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The Mog Log: The dark night of the Final Fantasy XIV fansite
I was going to wrap up my beta thoughts this week, but there's a subject that needs to be discussed earlier as part of the Final Fantasy XIV community as a whole. Specifically, the fact that our fansites are dying off. Some of that was inevitable after the game's launch, but two of the biggest gathering points for the community have been hit hard recently. FFXIVCore closed its doors, and Gamer Escape is now asking for subscriptions and donations to help keep the site running. (GE covers general gaming as well, but the focus has always been on Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV.) At a point when fansites should be getting more vibrant in preparation for launch, they're dwindling. So what happened? And for that matter, why is it so important for us to have fansites for the community? The answer to the former is pretty obvious, but the answer to the latter is a bit more involved, and it's worth discussing because I'm firmly of the mind that we need fansites, several of them.
The Nexus Telegraph: A WildStar community roundup
Let's talk about WildStar. Do you want to? I'd reckon you do, considering that you're reading this now. A lot of people want to talk about it, after it showed up more or less from nowhere with a striking look, spectacular setting, and the promise of several interesting gameplay systems, all from a studio that looked from the outside to have been catatonic before this came riding onto the scene. The point is that WildStar is kind of a big deal. It's novel, it's exciting, and it's as different a take on the science-fiction genre as you could ask to have. Unfortunately, it's also still not released. But we've had a year of solid information to chew on, and as a result I'm happy to present the first installment of Massively's new column, The Nexus Telegraph. This week we're going to kick things off with a look at some important links, just to start things from a solid foundation... albeit a smaller one.
Blizzard lists external resources for WoW players
If you're just getting back into WoW or are looking at the patch 5.0.4 tsunami heading our way next week and wondering what to do, our friend Zarhym has a list of popular resources, fansites and other websites for you to peruse. None of these are run by Blizzard, but they are all sites that focus on the World of Warcraft in one way or another, be they databases like Wowhead or helpful strategy guide sites like Learn to Raid. If you're looking for a site, the complete list is below so you can see if it matches your needs. I especially like that WoW Insider site. They're so dreamy. Zarhym - World of Warcraft Fansites & Other Resources For those of you seeking to enhance your World of Warcraft experience, connect with your peers; quickly search vast quest, item, and achievement databases; and much more, we've put together a list below of popular external resources operated by your fellow members of the community. These are quality content-driven sites that we feel are very beneficial to you as a player. Keep in mind that these websites are not owned or operated by Blizzard Entertainment, and we don't control or endorse all information found on them. This list is also not exhaustive. We'll be expanding on this list as necessary over time to provide you with the best, most up-to-date community resources. /r/WoW - official reddit community Arena Junkies - PvP gameplay & strategy BlizzPlanet - news; editorial Curse - news; UI addon database GuildOx - guild ranks & stats How to Priest - priest gameplay & strategy Learn to Raid - news; strategy MMO Champion - news; database TankSpot - news; strategy Ten Ton Hammer - news; editorial WarCraft Pets - pets & companions database Wow Achievements - achievements database & ranks WoW insider - news; editorial WoW Interface - UI addon database Wowhead - news; database Wowpedia - wiki database source It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
The Secret World community guide
Today marks the beginning of the end of the world -- you know, if you believed in that conspiracy theory stuff. And if you so happened to buy into all that, then you probably are pinning your hopes on a few stalwart souls to wedge themselves between you and the forces of the apocalypse. Those brave people are beginning to wage war in The Secret World as of today (if they have early access and a copy of the necronomicon, of course). As per tradition here at Massively, we want to give everyone a fighting chance by putting as much information at your fingertips as possible. So presented for your approval is our community guide to TSW. Because information is power -- now more than ever.
The Summoner's Guidebook: A community guide to League of Legends
Greetings, summoners, and welcome to the first installment of the Summoner's Guidebook! For a new player, the Guidebook is a one-stop-shop to gaining familiarity with the various elements of League of Legends. For the more advanced players, we'll also be covering ways to improve on weak areas of your play and how to deal with the toughest of matchups. I was a new player once, and I remember being extremely daunted by the number of things I needed to learn to be competitive in LoL. Although the journey from newbie to expert was long and difficult, I learned a lot about common mistakes and how to reduce them. If you're looking to step up your game or if you're just getting into the League, the Summoner's Guidebook is the place for you to learn without being treated like you're a noob. This week, we're going to cover the community resources available to you. There are a lot of websites dedicated to League of Legends, and it would be foolish to assume that this column is the only place to get advice on the game. If there's something I haven't covered yet or there's a topic I'm unfamiliar with, you can be sure that one of these places will have the info you're looking for. This article can't possibly cover all the League fansites on the internet (there are probably hundreds), but I can focus on the ones with the best information.
