Shawn Schuster

Stories By Shawn Schuster

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Final Fantasy XIV not due for the Xbox 360 according to Hiromichi Tanaka Final Fantasy XI isn't just one of the only console MMOs in existence, it's also the most successful of the lot, due in part to the wide spread of available platforms. Since the game has long been playable on the Xbox, there were several Final Fantasy XIV fans (or Xbox 360 owners) hoping it would eventually come out on that console as well. But it's not happening, and according to a recently translated interview from 4players.de, the reason rests squarely with Microsoft. ArenaNet unveils the Guild Wars 2 ranger Speculation was all over the map: necromancer was a popular choice thanks to the recent sneak peek of Ghosts of Ascalon. Mesmers and some sort of paladin class were suggested, as well as rangers. Things got even more interesting on Monday, when ArenaNet teased the upcoming reveal of a new class. Well, it looks like rangers won out -- ArenaNet announced the ranger class for Guild Wars 2 today. Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 107: A chat with Felicia Day Massively Speaking Episode 107 is a very special episode in which Rubi and Shawn are joined by Felicia Day, creator and star of the hit web series, The Guild. Topics include her work on Guild Wars 2's trailer, her MMO inspirations and much more. Plus, we also tackle the week's news, including the possibility of STO going free-to-play and the whole Real ID fiasco.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: APB needs partner to make console version, but willing The idea of console MMOs is nothing new. After all, EverQuest Online Adventures, Final Fantasy XI, and the Phantasy Star titles have managed to successfully publish on consoles. With that said, it seems as if there's been a trend with recent MMOs to say they were going to console like Age of Conan and Champions Online, only to change their minds later. Real ID -- Do we finally have our WoW killer? A huge number of the over 13,000 forum posts are variations of "See ya", including many popular MMO bloggers. But the fact that others saw this as only a good thing proves that there are two sides to every coin. So where do you stand on this hot topic? Is it something that will finally get the WoW forums in order or will upset players truly leave the game for good this time? MMO tops Japan's sales charts on the Xbox 360 In the world of console gaming, Japan tends to strongly support their hometown champions -- although whether or not the sprawling multinational corporate behemoths of Nintendo and Sony actually need that suppport is debatable. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has generally faced slow sales in the nation and a lack of popular games on the platform. But it's gotten a boost from the strong sales of Monster Hunter Frontier Online, an MMO exclusive to the platform that's made it to the top of the Japanese sale charts. Not out of all Xbox games -- out of the entire country.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Joystiq's sister site Massively.com is back from E3 2010 this week with more news and opinions from the world of MMOs. While there were no earth-shattering announcements this year, the interviews, demos and hands-on experiences should be enough to keep you reading until next week's roundup. Follow along for the latest. Bobby Kotick muses about a Call of Duty MMO Activision Blizzard owns one of the most profitable gaming franchises in the world with Call of Duty, and Bobby Kotick knows it. In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kotick was open about his ambitions with the series, saying that he wishes that they would create an online subscriber version. It's not a new sentiment from Kotick, as he's been saying as such for years, although it certainly is pretty straight-forward. SWTOR closed beta beginning this weekend A thread on the official SWTOR forums began this morning, claiming that players have received invitations for a June 25 - 27 closed beta. A post added shortly afterward made further clarification that only 100-200 invitations are going out. Within seven hours the thread reached nearly 200 pages. APB's voice chat feature will contain advertisements While looking through the payment options in his account management page early this morning, one APB forum poster spied a strange button that set off a few warning bells in his head. Marked "VOIP Premium," the option removes adverts from APB's in-game voice chat for 30, 90 or 180 days in exchange for payment.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Wow, what a crazy week it's been at Joystiq sister site Massively.com. We get word that one of the genre's largest games is going free-to-play, EVE Online opens its planets for exploration, Vanguard merges servers and to top it all off, we interview one of classic rock's living legends. And E3 hasn't even started yet! Keep reading for a summary of the week's MMO news. LotRO goes free-to-play: Massively's interview with Turbine Turbine dropped a huge surprise on the MMO community this morning with the announcement that Lord of the Rings Online is changing to a free-to-play model. Fan reaction was all over the map, and the announcement predictably spawned a stream of questions from every direction. Everyone was anxious to find out how current accounts would transfer, where the decision came from, what will be free, what won't, and so on. ArenaNet reveals traits and Warrior class for Guild Wars 2 Since ArenaNet revealed the elementalist class for Guild Wars 2, fans have been clamoring for another class reveal, anxious to more details of that mysterious silhouette image. There was heavy speculation regarding the warrior class, as the ArenaNet blog and Guild Wars 2 site referred repeatedly to warriors. Jumpgate Evolution reveals playable Octavius faction Jumpgate Evolution appears to finally be moving forward, as evidenced by the forum post from Lance Robertson, the game's Executive Producer. A new trailer depicting one of three playable factions has surfaced today as well, and our friends at G4TV got the exclusive.