year in review
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A look back at an epic year in EVE Online
2008 was quite a year for the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game, EVE Online. It was chock full of surprises -- both good and bad -- and of course the requisite drama you get when putting as many as 45,000 players in one galactic setting. So much has happened that columnist Michael Lastucka has written a recap of 2008 in New Eden for Massive Gamer Magazine. Longtime EVE Online players also know him as Winterblink, someone who's been playing the game since its beta days, and he shares a bit of his perspective on the major happenings in EVE over the last year -- and what a year it was:
The best of WoW Insider: December 30th, 2008 - January 6th, 2009
2008 was the best year in the World of Warcraft yet -- we got a terrific expansion, a few content patches, tons of class improvements, and lots and lots of great gameplay out of it. The past twelve months have been very good to Azeroth's inhabitants, and we're looking for an even better time in the coming year. To find out about it all, whether you're a level 10 noob or have six level 80s already, hit up Joystiq's WoW Insider for the latest news, views, and insights from the World of Warcraft. News WoW Insider's predictions for 2009It's a new year, and we've got some new expectations for the game. Account security mythbustingA former Blizzard CM lays the truth out on what's up with account security. Teen arrested for making suicide threat to a GMKid didn't want Blizzard to ban him, said WoW was all he had to live for, got the cops called on him. Queue queue moar noobServer queues plague the servers yet again. WoW Moviewatch: The Craft of War: BlindLikely the best machinima movie you will eve see. Features Blood Pact: How the mighty have fallen, or 2008 in reviewWarlocks had a rough time of it in 2008. BigRedKitty: Hunter Loot awards for 2008The best loot in ranged attack land for the last year. Know Your Lore: The Sons of HodirOur lore column takes a close look at one of the newest old players in the reputation game. The Light and How to Swing It: Shine on, a 2008 reviewPaladins prevailed big time last year. Shifting Perspectives: The Druid of 2008
All the World's a Stage: 2008, year of the living roleplayer
So there I was, celebrating the New Year, when I realized just how long All the World's a Stage has been around. It's grown from an idea in the back of my head, to a pet project, into a full-fledged resource for roleplayers -- and it's still growing! Even after 68 weeks-worth of content, there's still so much to write about! It goes to show, if there's a topic you love, you should really write about it, because doing so makes you love it even more.Now, looking back on this year of writing, it strikes me that some things have changed, while other things have stayed the same. Some articles seem just important and relevant to today's concerns as they were when they were written, and many feel like they could use a bit of updating. Just about a year ago, for instance, All the World's a Stage took a look at "The past, present, and future of roleplaying," which addressed the popular conception at that time that "RP is dead." We don't hear that so much anymore, do we? It seems many of the roleplayers have gradually been shifting around since then, grouping up into small communities on their old servers, or else transferring to a very few realms with a good reputation for roleplaying. Recently, I just transferred over to a new server and was thrilled to see how many roleplayers were hanging around the streets of Dalaran. RP isn't dead at all -- it's just got itself together now instead of being scattered all over everywhere. Congealed, as it were.
The week in Massively features
GamerDNA and Massively look back at the MMO year in reviewToday's column features data from July through December. GamerDNA being a startup, our data collection in the first half of the year was not consistent enough to use for anything but wild guessing and drinking games. Listen, a start up tech company can make ANYTHING into a drinking game. Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new yearI am absolutely no more inventive than every other blog in existence, this edition of Anti-Aliased is dedicated to the top 5 things the industry and culture should learn and take into 2009, rather than forgetting. Some of it's funny, some of it's serious, but let's be honest -- it all goes towards perfecting how to have fun in virtual worlds. The Digital Continuum: Sci-fi geeks need to experience Jumpgate EvolutionEven those who should be excited for Jumpgate Evolution are seemingly unaware of it's forthcoming release. This won't do, and so I present to you the essentials of why a sci-fi fan should give this game some serious consideration for their 2009 MMO budget. EVE Evolved: Making the most of your EVE Online free trialSince the learning curve is relatively steep to begin with, it's very easy to become overwhelmed in a short trial period. These factors can make it hard to experience what EVE is really like, meaning it's hard to make an informed decision. The patent that stole ChristmasWe can learn a few things from the suit against NCsoft, including (we think) how Worlds.com/General Patent sees its own position with respect to these claims (they don't seem to think it's as firm as it could be). You might also be wondering about prior art (which is abundant). Well prior art, in and of itself, is simply not enough. Not on its own.
