round-up
Latest
Elite: Dangerous' launch-day roundup
Successfully Kickstarted just over two years ago, David Braben's space MMO Elite: Dangerous formally launched early this morning, a rare buy-to-play entry in the MMO market and one of the most high-profile Kickstarter MMOs to actually reach launch to date. If you're heading to the comments right now to inform us that Elite isn't an MMO because of its single-player mode, know that the tide's against you; even Frontier, in the midst of controversy over the cancelation of its originally promised offline mode, justified that decision because Elite is an MMO and "technically [...] always has been." Elite: Dangerous won Massively's Most Underrated MMO of the year by a hair just last week. Check out the launch trailer and our roundup of the best Elite news, streams, and hands-on articles by the Massively staff below!
Norrathian Notebook: EQ Next's 'workshop collaborations'
Last month we embarked on the journey of corralling the remainder of the EverQuest Next Round Tables for you, adding the fifth installment to the previous four. But that last roundup did not quite bring us up to date. Why? It wasn't just a matter of space: There was a fundamental shift in the round table discussions that I felt warranted a separate Norrathian Notebook. The next section of round tables were focused on the collaborative efforts of the devs and the community in building and shaping EverQuest Next. While there is a smattering of other topics sprinkled in, the bulk is dedicated specifically to the Norrathian races and building collaboration. As such, many of the polls were more time-sensitive; some have closed, and some were just more relevant to determining design direction during the specific The Workshop Show series. However, the information is still valuable, and opinions can still be shared on a number of the proposed questions. If you have an opinion on coloring, racial mounts, and architectural styles, this is the collection of inquiries for you.
Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next round table roundup V
Combat, combat, PvP. That can pretty well sum up a lot of Landmark's chatter recently. That's understandable, since it is the newest feature to hit the sandbox. But that is certainly not all there is to talk about. There are plenty of topics of interest that cover both EverQuest Next and Landmark, and a number of these are touched on in the regular roundtable discussions. It's been quite a while since we've gathered these all up into one concise spot for you to peruse (so long that Landmark lost part of its name in the interim!), so here's the fifth installment of the roundtable roundup. Poke through this collection and check out what other players and devs are saying about various issues. You can even participate in many of the polls if you haven't yet and add your voice to the mix! Even if some topics seem old, remember that none is irrelevant; the games are both still under development, and player input is always a good thing.
Sony Japan & Asia presser round-up: Fives alive on PS4
While some of you were snoozing, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan & Asia had a little shindig ahead of this month's Tokyo Game Show, and it was news-stuffed. If you want you can re-watch the whole shebang here, all two hours or so of it... on your precious day off. Just in case you'd rather not, we've compiled a list of the highlights below the break.
PlayStation Gamescom 2014 press conference round-up: Wild, Hellblade
After Microsoft rolled out a whole bunch of announcements earlier today, it was Sony's turn to take the stage for its Gamescom 2014 press conference. We watched the stream, we followed the liveblog and now it's time to recap all of the event's announcements. Head past the break to dive into our round-up.
Xbox Gamescom 2014 press conference round-up: Tomb Raider, Halo Channel
Microsoft held its Gamescom 2014 press conference in Cologne, Germany today. Maybe you followed along with our liveblog and the event's livestream, or pounded away at the "F5" key to see the flood of news slide down our front page. Regardless, we have a recap of this morning's events below (okay, this afternoon where the conference was held).
All the games from Sony's PlayStation event at E3 2014
Sony's E3 event didn't end until 11PM ET last night. So, just as we did with the Xbox titles revealed at E3, we're going to round up all the future games heading to Sony's various consoles. It'll basically be a condensed version of our Sony liveblog, with an extra helping of trailers and without the excitable prose of Ben Gilbert, who was up way past his bedtime.
EVE Evolved: Eleven years of EVE Online
It seems that every year another few MMOs have closed their doors or convert to free-to-play business models to stay afloat. EVE Online has always enjoyed a level of insulation from these market trends elsewhere in the genre, and just last week on May 6th it celebrated its 11th year of year-on-year subscription growth. Following on from my previous column celebrating the EVE Evolved column's sixth year of operation, this week I'll be summarising all the major EVE news stories throughout the year. It's been a big year for EVE fans, one that many of us can be proud to have been a part of. The EVE community turned its financial wizardry toward the real world and raised over $190,000 US in relief aid following a typhoon hitting the Philippines, and CCP even built a monument dedicated to the community. Several massive player battles once again put EVE on the global media's radars, and the Odyssey and Rubicon expansions revitalised the game for explorers and PvPers alike. But not everyone can hold his heads up high this year, with details of more cyberbullying within EVE coming to light and several players being banned for defacing the EVE monument in Reykjavik. In this anniversary retrospective, I summarise all the major EVE news from the year in one place and take a look at what the future may hold for the EVE universe.
Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup, fourth edition
Thanks to the early launch of EverQuest Next Landmark's alpha, players have been deep in the world of voxel-mining, crafting, and building to their hearts' content. Armed with with that hands-on knowledge, players are able to offer insights and suggestions about the development of that game. But that doesn't mean that those who aren't physically in the alpha (and have access to post in those forums) don't have valuable opinions about the direction of both Landmark and EverQuest Next, and the devs want to hear from everyone! That's where the EQN Round Tables come in. And the Norrathian Notebook Round Table roundups are here to help you keep track of them all. The three previous round ups corralled 23 questions, dev opinions, and video responses. This fourth edition (not to be dismissed like certain other fourth editions) contains eight more. Do you care about specialty servers, in-game weather, or crafting? Are you burning with a desire to tell the devs exactly how you feel about other players affecting your gameplay? Then there are polls and discussions that you'll want to take part in if you haven't already. One round table even focuses on improving the new player experience. And we've got them all rounded up right here for you.
Norrathian Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup, round three
Quick on the heels of our second Round Table roundup for EverQuest Next and EQN Landmark comes the third, filled with the next bushel of questions! In these (lucky) seven queries, devs asked players to give their opinions on starter zones, modding the UI, length of the day and night cycle, grouping, preferred Landmark building styles, and the role of NPC merchants. And of course, devs also offered their personal opinions on these topics. Did you participate in all the polls the first time through? If not, we've got them all right here for you. Go ahead and join in the discussions; it is never too late to voice your opinions! You never know when your comment might be the one that turns the tide of thinking or offers a new solution no one had considered before.
The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next roundtable roundup, take two
Back in September, The Tattered Notebook gathered together the first 10 roundtable questions that EverQuest Next and EQN Landmark devs posed to fans, with their accompanying community thoughts, developer opinions, and video clip answers. However, that was only the tip of the iceberg. The Round Table discussions were not just an introductory fad; they are a permanent part of the development process. As such, new polls are put up every week for fans to vote on and to post their own feedback and thoughts about on the forum. So now that a couple of months have passed, it's time to round up the next wave of questions in one central location, focusing this time on the six questions with dev responses. Maybe there is a query or two that you missed as the weeks rolled by, or maybe you just want to see what direction the community is leaning. Got some strong opinions about death penalties or fast travel in EverQuest Next? What about in-game holidays? This is definitely the time to share them!
Path of Exile launch-day roundup
With a patch as big as today's, you have to wonder what Path of Exile has in store for players after launch. And starting now, you can find out. Today the free-to-play action MMO breaks from the bonds of beta and bursts into land of launched titles. But if you think that launch for Path of Exile is just an exercise in switching labels, think again. Two new four-month challenge leagues will offer new and old players alike a fresh start alongside the launch; players can join the Domination league with the new shrine system or the hardcore league Nemesis, where death means converting to a standard character. Whether you've been climbing those league ladders all the while or you're jumping in to experience the game for the first time, there's plenty of content to keep you occupied. If you need something to pass the time until you can log in this launch day or you want to get a leg up on the competition, check out this collection of updates, interviews, and hands-on experiences.
The Tattered Notebook: EverQuest Next Round Table roundup
Back when EverQuest Next and EverQuest Landmark were announced, SOE President John Smedley made it clear that the two games were henceforth in "open development." That meant that the company would be soliciting feedback and opinions from players about myriad design decisions for the two games. Since then, EQ Next devs have thrown out new questions each week for players to vote on and discuss. Utilizing polls and forum discussions in a special section of the main site labeled Round Table, important topics like bearded female dwarves and armor appearance customization are delved into and player desires and feedback are gathered. After collecting the data, the devs respond, sometimes in video form. Today, The Tattered Notebook is going to round up all those roundtables, giving you a summary of which way the community is leaning on these different topics as well as the dev input. I'll even throw in snippets of their opinions as well! Of course, if you haven't added your thoughts to the mix and you'd like to, you still have time to do so as all the polls are still active.
