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SOE Live 2012: A deeper look at DCUO's housing lairs
Thursday's announcement of the addition of player lairs to DC Universe Online set this little housing-lover's heart all aflutter! While there were more bits of news about the new Home Turf DLC coming next year, my focus was understandably on the lairs. And I was very happy to sit down at SOE Live and talk shop with Jens Andersen. As creative director for DCUO, Jens shared many juicy tidbits about the new system for this special edition of Some Assembly Required. So what's in store for denizens of Gotham and Metropolis? Let's start with personal instances that are accessed from realistic points within the cities, functions that stretch to accommodate different levels of creativity and decorating savvy, and a unique dueling system that will be unlike anything players (or their furniture!) have seen before. Players can even get rewards and achievements for collecting items and decorating their homes. Sounds intriguing, no?
E3 2010: Your complete Massively coverage roundup
The 2010 edition of the gaming nirvana known as E3 has come and gone, and Massively was there to bring you three days of exclusives, firsts, and hands-on impressions for all your favorite MMORPG titles, studios, and developers. This year's Expo saw plenty of news and announcements regarding highly anticipated games, as well as plenty of information on assorted titles large and small. We thought it best to collate our coverage into a complete and concise roundup post for your viewing pleasure, so read along after the cut to make sure you didn't miss anything. You can also check out all of our E3 galleries along the way.
E3 2010: Erez Goren talks to Massively about Global Agenda's future, part 2
It seems some people are worried that Global Agenda has low player activity and may be on its last legs. When asked about that, Erez gave some useful statistics from the deployment of Sandstorm Phase 1 that suggest they're definitely on the right track. "We're only starting our marketing now," Erez told us, adding that "It was better to start early, work through with our user base about what people want to see and how and then market it and push it out." Not deterred by doom-sayers, he suggested that "as long as there's enough people to play with, it's OK" and affirmed his belief that Global Agenda couldn't drop below that level.
E3 2010: Erez Goren talks to Massively about Global Agenda's future
Sci-fi MMOFPS Global Agenda took last year's E3 Expo by storm, securing awards and impressing attendees. Launching earlier this year, the game has been rapidly updated and evolved based on player feedback. The Sandstorm Phase 1 patch recently overhauled huge areas of gameplay and delivered a lot of new content. The Global Agenda team are back at E3 this year, hoping to impress with a look at their up-coming Sandstorm Phase 2 patch. We sent our very own E3 reporter Sera Brennan to get the details from Erez Goren, founder and CEO of Hi-Rez Studios. In this bumper two-part feature, we get to grips with Global Agenda's new open zones, warzones and game-mode updates. We tackle the issues you asked for as we quiz Erez Goren on whether the game may be on its last legs, the game's shift in focus to PvE and what new game mechanics the team have up their sleeves.
A Massively interview with Cryptic's Bill Roper and Jack Emmert
As promised after yesterday's Cryptic Studios news, today we have an interview with the developer's new Chief Operations Officer Jack Emmert and Chief Creative Officer Bill Roper. If you're wondering exactly what these new titles mean and what Jack and Bill have planned for the future of both Champions Online and Star Trek Online, you'll definitely want to check this one out. Massively: When did the move to Chief Creative Officer occur and what's your overall job like now compared to your previous position as Executive Producer? Bill Roper: When Jack took on more COO responsibilities, he wanted someone who could spend more specialized, day-to-day time with the teams. For the past month I've been working with the Executive Producers and various leads within those teams to provide design, support, and guidance as requested. I'm also a liaison between the teams and the executives supporting and helping represent their individual game visions. I assist in coordinating systems and content concepts and technologies between the teams while being involved in their top-level design. Shifting from the very focused day-to-day duties on Champions Online to a broader role is a rejuvenating new challenge, and the teams have really welcomed me on. I'm not coming in with "the word from above" that must be followed. I'm here to support the vision keepers and creators of each game – to be a sounding board for ideas and a source of creative energy they can tap into.
Massively interviews Bill Roper on Champions Online's Revelation update
Recently we had the chance to speak with Champions Online's executive producer Bill Roper about the forthcoming Revelation update. More specifically, we asked him about the new zone Vibora Bay, its quest structure and Cryptic's plans moving beyond the Revelation update, as well. Of course, we couldn't discuss this first major content update without asking about the decision to make it free... but you'll just have to check out our interview after the break for that part.
