Massively - Daily News About MMOs

Lineage readies Season 3, Episode 1 update

by Jef Reahard Jul 26th 2010 (33 minutes ago)

NCsoft

Massively is traveling back in time this week with regard to NCsoft titles, first with news about updates to Lineage II and now with word on an exciting bit of new content for the original Lineage. Yes, you heard right -- the first-gen MMORPG (originally released in 1998) is still alive, kicking, and updating.

July 29th will bring players the opportunity to experience Episode 1 of Season 3 on NCsoft's Play Test Servers. Subtitled Crack of Time and featuring new classes, a dungeon, and an expanded storyline, the update has yet to receive an official live release window.

New classes include the dragon knight (a damage-dealer featuring the ability to shape-shift into beast forms) and the illusionist (a PvP-centric class with substantial debuff magic and area-of-effect attacks). The update also brings revamped starting areas, Thebes Dungeon (which features a random entrance-spawn and a challenging completion timer), and tweaks specifically designed to cater to North American audiences. These changes include double XP, higher item drop-rates, and higher boss-spawn rates.

Wings Over Atreia: Living la vida Asmo

by MJ Guthrie Jul 26th 2010 (1 hour ago)

Now, it is oft heard that "Asmos don't get no lovin'!" Perusing threads, or even listening to faction-hoppers in game, you hear many complaints that Asmodians have it just that much harder than their fair-winged counterparts -- that Asmodae is harder to level in than Elysea, the Elyos have better mobs, easier quests, better loot, more press time, and so on. Basically, that the Elyos race is the "favorite child." In the interest of representing both factions in Aion, I gave readers the chance to choose my class as I ventured into Asmodae as a black-winged beauty (sorry folks, I just can't bring myself to create a male character).

And the votes are in! Your choice for my new persona is --drum roll -- priest! While I was excited to delve into the class, a part of me wondered if there was an ulterior motive to this choice... a cry for more healers among the Asmodians, perhaps? Regardless of the reasoning behind it, yours truly slipped out of Elysea and into Asmodae. While it will take me a while (since I am not a power-grinder), I am going to take you along with me as we journey through life on the dark side, comparing the leveling on each side of the planet. In this installment, we are looking at Asmodian life from creation to ascension.

Follow across the cut to join me in my very first clawed footsteps, as well as a hint to maximize your experience at beginning levels.

Hyperspace Beacon: The bald and the blue

by Larry Everett Jul 26th 2010 (2 hours ago)

Star Wars: The Old Republic

The Hyperspace Beacon is a weekly guide and discussion by Larry Everett about the yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

As some of you may be aware, I love the whole idea of roleplaying and storytelling in an MMO setting. Also -- which should be more than evident -- I am a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise. As a roleplayer, I always like the idea of being able to do whatever I want in an MMO -- truly creating my own story. I like it when a developer gives me the blocks, and I stack them the way I want to. I build my castle the way I envision it. So you can imagine when I heard there were class restrictions on races in Star Wars: The Old Republic, I said (and I quote), "LOLOMGWTGDairyQueen-LOLOMGBBtheQ!™" I thought it was a really, really bad idea. How was I going to make my pink, cybernetic, Nightsister Wookiee? Then I realized that particular Wookiee would totally be unimmersing, which is exactly what I despise about a good chunk of MMOs.

So after dealing with my temporary bout with insanity, I realized immersion was more important than my desire to play with blocks, but I still wanted to make these characters the best they could be. Now it was time to find out as much as I could about the species I will be able to play. Follow me after the break to see what I found.

™ LOLOMGWTGDairyQueen-LOLOMGBBtheQ! is the trademarked (not really) catch phrase of Morte of the Oxhorn Brand Machimina

SDCC 2010: TERA by the numbers

by Justin Olivetti Jul 26th 2010 (3 hours ago)

If looks were everything, then TERA would certainly place as a finalist in the Miss Upcoming MMO Universe pageant. Yet as visually sumptuous as it may be, we're more interested in its personality. Can the brains match the beauty? So far, it looks promising. We've been locked on to TERA's unique brand of fantasy play since this year's E3 (and before), and as such, it's great to check back in with the title, take it out for a quiet romantic dinner, and see how it's shaping up.