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Another busy week in MMO news from Joystiq sister site Massively.com, as NCsoft's Guild Wars 2 continues their information waterfall, Blizzard lets us all know that they don't plan on slowing down any time soon and Star Wars: The Old Republic shows us companion characters. Follow along for more of this week's biggest MMO news: Blizzard assures more growth to come for World of Warcraft World of Warcraft has been stagnating for the past few years, even though it doesn't seem like such a word could be applied to a game with 11.5 million subscribers. While the number is certainly impressive, it's stayed the same since 2008 -- something that no developer likes to see. If you cheat in Guild Wars, Dhuum will kill you No, seriously. Guild Wars players hanging out in Heroes' Ascent this afternoon noticed an interesting sight. Dhuum in all his giant shiny glory was popping in and out of different districts, banning people with a swing of his scythe. What was it all about? Complement your Star Wars: The Old Republic character with companions What would Han be without Chewie, Luke without R2-D2, Robin Hood without Little John, or Hall without Oats? Pretty darn boring if you ask BioWare. This is the key reason for adding companion characters to Star Wars: The Old Republic. All Points Bulletin still set for consoles, but in a different form The longstanding search for a console MMO is ongoing, with All Points Bulletin coming up as one of the bigger hopes for the near future. It's been announced, however, that while the game is still slated for consoles, it's not going to be ported straight over from the PC version. That's the word from EJ Moreland, lead designer, who recently went on record saying that as the development of the game progressed, it became more and more obvious that the game wouldn't work as a straight port of the PC version.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Another busy week in MMO news from Joystiq sister site Massively.com, as we mark a few milestones. First up, the Massively podcast hits its 100th episode in style, discussing the past, present and future of MMOs with the grandfather of the genre, Richard Garriott. Also, Sony Online Entertainment joins Blizzard in offering wildly overpriced virtual mounts in their item shop. Hooray! It's now a standard. Check out the rest of the week's MMO happenings below: Massively Speaking Episode 100: The state of MMOs with Richard Garriott Massively Speaking Episode 100 marks an epic milestone with an epic episode! Lord British himself joins Shawn and Rubi for some chat on the past, present and future of MMOs. Topics include everything from the early days of Ultima Online to the possible reincarnation of Tabula Rasa and beyond. Sony Online Entertainment introduces $25 mount You knew someone was going to try it. Sony Online Entertainment is making their bid for a seat on the Sparklepony bandwagon with the introduction of mounts in EverQuest II. Etheral, Sinister, and Ulteran Prowlers are now available in the Marketplace for 2500 Station Cash each, the equivalent of $25 USD. So are they worth it? Well, that is entirely a matter of opinion, but we can help you decide with a rundown of what's available. SWTOR players will trek across Hoth Who would have guessed the planet named after the famous Jedi Master Lord Hoth will be explorable in SWTOR? For those who may have skipped the best Star Wars movie of all time, this is a frozen wasteland made famous at the beginning of the Empire Strikes Back. Although in the Old Republic time period there is not much interest in the planet.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Another busy week in MMO news from Joystiq sister site Massively.com, as Star Wars: The Old Republic reveals more info on species and advanced careers, Guild Wars 2 reinvents the stale MMO quest mechanic and Dungeons & Dragons Online inches its way towards MMO domination on the NPD charts: Species and advanced careers unleashed in Star Wars: The Old Republic Okay fans, you can finally sit back and quit wearing out the the edge of your seat. Star Wars: The Old Republic has revealed its first species. That's right! In an exclusive play session with TheGalacticStruggle.com Bioware revealed the first non-human species whose story you will be able to tell: Rattataki. Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer reveals new information about questing and content In Guild Wars, we're all familiar with the quest system and the giant green exclamation point. In such an immersive and beautiful world, it's admittedly a bit jarring when an NPC has that strange floaty thing that sticks out like a sore thumb -- or like a giant lime-green exclamation point. Filling your field of vision with a big black rectangle with a few paragraphs of text and a "check yes or no" acceptance option didn't exactly alleviate the problem. DDO jumps to third-most-popular spot in MMO survey Several interesting changes have come about in the past year: former World of Warcraft players are turning to different games than they have in the past, the subscription model is a lot less popular these days, and Dungeons and Dragons Online has knocked Guild Wars out of the comfy #3 spot it enjoyed for the two previous years. Examining the Peregrine: Do we need another Power Glove? At first glance, this glove looks like something you'd wear to batting practice or to tee off on the 9th hole, but it really is a fascinating piece of comfortable electronics. However, is it something that we, as MMO gamers, would need or even want?