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 Tattered Notebook: Speculation's last stand for EverQuest Next
I found myself in an interesting predicament this week. Today's Tattered Notebook was slated to be my last big speculation about EverQuest Next before I learned the real scoop at SOE Live 2013. However, as many of you know, I actually got the goods in a special preview a couple of weeks back! So until I can talk about what I know, my speculation days are done... at least on the features front, that is. What I can still ruminate on is the hype surrounding the game. After all, who needs concrete information when hype is involved? Hype is a powerful tool, able to work people into quite a frenzy. As often as we've been burned by unfulfilled promises, you'd think we we'd skip the hype boat, but that's not the case; we often book a ticket and hop on anyway. We just can't help but feel our heart strings pulled and hope renewed when a new title comes out flashing our favorite buzzwords. And EQ Next has offered a few: emergent gameplay, sandbox, innovation. From there, every little morsel of news -- no matter how few and far between -- has been like a drop of fuel to the fire, elevating our hopes and building expectations. Is the hype justified? We'll all have a better idea of that soon, though not soon enough. Until then, here's a recap of what we do know to chew on until the main course is served in two weeks. Then you can let your speculation run wild, even if I can't!
DUST 514 launch-day roundup
This is it, soldier! Training is over, and it's time to head out to war. DUST 514 settles today, officially launching into the New Eden universe also occupied by EVE Online. Available only on the PlayStation 3, this shooter pits forces against each other in a ground assault while orbital strikes rain down from EVE allies and enemies above. Are you ready? Ah, trapped behind a desk for a while still, are you? Well, don't worry; if you won't have the opportunity to soothe your itchy trigger finger until later, we've got some things to tide you over until you can join the fray yourself. Check out the factional warfare, learn about rewards, and much more in the hands-on experiences, screenshots, videos, news, and impressions after the break.
Age of Wushu launch day roundup [Updated]
Don't let the delicate beauty of Age of Wushu's looks fool you: This is one savage MMO. We've been tracking the progress of Snail Games' localization and tweaks for Western audiences for months now (as well as voting the game our most anticipated of last year's E3 awards), and the day of its launch is finally here. Age of Wushu is a free-to-play martial arts sandbox that's set in a semi-historical China. On top of several schools of fighting styles, the MMO includes unconventional features such as kidnapping, offline professions, crafting battles, and weddings. Check out Massively's extensive coverage of Age of Wushu after the jump and stay tuned for Patrick's impressions of the launch! [Update]: Snail has released an Age of Wushu launch trailer, viewable after the break.
CES 2013: Laptop and Ultrabook roundup
CES is done for another year, but before we can drop the microphone, we need to put together a reminisci-package to summarize the week in notebook computing. This year's show was chock-full with Ultrabooks, leading many to believe that full-fat notebooks are going the way of the Dodo. However, Intel's Kirk Skaugen feels that rumors of the laptop's demise at the hands of the Ultrabook are greatly exaggerated -- seeing the latter as merely a subset of the overall mobile PC firmament. Intel announced its power-sipping Haswell architecture and revealed its highly desirable North Cape reference design, which offered us a tantalizing glimpse of what future hardware could be like. However, before we get to that, we need to deal with the hardware hitting stores this year, so if you'd like to know more, follow us after the break.
CES 2013: Tablet roundup
The tablet landscape has changed greatly in a year's time, at least if you gauge what we've seen on the CES show floor. The 2012 expo was led mostly by high-end Android tablets. This year, Windows 8 understandably garnered much more of the spotlight now that it's available, while Google's platform mostly surfaced in the budget category, where it was much more prevalent than before. Whatever the platform, we saw our fair share of experimentation -- some companies weren't happy with just a spec bump in a familiar form factor. Check past the break for some of the more daring (or at least well-executed) examples from CES 2013.
Massively's LotRO Riders of Rohan launch-day roundup
When you first heard about Lord of the Rings Online, you probably had an idea of which areas from the Lord of the Rings lore you'd want to visit and which events you'd like to take part in. Not all of the areas in Middle-earth were part of LotRO when it launched, but with each expansion the game world gets a bit more complete. Developer Turbine has been hard at work developing iconic areas like the Mines of Moria and Isengard, but the zone players have been anticipating the most is the Plains of Rohan. The Riders of Rohan expansion goes live today, opening the visually stunning Plains of Rohan area and introducing tons of new content, class updates and gameplay changes. Developers have been careful to capture the feel of the plains in not only the area's art style but also its impressive musical score. The Riders of Rohan expansion adds a new mounted combat feature that lets players fight on customisable war horses. The open plains are filled with roving warbands of orcs and other challenges to be overcome. Read on for a run-down of all the latest news on the Riders of Rohan expansion.
