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This Week in MMO: CCP has gone crazy edition
It's time for This Week in MMO once more, and this time around, the show kicks off with the rather daring statement that CCP Games has completely gone off the deep end. Well, maybe not that far, but the show does start off focusing on recent comments from the company about how DUST 514 could be one of the biggest shooters of the year... a statement that strikes the hosts as being just a wee bit pompous. Aside from that, there's talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic's subscriber numbers and what those numbers mean in the long run as well as the latest trailer for TERA. If you'd like to get some roundtable discussion about the past week's biggest MMO stories, you don't need to go far. Just skip on past the break to watch the newest installment of This Week in MMO, which is quite possibly the best roundtable discussion about MMO news with a six-letter nickname in existence.
This Week in MMO: Gannon-free edition
It's time for This Week in MMO, kids, and no, you don't need to adjust your televisions monitors. That is not Gary Gannon behind the mic this week, but it is Mike Schaffnit, and he's joined by Mike B. and Jason Winter for the customary MMO news roundtable. Tops on the agenda is TERA, which went from announcing its launch date to having a potentially launch-affecting lawsuit leveled at it by NCsoft. As the week wore on things got a bit better thanks to pre-order announcements (and the associated closed beta invites), but there's still a bit of a cloud hanging over En Masse's maiden title that our trio discusses at length. Other newsy bits include The Secret World's new trailer, World of Planes namechange, and the overbearing nanny-state that is South Korea. Check out the full show after the break.
This Week in MMO: Hey guys have you heard about Ilum? edition
Another week is drawing to a close, and that means it's time for yet another This Week in MMO. On this edition of the show, host Gary Gannon, along with guests Mike B and Mike Schaffnit, takes a more-than-adequate amount of time reminding players of the blistering failure that is Star Wars: The Old Republic's Ilum and ponders whether or not any corrective measures will be too little, too late. Meanwhile, En Masse Entertainment is gearing up for the impending beta test and subsequent release of its newly westernized action-focused MMO, TERA. Is the beta test going to be enough to eradicate the vaporware mindset many of the game's fans have gotten into, or will it take more than that to convince players that the game is going to see the light of day sometime in the next couple of millennia? We'll just have to wait and find out. For all this and more, hunker down and click past the cut for this week's installment of This Week in MMO.
This Week in MMO: Lawsuits edition
It's that time again, folks. Gary Gannon and guests Mike B. and Mike Schaffnit bring you this week's edition of This Week in MMO, and today the spotlight is set on the Bethesda-Interplay lawsuit, which was recently resolved in Bethesda's favor. Meanwhile, console gamers everywhere are surely pleased to hear that they won't be left out of Blizzard's upcoming Diablo III, as it was recently confirmed that the game will be making the jump to consoles as well as PC. And finally, to top it all off, the guys have a chat about SOE CEO John Smedley's thoughts on the free-to-play business model and PlanetSide 2's newest trailer. If you've got an hour to kill, just click on past the cut for the full episode.
This Week In MMO: Interrupting dance edition
It's time for yet another episode of This Week In MMO, and you'll never guess what the topic du jour is. Well, unless you guessed Star Wars: The Old Republic (again), in which case you would be correct. Much discussion is had about the hilarity that was SWTOR's /getdown exploit, which allowed players to interrupt enemy mobs by... dancing at them. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XIV will resume charging subscription fees tomorrow, January 6th, so if you're still subscribed and don't want to pay, you'd better cancel now. And lastly, on a note of complete and utter excess, the gang reports that one gamer (who we imagine spends most of his time swimming in his money like Scrooge McDuck) has spent $16,000 US on an in-game sword for Snail Games' F2P (irony!) title, Age of Wulin. The kicker? The game isn't even out yet. For the full video, just click on past the cut and have a look.
