Advertisement

MMO Roundup: Cataclysm linearity and The Old Republic's innovation

alex ziebart
Owner
Updated ·2 min read

Sometimes you'd like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? It's not all WoW, all the time! Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all of the other MMOs around -- past, present and future.

Blizzard thinks Cataclysm was too linear
Designing MMOs is often the art of shepherding players in a given direction while at the same time giving them a sense of freedom. World of Warcraft's most recent expansion, Cataclysm, has frequently been accused of giving players nowhere to go but a series of rails -- and according to a recent response from a community manager, Blizzard agrees.

James Ohlen hits back against critics, defends SWTOR's innovation
Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Director James Ohlen isn't surprised that the game's received the flak it has from a segment of reviews and fans. In a candid interview with Eurogamer, Ohlen addresses both the issues of being a "big target" for critics and the claims that SWTOR's lacking innovation.

Blizzard kills Diablo III's RMT to appease South Korea
Blizzard Entertainment made waves last year when it announced that Diablo III would be supporting real-money trading (RMT) through its in-game auction house system. While it proved to be a divisive topic among fans, apparently it was too much with the South Korean rating board, which sees such activities as potentially violating the country's anti-gambling rules.

TERA launching May 1 in North America
En Masse Entertainment is launching its long-awaited TERA MMO on May 1 in North America. A posting on the game's website confirms the date, and it also mentions both standard and collector's edition offerings, the contents of which will be revealed in February. In the meantime, En Masse is accepting beta applications, and the company also promises "lots more in store" for the month of January.

Massively Speaking Episode 181
Massively Speaking, Massively's MMO podcast, is back this week with special guest Shawn Schuster! He's so handsome and charming. Anyway, Shawn joins Rubi and Justin this week to discuss the week in MMO news.

Massively's week in review
Don't let WoW Insider do all of the talking when it comes to Massively's best content of the week. The Massively staff themselves have picked out what they think is the best content their site has to offer in their own weekly roundup.