Michael Zenke
Articles by Michael Zenke
Wizard 101 previews first game content expansion, Dragonspyre
KingsIsle, the makers of Wizard101, have unveiled their plans for the next big content update for their card-iconic kid's game. With players still investigating the new PvP spell arena recently added to the title, it's interesting to see new content like this announced so soon! Players who have already worked their way through the four Wizard101 worlds will have a new realm to explore: the world of Dragonspyre. The site of a once-active magical school, the new zone is now a burnt-out husk. Players will be forced to deal with dark creatures specializing in Fire Magic, and a slew of new opponents. The new content area is expected to drop sometime in January of 2009. Read into the preview from Warcry to enjoy a bevy of screenshots of the new area, or check out Tipa's writing about the game at West Karana for a player's view of Wizard101.
Star Wars Galaxies TCG expansion Squadrons Over Corellia live
Early last week Star Wars Galaxies players and TCG fans received a holiday treat: the launch of the first expansion for Champions of the Force, the in-game card game for SOE's Star Wars MMO. The expansion is entitled Squadrons Over Corellia, and was just announced late in November. The new card set has added a number of novel game elements to the card-based title, not least of which is new cards featuring Han Solo and the Emperor.New design elements include starship battle components, additional avatar races, new loot, and much more. The card game has also been revamped card event scenarios and one-on-one events, for players who want to pit their TCG decks one against the other. And, of course, the whole thing is wrapped up in a brand-new storyline centered in the Correllia system during the Galactic war. A recent 'Friday feature' on the official game site has numerous insights into the new loot cards and fun elements added to the game. For full details on the expansion check out the official site, read into our card gallery below, or click through below the cut for the official press release.%Gallery-27761%
The week in Massively features
Massively's picks for the best of 2008Massively doesn't hand out awards. We're not the Oscars, we're not the Emmys. What we are, though, is a bunch of opinionated MMO bloggers. Like it or hate it, 2008 was an enormous year for our favorite genre of games. We took a poll among the staff of the site, taking stock of an entire year in gaming. What follows are our picks for the best, the most surprising, the games that we just can't wait to play. Massively's Super-cheap MMO Gift GuideMassively aims to help with your holiday woes, and so today we have on offer a series of gift ideas that won't break the piggy bank. Ranging from the low, low cost of free to the cost of a few DVDs, this year more than ever it's incredibly easy to get into the online space. Just follow us into our gallery guide and forget worrying about what's under the Christmas tree. Know Your LotRO Lore: Concerning HobbitsIf you're curious about the origins and lore of the Hobbits both in the books and the game, follow along on our journey through the link below. We'll cover their migration to the Shire, their peculiar lifestyle, their interpretation in LotRO and even if Hobbits are real. TurpsterVision - Weapon of ChoiceMoria not only granted us two new classes, which I'll be exploring one at a time over the next two weeks, but it also granted players the ability to gain Legendary weapons of old which they can level up alongside their character. But enough reading about it, this is TurpsterVision! Watch on after the break...
Handful of player-created quests come with updates to EverQuest, EverQuest II
The folks at SOE passed over word that new updates are coming this month for both EverQuest and EverQuest II. While both games are mostly receiving simple tweaks, there's a few unique additions coming to EQ. A few players participated in a quest workshop recently, and some of their hard work will soon be implemented into the live game. A patch today to EQII is primarily adding changes to the game's UI and adding some sorting options to the quest log. Aside from the two player-created quests going into EverQuest, the venerable game is also gaining improved camera controls, a reduction in linkdead reconnection time, and the removal of a long quest chain series to access content in the Serpent's Spine area of the game. For the full patch notes for both games and a bit of holiday PR, read on below the cut.
