two-year-anniversary
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The Mog Log: Two years of spinning wheels in Final Fantasy XIV
Has it really been two years since Final Fantasy XIV launched? My collector's edition box was purchase two years ago, and I wrote my last anniversary column a year ago, so I guess it must have been. And yet I still don't feel as if it's actually happened yet. You'll note that last year's column was mostly about what happened as a result of the game's launch. That wasn't by accident. Launch led to a massive restructuring of the game's design team, and not too long after the one-year mark, the team announced that it was basically remaking the game from the ground up. That fact has dominated the past year, and it's impossible to overstate the importance that announcement has had for the Final Fantasy XIV community. Everything circles around the promise of 2.0 these days. What has that meant for the actual years of the game's operation? Sadly, nothing good. The game has made huge strides, but we as players have been stuck in a nasty little loop.
Rise and Shiny: Looking back on two years and making changes
This column will turn two years old on May 8th, 2012. I'm proud of not only the fact that I have been able keep up the column with a decent amount of content and writing that has slowly gotten better over that time but also the fact that I have introduced the readers of Massively to so many games that they wouldn't otherwise have known about. Recently, I have increased my efforts by streaming odd and indie games as well as writing about the relatively new world of mobile MMOs. This might all seem like I am attempting to build some sort of indie hipster street cred, but the totally honest truth is that nothing thrills me more than exposing a new game to the world or giving an older game some much-needed sunlight. If someone posts, "This game is still around?" in the comments section, I call that a win. From now on, I am going to tweak how I do things for Rise and Shiny in order to raise the quality of coverage. Let me explain how as well as give you a few figures to illustrate just how many titles I have covered.
Two years with the iPad
Two years ago today, the original iPad went on sale. It was first unveiled by Steve Jobs on January 27, 2010 during an Apple press conference at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco. After a few months of snickering about its name, the world was ready to buy the tablet in droves. Apple sold almost 15 million the first year and 40 million in its second year. It grabbed more than half of the tablet market by the end of 2011. Sales figures and market analysis are important, but what's more important is the impact the iPad has had on our lives. How has the iPad changed us? What do we do differently now that we have used an iPad for one or two years? Read on to see what the staff here at TUAW has to say about Apple's tablet device. Chris Rawson I skipped the first iPad, and in retrospect I'm glad I did. From what I hear (and not just from the media, who are obviously prone to overstating things), the original iPad was an underpowered machine whose flaws are becoming more apparent as the software that runs on it becomes more demanding. But the iPad 2, oh my. That was the first iPad I used for more than five minutes at a stretch in some electronics retailer's little Apple products cubbyhole, and within days it became my primary computing device. I loved that thing, and the transformative, almost Zen-like experience of it becoming whatever was on the screen at the time was mind-blowing. That feeling has only grown more profound with the iPad (3), a device that has the best-looking screen on any device I've ever used. Admittedly, for most of my first year of iPad use it was almost strictly my "screwing around" device – games, reading, news, and the like. It's only relatively recently that I've begun using it in a work context, and even then it's mostly for things it does better than the Mac – drawing, sketching, diagramming. For the traditional "heavy lifting" tasks like photo editing, video editing, and even word processing or spreadsheets, I still default to my Mac even though the iPad is technically capable of all these things. The Mac remains better-suited for some portions of my workflow... but when I leave the house, the Mac stays behind and the iPad comes with me, every time. Steve Sande I've owned three iPads, one of each generation. They've each provided me with endless hours of entertainment, and they've been the topics of several books I've written. Every day I find myself moving another piece of my work life from a Mac to the iPad, and see the day coming soon when rather than owning an iMac, MacBook Air, and an iPad, I'll probably just have one Mac and an iPad. The biggest impact of the iPad in our family hasn't been on me, but my wife. In the past six months, she's undergone two knee replacement surgeries. During the recovery period for each knee, the iPad has kept her entertained and connected to the world while she's been homebound. Through her participation