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Another busy week in MMO news from Joystiq sister site Massively.com, as Cryptic admits a third MMO is in the works and the Fallen Earth team loses 80% of its staff. Keep reading below for more on these stories and the rest of the week's events. Want to make your own MMO? Try Ryzom's open source code The people behind Ryzom have been hinting for days that something big was on the way, leaving players speculating about what it could be. There were a lot of guesses flying around out there, but it's safe to say nobody saw this coming: Ryzom is now open source. THQ says Warhammer 40K MMO doesn't need a million subscribers We all know game developers love to announce big numbers. A million of this, ten million of that, forty million of the other. No thanks, says THQ -- our Warhammer 40K MMO will be just fine without all that. The Warhammer 40k team is small and very experienced, so they have the advantage of skipping a lot of expensive trial-and-error, moving straight to building the game right. Cryptic to announce new MMO later this summer With Star Trek Online and Champions Online chewing the scenery and igniting passions on both sides of the aisle, it's sometimes easy to forget that Cryptic Studios has a third project brewing in secrecy. Long rumored to be a D&D MMO -- perhaps even Neverwinter Nights -- the Cryptic folks have been, well, cryptic about the title.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  Another busy week in MMO news from Joystiq sister site Massively.com, headlined by ArenaNet breaking its silence on the Guild Wars sequel. Keep reading below for more on this story and the rest of the week's events. The latest Guild Wars 2 news includes Elementalist and combat details Yesterday's unveiling of the Elementalist class for Guild Wars 2, along with the new combat information, sent the Guild Wars community into information overload. Fans were incredibly excited to see so much new information, but there was an underlying reason beyond the obvious happiness at receiving so much concrete knowledge. Avatar movie producer interested in Avatar MMO It probably shouldn't come as much of a surprise. James Cameron's Avatar caught the attention of gamers from the moment the first trailer was released. Its appearance alone was extremely familiar to anyone who's spent more than a few minutes in any number of fantasy MMOs, and the movie's plot centered around what could be called the most immersive MMO ever. Trion names upcoming MMORTS, renames Heroes of Telara If you've been waiting for information on...well, pretty much anything from Trion Worlds, it's your lucky day. Trion has come forth with information about three projects that have gotten a fair amount of attention in the past, but left fans wanting to know much more.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  We've had a busy few weeks over at Joystiq's MMO-centric sister site. With GDC and PAX East in the bag, we can concentrate on our next big conference: E3! But since that's still a few weeks away, we're back to bringing our readers the latest news and in-depth articles on your favorite MMOs. Check out what we've done this week: Acti-Blizz restructuring, assigns new executive to Blizzard The Los Angeles Times reports that Activision-Blizzard has restructured its management team into four distinct divisions and elected not to notify investors or the public of the reorganization. The changes were circulated in an inter-company memo obtained by the newspaper and later confirmed by a company spokesperson. Another look at Champions Online, six months later One thing that can be said about Champions Online in the period following its launch is that it has gone through some severe growing pains. When the game launch was announced, players protested, as the beta still had massive issues that had not been addressed. When the game was launched despite these reactions, it also launched with the infamous launch day patch that failed to repair numerous bugs within the game. Curt Schilling says majority of savings spent on 38 Studios Retired Red Sox player Curt Schilling has approached the development of 38 Studios with the same drive and enthusiasm as he did his baseball career, a fact that comes as no surprise to those who know what an avid MMO gamer he is. A recent article on Gamasutra took a closer look at the development of 38 Studios. PAX East 2010: Hands-on with APB Despite the low saturation of MMO studios at PAX East last weekend, Realtime Worlds was in full force at their booth with EA to show off the upcoming GTA-style MMO, All Points Bulletin. There were eight stations set up on each side of a large stage, each showing the game as it was live on the North American beta servers. One side showed off the Enforcers and the other, Criminals.