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MMObility: Developments in Gaikai, OnLive shine light on streaming future
Video game streaming software and systems is a hot topic. I've mentioned more than once that I think browser-based gaming (specifically MMOs) will be the main way we get our MMO fix within five years. Browser-based gaming is already responsible for a massive chunk of our MMO gaming. All it takes is one look at the number of players of games like RuneScape, Club Penguin, Travian, Spacetime Studio's collection, War of Dragons, Glitch, Evony (and its "nearly 30 million customers worldwide"), Grepolis, Bigpoint's stable, and many, many others to see that the number of us who play MMOs through our browsers is pretty staggering. Streaming content is next. TERA recently invited players to try out the game using a streaming client that is hosted by Gaikai, a streaming service that was recently bought out by Sony for a cool $380 million. While it does not yet stream MMOs, OnLive has been adding games to its collection for quite a while, embedding itself into televisions, tablets, and PCs and now offering a mobile desktop that gives iPad users access to a virtual PC desktop. I have successfully played many browser-based MMOs through that virtual desktop's browser. Big Fish games, a non-MMO developer that produces "a new game ever day," announced that it too will offer a streaming service this summer. I squealed out loud when I heard that one. Does this mean streaming content is closer to mainstream than I previously thought?
MMO Family: Open-world combat and old school gaming in Free Realms
There are many times lately when I've experienced the full power of the generation gap. As my kids get older and more game-savvy, I sometimes find myself trying to catch up with how the younger generation games compared to how I did it during the good old days of gaming. So it was a pleasant surprise to see a little taste of old school gaming in the latest update to kid-friendly MMO Free Realms. The normally peaceful Shrouded Glade has come under attack, and players have been swarming to the zone to help turn back the tide of invaders. It's a prelude event that will usher in some new content to the game, and it features several fun activities while the event continues, but the most notable change is the introduction of open world combat. For the first time in Free Realms, the bad guys are out and about in the Glade rather than corralled safely away in instances. That's brought some interesting changes to how players are interacting in game. In this week's MMO Family, we'll look at the Shrouded Glade event in Free Realms and see how it's bringing a little throwback-gaming to the pint-sized gaming generation.
The Soapbox: The death of AAA
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I think we're all pretty familiar with the tragic story of 38 Studios by now. If not, take some time to familiarize yourself with it. Essentially it is a tale of massive dreams, botched plans, and hundreds of job losses. I'm not yet sure exactly what went wrong, but I have a feeling that the lackluster response to the studio's stand-alone title might be to blame on top of the poor performance in the high-end of the company. Either way, I have seen many comments exclaiming the end of the big-budget title or at least more trepidation from governments that feel the need to get into a game (no pun intended) they were unfamiliar with. If we could take a poll of the several million "AAA" MMO players in North America, it's my bet that most of them simply go from one title to the other. The RIFT players who are now enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic came from World of Warcraft, and before that (if they played MMOs before WoW) they might have been City of Heroes fans and EverQuest players before that. For a long time, large studios held all of the players. Then, AAA started rolling down the steep hill to where it is now.
Previously on MV TV: The week of June 16th
Ah, livestreaming: the pastime of kings. And queens, obviously! You'll feel royally blessed this week by watching the livestreams you might have missed. If you want to keep up on the streams so that you don't have to listen to my silly jokes each week, be sure to bookmark our livestream schedule page and check back every week. You can also go to our livestream page, click on "more videos" at the bottom, and knock yourself out. You might be surprised at the streams you find! This week, we have the ever-charming Psykopig PvPing in Star Wars: The Old Republic; MJ pulling off some streams in EverQuest II, Vanguard and Aion; and my taking some time to help fight back the Gloam invasion in Free Realms! Cool stuff! Click past the cut, grab a batch of Chex mix and a root beer, and enjoy!
Free Realms prepares for The Gloam Invasion, teases Sunstone Valley
Rally yourselves, Free Realms players; the Shrouded Glade is under attack! In the latest update to Sony Online Entertainment's kid-friendly F2P title, players are tasked with assisting the nature-loving Shrouded Glade Druids and the technological Sunstone Dwarves in the reclamation of their home from the threat of the Gloam, which is warping the glade's former inhabitants into hostile creatures. After players have had ample time to fight back the Gloam in the Shrouded Glade, players will be rewarded with a bit of a respite in the bright and sunny home of the Dwarves, Sunstone Valley. The dusty crags of Sunstone will bring myriad new activities for players, such as fighting in the Rumbledome, exploring the wilderness, or just relaxing at a shady oasis. To get an early look at the two new additions, check out the Free Realms official site.
