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A trio of Mabinogi videos show off the "Ancient Secrets of Irinid"
Mabinogi was recently patched with a big content update called "Ancient Secrets of Irinid", which added an African themed zone called Courcle and flying mounts (including the legendary pelican) to the game. To help promote all of the new stuff on offer, Nexon has put out a trio of videos that highlight some of the biggest features from the patch. The one above shows a fairly hazardous river rafting trip, which is made much safer by a pretty powerful new Magic Shield skill, followed by some animal taming. Past the break, the second trailer looks at the new flying mounts -- though its hard to go past the pelican, there are others to choose -- as well as the Dash combat skill and the massive Giant Alligator boss. The third video starts out peacefully, with some Metallurgy and Fishing, but then things get decidedly more ferocious when the Giant Lion boss shows up to punt someone off the screen. It seems there's a delicate balance between some quiet exploring and getting your butt handed to you by over-sized animals in Courcle, but it's nice to have a choice.
Mabinogi adds first flying mounts with latest patch
If flying mounts are the new cool thing to put in your MMO, then Mabinogi is riding the cool train with the rest of the MMO developers. The new mounts, the eagle and the pelican, are two of the new additions in the game's latest patch.With the addition of the eagle and the pelican also comes the new African themed zone called Courcle. This new area is filled with wildlife, like elephants and hyenas, and even comes equipped with two new boss monsters for players to face. An enormous alligator protects the swamps while the king of the jungle, the regal lion, protects the savannas of the brand new zone.With all of these dangers in Courcle, players will be glad to hear that the mounts also serve as ground combat support in addition to being your flying friends. Did you ever see a mount fight? No? Well then, you might want to continue reading this article, as we have the preview trailer for the eagle and pelican after the break.
The Digital Continuum: Business as unusual
The subject of microtransactions has long been a point of contention. Not only do some people feel that the practice somehow lessens a game's worth, they consider the very act to be malicious in nature. Other people seem to be welcoming the idea with open arms, and more and more game developers are redoubling their efforts in North America and Europe. The reason? They don't want to get left behind.
Anti-Aliased: Five free to play MMOs that are ahead of the class pt. 2
#3 -- MabinogiYes, Mabinogi is one of our all time favorite free to play MMOs. This is probably obvious by now, but we're fans of the game. The design of Mabinogi really stands out when compared to all of the other free to play MMOs because it's so open. You can take up day jobs, gossip with townsfolk, make NPC friends, engage in a wide variety of crafting, go exploring for monuments, and even terraform the land to find buried treasures. And I haven't even mentioned combat once!It's this wealth of options that makes Mabinogi a gem for the free to play market. Certainly there is an amount of grind to the game, but the grind is not focused in just one area. This is a game where you will find yourself doing a wide variety of activities if you should choose. It's not all about going out and beating on the nearest snow wolf so you can gain access to the next dungeon (though you can if you want to.) If you don't want to do it, Mabinogi doesn't force you to do it. That's the beauty of it.Our downside to Mabinogi? The spam. Gold farmers like to infest this game for some reason, and it just gets to the point over overwhelming your chat box at times. We love the game, we're just not that keen about the farmers.#2 - Runes of MagicIt's a game that steals all the best aspects of every other game! And if you think I'm kidding, I'm totally not!No, really, Runes of Magic has gone around and pulled the best of the best and smashed it into a form of their original game. While this sounds kind of offensive at first, it actually comes out pretty nicely, especially as the game is free to play. RoM features very polished features similar to World of Warcraft. The game plays through completing questlines and killing monsters as you level up from 1 to 50. But, the game also features player housing, a dual-class system so you can have two classes instead of one, some awesome choices for character and weapon customization, and Warhammer-esque public quests. If you're looking for something to take the edge off of your WoW addiction for cheap, then you certainly want to check out Runes of Magic.#1 -- Free Realms If you didn't see this coming, then you need to drive your browser to the Free Realms site right now. Yeah, sure, it's targeted at kids. Yeah, sure, it's a little overly cartoony. But if you want a game that's going to hold your attention and provide more than an endless grind all for the low price of free, then this is the one. It has kart racing, mini-games, silly quests, and an enjoyable atmosphere. You can grab a variety of professions from brawler to cook and find quests for all of them. Yet, most of all, it's an enjoyable game. You don't have to worry about racing to endgame or drilling for the best items or trying to find someplace to have some fun. In Free Realms, you literally trip over fun at every corner. Inventive gameplay, a wide variety of fun activities, great graphics that run well on most machines, and it's free. You just can't argue with that. Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who doesn't want money to get in the way of good games. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's rambling on his personal blog, The Experience Curve. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com. You can also follow him on Twitter through Massively, or through his personal feed.
Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria
Mabinogi's latest expansion, Pioneers of Iria, has recently gone live on the servers after much anticipation by the fans. Now players are able to not only explore the brand new continent of Iria, but also able to take advantage of new races in character creation, such as the giant and the elf, and the brand new exploration system.We here at Massively recently had a chance to catch up with Nexon's Matthew McCullough, the associate producer on the North American version of Mabinogi, to ask him some questions about their brand new release. Is all of this new content truly real? Is it really free? Can elves and giants live together with one another in harmony?Hit the continue reading link below, if you want the answers to these burning questions! Also, if you're a Mabinogi fan, look forward to our hands on with the Pioneers of Iria expansion later on in the week!
Nexon America appoints new CEO
Nexon, creators of popular MMO titles such as MapleStory and Mabinogi, announced today that they've appointed a new CEO for Nexon America. Chris Remo reports for Gamasutra that Daniel S. Kim has been named as the CEO of Nexon's US subsidiary. Kim isn't new to the company, having already served as executive VP with Nexon's global strategy group in Korea, Gamasutra reports. Kim is stepping into the role previously held by Nexon America's former president and CEO John H. Chi, who is no longer with the company.
WRUP: Wait, don't we write about MMOs? edition
During the day, of course, everyone piles into the Massively offices in their suits and ties, all prepared to settle into the daily grind of MMO writing. But at night? We enjoy slaughtering the undead as much as anyone -- and since a zombie MMO hasn't risen to fill that void in our hearts, we keep running back to Left 4 Dead.Brendan Drain: I'll be taking it easy this weekend and working on my university masters project, which happens to be a game. If I get time I'll play some EVE and maybe check out the new expansion stuff on the test server.Brooke Pilley: I'll be playing Warhammer Online and a bit of BattleForge beta. :)Colin Brennan: This week it's going to be battleground premades in World of Warcraft, followed by a helping of Mabinogi and Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine. Past that, it's my mother's birthday, so I'm not going to be around the computer too much. Happy Birthday Mom!Dan O'Halloran: I'm poking my head back into EverQuest 2 after a year's absence hoping I haven't been deguilded. Also going to continue my trek towards Moria in Lord of the Rings Online as well as working on my baby Hunter in World of Warcraft.James Egan: I'm meeting up with some friends for Halo 3 and Left 4 Dead, fueled by copious amounts of Jim Beam and Coke. On the MMO side I'm definitely going to spend a little time in EVE, probably exploring more trade possibilities. Kyle Horner: I'm taking a weekend break from MMOs and getting my game-on with Steam. It's Dawn of War 2 and Team Fortress 2 for me this weekend, with a strong possibility of some Left 4 Dead zombie action.Lemuel Pew: Getting the last of the Spring Fling badges in City of Heroes before the event closes on the 22nd.Krystalle Voecks: I'm going to be boring and do some much needed studying for class, so pretty much almost no gaming for me. Although I'll probably play some Left 4 Dead with Kyle so he can laugh at my crappy FPS skillz.That's what the Massively team is getting into this weekend -- but what are you playing?
Mabinogi expansion "Pioneers of Iria" set for February 26th
The massive content addition Pioneers of Iria is set to go live for Mabinogi users on February 26th, introducing two new races and a brand new continent for the low, low cost of free.Information about Iria has been slowly released over time on the Erinn Walker website, which has revealed even more interesting things about the new expansion. Iria will be featuring more field bosses to take on in large groups, like giant wooly mammoths, yetis, sandworms, dragons and even Ifrit himself. The new races, elves and giants, will also be able to take advantage of transformation techniques and enter "beast mode" to deal more damage to enemies around them.Nexon has also released a new trailer for Iria, which we've embedded for your viewing pleasure after the break. For more information on what Iria has in store for players, check out the Iria website and stay tuned to Massively.com.