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: What could the PS3 bug mean for console MMOs? MMO developers are beginning to turn an eye to the console market, and this incident highlights a potential significant weakness. PCs rely almost entirely on software and individual hardware when it comes to gaming. Consoles don't work like that. If a bad update comes down or there is some sort of internal glitch (with the internal clock, for example), everyone who owns that particular console is going to get it because everyone has the same hardware. Activision: Farmers Could Kill WoW? Activision-Blizzard'sannual 10k report, filed on March 1 and analyzed by Robert Purchese over at Eurogamer.net, is chock full of worrisome anecdotes about the future of their massively multiplayer behemoth as well as some interesting tidbits regarding payment models. Warhammer 40k devs on unusual pricing structure and WoW-killing "WoW-killer" is a cliched term these days, and many MMO fans continue to keep a weather eye out for the game that will take down the juggernaut of the gaming world. No thanks, say the developers behind Warhammer 40k.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Making it as an MMO blogger: The bloggers speak up You may remember a few weeks ago when we interviewed a handful of community managers on the topic of developer/blogger relations. This topic was first initiated by Ravious at Kill Ten Rats, and the response was overall very positive. Several of the Massively readers commented and emailed us saying that they'd like to see the flip side of these interviews, to get the blogger's perspective. Massively is looking for a few good bloggers! Are you passionate about your favorite MMO? Do you have a particular skill with the written word? We're looking to expand our ranks with a few MMO-loving columnists, and if you answer yes to both of those questions, we want to hear from you. Gods & Heroes returns from the dead How many here remember Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising? We're hoping most of you, as the highly-anticipated MMO was near completion before it was scrapped in 2007. Perpetual Entertainment, who was also developing the first incarnation of Star Trek Online at the time, officially shut its doors in 2008, presumably killing any chance that Gods & Heroes would see the light of day. Until today.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Still interested in console MMOs? The headline says it all. After all this time and so many promised (and never-delivered) console versions of games like Age of Conan and Champions Online, are you still interested in playing console MMOs? Community backlash leads to Global Agenda review score being pulled GameSpot was not so nice to Global Agenda -- a 5.5 out of 10 was fired against the game earlier by the gaming website. However, that didn't stop the Global Agenda community from doing some digging and turning up the reviewer's in-game character. A character that only had six hours of play time attached to it, no alliance and no agency for conquest matches. Indie MMO Love set for March 25 launch Development of Eskil Steenberg's MMO Love has been proceeding quietly for a few years now, with the occasional story when alpha or beta milestones are reached. Back in October, we took a closer look at this gorgeous, unique game thanks to Krystalle and Seraphina.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Star Trek Online's producer: "In hindsight, it was pretty darn risky" Star Trek Online hit some pretty major windfalls, even disregarding the fact that it's built on a popular intellectual property with legions of dedicated fans. It launched during a timeframe when there were no other major releases scheduled, came out not too long after a very popular movie in the franchise, and caught a lot of exposure with its open beta. And as executive producer Craig Zinkievich points out in a new interview, the entire operation relied not just on hard work, but also on luck. LEGO Universe begins beta signups Don't tell us that it's a kids game and you're entirely too grown-up for it -- we know better. Nobody outgrows LEGO. Now go sign up for the beta, you know you want to. Signups can be made here, and we hope to see you in the beta. (Yes, we're signing up too. We told you: nobody outgrows LEGO.) Flickr co-founders giving MMO design a second try Before Stewart Butterfield and Cal Henderson launched the successful photo site Flickr, they tried their hands at MMO design. Back in Flickr's early days, they ran Game Neverending, an MMO that closed about nine months after the launch of Flickr.

