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APB: Reloaded spawns iOS tactical spin-off APB: Retribution
While the massively multiplayer APB: Reloaded has never had the same kind of success of say, World of Warcraft, it has proven enough of a cult hit to spawn APB: Retribution, an iOS-exclusive tactical shooter steeped in the MMO's lore. "Seeking bloody vengeance against Old Harry, the Horca leader who left you for dead," reads developer Blazing Griffin's plot tease, "You must navigate through a complete singleplayer story – complemented with hand-painted levels – where every step you take is a sheer fight for survival." "Make use of a wide array of weapons and equipment to hack, slash, maim, and shoot your way through the dilapidated backstreets of San Paro. Battle Horca clan members, bosses, and other characters using one-shot tactical combat to gain the upper hand in tough-to-clear urban locations." Despite its predecessor being strictly multiplayer focused, APB: Retribution is a singleplayer game. As the MMO fiends at our sister site Massively note, APB: Retribution is something of a test bed for an expansion of the APB: Reloaded universe. Retribution was completed in a mere six months, and Blazing Griffin already has a follow-up in the works, though nothing is known about that as-yet-unnamed game. APB: Retribution currently lacks a specific release date, though it should hit iOS devices later this month.
Jane Austen-inspired MMO 'Ever, Jane' uses gossip as a weapon
If you ever wanted to tell Mr. Darcy to take a long walk off a short cliff, here's your chance. Ever, Jane, an MMO based in Jane Austen's universe, has been successfully funded, closing with $109,563 of a requested $100,000 on Kickstarter. In Ever, Jane, the main weapon is gossip; players will live and die by how the strict social hierarchy perceives their actions. The game includes traditional RPG stats such as strength, dexterity and intelligence, and a party invitation system allows players to alter their reputations. If a person of a higher status accepts your invitation, your status goes up, but whether it was accepted out of duty or happiness determines how much of a boost you'll get. If the invitation is rejected, your status drops. It sounds like a lot of smack talk, manipulation and false flattery. Ah, high school. The prototype is available to download now for PC and Mac, free for at least another two weeks while developer 3 Turn Productions wraps up Kickstarter things. The studio is headed up by Judy Tyrer, former Lead Engineer at Sony Online Entertainment and Senior Engineering Manager at Linden Labs, where she worked on Second Life. Ever, Jane is 3 Turn's first attempt at turning historically accurate, literary worlds into digital reality.
Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn plays host to Lightning
Despite carrying the leading role in her own two games, Lightning has appeared in Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn's land of Eorzea. Lightning's debut in the MMO brings with it a new story arc, the completion of which will reward players with up to eight new weapons and gear for male and female characters. Lightning's new quest is already on its second chapter, but players can still access the arc's first chapter, as well as all future installments, until the event concludes on December 9 at 10 a.m. Eastern. The story's future chapters will unlock on November 18 and November 20 and will require a character equal to or higher than level 38 or 45, respectively. If you've yet to try the game out, new accounts are granted a 30-day trial.
Online RPG Insomnia seeks to build 'dieselpunk' universe
Studio Mono needs your help in bringing its new online roleplaying game to the masses, to the tune of $70,000. Dubbed "Insomnia," the game is described as "a co-operative online role-playing game with tactical elements and unique game mechanics in a sophisticated universe designed with a dark retro-futuristic dieselpunk style." Players will be presented with non-linear story options, many of which ask them to join forces with other players. That said, the Insomnia Kickstarter claims the game is more akin to traditional roleplaying games than their online counterparts. "Players will be free to choose if they want to tackle the single player quest lines alone, or in co-op with two or three friends taking on the online PvP content, such as faction wars or global quest lines where more than 60 players could be taking part at any one moment," reads the game's description. With 48 days remaining in the Insomnia fundraising effort, the game has accumulated $1,181 of its $70,000 goal. If your interest in this project has been piqued, you can find full information on Insomnia at its Kickstarter page. Assuming the game is able to raise the necessary funds, Insomnia will hit the PC, Mac and Linux platforms at some as yet undetermined point in the future.
38 Studios lawyer to request delay for IP auction
Richard Land, the court-appointed lawyer for 38 Studios, said he plans to ask a Rhode Island Superior Court judge to delay the now-defunct studio's intellectual property auction. The auction was originally slated to take place on November 14 and include the Project Copernicus MMO that was in development at 38 Studios prior to its May 2012 closure as well as sequel and merchandise rights and revenue for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Land told The Providence Journal that interest in the auction has been "greater than expected" from prospective bidders, leading to the request to delay the auction for "a couple weeks." The auction was also slated to include Big Huge Games properties Rise of Nations, Rise of Legends and XBLA game Catan.
Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn has 1.5 million registered accounts
Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, the re-launched version of the original FF14, has found new life in the form of 1.5 million accounts being registered to explore its new world, Famitsu reports. That doesn't mean that 1.5 million people are actively playing the game, of course. Still, considering the initial launch prompted Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada to suggest the game had "greatly damaged" the Final Fantasy brand, it's a decent victory for the title's rebirth to draw such attention. With the PS4's beta version planned to launch on the same day as the Japanese PS4, the game's player base stands a chance to continue growing significantly in the coming months.
Diablo-esque action MMO Path of Exile travels to Steam for PC, for free
Path of Exile, the free-to-play action MMO from Grinding Gear Games, is out now on Steam for PC. A pre-launch patch builds on the beta and today adds a guild system, six new world areas, a new character class, new challenge leagues and a ton more new features. Path of Exile has been on our radar since 2010 as a free, Diablo-inspired action RPG, and it's lived up to the hype ever since. It's set in a dark fantasy world called Wraeclast, with seven playable, customizable classes: Duelist, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Marauder, Shadow and Scion. Path of Exile is free-to-play and Grinding Gear promises it will never be possible to gain an advantage by spending real money in-game.
Warcraft as a whole: story balance between RTS and MMO
I was perusing the forums (like you do) when I came across this forum thread from poster Xewie, and I found it an interesting place to start thinking from. Xewie's points aren't entirely ones I agree with - I frankly found Mists of Pandaria one of the richest expansions in terms of lore and story and feel that anyone who dismisses it simply because there are pandaren in it is deliberately and willfully blinding themselves to an excellent ride with some astonishing highs and lows - but there's a certain truth in the points about the RTS vs. WoW itself. As others (including our own Michael Sacco) have pointed out, Garrosh Hellscream is really one of the first big lore characters we've had in World of Warcraft who was born in the MMO, evolved over its course and became a faction leader and finally an end villain. I think part of the problem is that the RTS features these characters, so even when it kills a few (like Terenas Menethil) it offers up a few more. But the MMO features us, ultimately, so when we put down Lady Vashj or Arthas, there's no immediate replacement. To be sure, there have in fact been tons of new faces over the course of World of Warcraft - Ragnaros, C'thun, Nefarian were all first introduced in classic WoW, not the RTS. The problem is, we introduce these characters and then, well, we dispatch them. Sometimes, like Ragnaros, our first encounter with them isn't a final one, but even if we know they'll eventually be back, it's not like their luck will hold out forever. I called this the "Joker problem" once, and to a degree I think it is an issue for the MMO. However, does it follow that we need an RTS to create stories? Since I think Mists of Pandaria did an amazing job of building up the story, and in fact I'm really much more of a Cataclysm booster than most, I don't agree with that idea. In fact, in many ways, WoW has done more to broaden and expand the Warcraft setting than the RTS ever did.
Bungie to offer Destiny beta access as early pre-order perk
We've all seen the demo, but none of us have actually played Destiny, Bungie and publisher Activision's forthcoming first-person-shooter / MMO-like effort. But starting today, Destiny's persistent open world will begin opening up... to gamers that buy in early, that is. A limited amount of pre-orders placed now at select retailers will garner gamers beta access to Destiny, which is scheduled to launch early next year on PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. If you happened to jump the gun and plunk down for a copy before today, don't worry, as your order automatically reserves you a spot for the beta. Depending on your method of purchase, redemption codes will either be emailed directly or printed out at the time of purchase, so hold off on trashing those receipts. You can find the full details of the program and a new trailer just after the break.
Rockstar reveals new GTA Online details prior to next week's roll out
Ahead of next week's GTA Online launch, developer Rockstar Games took to its blog to outline what to expect come October 1st. The post goes to great lengths to establish that the entire experience is free -- unless you want to buy in-game currency with real money -- and incredibly you-centric. Feedback you provide by emailing or posting on the official forums will help shape the game. Where you spend your time and what you end up doing (Sports! Heists! Chaos!) in San Andreas will affect the direction the developers take with future content and how they tune the overall experience. However, while the entry answers a few questions it also creates some new ones. Specifically, we're curious about the company's use of "roll out" to describe GTA:O's release. An incremental approach is probably best considering the game's current server strains, but we're sure that's not what its some 16.5 million players will want to hear.
