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Yesterday on Massively: December 20, 2007
Hooray! Only 4 more days until Christmas! Of course for some lucky folk here in the US, this also marks the last day of work until the 26th, as Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are Monday/Tuesday. For those of you waiting to shop, it means unless you're interested in paying insane amounts of money for overnight shipping, you will now be required to join the crush and do some analog gift shopping...On second thought, maybe the shipping costs aren't that bad. Features The Daily Grind: Veni, vidi, Visa Cinemassively: How to make a gift box One Shots: The Doppelganger General news Blizzard won't support 'legit' RMT service Warrior Epic gets new trailer Aion announces character classes For NCsoft, spreading joy is Child's Play PotBS updated once more, build 1.0.25.0 live to open beta World of Warcraft-themed comedian. Yes. You heard me. The Stonehenge Chronicles delayed for Hellgate: London Florida Attorney General issues subpoena to IGE Warhammer's December newsletter features RvR Keeps and Sieges NCsoft execs play musical chairs, reshuffle New MMOSG: Sociotown Guild Wars music to be featured in PLAY! concert series Contests Two chances left to enter WoW Insider's Dell notebook giveaway Massively's holiday giveaways, day four
Yesterday on Massively: December 19, 2007
News all across the lines yesterday, and part two from our special Lore feature for Tabula Rasa in cooperation with NCsoft Austin. From further information about the Cory Ondrejka departure from Linden Labs to the creation of Massively's new Twitter account and more discussion on the "legal" RMT service being proposed. If life ran off with your reading time yesterday, read on! Features The ongoing Tabula Rasa lore feature: Tabula Rasa: A time to remember, part two The Daily Grind: Non-combat titles vs combat titles Gamer Interrupted: Playtime Management Workshop Cinemassively: DiVAS - Episode 2 One Shots: Into the Underworld! Massively on Twitter Building a better MMOusetrap: Burnout for the holidays General news Virus warning, HiPiHi may contain trojan [UPDATED] Legends of Norrath expac Forsworn goes live today -- exclusive art at Massively The winners of the Guild Wars RAWR Cup Kzero forecasts virtual world growth through 2008 The life of a Hobbit: Pies and Postal quest guides at TTH LotRO and TBC honored in GameSpy 2007 awards Beware the Rotgut Jumpgate Evolution site launches MMOs get the movie treament in 'Game' Vanguard free for now, for past account-holders [update] Ancient Gaming Noob talks to WorldIV about how far we've come Dream of Mirror Online's cel-shaded look works for it EVE Trinity: Boost patch to bring balance to the EVE force Contests Reminder: Post a comment on WoW Insider's Dell notebook giveaway Massively's holiday giveaways, day three
Yesterday on Massively: December 18, 2007
Yesterday was full of more holiday contests coming in, lots and lots of great features, and tons of news. If you happened to miss something in the blur of posts whizzing by, catch up here. Don't forget to enter the contests before time runs out! Features Yule-tide quest guide for non-Hobbits Gift guides for MMO gamers The Daily Grind: Optioning IP Bid to become a Tabula Rasa NPC, it's for charity! Cinemassively: Plant Pets One Shots: The Hunter's Lodge MMOG Podcast Roundup: Dec. 1st - Dec. 18th Contests Tabula Rasa: A time to remember, part one WoW Insider's Dell notebook giveaway continues Massively's holiday giveaways, day two General news Live Gamer will attempt making RMT legit and official Microsoft defies all mockery with Visual Studio ads Trinity 1.01 live on EVE server Warhammer beta update - part VI Winter has arrived in CoX 38 Studios hires another industry vet Runescape cracking down hard on RMT Guild Wars Wintersday contest winners announced Troll/Ranger PvMP disabled once more Senior producer for EverQuest II Bruce "Froech" Ferguson interviewed PotBS updated to build 1.0.22.0, patch notes released
Yesterday on Massively: December 17, 2007
