player-created-content
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One Shots: Dance like no one's watching
Today's One Shots submission comes to us from Fleete, who makes some great points about Star Wars Galaxies' role in the world of player-created content: Can't have a player-generated content week without the king of player-generated content games, amirite? This shot was taken a long time ago, in a Star Wars MMO far, far away, and features the cargo hold of a YT-2400 freighter. One of the great things about SWG was the sheer variety of crafted items (and the fact that you could name them whatever you wanted). Almost everything in this image was either made by me or was a resource gathered by me. The crafting system, coupled with the game's decoration mechanics, allowed for player creativity in a way that no MMO had done before -- or has done since. Now it's your turn to show off your items. This week's theme is Some Assembly Required -- a little nod to the newest addition to our column lineup. Some Assembly Required covers player-created content, so we want to see the best of what you've created. We're preparing for next week's theme too: Pop culture in MMOs. Developers sneak references in all over games, whether it be via NPCs, quests, or items, and we want to see your favorites. Grab a screenshot, tell us a bit about what it is, and send it to oneshots@massively.com. We'll be featuring the best of these next week. %Gallery-112285%
One Shots: No job too big, no job too small
Earthrise is center stage for today's One Shots with a screenshot of a pretty impressive group effort. Earthrise players aren't limited to large structures, though. Knar, the reader character in the foreground, is also sporting some player-created items: This is the first base built in Earthrise since the Territory War feature was implemented. All structures and walls in the base are player made, as well as the armor and weapon my character has equipped. It has a such a nice view of the mutated wasteland! Now it's your turn to show off your items. This week's theme is Some Assembly Required -- a little nod to the newest addition to our column lineup. Some Assembly Required covers player-created content, so we want to see the best of what you've created. Whether you've built a farm or village in Wurm Online, a particularly impressive ride in Fallen Earth, or something even bigger and better in any MMO, we want to see! Grab a screenshot, tell us a bit about what it is, and send it to oneshots@massively.com. We'll be featuring the best of these all week. %Gallery-112285%
One Shots: Welcome to some assembly required week!
We're all about player-crafted items this week on One Shots, and we're kicking things off with a World of Warcraft shot from James: Here's Ripshock, Dwarven shaman engineer extraordinaire from Stormrage EU, hanging out in front of Stormwind Keep with his trusty Personal World Destroyer and riding his home-made Turbo-Charged Flying Machine! The Killshades are also hand-crafted. This week's theme is Some Assembly Required -- a little nod to the newest addition to our column lineup. Some Assembly Required covers player-created content, so we want to see the best of what you've created. Whether you've built a farm or village in Wurm Online, a particularly impressive ride in Fallen Earth, or something even bigger and better in any MMO, we want to see! Grab a screenshot, tell us a bit about what it is, and send it to oneshots@massively.com. We'll be featuring the best of these all week. %Gallery-112285%
Choose My Adventure: The final countdown
Your voices were heard! At least, I do hope those are your voices I've been hearing in my head... they are telling me to do things. And I listened. I am instructed to listen to the voices. The voices can't hurt me, right? Well, maybe not the voices themselves, but since they chimed in on experimenting with combat, I know I am about to get hurt some! This week concludes our foray into Xsyon for Choose My Adventure, but I dare say it does not end my time there. Although the game does not fit the standard mold of MMO fare today, it has been quite enjoyable and a great change of pace. I have kept myself entertained with my adventures in-game and I still look forward to logging in each time (minus the apprehension as the combat loomed closer). Take a (final) hike past the cut for the results of our look at combat, some final impressions on the game, and a sneak peek at your next CMA guinea pig.
EVE Evolved: Losing yourself in EVE Online
Of all the things EVE Online has to offer, exploration is perhaps its most attractive lure. With around 7500 solar systems to visit and seven years of history enshrined amongst them, EVE offers players a very real and tangible universe to explore. There's something inherently attractive about getting lost in the depths of space and being absorbed into the stories woven around those thousands of little points of light on the map. While the official storyline of most MMOs can be seen all across their respective worlds, the sandbox nature of EVE adds significant player-determined influences to the usual developer-created storyline. In the colossal sandbox of New Eden, key battles and events have drenched areas of the game in a player-made lore that's ripe for discovery. In the past, several players have capitalised on EVE's potential for exploration in order to craft for themselves a truly unique gameplay experience. In 2006, a new player by the name of Innominate Nightmare went on a roaming tour of EVE's lawless nullsec regions. In his travels, he talked with the locals and reported on daily events as they unfolded. The intrepid explorer soon discovered a New Eden fraught with war but at the same time bonded by it. Every space station and alliance-claimed system held stories of the blood spilled over its liberation, the good times pilots had together there, and the monumental efforts alliances had undertaken to carve a home for themselves out of the void. In this week's EVE Evolved, I immerse myself in some of EVE's most unique exploration experiences and look at how you can become lost in New Eden's awesome sights and stories.