The Daily Grind: Have the post-NDA testimonials changed your mind about SWTOR?
It's been a half a week or so since BioWare hit Star Wars: The Old Republic's NDA with a Death Star-sized superlaser, and boy have the spaceships hit the fan. Massively readers, fansite operators, forumites, Tweeters, podcasters, and the entire cantina at Mos Eisley have piped up with impressions, thoughts, analysis, and opinions as to whether this MMO has lived up to expectations or not. While we cannot stress enough that a beta is a beta and not a launched product deserving of a full-range judgment, many curious players have taken this opportunity to soak up the information, particularly if they have not been in the beta as of yet. Others might have dipped their toes in the beta but are interested to hear what some of the long-time vets have to say at this juncture. So what about you? Has anything you read or heard about SWTOR following the NDA drop changed your mind? 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!
Star Wars Galaxies fan site hacked, 23K passwords stolen
Talk about kicking a game's community when it's down. VentureBeat reports that Star Wars Galaxies.net, a major SWG fan site, was hacked yesterday. Star Wars Galaxies.net is part of a LucasArts fan site network, and apparently was not being actively maintained, as the last update was in June of 2009. Still, over 21,000 email addresses and 23,000 passwords were stolen -- some of which could lead to identity theft, according to authorities. The hack was perpetrated by ObSec, a small group in the vein of LulzSec. The hackers posted the email addresses and passwords online for all to see. Analysis of the passwords found that 71% were relatively weak and easy to crack anyway. Some Star Wars Galaxies players may see this as an unfortunate echo of the much larger Sony hack that happened earlier this year. We at Massively urge any players who have used this fan site to make sure that they change their passwords elsewhere as well.
Behind the Mask: Chatting with Champions Online's wiki mistress
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I was planning on interviewing some key members of the Champions Online community. There were a few questions raised to me on just what constituted a "key member." This week, I got to chat with CO's resident wiki mistress, Lohr. She's the owner and administrator of the biggest Champions fansite on the internet, Champions Online Wiki. CO-Wiki is the largest repository of information on the game available anywhere on the internet, and it includes everything from information on missions to powers and levels. Early in its youth, CO-Wiki was not the biggest, being dwarfed by a Wikia site dedicated to Champions Online (which is still being updated). However, CO-Wiki drew contributors and quickly became a striking success. Today, players can access CO-Wiki directly from the Champions Online website. Lohr and I chatted about how she got to where she is now and what she thinks about the path the game is taking. Hit the jump to read the full scoop!
The Game Archaeologist goes to Earth & Beyond: The highlights
For this month's Game Archaeologist expedition, I deliberately wanted to look at an older MMO that was -- for whatever reason -- no longer with us. After voting on a handful of these titles, Massively readers selected Earth & Beyond for March's focus, and I have to say that I'm intrigued. Personally, I prefer science fiction over fantasy nine times out of ten, even though most of the MMOs that grace my desktop (with the exception of Star Trek Online) are fantasy games. Sci-fi has had an awfully difficult time making headway into the field of MMOs, with plenty of underperforming or canceled titles littering the way. I've heard it explained that the fantasy genre is easier for the common person to grasp because it uses elements of our past -- primarily the medieval period -- to provide a familiar baseline, whereas sci-fi's futuristic setting requires world-building from scratch. Whatever the case may be, Earth & Beyond never really caught on the way that EVE Online did, and its miniscule population (GameSpot reported 20-25K subscribers six months before its shutdown) was not enough for Electronic Arts to keep it running. But between 2002 and 2004, Earth & Beyond reached for the stars and gave its own spin on how a sci-fi MMO could work. Let's take a look today at what made Earth & Beyond unique, what it gave the industry, and how it may help upcoming space MMOs avoid a similar fate.
