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The Guild Counsel: Guild-friendly features for which to be thankful
If you're reading this, it's probably well into Thanksgiving Day, which makes me wonder why you are reading this -- it's Thanksgiving Day! Perhaps you're playing catch-up while you finish up that slice of pumpkin pie. Or maybe you're back home, raiding the fridge for a late night turkey snack and a quick MMO update. Whatever your reason, there are many things that we can be thankful for when it comes to our MMOs. We've come a long way when it comes to guild-friendly features, and it's worth taking a look at in this week's Guild Counsel.
The Tattered Notebook: Exploring identity with EQII's SOEmote
This week, EverQuest II launched a new feature called SOEmote. It gives players the ability to use a webcam and create facial expressions for their avatars, but it also includes the ability to change your voice to match your character in voice chat. You wouldn't think that being able to raise and lower eyebrows, tilt your head, or sound like a pixie would match up well with killing orcs and looting treasures, but neither would home decorating, and yet it's become a very popular activity in game. Will SOEmote follow suit and be yet another outlet for player creativity, or is it just a gimmick? In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll take a look at the new feature and give some first impressions about its potential.
Vivox voice chat comes to Star Trek Online
Star Trek Online is the latest MMORPG to receive the integrated Vivox voice chat treatment. While players are still a few years short of tapping their command insignias and barking out orders to their party, it's a step in the right direction. The system allows team and fleet members to chat directly without the need for third-party servers or software such as TeamSpeak or Ventrilo. Joining a channel is automatic when you group with other players, and the implementation features the usual configuration and customization options (including, of course, a push-to-talk binding and the ability to disable the service entirely). Read all about it at the official STO website.
Captain's Log: The Gospel of Tribble
Captain's Log, Stardate 64959.3... Hello, compu... what the... shields up, red alert! Brace for impact! A giant Tribble is on the loose, and its name is Season Four. That's right -- the Star Trek Online public test server, Tribble, sometimes nicknamed the Trouble with Tribble, has finally reopened with the major update that we have all been waiting for. This build was first pushed last Friday but was taken down moments later due to a "major database error." The show-stopping kinks have been worked out now, so it is time to get to testing out all of the new content I have been writing about for the past couple of months. If you have not seen the release notes for this build, there are dozens of updates that will be altering the way you have come to play the game. Not sure what to test? That is what I am here for. The goal of this week's Captain's Log is to provide you a checklist on what to hit up once you patch your game and get on your test toon. Also, if you have never installed the test server, now is a great time -- Cryptic will soon be announcing a Tribble Test Weekend, during which you can log in and receive an exclusive item on the live server just for helping test. Ensign, warp 10! Let's share some text from the word of Tribble...
Captain's Log: Back to the future
Captain's Log, Stardate 64884.1... Hello, computer (and players)! Guess what's back? That's right! Hailing frequencies are now reopened -- Captain's Log is no longer on hiatus. Over the past few weeks, there has been some great news released about the Star Trek Online universe: the winner of the Design the Next Enterprise Contest was announced, the May Ask Cryptic was released, the dev team revealed the 500-day veteran rewards, and the Featured Episode reruns began. While everyone has had his or her own opinions on these stories, there is one piece of news that everyone can agree on: the awesomesauceness of the latest Engineering Report. As first announced earlier this week, Executive Producer Dan Stahl dropped his latest report, which describes the updates to the game coming in Season Four. As usual, aside from the imminent new content, Dan foreshadows the future for us. Captain's Log is no stranger to talking about the future of the game, so I am excited to share some more details about the upcoming updates with you. Since Season Four is right around the corner and I believe it will be the "game changing update this game has needed since launch," let's get on to this week's Log entry. Ensign, warp 10! Let's talk about Season 4 and beyond...
T-Mobile's Bobsled temporarily suspends service in first week (updated)
It's a sad day for Bobsled's one-eyed chat bubble monster, as T-Mobile has just announced it's temporarily shuttering the recently launched VoIP service. A statement released on Bobsled's Facebook profile revealed it is "voluntarily and temporarily suspending service" of its week-old app to "ensure that the Bobsled experience is clearly differentiated and is not mistaken for a Facebook created property." The news comes at a particularly inopportune moment, as Vivox just made its own announcement (embedded after the break) last Wednesday saying it will power the seemingly ill-fated app. No word yet on when the service will be back up and running, but this doesn't bode well for T-Mo's foray into the VoIP market. [Thanks, Elad] Update: We just received word from Vivox saying its announcement was actually released last Wednesday. In any case, it's safe to say the news is still a downer for the magenta monster.
The Guild Counsel: To vent or not to vent
As we've looked at the ins and outs of managing a guild, one issue that's often overlooked is whether to vent or not to vent. No, not the Minus 50 DKP type of vent -- I'm talking about Ventrilo and voice chat in general. Ten years ago, guild leaders didn't have to worry about this, because the choice was between typing text or hosting a LAN party. But today, with the rise of voice chat clients like Ventrilo and in-game voice services like Vivox, the culture has changed quite a bit. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll take a look at the benefits of type vs. voice chat, and we'll look at what role each plays in guild management. Whether you sleep with your headset on or cling to your keyboard, read on for a look at why both have their merits.
