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Bungie admits to MMO hoax
Are they or aren't they? This is the multi-million dollar question for Bungie Studios, who had all but confirmed that it was working on a MMO of sorts. Apparently, this was either a ruse, a goof or a massive misunderstanding, as a Bungie representative clarified David Aldridge's comments at GDC as being nothing more than a tongue-in-cheek joke. Bungie fans, prepare to have your heart broken, in three... two... one: "In rehearsal Aldridge was convinced that everybody got the joke. It was all in the delivery, he assured us, and he was certain it was clear that he was playfully riffing off of the recent rumors. Unfortunately, most people can't figure David out -- they can't process him. And we don't expect them to. You can't process David Aldridge with a normal brain. You'd need tiger blood and Adonis DNA." While the studio tried to laugh off the miscommunication, this is sad news indeed for MMO fans who had hoped that Bungie was jumping into the ring. Last month we heard unconfirmed reports that this alleged MMOFPS was being developed under the code-name of Destiny.
GDC 2011: Bungie's MMO won't be WoW in space
The top secret MMO project from Bungie continues to raise fan and industry eyebrows despite the absence of any real information about the title. The game, rumored to carry the code name Destiny, will be massively multiplayer, and it will be set against a space/sci-fi backdrop. Beyond that, it's anyone's guess as to what will actually emerge from the Halo-maker's secret laboratory. Joystiq has unearthed a blurb about the project from this week's GDC, wherein Bungie lead network engineer David Aldridge was overheard referring to the game as "massively multiplayer" as well as the fact that it won't be "WoW in space."
The MMO Report: Slave labor edition
In case you have you not gotten enough MMO news this week, Casey Schreiner delivers another action-packed episode of the MMO Report -- OK, maybe not action-packed, but it does have a lot of flying graphics. This week, the important topics are RIFT and some other things that no one cares about. Really, when there is a dev walkthrough from what is arguably the best game ever made, what else is there to talk about? Sure, there is that leak about Bungie's new MMO, and Minecraft received an update. But that pales in comparison to the wonder that is RIFT, right? Anyway, if you are looking to become Casey's indentured servant or you just want to watch his beard, follow after the break rift or visit G4TV! Don't touch the beard. RIFT.
MMO Roundup: Bungie's MMOFPS, RIFT endgame, and more
Sometimes you'd like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? It's not all WoW, all the time! Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all of the other MMOs around -- past, present and future. RIFT's endgame detailed in 18-minute video Much has been written about RIFT in regard to the title's first 20 levels, its soul system, and the titular rifting mechanics. Endgame has remained something of a mystery up to this point; a new 18-minute video will shed a little light on the proceedings. "WoW in space": Bungie's MMOFPS named Destiny A couple of years ago, fans of the Halo franchise were crushed to find out that their favorite first-person shooter probably wasn't going to make the leap to MMO space. However, the company behind the Halo phenomenon has been diligently at work on another highly speculated-about project -- and it looks as though this project could go a long way to giving the fans what they want. Champions Online gains profits and players as a free-to-play Since Champions Online's relaunch as a free-to-play title a little less than a month ago, any player who has logged into the game has undoubtedly noticed the sheer number of folks running around Millenium City. Cryptic Studios and Atari have both declared that the move to free-to-play has been a huge success. First Impressions: Fortune Online Are you looking for another Diablo-esque title to hold you over until Diablo 3? How about a top-down adventure MMO? Massively's Beau Hindman took the game hands-on and supplies his first impressions of Fortune Online! Massively Speaking episode 135 Massively Speaking returns this week with Shawn and Rubi discussing the week's latest MMO news. Later in the show, Shawn is joined by Gremrod and Styx, two members of the Menace to Society corporation in Perpetuum Online, to chat a bit about the recent insurance fraud actions taken by Avatar Creations. Massively's week in review Don't let WoW Insider do all of the talking when it comes to Massively's best content of the week. The Massively staff themselves have picked out what they think is the best content their site has to offer in their own weekly roundup.
