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EVE Evolved: EVE Online vs. Elite: Dangerous
Like many EVE Online players, I grew up playing early sci-fi games like Elite and its sequel Frontier. In fact, CCP's recently released stats on the distribution of ages within the EVE community shows a peak around 29 years old, meaning that most players grew up in that same gaming era. A big part of what initially drew me to EVE Online was the prospect of playing the same kind of massive trading and space exploration game with other people, and for over 10 years it's scratched that sci-fi sandbox itch. I've watched EVE grow from a relatively unknown game with around 40,000 subscribers and laggy cruiser skirmishes into a vast game where thousands of players wage war for territory, profit, or just the adrenaline rush of PvP with something valuable on the line. Now that Elite: Dangerous is finally here, I want to see whether it can scratch the same sandbox itch as EVE and to what extent the two games can be compared. Both feature customisable ship fittings, open-world PvP with a criminal justice system, and real financial loss on death, for example, but the end result is two very different gameplay styles. And both also have that same intoxicating notion of exploring the unknown and try to make you feel like you're in a living world, but they take very different approaches to world design, content, and travel. Elite may not be a full-fledged MMO, but with a sandbox made of 400 billion procedurally generated stars and an open play mode that seamlessly merges players' games together, does it matter? In this edition of EVE Evolved, I compare my experiences in Elite: Dangerous to my experiences in EVE Online and look at their differing strategies with regard to server model, active and passive gameplay, and the new player experience.
Games of Glory talks about its persistent MOBA universe
Games of Glory's biggest selling point is the fact that it will be a MOBA with a persistent universe -- and if you're wondering how that might work, you're not alone. Lightbulb Crew has put together a video to explain the persistent elements and how they will come together to create a singular experience. The studio promises that players' actions will have a lasting impact on the game and influence its future development. The idea is that players wins or losses will change their faction's standing and their own character's notoriety. As time goes on, the studio will add new factions, clones, weapons, or game modes influenced by those ratings. Games of Glory is currently in a playable alpha state and is attempting to raise $100,000 through Kickstarter. You can check out Lightbulb Crew's explanation of Games of Glory's persistent universe after the break.
Here is the current Shards Online dev roadmap
Shards Online's Kickstarter may be over, but Citadel Studios looks to be even more determined to finish building its player-driven MMORPG sandbox. The firm has posted a new development roadmap on the game's official website, and Citadel co-founder Derek Brinkmann explains how the team is tightening its dev plan "to get to an alpha state as soon as possible." Brinkmann also mentions that one of Citadel's goals is to "have enough replayable content on our first map to keep players engaged while we continue development." Click past the cut to view the full roadmap.
The Game Archaeologist: Tales from Neverwinter Nights' Arelith
Back in May, I touched on the fascinating field of Neverwinter Nights' persistent worlds (PWs). I never expected it to draw so much attention, least of all from the folks still running these communities. But it did, and I was contacted by one of the player developers of Arelith, Mark "Artos" Friebus. Artos and his colleagues wanted to share more about the history and makeup of this 12-year-old server and why, in 2014, they're still as crazy about doing it as ever. If you want an insider's point of view as to what goes on in a persistent world -- and perhaps are open to be tempted to roll a character on one of them -- then stay tuned for the fascinating tale of Arelith.
The Game Archaeologist: The persistent worlds of Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2
At the end of next month, dozens of online worlds will flicker and vanish with the flip of a switch. It's a online apocalypse the likes of which we have not seen in quite some time, although you might be forgiven for not having heard of it before now. When GameSpy Technology goes offline on May 31st, dozens of EA games that relied on the platform for multiplayer functionality will lose their online components by June 30th. Because of this, Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 will find that their persistent player-made and -run worlds are in danger. For over a decade now, players have poured creative energies and roleplaying enthusiasm into these micro-MMOs. Could an era be about to end? Fortunately, players are already swinging into action to work around the shutdown, keeping their worlds alive and detached from GameSpy's umbilical cord. I see this event as a wake-up call for people like yours truly who are acquainted primarily with BioWare and Obsidian's single-player offerings and are ignorant of the larger Neverwinter Nights community out there. Let's take a look at this engrossing online realm and how it came to be.