Massively interviews PoxNora: Major updates and a website revamp
It's been far too long since we first had the pleasure of introducing readers to PoxNora. So long, in fact, that we contacted SOE to see about speaking with the good people in Tucson, AZ about their strategy game that incorporates card collecting, online persistence and progression mechanics into a delightful cocktail of an online game. There's a lot of changes coming to PoxNora, changes that for the first time will be revealed in this interview with SOE Community Manger Tony "RadarX" Jones. A new website, a new Rune Manager, a new Champions stat system, new maps and hints at the future of PoxNora are just a few of the topics covered beyond the break. Did we mention all these updates are coming within the next few weeks? Oh, we've also got shiny imagery.
Massively's Black Prophecy Q&A: Mission Systems
Massively has been following the development of the sci-fi MMO Black Prophecy very closely, and was pleased that the title's developer Reakktor Media wanted to do a series of focused Q&As with us on several aspects of the game. Our last such Q&A started at the beginning with character creation, but in our second installment of the Black Prophecy interview series we discussed the game's mission design. To that end, we posed some questions to Lorenz Dames, the Lead Game Designer on Black Prophecy. Lorenz explained a great deal about how Reakktor is approaching solo content vs. group-oriented gameplay. He also told us how Reakktor Media is merging the completion of mission objectives with dogfighting your fellow players through PvP missions, where other players will try to counter your efforts to complete goals. Our interview should provide Black Prophecy fans with a solid overview of the game's mission design, which will be an essential aspect of the sci-fi MMO's gameplay.%Gallery-46991%
Massively's Black Prophecy Q&A: Character Creation
Black Prophecy is one of the hotly anticipated games on the horizon that sci-fi MMO fans have been wanting to hear more about. Until recently though, Reakktor Media wasn't quite ready to reveal many of the specifics of what the game will offer. We've known that Black Prophecy's gameplay will differ from titles in the genre like EVE Online -- with Reakktor's game a bit more accessible in terms of learning curve and with a more dynamic feel to piloting space ships. Plus, if the screenshots and video footage are an accurate indication, Black Prophecy will be visually stunning as well. Business-wise, things have recently changed for the better at Reakktor Media and the Black Prophecy project is once again moving ahead at full speed. More info about this title is on the way as well; Reakktor was kind enough to agree to do a series of focused Q&As at Massively about various facets of the game. Over time, this series will cover topics ranging from Black Prophecy's modification system to details about how players will build space stations. Since we're going to look at some of the fundamental aspects of Black Prophecy, it makes sense that we'd begin this series where the players themselves will begin -- at character creation. In our first Q&A in this series, Massively spoke with Jens Kortboyer, Lead Artist on Black Prophecy, who walked us through the design decisions Reakktor made in creating the look of the Genides and Tyi characters, as well as the visual choices players will have when starting out.%Gallery-46991%
Massively interview with Aion's new community manager
Aion is easily one of the biggest MMOs of the year, so when a new North American community manager took over recently we decided it was the perfect time for an interview with the new team member, Andrew Beegle -- known as Tamat to community members. We asked Tamat about new methods of community interaction, the hotly anticipated experience boost patch and even some personal questions about our new community manager. You can never really know enough about the person serving as the conduit to your main MMO -- at least that's what we tell them!
AGDC09: EVE's Nathan Richardsson on the Dominion expansion and beyond
Massively was on the ground at the Game Developers Conference 2009 in Austin this week, and had a chance to sit down with Nathan "Oveur" Richardsson, Executive Producer of EVE Online. We discussed EVE's winter expansion, Dominion, and the new dimensions to the sci-fi MMO's setting that CCP Games hopes to introduce. We also learned a bit more about the company's plans to expand EVE into other platforms, namely through the COSMOS social network which will tie in with the game from Dominion onward.
New perspective on EVE Online's latest bank embezzlement
EVE Online is a deep sandbox game with the most complex player-driven economy found in any massively multiplayer title. There's enough depth, in fact, that players can establish their own financial ventures in-game, in the forms of bonds and IPOs, and even institutions like banks. However, EVE Online is a game where some players create while others undermine or outright destroy. Trust is a valuable and rare commodity in EVE's setting of New Eden; there are always risks of deception and betrayal. But those willing to take risks are generally the ones who are most successful. Of the player-run banks presently operating in the game, EBANK has billed itself as "the largest financial entity ever seen in EVE."The secrets of its success? A solid Board of Directors and knowledgeable staff, various safeguards preventing any one individual from accessing all bank assets and, yes, some of that rare commodity called trust.That trust was damaged recently though, when EBANK's (now-former) CEO Ricdic, well-known to the game's playerbase, embezzled the virtual funds he was entrusted with. Although this is permissible by EVE's developers CCP Games, selling in-game currency for real-world cash is not. Ricdic has been banned from the game but his actions triggered a run on the virtual bank, and have shaken the faith many players have in EBANK. Massively spoke about the incident with LaVista Vista, a former member of the game's Council of Stellar Management who sits on the Board of Directors of this virtual bank in EVE; he also provides commentary and analysis of virtual worlds and EVE on the Eveconomics blog. LaVista told us about the parallels that can be drawn between a banking crisis in the virtual galaxy of New Eden and that of the real world, and how what happens in a game can impact real lives.
