runes-of-magic

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  • Runewaker to reveal new game next week

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    01.14.2015

    Is it an MMO? Is it a MOBA? Or is it something else entirely? Those are the questions swirling around the news that Runewaker is working on a third title, following Dragon's Prophet and Runes of Magic. Whatever the case may be, Runewaker will be revealing the game next week to the public. After that, this new title will be playable at the Taipei Game Show. The studio did release a couple of pieces of concept art that show two fantasy forces squaring off against each other. There might be a touch of sci-fi in this as well, as the art shows giant robots (golems?) and neat-looking rifles.

  • Jukebox Heroes: Top 40 MMO themes, #10-1

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    03.18.2014

    We're finally here: my top 10 MMO theme tracks. I anticipate that out of all of the weeks, this will be the most controversial, since not only am I proclaiming the 10 best, but you'll realize which of your favorite games I've left out of the top 40 entirely. A final reminder as to my self-imposed rules for this list: I limited myself to just one theme from a particular title, even if there were multiple themes in a game. Entries had to be a main theme or the closest equivalent of that; they had to be from MMOs, not from MOBAs; and I had to divorce my weighting of the track itself from the popularity of and my experience with that game. So there were no points added or subtracted based on my love of the game. I'm counting down the best music, period. If you missed earlier parts of this series, check out themes #40-31, #30-21, and #20-11. Otherwise, hit that continue button and get listening already!

  • Massively's Valentine's Day roundup

    by 
    MJ Guthrie
    MJ Guthrie
    02.14.2014

    When a mob hits your eye with a big sharpened spike... that's not really amore! In fact, it's downright painful. But it's February -- a time when love is in the air, hearts are aflutter everywhere, and pink and red festoon your favorite MMOs. So in the spirit of the season, go ahead and give that mob an extra-hard love tap, right from... er, to the heart! And don't forget to collect whatever treasures it had for you because we all know Valentine's Day isn't all about the love; no, it's about the loot! Want to know where to get your hands on something special for this holiday? There are plenty of celebrations throughout the MMOverse offering a plethora of events and goodies. Check out some of the various Valentine's events and specials going on now.

  • Jukebox Heroes: Elf music

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    02.11.2014

    As probably many of you know, I am no fan of the Elven menace. I won't rehash the reasons n this space, but I mention that because I do try to be a fair man. When I'm not trying to eradicate any pointy-eared immortal know-it-all tree-hugger in sight, I have been known to appreciate the Elves' musical culture. That doesn't make me a hypocrite. It just gives me slight pause before ganking the next Drizzt or Legolas. For whatever reason, Elves bring out the magic and talent in MMO composition. Elven themes are quite often among the best that a particular OST has to offer, particularly if you like airy, magical, ethereal tracks that are big on imagination and almost devoid of percussion. I've been noting the trend of excellent Elf music for years and figured I might as well devote a week to it here before going back to my Elf-bashing ways.

  • MMO Mechanics: Encouraging the daily grind

    by 
    Tina Lauro
    Tina Lauro
    01.29.2014

    I've written before about how developers use clever mechanics to lower the barrier to entry in order to encourage more people to play MMOs, but how do they keep players interested after they have rolled a new character? More often than not, MMOs greatly benefit from hanging onto players for as long as possible, so encouraging regular play is a massive priority for development teams. As a genre that thrives on creating a connected and dynamic community, MMOs are strengthened by keeping up the number of players that log in daily. This also encourages longevity since players make meaningful connections with the people they are linked to through daily play. Utilising daily quests, creating an ongoing need for crafted equipment, and necessitating the farming of materials for the good of the collective are all very accessible ways to encourage players to log into their favourite MMO world on a regular basis. As useful as developers may find them, though, the appeal of repeatable daily content is hotly debated by MMO players. For some, low-octane daily content is a brilliant way to unwind that doesn't require a regimented schedule to complete, but many others find the repetition inherent in some daily content tiresome and uninspired. In this week's MMO Mechanics, I'm going to look at the various applications of daily content in today's MMOs while weighing up the pros and cons of several of these techniques.

