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Transformers Universe won't be RuneScape with robots
Jagex Chief Creative Officer Alex Horton recently spoke to PC Gamer about the transformation of Transformers Universe and how the "MOTA" title will differ from the MMORPG sandbox Jagex is most famous for. "Whilst staying true to what Jagex is best at (pushing forward the free-to-play, browser-based gaming arena), we moved away from delivering 'RuneScape: The Cybertron Edition' and focused on upping the emphasis on action and the different skills of a collection of Transformers Warriors," he explained. "We've created a collaborative and competitive combat experience with deep MMO heritage. A game for today. The Transformers are the center of the game, rather than the original notion of building your own Transformers warrior that is your avatar." He also addresses balancing the game to appeal to casuals, core gamers, and genre fans.
Ten things to do in Free Realms before it's gone
Free Realms is set to close down at the end of this month, and despite the fact that the game is aimed toward players much younger than I am, I'm going to miss it. When the game first launched, my two oldest daughters and I played religiously. It was an easy way for us to interact and play together when I was away, and they spent a sizable chunk of their allowances on pets, mounts, and housing items over the years. So I've decided to honor Free Realms with this article detailing a few things you can do in the game before it's gone forever.
RuneScape's got a new 'one of a kind' grandmaster quest
Jagex has announced RuneScape's new 'One of a Kind' grandmaster epic quest, which it says is both the first major update of its "lore-packed March" as well as part of an initiative to take the fantasy game's questing "back to its roots." "You'll travel the world, uncover the lost library of Robert the Strong, and the fate of a dying people will rest in your hands," according to the announcement on the RuneScape website. As you might imagine, there are plenty of spiffy rewards, but the quest does boast some significant entry requirements.
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MMObility: Age of Ascent hopes to beat EVE Online's battle concurrency record
Age of Ascent is the new work-in-progress from Illyriad Games, the maker of one of my current favorite MMORTS titles, Illyriad. I've written about Illyriad before and have always enjoyed its epic scale and massive numbers, but with this new project, the team is promising something that is not only larger than anything it has ever done but larger than anything that has been done before... by anyone. The studio is working closely with Microsoft in the hopes of achieving massive numbers in a twitch-based sandbox MMO that runs in your browser. I've gone through a few test runs with tons of other players and had no issues whatsoever, even while running it on a $200 Chromebook! It's an exciting prospect, but I had to ask some more questions about the upcoming title. I asked James Niesewand, CEO of Illyriad Games, to clear up some of my confusion.
Meltdown and Duststorm roll out into Transformers Universe
The first two soldiers in Transformers Universe have been revealed, along with a glimpse of how the game will actually play. Meltdown and Duststorm are the new entrants, with Meltdown representing the Autobots and Duststorm arriving with the Decepticons. Meltdown is a medical sort of 'bot, not dissimilar from Ratchet, sporting heavy weaponry along with a specialized repair beam for team support. He can repel enemies, fortify himself while attacking, and boost allies after a quick shot of repairs. By contrast, Duststorm is something of a vampiric sniper. She sports long-range weapons that can leave bombs, stun targets, or tear through shields, absorbing the energy of enemies that she demolishes. In desperate situations, she can also accelerate projectiles in close-range engagements to take out approaching foes. Check out the videos for both robots just past the break, showing off their skills in action as well as a glimpse of the game's battlefields. [Source: Jagex press release]
CCP's Craig Scott switches to lead designer at Bigpoint
Free-to-play-focused publisher Bigpoint has announced the newest addition to its design team: Craig Scott. Scott jumps into the role of lead designer on a new game for Bigpoint. A 14-year gaming industry veteran, Scott was previously at CCP where he first worked on character creation in EVE Online, moved up to manage the game's design team, and ultimately worked to turn the fate of Dust 514 around. Scott noted that his new position affords "space for trying new things, which is a premise for making really innovative games." Of Scott, Bigpoint CEO Khaled Helioui said, "Craig brings a genuine passion for game design and innovation for the benefit of the players, and he fits perfectly with the game development philosophy we are promoting at Bigpoint. We are focused on attracting the most brilliant minds in the industry to develop innovative and incredibly fun games." [Source: Bigpoint press release]
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MMObility: A newbie's look at the fantastic Therian Saga
I'm tired today. I was up too late playing The Therian Saga, a new browser-based MMO by Studio Virtys. It's a seemingly simple game and might even appear to be easier than it is, but I have found these last several hours of play to be more immersive and satisfying than much of what I have played over the last several months. Essentially, the game is an in-depth representational game, meaning that most of the time you will spend your time giving commands and watching -- or waiting for long periods -- for the commands to work out. Think of the gameplay sort of like Words With Friends with some real-time combat. No, you won't be spelling against your enemies, but the pace is definitely casual with optional, faster combat.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite MMO minigame?