Wings Over Atreia: Shakespeare in Aion
OK, OK, maybe Shakespeare is a bit melodramatic, but the idea of taking on a role and playing it out on a stage is not a foreign idea -- even in Aion. It just so happens that this stage is not under your feet but in virtual space instead. Besides, I happen to love Shakespeare, so props to me for mentioning him in a gaming column! Now, I am the first to admit that NCsoft doesn't make it easy for a gamer to roleplay in Aion; there are scant few tools to support this style of play. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Despite this dearth, there is in fact a whole community comprised of legions both large and small as well as individuals. These players use personal connections and a player-created chat channel in-game as well as external tools such as the Aion Roleplayers website to bind themselves together and support the community as a whole. So what exactly is roleplay, and how viable is it in the world of Atreia? Exit stage left (past the cut) to define RP, debunk some RP myths, and explore RP in general Aion.
Dan Stahl talks Star Trek Online's Season 4 and beyond
Since taking over last year, Dan Stahl has made a point of being very accessible to players when it comes to the future of Star Trek Online and the team's overall plans. The United Federation of Planets, a fan forum celebrating the variety of games set within the universe, has conducted an interview with Stahl in the most recent issue of its magazine. As always, there's a large number of different projects behind the scenes as the team turns its focus toward Season 4 and beyond. The overarching plan for the game's second year seems to be to improve and reinforce the game's elements to date, with Stahl mentioning that he hopes to put the Romulan faction into the game before the year is out. There are plans for another increase in level cap, possibly including Admiral-rank uniform variants as seen on the shows. And with Season 4 on its way, the team is hard at work trying to step up the storyline elements about the mysterious agenda of the Iconians, as well as the war between the KDF and Starfleet. The full interview begins on page 10 and should prove interesting to any Star Trek Online fan.
Starjack Online open beta begins
Sci-fi MMORTS titles are a rare breed, and so it's with keen interest that we note the beginning of Starjack Online's open beta phase. The free-to-play title from Limbo Game Studios has been in testing since August of 2010, and has finally thrown open its doors for the public. If you're unfamiliar with Starjack, Limbo bills it as a "4X, real-time strategy, massively multiplayer game." What exactly is 4X? It stands for explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate, and you'll be able to do all these things in real-time (i.e., no turns) in a constantly changing persistent universe. Starjack is also unique in that nearly everything in the game is player-created, including ships, fleets, troops, colonies, and resources. If it sounds like a lot to digest, don't worry, as Limbo assures us that the game is as accessible as it is deep. To that end, Starjack allows players to automate various empire management tasks, "removing the tedium and the need for micromanagement." You can learn more at the game's official website, where you can also create an account and grab the beta client.
Replay episodes or make your own with STO's Season Three
It's fitting that Star Trek Online's third major update is entitled "Genesis," because in several ways, it feels like a new beginning for the game. In a preview of December's Season Three, Cryptic reveals a trio of significant re-dos: a revamp of the visually lackluster sector space, the ability to replay your favorite episodes, and the beta of STO's player-created mission feature, The Foundry. While Cryptic is uncertain whether The Foundry will go live by Season Three, the studio does promise that players will at least be able to tinker with it on the test servers by then. The Foundry is one of Cryptic's answers to STO's perceived lack of playable -- and original -- content, allowing gamers to construct their own stories and episodes using STO's robust editor. "Using The Foundry, you can construct Episodes and share them with your friends. If you're not interested in designing missions, you'll still benefit from The Foundry: Player-created missions will be available to you to play and enjoy, right alongside the Episodes you know and love today." Cryptic has a number of other features on deck for the game following Season Three, including customizing Gorn characters, new uniforms and ships in the C-Store, ground combat improvements, and Klingon-specific updates.
Captain's Log: Anticipating STO's future in user-generated content
Hey there, folks! Welcome back to another edition of Captain's Log, Massively's rarely-coherent-but-always-fun look at Star Trek Online. I have had just the busiest darn week, you betcha. I spent all weekend at New York Comic Con, where I saw more than a few folks dressed to the nines in Star Trek gear, and then I started a shiny new day job on Monday. Phew! I've been thinking a lot about user-generated content lately. In a recent interview, STO Executive Producer Daniel Stahl offers a few details on the subject, in which we learn a bit about the forthcoming system's abilities and limitations. What do we know about STO's UGC tools? What do we still not know -- mainly, when can we get in there and start crafting our own missions? Why, follow me past the jump to find out.