Real money trade as a convenience to players
Whenever real money trade is mentioned, or the dreaded term "item shop" is brought up, we all seem to get a little twitchy and afraid. Games that were supported by item shops use to denote which games had little content and poor quality, but times are swiftly changing. Games like Runes of Magic, Wizard 101, Mabinogi, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine and others are changing the face of the free to play market and item shop transactions as they begin to combine quality with affordability. Yet, the stigma of the item shop remains in our culture.Saylah at Mystic Worlds has put together a well-written argument in favor of the item shop and RMT system. Instead of looking at it like getting ahead of the players who are "playing the game properly," look at it as customizable service for the user. Item shops should provide convenience for players who are looking to make some of the boring parts of the game move a little faster so the game can fit in their personal timeframe.If any of this sounds interesting, check out her full article as she lays down her opinion and then applies it to her current MMO, Runes of Magic.
New races, continent, skills, and more coming to Mabinogi
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Pioneers_of_Iria_expansion_brings_new_continent_to_Mabinogi'; Nexon America as just informed us of a huge expansion coming to Mabinogi, titled Pioneers of Iria, which will be featuring a huge brand new continent, two new races for players to create characters as, new skills, new magic, a new exploration system, dungeons, cities, the works.Pioneers of Iria, due to release sometime late in February, will introduce the brand new continent of Iria -- a land mass over three times bigger than the current continent of Ulad. Iria is also the home of the races of Elves and Giants, which will be featured as brand new player races.
Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year pt. 2
#2 -- Balance microtransactions with game content.Real money trade (RMT) was big news this year. The rise of the microtransaction model was on everyone's lips. I'm not calling for a death-knell of subscription fees or anything (I like the predictability of the subscription system; I know how much I'm going to pay) but I am saying that microtransactions need to be carefully monitored. "Just remember the first rule of actually having an avatar in an online space -- people want to look cool above everything else." This writer's suggestion: cosmetic pieces. The item doesn't have to do something to make people love it. Take some hints from Gaia Online, Mabinogi, and City of Heroes. Their models have proven that people will pay for things -- awesome abilities or not. Just remember the first rule of actually having an avatar in an online space -- people want to look cool above everything else.Many people may not agree with John Smedley on everything he says, but he's dead on the money with ideas like character action figures, guild calendars and pictures, and posters with your character on it and the official branding. Those items are amazing concepts, easy to produce, and a great way for an alternate revenue stream to flow into your company.#1 -- "Kill/Quest, Level" concept is a dead horse, get on with it already!Yes! Get on with it! This is, without a doubt, in my mind, the biggest failure of the industry today. We're following along a solved formula, and it's shooting this industry in the foot. Player needs to level, player completes quests and kills monsters, player reaches next level, player gets new abilities, player uses abilities to go complete quests and kill monsters, et cetera.We keep asking the question, "Why don't these new games seem like they're as good?" And then we begin this in-depth analysis and begin checking every aspect of the game to find out why this feels like we've done it all before. The answer is taking a step back, looking at the model and exclaiming aloud, "Holy heck in a handwoven handkerchief, we have done this before!"The reason we keep playing single player games is because each one has it's own twist on the core formula. Couple that with the story and personal experience, and you get a great game. Our MMO industry needs to learn this fact this year -- not next year. The quest/kill, level, quest/kill model has been done and overdone. Gameplay needs to expand past this. Even reputation grinding is nothing more than the quest/kill to level system. "The quest/kill, level, quest/kill model has been done and overdone." One game that has been taking off faster than a warp drive engine has been EVE Online, because it has broken from this methodology. Before you begin your complaints, yes, the grinding system is there. Doing missions to get money is the quest/kill system. What makes EVE different and attractive is that this system is not the core of the gameplay -- it is a tangent of that play. The gameplay centers around the tools offered to let users shape and mold the universe according to their wishes. Money is a requirement, but it does not only come from mining and missions; it can come from basically anything you can twist to make money. If you can dream it you can probably do it in EVE -- that's the magic. This is why EVE is simply one of the best MMOs you can wrap your hands around.2009 has a chance to be something special. With titles like Jumpgate Evolution, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Darkfall Online coming at us, this should be a very good year. Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who remembered Darkfall before the rabid comment fans ripped him apart for not mentioning it. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running Epic Loot For All! with his insane roommates. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.
It's a Mabinogi and MapleStory Christmas!