SWTOR fans gather in droves for PAX East
Although I doubt it has Blue Milk, the Times Irish Bar does have a nice cold beer, or at least the Star Wars: The Old Republic fans hope so when they visit during PAX East. The event hasn't even started, but you can almost hear Figrin D'an and the Modal Nodes tuning up now for the SWTOR Community Cantina. What is the SWTOR Community Cantina, you ask? I'm surprised you don't know. Fansites, Massively, and just plain-old SWTOR fans have decided that one gathering just wasn't enough for a game as epic as SWTOR. Do any of these names seems familiar to you -- Pete, Dover, Orionark, Musco, Samm, Brooks, Zach, Lordhammer, Vall, Lethality, Kathy, and Roxanne? Maybe you're more familiar with the fansites they represent: Darth Hater, TOROcast, Mos Eisley Radio, TORSyndicate, AskAJedi, and Corellian Run Radio. If you're just dying to meet any of these people or are a fan of Star Wars: The Old Republic, come to Boston's Times Irish Bar during PAX East on March 11th at 7:00 p.m. EST for the SWTOR Community Cantina. While you're there, you can give me a high-five, too. We can party like it's 4,000 BBY!
SWTOR's Rich Vogel shares the spotlight with Mos Eisley Radio in this week's update
Star Wars: The Old Republic Fan Friday is usually packed with a Corellian freighter full of information. Today, we have two freighters full. On the community side, Mos Eisley Radio answers some questions about running a SWTOR fansite. On the game side, concept artist Diego Almazan discusses designing the feel for the Sith Temple, and Executive Producer Rich Vogel answers questions from fans. Mos Eisley Radio has been mentioned quite a bit on this site as well as the official SWTOR website. This fansite's focus is a news-and-opinion podcast hosted by Brooks Guthrie and Zach Brown -- even this Massively reporter has appeared on the show. When asked what makes Mos Eisley Radio unique, the hosts replied, "We do our best to avoid bogging down in the tiny details of each update, and instead use the news coming from BioWare as a basis for larger discussions about The Old Republic." Check out the whole conversation on Fan Friday news page. Also, Diego Almazan gives us a peek backstage. He explains the details and thought process behind creating a tomb that also serves as a temple. "I wanted to keep in mind that this temple is as much an ancient prison for the dead as it is a tomb or necropolis," Almazan said the in the Studio Insider. Is this a clue that there may be something trying to get out? Lastly, Rich Vogel answers fan questions like, "Will Consulars be pigeonholed into one role?" Vogel was not shy when he answered, "Consulars, like our other classes, will have more than one viable role to play. One of our goals is to provide players multiple options within their classes." As if it was in question, Vogel also confirmed that we will indeed be able to jump in The Old Republic.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Community guide to RIFT
BLOG POST OPENED! Swiftly, readers rally together to fight the imminent threat to the internet as dark words stream down from the tear in cyberspace. Unholy pronouns and sentence fragments begin to march toward civilized forums, remolding the fabric of reality in their image. Fortunately, valiant defenders of all that is true and grammatically correct push back against the invasion, suffering heavy losses until... BLOG POST SEALED! If you couldn't tell, this is the maiden voyage of Massively's weekly column devoted to Trion World's upcoming MMO, RIFT. We've been excited about this game for a while now, and with the NDA drop, the announcement of the launch date, news of the collector's edition, and upcoming beta events, it's as good a time as any to start talking about this addictive fantasy experience. Karen Bryan and I will be trading off weeks to cover RIFT from our different vantage points, and we're pretty geeked at the prospect. To kick off the very first Enter at Your Own Rift, we'll be following the Massively tradition of posting a community guide to all the hottest and most helpful links about this game after the jump.
Hyperspace Beacon: Don't be surprised if your website is mentioned here
The Hyperspace Beacon is your guide through the various twists, turns, and barrel-roles of the yet-to-be-released game Star Wars: The Old Republic, which is being produced by the super-duper developers at BioWare-EA. As we all wait anxiously for the open scroll of Star Wars: The Old Republic, more fansites are donning their Jedi robes and igniting their lightsabers. Some have have been around for a while now, and others are just getting off the ground, but all these holocrons of SWTOR lore are finding their true destiny in webspace. Some of these websites stand out as potential Jedi Masters, and I would like to take a moment to take note of them. A few months back, the first Hyperspace Beacon was launched. It recognized sites like Darth Hater and the Jedi Archive. Since then, more have proven to be beacons of light in the blackness of cyberspace. So, in an effort to keep the SWTOR community page up to date, I have explored the reaches hyperspace to find beacons of new hope. Set your navicomputer to follow me after the break. As Matt from TOROCast may say: Don't be surprised if your website is mentioned here.