Take-Two officially no longer publishing Champions Online
It was a just about five months ago that 2K games' publishing deal with Cryptic Studios was announced. The publishing label in the Take-Two collective had scored the rights to publish Champions Online in the midst of a steamy summer season, and the independent developer behind the game seemed thrilled. It's cold now, and the recent purchase of Cryptic by Atari seems to have changed and reshaped that original business relationship. Gamespot is reporting that Take-Two is now officially on the outs when it comes to publishing Champions Online.A post-earnings conference call with analysts saw Take-Two president Ben Feder specifically stating "We no longer intend to publish the MMOG Champions Online due to Atari's acquisition of Cryptic." Gamespot further wonders whether the game will attempt to launch in early 2009. The loose "Spring 2009" timeframe was suggested when the game was first announced, and it remains to be seen whether the developer can stick to that timeframe post-acquisition. Massively will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Why you should be playing City of Heroes: Badges
"Why you should be playing ..." is a free form column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we play what we do!Non-combat rewards aren't new to MMOs, but for a long time they were entirely player-driven. In EverQuest the success of running guild or friendships within an online community were the primary non-mechanical motivators. Since then, and especially with the advent of Xbox Live, in-game achievement tracking has become a major factor in persistent games. We as players love to be rewarded for success, and pinning gold stars to our sashes is a lot easier (from a game mechanic perspective) than actual monetary or xp doles. Warhammer Online may have perfected this schema with the Tome of Knowledge this year, but way back in 2004 City of Heroes really got the party started with their Badge system. Collecting badges is not only a fun and (often) relaxing alternative to leveling or instance-running, in recent years the NCsoft developers have made it worth your while as well. Supergroup badges, for example, stack up to allow your group the opportunity to teleport straight from your base into the field. There are a number of reasons to enjoy badge hunting, and the addition of this seemingly-simple gratification system is one of the reasons CoH as much fun as it is to play. Read on below the cut for more on how the City of Heroes developers give you more fun, with less grind.
Exploring the nooks and crannies of Mines of Moria
Prior to the launch of the first Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria, Turbine made an effort to put out grand, sweeping previews of upcoming content. Now that the expansion is out they're looking to be a bit cagier, unwilling to give away the goods now that players are actively exploring the depths. The most recent posts to the official LotRO website have given just a tantalizing glimpse of the new content. One touches on the realms above the surface, the brand new area of Nimrodel. Adjacent to the city of Lothlórien, it is steeped in Elvish lore. Another post explores the Twenty-first Hall of Khazad-dûm, an ancient mustering hall used by the Fellowship as an encampment. The final post delves deep into Dwarrowdelf, into the very forges of Khazad-dûm. Created for the game specifically by the designers, it's an epic testimony to the now long-gone dwarven kith and kin. We discussed some of these delights in our Massively Speaking interview with Jeffrey Steefel from a few weeks ago. And if you like reading about where the dwarves delved too deeply, our ongoing Know Your LotRO Lore column might be right up your alley! Check them out.
SOE adds new microtransaction items to EQ2 portion of the Station Cash store
Just about a week after the Station Cash service was implemented, we're already seeing new items pop up in the store. SOE has announced a quintet of new items added last night to the EverQuest II component of the store. The newly added items are: The Potion of Quickened Steps - A 30-minute length potion that increases your walking speed by 40%. Strangely, the tooltip on the image at the EQ2 Players site uses text that indicates it also increases experience gain, but we don't think that's the case. Ironforge Parade Armor - The handsome armor to the right is the newest addition to the appearance sets they're offering. We think it's the handsomest of the suits they've put up so far, but very much still not work $10. Phantasmal Skulls - Floating, burny skulls for your home. The Mage of Shadow's End - A cosmetic pet that looks like a floating husk of a half-lich. Pegleg, the Scourge of the Ykeshan Sea - A cosmetic pet that appears to be a pirate troll with a peg leg. If the company intends to keep updating the store on a regular basis, this is a good start, but there are still a few issues to be sorted out with the system. We wrote extensively about kinks in the service in our Unofficial FAQ, and you can find a number of interesting insights into why this service was released in the first place withing our interview with John Smedley.%Gallery-38919%
Massively's best of - Favorite expansion of 2008
