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The Guild Counsel: A chat with Linda "The Brasse" Carlson
By night, she's the impeccably-dressed, bearded dwarf that MCs Fan Faires and never turns down a good pint of ale. But by day, she's the Community Relations Director for SOE, and she dons several different caps as part of her job with the company. At Fan Faire, she took the time to speak with Massively about a variety of topics, including forum wars, social media, the future of SOE's Facebook games, and even a revamp of the popular Guide program in EQ and EQII. Read below the cut for highlights from the interview.
SOE releases Fan Faire attendee list
Thinking about heading to Sony Online Entertainment's annual Fan Faire gala, but not sure if your favorite developer or community liaison will be in attendance? Fear not, as Ashlanne has posted an exhaustive list of attendees on the official Station community forums. This year's event, scheduled to take place August 5th - 8th in Las Vegas, will feature a veritable who's who of SOE talent, including developers from EverQuest, EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies, Free Realms, Pox Nora, and The Agency Covert Ops. You can visit the official Fan Faire website for more information and the official Station forums for the full guest list.
Look inside SOE with Ustream
Curious about what goes on behind the scenes over at Sony Online Entertainment? If so, Ustream has your backstage pass in the form of the Inside SOE Broadcast. The 30 minute live event will take place today, May 26th, at 1:30 pm Pacific (9:30 pm GMT). The broadcast will feature live chat as well as a question and answer session with Community and Development team members. Topics will include the new Halas Reborn update in Everquest II, newly released Free Realms items, and The Agency: Covert Ops and Pox Nora Facebook games. Check out the SOE Ustream channel to watch the event, and be sure to create an account and log in to text chat with the SOE team.
Facebook MMOgraphy: First impressions of The Agency: Covert Ops
Every two weeks, Facebook MMOgraphy brings you the latest news, guides and analysis about MMOs on Facebook and Facebook apps associated with MMOs. SOE's upcoming spy MMO The Agency has been long in the making. We've been covering it at Massively for quite some time now. Though it's not quite ready to launch yet, SOE has surprised us this week with a Facebook gaming app, The Agency: Covert Ops. Though Covert Ops is a Facebook app based on an MMO, it's not an MMO itself. There is no real time interaction with other players, for example. However it does provide light entertainment for those who enjoy the spy genre and has the same tone and feel of their upcoming MMO title. The Basics The core of the game is leveling your spy via missions. The missions follow a storyline and some of them are accomplished simply by having the correct resources needed, others require you to complete a minigame. Rewards include in-game cash, experience for your character and components to build better equipment. Every mission requires a certain amount of Cover to complete and when you run out of Cover, you need to allow it to replenish over time or buy more through a microtransaction store. Pop ups provide a tutorial to walk you through the gameplay flow and videos explain minigame play.
The Agency finally launches! ... on Facebook
Nearly three years after being announced and nearly a full calendar year of radio silence, Sony action MMO The Agency has re-emerged! There are maybe a few slight cosmetic differences – like: now it's free, on Facebook and has no actual action – but otherwise, it's exactly the game we expected lo these many years. Alright, alright, so The Agency: Covert Ops isn't the same game, though it is related to that long-in-development property. This new iteration is definitely better looking and sounding than most games on Facebook, though the grindy, challenge-free game designs seems -- from our limited experience -- pretty darn similar to a lot of social web games. However, unlike its big brother, it managed to actually be released, so that's something, right?
SOE unveils The Agency Facebook game, announces The Agency will be at E3
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/SOE_says_The_Agency_will_be_at_E3_reveals_Facebook_game'; Hey, remember that time Sony Online Entertainment trademarked "The Agency Covert Ops" and we all wondered why? Now we know. It turns out that you're going to be able to play The Agency while you wait for The Agency to launch. No, really. Covert Ops, the newest Facebook app from Sony Online Entertainment, serves as a tie-in to the upcoming secret agent MMO The Agency. Don't dismiss this as another boring mafia-style Facebook grind until you check it out, because our friends at Mashable scored an interview with the developers and Covert Ops goes way beyond "ask everyone on your friends list for two nails and a board." Customization is king here right from the start, offering a unique look from the tattoos on your character to their overall living space.
SOE trademarks 'The Agency Covert Ops'
In the world of videogames, trademarks can mean just about anything. So when Sony Online Entertainment filed for the trademark to The Agency Covert Ops it's no surprise that rumors of a name change were floating around, especially since we haven't seen hide nor hair of The Agency for some time now. We contacted SOE for a statement. Here's their response: "We are always trying to plan ahead for our titles in development and at times that means acquiring TM's or URL's that we feel we may want to own in the future. At this point SOE has made no official announcement regarding this Covert Ops TM and any information in the marketplace about it is premature." What could this mean? Well, it could be a name change, but SOE has several studios from Seattle to L.A. down into Tucson and Austin, too. So, while it's very possible that Covert Ops could be a name change, our bet would be on either a wholly different game or potentially a future expansion. That's just our guess, of course. And there's always the possibility we may never know.
