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Massively's ArcheAge launch diary: Day four - Trade runs, sea beasts, and pirates
I got ganked in ArcheAge last night, and believe it or not, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in an MMORPG in quite some time. I'm usually apathetic about MMO PvP. I mean, I will PvP with friends, but I don't think I've ever sat down to play an MMORPG and thought, "Hmm, maybe I'll go kill some players tonight!" PvP factors heavily into ArcheAge's design, though, so I knew going in that I'd be doing it more than in most of my other MMOs. I just didn't know it would end up being as fun as it was on last night's trade run.
The Daily Grind: How would an Assassin's Creed MMO work?
I've finally gotten around to playing some Black Flag in recent days, and while I'm not sure how I feel about the annualization of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed series, I'm having a rowdy good time in number IV. As with most of the single-player games I sample in between MMOs, I end up thinking about how they'd work as MMOs, and it seems to me that AC's lore, sci-fi stylings, and various historical settings would translate easily. I'm not sure about all of the mechanics, though. And that's where today's Daily Grind comes in! Do you think an Assassin's Creed MMO would work? Why or why not? 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!
Battle for the high skies: Hands-on with Pirate101
Her name is Reckless Roslyn Ramsey, and she is a pirate. She sails a ship, loots treasure, hangs out in seedy bars, and fights anyone who stands between her and the fame and fortune she so rightly deserves. You wouldn't be lying to say that young Ms. Ramsey has swashed a fair few buckles in her time, and the pink and white, panda and crossbones flag under which she and her crew sail is feared the world over. Such is life in Pirate101, a family-oriented MMO created by KingsIsle Entertainment and due to launch today. Placing you in the role of a young pirate at the beginning of his or her quest for glory, Pirate101 asks you to carve your own path, gather cunning crewmembers, and discover the hidden mysteries of The Spiral (a fantasy world the game shares with smash hit Wizard101). I hopped in on the Pirate101 head-start over the weekend to get an idea of what this colorful MMO has to offer and to see whether its kid-friendly design hinders its ability to be fun for those of us jaded gamers who expect a little blood with our sword slashes. What I found was an accessible game with a clear slant toward younger players as well as a robust and fun MMO with plenty to offer grown-ups seeking to step away from the grim, dark worlds of more traditional fare.
Yarr! ArcheAge CBT4 video shows player piracy
Fancy being a pirate in the fantasy world of ArcheAge? You can, and all it takes is a ship and a crew of your best mates. A new player-made video shows off the game's naval combat potential, and the clip is basically three minutes of jaw-dropping PvP action. There's plenty of carnage courtesy of player-manned ship cannons and destructible hulls, and we can also see combatants crossing swords on the decks of enemy ships (if you look closely you'll catch a glimpse of a player using a hang-glider to travel from one ship to the next). The video also gives us a good look at ArcheAge's functional ship rigging, and you can see players unfurling sails, interacting with various ship controls, and even climbing a mast to the crow's nest. Check it out after the break.
One Shots: Her interests include cooking, shopping, and stabbing
Massively reader Yarr treats us to a gorgeous screenshot of one of his Aion characters for today's One Shots: While I don't really have a main in Aion, this gal is one of my favorites. Although she defends her home as an Assassin, she spends most of her time cooking, or wheeling and dealing on the broker with a fair amount of price manipulation when the opportunity arises. Stealth, stabbing, sauces, and selling - that is what keeps her happy! We've taken a look at all of your accessories over the past few weeks on One Shots: weapons, armor, mounts, and pets. But now it's time to turn the spotlight on the star of the show. We want to see you -- well, your character. Snap a screenshot of your favorite character in your favorite MMO. Let us know about him or her by sending the screenshot, your name, and some information about the character to oneshots@massively.com, and we'll feature it here on One Shots!
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!