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  Reviews

  Reviews By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Making it as an MMO blogger: An interview with top community managers Ahh, that eternal debate about what differentiates a gaming blogger from a gaming journalist. We could go on and on about specifics on both sides, but the fact is, we all have the same goals in mind: writing about what we love. Warhammer 40k MMO to be fully revealed this summer Have you been looking forward to the Warhammer 40K MMO for what feels like forever? The people at THQ have been offering up small pieces of information since they announced the game a few years ago -- last April we finally got a release year of 2012, and just in December we were given some beautiful concept art. Star Trek Online offers two new races in online store Many Star Trek Online players were surprised to find a couple of new additions to the C-store after launch in the form of two new playable races. For 240 Cryptic Points, you can purchase the Klingon race, and for only 80 Cryptic Points you can purchase the Ferengi race. Each race comes with a few race-specific traits -- Warrior and Honorable for the Klingon, Immunity and Acute Senses for the Ferengi -- and the ability to choose two more. Purchasing the race unlocks it for every character slot on the account.

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  Reviews By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Editorial: What could Apple's new iPad mean for MMOs? If you consider yourself any type of technophile at all, you're probably well aware of Apple's announcement yesterday regarding their new iPad. This is basically the love child of an iPod Touch and a tablet PC, allowing users to take a fairly powerful slab of computing power with them wherever they go. While it might not be as beefy as your desktop machine or even a mid-range laptop, it has caused a giant wave of interest from consumers. So how does this affect us, as MMO gamers? We're glad you asked! Masthead Studios and Interplay finalize agreement for Fallout MMO We have another step forward in the long-running saga of the Fallout MMO. Late last week, Interplay announced that they had signed "definitive agreements" with Masthead Studios regarding Project: V13, the highly contested post-apocalyptic MMO. We knew this development was a possibility, but things have been delayed by the legal battles with Bethesda. Players miffed over Champions Online's "kitchen sink patch" and Vibora Bay It's an awkward time for Champions Online. After the last State of the Game post by Chronomancer, things were looking up. The latest patch was slated to fix Lemuria (colloquially known as Lagmuria, due to the extreme system hiccups), add more power to various power frameworks, nemesis changes, the addition of team looting, and changes to the crafting system.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Court documents say Bethesda's MMO already under dev, rumor says it's Elder Scrolls In this most recent round of court scuffles between Interplay and Bethesda over the Fallout MMO rights, it would seem that some details are coming to light about what's going on at Bethesda's MMO "branch", Zenimax Media. According to filings, the word is that there are close to 100 people working on an MMO that costs "tens and tens of millions of dollars" and has been under development since late 2006. Ginormous Star Trek Online beta patch is live Players will find that the level cap is removed, Cardassian and Romulan Sectors are open for Federation players, and that they can scan for the nearest anomaly via the MiniMap HUD. Bridge officers are a bit more interesting too: when they join your crew they'll come with a basic customization option, and as they advance they'll periodically request transfers. HanbitSoft acquires worldwide publishing rights for Hellgate: London It's been a long and turbulent ride for Hellgate: London, stretching all the way back to its rather troubled Halloween 2007 launch under the banner of the ill-fated Flagship Studios. This stretched through a bewildering morass of licensing disputes, general misinformation, and mixed signals (like continual English press releases for the game in a non English-speaking market. *ahem*) in the wake of the Flagship Studios closure and subsequent legal wranglings between T3 Entertainment/HanbitSoft and NAMCO BANDAI.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Star Trek Online lifetime subs now available Cryptic has revealed the lifetime subscription offer for Star Trek Online, which comes with playable Borg (not as a faction, but as liberated Borg) and is only available to those who've pre-ordered the game. Oddly enough, the price of the LS is $40 higher than Champions Online's was when it was announced August of last year. Exclusive Allods Online dev tour: Astral Ships and the end game explained Earlier this week, the team at Allods Online were kind enough to sit down and walk me through some of the highest-level areas in the game. Knowing that I'm already an avid fan of the game, it was exciting for us both to "talk shop" for a bit. It was especially exciting to see some features of the end game that not too many North American players have seen up to this point. Of course, I'm talking about Astral Ships and the end game. Bioware confirms 2011 SWTOR release Yesterday we talked about a rumor that had been floating around thanks to Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello, who had mentioned the spring 2011 launch of an unnamed MMO on a recent conference call. Of course, the Star Wars: The Old Republic rumor mill sprang into action, with good cause as it turns out. Funcom threatening to delete noob Age of Conan characters When it comes to character deletions, just about every MMO out there has a clause in their Terms of Service that indicates they have the right to delete your characters at any time and for no reason whatsoever. With that said, there are very few companies that choose to exercise that right.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Avatar: Why does this movie look so familiar? If you're one of the few people who has not heard the buzz about Avatar yet, we'll catch you up by saying that the film's beauty is all anyone can talk about. MMO players discussing the movie will follow that observation up almost immediately with "...and did you notice how much it looks like [insert game of choice here]?" Star Trek Online pre-orders topping Direct2Drive sales Some people may be apprehensive about the speed with which Cryptic is rolling out Star Trek Online, but that isn't slowing down the pre-orders at all. It seems that the majority of fans remain anxious to get their hands on the game. For the week of December 27th - January 2nd, pre-orders of the Star Trek Online Digital Deluxe edition took the number one spot for sales at Direct2Drive. Funcom plans a more casual direction for future games Back in December, we talked a bit about Funcom's new studio SweetRobot, which will be designing games for a much younger market than the Age of Conan crowd. Pets vs. Monsters is the first offering from the studio, with the promise of more to come.