Winner: Wrath of the Lich King for World of Warcraft (writeup by Kyle Horner)When Blizzard released their first expansion to World of Warcraft, they made some improvements while at the same time making plenty of new mistakes. With Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard has leapt beyond the original game's vision to introduce substantial new improvements to the title. So many quests in the new expansion involve both epic lore and quest mechanics that it's easy to forgive the rehashing classic MMO gameplay. Be prepared to literally stand on the shoulders of giants while battling your foes in ways unseen in any MMO experience to date. Zone design is part and parcel with enjoyable questing, which is why the Northrend quests are some of the most fun yet in the game. The pacing is much better this time around, and a lot of the new zones feel either fresh and new or evoke themes running through the entirety of the Warcraft saga. Dragonblight is in many was as much of a wasteland as Desolace or the Barrens – but Blizzard figured out how to make the whole area packed to the brim with interesting content and locales. As the icing on the cake we now have Death Knights, a triumph of Blizzard's improvements to the game since their first set of MMO classes. Not only does this first hero class feel entirely heroic, the starting zone and quests associated with the class recapture for some the emotion and wonder of playing World of Warcraft for the first time. Once you'd stepped into those dark shoes, it was impossible to stop until the ride was over and you were back in Outland. Wrath is a cut above the rest this year. It's a huge improvement over The Burning Crusade, and has done much to change player perceptions of what a WoW expansion could be. If you've been hoping for a WoW 2, the closest thing you'll find to that for a long time is Wrath of the Lich King.%Gallery-36550%
Massively's best of - Most improved game of 2008
Winner: City of Heroes (writeup by Krystalle Voecks)Our pick for Most Improvements in an MMO for 2008 goes to NCsoft's City of Heroes & City of Villains. While only Issue 12 and Issue 13 came out this year, both were fairly hefty in terms of giving players new options on their beloved game. In Issue 12 "The Midnight Hour" we saw Powerset Proliferation; Villain Epic Archetypes; the addition of the Midnight Squad, introducing the Roman Cimeroran maps; the Hollows overhaul; and even some smaller and greatly needed things like the ability to convert three Inspirations to one of a more useful type and more character slots. Issue 13 "Power and Responsibility" added in Day Jobs for offline character progression; multiple builds for solo and group play; Pain Dominance and Shields as new powersets; Leveling Pact; SuperGroup base re-pricing, saving millions of Prestige across the board; and Merit rewards along with lots of other good stuff. In short, it's been an awesome year for the Heroes and Villains of Paragon City, and with Issue 14 Architect planned for next year, it looks like 2009 is on track to rock, too. Hats off - and capes on - for the City of Heroes & City of Villains developers!%Gallery-9156%
Massively's best of - Favorite new MMO of 2008
Winner: Warhammer Online (writeup by William Dobson)The hype-o-meter was off the charts just prior to Warhammer Online's release this year, and when the game finally did come out, gamers found it to be a refreshing change of pace at the same time as being a heck of a lot of fun. Unlike so many other MMOs out there, WAR allows you to get into the meat of the game right from level one if you so choose. And what is that meat? Player versus Player combat, or Realm versus Realm (RvR) in this case. With the option to join a queue for an instanced scenario battle from anywhere in the game, and open RvR battlefields located in every tier, bloodshed is always just a short step away. The distinction between PvP and RvR is made extremely clear in WAR. Class balance is not based on 1v1 battles, but rather, group-versus-group combat. The underlying goal of all the factional warfare is to siege keeps and capture territories, which is intended to require the co-operation of larger groups of players, and is reminiscent of Mythic's older and much-loved MMO Dark Age of Camelot. The ultimate glory in WAR is to have the chance to pillage the opposing realm's capital city, loot their dungeons and kill their king – sounds exciting just reading about it, right? Even if you look past the RvR aspect of the game, WAR still brings a lot to the table: Public Quests, which give players a new way of coming together to accomplish PvE goals; the production values and the way the world of Warhammer is brought to life; the Tome of Knowledge, which provides little incentives to achieve things in all areas of the game, and offers detailed lore. Troubled, perhaps. Flawed, for sure. But with a team dedicated to improvements and a fantastic new spin on the fantasy standard, everything comes together amazingly well in Warhammer Online. It's no wonder at all that it is our favorite new game of 2008.%Gallery-21882%
Massively's best of - Game we're most looking forward to
Winner: Star Wars: The Old Republic (writeup by Michael Zenke)If called this you did, strong in the Force are you. Actually, you probably didn't need to be a Jedi prognosticator to see this coming. Star Wars: The Old Republic is a game that MMO nerds have been awaiting for years. Re-uniting the Star Wars IP with MMO gameplay in a new format, reviving the very popular Knights of the Old Republic setting, SWTOR was a sure-fired win with the Massively staff long before the announcement.That said, we've been pretty well blown away by every scrap of information BioWare has released to date. The focus on storytelling in the game, the companion concept, the idea of meshing character class and progression experience so closely together ... they all sound like elements we've been waiting for in MMOs for years. We're particularly excited about the idea a branching storyline that allows us to make real decisions in a persistent universe. Even the illusion of decision is so often denied us in MMOs, the tantalizing hope the SWTOR developers hold out is tempting indeed.And, of course, there's gobs more to like just in what they've already talked about. "Choreographed" combat, a crafting system that actually lets you have fun, the feeling of being an epic hero from level 1 ... it's like a group of forum users got together and made a 'best of' list, then turned it into a design doc.With the release of the game so far off, at this point we're just hopeful the finished product somewhat resembles the promised feature set. With the boys at BioWare behind the development and industry veterans like Gordon Walton at the helm, we're more hopeful about The Old Republic than almost any other game on the horizon. It's definitely the game we're most looking forward to in 2008, and is likely to keep this spot well into next year.%Gallery-35034%