What a busy day yesterday! Of course, one can count any day successful in which you get to discuss exploding sheep. Well, okay, it was a small-scale explosion (implosion?) at Electric Sheep, but you can't blame us for trying. "Exploding sheep" is just fun to say. Baa! Don't forget; if a game has more than two stories on it, it lands in its own category, so be sure to check the stories after the jump! Features The Daily Grind: On gateway games MMOGology: Fat sacks 'o crap! Cinemassively: Odissea the Musical in Second Life One Shots: The Arks of Harmony Contests Massively's holiday postcard contest Massively's holiday giveaways! Enter to win a FigurePrints (and oh yeah, a laptop) from WoW Insider General news Final Fantasy XI hacked; Square-Enix hides behind policy Warhammer Online player-mounts displayed in concept art gallery Video games treat chronic pain better than drugs A legal, in-game "Wal-Mart" of virtual goods coming to an MMO near you Watch out for that MMO stalker... A glimpse of things to come from 38 Studios Electric Sheep Company lays off 1/3 of their staff Ten Ton Hammer Tabula Rasa Dev Forum Q&A #3 Former STO designer: Star Trek might be "hardest MMO IP ever" Huxley: In-game hyper-active footage from the Korean beta Lorebook describes things older and fouler than orcs
This weekend on Massively: December 15 & 16, 2007
As we get nearer to the holidays, we see more and more quiet weekends in gaming news. Perhaps the teams involved in running our favorite worlds are instead running around for last-minute gifts like half of us are. Maybe they're busy ensuring holiday events go off without a hitch in their respective lands. Whatever the case may be, we'll be sure to pick up the news as it comes and bring it here to you for those cold days when staying inside gaming (or reading gaming news!) sounds like infinitely more fun than shoveling the walk. Again. Features The Daily Grind: I'll take one box of fug, please Cinemassively: UES Insider - Noob to Knockout The Digital Continuum: Activision Blizzard vs Electronic Arts, battle of the MMO titans One Shots: An abandoned ship The Daily Grind: Chilly down with the party Cinemassively: The Search One Shots: A pirate's life for me! General news Overview of EverQuest's task system Glimpses of the next-gen HD MMOs Mythos gets a giant update Reallusion opens CrazyTalk 5 beta to public Tabula Rasa's Guardian gaffe? Former Auran producer defends staff, management SOE caught red-handed: EQ2 Player / Dev relationship breached ethical boundaries Majorem's MMORTS Ballerium launches Vampire MMO Darkeden launches open beta PotBS beta devlog: Ships of the Line AFK Gamer reviews post-2.3 Alterac Valley Contests You can enter WoW Insider's Dell XPS WoW laptop giveaway every day Reminder: WoW Insider's notebook giveaway continues
Yesterday on Massively: December 14, 2007
Many of us here at Massively are really looking forward to Funcom's Age of Conan. If you've been just as hungry for knowledge about this upcoming title as we have, you should definitely check out yesterday's excellent coverage of the game by our very own Akela! Features Age of Conan Product Developer interview, with gameplay video Age of Conan artwork for your drooling pleasure The Daily Grind: Oh there's no place like MMOs for the holidays Dwell On It: Rolling restart Cinemassively: CSI New York Mystery Game #1 WRUP: Calm before the storm edition One Shots: Playing with family (and friends!) Under The Hood: Going Live Behind the Curtain: Moral & Ethical choices General news Apple releases QuickTime patch to close exploit Open beta for Zu Online starts tonight It's starting to feel like Christmas in Turbine games WoW Insider is giving away a Dell World of Warcraft Laptop Might and Magic goes MMO The ties that bind EQII's senior producer resigns The future for virtual worlds LotRO Lorebook now includes item effects
Yesterday on Massively: December 13, 2007