Introducing Terrayn, a persistent world sandbox
Another day, another hopeful sandbox MMO takes its first fledgling steps onto the Kickstarter scene looking for those who believe in it (and will back up that belief with a financial committment). Today's new title is Terrayn (pronounced "terrain"), a game that promises a fully modifiable persistent world for players to manipulate. Terrayn will be divided up into four kingdoms, each of which can be customized by the playerbase. The developers promise that players can "drown villages and build up empires" if they so choose. The MMO will take place on a single server with a single population. Players can also wield the power of API to fully script events and structures on the landscape for others to discover. CodeMushroom is asking for $300,000 to create a closed beta within 18 months. We've got the introductory video for Terrayn after the break, so check it out and see if it's worthy of your investment dollars. [Thanks to Todd for the tip!]
EVE Evolved: What DUST 514 should have been
It's now been almost six months since DUST 514's official release, and I think it's safe to say it hasn't quite lived up to expectations. The game was lauded for its revolutionary realtime link with the EVE Online universe, but so far there's very little back-and-forth between the two titles. Originally intended as an MMO in its own right but also as an integral part of EVE's territorial endgame, DUST now exists largely as a lobby-based first-person shooter with the twist that equipment is lost on death. Even the planetary conquest portion of DUST that could be considered its most MMO-esque element has been abstracted into a series of instanced and scheduled 24v24 battles. DUST's main rival during development was the PC-based PlanetSide 2, and had the two games released on the same platform, I'm sure that rivalry would still be in the media spotlight. I've been playing PlanetSide 2 for just a few days, and I can already see elements that would make it a far better fit for the EVE universe than the current version of DUST. So what could DUST learn from its non-console-only counterpart? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how PlanetSide 2 handles issues of persistence, planetary conquest, and vehicle spawning, and why I think DUST 514 should be borrowing a few tricks from its game design.
Eidos' Deus Ex: Universe is an 'expanding and connected' world that spans platforms and titles
Eidos Montreal has seen the future for its Deus Ex franchise and it's ready to shed some light on its connected vision. On the company's community blog, studio head David Anfossi revealed that the next phase for the franchise builds upon lessons learned from Deus Ex: Human Revolution; something Eidos Montreal is calling Deus Ex: Universe. No, it's not a standalone title for the next-gen, but rather a new, unifying approach to "create an ongoing, expanding and connected game world" that spans all upcoming titles. And that's cross-platform, too, as this persistent world and the additional experiences it'll deliver will encompass traditional platforms like the PC and console, as well as the portable space, mobile and even graphic novels. Work's apparently already underway on the project, with the first title in this new Universe slated to hit the PC and next-gen console space.
Bungie to offer Destiny beta access as early pre-order perk
We've all seen the demo, but none of us have actually played Destiny, Bungie and publisher Activision's forthcoming first-person-shooter / MMO-like effort. But starting today, Destiny's persistent open world will begin opening up... to gamers that buy in early, that is. A limited amount of pre-orders placed now at select retailers will garner gamers beta access to Destiny, which is scheduled to launch early next year on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. If you happened to jump the gun and plunk down for a copy before today, don't worry, as your order automatically reserves you a spot for the beta. Depending on your method of purchase, redemption codes will either be emailed directly or printed out at the time of purchase, so hold off on trashing those receipts. You can find the full details of the program and a new trailer just after the break.
GTA Online riches available for cash
Players looking forward to Grand Theft Auto Online, available on October 1st, are probably already contemplating ways to get and spend their in-game funds for the myriad of customization goodies within the persistent world of Rockstar Game's GTA5's multiplayer mode. Well there's a new addition to the acquire list: microtransactions. Eurogamer.net shares a find that was first caught on Reddit, namely a publicly viewable XML file on the game's online store that shows in-game cash cards in denominations of $100K, $200K, $500K, and $1.5M $1.25M for purchase with real-life cash along with a description inviting players to solve their in-game money problems by buying these packs. The prices for these cash cards, however, are not stated. The same file shows items from the special and collector's editions, indicating that this exclusive content may also be made available to all for purchase later. [Thanks Potaco for the correction.]