Pirates of the Burning Sea celebrates 2nd anniversary
Can ye hornswagglin' scalawags believe it? It's been two years since Pirates of the Burning Sea cast off for the open oceans of MMO adventure. Since their initial launch two years ago, the team at Flying Lab have been busy refining the game, leading to an impressive bevy of changes from large to small. Now with their second anniversary looming, the Pirates of the Burning Sea crew have announced their intent to hold a rousing Second Anniversary party on January 23rd. Players who log in that day will be treated to PvP combat against the Flying Lab development team, as well as some choice anniversary finery for players to enjoy. If you've been considering checking out all the changes since launch, it sounds like a good time to weigh anchor and set sail for the PotBS site. They've got a 14-day trial for those who wouldn't mind fittin' in a little freebootin' adventure in their day-to-day.
WRUP: Game like a pirate edition
Happy Talk Like a Pirate Day ye scalawags! We couldn't resist marking the date for all the landlubbers out there, as any day involving booty and rum is right up there in our books. We'd also note that if you hurry up, you can pick up a copy of LucasArts & Telltale Games' Tales of Monkey Island today for free until midnight Pacific tonight. Sure, it's not an MMO, but it's good, free pirate fun that we thought you might enjoy. If you'd prefer to stick with MMOs, though, there are lots of pirate options from Pirates of the Burning Sea and Pirates of the Caribbean Online, to one of our personal favorites for casual fun - Puzzle Pirates! As far as the motley crew here aboard the SS Massively, it looks like we've got a hearty mix of gaming going on this week. From old-school gaming to new titles like Champions Online, Aion, and Fallen Earth, we're all over the place. For all the rum-soaked details - and to join in the fun - join us behind the break for this week's edition of What aRe yoU Playing!
Free Realms hosts Pirate Party and doubles the dubloons, mateys
Yarr, mateys! If ye be not knowin' what tomorrow is, then ye obviously must be a bunch o' scalawags. Fer, ye see, tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day, don'chaknow? In order to celebrate th' day o' piracy properly in Free Realms, ye need to be haulin' yer keel to the Pirate Invasion Party this evenin' in the cove just south of th' Seaside warpstone. Th' pirate booty-shakin' fun will begin today (Friday, Sept. 18) at 4PM Pacific, with th' timber-shiverin' goin' on until 6pm Pacific. There be dancin', trivia, an' other merriment planned at th' party, too, for those brave souls willing to wander near Davey Jones' locker!As if that weren`t enough for ye, this weekend be also th' time when Sony Online Entertainment be offerin' double th' value fer any Station Cash cards ye redeem. So that means if ye pop by an' pick up one o' th' 1000 Station Cash cards fer $10 (which will also net ye a pretty nifty red buccanneer dog hat in th' mix) ye`ll land $20 worth o' Station Cash fer use in Free Realms, EverQuest, or EverQuest II. Pirate fun and double yer dubloons in the Station store? Now that's enough to make any freebootin' privateer dance a jig - without a noose 'round their necks, even.
DS Daily: On preventing piracy
Piracy, me hearties, has become a prominent issue for the DS, and one that is probably here to stay -- indeed, illegally downloading games to play on a flashcart has become almost socially acceptable in some places. And here's the biggest problem: it's not very hard at all to indulge in the practice. (Perfectly legal) flashcarts are available widely and cheaply, and ROM sites are a single Google search away.In other words, finding solutions is difficult, to say the least. Chrono Trigger demonstrated that built-in piracy checks don't exactly last long, though Level 5 might have hit upon a semi-solution with Ni no Kuni: The Another World: deny the pirates the awesome spellbook that is required to play. Put yourselves in the shoes of a videogame publisher on the verge of releasing a major title: what anti-piracy measures would you take to try and protect your game?%Gallery-27682%
CCP Games launches EVElopedia beta
As anyone who's ever tried to use EVE Online's item database knows, it's woefully out of date. Given the complexity of EVE, and the fact that the collective knowledge of the players is a resource unto itself, the developers announced they would create a sort of Wikipedia for EVE.This player resource, dubbed the "EVElopedia", would also be available via EVE Online's in-game web browser, as confirmed in July. Indeed, CCP Games is putting more emphasis on making EVE into a game that's better integrated with the web and social networking in general. What we didn't know, however, was when this would actually start to happen. At least, not until today. EVE developer "CCP VonSometime" announced this afternoon that a beta version of the EVElopedia is live, and already has over 6000 pages of content. The official EVE wiki is still in its infancy, but already it's looking to be a useful resource that EVE players didn't have before (beyond combing the forums.) Have a look at the EVElopedia and see for yourself. Or, in the words of CCP VonSometime, "Go forth, explore, and grow the EVE universe. Your community awaits it."