Yesterday saw the news comes down that Auran (makers of Fury) were closing down their doors and had let everyone go. Being laid off is never fun, but during the holidays is a serious case of suck. We here at Massively are shaking the mojo stick for you all that you land sweet jobs bringing new games to us somewhere soon, Auran folks! Hey Activizzard Blizzivision, a bunch of really good coders just came open -- time to snap 'em up for your next-gen MMO. Features The Daily Grind: The daily grind Cinemassively: Futuristing Tower One Shots: Wintersday in Guild Wars General news Auran goes into voluntary administration, entire staff let go Festival (and the Jester of Festivult) returns to DDO: Stormreach Activision execs reap payday from recent mega-merger A very guild Christmas STO interview comes with first non-space screenshot Falling back to Earth Rumor: Entire guild Unhallowed Triad moved from EQ2 Test Server to live Mounted combat in Age of Conan (and Warhammer, too?) Turbine adding to their arsenal for gold-spammer warfare Guild Wars Wintersday prep, FAQ and patch updates Turbine announces fourth pair of DX10 screenshot contest winners
Yesterday on Massively: December 12, 2007
An amazing storm of news and a good solid Digg later, and the SLverse is starting to calm back down. Questions still remain, but only time will likely answer those lingering concerns as to the direction Second Life will take in the future. Meanwhile, in many other games, there were lawsuits and patches and bugs, oh my! If you missed out on some news amidst all the hubub -- or want to review the fray, here's our handy roundup for you. Features The Daily Grind: Dear Santa, I've been very good this year... Gamer Interrupted: Playing together with different playstyles Cinemassively: Re-Imagining Boston City Hall Plaza Using Second Life One Shots: Your character here! Building a better MMOusetrap: Why we fight! As the Worlds Turn: Land of the Free General news Fury introduces free-to-play option GigaMedia partners with XLGames for world-rocking new MMO Lineage II: The Kamael live today Pirates of the Burning Sea developer journal: It's Good to Group Someone just blew Chunks Perpetual plot thickens: lawsuit filed SWG Chapter 8 patch notes up on Test Center Military Surplus not without bugs Vanguard's much-anticipated Game Update 3 is live Lord of the Rings Online headed to Korea Nielsen ratings say WoW is top dog of the PC domain Dr. Phil comes off as pro-MMO
Yesterday on Massively: December 11, 2007
Yesterday was an absolutely enormous news day for Second Life. In with the headlines came the bombshell scoop our very own Moo Money received -- our internal Linden source told Moo that Linden Lab's Chief Technology Officer, Cory Linden (aka Cory Ondredjka aka the man behind the Flying Spaghetti Monster SL avatar) was released from the Second Life fold. As even Google is expanding into Virtual Worlds with their own Snow Crash project, Cory may well yet land back in the virtual world arena somewhere. Considering this is the man who wrote the entire Linden Scripting Language framework in a night, Google would be wise to snap him up. (So long as he's not under an enforceable non-compete, anyway.) Wherever Cory may land in the future, we here at Massively wish him the very best of luck with it! Features The Daily Grind: It's better to burnout than to fade away Cinemassively: 9 Crimes One Shots: Tracking Old Nick General news Cryptic Studios says adios Richard Garriott talks MMOs at GWU lecture Fury not dead, just on life-support Age of Conan's Assassin class is stealthy, badass Action MMO powered by Crysis engine? That'll be The Day Star Wars Galaxies Chapter 8 'one of [the] most difficult' Herndandez vs IGE - IGE withdraws motion to stay/dismiss Weather comes to Vanguard Scott Jennings on how to make PvP not suck Gift Guides Gifts for the City dwellers
Yesterday on Massively: December 10, 2007
Yes, you're reading that screenshot correctly: Blizzard has announced its continued plans for dominating the global MMO market with the release of a Russian-localized version of the ever-popular World of Warcraft. We can only hope that the NPCs aren't too hard on the players when the game launches in 2008. For the rest of yesterday's MMO news, keep reading! General News L5 games looking a lot like Blizzard Jiminy Cricket is a Manga Fighter: free-to-play producer interview FOX cautions meetings between "cyber gaming" friends EVE Trinity: Starbase warfare switched back on Reminder: Pirates of the Burning Sea open beta has already begun World of Warcraft to invade Russia
This weekend on Massively: December 8-9, 2007
