timeline posts

Star Trek Online's producer: "In hindsight, it was pretty darn risky"

by Eliot Lefebvre Feb 11th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Interviews, New titles, Star Trek Online

Star Trek Online hit some pretty major windfalls, even disregarding the fact that it's built on a popular intellectual property with legions of dedicated fans. It launched during a timeframe when there were no other major releases scheduled, came out not too long after a very popular movie in the franchise, and caught a lot of exposure with its open beta. And as executive producer Craig Zinkievich points out in a new interview, the entire operation relied not just on hard work, but also on luck.

The full interview confirms that the whole game had a two-year development cycle -- an astonishingly short turnaround for a game starting, essentially, from nothing -- and details the scope of problems that the staff had to deal with. The game included a number of major departures from expected norms, up to and including divorcing the player from their avatar to a greater extent than normal and creating two different combat systems with just one team on the assignment.

Whether or not you're happy with the end result is a matter of personal opinion, but Zinkievich is quite pleased with what the team produced operating under their several constraints. He also details some of the planned enhancements for Star Trek Online in the near future, which promises to be a bit less risky and a bit more straightforward.

[Thanks to Randomessa for the tip!]

Tags: craig-Zinkievich, cryptic, cryptic-star-trek, cryptic-studios, development, development-timeframe, st-online, star-trek-mmo, star-trek-online, sto, timeline, trek-online

Fallen Earth's State of the Game: Upcoming additions and more

by Seraphina Brennan Jan 28th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Horror, Fallen Earth, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items

When it comes to transparency regarding patches, Fallen Earth might have just won that category in spades. The latest State of the Game article on their site is more than just an overview of the direction they want to take the game in, it's a patch by patch listing of the features that the development team will be bringing to the table.

Patch 1.3 will be expanding the game with the introduction of Kaibab Forest and Deadfall Point, as players will run a brand new plotline to push back the radiation zone and find more secrets hidden in the wasteland. The new areas come with a brand new level added to the cap, so all of that experience gained from the new area won't go to waste.

Tags: achievements, animations, clans, deadfall, deadfall-point, death-toll, fallen-earth, graphics, kaibab-forest, patch, pvp, radiation, respec, state-of-the-game, timeline, updates, veteran-rewards, wasteland

The Daily Grind: How well is the game aging?

by Eliot Lefebvre Jan 18th 2010 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Screenshots, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion

MMOs have a long lifespan, more often than not. Games that have lasted past a year will usually be around for many more besides, part of the reason why 2009's aggressive rate of death was so surprising. EverQuest and Ultima Online, both considered the twin pillars which started the modern MMO genre proper, are both alive and well several years later. While they're not perpetual, they're also fairly robust in their lifespans.

Of course, just because the game isn't dead doesn't mean it's not on life support. Anyone who has played during Final Fantasy XI's glory days will be quick to point out how much more empty the game has gotten in recent years. Graphics advance, and minor improvements seem increasingly minor as time goes by -- City of Heroes is due for an upgrade with its next expansion, but that will only put a new coat of paint on an engine that is several years old now.

How well is your favorite game aging? Does it still look pretty good despite its age, or is it showing definite signs of how long the whole thing has been running? Is it a minor hiccup, or does it make things much less enjoyable, even to the point of being unplayable?

Tags: aging, city-of-heroes, coh, eq, everquest, ffxi, final-fantasy-xi, graphics, lifespan, mmo-lifespan, old-games, timeline, ultima-online, uo

Star Trek Online lore: 2379 to 2384

by Adam Holisky Nov 3rd 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Star Trek Online

It's rare for an MMO to bring with it a history as rich and generational as Star Trek. The Trek universe is as deep and rich with lore as Lord of the Rings or Star Wars, and just like both those titles the lore has been passed down from parent to child over generations now. This leaves any game which attempts to encapsulate that lore in a precarious situation of both having to remain close to the canon, yet leaving enough creative room for the player to feel like they're making a true difference in the universe.

And while we have yet to see if Star Trek Online lives up to the second part of that criteria, we can take a look at how they are moving the lore forward and dealing with the canocial events of past Trek incarnations. The main conduit for this lesson in lore has been through the sporadic postings of The Path to 2409 on the official STO website. However, there's a lot of information there and it's quite easy to get lost in it all.