The Soapbox: Maybe it's time to admit that you don't like MMOs
I've learned a lot from my time at Massively. I've learned that a team of writers can work together without being in the same office; I've learned that the MMO genre is one of the most interesting in all of video games, despite the negative stigma sometimes attached; and I've learned that people love to read and comment about MMOs even when they don't play them. This last point has always fascinated me the most. I have several hobbies and interests, and I don't read forums or websites about every one of them. But one thing I certainly don't do is spend time reading about topics that hold no interest for me.
Red 5 Studios to suspend Firefall PvP, wants to 'get it right'
Red 5 Studios will suspend the Player vs. Player (PvP) elements of Firefall at a "near future point" to focus their resources on improving the game's Player vs. Environment (PvE) aspects, CEO Mark Kern announced on Thursday. Kern explained that Jetball, Firefall's "last big attempt" at a PvP mode that was designed for eSports, was fun but didn't "attract many of our players (less than 3% PvP in Firefall)." Kern described PvP as an important part of Firefall and said that the studio will "regroup, rethink, and deliver the best PvP system we can." Kern said the studio's most immediate efforts will focus on PvE, as players want "more content, fewer bugs and more polish." Although Kern did not have a date for the suspension of PvP, he said it will eventually return to Firefall "when it's ready."
The Daily Grind: What's the largest MMO battle you've experienced?
We've talked about the definition of the term MMO in this column on numerous occasions, and while it's completely subjective, most people generally take the number of concurrent players into account when having the discussion. I was having the discussion -- again -- with some friends the other day, and I kept thinking about the biggest MMO battles I've seen since I started playing way back when. I don't have exact numbers, but I do remember some engagements in both Battleground Europe and PlanetSide that involved several hundred people at a minimum. What about you, Massively readers? What's the largest MMO battle you've experienced? 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!
Retro-inspired Super Adventure Box returns to Guild Wars 2
Super Adventure Box was created as an April Fools' Day joke, but thanks to fan support, the virtual "virtual reality simulator" has made a return to Guild Wars 2. Within the MMO, Super Adventure Box is described as a training simulation designed to educate young members of the industrious, diminutive Asuran race. Outside of Guild Wars 2 canon however, Super Adventure Box is best known as a joke that found unexpected success. Earlier this year, developer ArenaNet created a commercial for the then-fictional platformer as an April Fools' Day joke. The commercial was an instant hit with fans, so as part of the developer's commitment to launching new content for Guild Wars 2 every two weeks, ArenaNet developed Super Adventure Box in earnest, first releasing it as a browser-based 2D platformer, then as a full-fledged 3D addition to Guild Wars 2. For more information on Super Adventure Box and the rewards it offers, have a look at ArenaNet's handy study guide.
Final Fantasy 14 download sales halted to accommodate server overload
If you're looking to buy a downloadable copy of Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, your gil isn't going to get you anywhere for the time being. Square Enix announced it's temporarily halted download sales of the resurrected MMO because the game servers are overloaded, causing excessive wait times for those trying to get in. In a Facebook statement, Square Enix once more apologized for the inconvenience and said it's working to get more servers online in "the coming days." Whether you look at it as an "overwhelmingly positive response," to the PS3 and PC MMO, as Square Enix does, or grimly predictable given the struggles endured in the early access weekend - or both - the bottom line is A Realm Reborn is a really busy place right now. Think Gamescom, but cuter and less sweaty. For whatever reason, it seems Square Enix wasn't ready for the numbers it's dealing with. Ahead of A Realm Reborn hopefully becoming readily available to all soon, be sure to check out the launch impressions of our sister site Massively, who said the revamped game "scoops up the MMO genre's good elements and splices them together into one cohesive whole, and it does so while looking gorgeous and playing smoothly. When your MMO's biggest issue is server-related rather than game-related, you're doing fairly well overall."
Bethesda 'pushing' against Xbox Live Gold fees for Elder Scrolls Online
Bethesda is in talks with Microsoft to allow non-Xbox Live Gold members to play Elder Scrolls Online, according to an OXM interview. As it stands, players will need the paid Xbox Live subscription to play the game on Xbox One, which Bethesda recently announced is no longer free to play, but will launch with its own $14.99-per-month subscription plan in place. Bethesda marketing boss Peter Hines told OXM the developer has been "seeing whether or not there's any room to change [Microsoft's] minds about that for folks who are only playing The Elder Scrolls Online and don't want to pay for an Xbox Live Gold subscription just to play The Elder Scrolls Online." He added, "The answer right now is that's the way it works, but it's something that we're aware of and we keep pushing on to see if there's something that can be done." Elder Scrolls Online will launch in 2014 on PC, Mac, Xbox One and PS4.
