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Choose My Adventure: TERA's Fate of Arun
As was mentioned many times during our end-of-year awards and the comments surrounding them, 2014 was a much better year for adding to existing properties than releasing new ones. Some of the biggest launches of the year came in the form of expansions like Rift's Nightmare Tide, Star Trek Online's Delta Rising, and Star Wars: The Old Republic's Shadow of Revan. Choose My Adventure even took the expansion route last month by investigating World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor. En Masse's TERA, too, received a huge update in 2014, though it launched with significantly less fanfare than some of the other major expansions of the year. Fate of Arun introduced new zones, added new dungeons, and raised the level cap (as expansions are wont to do). It also brought a new game mode in The Coliseum, a PvP/PvE hybrid arena-type thing. Perhaps most notably when compared to the other expansions of 2014, Fate of Arun is free to all TERA players. Since TERA so often flies under the radar with MMO fans, I thought it might be fun to dedicate this month's CMA to Fate of Arun. So get ready because it's time to start slaying some big-ass monsters.
TERA puts the wraps on 2014
Even though we're well into the new year, there are some who have yet to finish saying goodbye to the old one. One of these people is TERA Community Manager Tonka, who introduces a two-minute video tribute to 2014 in the game. And the above picture is misleading, by the way: He doesn't want to punch the year in the face so much as praise it. You can get Tonka and a musical tribute to TERA's previous year after the break!
DCUO reclaiming inactive names this month
SOE will be releasing inactive character names for current DC Universe Online players to claim "shortly after January 20, 2015." If you haven't logged since July 20, 2013 -- that's 18 months ago, for what it's worth -- your character names will be appended with an underscore and a roman numeral. SOE says that accounts and characters "will remain otherwise intact" and that no deletions will occur. If you want to be that guy who saves names in games he doesn't play, you can simply log in once prior to January 20th. But you're not that guy, right?
Black Desert Korean OBT exploits lead to permabans
If you were hoping for an exploit-free experience when Korean sandbox import Black Desert heads west, you may still get it. But you may not, if Steparu's recent experience in the game's K-OBT is any indication. Problems include a buy-back dupe, mob kills that gave abnormal amounts of experience, and "something with the shop." Steparu also reports that developer Pearl Abyss and publisher Daum have permabanned serious offenders and deleted ill-gotten gains from "light abusers."
SMITE's cinematic trailer on the eve of the World Championships
SMITE is hosting championships (with its gigantic and record-setting prize pool) very soon, and the team behind the game wants players excited. What's the best way to get players excited? Why, with a three-minute cinematic trailer in which a bunch of characters beat one another up, naturally. Look, it's not as if there's a whole lot of additional lore here that hasn't been chronicled in various mythological texts anyway. The rivalry between Thor and Guan Yi isn't usually acknowledged by mythology experts, but that's doubtlessly an oversight. The point is that if you want to watch an improbably busty goddess tap about in heals while fighting a wolf-beast, now is your chance. Click on past the break to watch the full trailer. It may not give you a whole lot of insight into mythology, but it will give you an idea of the game, at least. [Source: Hi-Rez Studios press release]
Hi-Rez offers more advice on how to break into the games industry
If Hi-Rez's last set of videos on how to break into the games industry didn't scare you off for good, then congrats: You are exactly the kind of idealistic glutton for punishment who should totally jump into the games industry to be underpaid and overworked for your valuable skills! Last time, the SMITE developers covered design, programming, and QA; this round, they're focused on 3-D character art and 2-D concept Art. Just before the holidays, they also pushed out a trio on marketing, shoutcasting, and streaming. Enjoy!
RuneScape player raises over $1200 for a pizza delivery tip
Charlie McCormick wasn't having a particularly good holiday season. For starters, he was a pizza delivery driver, which isn't a grand ball of fun at any point of the year. His mother had also recently passed away after a prolonged illness, meaning that even if he had somehow felt festive, there wasn't money to be festive with. At least, not until he made a delivery to Joey DeGrandis and was given a $1,230 tip for his service. DeGrandis is an avid RuneScape streamer who wanted to do something nice for a deserving delivery driver, as he feels the job isn't particularly respected for its hard work. Over the course of an 18-hour streaming marathon, his viewers raised the money for McCormick's tip while DeGrandis played, with more donations coming in even after McCormick got his initial tip. Sure, it plays into the stereotype that MMO players all sit at home and eat delivered pizza constantly, but if that stereotype includes being exceptionally charitable tippers, we can probably live with it.
