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EVO 2013 smashes viewership records with 1.7 million spectators
This year's Evolution Championship Series, colloquially known as EVO 2013, was the most-watched fighting game tournament ever broadcast through Twitch.tv, according to the streaming site's VP of marketing, Matthew DiPietro. "It was nearly fifty percent higher than last year's EVO, which was the previous record holder," DiPietro said in a statement. "1.7 million tuned in during the course of the weekend." Records for concurrent, game-specific viewership were also broken, with Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 peaking at 144,848 simultaneous viewers. Estimations place Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition and Super Smash Bros. Brawl at approximately 125,000 and 134,000 concurrent viewers each, respectively. Numbers like these, while certainly impressive, aren't all that surprising considering that this year's EVO was easily the most thrilling in the event's 11-year history. With legal drama, release date/DLC/new game reveals and some truly surprising winners at the end of it all, EVO 2013 put on one hell of a show.
Rise and Shiny: Eden Eternal
It's been a while since I last played Eden Eternal. I have enjoyed it off and on over the last year, but mostly because of how much I loved the graphics. As a matter of fact, I would vote Eden Eternal as one of the best-looking MMOs out there, up there with The Chronicles of Spellborn, Guild Wars 2, and Ryzom. Sure, it covers a more stylized branch of the graphical tree than other games, but that's a pretty important job. Every year designers try to make games that look fun and bright, but they almost always come out generic. Eden Eternal is just awesome to look at. How is the gameplay, though? Being that the last major patch we talked about consisted mostly of graphical updates, I didn't expect to enjoy the game this time around as much as I did when I first discovered it. Luckily I enjoyed myself just as much -- if not more -- thanks to the game's easy pace and sandbox gameplay.
EVE Evolved: The battle of Z9PP-H caught on camera
If you're the kind of person who loves reading about the political shenanigans that go on inside EVE Online, you should be aware that a colossal war has erupted in the wake of the Odyssey expansion. The expansion redistributed the value of nullsec moons and gave the two largest alliances in the game, the Reddit-based TEST Alliance and Something Awful-spawned GoonSwarm Federation, a good excuse to go to full-scale war. Allies have piled in on either side, and nullsec has erupted into full-scale region takedowns, spy-jacking, and more of the lovely political tomfoolery we love to hear about. EVE News 24 has been doing a good job of keeping players up to date on what's happening in nullsec, and its reporters are not the only ones keeping tabs on the war. Streamer Mad Ani has been setting up cameras in strategically important locations throughout the contested regions and providing live coverage of huge battles whenever they happen. A few days ago, the war came to a head in what could have been the deciding battle of the entire Fountain invasion. Over 4,000 people watched the stream as TEST's entire capital fleet of over 100 carriers was taking a pounding in Z9PP-H, when suddenly the server crashed and disconnected everyone in the fight. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at what happened in the battle of Z9PP-H, how CCP crashed its biggest piece of PR in months, and how player livestreams are changing the face of EVE Online for the better.
Rise and Shiny revisit: Global Agenda
Ah, I had some glorious times in Global Agenda, so long ago that Seraphina Brennan still worked here and we struggled to livestream the game to do a giveaway or two. The developers prepared some pre-made level 30 characters for us, complete with Massively logo holograms emblazoned across the chests. Sera moved on, livestreaming has become easier, and I haven't returned to the game nearly as much as I've wanted to. I'm not sure why. The game is free-to-play, and I have been enjoying online shooter titles more over the last several months. Then, when I told my boss that I wanted to check it out again, she told me that it was a good idea especially since Global Agenda 2 was announced late last year. What? This news must have passed underneath my very broad radar! Still, I was eager to revisit my old characters and see if the game is still as fun as I remember, so I spent the last week playing the game -- that is, when I wasn't fighting bugs in the game. And I mean technical bugs, not the good, scary space kind.
Rise and Shiny: Farm Fortress
Farm Fortress is a pseudo-MMO or social game that concentrates on pitting players against waves of enemies and even other players by utilizing protective barriers, weapons, and traps that are paid for with cash stolen from enemies. It might sound a little strange at first. I didn't really even enjoy the game until the lightbulb went off and I started to really plan out my strategy for defending my farm fortress. Farming is one way to make money, but in my experience so far, the best way to get cash is to invite waves of monsters to attack your farm or to attack other players. Both activities can be surprisingly simple at first but quickly grow into a challenging job. But that's the fun of it! Over the week my farm grew into a pretty formidable fort, complete with turrets and indestructible walls.
