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Rumor: Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer disables Xbox Live party chat
If rumors circulating around NeoGAF prove true, Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward won't be allowing the use of the Xbox 360's party chat feature during ranked multiplayer playlists in its upcoming title. Since a distinction in the post is made between different styles of online matches (ranked and social), we presume the function will not be utilized throughout all of Modern Warfare 2's online playlists.Speaking with Joystiq, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling said the company "can't comment on leaks," and was unable to confirm if the feature will, in fact, be disabled. "Players should reserve judgment until they get a chance to experience it for themselves on November 10 instead of viewing it out of context," Bowling added. Have an opinion on the matter? Sound off in the comments. [Image Source: BL4CK HAWK 8]
WoW Ratings lets you rate anything in Azeroth
I had an idea like this one -- a site that would allow you to rate anything at all (from a new movie to the casserole your aunt makes), and then let other people share their own opinions about whatever you rated. My idea never got off the ground (standard operating procedure for the idea mill I call my mind), but reader Antoine apparently had the same idea, and built it specifically for the WoW universe. WoW Ratings is kind of a silly site with some interesting outcomes: basically it's a database of everything in the game, from bosses to zones to game features or what have you, and you can come along and rate whatever you want on a scale of 1 to 5. The ratings don't actually mean anything (though Antoine has them listed as qualities from Uncommon up to Legendary), so it's really just a broad temperature-taking of the World (of Warcraft) at large.The most interesting screen is probably the "Best and Worst" screen (which you can reach by clicking on the toolbar at the top of the homepage -- note to Antoine: permalinks are your friend, scale back on the javascript), where, as of this writing, Hakkar the Soulflayer is sitting on top of the heap, and the Voice Chat patch and Darnassus are sitting in the bottom 10. No Fandral Staghelm yet, strangely, but I'm sure things will get shaken up after all you readers head over there (and if the site's a little shaky under the flood of our link, give it time to get back on its feet). Sure, it's a little silly, and it's not so much a "resource" as it is just a free-for-all of player opinions, but it is interesting to see kind of a meta-overview of what players do and don't like. Useless features for the loss, old school raid bosses for the win.
Voice chat - zOMG!
Well, yes, we are happy about this, but zOMG! is the name of the MMO, not an expression of our excitement. Vivox, the company that provides voice chat in quite a few of our favorite games, has added one more to their list. They've partnered with Gaia Online to provide in game voice chat for zOMG!, their free-to-play browser based MMO. "Gaia Online has defined the social web experience for millions of teens and young adults," said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. "And voice is the ultimate social glue. By adding voice chat to zOMG!, Gaia Online proves, again, its commitment to providing a truly social experience for its players." Vivox voice chat is live in zOMG! now for players to "gab to your heart's content using the power of your own face-hole, saving valuable keystrokes for more efficient monster bashing," according to the zOMG! monthly newsletter. True to form, zOMG! has added their own twist on it as well: players can purchase voice fonts in the storefront to give their voice a unique twist. Congratulations to Gaia Online and Vivox for their partnership!
Hands-on with Puggable
We first heard about Vivox's Puggable service back at the Austin Game Developers Conference -- Vivox is a company that runs voice chat for online games, and Puggable is their attempt to target the WoW audience with a quick and easy way to put a group into voice chat. The site is still in a closed beta, but it's slowly opening up, and so as soon as we got a chance to jump in and test the service out, we took it.So what's the verdict? While Puggable's basic mechanics seem to work (by following their instructions, you can get a group into voice chat), the system itself is not quite ready for prime-time. Not only does it have an installation process that most cautious WoW account holders will scoff at (you have to install an Internet Explorer or Firefox addon, and restart your browser to use the service), but the real draw of the system, being able to browse and see player information at a moment's notice, aren't all there quite yet. Read on for our experiences.%Gallery-75677%
Rumor: PS3 cross-game chat in next firmware update
Update: Sony says: "We haven't made any announcements on upcoming firmware and don't comment on rumor or speculation." In a PlayStation.com Forums thread about the existing Uncharted 2 chat system, a Naughty Dog staffer with the handle "ReklissAbandon" reportedly said that "the next PS3 firmware update is going to allow cross game chat."Currently, that alleged confirmation is "deleted" (presumably by ReklissAbandon), but the text reappears as a quote a couple of posts down the thread. We've got the full quote after the break in case all record of the statement should meet with an unfortunate accident, and we've also reached out to Sony for comment. In the meantime, please temper your excitement over hearing your friends' voices with a bit of healthy skepticism. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
MMO Family: 17 internet safety tactics for gaming families
MMO Family is your resource for leveling a gaming-specced family. From tips on balancing gaming with family life to finding age-appropriate niches for every family member, MMO Family offers you advice on MMO gaming of the family, by the family and for the family. "Be careful, there's nasty stuff out there on the internet." It's frustrating to hear this warning clarioned over and over again. We're gamers ourselves, after all. We know easily children can get in over their heads on the internet. "Be careful," intone the experts. "Watch carefully, and be very, very careful ..." But how? What must we be careful to do? To not do? What does "being careful" mean in actual practice? Specific online safety tactics – and putting them into practice without driving anyone crazy in the process – become an epic quest reward that always manages to stay two turn-ins out of reach. As we mentioned last week, your main objective as the parent of a young MMO player is to remain figuratively logged in to their activity. When children are online, parents cannot afford to be figuratively AFK. We're not suggesting you pull up a chair and some popcorn to faithfully oversee kids' every move online. No child needs direct supervision to kill 10 rats (or pick 20 flowers or befriend 30 fairies or frag 50 enemies ...). But young gamers do need your boundaries and your guidance (as well as your feedback, your enthusiasm and your support). Just how strong the boundaries should be will depend on the age of your child and the game that they're playing. Apply common sense, based on your own MMO experience, along with these 17 tactics for safe online gaming.