PSA: TERA's $10 sub deal ends Thursday
If 2014's new MMOs are leaving you cold, maybe an older game would perk you right up and get you through January: TERA is still offering discounts on its revamped (and optional) Elite status subscription package. Until January 8th, players can sign up for a $9.99 monthly sub that lasts as long as it's maintained. In fact, if you were subbing last month, you'll want to take advantage of the resub to lock in the cheaper price and snag the new bonuses. The Elite tier now includes a mount, experience boost, reputation boost, gold boosts, atlas and travel journal, a daily loot box, and several potions. TERA launched its first expansion, Fate of Arun, earlier in December. I don't want to spoil anything, buuuuuuut TERA fans might want to keep an eye on Massively every Wednesday this month. Hint, hint. [Thanks, Nate!]
One Shots: Shadow play
Welcome to a new year -- and the best year of One Shots you'll ever see. I know this because I've been to the future (December 31st, 2015) and spent those precious time-bending moments flipping through all of the One Shots column this year. Amazing stuff, people. Really well done. Well, we might as well get started with your glorious photo journeys! Our very first pic of the year is from reader Becca, who sends us this groovy bit of shadow play in Elder Scrolls Online: "While waiting for a boss to spawn in a public dungeon, my friend Arkslan and my character Rozyn had some fun with lighting." Great. Now I know what will be lurking under my bed tonight: a sing-songy bard. Terror knows no name, but it does sing harmony.
The Game Archaeologist: How DikuMUD shaped modern MMOs
Even though there are hundreds and thousands of MMOs spanning several decades, only a small handful were so incredibly influential that they changed the course of development for games from then on out. DikuMUD is one of these games, and it is responsible for more of what you experience in your current MMOs than you even know. Of course, that doesn't mean everyone knows what DikuMUD is or how it shaped the MMOs that came out after it. You might have seen it used as a pejorative in enough comments that you know it is loathed by many gamers, but I find that there are varying degrees of ignorance about DikuMUD in the community. What is it, exactly? Why is it just the worst? And is it really the worst if we like the games that can point to this text-based MMO as a key ancestor? Today we're going to dispel the mystery and myths of DikuMUD to lay it out there as it was and is today.
One Shots: Pumpkin rider
What better way to usher in the new year than to take a look back at Halloween? OK, so I'm still catching up on all of the terrific player-submitted screenshots in our email, but we're getting closer than ever! In any case, I would not want to let this gourd-headed hero go unnoticed. Reader JohnD is the man behind the mask: "Here is Frani, my level 29 Hunter celebrating the Harvest Festival in Lord of the Rings Online. She got the mount, clothes, and pumpkin mask all this season. Fun time was had by all." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
RuneScape delivers its 2015 manifesto
We don't know what's better: the above teaser art or the fact that it represents RuneScape's upcoming 200th quest in which players will go to "a parallel universe where you, the hero, never existed and the bad guys won." This is just part of RuneScape's 2015 Manifesto, in which Mod Mark gives a brief overview of the game's next 12 months. He says that players will guide the game's development via suggestions from its RuneLabs site as well as additional polls. "You can be sure that next year will be a fantastic cocktail of your best ideas mixed with the best of ours!" Mark gushes. Other events in store include several updates to skills, new combat tactics, an Ocean's Eleven-style heist, a purpose for in-game shops, and a tussle with Tuska the World Devourer.
Norrathian Notebook: Landmark's two-week PvE checkup
Happy New Year! It makes sense to start this new year off by talking about a new game, right? And let's face it, after the fabled PvE content update, Landmark feels like a new game! This massive addition to the core of the sandbox has been live for two weeks now; that means two weeks of spelunking, salvaging, and more often than not, surviving. While it's true we got a preview of the update back on the day, that peek involved neither the cavern system nor crafting. And it certainly didn't contain nearly enough time! So now that I've had the chance to canvass the caverns, play with particle emitters, kills various critters, and concoct some new crafted items, how is it? How are things in the not-just-about-building game doing? Do these new systems offer more staying power as the closed beta continues on? Let's give Landmark its two-week PvE checkup!