The Soapbox: Actually, that really isn't an MMO
In last week's edition of The Soapbox, Mike Foster argued that online gaming has evolved over the past few years and that the term MMO should be expanded to cover other online games like MOBAs. He examined the blurred dividing line between new online games and the classic MMOs of yesteryear, and he made the controversial argument that Call of Duty and League of Legends should now fall under the MMO umbrella. I found myself disagreeing with many of Mike's arguments and wanting to make additional points of my own, so this week I'd like to offer a few counter-points on the same topic for debate. The MMO market has certainly evolved since Massively was founded, with some pretty big innovations in gameplay and new ideas like the free-to-play business model taking hold. As much as people like to complain about a lack of innovation in the games industry, the same level of experimentation and evolution has hit industry-wide. Call of Duty has borrowed unlock and XP systems from the world of orcs and dragons, and League of Legends came from nowhere to be at the forefront of a global MOBA revolution, but neither of them is an MMO by any stretch of the imagination. In this in-depth opinion piece, I break down the definition arguments surrounding the term MMO, offer a reasoned view of where the line can and should be drawn, and look at why Massively covers games other than MMOs.
Stage 2 of Firefall open beta begins, human race strikes back
Stage two of the open beta for free-to-play, first and third-person-shooter MMO Firefall will focus on "expanding the world," an announcement on the game's website revealed last week. While the beta previously focused on surviving attacks from the Chosen, a mysterious species that doesn't seem keen on the existence of humans, stage two of the beta turns the tables and places humans on the offensive. Players will work to expand the inhabitable portions of New Eden by fueling machines that repulse the Melding, an ominous cloud that the Chosen seem to originate from. The more Firefall's player base works to power the machines, the farther the Melding will be pushed back, revealing "more playable space with ARES missions and dynamic events." Chosen outposts will be revealed as the Melding recedes, the defeat of which will convert the warfront into a "full zone and a new story-based instance will become available to pursue, unlocking the next chapter of Firefall." The more a player helps push back the Melding, the greater their reward will be. Avid players will earn "rewards and commendations" and statues of their avatars in the warfront's to-be-established capital, leaving the king of the leaderboards to name the city itself. Firefall's player base will then collectively vote for which warfront to unlock next. Previously obtained warfronts that are neglected will be subject to Chosen counterattacks, "shutting down that warfront entirely, at least for weeks on months." Those looking to join the fight against the Chosen and compete to name a digital capital something undoubtedly appropriate can do so here.
The Daily Grind: How would you define 'massive'?
In our editorial Soapbox this week, a Massively writer suggested that MMO players have a difficult time agreeing on what constitutes an MMO at least in part because of fundamental confusion over the term "massive." I've always thought the word too relative to be useful; I like the idea of playing alongside thousands of fellow geeks, but very few of the MMOs and MMORPGs I've played since the dawn of the genre ever actually put more than a few dozen people on my screen at a time, and those that tried anyway usually lacked the tech to pull it off without extreme lag. Most MMOs, even single-shard EVE Online, are divided in some way, be it over shards or server boundaries or layered zone instancing or dungeon instances or phasing or even lobbies, and it just doesn't make much difference unless the economy is tanked as a result. A game that isn't massive but feels massive is more an MMO to me than one that's technically massive but plays like a single-player title -- "massive" seems a happy illusion at best and a double-standardish proxy for "old-school" at worst. But many gamers are convinced they know exactly where the line in the sand must be drawn between the massives and the nots. So today, let's assume you, the readers, get to decide for the genre what "massive" means. How many people does it entail -- and how and where and in what numbers precisely must they interact -- for a game to be "massive" enough to merit the term MMO? And how many old school MMORPGs would fit that definition? 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!
A fully realized Starcraft MMO is in the works, but it needs to be Kickstarted first
If you're a dedicated World of Warcraft player, you may have already spent a good deal of time wondering when developer Blizzard would give its StarCraft property the MMO treatment as well. StarCraft Universe is that MMO, but it's not being made by Blizzard; a group called Upheaval Arts is creating the game as a mod for StarCraft II, and if its Kickstarter campaign meets its goal, you'll be able to play it on your Mac (or Windows PC) early next year. StarCraft Universe takes the real-time strategy franchise and gives the player control of a single character, complete with class abilities, questing, leveling and all the other mechanics MMO players have come to expect. The campaign is roughly halfway to its US$80,000 goal amount, and has a further 20 days of fundraising left to go. If you're interested in the mod, but don't currently own StarCraft II, you'll be happy to hear that Universe can be played using the trial version of the game, which can be downloaded for free.