in an online joint-replacement forum, she's not only been able to learn a tremendous amount about what she's going through, but has been able to offer advice and consolation to others who are recovering from this difficult and painful surgery. The iPad has become a virtual chat room for my wife, allowing her to become part of a worldwide community of fellow surgery patients. Mike Rose Two years? Seems like much longer that we've been in the iPad era, but thinking back pre-iPad I remember a lot of discussions -- some heated -- about what the hypothetical Apple tablet "absolutely had to do" to attract users and buyers. On some Sunday nights, I found myself explaining at length to a few of our Talkcast listeners why their sincere and heartfelt wishes for an Apple tablet running Mac OS X were simply not going to be fulfilled. The tablet was clearly going to be an iOS device -- the proverbial "big iPod touch," which provoked derision and denial. "That's going to suck, a big iPod touch; who's going to want that?" Meanwhile, when I discussed the rumors with my non-technophile wife, her immediate reaction was exactly the opposite. "A big iPod touch? That's going to be awesome!" Just like Jason Snell recounted in his iPad 3 review, as soon as my spouse got a share of the family iPad it was difficult to get it back. While it promised to be "the computer for the rest of us," during the 26 years between the Mac's 1984 introduction and the iPad's 2010 launch, Apple's revolutionary desktop never quite achieved that goal. In just two years, the iPad has made a strong case that it finally will. Megan Lavey-Heaton I bought the first iPad not long after it came out, hoping to free myself from my 2007 MacBook. It went to a new home, and I was happy ... for a time. It did everything that Steve Jobs promised it would do, but I found myself frustrated that I couldn't do other things, such as blog for TUAW while away from home if I only had an iPad. I couldn't use Photoshop or InDesign, and I realized I needed a machine that could bring me these. I used it as an ebook reader but found that I was staying up stupid hours of the night and keeping everyone else awake as well with the bright LCD. I could feel the eyestrain as I read a lot of books. In February 2011, I sold the first iPad to my comics partner and got an 11-inch MacBook Air and a Kindle. Bliss. In August, I decided to get an iPad 2 to help me do reviews. It was rather silly for an app review editor of an Apple blog not to have an iPad. Except for reviews, it sat mostly untouched until January when I went to Macworld | iWorld. I put my hand on a very good stylus, on several pieces of software, and saw some brilliant use cases. Suddenly, I began to realize, "I could change my workflow with these things." I got home and started taking the iPad 2 to work. I began loading paper budgets (lists of items going in a newspaper) onto it and marking it up with my stylus. I got work email on there and began to do more things. We can even log into our virtual desktops from the iPad. I don't even keep a notepad around my desk anymore because I have my iPad. All of my work documents are contained in Readdle's Remarks. I have knitting patterns in iBooks, edit photos in iPhoto and more. I keep the iPad up as a second screen and watch Netflix a lot. I read on my Kindle, and my mobile tasks are divided among the MacBook Air and iPad. The iPad is absolutely brilliant, it just took time (and a second chance) to figure out how to make it work for me. What's even cooler? My editors have begun adopting iPads as well thanks to the work I've done on them. Mel Martin I've had the first 2 iPads. They are a joy. I do a lot of remote controlled astronomy, and using Team Viewer I can control my astronomical equipment from the house, or even anywhere else with WiFi. I'm also a news junkie, and Zite and I get together several times a day. There's nothing like it on OS X so Zite alone is a reason to buy an iPad. Richard Gaywood I've owned two: the original iPad (64 GB Wifi) and now a new The New iPad (same again). To me, the iPad has three key features. It's the quintessential living room computer (for everything that doesn't require lots of typing, anyway -- I still break my MacBook Pro out for blogging) for lazing on a sofa reading the web, light gaming, checking IMDb, that sort of thing. It's the computer I can carry anywhere -- I take it to work every day, for example, and using it for note-taking in meetings and catching up on personal stuff during my lunch break. The small chassis, light weight, and rarely-have-to-think-about-it battery life are a great combination. And finally, it's the perfect travel computer, effortlessly eclipsing the meagre seat-back entertainment offering on planes and letting me keep up to date with the web and do light photo post-processing of my RAW files before I get home. Erica Sadun I feel like I've probably already said it all before when the iPad first launched and then again this year. And here's what we were all hoping for before the iPad was announced. Victor Agreda Some derisively called the first iPad