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Bigpoint unleashes new Mummy Online site and trailer
It's been almost a year since Bigpoint announced The Mummy Online, and we were starting to suspect that the project had been sealed back up in a tomb... forever. We even listed it as one of our top MMOs that went MIA in 2010. But it turns out that Bigpoint was just running quiet as it whipped up a whole new site and trailer for us to enjoy. The Mummy Online is a continuation of the hit film series, which seeks to meld high adventure with historical horror. Bigpoint's Arash Amini feels that there's a lot of material for the team to mine: "Working with such a rich franchise not only enables us to leverage an incredible story; it also lends itself to further exploration and development perfectly suited for an online game that can evolve over time." This free-to-play browser title is set at the southern tip of the Nile, where tombs, burial grounds, oases, and ruins wait for the intrepid grave robber. It looks to have fast-paced action (with guns!) in a 3-D isometric viewpoint. Bigpoint's hoping to get The Mummy Online to release by this fall, but in the meantime you can check out the lore and screenshots on the official site as well as the teaser trailer below.
Don't panic -- Massively's getting a makeover! [Update #5]
Blizzard isn't the only team around preparing for a cataclysm. The perceptive among you might have noticed a few subtle changes around Massively today and wondered what was going on. Is it the end times?! Nope! In fact, we have exciting news! Tonight (Monday, November 22nd) and continuing through the week, we'll be rolling out our brand-new site. That's right, folks: Massively's getting a much-deserved facelift meant to bring the site in line with our community's needs and position us a bit more prominently alongside our sister site, Joystiq. We'll not only be easier on the eyes but easier to navigate, and best of all, we'll have a new and improved login and comment system. Rejoice! We'll get a new URL too -- massively.joystiq.com -- although www.massively.com will continue to redirect just fine to all the content you love, old and new. Over the next week, Massively might be a little bit weird as our Gnomish Engineers scramble to get a site of this size into its new outfit, so please bear with us while we tinker. Just to quell any remaining fears -- we're not closing down, we've not been bought out, and we're not selling out to corporate overlords. We've always been part of the Joystiq network; it's just going to be a bit more obvious now. The same bloggers will still be bringing you the same MMO posts and features as before. We're just going to look a whole lot more stylish doing it. We'll keep you posted as the rollout continues! [Ongoing updates are behind the cut! Last update was at 11:05 a.m. EST on Wednesday, November 24th. -Bree]
Post-beta for Final Fantasy XIV and the coming launch
With the hours slowly ticking by until the launch of Final Fantasy XIV, hopeful players will be happy to know that the Lodestone site for players is already open. (Technically, the servers even open this evening, but that doesn't give you the actual client to log in.) It's the time for reflection as well as preparation, and a recent translated interview from GAME Watch sheds some light on the overall process of testing as well as the vision of the game in the near future. Among the several pieces of interesting information from the interview is the analogy used for guildleves, addressing the question of whether or not they're the main content of the game. Guildleves are compared to a staple food such as rice or bread -- useful and filling, but not the complete meal by itself. Other topics of discussion are regular quests, with the main story quests described as being only the tip of the iceberg. It sounds as if the amount of content available to players of Final Fantasy XIV will be greater than anyone would expect, so players should keep their eyes open to enjoy the post-beta environment.
Brief Maintenance Wednesday Morning
A number of realms will be brought down at 4:00 AM PDT this Wednesday for about an hour to correct a database setting. So, if you play on any of the following servers, maybe that will be a good time to go find some breakfast: Altar of Storms, Andorhal, Anetheron, Archimonde, Black Dragonflight, Dalaran, Dalvengyr, Deathwing, Demon Soul, Dentarg, Doomhammer, Duskwood, Executus, Haomarush, Icecrown, Jaedenar, Kel'Thuzad, Khadgar, Mal'Ganis, Norgannon, Scilla, Steamwheedle Cartel, Thrall, Turalyon, Uldaman, Ysera, Ysondre, and Zuluhed. I recognize a number of these realms as running at the new site on new hardware, but I'm not sure if all of them are.
US Realm Migrations Tomorrow
During tomorrow's maintenance, the servers Cenarius, Cenarion Circle, Hyjal, Lightbringer, and Uther will be migrated to the new World of Warcraft site. What does this mean to us? Well it means that these five servers will be down for about 18 hours (starting at 3AM PDT). However, it also means that servers at the same site those five are migrating from will be down for 12 hours (also starting at 3AM PDT). So if you play on any of the following servers, I hope you have alternate morning plans: Blackrock, Bonechewer, Dragonmaw, Eldre'Thalas, Firetree, Frostmane, Frostmourne, Frostwolf, Gurubashi, Khaz'goroth, Kil'Jaeden, Kilrogg, Nathrezim, Ner'zhul, Proudmoore, Scarlet Crusade, Sen'Jin, Shadow Council, Shadowsong, Silver Hand, Silvermoon, Smolderthorn, Spirestone, Skywall, Terenas, Tichondrius, Vek'nilash, and Windrunner.
