gamersfirst
Latest
Free for All: The continued confusing misuse of the beta tag
I was thrilled when I read a recent news post about one of my favorite MMOs, Wurm Online, finally releasing to the public. Wait a second, releasing? I've been enjoying the game, spending money on it, and forming a Massively village over the last few years. I also know that the game was running -- and charging -- before that. So how do the developers explain the game's recent switch to "released"? What it means is Wurm will contain the (improved) features that we consider make the game marketable. We will finally have character customization, visible armour, multi-story buildings and nicer looking creatures. This is the kind of statement that leaves players like yours truly a bit baffled. I think that posts and delayed "releases" like this are actually damaging to the game in a subtle way. In fact, this week I decided to look at games like Wurm that coast along under the "beta" banner for a long time, for good and bad.
Fallen Earth farming to go live tomorrow
Tomorrow's update 2.6 for Fallen Earth will bring the long-awaited farming feature to the post-apocalyptic MMO after enjoying a few weeks on the game's public test server. As stated in a previous exclusive on Massively, these farms will allow players to create 3-, 6-, and 9-plot farms with crops you can grow, livestock you can raise, and western-themed gear you can wear. Rare and valuable materials can be harvested from these farms and the higher-end farm houses even have space for indoor seating, vaults, and more. If you'd like to see these farms in action, be sure to watch my livestream this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. EST where I'll show off the farm buildings and give my impressions on how it all works. [Source: GamersFirst press release]%Gallery-48606%
APB locks and reloads for Christmas
All Points Bulletin is preparing for a bloody Christmas siege -- and if you can get through this holiday event without saying, "Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho," then you are better people than we. The game is kicking off its holiday festivities on Wednesday, December 12th, and has a few twists from last year's event. During the event, players will need to seek out Elves for a few new missions. These Elves aren't messing around, either; they're prepared to hand out weapon skins and cool threads for the street-tough. The studio also floated the rumor that there will be a snowball grenade launcher up for grabs. The studio has a 12-day promotion starting on December 13th for shoppers. Each day, the cash shop will hand out a different surprise gift to those dropping money on the title. [Source: Reloaded Productions press release]
Fallen Earth readies the land for farms
Fallen Earth's latest state of the game is as country as one can get. The title is currently testing out farms, which should go live in the game sometime in December. Farms are a branch of the construction crafting set, which can grow plants and animals. That's right: Through the magic of cloning, livestock can be cloned right there on the farm. Players can build one of these farms anywhere with enough space and no landscape conflicts. They come with a farmhouse and several amenities and last for four hours before disappearing. Of course, don't take the state of the game for it; read our in-depth interview of the new farming system from last month! The state of the game also said that the next stage of the Coresuit will be coming in the new year, player housing is still being investigated on the technical front, and a certain mount will be getting an update this holiday season.
APB celebrates Steam anniversary with free cigars
There are anniversaries and there are anniversaries. Steam anniversaries are apparently a thing now, as Reloaded Productions is celebrating All Points Bulletin's debut appearance on the digital distribution platform, as well as its official relaunch day. According to the studio, APB has proven incredibly popular on Steam during its year run. Chief Marketing Officer Rahul Sandil conveys the company's appreciation: "We want to thank our player community and our friends at Steam for all the support and love they have shown APB Reloaded for the last year. With over three million downloads delivered, APB has established itself as one of the hottest game franchises in the online games industry. Over the next few days we will be making other exciting announcements about the expansion of the APB franchise, so stay tuned." To celebrate the anniversary, the studio is discounting the ATAC 424 NCFP 3 weapon in the store and handing out free cigar and celebrate emotes to all players. [Source: Reloaded Productions press release]
GamersFirst dropping Sword 2, title picked up by T3Fun
GamersFirst is out of the Sword 2 business, it seems. The publisher announced that it will be dropping its contract to publish and host the title at the end of the year. Fans of the game have no reason to fret that they're about to lose their world, however; HanbitSoft's subsidiary T3Fun will take up the slack come January 1st. Due to the transfer between companies, players will need to expressly consent to allow their game data to be transferred over. The announcement post contains instructions how to do just that. Also, Sword 2 players won't be able to transfer their GamersFirst store currency, so spending it now is highly recommended. There are a lot of details to go over, so if this affects you, be sure to read the whole post very carefully. [Thanks to William for the tip!]
Rise and Shiny: Taikodom
I should have known something was up. I just should have trusted my gut and avoided this game, but no. No, instead I have to be the one who gives into curiosity and says, "Hey, I wrote about that game on my blog almost four years ago... what's it been up to lately?" There's something potentially dangerous about playing a game that has had an identity crisis for so long. Then again, I'm a huge Ryzom fan, and that game has been through the ringer more times than I can remember. Taikodom is now called Taikodom: Living Universe. I'm not sure when things changed without comparing back to that old blog post, but the changes are obvious. No more avatars? OK then. A different UI? That's fine. But -- and this is where my older gamer memory starts to get the best of me -- I distinctly remember Taikodom being sort of fun back then. The version I played this week was anything but fun.