just a larger iPod touch. But after giving my kids iPod touches, I can say the iPad is more of a creative tool and utility device than I ever imagined. At first I used the iPad for some yoga videos and to help me practice magic, as it's much easier to control playback on the iPad than a DVD player. I also loaded it up with games. I read the entire Steve Jobs biography and a few other books on the first iPad and it's a decent ebook device. Now I'm using the new iPad to inventory my magic in Bento, compose music in GarageBand and write articles and comedy. I usually perform holding my iPad. I frequently use it as a second monitor, which has freed up desk space. The 4G hotspot is icing on the cake. I sometimes find iPad apps which evolved from Mac versions are easier to use on the iPad. OmniFocus is one example. Then there are apps which just make the most sense on a big touchscreen, like Bebot. Finally, nothing blows people away like mirroring my iPad screen on my HDTV using AirPlay. TJ Luoma I bought the iPad 1 a few months after it came out, and loved everything about it, except for the RAM. It was *just* a little underpowered, which made it a hassle to switch to another app and then come back to Safari and find the tabs needed to reload. I used it mostly for reading (books, web, email, RSS) and some games. It was also great if I needed to take minutes at a meeting or notes during a class because it was compact and didn't seem as intrusive as a laptop would have in some situations. I sold my iPad 1 to Gazelle when the iPad 2 came out. In hindsight, that was a big mistake. Gazelle gave me a fair price for it, but it would have been much better to hand down to my wife or son. It would have gotten a lot of use. The iPad 2 was as close to perfect as I could imagine. It felt like it had enough RAM, the screen was great, and the battery life was amazing. I used it even more. My mom also replaced her aged Windows laptop with an iPad 2 last summer and has loved it. My mother-in-law bought one a few months ago and has used and enjoyed it far more than she ever used a PC because it doesn't intimidate her as much as a "real" computer. A few months before the iPad (3rd generation) came out, I said to my wife, "I'm not sure how Apple can improve on this." But of course, the answer was "a retina screen display." I ordered one as soon as they were available, and my wife inherited my iPad 2. In the meantime, my mother-in-law has nearly sold *her* step-mother on one, and my mom sold my uncle on getting one for his wife. My son is already eagerly awaiting the "next" iPad so he can inherit the iPad 2. How can they improve the iPad? I love my iPad 3, but in some ways it does feel a little like the iPad 1. Although Apple increased the RAM, it doesn't feel much faster than the iPad 2. Obviously the retina display is working the RAM and processor hard. Also, 16 GB is starting to feel like "barely enough" rather than "enough." As hard as it is to believe, I think the next version of the iPad is going to be the one that blows *everyone* away, assuming that they manage to make it feel a bit faster with whatever combination of processor/RAM improvements they can make, and increasing the base storage amount. Kelly Hodgkins I've always wanted a tablet device. I spent years spending time and money on Windows XP Tablet PCs. I would buy them, use them for a few weeks, and then sell them after they sat in their boxes unused. The tablets, like the Samsung Q1 or Viliv X70, had solid hardware, but they just didn't have the software or ease of use to fit into my daily life. It was a chore to use them. Not only was the iPad familiar to this iPhone owner when I bought it on launch day two years ago, it was the right size to hold while sitting on the couch, didn't have any clunky physical keyboard and was fast to boot. It was the first tablet I actually enjoyed using. Now two years later, the iPad hasn't replaced my iPhone or even my MacBook Pro, but it has filled that gap in between. It's also changed how I think. Whenever I have a problem to solve, I often turn to the iOS App Store first and ask if there is an iPad app that'll help solve my problem. Just this week, we realized my son needs extra practice with fractions and the first thing I did was buy an iPad app that he can use. And I always go to the iPad first. The iPhone is too small, my MacBook is too cumbersome, while the iPad is just right. My husband also uses the iPad everyday to read. He used to go downstairs to read Safari bookshelf on his notebook at his desk downstairs, now he sits with us in the living room.
The Firing Line: Global Agenda year two retrospective
You! Yeah, you! You still haven't played Global Agenda, have you? I know, I know, you're going to get around to it, it's on your list, blah blah and etc. While you've been dilly-dallying about, Hi-Rez Studios' sci-fi shooter has gone and turned two years old! That's OK, though, because the game has more options, more content, and more pew-pew than at any time in its history, and thanks to a gaggle of anniversary events, now is the perfect time to saddle up.