This Week in MMO: Oh hey, it's Star Wars edition
It's time for another episode of This Week in MMO, and the focal point of this week's episode is none other than the freshly launched Star Wars: The Old Republic. Gary Gannon, Mike B., and Mike Schaffnit share a conversation about the staggered launch, the early start, the newly announced grace period, and much more. Of course, the world does not revolve only around SWTOR, so the guys also take some time to highlight other goings-on in the MMO world. Warhammer Online will be merging servers once again, which does not forecast a sunny outlook for Mythic's PvP-focused title. Also on the table is talk that the gradually less sane Richard Garriott will be returning to work on the Ultima universe. What could this mean to MMO players? Well, click on past the cut and find out for yourself.
This Week in MMO: Ohmigod SWTOR is almost here edition
In this week's edition of This Week In MMO, Gary Gannon and Mike B. are all about Star Wars: The Old Republic. OK, well, maybe not all about it, but the game's head start begins in less than a week, so you can expect plenty of SWTOR commentary. The pair also take some time to talk about Funcom's newly announced zone for The Secret World, the Scorched Desert. The duo also spends some time ruminating on whether or not SWTOR may be the last subscription game we see as more and more games (such as Lineage II) go F2P. TERA's glyph system gets some air time as well, as does the announcement that Final Fantasy XIV is once again levying subscription fees from players. For the full video, click on past the cut.
This Week In MMO: It's a Secret World to everyone edition
The game is still called The Secret World, but the newest installment of This Week in MMO is all about taking some of the secrecy out of the game. Gary Gannon, joined by Mike Schaffnit and Jason Winter, kicks the show off by talking about all the information found in the latest hands-on preview of the game and reacting to some of the more interesting decisions revealed therein. But as on a late-night television advertisement, just wait -- there's more. After all, Star Wars: The Old Republic just dropped its NDA, and since the show is already about removed bits of secrecy, it would be wrong not to talk about that. The show also digs in to the latest news out of MechWarrior Online; the cast debates whether or not the game will even deserve to maintain the "MMO" label without a persistent world. Click on past the break to see the full show in all its glory!
This Week in MMO: Sex with Firefall edition
Episode 70 of Gamebreaker.TV is in the books, and Gary Gannon and friends have 50-odd minutes of MMO news to discuss. Topics include having sex with Firefall (that's right, with Firefall, not in Firefall), Guild Wars 2's polarizing cinematics, lots of new Lineage Eternal gameplay footage, and a bit of a free-to-play roundtable. The guys touch on recent F2P conversions including DC Universe Online, EverQuest II, and Lineage II. Finally, there's a dip into the mailbag to answer some reader questions (and a bit of discussion about Bethesda's ubiquitous Skyrim title). Check out the complete show via the embed after the break.
This Week in MMO: MechWarrior edition
In this week's TWIMMO, Mike B aka Fony, Josh Allen, and Mike Schaffnit join host Gary Gannon for Gamebreaker.TV's weekly chat about recent MMO stories. They kick things off by pondering how a video stuffed with anti-gay slurs slipped by Blizzard Entertainment (and a lot of the folks in the live crowd, as well) at BlizzCon. They also gush like fanboys about the newly announced F2P MechWarrior Online MMO before spending some airtime on PlanetSide 2, World of Darkness, and RuneScape. Hit the break for the full show!
This Week in MMO: Do you like pandas edition
Gamebreaker.TV has put the finishing touches on episode 67 of This Week in MMO, and you get two guesses as to the primary topic. OK, it's not all about pandas, panda-induced fanboi raging, and much-publicized expansion packs. Host Gary Gannon brings together ZAM's Mike B and Beckett Massive Online Gamer's Jason Winter for a lengthy jaunt through the week's MMO news, and the trio has a lot of ground to cover besides Mists of Pandaria. Final Fantasy XIV's return to the realm of the subscription fee generates some discussion, as does CCP's downsizing spree. Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium's far-future release date gets a mention, and did Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online forums get hacked? Head to Gamebreaker to see what the guys think.