Tuesday's announcement by Jagex that it had implemented a bank heist minigame into RuneScape struck a personal chord. I love MMO minigames, and here's one I haven't really seen before! I'm not sure how it will stack up to EverQuest II's aether races, Vanguard's diplomacy, or Lord of the Rings Online's music system in terms of my personal favorites, but it sounds pretty slick. What about you, Massively readers? Do you dig minigames in your MMOs? Which one is your favorite? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Salem prepares for full wipe
The end of the world is nigh for Salem and it's rankling more than a few players' sensibilities. Earlier this month, the developers announced that they will be conducting a full wipe of Salem in an upcoming patch. This will reset the map and delete all characters in order to condense the population onto a single server. Currently the game is running on multiple servers, which the devs deem as "overestablished." Players are upset that the sandbox MMO is being wiped in light of the team previously promising that it wouldn't do such a thing. Seatribe is sympathetic but resolute: "We did not arrive at this decision lightly. We have considered all our options and for various reasons found them wanting." The good news is that the patch will add in plenty of new features and tweaks, including a rework of the gluttony system, improvements to character proficiencies, and the implementation of a new map generator. Every item that characters purchased from the store beforehand will be restored to them once the patch goes live. [Thanks to Nine for the tip!]
The Stream Team: Rockin' it out in Free Realms
Massively's Larry Everett and his son Zach want to get some time into Free Realms before it shuts down. Join them at 7:00 p.m. EST as they tour their favorite places and play their favorite minigames in SOE's kid-focused MMORPG. Hop in the game with them if you'd like; maybe they can get a full demolition derby team together! Game: Free Realms Host: Larry Everett Date: Tuesday, February 18th, 2014 Time: 7:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Stream Team video below.
RuneScape gets a bank-robbing minigame
Jagex has added a new bank-robbing minigame called Heist to its long-running RuneScape MMO. "Players form two teams and are pitted against each other in a contest of espionage, deception, and grand larceny," the firm explains. While the setup is pretty simple, Jagex says that the Heist minigame requires skill to master. "The best robbers will be able to mimic the island's citizens to fool the guards," the company says, "while the most successful guards will be the ones who can spot suspicious behaviour a mile off. Start your adventures in bankrobbing by climbing the airship ladder north Falador, and hit up the RuneScape home page for further details.
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MMObility: Line of Defense Tactics is a fun start for an IP
Line of Defense is an upcoming MMOFPS created by 3000AD. It looks like an interesting twist on the shooter genre, complete with large battles and vehicles to control. It offers only a beta sign-up right now, so if you are interested in diving into the LoD universe, you can download the newly released Line of Defense Tactics standalone game. It's not an MMO, but it still introduces players to the IP. If you're a fan of real-time turn-based combat and challenging gameplay, you might want to give it a go on your portable device or PC. I downloaded a version of Tactics from Steam and tried it on my Android tablet as well. Both experiences felt pretty much the same, and my game save synced between both devices easily. Today I am going to cover the mobile version mostly, but it should be noted that the PC version looks and acts pretty much identically.
Massively's Valentine's Day roundup
When a mob hits your eye with a big sharpened spike... that's not really amore! In fact, it's downright painful. But it's February -- a time when love is in the air, hearts are aflutter everywhere, and pink and red festoon your favorite MMOs. So in the spirit of the season, go ahead and give that mob an extra-hard love tap, right from... er, to the heart! And don't forget to collect whatever treasures it had for you because we all know Valentine's Day isn't all about the love; no, it's about the loot! Want to know where to get your hands on something special for this holiday? There are plenty of celebrations throughout the MMOverse offering a plethora of events and goodies. Check out some of the various Valentine's events and specials going on now.