Japanese police bag themselves another pirate [update]
It looks like one prominent Japanese pirate may have emitted his last yarr. Police in Shikoku slapped the cuffs on a 57-year-old man who made a not-so-cool ¥1m ($10,700) from selling CycloDS and Edge flashcarts with micro SD cards and information on where to obtain copied game data. He was eventually arrested after selling a CD-ROM with a copy of Super Mario World and an illegally downloaded copy of Pokémon Platinum.The Association of Copyright for Computer Software (ACCS) led an investigation on the case, and revealed that the culprit had many happy customers; comments such as "My children are happily playing away" appeared on his Yahoo! Auctions feedback page.Two things that stand out about this story: the sizeable wad of cash this guy managed to generate before being caught, and his apparently respectable position in society -- according to the ACCS, he runs (ran) a cram school. We're guessing neither activity will feature heavily in his immediate future.Update: Added further clarification.
Square Enix speaks out on Chrono Trigger piracy
Square Enix has reacted to the rampant piracy of Chrono Trigger DS by declaring itself to be "vigorously against" the illegal distribution of games, and warning that it expects a sharp drop in Chrono Trigger sales as a result. As we reported yesterday, the eagerly anticipated RPG shipped with a whole series of piracy checks, only for hackers to break those within hours of the game being dumped online for download. It's difficult not to feel sorry for Square Enix, and equally hard to see practical solutions.In slightly happier news (well, for the fans, anyway), the (Japan-based) Chrono Trigger fan club is giving away copies of the game's soundtrack (as seen above) to 3,000 customers who actually buy the game -- two of which will be autographed by composer Yasunori Mitsuda. See: it pays not to yarr.Source: Square responds to piracy [via Go Nintendo]Source: Chrono Trigger soundtrack%Gallery-27682%
Chrono Trigger piracy checks already beaten
After its novel attempts to prevent illegal distribution of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, Square Enix has packed numerous piracy checks into Chrono Trigger DS. Sadly (and predictably), hackers have already found a fix to the problem, if this huge thread on the GBAtemp forums is to be believed.When the ROM of Chrono Trigger was first dumped online earlier this week, naughty flashcart users discovered that it was impossible to progress past certain points in the title. Never-ending time travel (near the start of the game) and the inability to open the Cathedral doors after recruiting Frog were just two of the problems encountered by pirates.Typically, however, it has taken hackers mere hours to find a workaround for the copyright protection -- further evidence that developers and publishers, regardless of size, face an uphill battle against those who yarr.%Gallery-27682%[Thanks, RupeeClock!]
Rumor: Play PSP games on Wii before they're ported
The portbuster may have arrived -- according to the French TeamShift site, they've created an early version of a PSP emulator for Wii. Normally, we wouldn't report on such a thin rumor (there's only a single suspect photograph and a statement), but the idea of surpassing the flood of ports and going directly to the source is actually pretty amusing.But, since it's probably fake, the whole issue is likely moot.[Via DCEmu; thanks, Craig!]
UK retailer pulls R4 after ELSPA threats
It looks like the tide is finally turning against the R4 flash cart in the UK. After yesterday's statement from the ELSPA on the matter, Brit retailer SimplyGames.com has decided to drop the R4 from its range entirely."Since launching them we have reflected on the overall impact R4 cards will have on long-term software sales and I have talked openly to senior people at Nintendo UK about the situation," explained SimplyGames' Neil Muspratt, who we're guessing may have received a grouchy phone call from Nintendo. "We have concluded that they are not at all healthy for software sales."Muspratt then urged Amazon to follow SimplyGames' example. As we write this, the R4 listing on Amazon's UK site notes that "we don't know when or if this item will be back in stock," though no official statement has been released by the site. As for all you UK-based homebrewers out there, just be thankful there are plenty of alternatives out there.