APB: Reloaded's version 10 to feature car surfing and more
GamersFirst has taken the wraps off APB: Reloaded's next patch. The version 10 update, otherwise known as New Breed Part Three, will appear "in the next few weeks" according to the latest edition of the APBR dev blog. The patch introduces two new T5 contacts, Birth and Templeton, both of whom bring a laundry list of new features to the game including vehicles, weapons, and modifications like Spotter and Car Surfer. The former is about what you'd expect given the name, as it allows players to paint enemy targets and display them to teammates (even through walls). Car Surfer, naturally, allows you to ride on a vehicle's roof. Check out a couple of quick example videos after the break. You'll find more like them on APBR's official site.
MMO Blender: Beyond Shawn's Thunderdome
If there's one thing I've noticed about these MMO Blender articles, it's that the Massively staff members seem to really like their sandboxes. Maybe it's not even so much a staff preference as it is a statement about where we all are as MMO players. Themeparks have been done and have been perfected, but many of us want to stretch the limitations of a truly persistent and open online world. At least that's what I'd like to think. It's an ideal situation I can dream about, but do we all really want a truly open world with limitless possibilities? What would we do with so few rules? My perfect MMO has what I'd consider to be the best of all worlds. The trick is, of course, getting it all to work in one game.
Farming in Fallen Earth: An exclusive interview with the devs
Late last week, Reloaded Games and GamersFirst announced that farming was coming to the post-apocalyptic sandbox Fallen Earth. The initial dev blog gave us some information on how farming will be implemented, but not much more beyond that. We took that as an invitation to pick the dev team's collective brain, and pick we did. Read on after the cut to learn more on how farming will work in Fallen Earth and how close it will be to FarmVille -- plus you can point your eyes at two exclusive screenshots of the farms themselves.
Rise and Shiny: Runes of Magic
I first played Runes of Magic a long time ago, as in years. In fact, I played it a bit during beta and right after release. I have a fond memory of being on a voice program with our very own Shawn Schuster and a few other podcasters and bloggers as we ran around playing. I named my character something to do with Slayer, or perhaps that was Shawn, and we had a pretty good time. It was, at the time, one of the higher-quality free-to-play titles out there. Since then the game has undergone many, many changes -- too many changes to recap here. If you really want a summary of the game over the past few years, check out our own Jeremy Stratton's former column, Lost Pages of Taborea. I had Jeremy join me for my last night of gameplay before writing this piece to help clear up some confusion I had about the game. And for some powerelveling. Oh yes, powerleveling.
Fallen Earth to introduce farming
Fallen Earth's upcoming content includes new stage 3 coresuits, skill and mutation adjustments, and farming. Yes, farming is coming to Fallen Earth! According to the most recent dev blog, post-apocalyptic farming will be a crafting skill that will allow a player to build a three-, six-, or nine-plot farm where organic resources can be grown through seed planting, and animals can be raised. Additionally, harvesting will give a player the chance to get a common, uncommon, or rare component. Farming in PvP zones will increase the resource yield. Be sure to read the entire dev blog for more information on what's coming to the PTS with the next content patch.
Taikodom pops into open beta
Are you itching for some fast-and-furious space warfare? Missing your fix after Black Prophecy shutdown? Then you're prime to experience Taikodom: Living Universe, which has leaped into open beta. The sci-fi shooter is now being distributed through GamersFirst. Reloaded Games' CMO Rahul Sandil says he's "stoked" to include Taikodom into the company's roster and promises dozens of additional titles in the coming year. Taikodom is also offering three founder's packages. These packages range from $9 to $49 and include benefits such as in-game items, unique achievements, and lifetime VIP status. [Source: GamersFirst press release]
Massively Exclusive: Hailan Rising's devs on PvP, death, and player loot tables
Hailan Rising is more than halfway through its Kickstarter campaign with quite a long trek still to go for funding, but we took a good look at the game's description and really liked what we saw. It's a game that is labeling itself as "DAoC meets CoD" and being developed by some important industry vets. But as with any Kickstarter project, there are always questions. We see what's being promised with the game, but we want to know more. So we gathered together a few of our biggest concerns for the Reloaded Productions team to see what this thing is all about. As Kickstarter projects are still a dime a dozen these days, we want to know what sets the team's game apart from the rest. Follow along after the cut for our interview with Adam Smith and Jess Mulligan from Reloaded Productions.