Massively's best of - Favorite game of 2008
Winner: World of Warcraft (writeup by Michael Zenke) There's a reason this game has so many players. It's as simple as that: World of Warcraft is the best fantasy MMO on the marketplace. It's probably the best AAA MMO period. We don't talk about World of Warcraft as much as the MMO genre might dictate on Massively because WoW Insider does such an amazing job with its coverage, but that game literally touches everything we do here. It's impossible to talk about the popularity of MMOs without mentioning the game. It's inconcievable to consider the size of the US market without it. We've asked ourselves on several occasions: without Blizzard's behemoth would there even be a need for a site like Massively.com? Regardless, Blizzard has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt this year that WoW's preiminence is well-deserved. Say what you will about Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King is a tour-de-force in modern gaming. It's the most polished, exciting expansion to a massively multiplayer game we've ever experienced and the storytelling chops they show in the Death Knight starting area are simply amazing. We've played a lot of games here at Massively. We've ground hundreds of levels, invested thousands and thousands of hours in this genre ... but one game has captured our attention more than any other this year. For that, more than anything else, World of Warcraft is worth saluting. Here's hoping that some of the amazing changes we've seen in Lich King trickle down through the rest of the game. Here's hoping that Blizzard does their best to top this already amazing content with newer, better releases. And here's hoping someday some designers muster the gumption to pull the community's attention from our favorite game of 2008.%Gallery-36550%
Massively's best of - Biggest surprise of 2008
Winner: The shutdown of Tabula Rasa (writeup by Shawn Schuster)This year's Biggest Surprise goes to the news that Tabula Rasa is closing for good in February of 2009. Some might think this was no surprise at all, considering the exodus of players over the past year, and the recent news of Richard Garriott leaving NCsoft to pursue other interests. We chose it because of the vivid community still surrounding it, with the actual finality of a closure a surprise to us all. What makes this an even larger surprise is the fact that the September closure rumors were quickly denied by NCsoft themselves. Recent reports of several new and exciting game features, plus the announcement that players would have a chance to return to Earth in the game made us firmly believe that TR was making a strong comeback. In game, we started to see more players running around in the world, more players in chat and full groups again. The PlanetTR weekly events were filling up like they did in the old days, and we were optimistic. For whatever reason it was too little, too late for NCsoft. The publisher is not in the market of losing money, and we understand that. Yet if we see another closure of an NCsoft title any time soon, it certainly won't be on our Biggest Surprise list.%Gallery-39348%
Massively's picks for the best of 2008
Massively doesn't hand out awards. We're not the Oscars, we're not the Emmys. What we are, though, is a bunch of opinionated MMO bloggers. Like it or hate it, 2008 was an enormous year for our favorite genre of games. We took a poll among the staff of the site, taking stock of an entire year in gaming. What follows are our picks for the best, the most surprising, the games that we just can't wait to play.Join us in celebrating an amazing year in massively multiplayer games, and make sure to let us know what you think in the comments! Massively's favorite new MMO in 2008 >>
Warhammer Online patches to 1.1b just days after 1.1a
Near the end of last week Mythic Entertainment added to the momentous announcements across the industry at large by dropping the first part of an enormous patch to Warhammer Online. Patch 1.1a began the road to newly revamped systems for the game, and our chat with Mythic's Drescher, Gershowitz, and Wheeler revealed numerous components of the future WAR. Now Mythic has furthered that path by releasing Warhammer Online Patch 1.1b. Servers went down early this morning, and the company expects them to be live again by 1pm EST. Despite the change from a to b, this patch isn't nearly as big a deal ... unless you're a fan of the Nordenwatch scenario, which has been offline for a few days. The 'watch is now back online after a fix. The developers have also continued to tweak open RvR, trying to get the reward systems right. Reward, XP, and influence have all been added for attacking and defending Fortresses, making the end-game situation that much more worthwhile. Renown gains when engaging in oRvR are now tweaked as well, with Renown gain based on the differential between a Player's Rank and their Renown Rank. Diminishing returns are now a part of the system as well to reduce farming. Check the full notes for an example on this and some further explanation of the systems change.