Blood Pact: How the mighty have fallen, 2008 in review
I wasn't kidding the last time I wrote about the decline of Warlocks in the game. It's pretty palpable in major cities like Dalaran, walking around and seeing a glut of Death Knights crowding the mailbox and only the occasional Warlock summoning her Dreadsteed to cruise the cobblestone streets. It makes my heart all warm and fuzzy (or sulfuric and crackly, you know) whenever I read an emote from Necrosis. I think it should be a point of pride. The class has fallen off the radar, and the sad part is -- nobody misses us.How did we get here, though? What happened between the class' popularity or should I say notoriety, from early this year to now? I mean, 3.0 happened, right? Blizzard buffed the class, with all three specs having a unique feel and playstyle. The class has never been more viable... on paper. I mean, Warlock DPS is competitive in PvE and that's the plain truth. It's a different game now. All classes can DPS in Wrath, and if they're played right, they'll do incredibly well. This means that playing a Warlock is now seriously hard work.
Priests: 2008 the year of change
That year flew by really quick, didn't it? Last year, I remember I was working my way through Tempest Keep (Kael'Thas even). 2008 brought in a complete set of additions and changes for the Priest class across all 3 specs. So, shall we get down to Priest class changes? Ranked in no particular order, we'll go over a few of the changes and the impact they had on the current game.
BigRedKitty: Hunter-loot awards for 2008
Daniel Howell contributes BigRedKitty, a column with strategies, tips and tricks for and about the Hunter class, sprinkled with a healthy dose of completely improper, sometimes libelous, personal commentary. 2008 was the first year of "no Azeroth-raiding". No Molten Core, no Blackwing Lair, just Karazhan and beyond. Then Wrath of the Lich King came and gave us, not necessarily a new universe like Burning Crusade did, but an expanded and enhanced version of that which we all already knew. And the hunter-loot flowed. Say it with a very long O. Flooooowed. By definition, Hunter-loot is just about everything in the game, except maces and plate armor. And sometimes we'll try to ninja that stuff too, just out of ignorance/spite/revenge/insanity. But no matter how you look at it, Zin'rokh the Destroyer of Worlds and Axe of the Gronn Lords aren't in this hunter-loot wheel-house discussion, if you catch what we mean. Please join us in a rundown of the best pieces of honest-to-Elune hunter-loot of 2008. The loot doesn't need to be epic or powerful to make the list, but it does have to have some Significance. What defines Significance? For our purpose, we're going to define it as: How much the gear affected our -- i.e, all hunters' -- lives. For example, very few hunters obtained the legendary bow from Sunwell, but that thing affected us all, didn't it. So let the arguing and scoffing commence; here's the BigRedKitty awards for 2008 Hunter-loot.
Switched On: When hardware startups zagged
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. In 2008, a year in which some of the most-used American political buzzwords were "change" and "maverick", many technology companies bucked conventional wisdom. With rising penetration across a broad range of mainstream consumer technology categories, it has become more difficult than ever to compete in the device space if you're not bringing something different to the party. The year did not start out auspiciously for those going against the grain, as CES 2008 brought news of Warner Brothers' decision to exclusively support Blu-ray as opposed to underdog HD DVD. The move set off a swift collapse of the HD-DVD partnership and Toshiba officially threw in the towel a few months later. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, Steve Jobs used part of what is slated to go down as his final Macworld Expo keynote to announce something that wasn't very surprising -- shifting the focus of Apple TV from a PC-centric content shifter to a broadband video store. But two open-source efforts have stepped in to shake up the home video space – Boxee, which can run on Apple TV hardware, and NeurosLink, the open-source hardware developer's foray into a set-top box optimized for streaming video from the Internet. Neuros currently has a list of bounties posted, offering dollars for developers who can bridge gaps in its software's functionality.