  • Some Assembly Required: Virtual world roundup for 2014 and beyond

    by 
    MJ Guthrie
    MJ Guthrie
    01.03.2014

    Just over two years ago there was a great disturbance, as if millions (or so) of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. Yes, something terrible had happened: a beloved virtual world was destroyed. And that left a number of sandbox refugees looking for a new place to call home. At that time, Some Assembly Required offered a roundup of the then available virtual worlds that could possibly offer accommodation, depending on what qualities players most desired in their games. But as things are wont to, they changed; a lot can happen in the MMOverse in 24 months, from additional features in existing games to new games to the loss of more worlds. So it's time to update this list of virtual worlds to reflect 2014 and beyond. Take a look and see what titles or titles-to-be have the sandbox features that best make a game a home for you.

  • Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup

    by 
    MJ Guthrie
    MJ Guthrie
    12.21.2013

    The holidays are here! That means the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing, with gifts to get, treats to taste, deals to nab, and plenty of festivities to partake in -- and that's just in the MMOverse! Yes folks, there's a plethora of holiday celebrations out there -- so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, let alone participate to them! If you're trying to catch everything in your favorite games, we're here to help. We've got a round up of the various winter celebrations across the gaming sphere all bundled together right here for you. If something catches your eye, hop in and join in the festivities!

  • Jukebox Heroes: Dragon's Prophet's soundtrack

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    11.26.2013

    Considering the lack of chatter I've heard about Dragon's Prophet post-launch, I'm willing to say that this title's been having a difficult time gaining traction in the main MMO community. Gameplay aside, I was looking forward to this MMO's release because I hold Runewaker's Runes of Magic in high regard when it comes to its soundtrack. I was hoping for the same level of quality in Dragon's Prophet, and I really wasn't disappointed. The OST was composed by Alex Pfeffer, Alexander Röder, Mindy Lo, and Rmoney Chen. It's a series of grand, stirring orchestral tunes that would be at home transplanted to just about any fantasy MMO that you're playing. Listening through it all, I found that it had a high ratio of quality tracks, so much so that narrowing it down to six picks proved problematic. I think I found a good balance, however.

  • The Perfect Ten: Literal kill 10 rats quests

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    08.15.2013

    Webster's Dictionary describes "kill 10 rats" as "something nerds do, now shut up and read a few intelligent words." I think the editors are getting a little lazy there at Webster's, but that's nothing compared to the OED crowd that routinely slips in paragraphs of cut-and-pasted Hunger Games fan fiction just to pad the volumes. Anyway, we all know that "kill 10 rats" is a derogatory term for those quests that make you slaughter a certain number of things to make life happier for the quest giver. Why that quest giver has a very specific number in mind has always fascinated me, but never mind. It stems from a long-standing RPG tradition by which lowbie characters typically start their career by doing a little rodent culling in the basement of a tavern. That's how all great people got their start, Abraham Lincoln included. With "kill 10 rats" already being a trope, developers have this habit of trying to be coy and meta by actually putting quests in their MMOs where you, yup, kill 10 rats. I get the feeling that they think they're doing something clever and cheeky, even though practically all of their competitors have done the same. So here we go: ten literal "kill 10 rats" quests that you can find in your games today.

  • Runes of Magic celebrates its 4th Anniversary

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    03.19.2013

    Our favorite birthdays are the ones when the guests get gifts instead of giving them. Apparently Runes of Magic feels the same, as Gameforge is pulling out the stops to make the 4th anniversary of the game one for the history books. Runes of Magic's 4th anniversary page has the scoop on all of the gifts, contests, events, and bonuses to be enjoyed over the next week. Players will get a lot of goodies just for logging in and leveling up, although there are additional quests if you want to reap all of the rewards. Players will also enjoy buffs to XP, talent points, and drop rates through the 25th. Finally, Gameforge released a special video that shows the progress of Runes of Magic from beta to today, ending with several impressive statistics. If you don't watch it, you'll go mad always wondering what it might have been. We'd hate to see that.