The Soapbox: Actually, that really isn't an MMO
In last week's edition of The Soapbox, Mike Foster argued that online gaming has evolved over the past few years and that the term MMO should be expanded to cover other online games like MOBAs. He examined the blurred dividing line between new online games and the classic MMOs of yesteryear, and he made the controversial argument that Call of Duty and League of Legends should now fall under the MMO umbrella. I found myself disagreeing with many of Mike's arguments and wanting to make additional points of my own, so this week I'd like to offer a few counter-points on the same topic for debate. The MMO market has certainly evolved since Massively was founded, with some pretty big innovations in gameplay and new ideas like the free-to-play business model taking hold. As much as people like to complain about a lack of innovation in the games industry, the same level of experimentation and evolution has hit industry-wide. Call of Duty has borrowed unlock and XP systems from the world of orcs and dragons, and League of Legends came from nowhere to be at the forefront of a global MOBA revolution, but neither of them is an MMO by any stretch of the imagination. In this in-depth opinion piece, I break down the definition arguments surrounding the term MMO, offer a reasoned view of where the line can and should be drawn, and look at why Massively covers games other than MMOs.
The Soapbox: That's not an MMO
You may not be aware of this, but Massively is a website focused primarily on massively multiplayer online games. It's kind of what we do. However, the world of MMOs in 2013 is far different from the world of MMOs in 2007, when the site was founded. The niche has changed and the games industry has evolved. There was a time when "online" told you everything you needed to know about a game because there was really only one type of online game. You knew in picking up an online game that you and some friends would be leveling, looting gear, and slaying dragons. It took a while for developers to notice that online play was actually a thing that could work in more than one particular format. Nowadays, online games range from traditional MMORPGs like Guild Wars 2 and RIFT to MOBAs like SMITE and League of Legends. There's no clear definition for what an MMO is or isn't because so many games are massive, multiplayer, and online. Maybe it's time to embrace MMO as a broader term than previously thought.
Rockstar reveals Grand Theft Auto Online
Rockstar Games today lifted the curtain on Grand Theft Auto Online, showing off the new title via a lengthy announcement trailer. GTA Online appears to be more than just a simple multiplayer iteration of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and features player housing, a persistent world, and player-generated content. The game shares game elements and geography with Grand Theft Auto V and supports up to 16 players co-habitating in their own little online world. Players will be able to purchase and customize vehicles, own property, shape their appearance, and work their way through the criminal underworld, in addition to participating all the random acts of chaos the series has offered since its inception. In Grand Theft Auto Online, players have the freedom to explore alone or with friends, work cooperatively to complete missions, band together to participate in activities and ambient events, or compete in traditional game modes with the entire community, all with the personality and refined mechanics of Grand Theft Auto 5. Purchasers of Grand Theft Auto V will receive access to GTA Online when it launches October 1st on PS3 and Xbox 360 (and not PC). It is unclear whether the game will be available as a standalone product; we have reached out to Rockstar for clarification. Check out the reveal trailer after the break.
The Daily Grind: If SimCity is an MMO, what should we call actual MMOs?
Earlier this week, EA president Frank Gibeau doubled-down on his company's earlier claims about SimCity's MMOness, suggesting the game was built as a "massively multiplayer experience" from the beginning. Rather than pick on Gibeau's comments (already done), I want to consider what would happen if we admitted defeat. What if we just accepted that the term MMO has been utterly co-opted for online singleplayer games -- what should we call "real" MMOs instead? My colleagues suggest "persistent massively multiplayer online" -- PMMO, I suppose (would we have to change our name to "Persistently"?). While I like the idea of bringing back an old-school term like "persistent," and while it would certainly separate games like EverQuest from games like Diablo III, I worry it also excludes MMORPGs that make heavy use of instancing (and therefore aren't as persistent as they seem) even as it includes games with persistent characters but not worlds. What do you think -- is it time to give up on the term MMO and adopt something else? Do we retreat to the imperfect label "MMORPG" or begin the hunt for a brand-new acronym? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Guns of Icarus looking to kickstart persistent world expansion
If you're a fan of Guns of Icarus Online -- and you should be -- you'll probably want to know about Muse's new Kickstarter project. The steampunk multiplayer airship battler has been playable for quite a while now, but the dev team has long sought to fill out the game and the world by adding something called Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode will basically expand the lobby-based live game to a persistent world complete with towns, trading, and player factions. Enter Kickstarter, which Muse is currently leveraging to the tune of a $100,000 goal. As the project page notes, Muse is "one of the only studios to successfully complete a Kickstarter campaign and deliver on our promise with a shipped game that's currently being played by people all over the world." [Thanks Angela!]