Rise and Shiny: Arcane Saga Online
I sat down on Monday with NetMarble Producer Jon-Enee Merriex to discuss Arcane Saga Online, a remake/re-release/re-launch of the defunct Prius Online. I was actually very excited for Prius Online at one point, but the game fell flat once I got my hands on it. With this re-launch, would the publisher NetMarble be able to capture an audience -- and keep it -- this time? I jumped into the first hour of the game with a bit of an unfair advantage, having Jon-Enee with me to explain many of the ideas and thought processes behind the re-launch. It all makes sense when you hear it from a developer's mouth, but how does the game translate when you just log in and start playing? It turns out that it has many issues but is quite fun a lot of the time.
Rise and Shiny: Ragnarok Online 2
I remember playing Ragnarok Online, the first one, quite a while ago and semi-enjoying it. I liked the isometric views and even enjoyed some of the gameplay, but it was a bit of a mess much of the time. I walked away more confused than entertained. At the same time, I met reader after reader after reader who seemed to have grown up on the game. This "grind generation" was made of steely reserve and tougher stuff than I was because the game was notoriously grindy. How did they play it? Even now as I was looking for a few different views on Ragnarok Online 2, I came across a video that was hosted by a player who acknowledged the "boring grind" that left players with literally "nothing to do but level alts," yet he played the game to the max level, several times. If only we could get these guys to put that much energy into world peace, I might be having dinner in the middle of a former warzone right now! I found number two to be a bit like its older version but surprisingly modern and more fun than I thought. But only a bit more fun.
Xbox One Upload Studio lets you share your gameplay vids, live streams through Twitch
Sharing clips of your gameplay has become quite a popular past time. Microsoft is streamlining the process on the Xbox One with Upload Studio, a dedicated tool for editing, theming and sharing videos of you blasting baddies and beating up your friends. Though a lot of the details are still a mystery, we can tell you that it uses the system's "game DVR" which automatically records your gaming sessions. And, if you'd prefer to live stream your Forza runs, Twitch is built-in for broadcasting your race to the world. Follow all of our E3 2013 coverage at our event hub.
Rise and Shiny: Revisiting EverQuest at level 65
EverQuest is one of those titles that just won't go away. I mean that in the best possible way, of course. After 15 years and 19 (yes, 19!) expansions, it's possible that I could be writing about this game a decade from now. And why not? I just spent a month covering MUDs, some of them 20 years old, so why couldn't a game with such a rich history and loyal playerbase as EverQuest's stick around, well, forever? I started playing around 2000 or 2001. I didn't catch on to it as much as my wife and soon was back in Ultima Online and later titles like City of Heroes. I have always kept up with EverQuest while still feeling a bit left behind because I didn't stay with it from the beginning. I am so jealous of a player who has actively played any game for 15 years. The character he or she has built has a wonderful story to tell! Well, I decided this week was time to finally try to get back into EverQuest. What I found wasn't really surprising because I had kept up with the game's developments and played here and there, but the community and the gameplay definitely caught me off guard.
Rise and Shiny: Anno Online
At first, Anno Online reminded me of The Settlers Online, a similar title that was brought to us by Ubisoft, the same publisher. Both games look good and mostly avoid hardcore combat, and both move slowly and concentrate on proper building placement and trade. I have to admit that I grew tired of The Settlers Online because it was hard to keep up with influence from local bandits and the constant destruction of the environment. In Anno Online I don't have to worry about trees or mines or running out of goods, and there are no enemies. The pace of play is slow for sure, but I enjoy it. I can keep the game running all day in my browser with no performance hit and I can even play it on my Samsung Chromebook. It's a game of slow growth and trade, and it's more of a pseudo-MMO that allows players to connect with friends loosely. Still, it's wonderful to look at and it's a quality game. But let's get to the details.