More testing and fansite kits for Final Fantasy XIV's community
The release draws ever closer for Final Fantasy XIV's release, especially for eager players who have pre-ordered the special edition. But there are plenty of people who can't wait even that long, as seen by the response to the recent slew of fansite contests to award beta keys. Those keys will be usable sooner than some might have expected -- the game's third phase of closed beta testing is slated to start this Wednesday, August 11th. No indication is given for how long this phase will last or if the server will remain up at all times, although the latter seems likely. In the event that you're not in the beta but still want to spread the love for the game, Square-Enix has also released the official fansite kit for the game. FFXIVCore has previews of everything the kit contains, including several familiar images and decent-quality versions of several in-game icons. The kit can be downloaded from the official site, which should make Final Fantasy XIV's burgeoning fansite community quite happy.
Fansites offering keys to the Final Fantasy XIV beta
If you're eagerly anticipating Final Fantasy XIV's release, can't wait through the next fifty-odd days until the collector's edition is available, and don't feel like playing prior games in the series to take the edge off... well, you might be in luck. Square-Enix is continuing to reach out to the fan community, and the upcoming third phase of beta testing coincides with not one, not two, but three different beta pass giveaways around the web. Eorzeapedia, FFXIVCore, and ZAM are all offering readers a chance at winning a pass to the next phase of beta testing, with each requiring a slightly different sequence for participation. While the exact date for the next stage of Final Fantasy XIV's beta has not yet been announced, it's known to be some time toward the middle of August, which means at worst a month or so before the special edition of the game goes live. Head on over to your site of choice and enter to win if you want in on the testing -- and let's be honest, what fan doesn't?
Wasteland Diaries: Fansites
Finding your way through Fallen Earth can be daunting at times, but there is help out there. Sometimes the people in the game might not be the most knowledgeable or helpful lot. I said sometimes. Luckily for us, even though Fallen Earth has a relatively small community, it is populated with knowledgeable and helpful people. If something has you stumped, and you just can't seem to find anyone in-game that can help you, there are alternatives. Most of your simple problems can be solved in the help channel by a HazMat Team member or by other players in region chat. Some of your more complex problems may require a bit of research. Researching can be quite fruitless if you don't know where to look. After the cut, I'll give you several resources that you should bookmark immediately if you haven't already. Some of these resources are more up-to-date than others, but even out-dated information is still better than nothing.
Flameseeker Chronicles: Community guide, part two
As information about Guild Wars 2 continues to be made available, community activity has increased greatly. The sheer number of resources can be pretty overwhelming at this point, and for a while I considered updating the original community guide. However, there are new podcasts, fansites, images, and much more, so in the end I decided that it was more than enough to warrant a new community guide. So without further delay, I bring you Community Guide Two (go ahead and say electric boogaloo, you know you want to. I'll wait.). Hit the jump to see what's what in the Guild Wars 2 community these days.
Waging WAR: Community guide to Warhammer Online
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);} .shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);} So here it is: the first installment of Waging WAR, a weekly column about Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Every Saturday, the column will deliver the latest in information, press news, stories, debates, and more about WAR. What happened in Praag this week? Are they serious about such-and-such going live with the next patch? Are Shadow Warriors fixed yet? As it is with all new Massively game-specific columns, Waging WAR is launching with a community guide for fans of the game -- old-schoolers, re-enlistees, and new-comers alike -- to use as a collective resource of links and information about WAR. Join us after the break to check it out!
The Flameseeker Chronicles: Community guide to Guild Wars
Welcome to Tyria! The Flameseeker Chronicles will be a regular feature here at Massively, in which we cover all things Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2, beginning with this handy-dandy community guide. Guild Wars has been around for a while now, and has the advantage of a strong, knowledgeable fan-based community. There are literally hundreds of fan sites and forums, Twitter pages and Facebook pages all devoted to Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. It's very easy to get overwhelmed, so view this as a guide to where you can find the most comprehensive information for whatever you are looking for, be it gameplay information, news on game development, skill and build help, and much more.
The Mog Log: Community guide to Final Fantasy XI and XIV
The great thing about being a fan of Final Fantasy XI is that you're not lacking in any sort of resources online. After such a long lifespan, pages have been created to suit almost any need the community might have. And for a game whose mechanics can be obtuse at times, that's a good thing. But we're getting ahead of ourselves, aren't we? The Mog Log is Massively's new weekly column focusing on all things both Final Fantasy and online, meaning both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV. For our first installment, we're taking a look at the multitude of fan pages, guides, and other resources for players. Needless to say there are a few more options for the former game than the latter (due to only one of them actually being released yet), but there's already a community building in anticipation of Eorzea's adventures.
