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Life at the 'end of the world' isn't all looting and pillaging
Typically, end-of-the-world scenarios involve rioting, looting and chaos. Those depictions are from pop culture, though, and not based on any sort of real-world data. For an idea of how an apocalyptic situation might actually play out, scientists pored over some 270 million action records from the South Korean massively multiplayer game (MMO) ArcheAge, according to a paper (PDF) spotted by New Scientist.
Bungie will reset everyone's 'Destiny' characters for the sequel
As the sun sets on Bungie's shooter MMO Destiny, its fans look ahead to a new dawn, when the old game hands its reign (and playerbase) over to its sequel coming sometime this year, currently called Destiny 2. Unfortunately, its loyal constituency had a bit of a rude awakening this morning when Bungie announced that every player character would be reset going into the new game. That's right, folks: All your Gjallarhorns, No Land Beyonds and skill points won't be coming along for the ride.
Online RPG 'Asheron's Call' to shut down after 17 years
Well-done online role-playing games tend to have a long shelf life, but the Asheron's Call series has lasted longer than most. It got started way back in 1999, and has lasted through three publisher changes, a shift to a buy-once model and even a full-on resurrection, among other tribulations. However, even classics have to call it quits at some point. Turbine has announced that it's ending support for both the original Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 on January 31st, 2017. The series will be completely free to play for any account holder until then, but you won't get to create a new account to see what the fuss is about.
'EVE Online' is now free-to-play
After over 13 years of paid subscriptions, EVE Online's recently revealed free-to-play experiment is now live. In a bid to boost its dwindling player base, CCP's latest expansion allows both new and existing players to explore the EVE universe for free.
An hour with 'Meadow,' the most-peaceful MMO ever
Meadow, the latest game from indie developers Might and Delight, has flown under the radar. Like the Shelter games the studio is famous for, Meadow has you controlling an animal, exploring a lo-fi wilderness. Unlike Shelter, Meadow is an MMO. Starting life in Meadow is confusing. Having read nothing about the game, I dived into the European server. I was suddenly a small badger, in a field, alone. I quickly worked out the controls available to me: walk, run, jump, smell, speak and emote -- actually many, many emotes. After five minutes or so of bounding around and chittering to myself, I heard an almost-guttural bleating coming from ... somewhere. I called out again with the whiny chitter that only a badger could make. The deep bleat drew closer. I gently made my way down a cliff face toward a pair of antlers in the distance.
Put your little Guardians to sleep with the 'Destiny' children's book
Days ago, Bungie released its third expansion, Rise of Iron, for its popular MMO shooter Destiny. A new short single-player campaign, multiplayer mode and six-person raid should keep players busy killing enemy aliens, and each other, for months. Undoubtedly, some of those gamers are parents, and while they pummel and gun down foes in-game, they might look wistfully at their kids sitting on the couch next to them. How can my progeny engage in this rich, bloody, grim universe with me, they'll ask? The answer, obviously, is a children's book.
Sex and sexuality: The Jane Austen game breaking the MMO rules
Ever, Jane is an online role-playing game set in the dramatic, romantic worlds of Jane Austen. It invites players to attend sophisticated dinner parties and fancy balls, share gossip, keep secrets, fall in love, get married and climb the ribbon-lined social ladder of Regency-era England. It is definitely not a sex game, though sometimes players get wrapped up in this universe of exquisite gowns and forbidden desire, and they simply can't help themselves. "Let's just say that we had to put in private chat," Ever, Jane creator Judy Tyrer says with a laugh.
Free-to-play is coming to the space MMO 'EVE Online'
After over a decade with a straight subscription model, the massively multiplayer space RPG EVE: Online is adding a free-to-play tier. While paid accounts will still exist for new and old players alike, the new free accounts will give gamers basic access to the vast EVE universe, "New Eden." It's been surprising how long EVE developer CCP has held out on free-to-play. New Eden may have been home to some of the most famous conflicts in video game history, but that hasn't stopped subscribers leaving in droves. Introduced in 2003, the game peaked with 500,000 subscribers in 2013 (the last time CCP gave official figures). From comparing activity logs and historical player figures, the current subscriber count is likely less than half of that peak.
Meeting strangers in the VR wilderness
I didn't expect to see anyone. Not in the woods. I blink a few times and widen my stance, swiveling my head back and forth to see if there are others. No, just the one. A bearded face floating in midair, a pair of white gloves dangling underneath. "Was that...?" I whisper under my breath but before I can finish the question, the strange being has teleported a few meters toward me. Another split-second and he's standing a stone's throw away. "Hello," he says with a wave and a grin.
Blizzard has had enough of rude 'World of Warcraft' players
Blizzard wants to put a stop to inappropriate behavior in World of Warcraft. The company is rolling out a new silence penalty that will limit abusive players from engaging with the game in a few major ways.
Lucasfilm Games' MMO 'Habitat' source code released
You may know LucasArts for its spread of excellent point-and-click adventure games like Loom or Day of the Tentacle, but do you remember Lucasfilm Games and its massively multiplayer online RPG Habitat that went live in 1986? Probably not. But whether you look back fondly on that year and the short-lived MMO or are simply interested in seeing older nuggets of gaming goodness being preserved, you're in luck. Habitat's source code is now available.