GamerDNA and Massively look back at the MMO year in review
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Lord_of_the_Rings_Online_overcoming_WoW_and_2008_in_MMOS'; Continuing on from GamerDNA's year in review (pt. 1) Massively and everybody's favorite gaming social service have come together to feature some great MMO numbers for 2008. Written by the highly talented Sanya Weathers, these stats will run down the winners and not-so-much winners for the last six months of MMO gaming. This kicks off a series of article collaborations between Massively and GamerDNA - we hope you enjoy them! What a freaking year. The weather outside is frightful for newcomers to the MMO genre, with a Blizzard that's been going on for so long that no one remembers what swimsuit weather is like. WAR broke out. Expansion packs rained down like meteors, but left no craters in the marketplace. And yet, good news abounds if you know how to read the signs. Come along with us as we look over half of 2008 Today's column features data from July through December. GamerDNA being a startup, our data collection in the first half of the year was not consistent enough to use for anything but wild guessing and drinking games. Listen, a start up tech company can make ANYTHING into a drinking game. On to the Analysis >> %Gallery-40244%
GamerDNA's Year in review pt. 2
Aside from that, what do the numbers tell us? Let me begin with one caveat – GamerDNA's own growth is not accounted for with these numbers. In other words, a slight growth line is actually a function of more members for GamerDNA, NOT the product. In previous Market Trends columns, we've addressed this by using the same group of players and taken snapshots of their playing habits over time. With this year in review column, we are looking at total logins for every member. And since the number of members is growing, so too are the logins. Upward trends are not as good as they appear, and downward trends are actually worse than they look. So keep that in mind as you're reading.
News flash: MMOs rule
Rumors of the impending death of PC gaming have been greatly exaggerated, at least if you take the word of Christopher T. Fong, who writes the Playing Games column at SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle). Fong's latest piece "Year in review: MMOs rule. PC gaming lives." is a very brief look at the state of play on the PC, notably the MMOs and expansions that arrived on the scene in 2008. Not surprisingly, Fong focuses on the W's -- Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft -- with a few boxing references worked in. While we all know that, in terms of subscribers, World of Warcraft is the reigning champ, it's clear that Warhammer Online won't be throwing in the towel anytime soon. (See what I did there?) In this writer's opinion, each offers something the other does not. The clash between players of each respective title might not ever be fully resolved, but as Fong also states -- they're both solid titles in their own right. That being said, please feel free to boldly proclaim which game is better and why. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
GamerDNA shows their year in review graphically
In the spirit of the season, GamerDNA is giving the gift of insight to all its users in the form of a year in review column. Part one of this column describes several interesting metrics about the number of new titles tagged in user profiles by release month, platform, or specific game (no hard numbers given).Some interesting notes: The top title added by users was Age of Conan. It was released in May and correlated to a month of lower unique titles being added. No mention is made of how many users subsequently removed titles from their profiles... but maybe they're saving that for part two. There is a noticeable drop in game titles being added for the months of June and July, around the time of the re-branding effort and subsequent server issues. The largest uptick in titles added (by release date) was in September, presumably due to Warhammer Online. November is still creeping up on the September numbers with the Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria, and World of Warcraft's Wrath of the Lich King still gaining traction. We are promised more phat numbers in the next few days so keep your eyes peeled... well, not literally.
Arcane Brilliance: A squishy year in review
With so much to look forward to in patch 2.4 and WotLK, Arcane Brilliance would like to take one last look back at the road behind, mostly to see if there's a Rogue back there waiting to stab us. It's a little late, perhaps, but here's a look at the year that was, from a Mage's perspective. 2007 was a splendid year. Someday, when our children's children are grown, we will bore them with stories of 2007, and perhaps refer to it as "back in the day," or "the year I dinged 70," or "the year I learned never to mix chili with microwavable burritos in the hopes that their powers will combine to form 'Chilitos,' the perfect food." Here at Arcane Brilliance, we like to think of it as the "Year of the Mage." We also like to think of 2006 as the "Year of the Mage," and frankly we think of 1902 the same way, so take that in whatever way you wish. Basically we like Mages here, and 2007 was a fun year for those well-versed in wizardry. Not everything was magelicious, though. The highlights--and lowlights--after the jump.