Runes of Magic celebrates its second birthday
Happy birthday, Runes of Magic! Two years have gone by, and you're growing up so fast. Anniversary celebrations are already underway in RoM. If your account has been lying dormant, you may want to wake it up, join the festivities, and get some free goodies while you're at it. For me, these two years flew by. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I wrote a look back at the first year of RoM. In two years, RoM has seen three major updates, and a fourth is just around the corner. The first two chapters made it into the first year, and although Chapter 4 didn't quite make it into this article, chapter 3 brought a whopping amount of content and features. If your extra ginger beer isn't cutting it anymore and you're feeling brave, move on up by grabbing a bottle of Blenhiem's old #5 and join me for a look back at the last year of RoM.
Champions Online discusses the future of the game, adding voice chat
The free-to-play conversion has certainly wrought some far-reaching changes for Champions Online, but as producer Rob Overmeyer puts forth in the latest State of the Game letter, there's still more to come. Aside from numerous C-Store additions for players, a new power framework and a new adventure pack are both in the works for the next couple of months. In addition, the development team is looking to add "Comic Series" missions on a regular basis, akin to the featured episodes implemented in Star Trek Online. This letter comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Cryptic Studios will be partnering with Vivox to bring built-in voice chat to both of its current games. That benefits both Champions Online and Star Trek Online, although no details are currently available for the precise implementation of the feature or the integration timetable. Still, fans of the game should be happy to see that the change in models hasn't hurt any of the game's long-term plans for content or functionality.
Vivox doubles user base, now serves over 45 million
Last year was mighty productive for the folks at Vivox, as the voice chat firm doubled its user base and now serves over 45 million customers worldwide. While 45 million is quite a large number on its own, when taken together with the fact that Vivox served a mere 18.5 million users in early 2010, it's easy to see how the competition has its work cut out for it. Gaming firms including Wargaming.net, Runewaker, and Bigpoint all turned to Vivox for their voice needs in 2010, and company CEO Rob Seaver says that's just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. "There is a clear opportunity for voice providers to reshape the social web with a communication medium that has proven to be the easiest, most intuitive channel of communication throughout [...] thousands of years of existence: voice," he said in a press release earlier today. Vivox also provides voice services for the likes of CCP Games, Linden Lab, and Sony Online Entertainment, and you can find more coverage of the company in our interviews with VP of Product Management Monty Sharma.
WRUP: War is actually good for a remarkable number of things edition
War kind of gets a bad rap, what with the whole causing widespread meaningless slaughter. But let's face it, despite what Edwin Starr may have said, war is actually good for a wide variety of things. For example, widespread slaughter? War is totally good at that. And if countless MMOs have proven anything, it's that war is a great way to provide quest objectives, assuming that you get to respawn if you lose. Also, there are snazzy uniforms and big explosions. It's basically good for the same things as Michael Bay's cinematography. If this has you all excited, I'm sorry to say that this week's WRUP does not feature Massively or any of its staff members going to war, not counting Bree's war on "they" as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. It does, however, feature the staff explaining what we'll be doing over the weekend and what we like in terms of voice chat. So click on past the break to see what we'll be up to, and let us know what you'll be doing in the comments.
World of Tanks announces Vivox voice chat
What's a military action game without angry squad leaders, four-letter words, and locker room camaraderie, amirite? In service of those ideals, and a few that are more family-friendly, Wargaming.net announces the arrival of integrated voice chat in its World of Tanks action MMO. High-definition in-game voice will be heard around the battlefield courtesy of Vivox, Inc. "When creating World of Tanks it was critical for us to include voice communication capabilities. With proven scalability, numerous live integrations, and best in class quality -- partnering with Vivox was an easy decision," says Wargaming.net CEO Victor Kislyi. World of Tanks is a free-to-play, vehicle-based action game currently undergoing closed beta testing. The Vivox integration will allow seamless communication, sans third-party apps, during combat and via the game's various lobbies. You can learn more, as well as sign up for beta, at the official website.
GDCO 2010: Vivox's Monty Sharma talks voice integration between the PC and PS3
Since 2006, Vivox has provided integrated voice chat services to MMOs on the PC. At GDC Online in Austin, it made the major announcement that it has successfully implemented its voice chat service into the PlayStation 3 gaming console. This means players will be able to communicate between the PC and the PS3, which is a big milestone for cross-platform games. This new service is currently being tested in SOE's upcoming MMO DC Universe Online, and players should see it in-game in the near future. Vivox Founder and Vice President Monty Sharma sat down to talk with Massively about the new service.
Massively.com and GameBreaker.TV: Coming to you live from GDC Online!