Previously on MV TV: The week of June 2nd
So how did you survive E3? Did you get everything that you wanted this year? No? Well, that's OK; there's always next year. In the meantime, be sure to check out all of our E3 coverage in case you missed anything. I know I missed a lot, and I work here! It's easy to forget that the hardcore office-monkies like yours truly stayed behind and continued on as normal. That means we still streamed our favorite titles for you to watch! So what did you miss? Here are some of the highlights! Mike decided to check out planetary action in EVE Online. We're not sure whether this meant asking a big green orb out on a date, but it sounds interesting! Next, he made a couple of runs through Drakensang Online, stomping newbie PvPers left and right. What a meanie! I jumped into a couple of games for your entertainment, including RuneScape. I wanted to show how the new Runespan worked, and I think I achieved my goal. Lastly I attempted to start a treehouse project in Free Realms, building it up slowly until I had a nice platform to continue from. If you've ever wondered what blank lots were used for in the charming social MMO, check it out past the break!
Free for All: Zeroing in on my favorite free-to-play mains
I felt a little nostalgic this week. Heck, at my age, I feel nostalgic every time I smell chimney smoke or hear Christmas music. I suspect it will only grow more common with age. MMOs have been such a huge part of my life for well over a decade now that I feel nostalgic about many of the things that happened during that time, and for many of the characters I have grown -- and lost. I'm not overly sentimental about it, but it is interesting how we feel about the pixelated versions of ourselves, the ones we control while sitting at a keyboard or while touching a tablet. I don't want to downplay how important gaming can be for many of us, either. Once, years ago, I met a fellow player in a social game called There. She was a wonderful person who had over time lost the ability to walk. She loved the freedom that the avatar gave her. Needless to say, she was very connected to her character. I made a short list of some of my favorite characters from the years. As I think about it, this list says a lot about me as a gamer and about the types of games I love.
The Game Archaeologist: When dead MMOs come back to life
Maybe I'm alone in this, but my jaw just dropped when I came home this past week to see that Massively posted the news that Shadowbane is coming back to life. Granted, it's only going to happen in China, but still, that's pretty incredible. Shadowbane's been in the ground for three years now, and if I had to pick an MMO that deserved resurrection, this particular one would be farthest from my mind (no offense if you liked the game; it's just that there are so many others that are even more worthy). But how can this not give you hope? Many of us have lost an MMO we loved or at least had a decked-out character populating the character select screen, and the thought of that game coming back against all odds is a goosebump-rising one. It may also smack of justice served, as some MMOs fail not because of faulty gameplay but because of mismanagement by the studio, complex legal wrangling, or bad marketing. Today let's look at a few examples of dead MMOs that were brought back to life and what this may mean for the future of the industry. Zombie MMOs! Not, you know, MMOs with zombies.
Free Realms throws itself a nice big birthday bash
MMO birthdays are the best celebrations. Instead of getting your favorite game a lot of presents to celebrate its age, most games give the players presents. So it is in Free Realms, which celebrates its third year of operation today with a number of events and rewards for players. The most basic rewards don't require any real effort on the part of players; just logging in today nets you a Birthday Cake hat, and you can enjoy triple Station Cash for the rest of the day. There's more to the party, however: The game's offering a number of daily quests to help Queen Valerian produce the best birthday party ever. There's also the dread monster Cakenstein, a beast assembled from... well, you can probably guess from the name. The extended events will be running until May 24th, but the Station Cash promotion and the hat are only for today. So if you're a fan of Free Realms, log in and start enjoying the festivities today!
Free for All: New browser-based converts shine light on issues
I recently threw out a prediction that within five years, most of our MMO content will be coming through our browsers. To be more specific, I think that most players in the United States will be enjoying their favorite MMOs within a browser. That can mean several things but does not refer to games like Free Realms, a client-based game that is only signed-into at the browser level. As with any discussion about genres, mechanics or styles in the MMO world, I have to be very specific. It's pretty likely that a very large percentage of the US playerbase is already playing browser-based games. Look at the American market for games like RuneScape, Battlestar Galactica Online, Club Penguin, Drakensang Online, Evony, and Ministry of War and you might just find millions of players. Next we need to consider that there are more games coming into the browser market. This new batch is essentially a group of standard, client-based MMOs that are porting themselves to the browser. I tend to be a little skeptical about some of these in the short-term, for several reasons.