New perspective on EVE Online's latest bank embezzlement part two
We read about these things happening periodically, an EVE player pulls a runner with some huge amount of ISK and all sorts of drama ensues. It makes me wonder, what has the real life impact of this theft been on those of you involved with EBANK?If you are to trust the forum trolls, EVE is JUST a game. But having spent 2 years on this project, real-life money and a lot of sweat and tears, it hurts to see EBANK's name being dragged through the mud, and putting up with the drama. It of course causes a huge amount of real-life stress, and makes you wonder about a few things. I even almost managed to miss 2 exams, due to having to deal with this. But it also gave us the opportunity to realize just how many people EBANK have helped.2% of EVE's playerbase has an EBANK account, and we came to be the biggest investment venture in EVE, peaking at 2.5 TRILLION ISK. That, to me, is a pretty big thing, which I'm proud to take part in. But I can't answer this question on my own, hence here's my new CEO's take on it:
Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal pt. 2
How have the launches of FusionFall and Free Realms affected Earth Eternal? Have you changed your development or goals in any way because of the success of those two games, or have you stayed the course and continued to build things your way, disregarding those two games?Not really, no. Games like Runescape and Habbo have had more influence on our plans than either of those two games, simply because they're so much bigger. FusionFall and Free Realms have gotten a lot of press in the last year, but neither of them have achieved the level of success that games like Runescape and Habbo have. Actually, nobody really knows how Free Realms is doing outside of SOE. Three million registrations doesn't tell you much about how many active players they have as you don't know how quickly players are churning out of the experience. With the massive dollars they spent on marketing too, it'd be surprising if they couldn't get a few million registrations. The challenge for them (and everyone else in this space, including us) is to convert that fleeting attention into long-term, loyal players. "We're more in the vein of a classic fantasy MMO than a collection of minigames." How will Earth Eternal separate itself from the growing free-to-play genre in America? What will make this game stand out?We're a different kind of experience from FusionFall or Free Realms. We're more in the vein of a classic fantasy MMO than a collection of minigames. I think where we stand out is by offering the best browser-based fantasy MMO out there. We've made the decision to have no humans, elves, or dwarves (or gnomes, hobbits, or anything else too close to human), preferring instead to offer everything from humanoid lizards and falcons to the Clockwork and Yeti. We're definitely fantasy but we want to stay away from the pack, almost all of whom have the humans/elves/dwarves thing going on. We've also got an enormous number of races for players (unlike the two games you mentioned) – 22 at launch.Considering all of Earth Eternal's development, what part of the game are you the most proud of? What is that one feature you can't wait to show off?The number one thing I'm proud of is how much our team has managed to do on relatively little funding for an open world 3D MMO (about five million dollars.) As far as game features go the biggest feature I'm looking forward to showing off is our Groves system, which will be introduced at final launch, a few months after we go into open beta. Thanks so much for your time, Matt!
Massively speaks with Sparkplay Media's CEO on Earth Eternal
With Sparkplay Media's first game, Earth Eternal, going into beta, we got the chance to sit down with the CEO of the company, Matt Mihaly, and pick his mind on a variety of things related to setting up shop in the free to play genre.Matt's no stranger to the massively multiplayer space, holding a strong background as the CEO and founder of Iron Realms Entertainment, a company dedicated to creating multi-user dungeons (MUDs) including Imperian, Aetola, Achaea, and Lusternia. If that wasn't enough, Achaea was one of the first games to introduce the sales of virtual goods, making him one of the pioneers of the base that free-to-play games now stand on.So what's his thought process behind Earth Eternal? What are some of the things we can expect from the MMO that's sporting over 22 races? Hit the continue reading link, and find out!