We caught up with En Masse Entertainment at the 2010 San Diego Comic-Con and spent a half hour putting the game through its paces and chatting up with TERA's devs. While TERA's dev team is working with a more recent build of the game, our hands-on demo was the same build as the one we saw at E3. Even so, it's always worth spending a few more minutes with an upcoming MMO to see what new facts and impressions can be gleaned. Hit the jump to read more about classes, races and an idea about not getting hit that's so crazy, it just might work!

Flameseeker Chronicles: Heroes ruined Guild Wars

by Rubi Bayer Jul 26th 2010 (4 hours ago)

NCsoft

Oh, settle down. I'm not stating that as a fact, I'm just repeating what others have said. It's an old argument, but one that's recently come to my attention several times over the past week, so I want to take a look at the argument today.

Heroes came to Guild Wars near the end of 2006 with the introduction of Nightfall. They were a huge upgrade from the much-maligned Alesia and her companions. Sure, you had to level them up, but you had as much control over their runes and insignias, skill bars, and weapons as you did your own.

The addition gave players the option to add three of these customized companions, making it much easier to continue adventuring even if you couldn't get a group at the moment. It sounds perfect, right? Not everyone agrees, and it's a debate that flared back up in the past months when the possibility was raised of companions in Guild Wars 2.

Hit the handy "read more" button to check out both sides of the argument.

Lost Pages of Taborea: Call to arms!

by Jeremy Stratton Jul 26th 2010 (5 hours ago)

It's only been a few months since I started writing the Runes of Magic column, but it seems much longer than that. I love writing these guides, tips, and opinion pieces for fans of this awesome MMO, but I felt something was missing. Even after all the terrific comments and discussions from players, there seems to be many people who haven't tried RoM yet.

Seeing comments -- almost weekly -- about people saying they are going to try RoM is really cool. I am a huge fan of the game, and it's my intention to bring the fun and excitement of it to you, through my articles. I'm not hoping that I stop hearing about new players, because those comments are a small sign I've succeeded in my writings, but I do want to take the opportunity to present a "call to arms".

RoM is an amazing one-of-a-kind MMO that has captured my imagination and adventure for fun. It can be all too easy to lump this game into an already complicated world of free-to-play MMOs, and dismiss it as "more of the same". It really isn't more of the same. Let's take a look at how this MMO is different, fun, steadily growing, and branching out into the MMO community. This article should catch everyone up on the current status of the game, and how it has faired in the spotlight.

One Shots: Come get some

by Krystalle Voecks Jul 26th 2010 (6 hours ago)

NCsoft

Between the recent server merges to increase population and the upcoming addition of the 2.0 Assault on Balaurea update to the game, there are several folks returning to the gorgeous world of Aion. While PvP isn't necessarily everybody's thing, there are more than enough people willing to take up the call -- and enjoy this beautifully textured world. Today's One Shots comes to us from Flog, who also recently returned, and writes in:

"I resubbed because of the server merges. It is nice to see the game so busy again. I was on my way out of Altgard to level up my essence tapping when I glided so high that I was able to land on this little guard post. After seeing what was behind me I figured I would take a picture. Come at me Elyos! I am Flog....protector of Altgard!"

From big to small, we love to see all manner of MMO worlds. However, we need you to help us by sending in screenshots of them! Email those to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Yours could be the next one posted out here on Massively!

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

The Tattered Notebook: Mask of the betrayer

by Jef Reahard Jul 26th 2010 (7 hours ago)

EQ2

SOE

You know, there's something decidedly ironic about playing a rat in an MMORPG, particularly in a themepark grinder like EverQuest II (and before anyone burns me at the stake, it's a good themepark grinder, I'm positively in love with it). The parallels are almost too perfect. Rats chase cheese and players chase digital carrots, running around a pre-defined maze with numerous boundaries, roadblocks, and invisible walls just like your average lab rodent. Luckily EQII camouflages these minor irritations better than most games, even on fairly grinderific content like the city betrayal quest series.

