pseudo-mmo
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Massively's Best of 2014 Awards: Best Pseudo-MMO of the Year
Massively's end-of-the-year awards continue today with our award for the Best Pseudo-MMO of the year. This is always a difficult category since it forces us to define MMOs. This year, we opted to make eligible any online game that isn't a pure and traditional MMORPG, games we'd cover in Not So Massively: mobile MMOs, console MMOs, OARPGs, MOBAs, MMOFPS titles, MMORTS titles, and so on. And of course, the game must have launched in 2014. All of our writers were invited to cast a vote, but not all of them chose to do so for this category. Don't forget to cast your own vote in the just-for-fun reader poll at the very end. The Massively staff pick for Best Pseudo-MMO of 2014 is...
Sci-fi sandbox Beyond Sol hopes you'll Greenlight it on Steam
Here's a ray of sandbox sunshine to brighten your morning: Praxia Entertainment has unveiled Beyond Sol, sci-fi pseudo-MMO focused on space exploration, trade, crafting, and piracy. It's even got cities. According to the devs, Beyond Sol is a multiplayer, buccaneering, open world sandbox game, set in the distant future when humanity has developed into a young galactic space-faring civilization. As an independent ship captain, you venture to a newly colonized and virtually lawless outlying system within the rim in order to pursue new opportunities. Once there, anything goes: explore, mine asteroids, salvage derelict ships, plunder merchant vessels, hunt pirates, pilot capital warships, construct an epic orbital city, and make friends with – or rival – other factions and players. Just how MMOsy is it? "The game is designed for 1 to N players (N being dependent on your hardware capabilities)," says Praxia, "meaning you can play single player or you can invite people into your session." The game is angling for approval on Steam Greenlight and intends to hit early access in winter 2015. We've included the game's trailer below.
Get your Dizzel beta item key today here on Massively
Just as our sister site Joystiq did yesterday, Massively is giving away a boatload of Dizzel beta codes to our readers today -- specifically, keys for a Chrome Assault Rifle usable in the game. Dizzel is a free-to-play multiplayer third-person action-shooter by OGPlanet and Neowiz that falls into our Not So Massively category, but we think it could appeal to our regular MMO audience as well. Plus, free stuff! Interested? Just clicky the buttons below to grab your Dizzel item code, then follow these instructions to redeem it: Via official installer: Sign up for a free OGPlanet account by downloading the Dizzel Installer. Once Dizzel is installed, login to the game and create your character. Go to Dizzel's Redemption Page and enter your key code. Finally, check your in-game 'Storage' to add your items to your inventory. Via Steam: Download and Install Dizzel through Steam. Once you're in-game, locate and click the 'Shop' button on the top menu. Press the 'Cash Reload' button located on the bottom right. Steam's Cash Purchase window will be displayed; you will notice 'Item Package Redemption' on the right section. Please input your Keycode, and press 'Redeem,' and allow up to 15 minutes for delivery. Your item will arrive in your Inventory's 'Storage' section.
Disney shutters Star Wars Attack Squadrons
Disney has just announced that Star Wars Attack Squadrons will cease operations in the wake of its closed beta test. A message on the official site reads, "We want to thank all of the fans who participated in the closed beta of Star Wars: Attack Squadrons. After much consideration, we have decided to cease development so that we can focus on other Star Wars game experiences. We truly appreciate the time you spent engaging in the beta." The company first revealed the game in December 2013 as a Star Wars dogfighting space combat title set in pseudo-MMO-like 16-player environments.
Indie sandbox MMO The Chosen is the 'game-child' of EVE Online and Fallout 3
Sci-fi pseudo-MMO The Chosen -- not to be confused with Snail Games' Chinese historical MMO of the same name -- is hoping sandbox fans will back its new Indiegogo campaign. Studio Fair Games Productions today announced the game's crowdfunding plans, promising an EVE Online-style space exploration game that will "most likely be classified as MMORPG" and features FPS and TPS rather than point-and-click gameplay. "If EVE Online and Fallout 3 were to have a game-child," says the press release, "that would be The Chosen." The developer's website notes planned game systems such as a player-driven economy, a persistent universe, dynamic missions, and both interior and exterior ship design (yes, you can walk around inside your ships). Fair Games hopes to collect at least a million dollars by April 25th, but under Indiegogo's "flexible funding" rule, all funds pledged will go to the studio even if the game fails to completely fund, and the studio includes tiers above and below that mark. We've included the campaign trailer just after the cut. [Source: Fair Games Productions press release]
The Daily Grind: How complex is too complex for MMOs?