The Firing Line: What DayZ means to core gamers
The death of the core gamer has been greatly exaggerated. Yes, MMORPGs (and gaming in general) have kowtowed to the influx of new-school players flush with cash but lacking time, and the genre has reinvented itself and turned its back on virtual world enthusiasts in the process. There's still hope, though, and so far it's not coming from any of the usual sandbox suspects in the MMO space.
PlanetSide 2's Sunderer carries troops, pushes tanks
Sony Online Entertainment is continuing its tradition of PlanetSide 2 vehicle reveals in a news blurb on the game's official website. The Sunderer looks like a cross between a tank and a Mack truck, and it's designed to pancake enemy defensive lines and deposit a load of troopers smack dab in the thick of the action. SOE says the beastly ride can withstand a focused barrage of enemy fire due to its heavy armor, and the Sunderer also features enough mass and horsepower to push other vehicles (including tanks) out of its way. Its cargo hold can carry up to 12 soldiers as well as medical supplies and ammo. PlanetSide 2 is a large-scale persistent world shooter based in a sci-fi setting, and SOE is currently accepting closed beta applications.
CrimeCraft expansion to feature persistent territory control, quickplay options
Remember CrimeCraft? We do, and the tragically titled actioner is still alive and kicking (or shooting, perhaps). We bring this up because Vogster is readying its second major expansion, GangWars, which is scheduled to launch on December 5th. The update adds more of a traditional MMO feel to what is otherwise a lobby-based game. New territory wars mechanics are the culprit, and they allow gangs to own and control sections of the game's persistent Sunrise City environment. Curiously, Vogster is also implementing a new quickplay system which offers access to CrimeCraft's "core gameplay features through a simplified interface that lets you shortcut RPG gameplay and get right to the action." CrimeCraft boasts 20 unique maps and 11 gameplay modes. Learn more about the game, and sign up for free, at the official website. Before you go, though, check out the territory wars trailer after the break. [Source: Vogster press release]
MechWarrior Online developers answer forum questions
If you're looking forward to the future of warfare today, you're probably keeping a close eye on the development of MechWarrior Online. And the developers are no doubt aware of this, as they've just posted a lengthy set of answers on the game's official forums, covering a broad range of topics from update speed to character development. While the answers confirm that at this point the software is still yet to see an alpha test, there's still a great deal of information therein. Aside from a few answers that are likely to prove discordant come launch (such as plans for biweekly update patches), the team is aiming at starting off with a strong PvP environment with persistent world elements in a similar fashion to MAG. PvE will not be in at launch, but it is on the table for later release. That's only the barest summary of the information in the full set of answers, which should keep any intent pilot eagerly anticipating his or her personal 'Mech. [Thanks to nimzy for the tip!]
Land of Chaos Online rebranding as LOCO: Evolution
Land of Chaos Online is one of a large number of games that's close to being a full MMORPG but isn't quite there. The team behind the game at alaplaya has had its sights on a more full-featured experience for a while. Later this year, the game will be launching a huge update dubbed LOCO: Evolution, which is adding new elements of persistence together with several new character types and a new faction for players to explore. The update promises to add a persistent town in the form of Arhonnas, complete with the usual staff of NPCs. The addition of a third faction to the game pushes conflicts into a struggle between Heaven, Hell, and Nature, with players caught in the middle. And aside from that, there will be new gameplay types to explore, new areas to look through, and several other quality-of-life improvements. The update should be release later this year, but until then you can take a gander at the teaser trailer after the break. [Source: alaplaya press release]