Rise and Shiny: DragonRealms
As a part of MUD May, I just had to play at least one MUD for Rise and Shiny. I have a handful of favorite MUDs, like GemStone IV, BatMUD, and Achaea, but I have never really given DragonRealms a chance. Until now. I've poked into it here and there, but every time I found myself on the Simutronics website, I always logged into GemStone IV. I heard that DragonRealms was a lot different, more hardcore, and filled with PvP, and after spending an initial week with the game and the killer community, I can say that it is different, but mainly in a few outstanding ways. Of course I might find much more that sets the game apart if I played it for several years like some of the people I met in game, but for now I'll settle with telling you what I've learned so far. The usual embedded video in this article serves two purposes. First, it's an interview piece I did with Eric Latham, Producer at Simutronics. Next, it's a glance at DragonRealms, from character creation to a bit of gameplay. It's not as in-depth as my other videos, but it keeps in the greater theme of MUD May.
Rise and Shiny revisit: Mabinogi remains magical
I try to take deeper looks at certain titles at least once a year. These are special games that prove to me that MMORPGs are still the best gaming you can participate in, pixel for pixel. Mabinogi is one of those titles. It's also one of those titles that almost makes me want to quit writing about games. Ironically, the more you write about games, the less time you have to play specific titles, games that could easily suck away hours of your life every day. These are virtual worlds with open character development and grand, sweeping storylines. If I had the time, I'd probably spend most of it in Mabinogi. During this week's revisit, I knew I had to accomplish several things. First, I needed to clean up my quest list. Mabinogi is wonderful in the way it offers a player tons and tons of content and storylines, but they can be visited in a non-linear fashion that leads to confusion. Second, I wanted to revel in the glory that was the newly free extended inventory. Third, I wanted to check out the new systems and tweaks that have come along since I last dived into the game.
Rise and Shiny: Heroes and Generals
Heroes and Generals is a new browser-based game set in the wonderfully bright and shiny world of... World War II. OK, so it's really a gritty game, and it's sluggish at best, but I have a feeling that combat during that amazing time was from the "two steps forward, one step back" school of warfare anyway. I tried to keep that in mind as I slogged through round after round of being shot in the head. It's not that the game is boring. It's fun-ish, but when I compare it to many other MMOFPS titles, I find it small and slow. It's an instanced-based lobby sort of design. That's not normally a bad thing, and we certainly cover that style of game here on Massively, but this one just sort of felt a bit too small. There's more coming, I hear, so maybe in the future, the game will feel larger.
Rise and Shiny: War Thunder
War Thunder, a new instanced-based WWII flying battle, uhm, thingy, didn't really seem that appealing at first. It looks nice, and yes, the planes can be controlled in a few different styles ranging from an FPS twitch style to a more "realistic" mode, but I was worried it would be just another slogging grind until I was able to have any fun. There's some truth behind my worry about the grind, but overall I had an incredible time in the game. The only real shame is that I didn't get to put as much time in it as I would have liked. The game had infrequent connection issues, but when they cropped up, they lasted a while. Even so, each match lasted long enough to give me a pretty good taste of combat. I stuck with the "arcade" style of gameplay. It's a simpler way to control the planes that allows players to point the mouse pointer for control. You might need to land for repairs and take off again, but it's as simple as slowing down until you touch down. I started to take the more realistic mode's tutorial, but as soon as it told me I had to manually control much more of the plane's controls, I gave up. Call me a wimp, but I just wanted to shoot planes.
Rise and Shiny: The Aurora World
There are a lot of MMOs out there. A lot. Sometimes I rattle off a list of MMOs during a conversation with fellow fans and they look at me as if I have butter pouring from my fingertips. They don't believe it, but they know it's happening. There are that many MMOs out there? Yes, there are. There are literally thousands in the world, hundreds in the United States. Out of all of those many different titles that I have played and come across, I like to say that most aren't really bad or horrible, but just... the same. Bland, boring, vanilla, dull. I like to throw the figure "80 percent" around to represent how many of them are just ugh. The Aurora World is an MMO. It has systems. It has skills to learn, and pets and monsters and quests and all of those trademarks that have, unfortunately, given MMO developers blanks to fill in on a checklist that is titled "MMORPG." There are a few tricks up the game's sleeves, but only a few. Actually, The Aurora World reminds me of one of my favorites, Zentia, but it lacks the soul that made me love Zentia.