SOE announces new staff being added to support microtransaction items
Last week's unveiling of Station Cash resulted in a number of strong statements from the community, but our discussion with SOE CEO John Smedley made it sound as if the company considered the service launch a success. Followup announcements have now confirmed that, with Senior Community Relations Manager Craig "Grimwell" Dalrymple stating new staff members will be brought on specifically to support future Station Cash items.In forum posts to both the EverQuest and EverQuest II communities, Grimwell says that the "initial response to Station Cash has been a success" in as many words. He says they're looking to bring new items to the microtransaction marketplace in the not too distant future. To that end, the EQ and EQ2 "game teams are adding new employees dedicated to Station Cash, to allow us to continue to add new and exciting items to the marketplace, without having to pull from the core development." He goes on to ask players to participate in the newly opened threads, to let them know what new items to add to the store. For ongoing discussion of the Station Cash announcement, he offers up a link to an enormous forum thread and you can find plenty of details on the project in our Unoffical FAQ.
Why you should be playing Puzzle Pirates: Swordfighting
"Why you should be playing ..." is a free form column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we play what we do!Free to play MMOs just don't get the respect they deserve. The problem is that that the entire submarket is painted by the same brush. Yes, there are many examples of not-so-great Asian MMOs poorly translated and dumped on the US market as free-to-play titles. Despite that, not only are some imports well done but home-grown free games are increasingly high quality. Three Rings has been making high quality free games for years, and Puzzle Pirates is their flagship title. You probably already know the outline of the gameplay just from the name; it's an MMO where everyone does pirate-y things via puzzles. Everything is a puzzle in the game, from sailing and bilging to drinking contests. One of the most popular games in Puzzle Pirates is the swordfighting contest, and rightly so. Truly massively multiplayer, based on the Puzzle Fighter 2 console game, swordfighting is craftily, beautifully fun. Read on below the cut for my thoughts on why this simple puzzling technique may be one of the most engaging combats you can enjoy in an MMO.
Massively's Super-cheap MMO Gift Guide
In a year when everyone is looking to their bank balance, it's just common sense to seek out ways to maximize the fun of Christmas giving while minimizing the economic impact. Online gaming in particular is a great way to offer an 'in' to fun without a lot of expensive electronics or batteries required. Most folks probably already have everything they need to participate (a PC and an internet connection), and unlike other gifts that claim to 'keep on giving' online gaming really does. Introducing someone to a new MMO can – literally – change their lives. New friends, new adventures ... MMOs have a lot to offer as gifts.Massively aims to help with your holiday woes, and so today we have on offer a series of gift ideas that won't break the piggy bank. Ranging from the low, low cost of free to the cost of a few DVDs, this year more than ever it's incredibly easy to get into the online space. Just follow us into our gallery guide and forget worrying about what's under the Christmas tree. Dig into our Gift Guide >> %Gallery-39352%
Star Wars Galaxies Life Day 2008 revealed
Kicking off tomorrow is another annual Life Day event, the Star Wars Galaxies version of the Christmas holiday. As we discussed earlier, while the holiday has always been based on the Star Wars Holiday Special this year is especially grounded in that ... unique ... television moment. The official SWG site has full details on the event now, showing off some of the questing and rewards that are available to holiday fans in that place a Long Time Ago. Rebels will be tasked with decorating trees, while Imperials will be stomping presents and goodies with abandon. Unaligned players can do either, but if you're declared for either faction you'll get a ton of 'Life Day currency' for participating. Sounds like PvP players will have something to celebrate as well. Turning in that Life Day currency will net you a ton of great holiday gear. Everything from a Pocket Aquarium or a Proton Chair to a personal Wroshyr Tree. Head over to the official site for the details.