Fallen Earth and APB: Reloaded go trick-or-treating
GamersFirst is bringing scary back to two of its biggest titles for Halloween. The publisher announced special events and seasonal sales for APB: Reloaded and Fallen Earth, some of which are happening at this very moment. Players in APB can get a preview of the upcoming Asylum District as they go there to compete in the Fright Club. A costume contest is scheduled for October 31st as well, and GMs will be present to lead a grand parade through the streets. Finally, the pumpkin-happy devs are throwing another Pumpkin Head Customization Contest with even better prizes than last year. In the vast wasteland of Fallen Earth, survivors are encouraged to go trick-or-treating with the devs for exclusive items. The location of said trick-or-treating will be hinted at in chat. Fallen Earth is also selling its cosmetic gear for half off starting tomorrow.
Why I Play: APB Reloaded
Those of you who have followed me on this quaint little internet of ours for any reasonable amount of time know that I'm a sandbox guy. I love freedom, choice, and the leg room to explore and build to my heart's content. I'm not a big fan of PvP, general chat, bored griefers, or people acting like idiots. But in direct contrast to this claim, APB: Reloaded is one of my all-time favorite MMOs. APB: Reloaded is one of those games that I happily jump into when I'm feeling bored with other games or just miss real action. When I'm solo, it's a bit of an outlet for any stress or frustrations I might have because I can just be a complete jerk and it's part of the game. But when I'm with a group, the dynamic changes completely. Sure, the game has its problems and is notorious for the lag and cheater issues, but that doesn't really affect why I play the game. Then why do I play APB: Reloaded?
APB: Reloaded previews new map for Halloween festivities
Like in most virtual worlds, APB: Reloaded's San Paro is preparing for Halloween. In honor of the occasion, a new map will be brought out for two weeks of celebration. The appropriately themed Asylum map will be used to host a Fright Club, which will replace the regular Fight Club starting today. Trick and Treat, the respective Halloween Contacts for Criminals and Enforcers, will be chilling in the Asylum with missions to hand out. Players will be able to go through six levels of holiday missions. In addition, players will be able to smash pumpkins -- and smashing pumpkins unlocks titles! Not only will players unlock the Pumpkin Chaser, Murderer, Assassin, and Terminator titles unlocked at various numbers of pumpkins smashed, but the top player in each world for pumpkin smashing will unlock the title of Pumpkin King or Queen. Two contests will round out the festivities: the Headless Gunman Pumpkin Head Contest and the Halloween District Parade Costume Contest. Check out the official contest forums for all the details on that heap o' goodness.
Choose My Adventure: You decide the MMO and how I play it
It's finally time for my second round of Choose My Adventure. The last time I helmed CMA, Lineage II was top pick, and I had a lot of fun with it. I took tons of screenshots and video to keep you in the loop as to my progress, and you can expect the same, whichever game is chosen this time. MJ's turn with The Secret World was a lot of fun to read and follow. She even livestreamed some of her shenanigans... I mean, adventures. You can bet I'll be playing with one finger over the PrtScn button and livestreaming some of my adventures as well. I hope to make this a multimedia extravaganza of epic proportions. Take a look through your choices and vote, vote, vote. And make sure to get those votes in by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday the 21st!
One Shots: Wings
Resident Massively Aion columnist MJ Guthrie could sum up the best reason to play her favorite MMO in just one word: wings! That's something reader Leandra plainly echoes in today's featured One Shots submission. She sent us this image of her character soaring through Aion along with this note: I've been toying around with Aion a bit and took my baby Chanter, Elanyne, for her first flight through the Abyss. I kept an eye out for Elyos, but thankfully (though somewhat disappointingly), I was able to quest in peace. I guess I'll have to level up more and then go looking to pick some fights! You red, you dead -- that's what I always say! Leandra's flight and a few other reader screenies are tucked beyond the break.
The Game Archaeologist: Happy birthday, Warhammer Online and Fallen Earth!
September is a special month for me because it was around this time that two MMOs personally meaningful to me launched. Four years ago, Warhammer Online came into being amid a flurry of hype, insane expectations, and fan frenzy. It's the game that excited me enough to start my journey as a blogger, eventually landing me a spot here on Massively. And three years ago, Fallen Earth opened my eyes to how much fun an MMO about the end of the world and crafting could be. Despite the fact that neither of these titles qualifies for the title of "success" these days, I still bear a soft spot in my heart for them. I spent well over a year in each game, racking up several memories and useful lessons that I'd carry with me going forward. And I don't regret a single day playing them. Since this month is the fourth anniversary of WAR and the third of Fallen Earth, I wanted to offer a hearty "congrats!" and take a minute to see what's been moving and shaking in these games during this past year.