Hi-Rez handing out prizes for Global Agenda's second anniversary
Time flies when you're fragging newbs, and Global Agenda fans have been doing just that for the better part of two years now. Hi-Rez Studios' sci-fi shooter launched on February 1st, 2010, and for this week's anniversary, the firm is offering up some exclusive prizes as well as trotting out a few old flair favorites. Starting today, any Global Agenda player who wins an instanced PvE or PvP mission before February 6th will receive a mini Switchblade pet to parade around Dome City in between matches. Hi-Rez is also sponsoring a 6-on-6 PvP tourney that features a dragon helmet for all participants and an unnamed exclusive item and cash prize for the winning team. But wait, there's more! Check out Chloe's Burning Fashion for an extensive back catalog of previously retired flair pieces. There are over 100 items available for purchase using Hi-Rez's cash shop currency, including some headgear from past holiday events. Finally, check out this Friday's The Firing Line for more info on Global Agenda at the two-year mark. [Source: Hi-Rez press release]
Star Trek Online dev diary details new Odyssey vessel
If you're looking for more details on Star Trek Online's new Odyssey-class starship, the game's official website has them. Acquiring one is as easy as leveling a Federation character to five, since Cryptic is handing out the new hulls for free in celebration of STO's second anniversary. You'll need a Vice Admiral rank to pilot the ship, and if you're a bit behind, you'll receive an inventory item that can be redeemed later. Cryptic says the Odyssey class is "the pinnacle of Federation starship design" and the largest vessel ever built. The ship can operate for lengthy periods without resupply, and it also features universal ensign and lieutenant commander bridge officer stations that can be operated by any bridge officer class.
Star Trek Online handing out Odyssey starships for its second anniversary
It's been in the making for months now, but the wait is almost over. On February 2nd, Star Trek Online will release the latest in the line of Enterprises, the Odyssey-class (Enterprise-F) starship. Players are invited to do more than gawk at its power and majesty, as Cryptic is inviting all players level 5 or higher to take one for a test drive... and then take one home on the house. Cryptic notes that the new Odyssey will be available for only a limited time at the start of the month, after which it will disappear from the game for an indeterminate amount of time. Players who cannot fly the top-tier starship can nevertheless earn it for use at a later date. The Odyssey (and its corresponding Klingon Vengeance-class starship) giveaway is just the first part of STO's second anniversary events. From February 2nd through the 5th, the mischievous Q will challenge players to complete tasks in exchange for mystery prizes.
League of Legends turns two, reskins Fiddlesticks
It's hard to believe that League of Legends is two years old this week, but time marches on and so does the requisite birthday celebration. Riot has updated its website with an anniversary post and the game itself boasts a new legendary skin for Fiddlesticks, also known as "everyone's favorite Harbinger of Doom." The special model will dent your wallet for 975 Riot points (what, you didn't expect to pay for your birthday gift?!) and it boasts "new and sinister" sound effects on all the champion's abilities. Party hats and balloons are also part of the package, as are some "frighteningly festive" spell effects. As always, more info is available on the official League of Legends website.
League of Legends turns two this Thursday, celebrations planned
The relatively new MOBA genre has seen a massive surge in popularity over the last few years, due mainly to the popularity of DotA remakes like League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. It's hard to believe it, but League of Legends is already almost two years old. The free-to-play giant celebrates its second birthday this Thursday the 27th of October, and the developers at Riot Games aim to make sure the day goes down in players' memories. Celebrations have been planned for the big day, but Riot is keeping the details a secret until the day. Players are urged to keep an eye on the LoL website on Thursday. To help celebrate reaching the two year mark, Riot has released an interactive development timeline page showing the game's development from launch day all the way up to last week's Graves patch. The timeline shows when each of LoL's champions was implemented, as well as major developments like the Twisted Treeline 3v3 map, the player-mediated banning tribunal and the recent release of the Dominion game mode.
Behind the Mask: Two years and two thousand miles
Some of you will recall what Champions Online was like at launch. I think that a lot of readers here at Massively still remember that soreness. The first year of CO was kind of a rough, rocky ride. At some point or another, I think all of us expected the game to fail. It was really only in the in the last few months of that year that Cryptic started to turn the game around. The second year of Champions has been a lot more successful. I'm pretty sure that from a bottom-line perspective, the F2P launch helped turn the game into a profitable venture. However, that hasn't been the only major change. If Cryptic had held this kind of attitude from day one, I think things would have turned out differently.
Terrible twos? A look at Darkfall on its second anniversary
It's hard to believe that two years have passed in the lands of Agon, but passed they have, and Darkfall is celebrating its second anniversary this week. Aventurine's FFA PvP sandbox title has turned out to be one of the more resilient MMORPGs in recent memory, surviving a disastrous launch and a lingering (and undeserved) reputation as a haven for parolees, sociopaths, and griefers. It's also managed to grow its dev team, release three expansions, and carve out a respectable niche for itself in an increasingly competitive massive industry. What's the secret to the game's success? Can Aventurine become the next CCP and ride the coattails of a non-linear MMORPG to indie greatness? Is Darkfall, purportedly the hardest of the hardcore PvP games, really a fantastic PvE sandbox in disguise? Join us after the cut for some thoughts on these topics as well as a peek at the highlights from Darkfall's first two years.
