• Gaming

The week in Massively features

By Michael Zenke Sept. 21, 2008 8:00 pm EST

	What's new in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion? World of Warcraft was first announced in 2001, and almost from the get-go players were hotly debating which components of the gameworld of Azeroth would make it into the MMO. Blizzard launched their blockbuster MMO with a very focused experience, and managed to set a new bar for online gaming quality with their 2007 Burning Crusade expansion.
	Picking Mark Jacobs' brain about the Warhammer launch Assuming you've been on the internet this week, you may have heard that a little game called Warhammer Online is launching fully into production just two days from today. Players who pre-ordered the Standard Edition of the game are eligible to jump onto the live servers today. In honor of this 'second' launch of Warhammer Online, we had the opportunity to sit down with none other than Mythic Entertainment's CEO Mark Jacobs.
	Massively's Warhammer Online character creation guide It's Warhammer launch day! The servers are open, and there's an entirely new virtual world to explore! But how are you going to explore it? Are you going to be a burly Chaos berserker, giant axe in-hand? Are you going to use your faith as your shield, serving the church of Sigmar? Will you scuttle through the underbrush as a goblin, or stealth through the trees as an elf? We've got you covered.
	AGDC08: Jim Lee and the artwork of DC Universe Online Presented by none other than Jim Lee, the well-known comic book artist, the session was a look deep into the game's art direction and vision bringing the DC world online. Jim was joined by Jared Carr (art director for the game), Jason Smith (lead character artist), and Jens Anderson (creative director for DCUO).
	The Best of Massively: Our ten most important interviews We have exciting news, dear readers. In just over a month, Massively will be one year old! We're very proud of how far we've come since last November, and we'd like to thank you for sticking with us through all these months. To celebrate our first birthday we're looking back at the most interesting stuff we've experienced so far!

	What makes Warhammer Online special, by Paul Barnett It's exhausting just to watch him work, honestly, but also very engaging. In a conversation we had with the Creative Director via email Mr. Barnett offered up a few of his favorite things about Warhammer Online, things that he's noticed players have really responded to.
	AGDC08: Exploring the Endgame The words on the first slide of the first talk at AGDC are evocative enough. "Damion Schubert, Lead Combat Designer, BioWare." Damion is a well known commentator on the MMO industry, a prolific writer and an entertaining blogger at the Zen of Design site. Last year his 'Casual vs. Hardcore' talk was one of the highlights of the event. This year he's returned to discuss the challenges and design decisions that go into making the final challenges in a Massively Multiplayer game.
	News From the Wider MMO World: September 16, 2008 The MMO genre is more than World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, and Warhammer Online. Here's what's going on in the rest of the world.
	Anti-Aliased: PvPissed It's in the nature of every MMO player to snap at change — it's what we do. When the patch notes reveal that Class X got a decrease in DPS to make them of a "more balanced power", you can expect all players of Class X to lead a revolt across the forums with pitchforks and torches. This behavior has become so commonplace that we tend to just ignore it after a while.
	Warhammer Online launches! The long wait is finally over! Warhammer Online is now live, and players around the world are settling in to their first day of widespread waagh! Massively will be providing tons of new content all day long on this much-anticipated title. In order to kick things off, though, we want to be sure you know what we have to offer from the past.
	Making/Money: Conservation of Mass – Part 2 Welcome back for Part 2 in our series on closed-resource economies in MMOs. Last week we discussed how starting out in this *completely hypothetical* system might work, what some of the basic rules of operation might be, and what it would take to keep money available to players.
	EVE Evolved: Electronic Warfare, part 3 In the first two parts of this three part guide, I explained the basics of electronic warfare in EVE Online and examined the skills and equipment you'll need as an electronic warfare specialist. In this final section, I tackle the tricky issues of battlefield operations and survival.
	A fundamental guide to crafting in Warhammer Online By now, you've probably spilled just enough blood in Warhammer Online to keep up that thirst for more, and crafting might be the last thing on your mind. Fortunately, the crafting system in WAR is effective and functional enough to interest the brightest of the Bright Wizards and easy enough that any Greenskin can get the hang of it very soon.
	Massively goes to WAR: Guide to the Empire starting zone Looking for a quest guide? You won't need it for Warhammer Online. The game holds your hand through every quest through a combination of in-game quest tracking, map marking and recording your every step in the Tome of Knowledge. How about a leveling guide? You won't need one of those either. Run through quests, PvP and hit the Public Quests and before you know it, you're on to the next tier of content.
	Massively goes to WAR: Guide to the Dark Elf starting zone It's hard to know which area within Warhammer Online is best for you. To that end, we've put together this friendly Dark Elf starting zone visual guide for you to check out before the madness that will be Warhammer Online's launch day. Inside you'll not get a how-to guide, but instead a look at what you can expect to encounter within the most brood-heavy of all the races in the game. Click the image above, or button below, to check it out.
	Massively goes to WAR: The Tome of Knowledge We've talked with designer Carrie Gouskos about her work on Warhammer Online's Tome of Knowledge and now you get to see what all of the fuss is about. This all-in-one in-game information tracker is so incredibly useful, every MMO on the market will implement a version of it in the next year or two. Yes, it's that good. Think of it as a lore wiki, quest tracker and creature database tailored to your individual character and available at any time while in the game. Check out the gallery to see what we are talking about.
	Unboxing the Collector's Edition of Warhammer Online Ever since the announcement of the Warhammer Online collector's edition back in March, we've been dying to get our hands on this thing. The massive WAR CE not only offers up the usual in-game goods, it comes with top quality physical items as well.
	The Digital Continuum: WAR's secret PvP sauce Before the game's launch day came, a lot of people found themselves thinking there was a stigma that came with Warhammer Online. There was a concern that you couldn't play the game without having to participate in PvP or that the PvE content assumed a much smaller role within the game. People were just plain scared/worried/concerned about PvP in general.
	Indievelopment: Star Wars Combine Welcome to the first installment of Indievelopment, where we give some love to the often-overlooked field of independent MMO development. For our inaugural post, we'll take a look at Star Wars Combine, a free MMO based in the Star Wars universe. Played entirely through your browser, SWC is available to Windows, Mac, and Linux users.
	MMOGology: Roleplaying is dead A red sun set over the ashen wastelands of Searing Gorge. Three shadows crept up a snaking path toward the encampment on Firewatch Ridge. The first shadow struck her victim hard in the back. The second pounced in cat form, lacerating and stunning her prey. The third finished off his hapless victim with a combination of quick stabs to the chest.