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Make My MMO: Crowdfunding February 9 - 22, 2014
In the world of MMOs, no news is not necessarily good news -- especially when it comes to crowdfunding. Silence often denotes a lack of progress on a game, and that can certainly make investors nervous. Thankfully, many games provide players with updates that we, in turn, provide for you here. If no news is bad, then news is good, right? Unfortunately, this doesn't hold true. In the case of Star Rider and Hot Rod Hustle, the news is that neither met its funding goals. So we say farewell to these two games from Make My MMO. And Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's campaign was chock-full of news, but in the end, its Kickstarter didn't succeed either; Pantheon, however, is continuing the fundraising effort on its official site. At least some news is good! War of Omens also leaves this round up, but for different reasons: Players can hop in and play the game! Likewise, HEX: Shards of Fate and StarCraft Universe move on now that both have moved into testing. Another sandbox, Terrayn, also joins the Kickstarter ranks. To hear other good news, keep reading.
Massively's Valentine's Day roundup
When a mob hits your eye with a big sharpened spike... that's not really amore! In fact, it's downright painful. But it's February -- a time when love is in the air, hearts are aflutter everywhere, and pink and red festoon your favorite MMOs. So in the spirit of the season, go ahead and give that mob an extra-hard love tap, right from... er, to the heart! And don't forget to collect whatever treasures it had for you because we all know Valentine's Day isn't all about the love; no, it's about the loot! Want to know where to get your hands on something special for this holiday? There are plenty of celebrations throughout the MMOverse offering a plethora of events and goodies. Check out some of the various Valentine's events and specials going on now.
Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup
The holidays are here! That means the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing, with gifts to get, treats to taste, deals to nab, and plenty of festivities to partake in -- and that's just in the MMOverse! Yes folks, there's a plethora of holiday celebrations out there -- so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, let alone participate to them! If you're trying to catch everything in your favorite games, we're here to help. We've got a round up of the various winter celebrations across the gaming sphere all bundled together right here for you. If something catches your eye, hop in and join in the festivities!
Puzzle Pirates premieres promptly on iPad
We knew it was coming, and avast ye mobile device lubbers, that day is here: Puzzle Pirates is now available on iPad. The free-to-play piratey puzzler has a long history on the PC but is one of the few MMOs to come out with a mobile edition as well. Puzzle Pirates was optimized for the iPad's touch controls but otherwise functions much the same as its browser brother. Announcing the platform release, Three Rings Design CEO Daniel James waved his hook-hand around and bellowed, "We believe the iPad is a great match for the depth of gameplay available in Puzzle Pirates. Easy-to-pick-up gameplay combined with co-operative teamwork and a rich world to make Puzzle Pirates a game that we know iPad players will enjoy." [Source: SEGA press release]
Second Wind: Spiral Knights
There's something to be said for the rise of browser-based games. What once was an elephant graveyard of bad ideas, low-res graphics, and trite or incomplete game mechanics has now evolved into a veritable playground of new ideas and fun casual titles. Games like City of Steam and Drakensang Online continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in a browser window, delivering engaging experiences with depth and high fidelity. Browser game represent some of the coolest technological innovations in the MMO niche. They also, often, represent the very worst in predatory monetization schemes and "pay-to-win" exploitation. Spiral Knights does both. And it does both well.
Jukebox Heroes: Spiral Knights' soundtrack
Wow, talk about a soundtrack that leaped up and bit me on the... earbuds! Sometimes I'm surprised how the smaller MMOs get treated to such lavish score releases while big-name games hoard their music to themselves, but in the case of Spiral Knights, I'm sincerely glad that this two-volume set was put out there for the world to enjoy. It truly is a kickin' project. Spiral Knights was composed and arranged by Harry Mack (Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, Braid). Mack likes the smaller indie projects, so tackling this was one of his more high-profile works. For this album, Mack said that he was inspired by retro games: "It pulls a lot from the 'sound' of an earlier era, coupled in with more modern, easier-on-the-ears instruments." The end result is a chirpy, peppy ride through a clockwork MMO, and trust me when I say that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just six picks. I hope that by the end of this column I'll have convinced you to listen to the rest of this terrific score.
The Perfect Ten: Creative MMO minigames
Few people are without opinions on minigames in MMOs. Some love 'em, some hate 'em, and some just ignore 'em. Some even despise that I won't type "th." Takes all types, really. Personally, I'm all for including new types of enjoyable systems that can be repeated, particularly if it benefits my character in some way. There's also this perception that minigames are just for kids. It's true that more kid-centric titles like Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures thrive on minigames like you thrive on deep-fried butter balls, but these little diversions exist all over the place in "grownup" titles too. Holidays are a favorite time to trot them out, although there are plenty that exist year-round. Today we're going to look at 10 creative minigames that have tickled my fancy over the year. Yes, I used the word "fancy." Whatcha gonna do about it?
