ashen-empires
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Ask Massively: Giveaways, zombies, and capturing the spirit of Ultima Online
This week in Ask Massively, we're answering questions about eerily quiet games, giveaways, and capturing the spirit of classic sandboxes and The Walking Dead. Holden asked, "Why has Perpetuum dropped off the map? I never hear about it anymore. The only time I even remember it is when I am doing searches for (more) robot/mech desktop wallpapers. Once monoclegate blew over, it was as if Perpetuum fell of the face of the earth, but it seems that it is still around from glancing at the website." This was such a good question that we went digging for an answer before we even added it to Ask Massively. It had been a long time since we'd reported on Perpetuum because it had been a long time since Perpetuum had made a big splash in the news. Readers speculated that the game's playerbase has shrunk over the last two years, but in fact over the winter holiday, developer Avatar Creations posted a dev blog detailing plans for a newbie tutorial island intended to bolster the new player population. Hopefully Holden and other fans of the game will enjoy this "island of noobs" (Avatar's words, not mine!).
Rise and Shiny recap: Ashen Empires
Ashen Empires by Pixel Mine is a cute game with plenty to offer. I say cute simply because it runs in a tiny window, with tiny icons, and it's so adorable you just want to pinch its little pixels to death!... ahem. If you've played Ultima Online, you'll know what I am talking about. I was excited to see the option to run the game at a higher resolution, only to be disappointed when finding that the increased size was only for the black space surrounding the main game window. Luckily, I was able to move all the extra UI elements into this area. D'aaaw! Adorable! I suppose that the game is meant to reflect an "older" time, or perhaps it was literally made during those older times, but I'm not sure I care. I've seen handfuls of games that are "Ultima Online-like" and frankly, they were not that impressive from the beginning. I have to say, though, that with a game like Ashen Empires, the surprises are well-hidden, and despite real-life migraines and technical issues (the older PC might be having death fits) that cut into my playtime, I stumbled across several of these surprises. Click past the cut and I'll tell you all about it.
MV Guide: May 16 - 22, 2011
MV Guide is a weekly rundown of the MMO gaming events planned on Massively's Livestream channel. Every week, the Massively staff logs in to play various MMOs live and in person, and we'd love for you to drop by the channel and visit. We have a combination of regular weekly games and new surprises, so you'll find a variety of games to take a look at. During Livestream events, you can participate in the live chat to learn about the game, ask questions, and spend some time with Massively staff and readers. Follow along after the jump to see what's scheduled for this week!