You've been very good this year, and Nexon knows it. They know it so well, in fact, that they're delivering two major updates to Mabinogi and MapleStory just in time for the holiday season! These updates not only include the two Christmas festivals, but also a variety of other new features as well.MapleStory players can get their hands on the new city of Magatia, the Christmas festival in Happyville, special Christmas Sock mobs that will randomly appear in the world, and many smaller holiday quest events. Plus, on December 23rd, MapleStory will undergo the "Day of Darkness" event, where GMs will be spawning special monsters all day long before the holiday cheer of Christmas.Mabinogi players not only get to help out a troubled Santa Claus and watch fireworks for New Years Day, but they also get the huge addition of being able to own their own houses! Players may now own houses, while guilds can own castles and improve upon their guild stone. Guilds can now also clash in guild battles and create their own special "guild robes" to wear to show membership.So happy holidays to all Mabinogi and MapleStory players! Go take out those evil stockings and help santa pay for his expensive reindeer!
Massively's best of - Favorite new MMO of 2008
Winner: Warhammer Online (writeup by William Dobson)The hype-o-meter was off the charts just prior to Warhammer Online's release this year, and when the game finally did come out, gamers found it to be a refreshing change of pace at the same time as being a heck of a lot of fun. Unlike so many other MMOs out there, WAR allows you to get into the meat of the game right from level one if you so choose. And what is that meat? Player versus Player combat, or Realm versus Realm (RvR) in this case. With the option to join a queue for an instanced scenario battle from anywhere in the game, and open RvR battlefields located in every tier, bloodshed is always just a short step away. The distinction between PvP and RvR is made extremely clear in WAR. Class balance is not based on 1v1 battles, but rather, group-versus-group combat. The underlying goal of all the factional warfare is to siege keeps and capture territories, which is intended to require the co-operation of larger groups of players, and is reminiscent of Mythic's older and much-loved MMO Dark Age of Camelot. The ultimate glory in WAR is to have the chance to pillage the opposing realm's capital city, loot their dungeons and kill their king – sounds exciting just reading about it, right? Even if you look past the RvR aspect of the game, WAR still brings a lot to the table: Public Quests, which give players a new way of coming together to accomplish PvE goals; the production values and the way the world of Warhammer is brought to life; the Tome of Knowledge, which provides little incentives to achieve things in all areas of the game, and offers detailed lore. Troubled, perhaps. Flawed, for sure. But with a team dedicated to improvements and a fantastic new spin on the fantasy standard, everything comes together amazingly well in Warhammer Online. It's no wonder at all that it is our favorite new game of 2008.%Gallery-21882%
Massively.com giveaways: Nexon Currency Cards
We hope you enjoyed yesterday's NCsoft giveaways. Today we're doing a potpourri of giveaways from some Titans of the MMO game industry. Titan Tuesday kicks off with an import from the nation of South Korea that's become a huge winner in the North American market: Nexon. This innovative company has been kind enough to send us 10 currency cards to customize your MapleStory avatar, tweak your Audition singing experience, or up your Combat Arms ante. Nexon currency cards are good with any of the company's games. The games themselves are free to play, you see, something you might already know from our lengthy look at MapleStory earlier this year. We've been sent 5 $10 cards and 5 $25 cards, for a total retail value of $175. If you win, you'll randomly be assigned one of the cards. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. MapleStory is very well known for its holiday events, so we want to know what your favorite holiday is! Let us know and you might just win a currency card. You'll need to comment before 7:00 AM EST Thursday, November 6th. You can only enter once per person, and after the contest closes we'll ship out these fantastic prizes to 10 randomly-selected winners. Give us at least a week to ship out this massive pile of swag, though. To win you must be age 18 or up and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec). For full eligibility details, we suggest you read our official rules. Good luck!
Massively's guide to Halloween 2008 in MMOs
Halloween, an ancient Gaelic festival that once marked the Celtic New Year, has been exported by popular culture and immigration to a number of countries, particularly finding a home in North America. The United States, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, the Netherlands, Mexico, Romania and Japan all celebrate Halloween in some way, while in other most countries the occasion is usually only marked by syndicated television specials, and the occasional movie marathon. Halloween, though, is alive and well online in virtual environments and MMOGs. World of Warcraft, City of Heroes/Villains, Mabinogi, Guild Wars and more all have Halloween events running; And as for Linden Lab's Second Life, it's always like Halloween there -- but it ascends to something of a fever pitch in the last weeks of October. Join us for a whirlwind tour of just some of the juicy Halloween season events going on at your favorite games and hangouts. This is Halloween >> %Gallery-35528%
Anti-Aliased: Games you should have played, but probably didn't.
