, anti-aliased, art, creativity, david-allen, design, featured, innovation, mmofps, opinion, theme, user-interface, world-of-warcraft