massively-hands-on
Latest
Massively tours EverQuest's Veil of Alaris with Community Manager Eric Cleaver
In just a few short weeks, EverQuest is set to launch its 18th expansion, Veil of Alaris. The expansion will raise the level cap from 90 to 95, and players will be able to adventure in 12 new zones. In addition, over 800 AAs will be added, and there will be 13 new raids along with new guild halls that can be player-decorated. I had a chance to tour some of these zones with Community Manager Eric "Piestro" Cleaver, who showed off some of the new content that's coming soon to EverQuest. Read on for a look at several new zones and the storylines behind them.%Gallery-138817%
Massively's hands-on with RuneScape's Dungeoneering
For many of today's MMO players, RuneScape provided a first taste of massively multiplayer online gaming. Released in 2001, RuneScape was a blocky world full of ugly characters trading each other logs and feathers. The world existed only to perpetuate an endless skill-grind that was largely without purpose, and the height of competitive or co-operative gameplay was racing a friend to a particular skill level. It's been almost ten years since those first moments of RuneScape, and the game today is barely recognisable as that world many of us grew up in. The game engine has had several major graphical overhauls over the years, from the RuneScape 2.0 3D upgrade in March 2004 to the RuneScape HD overhaul in July 2008. There are now hundreds of servers worldwide, and players can benefit from ten years of previous content updates. Back in April, Jagex published the largest content update in RuneScape's entire ten-year history. The Dungeons of Daemonheim expansion brought in dungeoneering -- a fantastic new solo or group activity with practically infinite replayability. Players can form groups of one or more characters and venture down into the dungeons of Daemonheim to test themselves against some unique challenges. The high degree of replayability comes from the fact that the dungeons are procedurally generated and tailored to the specific skills of the players in the group. The dungeon rooms are filled with monsters of varying difficulty, items you can use and skill challenges that unlock bonus rooms and loot. Dungeoneering is available for free players, though some of the content is limited to subscribed members. In this hands-on article, we get to grips with RuneScape's massive dungeoneering system and ask whether or not it's as fun as it sounds.
E3 2010: Your complete Massively coverage roundup
The 2010 edition of the gaming nirvana known as E3 has come and gone, and Massively was there to bring you three days of exclusives, firsts, and hands-on impressions for all your favorite MMORPG titles, studios, and developers. This year's Expo saw plenty of news and announcements regarding highly anticipated games, as well as plenty of information on assorted titles large and small. We thought it best to collate our coverage into a complete and concise roundup post for your viewing pleasure, so read along after the cut to make sure you didn't miss anything. You can also check out all of our E3 galleries along the way.
Hands-on with Star Trek Online's space combat
Space battles in Star Trek Online are going to be a big selling point for many a Trek fan. I recently got some hands-on time with the closed beta and found several interesting talking points to deliver like hot fresh delicious phasered pizza. I imagine some of you are quite up to snuff on the basics of combat in Star Trek Online, so if you find your interest waning I suggest skipping ahead into the analytical aspect of this feature.%Gallery-28615%
Massively's Aion and Fallen Earth launch day schedule
As we mentioned on Friday, we are excited to join you in-game for the launches of both Aion and Fallen Earth tomorrow. We'll have staff in both games, ready to group up and play with any readers who want to experience the beginning areas with other readers. In addition to this, we'll have contests, giveaways and prizes to those who attend or meet-up with us. Follow along after the break for complete details on where we'll be, who will be there and what we'll be doing.
Massively hands-on with Cities XL
As the Cities XL closed beta continues to run strong, we got word that the beta's NDA has lifted [Edit: for press] and we can spill the beans on our first impressions of the game so far. Now, two very important points to be made here include the fact that this is not a review (MMO reviews are bad, mmkay), and this is still in early closed beta stage.With that in mind, we're here to give you some facts on how the game stands now, with a bit of healthy opinion thrown in for good measure. If you're at all curious about how this city-builder MMO can possibly work, follow along below.