Fallen Earth car show today!
Are your poor feet sore from running around Fallen Earth's enormous post-apocalyptic Grand Canyon? Sick of getting chomped on by mutated chickens? Just want to check out the latest and greatest when it comes to kludged-together vehicles -- or perhaps show off your own? Then get your convoy rolling for Spider Hill in the northern part of Sector 1 at 3 PM Eastern today! That's the site of the huge Car Show, being put on by Saints Incorporated and The Shop. Aside from seeing all the latest in Fallen Earth automotive awesomeness, players who stop by will be treated to giveaways, a wasteland drag show, and heavens knows what else. Post Apoc Radio will also be on the scene to play some rockin' music and provide colorful RP commentary (as always). So gather up the whole clan and come by the Car show -- make valuable crafting friends, or pick up some excellent prizes!
Mission Architect contest launched in City of Heroes
If you like creating content, the Mission Architect system in City of Heroes offers a lot of venues for your creativity, and it's certainly one of the most-touted features of the game. Now, you might be able to get more than just the joy of having other people play through your creation as a prize. There's a new contest on the official site that promises to be the first in a series, allowing a lucky designer to receive a special title and possibly even the coveted Designer's Choice award for their mission. Sound like your sort of contest? There's a single catch -- you have to work within a given theme. In this case, the mission arc has to involve a hero doing evil for the greater good. That's a theme so ripe for exploration that we're all but certain several people came up with mission arcs just reading the line, so if you're firing on all cylinders take a look at the official rules and then get cracking. The contest ends on December 7th, plenty of time for crafting whatever story you think is best -- and considering City of Heroes: Going Rogue will be out before we know it, the submissions may wind up being more appropriate than you think. Considering that... well, who knows what winning might do for your future? Best to get to work.
Star Wars Galaxies interview on player-created content
There's been no shortage of buzz about Star Wars: the Old Republic, but it's good to remember that there is another game in the same universe that's several years older... albeit set many thousands of years later in the timeline. Star Wars Galaxies is about to make the jump that several other recent games have tried and are allowing player-created content to enter the gameworld, opening the doors for would-be quest and dungeon designers to craft their own stories. MMORPG.com recently interviewed producer Tony Tyson regarding the upcoming "Chronicles" system, resulting in a groundswell of new information about the content and how it would be generated. The basic building block of these player-generated quests are known as "relics", which contain information relating to enemies, objectives, and so forth. Relics can be looted from kills, crafted, sold, and similarly passed around, with no "required" path to get them. Answering a question that everyone was thinking after the difficulties other games have had, the enemies in a player-built quest will give experience, but the experience generated for both the enemies and the quest will be entirely based upon the elements used and not in the hands of the creator in any way. There's a fair bit to digest in terms of what the implications will be for the future of the game, so take a look at the interview and see what's coming for Star Wars Galaxies when the system goes live.
The Daily Grind: Do you know of any player-created MMO mini-games?
Given all the recent excitement surrounding Aion, we've been paying a lot closer attention to NCsoft's new title lately. Today, we stumbled across an interesting developer blog post highlighting an in-game mini-game called Aion Spirit Soccer. This would probably be unremarkable if the developers had created it, but they didn't; the players did.The rules for Spirit Soccer are pretty simple. Each team consists of four forwards and a goalie. The ball is actually a neutral player who completely gives up control of his avatar. Both teams try to score on each other by using non-combat "Fear" spells and "Trap" abilities to move the "ball" toward and through two defined goal posts. After the predetermined amount of time is up, the game is over.You can watch a video of Aion Spirit Soccer after the cut. This is another great example of how player created content can enhance MMOs. Do you know of any other player created MMO mini-games?
Paragon City streets unusually quiet as meta-humans flock to Architect Entertainment
So far, it seems, NCsoft's City of Heroes/Villains Issue 14 Mission Architect feature has been a cracking success. The zones containing Architect Enterprises have been stuffed to overflowing with users learning the system, creating missions and trying missions out. The Mission Architect system isn't exactly all-singing and all-dancing, as it has to work within the constraints of the existing engine, but it does the job quite nicely, and doesn't have a gigantic learning curve. Users have created and published literally hundreds of missions since Issue 14 went live a few days ago.