EVE Online dev blog details new player resource
Massively touched on the CCP Games announcement back in April of having a 'Wikipedia' of EVE Online, definitive and accessible from within the EVE client. We also mentioned that a new volunteer Interstellar Services Department (ISD) branch, known as YARR, would be responsible for setting up and maintaining the player-driven wiki, which bears the unwieldy moniker "EVElopedia." EVE Online developer CCP Fear has updated the community on EVElopedia's status and the phases it went through on the way to becoming a useful resource. While EVElopedia isn't quite ready to be rolled out for general use, it's very near completion and will feature an updated item database. CCP Fear states that the database will automatically be updated with each new patch, ensuring that players have up-to-the-minute information at their fingertips upon logging in on patch days. Lastly, it's been confirmed that EVElopedia will be compatible with the in-game browser (IGB) for viewing text and images within the wiki. However, CCP Fear says that editing the wiki will need to be done in a browser out-of-game. Check out this latest dev blog for the full rundown on the EVElopedia project, which is already being discussed on the EVE Online forums.
ELSPA wants pirates stranded without R4
Otherwise known as the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (an organization working within the British games industry), the ELSPA isn't happy about the abundance of R4 flash carts in the hands of DS owners. Nor is it happy about the availability of these little devices, which -- homebrew applications aside -- people are using to play pirated DS ROMS. If you want an R4, it's easy to buy one from Amazon, eBay, or a wealth of independent online retailers.According to the ELSPA, "The supply of these items is an infringement and an offence under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and the Trade Marks Act 1994." So, how did they get onto shelves in the first place? Clearly the yawn-inducing law behind it all is more complex than simply "they are illegal," otherwise the shops wouldn't still be selling them. Which they are.Long story short, it's a mess of regulations and red tape, and we've heard it all before. It's hardly a crystal-clear situation where legal teams "will take action where and when appropriate." If a blanket ban of selling flash carts suddenly falls over England, and police start breaking down doors of R4 traders, we'll let you know. Until then, get out there and buy some good games, and use any external device responsibly.
The Wikipedia of EVE Online
CCP Games has officially announced a player-driven wiki project called the EVElopedia which is to be integrated into EVE Online, as well as a new division of the ISD volunteer program, The Yulai Archives & Record Repository Team (YARR). YARR will oversee the upcoming EVElopedia- a project which aims to create the definitive EVE wiki. Although there are already a number of sources of EVE-related information available to players, the EVElopedia is CCP-sanctioned. The woefully outdated item database will be revamped through this project, and numerous player resources will be added, essentially creating a Wikipedia for the EVE universe.
Square Enix thanks pirates for playing FFCC
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/Square_Enix_thanks_pirates_for_playing_FFCC_pulls_plug'; Mere hours after Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates hit store shelves today, pirated copies of the game appeared in the shady corners of the internet, posted for all the picaroons out there to download and transfer to their flashcarts.Twenty minutes or so into the ARPG, however, many of those pirates found themselves greeted with this "Thank you for playing!!" screen and unable to progress. Players have the option of restarting the game from the last save point and playing on, but the screen reappears at random intervals. Clever!Why not lock pirates out before even loading up the game, you ask? Well, this way, they can try out Ring of Fates, eventually reforming their criminal ways and buying it if they find the experience enjoyable. Also, anyone dumping the game for distribution wouldn't notice this bit of programming unless they played a significant portion of it first.Though this method isn't 100% effective, as some brands of carts are unaffected and hackers will likely find a workaround by day's end, it's certainly cute! Pirates should feel thankful that this isn't even half as malicious as Earthbound's anti-piracy measures.