Former Free Realms lead outlines the dangers of metric-based design
GamesIndustry.biz has published an interesting think-piece featuring SOE's Laralyn McWilliams. McWilliams, former creative lead on Free Realms, says that free-to-play firms relying heavily on metrics to define their development roadmap may come up short. "There's no measuring spoon for love. You can't quantify it," McWilliams explained to a Casual Connect Europe audience. "Retention is not the same as happiness." She went to detail how metrics can contribute to an illusion of control and confidence on the part of developers when in reality, "the point is that it's a mix of logic and emotion that goes into our decisions as game designers. That's why we can never design by metrics."
Lord of Ultima shutting down in May
The land of Caledonia will soon be swallowed up by the sea of game closures. On Monday, May 12th at 2:00 a.m. EST, Lord of Ultima services will be stopped permanently. Announcing the closure, the developers of Lord of Ultima thanked players for their continued support over the years. Starting now, the ability to buy Play4Free Funds is disabled, but players who currently have the in-game currency are encouraged to spend it before the shutdown. New account creation has also been disabled; those who are already in the game, however, can continue their quest to be one of the final lords ruling over the land. [Thanks to all who sent in tips!]
Transformers Universe delivers trailer
Yesterday we learned that Transformers Universe is no longer going to be an MMO, but a "MOTA" (massively online, tactical action game) instead. And delivering on CEO Mark Gerhard's promise that fans would see more about the game from here on out, Jagex has released a new trailer. Check out the action of Autobots and Decepticons battling it out in the clip below. The game, slated for release this summer, is accepting beta sign ups now. [Source: Jagex press release]
Jukebox Heroes: Free Realms' soundtrack
There's something about the announcement of a game's closure that draws tons of interest to that MMO, the type of interest that it frankly needed long before now, not a few minutes too late. Even so, I had Free Realms on my to do list for a while now and figured that spending an hour with its score was something that needed to be done. Free Realms had had a lot of fingers in its musical pie, including those belonging to Tracy W. Bush, Atli Örvarsson, David Raiklen, and Aaron Kaplan. As a score, it's very reminiscent of The Sims franchise's soundtracks: whimsical, childlike, and quite light on pounding percussion. The many minigames and themed zones probably demanded a good variety of motifs to be developed. It's a very good score overall although not as wide on variety as I would typically like. Let's give this game the musical send-off it deserves!
MMObility: Exploring the confusing world of mobile MMOs
The mobile MMO market has sort of come to a standstill, at least in the Western market. There are always new or incoming mobile titles that are MMO-like and even a handful of new fully fledged MMOs, but most of the ones I come across are either relative copies of current games or blatant repeats of current designs. There's just not much that is new coming to the table right now. It's a bit depressing because mobile devices are perfect delivery systems for massively multiplayer gaming, and yet so many developers are cutting down standard MMO design to fit into the mobile world. What I would like to suggest is a rethinking of MMOs for mobile. I'd like to see developers stop with the idea that mobile players are gaming the same way they do on a console or PC. Instead, I'd like to suggest that developers get to know how players interact with mobile devices and how that affects how and how long they play. Mobile MMOs should behave differently, but not so differently that they are no longer MMOs. There are many different types of games you will find when you search for "MMORPG" on Google Play or the App market. Most of them are not MMORPGs, however.
The Daily Grind: Which of the recent SOE shutdowns will prove the most influential?
SOE is putting down four of its MMOs this year, and while this has been discussed to death here and elsewhere over the past few days, one thing I haven't seen is any chatter about the legacies -- good or bad -- of Vanguard, Free Realms, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Wizardry Online. So, let's talk about that now. Which of these four games do you think will prove the most influential in the long run? Why? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
RuneScape behind-the-scenes video reveals boss character development
When you face a massive foe in your favorite game, do you wonder what went into making it? RuneScape has overhauled one if its earliest bosses and brought fans along for a look at the creative process in a new behind-the-scenes video. The revamp of the Giant Mole Boss shows off the steps from conceptualization to animation to audio to release. The finished product of the team's efforts is a nastier looking Giant Mole with modern boss mechanics, two difficulty modes, and an instanced lair for both solo and group runs. And what boss overhaul would be complete without new loot? Once players defeat this boss, they have the chance to acquire new rewards -- a mole that improves anti-dragon shields and numbing roots that remove DoTs -- on top of the original items. Follow along with the revamp in the clip below. [Source: Jagex press release]