So, let's take a look at the Star Trek Online timeline Cryptic has released thus far. To begin with, we'll go over the years 2379 through 2384.

Tags: alternate-timeline, bajor, cardassian, cryptic, cryptic-studios, featured, federation, jj-abrams, klingon, reman, romulan, spock, star-trek, star-trek-movie, star-trek-online, star-trek-timeline, stark-trek-movie, sto, sto-featured, sto-timeline, timeline, vulcan

The Old Republic timeline video chronicles heroic last stand at The Battle of Bothawui

by James Egan Oct 23rd 2009 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, Star Wars: The Old Republic

One of the things we like about the lead up to the Star Wars: The Old Republic launch is BioWare's series of timeline videos that explains the political and military background of the upcoming MMO. The fifth holorecord from the Jedi Archive is The Battle of Bothawui which recounts a major Republic victory against the Sith. It also chronicles the last stand of a heroic group of Jedi knights and Republic troopers, who became martyrs in the struggle against the Sith Empire.

If you're following along with the lore of Star Wars: The Old Republic you'll want to watch "The Battle of Bothawui" on the game's official site.

Tags: backstory, bioware, holorecord, jedi, lance-henriksen, lore, new-titles, sci-fi, sith, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, the-old-republic, timeline, video

Sling your phasers in STO's first timeline video

by Kyle Horner Oct 14th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Video, New titles, News items, Star Trek Online

You're gonna get two things with this new Star Trek Online timeline video: Lots of in-game footage and plenty of lore at the same time. The footage is 100% ships blowing the ablative plating off each other, and for those hardcore Trekkies out there wondering why the Klingon Empire and Federation are blowing each other up, we've got one word for you: war.

Now of course, you're probably wondering why there's a war going on in the game -- which is set 30 years after Star Trek: The Next Generation's final movie, Nemesis. Well, you'll really need to watch the video for that. Said video -- full of awesome space battles -- can be found after the break.

Tags: atari, combat, cryptic, cryptic-studios, federation, gamestop, klingon, lore, star-trek, star-trek-online, sto, timeline, video

Age of Conan's patch plans laid out

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 2nd 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Fantasy, Age of Conan, MMO industry, Patches, News items

Timelines are always subject to change, but it's still nice to know them, right? Age of Conan's patching timeline was just laid out by community manager Oliver "Tarib" Kunz in an informal manner on the forums.

Patch 1.05.6 is currently on the test server, and it will be staying there for about another 2 weeks before it makes its way to the live servers, barring any unforseen testing mishaps, of course. That's the patch that has the new Iron Tower instance and the veteran rewards system.

Once 1.05.6 is out on the live servers, patch 1.06 will be pushed onto the test server. Patch 1.06 is the big one, featuring new tier three dungeons, the House of Crom "social dungeon" where multiple teams of players will work to overcome unknown obstacles, guild renown, and tower PvP. 1.06 will be added slowly to the patch server, however, focusing on the bigger updates like guild renown and tier three dungeons before moving on to the other features of the patch.

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, conan, funcom, iron-tower, patch, patch-1.05.6, patch-1.06, tarib, timeline, veteran-rewards

Mandalorians smack down the Jedi in SWTOR's new timeline update

by Kyle Horner Jul 3rd 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Lore, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

One of the most common questions asked regarding Star Wars: The Old Republic and the easily accessible Jedi is, "Who's going to take on an army of Jedi?" We've long since had the answer tucked away here at Massively, but now BioWare has been kind enough to illustrate it for us in their latest timeline update, which features the fearsome Mandalorians.

The nomadic Mandalorians are strikingly unique and much like the Jedi and Sith in that sense they're not an actual species; yet war is their singular goal in life. Their mantra is that strength is not merely good, it is great, it brings honor through battle. Thus, it's no surprise that Mandalorians are generally opposed to the Jedi and get along better with the power hungry Sith. At this point, the Republic Trooper's coutnerpart is pretty obvious. That powerful Jedi army doesn't seem so intimidating against legions of Sith, Bounty Hunters and bred-for-war Mandies, now does it?