WAR celebrates second anniversary, offers vet rewards
Its hard to believe that Warhammer Online turns two this week, but at least Bioware-Mythic is rolling out the veteran rewards to ease the sting of getting older. While many things have changed in the course of the game's first two years (including Mythic's absorption by BioWare, the departure of head man Mark Jacobs, and the debut of the endless free trial), the WAAAGH! remains the same. In addition to the constant strains of battle, dedicated 24-month players can now make use of the Double Aegis which gives an experience bonus to surrounding players, much like the one-year anniversary WAR Aegis. Vets also receive a regenerating firework launcher which, unlike the majority of fluff fireworks in other games, never exhausts itself and can be used indefinitely. Finally, a celebratory veteran cloak is also available. Check out the details at the Warhammer Herald.
Wizard101 celebrates its second anniversary
It's easy to dismiss Wizard101 as nothing more than a cute MMO for kids, but the game has proven that it has quite a bit of depth and staying power. And September is the milestone to mark it by, since the game launched in September of 2008. With the arrival of the two-year anniversary for the game, the production staff for KingsIsle Entertainment has posted a short letter to commemorate the achievement and discuss the game's future in brief. Obviously, one of the big points of the future is the release of Celestia, which is currently slated for early fall. The new area and concurrent free expansion will raise the level cap and offer players a variety of new abilities, in addition to the eponymous underwater zone. To help kick off the pending launch, the development team is promising a quest later this month featuring "one of the hottest teen icons on the planet." It's been a busy two years for Wizard101, and it looks like the team is looking forward to many more.
EVE Evolved: Two year anniversary
On April 27th 2008, the EVE Evolved column kicked off with an in-depth look at the controversy surrounding the removal of NPC supply of shuttles in EVE Online. That first crude article began a continually improving weekly dose of EVE spanning the last two years. In that time, I've written around 100 articles on topics ranging from faction warfare and piracy to mining and economics. It sometimes seems to me that I've covered practically everything of note but in a game as complex as EVE, there's always something to write about. The rapidly evolving universe of New Eden seems to continually produce something new and interesting to discuss. To celebrate the second anniversary of the column in just over a week's time, I'm giving away an expensive faction battleship worth around 500 million ISK. One lucky reader will win and take his pick from the list of navy or fleet issue battleships. To enter, just drop a comment and suggest a topic you'd like to see covered in a future edition of EVE Evolved. Every suggested topic may be written up as a future article in the column with credit to the reader that came up with the idea. This is your chance to say what types of article you'd like to read from Massively's weekly EVE column. The winner will be the reader that suggests my favourite topic by the evening of Friday 23rd April. In addition to winning an expensive navy issue battleship, the winner's suggestion will be written up as next week's anniversary column topic. Skip past the cut for full entry guidelines and a look back at this past year of the EVE Evolved column.
Welcome to Massively's third year!
Massively.com officially turns two years old today, and while that may be quite young for an MMO news site, we'd like to think we've really made a name for ourselves in that time. Starting out as the secret love child of Second Life Insider, WoW Insider (now WoW.com) and the rest of the Joystiq network, we've come a long way in our 730 days. As we fondly reminisce about the good times we've had, we thought it would be best to not only compile our own favorite content, but also reach out to our readers for their own favorites. After all, without you, we would be nothing. Literally. No, seriously, we love you all. Even Graill and Mr. Angry! So we reached out to our Twitter followers earlier today to grab a few opinions and combine them with our own. Follow along in the gallery below for our showcase of best content, and feel free to add your favorites in the comments below.%Gallery-77049%
Come back to DDO for the price of free
If you've every had a Dungeons & Dragons Online account, then you'll be interested in this piece of news. Starting this Wednesday on March 5th and continuing through until Tuesday March 11th, previous players will have free access to all the new content added (including all the modules) into DDO over the past two years. We mention two years because of its significance -- this special offer marks the second anniversary of the tabletop inspired massively game and it looks like Turbine plans on celebrating the event in style.