So I learned two things since my last column. The first is if I mention Warhammer Online or Playboy models in any capacity, my traffic rating graph begins to resemble the Swiss alps. So... Warhammer Online and Playboy models.The second thing I learned is that everyone is pretty much agreed on Warhammer, except for a few outliers. The game has faults, but all those faults are easily overlooked when the game provides a fun environment to romp around in. But that made me start thinking... what other games on the market are pretty good, but overlooked due to a lack of popularity? What games would I recommend to my readers who just aren't happy with the current mainstream market? What games should you have played, but probably overlooked? I think I have a few. Show Me The Games >> %Gallery-34710%
Western MMO fan plays Eastern MMO, gets disoriented
There's an article over at The Escapist that tells the story of a hardcore Western-style MMO player who tries out an Eastern-style MMO and experiences a bit of culture shock. The article is written by WarCry Senior Editor John Funk.The game he tries to play is Mabinogi (of which we've published our own first impressions), and he dedicates himself to playing it for one week. During that week, he plays it for a total of 30 hours. That means he played the same game four and a half hours a day for seven days straight. We're not sure there are many games Western, Eastern, or otherwise that can stand up in that kind of intensity but he weathers through it! Comedy occurs as he struggles to understand random owl visits and perplexing user-interface functionality.At first it seems like the article is asking if the game mechanics of an Eastern MMO are destined to be completely lost in translation for Western players, but in the end Funk cops out into another direction. Still, it's humorous and occasionally almost insightful, so check it out if the topic interests you.
News from the Wider MMO World: August 26, 2008
The MMO genre is more than World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, and Warhammer Online. Here's what's going on in the rest of the world.Mabinogi welcomes Generation 3The MMO that bills itself as "your fantasy life" has gotten its next upgrade with Generation 3. Now Mabinogi players will have the ability to marry each other, complete with license and wedding attire for both genders. An overarching quest will require warriors to recover dungeon seals to prevent the Fomor from entering the world. And finally, the pet system gets an overhaul, with new interactions, behaviors, and controls. The removal of the combat cap, increased UI options, and new items all await players in Generation 3.Neocron 2 developer declares insolvency10Tacle Studios AG, parent company of Reakktor Media GmbH, developers of Neocron 2, declared insolvency on August 6th. They are awaiting an insolvency administrator to determine what will happen with the game servers. In a later update to the original forum post, Kirk Lenke, CEO of Reakktor Media announced that the insolvency will not affect business operation of Neocron 2, and that they are still in development for upcoming title Black Prophecy.
Mabinogi introduces furry friends
Just when we thought Mabinogi couldn't get any cuter, the latest update has us reaching for our diabeetis medicine. So what's new? Pets! Players now can choose between one of five animals: 2 types of cats, a dog, a fox, and a wolf, with more types to come. These pets will follow you around, fight alongside you, and even level up like you do.Each pet is distinctive, with its own set of unique skills, whether melée or magic-based. Available to every player through the Nexon Cash Shop, no one is barred from gaining a constant companion for life. You can check out the pets trailer after the jump, and watch for the next big Mabinogi content update, due June 25th, featuring more pets, a new dungeon, new boss monster, and a new spell for players to learn![Thanks, Robert!]
The Daily Grind: Realism in MMOs ... good or bad?
When you hear the word "realistic" as it's applied to graphics and/or gameplay, do you cheer or wince? World of Warcraft, Mabinogi, Hello Kitty Online -- these are all titles that make a fantastical graphics aesthetic work well for them. At the same time, Age of Conan, Guild Wars, Tabula Rasa -- these games make a good showing of a more "realistic" style, and people seem to like it.Then again, there's "realistic" taken to an extreme; we're thinking of the way The Sims makes you exercise, eat, sleep, excrete, etc. Now, while The Sims is of course not an MMO, do we want that sort of thing in our fantasy worlds? Does realism attract more people than surrealism? Could you take currently realistic/cartoony games and switch the aesthetic around and make it all better?