The Lord of the Rings year in review
The TenTonHammer website has up a massive Year in Review piece on Lord of the Rings Online. Though the game was only released back in April, there have been several huge content updates. A bevy of new features, quests, mechanical systems, and even raid encounters have fleshed out the already-impressive world of Middle Earth. Article author Martuk walks us through Chapter 9, Chapter 10, and Chapter 11 of the game, noting each new bullet point in Turbine's licensed-game coup. He ends by noting the high spirit and cheering promises that Turbine has made for next year. As the gameworld continues to grow, it's easy to see the dedication to quality the live development team has. It'll be interesting to see what another year of live service will mean for the community, for the game, and for all the players wondering just down that road a ways.%Gallery-8467%
Fortune: Radiohead was dumb to ditch iTunes, make more money
As long as we're in 2007 review mode, let's review the saga of Radiohead's In Rainbows album (which is definitely one of my favorite albums of the year, by the way). First, they said no to iTunes to keep their album in one-piece, then they decided to "sell" it for free on their website (asking their fans to donate what they thought it was worth), and then they cleaned up.Then Fortune calls their decision the 58th dumbest of the year. Yes, the geniuses at Fortune believe that Radiohead screwed up, because they say that 68% of people who picked up the album paid nothing, and the rest of the listeners paid an average of six bucks. But of course, Fortune has got it backwards-- Radiohead, as we noted earlier in the year, would only have earned $1 per album going through the record companies, and so they were still able to rake in twice as much at their average of $2.26 per album download.Dumb? For the record companies, maybe-- they made exactly nothing off of Radiohead's new album. But when you consider what the band made, this distribution method makes even iTunes look dated.[Via Gruber]
The EverQuest II year in review
TenTonHammer's Coyote Sharptongue has a up a rundown on momentous year for EverQuest 2. From the echoes of Echoes of Faydwer to the rising respect for Rise of Kunark, I'm going to say 2007 was easily the best year SOE's flagship game has had since its launch in 2004. Excitement among the playerbase is high, hints are that people are returning to the game or trying it out for the first time, and the newest expansion is getting a lot of positive feedback from gamers who have pushed past their initial anti-soloing impressions.Coyote discusses the impact Faydwer had on the game early in '07, and then goes on to discuss the Estate of Unrest, Fan Faire, and RoK.Phat Lewts. Unrest offered it in abundance...IF you could survive long enough to enjoy your riches. Set towards what was at the time "end game" the Estate of Unrest offered something that no other expansion or update had ever offered before. A chance to crap yourself. Creepy dolls coming to life, disembodied whispers and howling, ghostly laughter mocking the fact that you just turned on every light in the room in which you sat. If you allowed it, the zone could easily submerge you in its doom and gloom and suck you into the game play. I like Coyote's list a lot, but it definitely left something out ... where's the love for the Arasai?
Year in Review: December
It's finally over! Our Year in Review series for 2006 ends with this final December feature. Sony suffers its greatest loss to homebrew, as we all look towards 2007 for more revelations.Sony moving forward with video download serviceThen: "Sony is finally revamping its pledge to bring PSP owners more video content. With the UMD format dead, Sony is looking towards digital distribution."Now: At CES, Sony announced a deal with AOL (parent company of this blog) that will allow Bravia owners to get AOL Video directly from their TVs. Will this deal expand to the PSP?Jump Festa: Final Fantasy on displayThen: "Japan's Jump Festa, where the hotly anticipated Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core and Final Fantasy Tactics: The Lion War are on display."Now: Square made good on their word of providing a playable demo of FFVII. Too bad it was only for Japanese attendees of Jump Festa. Word has it that Crisis Core is easily the best addition to the Compilation of FFVII project so far.PSone games hacked in custom 3.02 firmwareThen: "His latest custom firmware release will allow your PSP to emulate the 3.02 firmware while running homebrew as if you have a very homebrew-friendly 1.50 PSP. Of course, the custom firmware goes even beyond that: it'll strip region encoding off of UMD movie playback, and more importantly, it'll get rid of the DRM protection of the current lineup of downloadable PSone games."Now: Dark_Alex has surpassed Sony in every single way, with 3.03 OE-B. This includes all the functionality of 3.03, and then some.Samsung hints at hard disk-enhanced PSPThen: "The 60GB version of Samsung's 1.8" N-series drives may end up in a future PSP revision."Flog archived for your pleasureThen "Just in time for Christmas, the "All I Want for Xmas" flog has been reuploaded by the Consumerist."See complete year in review.