GDC Online (formerly GDC Austin) is rapidly approaching, and we here at Massively.com are making sure that we're on the front lines of coverage from the event. We have plenty of interviews lined up with a huge variety of companies, and we're teaming up with our friends at GameBreaker.TV to deliver live coverage of the event via GameBreaker's live show at the Vivox booth! To get you excited for the coming conference, we've provided the list of companies we're meeting with just after the break! The list isn't fully extensive, as we'll be covering a variety of panels as well, but it will give you an idea of whom we're meeting with. Plus, keep an eye out for a link to the live GameBreaker.TV broadcast on our right-hand sidebar! Their coverage of the event will be starting on Wednesday, October 6th at 12:00 p.m. EDT!
APB's voice chat feature will contain advertisements
With launch day closing in, crime MMO All Points Bulletin has been getting its payment scheme in order. The game's pricing structure was revealed at the end of April, including several flexible pay-per-time and monthly subscription options. In addition, the game will have a currency called "RTW points," which can be used for character customisations or converted into game time. While looking through the payment options in his account management page early this morning, one APB forum poster spied a strange button that set off a few warning bells in his head. Marked "VOIP Premium," the option removes adverts from APB's in-game voice chat for 30, 90 or 180 days in exchange for payment. This was the first players had heard of adverts being inserted into their voice chat and speculation began to run wild in the game's pre-release forum community. Players feared the worst -- that right in the middle of their game, a radio advert would start playing over their speakers. Community Officer Toxico was quick to address concerns, explaining the exact circumstances under which the ads will be played. For an advert to play, you have to be entering a district and must not have heard an ad for the past three hours. This ensures that they'll never interrupt normal play and won't play in an irritatingly high frequency. While some forum posters are avidly opposing a premium VOIP service, most seem content with the explanation provided and the conditions under which adverts will be played. [Thanks for the tip, Kip!]
Atlantica Online adds voice chat functionality
Vivox has brought voice communication to yet another MMORPG with today's news that Ndoors Interactive's Atlantica Online now offers the feature to its players. Interestingly, the voice-over-IP service has been made available through the game's official website, as opposed to within the game itself. While there's nothing stopping players from accessing voice chat while in-game, it's still an odd choice. The only thing that really matters is whether or not it works, and given Vivox's fairly extensive experience via games like EVE Online, EverQuest II and Global Agenda there shouldn't be any unacceptable issues for Atlantica Online players. The feature should be available to players now, so long as you're logged into your account when trying to access voice chat.
Linden Lab axes Vivox SLim Second Life client beta
Back in 2008, quite a big thing was made of Vivox's lightweight voice/IM client for Second Life, called SLim. That buzz continued through 2009, with the announcement of voice fonts, SLim-to-SMS, and client-side recording (all scheduled for the second half of 2009) and conference calls, group text/voice chat (via SLim) and browser-based voice applets on the Second Life Web-site (scheduled for this year). Yesterday, the news came down in a mailout from Linden Lab about the status of the SLim beta. "The program has been a great success," said the Lab and, "we have decided to end the SLim beta program, effective immediately."
Vivox moves beyond voice chat for gaming
Vivox is going to have to change their site's front page very soon: " Vivox. We Put the Best Voice Chat in Games. And that is all we do." That won't hold true for much longer, as Vivox has announced plans to bring integrated voice chat to social applications. The Social Voice Partner Program is currently being demonstrated with Facebook, Google Wave, and Ning and will be available to all social application developers this May. Social networking sites and applications are growing by leaps and bounds, and Vivox is getting on board early: "With the explosion of the social Web, there is rising consumer-driven demand for integrated voice," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "Vivox anticipated the emergence of this trend and this new program will lend communications expertise to social application developers. Our vision truly is to 'let the Web talk'- and let that experience be as high-quality and natural as it is in real life."
GDC10: Massively's picks for the best of GDC
GDC 2010 has come and gone and as we recover from the insanity a bit, we thought it would be the perfect time to reflect on our favorites from last week. Although the Game Developer's Conference isn't usually made to be as flashy as E3 or PAX, it is mostly catered towards students looking to break into the industry, panels and summits interesting to only other developers and a few demos. This in mind, we compiled a short list of what made the biggest impact on us, pertaining to MMOs. Although there were plenty of other exciting demos, booths and panels, we're keeping these awards strictly to MMO-related topics. Follow along after the jump for our complete list.
GDC10: Massively's day 4 roundup
Day four of the Game Developer's Conference is in the books, and was one for the books as well. Massively managed to score a number of interviews, hands-on features, and we even got our mug in front of the cameras at one point during all the craziness. As you're aware by now, there is still much more to come from our trip to San Francisco, so take this opportunity to catch up on any stories you may have missed. The future of Champions Online Massively set to appear on live Internet TV Massively's interview with Dungeons and Dragons Online An in-depth look at Black Prophecy Nexon's Vindictus revealed Vivox's Monty Sharma interviewed NCSoft speaks on Aion 1.9 Massively's interview with DC Universe Online Be sure to check back tomorrow for our final day coverage as well as a wrap up of all our favorites from the show.