A lot of games run through their development cycles without ever making it to release. It seems like there's no genre more prone to this than MMOs and Virtual Worlds. Some grind to a halt with an appalling crunch, and some you find yourself wondering, "What ever happened to...?"Our own Chris Chester is taking a look at the ones that have disappeared into the background noise, or that have gone strangely quiet. Yesterday saw part one, showcasing five of the top ten of these missing MMOs. Features The Daily Grind: We don't all live in our parents' basements. Really. Top 10 MIA MMOs of 2007 - part 1 Second Life holiday shopping guide - December 8th edition Cinemassively: Second Life Meets Real Life The Daily Grind: Running on MMO time One Shots: Into Terra Volta Cinemassively: "Lost" island lost in Second Life One Shots: The flame of Turian Unusual holiday gifts for LotRO players
Yesterday on Massively: December 7, 2007
There's nothing quite as much fun as checking out the world from a new perspective, we think. Now, normally we'd think of trying a new class, or if we're really burned out, checking out a new game altogether. Of course, if you're a LotRO player, it also means checking out the land as a chicken. Ahh, what it must be like to be poultry in motion. But rather than seed this entire post with bad puns, we'll let you get on with the news from yesterday just in case you missed something. Features One Shots: Bwak! Cinemassively: Machiniplex to hold Q & A for "Among Fables and Men" Under The Hood: The Ouroboros System Dwell On It: A rich heritage The Daily Grind: To forum, or not to forum? WRUP: "The weather outside is frightful" edition General news Firiona Vie tournament this weekend for Legends of Norrath Drinking it up in the City of Heroes Age of Conan: 10,000 beta invites sent out so far Phantasy Star Universe set for PSP, but with nerfed multiplayer Tis the season to celebrate Life Day GuildCafe seeking nominations for Espresso Awards Tales from the Pirates of the Burning Sea endgame press tour Guild Wars patch lowers access level for Eye of the North Square-Enix's creatively-named Virtual World LotRO Founders to receive a horse for Christmas
Yesterday on Massively: December 06, 2007
Indeed, that is one ugly horse. We can only assume that the above is what happens to goody-two-shoes Warlocks in WoW. Of course, not even the ugly horsie could stem the tide of news we got. We suspect the developer houses are trying to get everything out for the for the holidays. If you missed an ounce of news, check it out! Features The Daily Grind: The silence is deafening Behind the Curtain: Making your own lore with Fan Fiction Cinemassively: HMS Theramore One Shots: The black dragon in its natural habitat As the Worlds Turn: Neverending Stories General news Benchmark Capital joins Vivox in 7.8 million USD deal Investors sue game operator for stopping gold-farming Sierra making "mass-market" online game with BigWorld suite Warhammer beta update - part V Rumor Mill: Fury bombed - Massive layoffs at Auran imminent [updated] Analyst talks World of Warcraft's churn rate Heads roll in new Age of Conan trailer LotRO offers (conditional) lower monthly fee for the holidays Contests Massive giveaways: The two week anniversary
Yesterday on Massively: December 6th, 2007
Lots of news from all over the place yesterday. Perhaps our favorite thing that happened yesterday was CCP finishing up maintenance for Tranquility for EVE Online's patch, Trinity. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, you should definitely do so. Oh -- and if you see a Wee Little Ship passing through on the way to Minmatar space from Jita, I'd appreciate it greatly if you wouldn't pod me. Features The Daily Grind: MMO of the Year nominations Gamer Interrupted: Duos are good for relationships Cinemassively: Entropian Rockstar TWO One Shots: The shores of Evendim Building a Better MMOusetrap: Buildings, barrens and beyond (Part 4) General news Monks, Half-Orcs, and Half-Elves coming to DDO EA Mythic picks up a new Director of Community Relations Businessweek chimes in on Activision Blizzard Warcry interviews Pirates' Content Director on creating a virtual Caribbean Jumpgate Evolution producer sets vision for accessibility Football (not Soccer) MMO in the works Additional notes on the NCsoft Q&A Catching up with angels: Q&A with Aion's senior designer Your MMO, your brain and your computer Holiday Gift Guides Massively's gift guide for the Star Wars Galaxies player (More to come!)