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  Reviews By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week (and year) in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Massively's predictions for 2010 With 2009 wrapping up today and 2010 lurking creepily around the corner, we're eager to release our predictions on what the next year may bring to the MMO scene. Even though we try to keep our news relatively neutral, it's the editorials and opinion pieces that garner the most reaction from the readers. Positive or negative, we appreciate that. So for this last day of 2009, we honor it by giving our own opinions (both positive and negative) about how 2010 looks to us. Massively's top 5 news stories of 2009 It's that time again! Time when we look backwards and try to identify the top 5 big news stories that we covered here at Massively. 2009 was a pretty turbulent year when it comes to the MMO industry, as we were involved in lawsuits, game closures, multiple major releases, a rising set of indie studios, and more news than you could handle. Hands-on with Klingons and PvP in Star Trek Online If there's one thing that's almost more synonymous with Star Trek than classic catch phrases, it's the Klingons. They are the Captain Hook to the Federation's Peter Pan and thus it's important to several potential players that Star Trek Online do them justice. Understandably, when Cryptic made the announcement that Klingons would be primarily a PvP focused faction, people were concerned. Players don't want their beloved gruff 'n tough warrior race to become a second-tier faction.

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  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Massively's 2009 Winter Holiday Event Guide It's that time of year again -- whatever holiday you are celebrating, the denizens of your favorite MMO are sure to be celebrating it too. Whether it's Festivult in Dungeons and Dragons Online, Wintersday in Guild Wars, or the Starlight Celebration in Final Fantasy XI, the theme is the same. There are presents, some sort of sugary treats, and tons of fun. NASA releases new information on their upcoming MMO Back in November, we talked about an exciting space MMO in the works from NASA, called Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond. The information they had at the time was pretty extensive, and left us anxious to find out more and try it out. Hi-Rez Studios announces Global Agenda launch date Hi-Rez studios officially announced that the game will launch on February 1st, 2010, and pre-orders are available through Steam, Amazon.com, and the official site beginning today. Those who pre-order will enjoy all sorts of perks, including access to the January beta events, ability to reserve their player and agency names, and special in-game items. Funcom offers unlimited free trial for Age of Conan With the Age of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer approaching, opportunities for new and returning players to explore the game (or revisit it) have been more frequent than usual these days. The latest offer comes via FilePlanet. If you're a FilePlanet subscriber, you can play the first part of the game for free in an unlimited trial. The offer is good until December 31st, but as long as you download before then, your trial will not expire.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Runic Games talks Torchlight, the upcoming MMO, Diablo comparisons, more Can't wait for Diablo III? Try Torchlight. The single-player action-RPG, available for just 20 bucks via digital distribution, has got PC gamers talking. But why should Massively readers care, you ask? Because eventually, in about two years or so, developer Runic Games will make it a full-fleged MMO. Ground combat! Star Trek Online community answers Your answers on ground combat in Star Trek Online are here and we think you'll be pleased with the results. This week, your questions were answered by Andy Velasquez, producer at Cryptic and all-around knowledgeable Trek guy. It's a hefty Q&A, so we hope you've got a few minutes to spare while you whittle your way through all this text. Enjoy! The catch point of the free-to-play model With the successful transition of Dungeons and Dragons Online to the free-to-play model, there's a lot of talk about why other games don't move over to the same model, with Warhammer Online frequently being cited as a game that would enjoy a great benefit from the switch. It would bring in more players, certainly, but there's more to the business than just bringing in new blood.