SOE games down Monday for 24-hour maintenance
We imagine that the word downtime makes Sony Online Entertainment employees cringe, convulse, and eye-twitch for hours on end after last summer's disastrous hacker-induced service outage. Happily, though, the next service interruption is planned, and we've got plenty of notice. SOE will be performing maintenance this Monday, April 23rd, and the firm says that all of its game services will be unavailable for approximately 24 hours. The downtime starts at 3:01 a.m. EDT. Commerce transactions and account management functionality will also be affected, so you might as well cross all of your SOE-related plans off Monday's calendar.
Luck awaits Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures on Friday the 13th
Traditionally, Friday the 13th bears the bad-luck brand. However, tomorrow, you have nothing to fret about if you play Free Realms or Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures because Sony Online Entertainment prepares to entertain its players with superstitious tomfoolery. If you pounce around the land of Free Realms near Champ Chatty and Camp Robbie Lake, be prepared to run into Jason Maskface. This creepy fellow wants to recruit you into scaring people by turning you into a banshee, skeleton, or other graveyard element. Additionally, each participant will receive the ability to turn into a "Scaredy" black cat. The Force is with players of CWA because all transforming holoprojectors go on sale tomorrow at 50% off. If you happen to wander around the main hall, veranda, or hanger of the Jedi Temple, don't be surprised if you or the people around you randomly turn into skeletal Clone Troopers, breaking into a dance -- it's the only way to frighten away the bad luck of Friday the 13th. [Source: SOE press release]
April Fool's jokes streak across the MMO community
It may be the weekend, but that's never stopped pranksters in the past from pulling off truly epic April Fool's jokes. Many MMO studios, bloggers, and fan site operators are lining up to take a shot at the jester's crown today, hoping that their blatant (and entertaining) lies will at least amuse, if not trick, players. It would be fool-hardy (har har) to try to round them all up, so suffice it to say that office clowns have been quite busy thus far. From Star Wars: The Old Republic's announcement of playable ship droids and City of Heroes' offer of ludicrous marketplace sales to Blizzard's focus on educational kids games and StarCraft 2's playable supply depots to SOE scaring visitors with Chatdy, the gags are flying fast and furious. We might be the most impressed with a deeply detailed wiki entry for a Guild Wars mission called Annihilator 2: Searing Day, during which players are sent into the past to save Gwen from the G-1000. If you've spotted any other pranks, please share them in the comments!
Free for All: Free-to-play MMO versions of your favorite Nintendo games
I have to be honest -- I wasn't the biggest Nintendo fan. I grew up right as the whole thing was really smashing and keeping kids glued to their TVs, but I generally went outside and played more than stayed inside and played games. (Odd, huh?) Still, I had my fun with certain titles. Contra rocked my boat, along with Kid Icarus and a bit of Mario Brothers. My friends, on the other hand, were full members of the Nintendo nation. They subcribed to the magazine, played the same games for hours and hours, and generally acted as though the fate of the real world hung in the balance as they attacked that last boss monster. Stylistically, the games have left a mark on the genre. Many of those same titles still sell as well, some of them reaching so many variations that I lost track a long, long time ago. I thought it might be fun to list off some free-to-play MMOs that remind me of those old classics. See what you think, and leave any suggestions in the comments section!
MMO Family: What kids MMOs can learn from markers, Jackpot, and Chutes and Ladders
Play is important. Whether you're a kid or a grown-up, play has an important role in our lives, and video games are taking an increasingly large percentage of our playtime these days. But for kids' play in particular, there's always a question about the quality of video game time and whether or not it's actually just a waste of time. Kid-friendly MMOs are a relatively new segment of the MMO industry, but it often feels like they're just grown-up MMOs with kid-friendly graphics. Sometimes, the games are even stripped of the grown-up features in an attempt to make them easier, but that often results in a less than compelling game. Here's a quest; do it. Here's a creature; zap it. Here's a pet; hug it. Here are some clothes and decorative items; buy them. I may sound a bit jaded, but that's only because I think kid-friendly MMOs can be so much better than they currently are. To do that, we have to step back and examine how kids play, and studios must concentrate game design around that. In this week's MMO Family, I'll be looking at three areas of kids' play and exploring why games should look to Magic Markers, Jackpot, and Chutes and Ladders for inspiration.