AGDC09: Easy voice chat for PUGs with Puggable
If all you play is World of Warcraft, then you might not have heard of Vivox -- but they're the people providing integrated voice chat solutions for EVE Online, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Star Wars Galaxies, Second Life, Fallen Earth, All Points Bulletin.. I'd go on, but you probably get the point. This week at AGDC, Vivox is spreading its wings with the announcement of two new web-based voice chat applications: Vivox Web Voice for Facebook and Puggable for World of Warcraft players. Though the two use the same technology, Puggable is definitely targeted at the WoW-playing audience. I had a chance to sit down and chat with Vivox about Puggable at AGDC, and, though I haven't had a chance to get hands-on time with it, I've got to say the idea has a lot of appeal.So what do you need to do to start chatting? Just fire up your web browser, point it to Puggable.com and create a chat room for your group. To invite others, all you need to do is share a link. The site will display character stats for your player from the armory (as seen in the above screenshot) for easy viewing by your entire group. And if you wish to select the instance you're running and the boss you're going to fight, Puggable will automagically pull up links for strategies, videos, and loot. No one needs to download or configure software (unless you're playing WoW with people who don't have web browsers... but that would just be silly) and there are no passwords to remember, share, or change. I'm hesitant to say it's fool-proof, but it certainly looks like group communication and organization simplified.Puggable is presently in closed beta (though if you're interested in testing it, you can sign up on their site) with plans for a more open beta in the next few weeks.
Drama Mamas: Venting
Dodge the drama and become that player everyone wants in their group with the Drama Mamas. Lisa Poisso and Robin Torres are real-life mamas and experienced WoW players -- and just as we don't want our precious babies to be the ones kicking and wailing on the floor of checkout lane next to the candy, neither do we want you to become known as That Guy on your server. We're taking your questions at DramaMamas (at) WoW (dot) com.The big event is over and it's time to go back to drama prevention. This week, we attempt to circumvent the need for a Raid Leader's intervention. We also tackle the topic of ventiquette -- which is the etiquette of speaking in Ventrilo and not the manners involved in venting about things. Although I'm sure we'll eventually get to venting etiquette as well. Now that I'm done inventing ways to use the syllable "vent", it's time for the drama.
Station launcher moves out of beta, adds voice chat support
So the beta launcher is finally un-betaed! Sony has officially pushed the Station Launcher into the "final version," dropping in voice chat, simplified menus, faster servers for downloads, and the ability to run the launcher without administrative rights as well.The fun stuff, however, is really contained within the voice update. This new voice, dubbed "station voice," lets you communicate with friends from within the game or outside of the game. Creating a room from outside of the game is done with your in-game character, letting people who are on the station launcher join you, or people inside of the game join your room from the inside, no launcher required.Plus, the other new features like the upgraded servers that will give more downstream bandwidth for game updates, are certainly nothing to sneeze at.This doesn't mean that Sony is done with upgrading and changing the launcher, as they've already pledged to continue taking user feedback and pushing that into their product to constantly make a better launcher.For the full patch notes, check them out on the EverQuest forums, located in this thread.