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Analyzing the newest Guild Wars 2 trailer ArenaNet has a very early, very wonderful holiday gift for Guild Wars fans this morning: a brand new Guild Wars 2 trailer. (Take a moment to cheer, then we'll move on.) The trailer is amazingly beautiful, something we've come to expect from ArenaNet and particularly Guild Wars 2. Massively's End-of-the-Year Reader's Choice Awards The end of 2009 is almost upon us, and Arthur C. Clarke's dreams are all about to come true in less than a month. It's been an interesting year for MMOs, including everything from Tabula Rasa's official closure to the launch of LotRO's second paid expansion. While it's inevitable that the Massively staff all have their own favorite games in several different categories, we figured it would be best to get the readers involved this year. Hands-on with Star Trek Online's space combat Space battles in Star Trek Online are going to be a big selling point for many a Trek fan. I recently got some hands-on time with the closed beta and found several interesting talking points to deliver like hot fresh delicious phasered pizza. I imagine some of you are quite up to snuff on the basics of combat in Star Trek Online, so if you find your interest waning I suggest skipping ahead into the analytical aspect of this feature. MMO developers speak on the state of betas Is beta testing something of a mystery to you? Do you wonder about the how and why of a developer's beta process? Well, you're in for a treat! We recently got in touch with several MMO developers to ask them each a series of questions about MMO beta testing. In this feature you'll find opinions from Cryptic Studios, Fallen Earth LLC, Mythic Entertainment, Turbine, Runic Games and Hi-Rez Studios.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Massively's Black Friday MMO sales guide The holidays are officially here (if you're a retail chain, then they've been here for about a month) and so it's time to start looking for deals to give to either your MMO-playing loved ones or, well, yourself! Shopping can be a pretty big hassle, especially if you're not accustomed to hunting for the best deals. So, we've gone and outlined the season's new releases, as well as some places you can hope to find sales in the coming weeks. Anti-Aliased: Boobs and you This week's topic is one that's near and dear to my heart. Well, it's near to my heart, at least, and I mean that quite literally. It's also a perfect topic for today's holiday! I mean, who doesn't like to talk about large breasts on Thanksgiving? (Score one for the terrible synonym.) Space combat! Star Trek Online community Q&A answers It's a little late due to the impending Thanksgiving day gorging, but we've got your second wave of community answers for space combat in Star Trek Online! As this week lands us on a holiday, we'll be putting up the next post for your third wave of questions on Monday, November 30th. For now, we hope you enjoy the answers given by Al Rivera, senior game designer on Star Trek Online.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: A visual tour of LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood If you haven't had a chance to see Turbine's latest creation, check out our video tour of the expansion just after the jump below. Also, be sure to watch Massively for more coverage on Siege of Mirkwood from now to December 1st and beyond! Is a Call of Duty MMO in the works? Well, it's a possibility, at any rate. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, was officially released November 10th with what the LA Times described as a "Hollywood-scale launch". The launch expenses turned out to be money well spent, as the game had generated $550 million in sales as of last Saturday. Fans lined up days in advance to pick up their copy of Modern Warfare 2, complete with free night vision goggles. First Impressions: Allods Online In this one for gPotato's upcoming free-to-play Allods Online, we did something a bit different. Instead of just a write-up, we've also done a short video to show the visual side of our impressions. Why? Because Allods Online deserves it, in our opinion. Keep reading after the jump for the embedded video and a brief run-down of what we thought.

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: NCsoft hints at Guild Wars 2 beta in 2010, launch in 2011 While the bits of information given here and there add up to something relatively substantial, fans are still asking the big question: When? Obviously the planned 2008 beta didn't happen, and now fans will have to wait a bit longer. Will Star Trek Online be ready for its launch? It's no secret that a lot of people in the MMO blogosphere are excited about Star Trek Online, considering that it's more or less a built-in home run from many of the same people who play MMOs. But there are certainly questions to be asked about any MMO due out soon, especially one with three more months before it hits launch day. Bio Break asks the question in simplest terms: will the game really be all set for a February release?

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  Gaming

  Gaming By Shawn Schuster

  MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

  When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week: Funcom receives grant to create extreme sports MMO In between navigating the sometimes-choppy waters of Age of Conan and working toward the launch of The Secret World, Funcom is having a busy year, but it looks like they are adding one more project to the pile as well. Exclusive interview with Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon Mark Kingdon, Linden Lab's CEO, has been a bit of a mystery figure since his appointment about a year and a half ago. While he has not been uncommunicative, it's been hard to get a very good sense of the man at the helm of Linden Lab, his passions, interests and direction.

  By Shawn Schuster Read More