Tree of Savior will launch free-to-play, heads toward first closed beta
If you had any lingering doubts that Tree of Savior would be launching as a free-to-play title, best to put them out of your head now. The game will indeed be launching free-to-play, at least in Korea, with an undisclosed number of "extra" items in the cash shop (which will be revealed in the future). Recruitment for the first closed beta is already underway, with the first test starting on January 15th, 2015. This early test will be limited to 3,000 participants, and as it's for the Korean version, you'll need a Korean Nexon account. Some clarification regarding the game's class structure has also been posted; it lays out how players can move up to the more advanced classes at regular intervals. The first test features only 28 possible classes rather than the full 80 of the final game, but more options will be made available as the game moves through testing.
One Shots: Today is a good day to fly
Klingons have long been the second-class citizens of Star Trek Online, although as of recent expansions they've come into their own in both content and culture. Reader Sean sends us in his wicked-looking avatar to be our final One Shots of 2014. See you all on the flip side! "Behold, my alter-ego, Shia'Tor of House Breknar, who is busy making plans aboard the IKS Heart of Praxis," he wrote. "There are plenty of Federation carebears to troll -- I mean, hunt." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
World of Tanks introduce pixel-tastic Winter Showdown
Ready to take on some blocky other tanks in blocky arenas with your own blocky tank? World of Tanks wants to endorse your readiness, not block you. The development team behind the game has announced the approaching Winter Showdown mode, an homage to the simpler games of youth -- assuming that you were growing up between 1985 and 1995 and the games of your youth featured online connectivity and pixels rendered in three-dimensional space, anyway. This mode is more than just a simple graphical overhaul, featuring three exclusive tank types, platoons of five tanks, and special gold rounds that hurt enemies or heal your allies. If you can't wait to start rolling in your pixel-based tank, good news: The mode will be available for play starting on January 26th in the United States. Take a gander at the trailer just past the break to see the blocky action in... um... action. [Source: Wargaming.net press release]
One Shots: Brain Boy
Boy howdy, I do love seeing the wonderfully bizarre superheroes that players can whip up in MMOs. Here's another winner from reader Dynatos, who shows off a rather... unique hero from Champions Online. "Born with an oversized (and over-active!) brain, Alistair Chester Grayson VI was never content with his 'weak' flesh -- so he put his brain to work augmenting his body with cyborg components he created!" Dynatos revealed. "Here he is hovering over the Renaissance Center." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
Get the full scoop on Marvel Heroes' Venom
The most recent addition to Marvel Heroes' roster, Venom, isn't merely a Spider-Man reskin. Gazillion put some thought into making this 43rd playable character unique as it uses its symbiote power to do nasty things to nasty people. Gazillion said that it wanted to go "all out" on Venom's looks and animations. Venom also has an interesting resource builder. "Unique to Venom, ichor serves as his primary resource, replacing spirit entirely, and accumulates as Venom uses powers that drain his own health – representing the host's constant battle with the symbiote," said Systems Designer Michael May. You can check Venom's trailer out after the break! [Source: Gazillion press release]
One Shots: The last superhero
I've been holding onto this screenshot for the better part of the year for a time when the world entire would need a jolt of City of Heroes to get it through the next day. I think that today is that day. Behold! A superhero! Reader Michelle said that she was still traumatized by the game shutting down: "This particular screenie was of my last 50. He was a Fire Armor/Electric Melee tank named Demolition Companion. He was a clockwork that the Resistance attempted to reprogram but didn't complete, so he was broken (hence why he was on fire all the time) and very, very dangerous. In this shot he's standing in the sewers ready to wipe out some Resistance scum. (He was one of my only Loyalists.) I wish I'd gotten to RP him more." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
Aion EU starts a new Q&A vidcast
Aion's EU dev team has released the first episode of a new vidcast called Ask Aion. It follows a pretty familiar Q&A format, with the questions pulled from fans via Twitter. They include bits about player events, possible server merges, and even an angry rant directed at publisher GameForge which prompts Aion's EU product director to strangle a plushie on camera. See for yourself after the cut.