Puzzle Pirates sails into new frontier: Tablets
Avast ye mateys! After 10 years of working together to sail ships and fight foes utilizing puzzles, players in Puzzle Pirates get to set off on a completely new adventure. Well OK, to be precise the adventures will actually remain the same, but how players can access them will change; the pirate-themed social game focusing on cooperation is heading to tablets. Three Rings co-founder and CEO Daniel James explained that the company has been exploring the possibility of bringing the game to mobile devices since last year, and now it's reached the point where expanding platforms is feasible. Players will be able to switch between the PC and the tablet, playing the same game on the same account. Plans are also in the works to make the game accessible on other devices as well. James did note that with this change, anticipated upcoming features such as the Kraken will be delayed until after the launch of the game on tablets. Want to learn more about Puzzle Pirates? Check out Massively's exclusive interview with James.
Jukebox Heroes: A few of my favorite MMO soundtracks
I could hear some of you thinking in disbelief last week, "If Age of Conan isn't one of your top MMO scores, what is? And just how much am I not sending you a Christmas card this year, you loser?" You were kind enough to just think it and not say it, but I could hear it even so. As we've mentioned countless times in this column, musical tastes are subjective. What's appealing to you may not be for me and vice-versa. What more is that musical tastes -- and favorites -- are always shifting around. I listen back to the jams that I enjoyed in the '90s and absolutely pity my younger self for such a deficiency in his musical diet. So I thought that I'd take a week off our normal soundtrack reviews to bring to you my current top six favorite soundtracks. This list comes with the caveat that it's always subject to future changes as I continue to listen through more soundtracks for this column.
Yo ho ho: Happy 10th birthday, Puzzle Pirates
Puzzle Pirates is still way ahead of its time, despite the fact that it just turned 10 years old. For many years, MMOs have tried to get players to work together in real time in myriad ways, yet Puzzle Pirates is the only one that has approached the problem exactly in this way: having each player work a different puzzle to represent different activities. One player controls the direction and speed a ship travels, two players work a "bilging" puzzle to help keep water from filling in, perhaps a few more players man the sails, and another plays a puzzle that represents keeping the ship repaired. What you end up with is a pretty realistic depiction of a team working together to sail the high seas, fight NPCs, and attack other players. This same puzzle-based gameplay works its way throughout the entire game, making for a very unique and in-depth experience. It also ensures that players become experts at certain puzzles, something that easily represents the way a real-life sailor would become an expert at his or her station. In a word, it's brilliant. Massively checked in with CEO Daniel James on the occasion of the game's birthday. Read on for the scoop!
The Game Archaeologist interviews Puzzle Pirates' Matt Jensen
Two weeks ago, we opened the book to a strange game indeed. The odd combination of swashbucklers and minigames has sentenced Puzzle Pirates to the fringe of MMO society, yet it's thrived there as an offbeat title that caters to a... very select and fanatical crowd. Which is totally cool with me, by the way. I love MMOs that take a path less-traveled. Today I got the pleasure of sitting down with Puzzle Pirates Lead Developer Matt Jensen to talk about what it's like to work on the lovechild of Captain Hook and Bejeweled. If nothing else, he convinced me that it would be awesome to work at Three Rings Design because the dress code every day is peg legs and frilly blouses. His team also has one of the coolest offices ever.
The Game Archaeologist: Puzzle Pirates
Up until this point in my life, Puzzle Pirates has always been that "oh yeah, that actually exists!" game to me. Even when I do lists of pirates in MMOs, this title slips right off of my radar. Maybe it's because Puzzle Pirates doesn't make waves (har!) these days, or maybe it's been around for so very long. I can't be the only one; the last time Massively talked about Puzzle Pirates was three years ago. I think that part of Puzzle Pirates' forgettability is that it doesn't exactly scream MMO. I mean, its combat is more cerebral than anything else, it's all cutesy and stuff, and even its name suggests a casual flash title than anything deep and substantive. Yet I have friends with a long and abiding love for this game, people who always chide me when I forget it. So to peer pressure I bow: It's high past time that we gave Puzzle Pirates its due as part of the MMO genre. Avast, ye landlubbers, and swab those peepers: We be goin' to sea!
Spiral Knights celebrates 3,000,000 registered accounts
Spiral Knights seems to be doing pretty well for itself. The latest official dispatch proudly states that the game currently has three million registered accounts in total, which is certainly a sign of good health. To celebrate, the development team is running a small promotion: all Elevators will cost no energy to use from now until Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT. Players under the effects of an Elevator Pass will see the two free days added on, so all players who want to take advantage of this will be able to. The dispatch also reveals that the team is hard at work on developing new features for the next year, including new missions, more accessible DLC, and improvements to both combat and guild systems. All in all, if you're one of the three million account holders, it sounds like the game is going to provide you with more fun stuff to do in the future... and if not, well, you can always start the road toward four.
One Shots: City of who?