We highly recommend you check out the timeline video. It's not only informative, but quite entertaining if you've got even the slightest amount of interest in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Tags: bioware, ea, electronic-arts, jedi, lore, lucasarts, mandalorian, mandalorians, mandies, republic, sith, sith-empire, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, timeline

Star Trek Online timeline shows where game falls in with TV and film canon

by James Egan Jun 13th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Star Trek Online

There is perhaps nothing that Star Trek content creators fear more than the collective power of Trekkie nerd rage when the universe's canon is altered. Cryptic Studios is well aware of this and wants to clarify where Star Trek Online falls in the IP's timeline, and they frame this in reference to the latest (and eleventh) film and the deviation from canon it introduces with an altered timeline.

Plainly stated, Star Trek Online adheres to the standard timeline. STO will be set in the same reality as the first ten films and the various TV series, from First Contact right through Voyager and beyond. Cryptic Studios has put together a graphical timeline of the entirety of the Star Trek legacy, showing exactly when the game picks after the shows and films leave off, with the events of Star Trek Online taking place in 2409. Have a look at Cryptic's Star Trek Universe Timelines for more.

Tags: canon, cryptic-studios, nerd-rage, sci-fi, star-trek-online, sto, timeline, trekkie

Hints of the Smuggler class in new SWTOR timeline update

by Kyle Horner May 17th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Who broke the Mandalorian blockade on Coruscant? Why, it was those wily Smugglers, that's who! The Sith weren't expecting the Galactic Republic to find assistance with that particular criminal aspect, but find it they did -- and you can learn all about it through the latest Star Wars: The Old Republic timeline update.

Of course, if this second update doesn't just scream, "Smuggler class!" then we're not sure you were paying close enough attention. Then again, BioWare could just be trying to throw us off the trail by making the Smugglers such an obvious component to the back story. The problem is that, either way, you really cany have Star Wars without these guys somewhere in the story. Who knows, maybe they'll be called Scoundrels instead?

And of course there's the possibility that Mandalorians will be featured as an Empire class, or at least the new update seems to loosely imply as much. Either way, we should expect some kind of shady character classes to be announced sometime in the near future.

Tags: bioware, coruscant, ea, electronic-arts, galactic-republic, lore, lucas-arts, mandalorian, republic, sith, smuggler, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, swtor, timeline

The Old Republic's timeline as voiced by Lance Henriksen

by Kyle Horner Mar 28th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Lore, New titles, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

If there's one thing a self indulging Star Wars fan knows, it's that lore is bountiful in our favorite science fiction pastime. So it comes as little surprised that a series high quality weekly webcomics just isn't enough for Star Wars: The Old Republic. BioWare has gone the distance and begun to put forth an audio timeline leading up to the current peace between the Galatic Republic and Sith Empire.

The historical record will be spoken by Master Gnost-Dural, Keeper of the Jedi Archives, who is in turn voiced by actor Lance Henriksen. BioWare fans will recognize him as the voice of Mass Effect's Admiral Hackett of the Human Systems Alliance. As for how many of these we should plan for, looking at the timeline reveals several more historical points (we counted 18) that took place before this inaugural first.

We'll try to feign a little surprise when "history" from the Knights of the Old Republic RPGs crops up somewhere in here, although hopefully it'll be more than a recap of those game's storylines.

Tags: bioware, ea, electronic-arts, galactic-republic, gnost-dural, knights-of-the-old-republic, kotor, lucas-arts, mass-effect, sith-empire, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, timeline

Star Trek Online timeline update covers the year 2382

by Kyle Horner Dec 8th 2008 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Lore, New titles, News items, Star Trek Online

Cryptic has updated the Star Trek Online timeline that leads up to when the game takes place. Just to refresh everyone's memory, Star Trek Online is set in the year 2409, which is thirty years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis. The newest update on the official website covers the events of the year 2382, or 27 years prior to the game.

The biggest part of this updates deals with the Romulans (biological cousins to the Vulcans) who are heading down a path to civil war, as political in-fighting continues to grow. Meanwhile the Unification movement, represented by Ambassador Spock, once again attempts to push their agenda by seeking the support of the Federation Council. Ultimately though, the Federation declines to support the movement to unify the two races, as the Vulcan members of the council aren't too keen on such an uncertain and essentially illogical idea.

Gallery: Star Trek Online Gallery