  • One Shots: Dancing with my homies

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    03.10.2013

    First of all, thank you guys so much for responding to our One Shots rallying cry and absolutely flooding us with screenshots! My cup overfloweth, and that's a delightful change of pace for this column. Even though we're quite literally set for months now, please keep sending in your favorite old or new screencaps! To kick us off this week is Jerry, who's showing off how Anarchy Online can party down with the best of them: "This is Yardsale, a level 220 Trader, dancing with his trader pets in Borealis." At first glance, I almost thought we were in the Matrix. But even with polygons so sharp that you can cut yourself on them, this title definitely has a style all its own. Hit the jump to see this and other wonders of the screenshotted world.

  • The Perfect Ten: Creative MMO minigames

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    02.28.2013

    Few people are without opinions on minigames in MMOs. Some love 'em, some hate 'em, and some just ignore 'em. Some even despise that I won't type "th." Takes all types, really. Personally, I'm all for including new types of enjoyable systems that can be repeated, particularly if it benefits my character in some way. There's also this perception that minigames are just for kids. It's true that more kid-centric titles like Free Realms and Clone Wars Adventures thrive on minigames like you thrive on deep-fried butter balls, but these little diversions exist all over the place in "grownup" titles too. Holidays are a favorite time to trot them out, although there are plenty that exist year-round. Today we're going to look at 10 creative minigames that have tickled my fancy over the year. Yes, I used the word "fancy." Whatcha gonna do about it?

  • Choose My Adventure: Quartet edition

    by 
    Eliot Lefebvre
    Eliot Lefebvre
    02.27.2013

    It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen. After three rounds of letting my fate be chosen by the whims of my readers, I have chosen to do the exact same thing all over again. I'm getting back in the big seat and running through Choose My Adventure with a new list of games, a new set of bonus polls, and a new set of whatever else people expect when I do these columns. Plus, while the third installment usually has a lot of pressure, the fourth installment is rarely assumed to be anything special. So I feel as if I'm off the hook. This time around, I'm putting in some old favorites, some candidates that are often voted for but never make the prime time, and some games that might just raise some eyebrows. So let's meet our contestants past the break, and get your votes in here by Friday, March 1st!

  • Jukebox Heroes: A few of my favorite MMO soundtracks

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    02.19.2013

    I could hear some of you thinking in disbelief last week, "If Age of Conan isn't one of your top MMO scores, what is? And just how much am I not sending you a Christmas card this year, you loser?" You were kind enough to just think it and not say it, but I could hear it even so. As we've mentioned countless times in this column, musical tastes are subjective. What's appealing to you may not be for me and vice-versa. What more is that musical tastes -- and favorites -- are always shifting around. I listen back to the jams that I enjoyed in the '90s and absolutely pity my younger self for such a deficiency in his musical diet. So I thought that I'd take a week off our normal soundtrack reviews to bring to you my current top six favorite soundtracks. This list comes with the caveat that it's always subject to future changes as I continue to listen through more soundtracks for this column.

  • Get a video overview of Dragon's Prophet right here, right now

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    02.18.2013

    Runewaker's follow-up to Runes of Magic, Dragon's Prophet, promises to "evolutionize" MMOs. Now that you've been mortally wounded by a pun, perhaps you want to spend your last few minutes on this earth by watching a dev interview about this upcoming fantasy title? Dragon's Prophet's core feature is bonding players with dragons as they go about adventuring. Dragons can be ridden as mounts, leveled up, and used as fighting companions. But that's not all! If you order now in the next 10 minutes, your dragon will be available for production and gathering tasks. Operators are standing by! The seven-minute video is a good primer to the world of Dragon's Prophet, and it's all yours after the break. [Thanks to Hirundo for the tip!]

