Brenda Holloway
Articles by Brenda Holloway
Did Living Legacy bring you back?
Were you a EverQuest or EverQuest II player who has returned because of this summer's Living Legacy promotion? You're not alone. From all we've heard, and all we've seen in game, people are coming back in droves. If you've come back, how are you liking it? The EverQuest II forums are full of stories of people who returned (and lots who are offering help as well). Having looked around EverQuest again, are you planning on staying for awhile?
Raiding the I.R.A.
It's a dark time in EverQuest. Meldrath, the evil gnome necromancer harrying Faydwer with the mecha-monstrosities, has seen the summer celebrations bring joy to the land, and he is not happy. To prevent Meldrath from breaking out of his mecha-castle and taking over all of Norrath with his numberless mechanical minions, the engineers of Ak'Anon have constructed the Infinitely Regenerative Automaton -- the I.R.A. -- to stop him in his tracks. This marvelous machine pops back to life and full health two minutes after he is defeated, and so can never be stopped for long.To make sure that the I.R.A. can handle whatever is thrown at it, they need you -- and lots of your friends -- to test it. As part of the Living Legacy promotion, your skill as a raider will be tracked and rewarded. Every time a raid that you're in takes the I.R.A. to 5% health, he will deactivate and reset, and you will get a point (which you can track on the clockwork abacus you will receive). At the end of the promotion, every player that participated in the fight against the I.R.A. will receive an augmentation -- the Silver Threaded Worm Gear -- with power that scales to the number of times they raged against the machine.Check out the teaser video after the break.
Ixion has come!
Deep in Ronfaure, a fallen knight looks around at the bodies of his fellows on the battlefield, then catches sight of a dark horse nosing through the bodies. Dark Ixion, the lightning-wielding heroic notorious monster of legend, has returned to Final Fantasy XI Online's world of Vanadiel, and death is riding by his side."The raging flame, whose lapping tongues but a moment ago had threatened to scorch the underbelly of the sky, had regressed to wisps of smoke unfurling hypnotically in the cool breeze. An elderly knight, a veteran of countless campaigns, lies half buried in smoldering debris with limbs entangled with those of fallen friends and foes, his pallid complexion masked in the grey and crimson of ash and caking blood. He stares with glazed eyes at clouds drifting lazily across the dusk sky, his head swimming in the mingled smell of rusted metal, burnt foliage, and death. The faint whistling of the wind is a soothing song compared to the horror-filled shrieks that accompanied the sickening sound of flesh and bone giving way to tempered steel."Read the rest of the fallen knight's story and his encounter with the legendary beast!
Looking for a good EverQuest guild?
Have you returned to EverQuest as part of the Living Legacy promotion? Or are you a veteran player who is just looking for a new home? Perhaps you're just curious about the state-of-play in one of the MMO genre's oldest, yet still thriving, games? Maybe you're a guild leader looking for some new blood? If any of these is you, why not stop by the Norrathian Guild Recruitment Festival and have a look around, or sign your guild up so prospective new recruits can see what you're about?
Fiesta Online comes to Europe
You know what we love more than anything here at Massively? You guessed it, Asian import MMOs. We can't get enough of them. Seriously. If we didn't find an eager crop of bright-faced young, anime-inspired MMOs in our in-boxes each morning, we'd know there was something very wrong with the world. Luckily, we're in no danger, because we have news today that Fiesta Online, already a hit in the US as part of OutSpark's collection of free-to-play Asian imports, has signed Gamigo to bring the game to Europe. English (reworked) and German versions will be released this summer, with French and Spanish version arriving later this year.Fiesta Online is a 3D MMO with cartoony graphics, fully customizable characters, four character classes, and hundreds of quests, some of which need thirty people to complete. Dare we say, WoW-killer?[Worlds in Motion]
A fond look back at Ultima Online
It was an age where there were no rules. You could kill who you wanted, sail where you wanted, build where you wanted. In all the realm, there was nobody with your unique mix of talents. It was the age of Ultima Online, and there has never been another like it before or since. Although not the first MMO, its popularity created a market later joined by EverQuest, World of Warcraft, and many, many more. Razakius of Razakius.com spent a lot of time in Brittania, and takes a long look back at Ultima Online and what made it a game where stories were told and legends began that are remembered with fondness a decade later.
Foraging for furniture in EQ2
SOE is getting sneaky. Along with their recent EverQuest II game update 46, SOE added (without telling anyone) red shinies to the game. In EQ2, you might see little harvest-able white sparks here and there while you are walking around. These shinies can be collected and turned in to collectors for experience and items. The Echoes of Faydwer expansion introduced "blue" shinies, that can only be seen when wearing special goggles that are themselves the reward from a collection quest. And now, GU46 brings us "red" shinies.Red shinies may only be seen by level 80+ crafters that have obtained and are wearing the crafting epic, the Earring of the Solstice. Stargrace of MMO Quests has an excellent article showing off some of the many house items you can get from red shiny collections. So head down to the Barren Sky, Loping Plains, Steamfont or the Fans of NASCAR (er, Fens of Nathsar) and get digging!