Bungie denies claim of Activision-mandated layoffs, keeps mum on 'Destiny' MMOFPS talk
Bungie has issued a terse denial of reported contractor layoffs spurred by Activision, the studio's long-term publishing partner. One of the alleged contractors, who claimed to be "let go for no reason," detailed the supposed account to Kotaku Australia. "We were given no warning," the source said. "Bungie told our agencies that it was 'performance related,' but one of our fellow fired-employees was an IT contractor and showed us an email he received before his account was killed, citing 'project sensitivity' and 'budgetary concerns from our publisher.'" Bungie refuted the claim, saying in a statement that the studio "has never been asked to lay off any employees or contract employees by our publisher, Activision-Blizzard, for any reason." Last May, Activision did confirm that it was funding the development costs of Bungie's multiplatform mystery project, which the publisher said would employ nearly 200 staff. Perhaps sensitive to the assumption that Activision maintains close operational oversight of spending for the project, Bungie found it necessary to so explicitly discredit the reported layoffs. The post on Bungie.net was later updated, "To clarify, Bungie has not experienced layoffs or group firings of any kind." A link to the studio's current job openings was also included with the statement to emphasize that Bungie is actually still hiring. Of course, the developer made no mention of the alleged contractor's other supposed revelation: that the project in question combines FPS and MMO elements (an FPSMMO, if you will) in a sci-fi setting, according to Kotaku's source, and will be named "Destiny" -- but codenamed "Tiger," for now. Neither title matches up with any of the recently discovered Bungie trademarks, but the MMO component does echo the hypothetical musings of Bungie creative director Joe Staten. "Wouldn't it be great if we could make a world that was always there for you?" Staten wondered aloud during a GDC Online panel discussion last fall. "Wow. That would be great." [Image source: Bungie.net]
"WoW in space": Bungie's MMOFPS named Destiny
A couple of years ago, fans of the Halo franchise were crushed to find out that their favorite first-person shooter probably wasn't going to make the leap to MMO space. However, the company behind the Halo phenomenon has been diligently at work on another highly speculated-about project -- and it looks as though this project could go a long way to giving the fans what they want. According to Kotaku, Bungie has been developing a massively multiplayer first-person shooter named Destiny. Previously code-named "Tiger," Destiny is described by Kotaku's unnamed source as being "World of Warcraft in space" and will run on all-new technology developed by the studio, including unique online connectivity and matchmaking software. Bungie is currently in a 10-year publishing agreement with Activision Blizzard, so presumably Destiny will be published by the company. Last year, Blizzard's Rob Pardo applauded the idea of a Bungie MMO, although he refused to comment on a collaboration between the two studios.
EVE Online gets rework of 'Destiny' simulation engine
EVE Online is notable among the MMO titles on the market for having a game with a single shard setting. Whether you're an industrialist mass producing exhumers or fighting in fleet battles for a large 0.0 PvP alliance, you're active in the same setting rather than shards. Keeping as many as 50,000 concurrent users active in one vast galaxy has been a challenge for CCP Games, and of course there have been numerous growing pains along the way. Namely, something called "desync". Desync has been a catch-all term to describe the various things that can go wrong during gameplay, but in short it's been something that has plagued a number of EVE's subscribers. In the words of EVE Software Engineer CCP GingerDude, desync is "the situation where the server and client disagree on the position of an object in space at a given time." Although it's been an issue for years, the problem has just recently been solved, according to CCP GingerDude's dev blog "Facing Destiny".
New zeppelin and portals coming in Patch 3.2
Another patch 3.2 announcement today, this time from Zaryhm concerning a few travel options in Azeroth.First, there will be a new zeppelin route between Thunder Bluff and Orgrimmar. We heard about this before, but now we know in what patch / context it will be released in.Secondly, there will be portal in Stormwind and Orgrimmar leading directly to the Stair of Destiny at the Dark Portal. No more need to haul yourself out there at level 58. Just take a portal instead!The portal in particular should help people level in Outland much easier. It should also help to significantly decrease the use of Hearthstones for traveling back and forth between Outland and Azeroth. Now you can fly to Shat in your 150% flying mount at 60, take a portal to Stormwind to train, and then portal right back to the entrance to Outland where you can hop on your flying mount again and return to grinding levels. Very quick, very easy, very smooth.
Get guided on LotRO's Destiny Points
In Lord of the Rings Online, destiny is more than a word, it's a form of currency. Destiny Points -- gained after level 10 -- are just one of the many meta-game goals players have to work towards over their long and illustrious careers fighting the forces of evil. Of course, you can also use your built up Destiny Points to empower your monster character for PvMP sessions as well, so it's more of a fighting the forces of evil, kinda, thing.Pretty confusing, right? That's why Turbine has this handy-dandy guide covering all the essentials about Destiny Points, how they work and what you can use them towards. If you're new to Lord of the Rings Online, or you're just the kind of player who shirks destiny and its silly points, reading through the guide may be a good idea. Although, what kind of MMO player shirks destiny when it comes in point form?