  • Jukebox Heroes: Reader requests

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    12.11.2012

    One of my favorite parts of doing this column is reading your comments every week. I've discovered that there are several other gamers who are passionate for this type of music and have plenty to say about these songs. There's a lot of memories that are triggered by these tunes as well, and I love hearing about them. Unbeknownst to you but totally beknownst to me, I've been collecting comments regarding your favorite songs in the game's we've covered so far. My opinions on the best of every soundtrack isn't the be-all, end-all, after all. Sometimes you guys and gals show me a song that I overlooked or perhaps didn't appreciate the first time I heard it. So what I've decided to do is turn your favorite songs into an occasional column, and this here is the first. Instead of focusing on just one MMO this week, we'll be looking at six additional tracks from titles we've discussed over the past few months. If you were gnashing your teeth that I overlooked an MMO classic, then you might just be in luck today!

  • The Perfect Ten: Holiday shopping for the MMO gamer

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    11.22.2012

    With Thanksgiving almost under wraps in the states (Canada got an earlier patch of Thanksgiving because the devs love that country), the starter pistol is about to go off for the busiest shopping season of the year. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and oh-crap-it's-Christmas-Eve-and-only-a-gas-station-is-open are all shopping experiences ahead on the calendar, but perhaps the most challenging experience is that of buying the perfect gift for an MMO gamer. Sure, you could just phone it in and buy a time card, some cash shop points, a subscription or two, or even a Prima strategy guide if you really hated the person, but a proper MMO gift goes beyond that. For a great gift, you need to put in some effort and actually research the field... or just be lazy and use my following guide. We both know which option you're going to choose. So while you slowly digest that turkey and moan about having to waddle your butt down to Best Buy at 3:00 a.m., why not allow me to help you with a few shopping suggestions? For this list, I wanted to focus on game-specific merchandise that isn't t-shirts, game cards, or CafePress coffee mugs. I mean, this shirt is the bomb and all, but we can do better!

  • Rise and Shiny: Runes of Magic

    by 
    Beau Hindman
    Beau Hindman
    11.11.2012

    I first played Runes of Magic a long time ago, as in years. In fact, I played it a bit during beta and right after release. I have a fond memory of being on a voice program with our very own Shawn Schuster and a few other podcasters and bloggers as we ran around playing. I named my character something to do with Slayer, or perhaps that was Shawn, and we had a pretty good time. It was, at the time, one of the higher-quality free-to-play titles out there. Since then the game has undergone many, many changes -- too many changes to recap here. If you really want a summary of the game over the past few years, check out our own Jeremy Stratton's former column, Lost Pages of Taborea. I had Jeremy join me for my last night of gameplay before writing this piece to help clear up some confusion I had about the game. And for some powerelveling. Oh yes, powerleveling.

  • Rise and Shiny revisit: Asheron's Call

    by 
    Beau Hindman
    Beau Hindman
    11.04.2012

    Another week of this column makes me amazed at how yet another older title, this time Asheron's Call, got so much right and yet remains so under-appreciated. A lot of this dismissal of past MMOs comes from the simple fact that humans do not enjoy something they have seen before, at least not the same as they enjoyed it when they first found it. In other words, we loved games like Asheron's Call, but they have fallen out of favor because we have moved on to bigger, newer, shinier things. After all, most of us don't sit around a fire and swap stories for entertainment anymore; we watch television. Although, damn, a fire sounds nice doesn't it? The warm feeling that I might feel from an evening swapping tales in front of the hearth is the same one I get from older titles like Asheron's Call. These elder titles have a charm built in, thanks to dated graphics that remind us of younger years and times of discovery. But there's something else going on here. These older games, games like Asheron's Call, are still really good.

  • Runes of Magic previews Chrysalias Shadows patch

    by 
    Justin Olivetti
    Justin Olivetti
    09.21.2012

    Dubbed the "Mysterious Land of the Elements," Chrysalia will be the next step for Runes of Magic adventurers. This strange region is set to open on September 25th, but Gameforge has a preview video to whet your appetite for the journey to come. Chrysalia is dominated by strong elemental features, such as waterfalls and lava, and looks to be populated by many intelligent insect species. Some of these, like the Garon, are friendly, but others, like the Kulech, will spit acid in your face and slurp your insides for dinner. Or so we've heard. Next Tuesday's patch will also introduce a new challenging instance to the game. Check out the flyby video after the jump and let us know what you think! [Source: Gameforge press release]