Yes, I've returned to playing my ratonga after a week of cheating on him with a shiny new shadowknight, and I've finally managed to move his furry little butt away from the abusive stylings of Freeport to a comfy little four-room rat hole off the side streets of South Qeynos.

Turn the page for more on his journey and thumb through his gallery below.

Gallery: EQII Ratonga Betrayal

Anarchy Online beats the heat with nano spreadsheets

by Justin Olivetti Jul 26th 2010 (7 hours ago)

FunCom

We may be in the dog days of summer, but that doesn't mean that MMO factories close up shop. On the contrary, the team at Anarchy Online is faithfully hacking away at upcoming changes and additions to the game. Senior Designer Brad L. McAtee (no, he doesn't do virus checking) recently made the rounds to see what the staff was working on, and report back to us.

The biggest news is that the keeper class is getting a host of new nano changes. This announcement is so vast that it took the power of a spreadsheet to contain it. Seriously, McAtee includes an Excel spreadsheet at the bottom of the article for number-crunchers to enjoy.

The Anarchy Online team is juggling a number of other projects, including a new AI dungeon and a fresh PvP playfield. Daily missions are also slated for an upgrade, with mission scaling, new content and other adjustments heading our way. You can read the full team report over at Anarchy Online's site.

BioWare Mythic says "Never!" to Real ID

by Justin Olivetti Jul 26th 2010 (8 hours ago)

WAR

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Worried that Blizzard's Real ID system may be coming to an MMO near you? BioWare Mythic has a few words of reassurance on that point: "No. Never. Never. No." This was the response by Warhammer Online's Carrie Gouskos to Eurogamer when asked if BioWare Mythic was mulling over a Real ID-type feature for its games.

BioWare Mythic's general manager Eugene Evans supported that sentiment and expanded on it: "We wouldn't do it. I'm surprised they did it, and for a group that is so close to their community, it was amazing that they misread it that poorly. I'm pleased to see them reacting to the community. We should all learn to listen to our communities. Their community made it very clear what the right answer is."

This follows the controversial decision -- later retracted by Blizzard -- to force World of Warcraft forum posters to use their real names in an attempt to cut down on trolling and forum spam. Since the controversy, other MMO studios have come out strongly against Real ID, so it's good to see that this includes the folks behind Warhammer Online, Dark Age of Camelot and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Massively Features

Events Calendar

Name	Date
NFSW Launch	July 27, 2010
GenCon Indy	Aug 5-8, 2010
SOE Fan Faire	Aug 5-8, 2010
Xsyon Prelude Launch	Aug 15, 2010
GamesCom Expo	Aug 18-22, 2010
Earthrise Launch	Q3 2010
Dragon*Con	Sep 3-6, 2010
PAX Prime	Sep 3-5, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV Launch	Sep 30, 2010
GDC Online	Oct 5-8, 2010
LEGO Universe Launch	Oct 26, 2010
DCUO Launch	Nov 2, 2010

Massively Staff

Name	Title
Shawn Schuster	Editor-in-Chief
Seraphina Brennan	Senior Editor
Brianna Royce	West Coast Editor
Dan O'Halloran	Features Coordinator
Brendan Drain	Contributing Editor
Eliot Lefebvre	Contributing Editor
Jef Reahard	Contributing Editor
Justin Olivetti	Contributing Editor
Krystalle Voecks	Contributing Editor
Rubi Bayer	Contributing Editor
Tateru Nino	Contributing Editor
Beau Hindman	Columnist
Edward Marshall	Columnist
Greg Waller	Columnist
Jeremy Stratton	Columnist
Larry Everett	Columnist
MJ Guthrie	Columnist
Patrick Mackey	Columnist
Ryan Greene	Columnist
Lisa Poisso	Columnist