E3 2009: A complete roundup of Massively's coverage
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2009 proved to be a significant event for the gaming industry once again, with a fair amount of news and announcements related to MMOs. Massively was there on the ground for E3 this year and we've been putting up breaking announcements, interviews, and hands-on previews throughout. Given how much info came out of E3 on Massively, here's a roundup of our coverage, day-by-day. Be sure to check out the rest after the jump as there's plenty more content, plus you'll find E3 galleries for these games as you click through. To cap it all off, we've also put together an E3 2009 wrapup video for you at the end of this post. Read on to see where the MMO industry is headed in the next year and beyond! Day One Star Wars: The Old Republic world's first fully-voiced MMO Final Fantasy XIV announced Jumpgate Evolution releases E3 trailer EA to publish All Points Bulletin in 2010 PlayStation Home hits 6.5 million accounts Trion World Network unveils Heroes of Telara Massively's day 1 video from the E3 floor
E3 2009: Massively's day 3 roundup
We've completely zerg rushed E3 2009, attending press events, demonstrations and sure, hitting some parties as well. But we've also gone out and interviewed the people behind the games that will be arriving on the MMO scene in the next year and we've got a lot to tell you in the coming days. As the constant hustle of E3 2009 came to a close yesterday and the swarm of game journos scatters, now is when we really shift into high gear; Massively's content over the next few days will feature loads of info and interviews fresh from E3. We'd say to keep your eyes open for it, but honestly you won't be able to miss it. For now though, here's a quick roundup of yesterday's coverage: Star Wars: The Old Republic demonstration Paul Barnett and the Suicide Girls present All Points Bulletin Ether Saga Online set to go live this month with world bosses Massively looks at Perfect World International: Age of Spirits Jade Dynasty at a glance Dungeon Fighter Online impressions Still hungry? We've also put together galleries for these MMOs after the jump:
Massively's EVE Online Apocrypha expansion hands-on
var digg_url = 'http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/06/massivelys-eve-online-apocrypha-expansion-hands-on/'; Massively got word that EVE Online lead game designer Noah Ward, aka CCP Hammerhead, would be in New York City last week. We jumped at the chance to find out more about the Apocrypha expansion, and Ward was kind enough to give us our own hands-on demo while answering our questions about where EVE Online is heading. We were pleasantly surprised to find that EVE's lead writer Tony Gonzales was on hand as well. Fans of the game's backstory will know him for writing The Empyrean Age novel, which chronicled the events leading up to New Eden's factional warfare. Apocrypha will be the most significant expansion in EVE's history to date, introducing new -- and some controversial -- features while revamping existing aspects of the game. Ultimately the aim of CCP Games with Apocrypha is to make EVE accessible to more gamers while adding depth for the existing playerbase. The Apocrypha expansion launch will coincide with EVE Online's retail release on March 10th. Leading up to that date, a number of the CCP developers have dropped info about what's on the way through dev blogs and the occasional interview, but the expansion seen as a whole is mind-blowing. What we have for you here is the most complete look at the Apocrypha expansion offered to date, in one place, and much of it from the developers themselves. We've tackled Apocrypha in four parts: the New Player Experience, Epic Mission Arcs & Tech III, True Exploration, and the Sleepers.Strap yourself in and get ready for Massively's exclusive hands-on with the Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online.%Gallery-47038%
Massively's Apocrypha expansion hands-on: True Exploration
True Exploration For many EVE Online players, the Apocrypha expansion is the advent of true exploration. Exploration has been a mini-profession in EVE for some time now, and there are a number of dedicated explorers in the game. That said, the profession has been difficult to learn and players typically go through exploration probes like kleenex, in the hope that they'll find a hidden pocket of space to exploit. Critics of exploration have pointed out that they're not truly exploring new places, simply scanning down what's just hidden to most other players. The Apocrypha expansion will bring true exploration to the game, allowing players to find and enter wormholes leading to uncharted regions of space. Roughly 2500 new solar systems await EVE's explorers willing to brave the challenges within this hostile space.
Massively's Apocrypha expansion hands-on: Epic Mission Arcs and Tech III
Epic Mission Arcs and Lore EVE Online's setting of New Eden is one with a rich backstory, which is always being fleshed out further through regular Chronicles (short stories found on the game's official site), video footage tied into the game's lore and, as of last year, brought to life in the Empyrean Age novel. While not all players opt to delve into this aspect of the game, the content is there to immerse yourself in. The problem is that there's a disconnect between the story and gameplay because of how mission running (quests) work in EVE and the repetition that characterizes them.
Massively's Apocrypha expansion hands-on: The Sleepers
The Sleepers The inhabitants of these uncharted solar systems may take offense to your encroachment upon their territory, however. The Sleepers, an ancient race of NPCs known for their mastery of virtual reality and cryogenics, will provide the greatest PvE challenges players have ever faced in EVE Online through their guardian drones. Their AI is far beyond what players are used to going up against in PvE. The Sleepers will have varying levels of strength and adaptation to player threats. They do seem to have a particular hatred for their creators at CCP, given their ultra-violent response to Ward's arrival at a structure the Sleeper drones constructed in space. They move in on him, dishing out *all* damage types: beams sizzle for EM and Thermal damage; warheads obliterate for Kinetic and Explosive damage. Fortunately Ward's Proteus is set up to deal with this ("I'm going to put on a GM shield extender, or when we go through there I'm going to get wasted!") making his ship virtually impossible to kill, letting us witness the Sleeper offensive in safety.
Massively's exclusive tour of LotRO Book 14
As we announced earlier, Massively recently participated in a hands-on play session for Lord of the Rings Online's newest patch, Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion. In this session, we were able to play through some of the exciting new content and document it for you, the faithful readers.In this five-part article, we will explore the initial storyline where the Fellowship finally leaves Rivendell for Moria, a new type of Critter Play that takes you back through history, battlefield defense instances, housing upgrades and a complete new set of screenshots for you to enjoy. Plus, if reading and galleries aren't your thing, we also grabbed some wonderful video of the experience as a brief summary, which you will find just after the jump. Follow along on our journey through the Ring-forges>>
The Daily Grind: What do you want to know about Warhammer Online?
So ... guess where Massively is today? That's right, we've ventured outside the labyrinth of tunnels and warrens that makes up our headquarters, and are spending some time today and tomorrow with the fine folks at EA Mythic. Our hands-on time with Warhammer Online means tons of information for you, the greenskin fanatic or Chaos cheerleader. But we're only human, after all, and there's only so many hours in the day.We want to know, then: What do you want to hear about? Does the game's unique Tome of Knowledge system make you sit up and take notice? Are you really looking forward to those innovative Public Quests? Or do you just want a bunch of footage of dudes killing each other hardcore in RvR? Whatever you're in the mood for, we'll try to keep our eyes and ears open. Don't expect to see much on the site just yet, but your two cents today could make you a very happy MMO player next week. Leave a comment below!