I'm a huge fan of isometric clickers like Diablo, Torchlight, and Titan Quest, so I admit to being secretly pleased when pseudo-MMOs like Path of Exile were approved for coverage on Massively. In fact, I jumped into Path of Exile this past weekend to give it another spin. And as soon as my new character got her first skill point, I gleefully clicked over to the skill panel, only to be confronted with the game's notorious and glorious SKILL TREE TO END ALL SKILL TREES. It's not even a skill tree. It's a skill maze. A skill constellation. A skill galaxy. The screenshot above isn't even half of what's available. It's overwhelming at level 2 to say the least. I like complexity in character development, but I had forgotten how over-the-top Path of Exile really was, and I had to wonder whether this sort of complexity-dump scares off newcomers to the genre, or indeed, whether it's intended to scare them off, convince them the game is harder-core than they are, or possibly just entrap them with poor early game decisions. Doesn't the skill avalanche just drive gamers to tab out and look up guides, and is that really the best idea for retaining brand-new players? How complex is too complex for MMOs and pseudo-MMOs? 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!
MMObility: The Chromebook 'All In One' project - Ten pseudo-MMOs
So here we are at the second-to-last installment of my Chromebook All-In-One experiment. This will be the last time I give you a list of games that work well on the Samsung Chromebook, but always keep in mind that some of the other Chromebooks, especially the Samsung 5 550, have more power and do not use an ARM-based chip. What does that mean? Well, some services like NetFlix will not work on an ARM-based machine yet. Spacetime Studios' cache of browser-based titles will not work on this Chromebook yet as well. Don't worry, it's coming soon. Imagine the ARM Chromebook as a tablet with a keyboard attached... it's not a normal netbook or notebook. I also wrote up my wife's take on the Chromebook over at my personal blog. Be sure to check that out. She has been the perfect guinea pig as she pushes devices to their limits, and so the Chromebook has been getting heavy use from her and working wonderfully. Next week, my last installment of this series will be a video and article combo that covers the good and bad of the device, along with my final thoughts. Until then, though, click past the cut and enjoy my list of pseudo-MMOs. These are games that don't quite fit into the MMO category but have a multiplayer aspect to them!
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite pseudo-MMO?
In recent years, the field of games that could conceivably be referred to as MMOs has exploded. Naturally, there has to be a cutoff at some point, and we here at Massively use finely tuned metrics to determine what does and doesn't qualify. (Our magic 8-ball is exceptionally tuned.) But just below that are games that are very similar to an MMO, even if they don't quite make it there, and with the border so fuzzy, players are bound to cross over. Naturally, what constitutes a pseudo-MMO versus a full game is going to be a very subjective line, and there are games such as Global Agenda and MAG that straddle the line aggressively. So what game do you enjoy that's similar to an MMO, but doesn't quite make the cut? Is it one of the two aforementioned games? Are you still of the mind that Guild Wars isn't quite there but is still a lot of fun? Or do you dig on something else entirely, like League of Legends?
Exteel enters open beta on the 14th
We're not sure how we let this one slip past us. NCsoft announced last week that Exteel, their third-person mech shooter set in a persistent universe, would be moving to the open phase of beta testing starting this Wednesday at 2PM CST. Effectively, this means that whoever wants to try their hand at the game will be free to download the client, and the silence that has been enforced on beta testers through the NDA will be lifted.Some have questioned whether Exteel really qualifies as an MMO to the degree that NCsoft has been claiming it does in their press and marketing materials. While it has certain elements on the check-list, like persistent characters who retain experience, gear, and abilities from game to game, it is fundamentally a third-person shooter. Perhaps it falls under the category of pseudo-MMO? I guess we'll find out for sure this Wednesday.[Thanks Kevin]