SOE opens up about multi-year European partnership
While we heard about Sony Online Entertainment's partnership with ProSiebenSat.1 Games Group to publish MMOs in Europe last month, the specific details of this deal were lurking under a cloud cover of mystery and speculation -- until now. SOE has posted a quite lengthy FAQ about this partnership and what it entails for the future of the studio in the Old World. According to the deal, ProSiebenSat.1 has the license to officially publish eight of SOE's titles in 40 countries. These MMOs include DC Universe Online, EverQuest II, Free Realms, PlanetSide 2, and EverQuest Next (although not, oddly enough, EverQuest itself). SOE hopes that ProSiebenSat.1's location and expertise will result in in a greater audience for its games as well as more support and better localization for those under ProSiebenSat.1's umbrella. SOE even hopes that the partnership will result in "special content" for European players. Previously, SOE had distribution agreements for Europe but nothing on the scale of what it now has with ProSiebenSat.1. It looks like EU players will need to transfer their accounts and characters over to ProSiebenSat.1's domain, although SOE promises that this will be an easy process. It's also important to note that these games and their servers will not interact with their North American counterparts, effectively separating the communities.
Achievement Unlocked: A look at the Guinness world records of online gaming
We're just over a month into the new year, and already we've got plenty to look forward to: The Secret World is expected to hit in April, TERA will follow shortly in May, and Guild Wars 2 will be out... sometime this year (we hope). But before we all start looking toward the future, let's take a moment to look back at some of the gaming achievements of the past. Thanks to the handy-dandy Guinness Book of World Records 2012: Gamer's Edition, we've got a quick compendium of MMO-related records from the past year and then some, so if you're at all interested in the shortest-lived MMO to date or the longest time anyone's spent playing MMOs from inside a crate, join us as we take a stroll down memory lane to take a look at some notably (in)famous MMO achievements.
The Daily Grind: Do you game on a Mac?
War. War never changes... the platform war, that is. But even those of us who game from the comfort of decked-out PCs can feel sorry for our Mac brethren when one of the Apple MMO offerings, already in short supply, goes dark. That's exactly what's happening to the Mac version of classic EverQuest: SOE is sunsetting the single Mac server due to low population and ancient code. Apple gamers must get a PC or sample one of the other Mac-friendly MMOs like Warhammer Online, Fallen Earth, Ryzom, or Free Realms. So today we ask: Do you play MMOs on a Mac, and if so, which games? And is it really as bad as PC-loyalists like to think? 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!
MMO Family: Why safe chat isn't so safe (and why that's OK)
One of the toughest issues that game developers have to treat when it comes to kid-friendly MMOs is chat. I touched on this in a past column, but it's worth further discussion. If you're making a game where lots of players are interacting and doing stuff together, you need to allow them to communicate, otherwise you're pretty much making a single-player game with the other players as background scenery. On the other hand, when it comes to kids MMOs, having open communication means other players can use it to harass each other. Worse is the scenario of the deranged adult abusing it to exploit young people. As a result, virtually every kid-friendly MMO has some sort of filter in place that restricts what players can say to each other. But are these chat filters really that effective? Are kids better off without them? Let's take a look in today's MMO Family.
SOE announces in-game Valentine's activities
Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and aside from mad dashes to the Hallmark store for cards and boxes of chocolate, the season is also typified by various MMO events. This year is no different, and Sony Online Entertainment is queuing up a couple of noteworthy shindigs in EverQuest II and Free Realms. Norrathians will be celebrating Erollisi Day from February 7th through the 20th, and there are plenty of contests, quests, and love-soaked goings-on to keep everyone happy. Free Realms' Festival of Hearts lasts a bit longer (February 7th through March 8th to be exact), during which time players may partake of Valentine's Day-themed environments, quests, and reward items. Finally, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures is re-introducing a few Valentine's Day items to its StationCash markeplace, and you'll find more info on each game's celebration events at their respective official sites. [Source: SOE press release]