News flash! MMOs don't need to look like crap
"There's a misconception among MMOs," says Realtime Worlds' Colin Macdonald, "that they don't need to look as good as other games." Macdonald, studio manager for the developers of upcoming street-crime MMO APB (All Points Bulletin), was speaking about the general state of MMOs at the GameHorizon conference in Newcastle, England. "We think that when people look at a screenshot of APB, they won't think 'it's not so good, it must be an online game' -- they won't know."While we definitely agree that APB is turning out to be an excellent looking game, we thought that World of Warcraft and EverQuest II had settled the 'no compromise, great looking game' issue ages ago. Modern releases like the oft-maligned Vanguard and more recent titles such as Lord of the Rings Online, Pirates of the Burning Sea and Age of Conan have spared no effort in making sure their games are as graphically luscious as possible.Mr. Macdonald, it's great that you're proud of APB's graphics, be real. Modern MMOs are every bit as graphically gorgeous as single player games.
Shredding the galaxy in Project Powder
The year is 2146. Global warming has long since made ice and snow only a distant memory, something seen in the history books but not really understood. That all changed with the discovery of the Warp Gate, that opened up the galaxy to exploration. And everywhere we went, there was snow. And where there was snow, there was Project Powder to shred it.Project Powder, developed by free casual MMO portal Outspark, isn't the first extreme sports MMO we've seen, but it's the coolest. Combat? Duel against other players on the slopes! Crafting? Make snowballs! Exploration? There's a whole world out there ready to be explored -- and shredded. Okay, maybe it's not the deepest MMO out there, but if you just want to get together with your friends, form a team, level up and compete against the top 'boarders in the galaxy, Project Powder may be just the game for you. Closed beta begins June 24th, and you can sign up on the Project Powder home page. Get to level 5 in closed beta, and you get a special hoodie that you can wear in open beta that shows just how cool the open beta newbies will never be.Check out the video after the break, courtesy of GameTrailers.
New Empyrean Age trailer!
EVE Online's latest expansion, Empyrean Age, went live yesterday, and with it came a new movie, which we've seen bits and pieces of in the teaser trailers we've been watching for the past several weeks. Enjoy!
Angels Online first impression
Putting aside the whole concept of being a good angel tasked with protecting the people of Eden (Spoiler alert: They get kicked out. Guess you didn't do your job very well). Anyway, that aside, playing a cute little angel in Angels Online who must earn his or her wings via the tried-and-true tropes of killing and crafting has a fun factor built right in. Flying! You get to fly!But you aren't handed your halo, harp and wings from the moment you log in. You must learn the sacred jobs and responsibilities of an angel. And you must learn to slaughter those legendary enemies of angels, the Slarms. In her first impressions review of Angels Online, Ten Ton Hammer's Amber Weldon sets out to learn how to be an angel in a sinful world, from the stern lessons inflicted by Archangel Raphael, to her hours and days studying for her exams in the Lyceum, to her robot-assisted resource-gathering excursions.School? Lessons? Robots? If you're dying to become an angel (in Angels Online, that is), you'll definitely appreciate this clever first glimpse.[Ten Ton Hammer]
Shadow of Legend overhauls crafting system
The folks over at Shadow of Legend have taken a second look at crafting, and made it yet more awesome. Like the old system, the new system will show you the materials required to craft an item, the item that will result, a progress bar showing the progress made, and a cancel button that ceases production immediately.To this has been added varying features -- crafted items can vary from up to 30% better (or worse) than their base item. Don't worry -- if the item isn't sufficiently awesome, it can still be split into its original components. Secondly, crafted items take far fewer resources than before, and you will only need to harvest one sort of material for your class. Combatants only need to find ores, Mages seek only wood, Monks require only leather, and Archers need only come up with some cloth for their items. These welcome changes will make item crafting easier and more rewarding than ever before,[Via MMORPG]
EQ2 character crests now available!
We're not entirely sure we really needed huge, ginormous character crests to show our EverQuest II characters to the world, but need 'em or not, we have 'em now, so be prepared to see these pasted over your favorite EQ2 forums. We have to admit, they DO look kind of cool. You know what would be even cooler? A whole wall of these, and not just from EQ2, from World of Warcraft and all other MMOs as well. MMO social web developers, take note: we'd love to see a whole wall of these crests in our virtual MMO-themed rooms.Any current EQ2 subscriber can get a crest for any of their characters. First, log in to your Station account on the EQ2Players page. Then, upload a paper doll image if you haven't already done so. Select the character who needs to be crested, select their media tab, click on the character crest tab, et voila, your custom crest, twice life-sized and bling-enhanced. Either use it as-is, or copy the given code to embed elsewhere.