City of Heroes Issue 14: Architect is live
Much of our recent coverage of City of Heroes has focused on the Mission Architect, and with good reason. Issue 14 brings player-created content into the superhero MMO, placing the tools the developers have used to create missions in the hands of the players. Essentially, players can create their own playable content and tailor these missions to their liking, right down to the characters and the story itself. In some respects, it takes the UI of the character creation tool and applies it to the creation of actual game content. We had a good look at the potential for user-generated content with the Mission Architect at GDC 2009, while it was still in beta testing. Mission Architect is clearly ready for primetime though; NCsoft has announced that Issue 14: Architect is now live, giving City of Heroes players more control over their gameplay than ever before. The Issue 14: Architect release notes are up and detail the many features the update brings to City of Heroes and City of Villains.%Gallery-45908%%Gallery-48661%
Fan made EVE video Day of Darkness II blows away players and devs alike
A well-crafted science fiction story can deal with powerful themes. Fans of television shows like Battlestar Galactica know very well that a story of humanity's struggle for survival has a particularly strong emotional pull. The creators of EVE Online recognized this long ago, creating an extensive body of lore about the races of New Eden and their clashes with one another on a galactic scale. Their long history of conflicts creates endless ripples of discord felt by later generations, resulting in the subjugation of entire races countered by the will to be free of such tyranny. The struggle to survive in the face of a great threat is central to the EVE Online machinima "Day of Darkness II", which is nothing short of exceptional. It's a short film created in-game by EVE player Dire Lauthris and a retelling of a key bit of EVE's lore. In fact, Lauthris drew upon one of the actual Chronicles called "The Breakout". Day of Darkness II focuses on the strife between the Caldari and Gallente races of New Eden, turning back the clock to a historic battle 200 years ago between the Caldari State and the Gallente Federation.
GDC09: User generated stories in shardless worlds
Massively checked out an interesting session at GDC 2009 titled "User Generated Story: The Promise of Unsharded Worlds" by James Portnow, CEO and Creative Director of Divide by Zero. His talk was part of the Worlds in Motion Summit, and focused on how single worlds and their shared space can also give rise to shared stories. Portnow discussed ways that game designers can encourage and enable players to tell their own stories within the virtual space. *** The storylines we've seen thus far in MMOs aren't yet tapping the potential of massively multiplayer online games, Portnow relates, largely because they're not capitalizing on an MMOs greatest asset -- its players. Portnow says, "We haven't achieved stories that really rely upon the core of our media, the playerbase that a MMO environment environment gives us. We haven't achieved player-driven stories really directed by players themselves. And lastly we haven't achieved meaningful stories."Why do people skip the quest text? It's because they have no stake in it. Unlike the experience they get from single player games, their actions don't affect the the world they play in. Story, then, doesn't add to immersion and thus players don't feel engaged by quests. The solution then is to unshard worlds and give agency back to the players, with real choices, real consequences, and less restrictions. %Gallery-48460%
The Daily Grind: Are you going to check out the I14 open beta?
The wait is over for many City of Heroes and City of Villains players - Issue 14: Architect is now out on the test server as an open beta, just ready for you to jump in and try your hand at creating missions and story arcs. In the mood to create a mission where players get to battle your very own evil creation? Ever just felt like trying your hand at making up a good storyline, but didn't have the technical know-how to code all the other stuff? Then this open beta for City of Heroes and City of Villains players may just be the thing for you.So this morning, we thought we'd ask - will you be checking out the open beta for Issue 14? Does the idea of building your own content in CoX appeal to you? If you've already tried it out, how are you liking it? Or are you going to wait until it hits the live servers and they've worked the bugs out before you mess with it? Gallery: City of Heroes: Architect Edition
The debatable concept of ownership in virtual spaces
Game security news and analysis site PlayNoEvil recently looked at the concept of ownership in the virtual space, in an article called "The Quixotic Quest for Avatar Rights." It explores the question that's been around since the very beginning of virtual interactions: Does the player who invests his or her time into finding, creating, and using an item 'own' it, or is it really just server data that's company property? For most game and virtual world operations, there's little room for debate. They create the environment and everything in it, right down to a gamer's or user's avatar. However one view expressed at an Austin GDC panel is that while companies work to ensure their legal claim to virtual property, they also foster the illusion that the player has some degree of ownership. While the mindset of the industry isn't likely to change any time soon, there are those involved on the development and business end that would like to see changes regarding 'avatar rights.' Others are pushing for an improved EULA which would ensure the continued growth of virtual worlds, where users have greater control over their own created content. What's your view on this? Do companies have any responsibility to their subscribers or users to relinquish control over player-created content? Are gamers and virtual worlds users unreasonable in thinking the situation should change?