Second Life racks up 1 billion voice minutes last month. Linden Lab announces new services
Linden Lab has announced that it is currently averaging one billion voice-minutes per month. That's time actively engaged in a voice session, not just time spent with voice support enabled. That's quite a statistic. That puts Second Life's voice service right up there among the top VoIP providers, and around 12% of Skype. That's very impressive. In the 18 months since voice was introduced, roughly 15 billion voice-minutes have been served, through Vivox's voice services for Second Life. Additionally there are new products/services. Some available from today, and some scheduled for later this year.
WoW Rookie: Filter out the #$%!
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW's newest players to the resources they need to get acclimated. Send us a note to suggest a WoW Rookie topic.Hey, isn't that the same screenshot we used for WoW Rookie just two weeks ago? Indeed it is, faithful readers – because frankly, "Who wants my man meat?" is the perfect illustration for today's topic.The World of Warcraft is your refuge at the end of a long, hard day – and the last thing you want to see rolling across your screen is the kind of lowbrow posturing that's given Barrens chat its notorious reputation. Or perhaps you'd like to let the kids try their hands at WoW, but you don't want them soaking up the rough language that seems to turn up more and more frequently in busy city Trade and General channels.It's time to take charge of your game chat.
Bigfoot Networks returns with Killer Xeno network card
Our hearts are aflutter this morning, as the long forgotten Bigfoot Networks has returned with a vengeance in order to fulfill desires of steroid-infused network interface cards. Nearly 2.5 years after the introduction of the original Killer comes the Killer Xeno, a next-gen NIC with more memory, an upgraded network processing unit (NPU) and integrated audio for hardware-accelerated voice-chat. Basically, this card promises that hardcore gamers / yappers will enjoy a "hiccup-free" voice experience while fragging, and if you reckoned you'd have to look far and wide to find one, you'd be mistaken. Today at the Game Developers Conference, Bigfoot has also announced a deal with Alienware, which will soon become the first exclusive PC OEM to ship the Killer Xeno Pro; beyond that, EVGA has become the firm's first exclusive third party AIB partner to license Killer Xeno. The Killer Xeno will arrive shortly in two flavors: the 256MB "Ultra" and 128MB "Pro," which will sell for $179.99 and $129.99, respectively.%Gallery-48349%
Issues with DC Universe Online cross-play not entirely technical, also cultural
Will cross-platform play be a part of DC Universe Online come launch day? In light of a recent interview between Tracey John of MTV Multiplayer and DCUO devs Wes Yanagi and Jens Andersen, it's not looking too good.While the official answer was more of a "We'll see." the overall direction of the two developers' response to the cross-play question was to punctuate the social discrepancies between PC MMO players and console users. They cited the PC MMO ritual of getting to know someone in text chat before speaking via TeamSpeak or Ventrilo, then followed that with the console experience: Microphones, matchmaking and lots of subsequent smacktalking. A fair point.Although, on the other hand, Playstation 3's don't come with a standard headset like Xbox 360's. In fact, many users seem to have been adjusting just fine to text in the recently launched Home service -- although there seems to be plenty of griefing. So while console and PC MMO players may not blend well as is, the PS3 is a bit of an anomaly when it comes to communique in the first place. So who knows? Did you enjoy this? We've donned our capes and tights to explore SOE's DC Universe Online in-depth. Come explore more of Metropolis and Gotham with your friends at Massively!
The Queue: Shoo fly, don't bother me
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.To kick things off today, I actually wanted to add something to one of Adam's responses yesterday. Spiraea was looking for a title that would fit their Priest. Adam suggested The Immortal, but me? I'm all about the Hallowed. You can't get it until October, which makes getting your hands on it tough... but it'll be worth the wait! It's my favorite title on my Priest. When I get a new raid title I switch to that for awhile, but always go back to Hallowed.realt asked... I have a question regarding in-game voice chat (or Ventrilo). Our guild has never used voice-chat when raiding. So far we have done pretty well with clearing all 10man content, including Sartharion+1D, without it. Now we are progressing into 25man. At which point do we really need starting using voice chat you think or isn't required at all? I haven't been in many other raiding guilds besides this one so I am curious how others are handling their communication.
Massively interviews NetDevil on PvP and more in Jumpgate Evolution
We got the chance to catch up with NetDevil Producer Hermann Peterscheck on everything Jumpgate Evolution this week. With the game coming up fairly soon, we thought up some rather specific questions that had been floating about in our brains over the past month or two. Exploration rewards, mining, cockpit view, PvP and more are waiting just after the break.%Gallery-18375%
The Daily Grind: Do you use integrated voice chat?