This Week in MMO: Honestly EVE edition
The life expectancy of subscriptions -- and the enormous discussion swirling around it -- is at the forefront of Gamebreaker.TV's This Week in MMO. Massively's own Rubi Bayer joins the crew as they analyze Mark Jacobs' comments on subscriptions vs. free-to-play. Jacobs' blunt labeling that most F2P games are "crap" is incendiary, although it's hard to deny there are a lot of shoddy titles out there. The roundtable goes on to talk about CCP's apology to EVE Online players and what's being done to repair faith, trust, and ship-spinning in the game. It seems that frank apologies from higher-ups to customers is en vogue these days, from Netflix to Square-Enix, although it's debatable how much face is saved from such actions. Hit the jump to watch the full episode!
This Week In MMO: Night at the movies edition
This Week In MMO is all about movies: how some games compare to movies and which movies will be made into games. The BioWare doctors hinted at a Mass Effect MMO once again, but what does our panel of hosts think? Mike B, aka Fony of ZAM, believes that the Mass Effect intellectual property is very similar to the movie industry, such that Mass Effect can take a few years of downtime, then just like some movie remakes, bounce back even stronger as an MMO. What about movies becoming MMOs? Jasmine Hruschak, of Gamebreaker's The Sanctum, is scared of any movie becoming a game. Traditionally, these platform conversions are disastrous, according to IRLJasmine. However, Gary Gannon agrees with Avatar director James Cameron's sentiments and believes that the world of the Nav'i could one day be comparable to the world of World of Warcraft. Catch all this and more movie-to-MMO comparisons after the break on Gamebreaker.TV's This Week In MMO!
This Week In MMO: Conspiracy edition
It's a new week; It's a new theme song for This Week In MMO. As you know, every week, Gamebreaker.TV hosts a round-table discussion about the latest news in MMOs, inviting different hosts from different media outlets to share their opinions and speculation. This week, everyone's favorite host, Gary "Bing Bong" Gannon, is joined by Mike "the Chinhawk" B and Jason "Red Shirt" Winter. It would not be an episode of TWIMMO if everyone didn't get tinfoil-hat hair. Starting with speculation revolving around the Star Wars: The Old Republic release-date announcement, two of the panel members were convinced that it was directly related to the Diablo 3 2012-pushback announcement. But that's not the only pushback that had our panelists theorizing. According to Gannon, End of Nations may be feeling the SWTOR pressure, too. The Trion Worlds MMO RTS was recently pushed back to 2012 as well. Keep your aluminum brain-barrier intact because our hosts also believe it is possible that CCP's World of Darkness MMO may be going free-to-play. All of this, plus the biggest question on everyone's mind is answered: Could there be a Kim Kardashian MMO and would there be an oiler profession? Check out the full episode of This Week In MMO after the break!
Gamebreaker's This Week in MMO: John Madden edition
Video game enthusiasts, pay attention. Each week, Gary Gannon and the crew at Gamebreaker.TV bring you the latest MMO news with their weekly show called This Week In MMO. The show rotates through a panel of personalities to bring you the latest news and opinions from MMO gaming. Sometimes these panels include reporters from our very own website, like Editor-in-Chief Shawn Schuster and Community Manager Rubi Bayer; even EVE expert Brendan Drain and SWTOR columnist Larry Everett have made appearances on the show. This week, Gary is joined by ZAM's Mike B aka Fony and Hillary "Pokket" Nicole to talk about PlanetSide 2, Star Wars: The Old Republic, subscription models, WildStar, Lord of the Rings Online, Mortal Online, Astronaut the MMO, and why women don't like voiceover. First up: PlanetSide 2 will be free-to-play, and SWTOR may be the last subscription MMO. Is anyone surprised? The panel weighs in on whether WildStar mechanics are more of the same or maybe this game has something new. Mike B and Pokket discuss how LotRO is making Isengard appear more epic. We also find out why Mortal Online territorial control is not for the faint of heart. Lastly, is anyone interested in being an astronaut anymore? If you like intelligent, fun discussion about the latest in MMOs (in video format), you should check out the recorded version of This Week In MMO right after the cut, or live every Wednesday evening!