Massively reader Torch Light has a theory that someone at Paragon Studios is a Doctor Who fan, and I think he might be right -- and not just because the game boasts a Time Manipulation power set. Torch Light sent in today's featured image from City of Heroes' VIP testing servers along with this explanation: The beta for Issue 23 of CoH has just gone live with a new parallel world of spookiness. While exploring around, I saw a familiar (yet strangely colored) police box. Looks like Paragon called in an expert to help fix those wibbly wobbly timey wimey problems. The image isn't bigger on the inside, but it is after the cut alongside two more reader pics!
Rise and Shiny: A bit of Wakfu, a smidge of Spiral Knights, and some Lime Odyssey
This week in Rise and Shiny, things did not go as planned. This sort of thing actually happens often enough to almost be a problem: I pick out a title or am tasked with taking a look at a certain game, but communication lines are crossed and the game I was supposed to give a first impressions-style look at closes down its beta in the middle of the week. Like I said, it does happen, enough to force me to plan out my articles on a month-long calendar. Even then, things can change. So instead of talking about the game I said I was going to be this week, Seven Souls Online, I decided to go over the three games that I gleefully jumped into over the last few days. This will not be a typical first impression-style piece but instead will hint at the specific adventures I had while playing these games. These wonderful, wonderful games.
Free for All: The first annual Frindie Awards
Welcome, fair readers, to the first annual Free for All Frindie awards. I'm hoping that these awards not only serve to point potential players to some great new games to try but illustrate my particular gaming tastes. Sometimes it's hard to explain to people just how I keep up with so many titles and still manage to stay loyal to my "home" games, games that I am simply in love with and return to pretty much every day. So as you read my choices, bear in mind that these are based on my opinions from my year of gaming and from my list of favorites. It's also important to note that not all of my favorites were released this year. Some of them are downright ancient games compared to the rest of the young MMO market, but as long as they released a significant amount of content in 2011, I considered them. To me, expansions and a series of patches can equal a brand-new release. Some games release so much new content per year that they might as well have been released again. So click past the cut to see my favorites from the market of free-to-play, indie and browser-based gaming. Be sure to leave your picks in the comments section!
Three Rings prepares to connect Puzzle Pirates' oceans
Three Rings is making some interesting changes to its Puzzle Pirates MMO. A new post on the game's official forums outlines what's in store for the new year, and in a nutshell, players will be able to sail between many of the game's oceans (which, in regular MMO-speak, are actually the game's servers). "We've been working on a way to consolidate the game's oceans for quite some time now, and after much deliberation, we determined that the fairest way to go about this is to combine the geographies of two oceans on one server," Three Rings explains. The post hints at massive new explorable areas and also reassures players that their existing properties will be unaffected in spite of the mergers. There's a large FAQ in the thread as well, so head over to the Puzzle Pirates board for all the details.
SEGA acquires Spiral Knights creator Three Rings Design
SEGA announced today that it has acquired indie developer Three Rings Design. Three Rings is no newcomer to the MMO industry, with popular titles such as Puzzle Pirates and the new Spiral Knights. SEGA's Senior VP of Digital Business, Haruki Satomi, says of the acquisition, "We are proud to welcome them as the newest member of the SEGA family, and look forward to seeing what great things we can create together over the coming years." Three Rings CEO Daniel James seems quite pleased as well, stating that his company is "honored to be joining such a legendary team and look forward to collaborating on amazing ideas together." We know we're looking forward to seeing what this unique combination manages to produce as well. We'll just have to wait and see.
MMObility: Creating a hidden-object mobile MMO
Around the time we left for E3, I discovered some of the hidden-object games published by Big Fish Games. I have enjoyed puzzle games in the past, but these seemed to have a nice, dependable quality to them that I had not seen before. On the way home -- during the last several hours of our trip, when it became hard to settle down -- I pulled out Moonfell Wood, a lovely hidden-object game set in a magical world of fairies and princesses. (I think the target audience was obvious.) It was just a trial, but it was very relaxing. The music was nice and the puzzles were challenging but not mind-crushing, and my wife would look over my shoulder once in a while to point out one of the objects or to help solve a puzzle. It really got me to thinking: could a hidden-object MMO be created for the mobile market? I think it could. Click past the cut and let's discuss it.
Rise and Shiny recap: Puzzle Pirates
Puzzles Pirates is pretty deceiving when you first look at it. The decade-old game looks closer to what you might have expected from LEGO Universe than it does a strategic, puzzle-based combat game. But as you get more into the basics of the game, you realize that many of the tricks up Puzzle Pirate's sleeve would be awesome if featured in other games. The puzzles are integrated into your experience flawlessly, and the grouping system is wonderful. In fact, I couldn't stop thinking about why other games don't feature systems like those in Puzzle Pirates. Name me a game that does group combat, ship combat or even crafting based on puzzles! I think that the perceived silliness of puzzles, or the perceived juvenile nature of puzzles, keeps them out of popular developer's minds. It's not as though raiding or other group activities in other games are high art or much more than a very basic puzzle. Stand here, push that. Repeat. Now move. Push that, followed by this. Repeat. So let's look at how Puzzle Pirates plays, how the community members fare, and what issues I did have with this brilliant puzzler. Click past the cut!