Can 'Warcraft' break the curse of the video game movie?
There's a special place in cinema hell for video game movies. From 1993's cringeworthy Super Mario Bros. -- a high-profile abomination that even Nintendo wants to forget -- to the basic-cable-worthy schlock that was Mortal Kombat and even the underwhelming Jake Gyllenhaal-vehicle Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, games have failed to make the big screen translation. But that's precisely why director -- and son of the late, great David Bowie -- Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) agreed to tackle the theatrical debut of developer Blizzard's real-time strategy game Warcraft. "There's been a rough track record of movies based on video games," says Jones. "I do like the challenge. I like the idea of maybe making a film which is way better than anyone expected it to be because I know the expectations are all over the place."
Gunless MMO game 'Absolver' slated for 2017 release
Indie studio Sloclap has teamed with Devolver Digital on a new melee-based MMO, dubbed Absolver. The game is currently scheduled for release on both consoles and PC some point in 2017.
Blizzard considers running classic 'World of Warcraft' servers
Do you miss the early, headier days of World of Warcraft, before endless changes turned it into a different beast? You're far from alone -- hundreds of thousands of people were playing on Nostalrius, a fan-run server that went back to basics, until Blizzard shut it down early in April over intellectual property jitters. However, the game studio isn't deaf to your cries. It's telling WoW fans that it has been mulling the idea of running its own "pristine" servers, without the boosts and tweaks that have slipped into the online role-playing title over the years.
There was gonna be a 'Guitar Hero' MMO
In the five years following the first Guitar Hero, Activision sought to flood the market with variations on the theme. But if the company hadn't swung the axe in 2011, we were even going to get a massively multiplayer online version of the title. Unseen 64 has unearthed footage from the early stages of Hero World, a planned replacement for DJ Hero 3 that was designed to unify the entire World series in one place. It should come as no surprise that, as the bottom fell out of the plastic-musical-instrument genre, the idea was axed, even if it did have some pretty exciting ideas.
'EVE Online' now rewards you for helping science
At last, playing a ton of EVE Online can do a lot of good in the real world. As promised, the massively multiplayer space title now includes a Project Discovery minigame that has you contributing to real science. If you offer to classify proteins in between space flights, you'll both help scientists understand the proteins' roles in the human body (especially relating to disease) and earn in-game rewards ranging from ISK currency to loyalty points. You don't have to be a paying EVE subscriber to participate, so it won't hurt to give the project a go if you're eager to advance medicine while you explore the virtual cosmos.
IBM's supercomputer will power an online, anime VR game
It's a bit odd that no one's thought to fuse the virtual-reality, role-playing game centric anime Sword Art Online into a proper VR experience before now, but that's the future we live in. No worries though, because IBM is using (Japanese) its Watson Cognitive Computing tech and SoftLayer cloud computing for Sword Art Online: The Beginning. It's a massively multiplayer VR game, of course, and perhaps other details will clear themselves up come a Tokyo-based event running from March 18th to the 20th. There, a 3D scanner will put folks' likenesses into the game for use as an avatar, Siliconera reports.
'The Division' goes cinematic in live-action story clips
For an awfully long time, the only news we'd heard out of Ubisoft regarding the ultra-ambitious online shooter/role-playing game hybrid Tom Clancy's: The Division were release date delays. But now, a few months out from launch, the hype machine is in full force for a game that's looking quite a bit different than its debut at E3 2013. In an effort to fill in some of the game's backstory about a currency-based pandemic that strikes on Black Black Friday and brings society as we know it to a halt, the gaming powerhouse has teamed with noted YouTubers Devinsupertramp and RocketJump, and online production house Corridor Digital for a quartet of different stories set in the "mid-crisis" universe.
'Destiny' is getting microtransactions, but don't panic yet
Destiny is getting microtransactions. Unlike item cool-downs or the obnoxious stuff that's intrinsic to all those Facebook distractions that clog up your news feed, however, these purchases aren't game-impacting. No, come October 13th they'll take the form of emotes and other cosmetic items. Developer Bungie stresses repeatedly that these will not impact your performance in any way should you not buy them. "You won't lose a Crucible (adversarial multiplayer) encounter or fail to clear a raid because you didn't have the right" emote equipped, the blog post says.
Playdate: taking on The Taken King in 'Destiny'
We're officially in "year two" of Bungie's connected shooter Destiny and what better way to celebrate than by streaming its first big expansion pack, "The Taken King" ? Both Sean Buckley and myself are lapsed Destiny players who've largely stepped away from the game in pursuit of other, not-grindy experiences. But Bungie's been touting the changes it's made as being more welcoming to new folks and those who've been overwhelmed by what it took to get the best gear and weapons previously. So join us at 6 pm ET / 3 pm PT for two hours of hot new Guardian action as we discover how accurate the developer's claims are. As always, you can check out the broadcast right here on this post, the Engadget Gaming homepage, and, if you want to join us in chat, head over to Twitch.tv/joystiq.