Year in Review: November
Was November the biggest month in PSP news? Probably. Look at these articles, which barely scratch the surface of all the news we provided during the month of the PS3 launch.Does Sony hate OPM? The answer is yesThen: "There's no reason to have a print magazine... especially when the main reason people get the magazine is for the demo discs. The final issue of OPM will be the January 2007 issue."Now: Looks like 1UP & the gang is for sale.New survey reveals exciting TV possibilitiesThen: "They give users two options: streaming using LocationFree player, or by subscribing to a mobile TV service for $10 a month."Now: TV and games make a great mix, as Microsoft insists.Full resolution videos possible on 2.80 firmware!Then: "You can play full resolution videos on the PSP, as long as they're encoded with the highly size-inefficient Motion JPEG codec."Now: For those of you that want a visual treat, this and P-TV are the only viable solutions right now.Watch out for the PSP Blender scamThen: "PSP Blender received numerous complaints, and the site is now listed as a "Phishing or other scams" website."Now: This is still one of our most-viewed articles. Why? These sites are raking in the cash with every misinformed PSP owner they find.Other noteworthy stories:Chotto Shot pictures, videos & impressionsUltimate list of TIFF homebrew gamesPSP for porn, pedophiles and Nazis ... according to FOXWould Sony eliminate PSP features?See entire year in review so far.
Year in Review: October
Don't worry: you don't need a PS3 to download PSone gamesThen: "We have the PSP downloads site now, and you're right; these PS1 games will be available either from the PSP downloads site directly, so you don't need a PS3 to get them."Now: Uhh ... We're hoping Sony will make good on this promise one of these days.Lik-Sang goes out of business, tells their side of the storyThen: "Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment."Now: This certainly hasn't helped Sony's image among the hardcore gamer crowd. Some have even boycotted PlayStation due to Sony's harsh battle against importers.PSP gains touch screen supportThen: "PSPTouchMe as it's called will not only give you touch screen capabilities, but it'll provide a new, completely customizable XMB that's far more flexible than Sony's official one."Sony to get a marketing makeoverThen: "Sony is finally re-examining their brand, and will try to completely makeover their corporate identity. With the all-important PlayStation 3 about to launch, Sony better get their act together... fast."Now: The PLAY B3YOND campaign for the PLAYSTATION 3 was certainly an interesting (and creepy) one, but sluggish sales of the new console may show that Sony hasn't done a very good job.See entire year in review so far.
Year in Review: September
Remember when Killzone was supposed to have Infrastructure mode? Let's hope Sony doesn't forget. September was an incredible month, especially with an impressive Tokyo Game Show outing.Engadget goes hands-on with the Sony MyloThen: "In the first images we saw of the Mylo, it looked like its design borrowed heavily from the PSP. But seeing the two together, they really don't look similar at all."Now: The Mylo wasn't ever meant to be an extension of the PlayStation brand (like some of you have mistaken). Sony will continue experimenting until they release another handheld addition to the PlayStation brand.Sony says: PSP will become a virtual PS3Then: Sony Computer Entertainment corporate executive Izumi Kawanishi shared some insights today in a report titled "PSP will become a virtual PS3."Now: A more advanced Remote Play function is in the works, and Sony will continue to bridge their two systems.Killzone to feature Infrastructure multiplayer, but not at launchThen: "Infrastructure, which will be made as a downloadble upgrade a few weeks after the game's release on Halloween. In addition to multiplayer, two more maps will be released at that time and a new single player chapter, with four new missions."Now: These bonuses have gone suspiciously missing. We're told that it's still "coming soon."Tetris: the first homebrew for 2.80 PSPsThen: "Wow, it's finally happened. The libtiff exploit that allowed users to downgrade their PSPs has now been used to launch a game application. Although a bit primitive, this piece of homebrew from noobz can be installed and launched very easily."TGS 06: Everything that happenedSee entire year in review so far.