Integrated voice chat is becoming a default feature of many newer MMOs, and it's even been retrofitted into our older games, like EverQuest II and World of Warcraft. It's like power steering on a new car; you almost can't remember a time before it was standard. Games like Dungeons and Dragons Online were among the first to offer the feature, while others soon followed suit.Personally, I find myself sticking with programs like Ventrilo or TeamSpeak to run my voice chat. Even in Lord of the Rings Online, I find myself turning off the IVC to use TeamSpeak with my kinship. So the important question here is: What do you prefer? Does integrated voice chat cause your game to lag, or any other performance problems? Do you just prefer Vent or TS (or Skype, or Xfire, etc) because you're used to it from before it became integrated? Let us know!
Voice chat temporarily disabled in Home 1.04
PlayStation Home will be patched today to version 1.04 in a "first step" effort towards resolving various connection issues users have been experiencing. While this is a good thing, the PlayStation.Blog also notes one side effect of this new patch: voice chat will be temporarily disabled. The removal of voice chat (for now) should alleviate the crushing bandwidth load on Sony's servers since the official "open beta" launch of the service.The blog recommends "to make use of the Wireless Keypad for PLAYSTATION 3 or any USB or Bluetooth-enabled keyboard for text chat and also the "phone friend" features to communicate within PlayStation Home."
Wii Warm Up: Speak up
The Wii Speak Channel is finally out and enabling voice chat between people who didn't feel like buying Animal Crossing. Some of you have probably put it through its paces by now. What's your opinion of the Channel? Does it feel weird to talk at your TV? Are you being spammed with voice messages from your jerk friends? Is this functionality something that could help justify the cost of the mic? Or is it just another channel that will get deleted for a Space Invaders Get Even mission pack? Ever since it was revealed back at E3, WiiSpeak has been the talk (both good and bad) of the town. Check out our hands-on time with the device, as well as the details you may have missed on the WiiSpeak Channel. Plan on picking one up? Then you might want to check out Game Night, where you'll surely be able to chat with your fellow Wii lovers in the future.
TapeDeck discounted for National Day of Listening
I don't know that I've heard of the National Day of Listening before, but I like the idea a lot -- right around the holidays, StoryCorps and NPR sponsor a day when you're meant to sit down with loved ones and pick up some of that oral history that has served the human race so well so far. And the folks at Toasty Code are doing their part to get these recordings done by offering their TapeDeck audio recording software for 20% off all this week -- just follow the instructions on their website, and you too can pick up any oral history your folks can dish out along with the turkey and cranberries.Of course you can do that with any software, from GarageBand (came free with your Mac) to Audacity (free to anyone). And it doesn't need to be only audio -- I'm taking a new Flip MinoHD home for the holidays with me to get some shots of my folks in my childhood home (they're currently trying to sell it off). But the Day of Listening is a great idea no matter what you use -- in these days of high definition, 1080p television, multichannel speaker setups, ubiquitous computing, and the 24/7 flow of text across blogs, Tumblrs and Twitter, it's easy to forget the value of actually sitting down and talking to someone. This week, as you're home with family, try it out.
Raging Thunder tries online multiplayer
Raging Thunder is one of those games we've been watching since the App Store was first announced, and now it may have reached another milestone. Polarbit says that with version 1.0.3, which is in the App Store now, they've released online, real-time competitive multiplayer. They say it's an App Store first, and I think they're right -- a few games have offered wifi multiplayer before (Apple's Hold'em does, and Raging Thunder did previously), and some games have done some non-real time multiplayer (Loot Wars is interesting in that way) but allowing players to play competitively online in real-time is something that hasn't been done much.It's not quite on the level of Xbox Live yet -- Polarbit is offering a free beta of their server software on the website, so you've apparently got to have your own server running (or sign on to someone else's) to race against your friends online. I just gave it a shot, and it worked well. The lobby system is a little awkward and without voice chat (strange how much I've just taken it for granted in multiplayer nowadays), it's hard to tell whether people are playing or just waiting in a room (or why they're dropping out of the race, as a few players did while I played). But once you get into the game, it's Raging Thunder with other people driving the cars. Well done.It would be nice to see player names above cars. Easier to do trash talking when you know who you're talking about. This is only the beginning, however -- here's to many, many great online multiplayer experiences on the iPhone.Update: Commenters have piped up (thanks!) with some other games that have attempted online multiplayer, including Tap Tap, Galcon, and Adrenaline Pool. Keep in mind that we're not talking about wifi multiplayer here, though that's cool, too -- this is real-time multiplayer with other people who are around the world.