New loot items announced for the WoW TCG
If you're looking forward to Upper Deck's next expansion to the World of Warcraft collectible trading card game, The Hunt for Illidan, as we are, you'll be doubly excited by the new loot cards they've come out with. One card, The Path of Illidan, gives you glowing green footprints wherever you walk. Have party members that just can't seem to keep up with everyone else? Show them where to go (pro tip: leave footprints leading into lava pits, just for them!). Also included, a D.I.S.C.O. ball for when it's time to par-tay, and the nicest of the bunch, an Ethereal Soul-trader who keeps track of what you kill when he's out and rewards you with money you can trade in for a bunch of cool items, including the very clothes off the old guy's back (complete with complementary dry-cleaning, natch).[Via WoWInsider]
Interview with Mythos' Travis Baldree
While we wait for Mythos to enter open beta so we can all play in the action-MMO inspired by Diablo II's fast, furious and inviting gameplay, we were thrilled to read this interview with Mythos' Project Director, Travis Baldree. This is one of the guys with his arms elbow-deep in the code. If you've been following Mythos' sometimes-funny, sometimes-frustrating struggles toward release on Travis' "Almost-a-Blog", then you already know that Mythos is a game that definitely proves the old canard that change is the only thing you can depend upon.Read about the most unbalanced crafted item ever made, consignment houses, new classes and races, and when Open Beta might start ("Soon". Oops. Spoiler!)[WarCry]
A new Virtual World winter
With dozens of companies jumping on the virtual world bandwagon, being seen now as a natural extension of the marketing for a new IP, it seems virtual worlds are healthier since they have been in ten years. But what if it isn't? What if Second Life does not have as many "hardcore" users as they claim? What if dozens or hundreds of competing virtual worlds are fragmenting an already small market so much that none can survive? What if the various virtual worlds fail to standardize on base technologies and are continually forced to develop each virtual world from scratch? What if the virtual world industry is headed for a "winter" where every virtual world must struggle for survival -- and where most will inevitably perish?These questions, and others, are posed by Bruce Damer in his paper, "A New Virtual World Winter?".In part 1, he looks at the signs that the VW industry is headed toward a chasm from which few will emerge. In part 2, he will examine ways in which the industry can cross the chasm without falling in, as happened in the years between 2000 and 2003, when all the groundbreaking work in Virtual Worlds done in the 80s and 90s stumbled, fell into a chasm, and disappeared.
A path to the recognition of virtual property
That epic mount? That sweet sword? All that gold you have stashed away? All the time spent leveling your character? The mount, the sword, the gold, and your character -- none of them are yours. All can be swept away at the whim of the game company, because virtual property, such as in game items, don't really exist, and thus you have no rights over them.Columbia Law School graduate Daniel Gould argues that a limited recognition of the rights of players to their virtual property would benefit both the the players and the virtual world companies themselves. An astounding position -- virtual world companies are notorious for laying claim to everything that exists or happens in their games, with some notable exceptions. The developer might make a decision that devalues your virtual goods -- for instance, your Uber Sword of Sweetness could begin dropping from newbie field trash mobs. Or all teleports to your virtual homestead could suddenly disappear. Gould explains how models based off real-world property law could show the way to giving the dwellers in virtual worlds some legally-recognized recourse for their grievances.Virtual property law is a minefield because the very first time a judge assigns a real-world monetary value to virtual property, it can be taxed. And then, everything changes.
Metaverse Mod Squad raises over $200,000 from Angel Investors
Back in 1970, futurist Alvin Toffler coined the term "Future Shock", which is the personal perception of too much change in too short a time. While reading a press release for a virtual avatar staffing company, future shock hit this blogger upside the head like a ton of bricks. Thirty eight years after Toffler described the trouble people were having keeping pace with the ever-increasing rate of technological progress, a company has acquired $200,000 to populate virtual worlds with virtual people, living virtual lives.The Metaverse Mod Squad, creators of avatars for projects like a series of machina "Gossip Girl" episodes, celebrated the closing of their $200K "angel" investment deal in their virtual offices, of course. Remember, every avatar with a job is one less avatar on the streets. By putting avatars to work as greeters, actors, friends for the friendless and so on, they are doing well, by doing good.
NCSoft (EU) needs you!
Live in the UK or willing to move? Have a deep and abiding love for City of Heroes, Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners and other NCSoft games? Do you have what it takes to make it in one of the world's very largest developers and publishers of multiplayer games of massive proportions? Well, if that's you, be ready to have your life changed forever, because NCSoft Europe is now looking for an experienced Creaive Services Manager and a Development Studio Technical Liaison. The CSM will manage all aspects of project planning, allocate resources, assign personnel and make the workplace fun and enriching for everyone. No small job, that. The DSTL would be the first contact for IT help for the entire NCSoft Europe development team, and help out with every other IT duty as well.We're rooting for you. And if you do get the job, send some love back our way, hmm?
Nickelodeon creates new divisions for online worlds
$100,000,000 dollars buys you 5,000 online games and virtual worlds -- if you're Nickelodeon. The famous kids' cable channel has spent two years bringing these games onlines, and has plans for 1,600 more online games set in such properties as Spongebob Squarepants, iCarly, and Carrie the Caregiver. Current virtual words for Spongebob, NeoPets and a new property called, enigmatically, Monkey World, are being developed by the newly renamed Nickelodeon Kids and Family Group Virtual World Studios, previously known as NeoStudios. The new division is being helmed by current NeoPets senior VP and general manager, Kyra Reppen.$20,000 per online game. Not yet known is how many of those 6,600 games are re-skinned clones of Minesweeper and Tetris.