EVE Community Spotlight: CrazyKinux
CrazyKinux is one of the standout players in EVE Online who has contributed to the game in significant ways. He's known as Treenara Mazouk in New Eden, but most players simply call him 'CrazyKinux'. His site, CrazyKinux's Musing, is a popular destination for players curious about EVE Online or looking for info about how to get started, as well as a hub of activity for the EVE player community.Beyond the four years and counting he's been a vocal member of the player community, CrazyKinux has provided commentary on EVE through The Drone Bay podcast and later on MicroWarpCast. The writers at Massively had the good fortune to work with CrazyKinux in the past, with his Have Clone, Will Travel column, but he's since gone on to have a bigger impact on the game. CrazyKinux turned his attention to the EVE community itself, where much of the out-of-game interaction between players had been on forums or on player blogs that often existed in their own microcosm. He linked them together into a cohesive community and the momentum has resulted in hundreds of EVE players writing about their experiences in New Eden, and the most active bloggers participate in regular, intelligent discussions about the game in "EVE Blog Banters". CrazyKinux is one busy man, but Massively recently caught up with him to discuss the community of EVE players he's helped bring together and what it is about the game and its playerbase that motivated him to make this happen.
E3 2009: A complete roundup of Massively's coverage
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 proved to be a significant event for the gaming industry once again, with a fair amount of news and announcements related to MMOs. Massively was there on the ground for E3 this year and we've been putting up breaking announcements, interviews, and hands-on previews throughout. Given how much info came out of E3 on Massively, here's a roundup of our coverage, day-by-day. Be sure to check out the rest after the jump as there's plenty more content, plus you'll find E3 galleries for these games as you click through. To cap it all off, we've also put together an E3 2009 wrapup video for you at the end of this post. Read on to see where the MMO industry is headed in the next year and beyond! Day One Star Wars: The Old Republic world's first fully-voiced MMO Final Fantasy XIV announced Jumpgate Evolution releases E3 trailer EA to publish All Points Bulletin in 2010 PlayStation Home hits 6.5 million accounts Trion World Network unveils Heroes of Telara Massively's day 1 video from the E3 floor
E3 2009: Bill Roper on character themes and customization in Champions Online
The superhero MMO genre has been ruled by one game and one game alone for the past five years: City of Heroes. NCsoft's title being quite literally the only game in town for superhero fans is about to change, with competitors like DC Universe Online and Champions Online on the way. We have a good idea of what to expect with DCUO given the recognizable characters the game incorporates, but what of Champions Online which is based upon the Champions pen and paper RPG?We've wondered what Cryptic Studios will do to differentiate Champions Online from the competition; Massively had a chance to sit down with Bill Roper, the game's executive producer, to discuss that question at E3 2009.%Gallery-17946%
Massively Interview: Masthead Studios' CEO on Earthrise and freedom of choice
There is a slow but steady shift in direction in the MMO industry from being dominated by fantasy titles to one where gamers have other options, namely in terms of sci-fi and post-apocalyptic games. The smaller game studios producing these titles have some big challenges ahead of them, not the least of which is whether or not MMO gamers will embrace settings and gameplay elements that depart from the fantasy MMO paradigm. One of those newcomers to the MMO scene is Masthead Studios who are developing the post-apocalyptic Earthrise.This first title from Masthead Studios will present gamers with a futuristic, dystopian setting where two major factions struggle for control over the island of Enterra, the last refuge of humanity after the burn. Continoma are the technocratic elite; they hold the keys to genetic immortality and enforce their ordered societal views on the population they've resurrected. The game's other major faction, Noir, is a shadow government -- the resistance. Earthrise's setting and factional struggles aren't limited to simple right-and-wrong scenarios, though, and this carries over to the gameplay. Players or guilds may align with one faction or another for their own benefit, but the game's numerous sub-factions provide other options for allegiances, or even the possibility of shifting those allegiances. We had the opportunity to see Earthrise firsthand at GDC 2009 but we've always got more questions. Fortunately, Masthead Studios was willing to oblige. We've had another chance to speak with Masthead Studios CEO Atanas Atanasov about some of the core concepts and lore behind Earthrise, and how their approach to the game and the genre should allow a great deal of freedom for players.%Gallery-48760%
The Council of Stellar Management's impact on the game
Massively: Was giving the players this degree of input a frightening prospect for the developers and the designers? Pétur: [Laughs] Yes. I've been hearing the other companies in the industry asking if we've completely lost our minds. Of course it's a difficult step, but we wouldn't have have a game without the players, so I think it's a logical step to take. Even though it's a frightening one. Massively: Now that you've been doing this for a while, is it still as frightening now, seeing what the CSM is coming up with? Pétur: No. They still surprise us sometimes but in a good way. It's becoming a very valuable tool for us to have. It's important. Dr. EyjoG: Pétur and I work in the unit of Research and Statistics and what we are increasingly finding happening over the past two months is that the developers come to us and ask 'What do you think the CSM would think of this?' And now we can answer, 'Well, just ask them.' Pétur: There are at least three cases off the top of my head where the CSM was asked by the developers themselves about a feature they were thinking about, what the players' take on this might be.