Watch Might and Magic: Duel of Champions' producer destroy Massively
Might and Magic: Duel of Champions is a new collectible card game brought to us by Ubisoft Quebec. Some folks might say that trading card games are a dime a dozen and that once you've played one, you've played them all. But I think the genre is always moving forward and expanding, introducing new designs and interesting ways to play, which is true of Might and Magic's latest go at the TCG market. During my tour, I found myself up against producer Stephane Jankowski. Unfortunately for me, he is no stranger to the game. He takes it quite seriously, going so far as to "go easy" on me so that I was not embarrassed. Little did he know that I am a noob at every game out there, so no harm was done. Might and Magic: Duel of Champions is a great game for those who want not only more strategy but also a faster pace. The tutorial walked me through some of the basics, but I learned more in the hour I played with Stephane than I had playing during the previous week. Click past the cut to watch the livestream and read up on what makes this one stand out.
Rise and Shiny: Dino Storm
I have a real love for finding tiny, unknown, indie titles -- especially ones that are obviously made for younger gamers -- and playing them for a write-up. It's one of the perks of the job; I get to dig up these gems and tell thousands of people about them. Games like Dino Storm also serve to remind me about why I got into blogging about games before I was ever paid to do it. There are virtual worlds to discover out there, and I find that thrilling. I especially like it when they boast this level of quality. Dino Storm might not challenge a more mature player, but it's surprisingly complex. It's got everything it needs to be considered a full-fledged MMO, but it also keeps in mind that younger players need a little help along the way. You'll play the role of a cowboy or girl who rides around on the backs of well-animated dinosaurs ranging from tiny to massive, and you'll also hunt after all sorts of quests and goods. I did have a few small issues with the game, but the development team seemed willing and ready to patch them up.
Rise and Shiny: Peeking into the half-naked world of Scarlet Blade
As soon as I knew that I was going to be covering Scarlet Blade, the new title published by Aeria Games, I decided that I was not going to dedicate 1,000 words or so to discussing just how stupidly offensive the game is. I'll cover the issue of sexism in gaming through other avenues because I know that there are generally two types of players in MMOs: those who think this is a sexist industry and those who don't care. I will, however, concentrate on the gameplay. I am always ready to volunteer and cover weird or icky games like Scarlet Blade. After all, I can't comment on a game I haven't played. What I found wasn't really surprising, but it was relatively confusing. Warning: Don't read the rest of this article if your boss is over your shoulder. Unless your boss is my boss, in which case it's OK.
Rise and Shiny: Revisiting Salem
A few months ago, I dived into Salem, a hardcore sandbox MMO that promises actual permadeath. That means if your character is killed while in game, he or she stays dead and loses everything. Not of your possible scores of skills are passed on, all items are lost and your homestead -- similar to a deed in Wurm Online -- can be destroyed. Heck, your homestead can be destroyed even if you're not dead. People can literally block your path, call you names, and attack you over and over. It makes me cry! Nah, it's not as bad as it sounds. It never is. If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's that you should really try a game for yourself before you believe everything you hear about it. Don't worry about trolls or griefers because the worst that can happen to you is that you end up leaving the game to find a better one. That's why we're called gamers. Salem is actually about 50% killer and 50% silliness. I don't want to describe the killer part as "bad" because there is something the game is offering that so many others are not, and that's real danger and actual permadeath.
Rise and Shiny: Allods Online's Pearl Ring, selling power, and the Astral
Allods Online has long been a game that immediately conjures up some form of controversy any time it is mentioned. Whether it's because of cash-shop policies, changes to game mechanics, or the alleged mishandling of player issues, the game just can't seem to catch a break. Since the very beginning, I knew that the players who were complaining the loudest also loved the game the most -- a standard for the industry -- and that, meanwhile, thousands of players have enjoyed the game since being introduced. I have always loved it, but from the point of view of someone who is a constant newb and explorer. I have never understood the raider mentality or at least never wanted to; if I wanted to work at a game, I would get a job playing games. Oh, wait. This week I sat down to go through the newest bit of content, The Pearl Ring, to see just how fun the game could be on a character fitted with good gear and attached to a super-friendly yet hardcore raiding guild. I also wanted to explore the more general gameplay and pay another visit to the shining light of the Allods universe: the Astral. What I found surprised me and made me remember just how incredible this game is. %Gallery-183634%