Yesterday on Massively: December 4, 2007
It was a surprisingly low-key day yesterday. While we can't be entirely certain, we suspect there are a lot of folks who jumped on the Pirates of the Burning Sea beta. Our other guess is that everyone was obsessively vulturing their mailboxes in the hopes that they will get one of the highly coveted Warhammer Online beta keys that are supposed to be coming out soon. Either way, we rounded it up, and have it here for those who were getting their game or geek on and perhaps missed something. Features One Shots: We took the red pill! Cinemassively: Making of Richard Hawley's Second Life The Digital Continuum: Five potential Star Wars settings Top 5 combat tips for Tabula Rasa recruits Teh Dailey Grind: OMG learn to spell! General news First STO in-game screenshot released A booming economy (and a lack of PvP) in the PotBS beta Exteel is live and ready for the masses Japanese media company launches mobile MMOG More new, veteran blood at 38 Studios Maple Story invites retailers into the game world Dell announces new epicly geeky WoW laptop
Yesterday on Massively, December 3, 2007
We've still been reeling from the news of the Activision Blizzard merger/takeover. Well, okay, maybe we're just reeling from how utterly unwieldy that name is. Of course, the other big thing that happened yesterday was that the NDA for Pirates of the Burning Sea dropped. Now we can tell you gleefully that we've been playing for a while thanks to the fantastic folks at Flying Lab Software, and have lots of PotBS news in the works for you! Features The Daily Grind: What's in a name? MMOGology: A link to the future Cinemassively: Chiron Beta Prime One Shots: This place looks familiar... Adventures From the Back Row - the Technician of Biology General news Ken and Chun Li coming to Perfect KO MMOG Massively more on the Blizzard merger Tabula Rasa devs foster Friday Night Fights Social currency and giving in MMOs News of MMO "falls out" of Jason Anderson's mouth Fantasy sports and MMO games White Lions are the last career for High Elves? Guild Wars featured in new Gamestop commercial
Yesterday on Massively: December 2, 2007
Unless you spent all yesterday in your favorite worlds, you couldn't have helped but hear the news that Vivendi Universal (parent company of Blizzard) and Activision are merging into a new company called Activision Blizzard. While Mike Morhaime is saying this will only affect company filings and stock availability on the US markets (and we'd note that EA is suddenly staring at a very big company as compeition) we here at Massively like to think that one of the huge potentials of this merger will be that "I am Murloc" by L70ETC will wind up as either a downloadable or unlockable song in one of the Guitar Hero games. (Hey, we'd happily rock out to some L70ETC!) If you missed the news, dear readers, then read on... Features The Daily Grind: In-game holiday gifts Cinemassively: DiVAS One Shots: A sense of impending doom General news Blizzard rolled into Activision Blizzard mega-publisher [Updated] Hands-on with Dream of Mirror Online Join Gamespy's chat with Pirates of the Burning Sea devs First look at Vendetta Online Episode 5 of The Guild: Rather Be Raiding Aion: The Tower of Eternity - Details emerge on the Spiritmaster class Dungeons & Dragons Online live event postponed
Yesterday on Massively: Dececmber 01, 2007
Looks like another quiet weekend for the games industry. (Well, okay quiet unless you've been paying attention to Joystiq's coverage of Gerstmann-gate.) But in the MMO world, we patiently wait for news of the re-opening of the WAR beta, other new betas coming down the wire, or NDAs to be lifted for new reports to come out. In the meantime, here's the quick and dirty roundup of news from yesterday. Features The Daily Grind: Gold farming in your favorite game On the Inside, Episode 20: Eureka Dejavu and Schmilsson Nilsson Cinemassively: It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas One Shots: Looking out over the Sage Lands General news More patches incoming for Hellgate: London Weekend WAR-flix: Career System and RvR Combat + Inevitable City New EVE Online: Econ Dev Blog - The hidden numbers behind corporations
Yesterday on Massively: November 30, 2007
Hooray for Fridays, and hooray for our first Massive month! We really feel like we got off to a good running start, and are looking forward to being here for quite some time to come. For all of you who are up at this insanely early hour on a Saturday -- go back to bed! (Kidding.) We figure if you're up this early, you've got a good reason, so we got up early too just to make sure you have your news roundup. So grab some coffee and enjoy the good news. Features The Daily Grind: Omg rez pls k thx Dwell On It: prim-evil 7 WRUP: Rabbit rabbit edition Live at the Independent Game Conference: Richard Garriott keynote Under The Hood: Pseudo-MMOs, part two Cinemassively: Chronicle of the Annoying Quest - Season 2 One Shots: Beacon's Perch Personalizing your profile on Massively MMOG Podcast Roundup: Nov. 19 - Nov. 30th General news Guild Wars bonus mission pack released Official word: Perpetual lives, STO "still a triple-A game" SGW's Chris Klug explains his storytelling philosophy 7-Eleven sells Nexon Game Cards In Development: Earth Eternal Moshi Monsters TR Feedback Friday addresses Military Surplus, emotes, bugs Blizzard was only expecting 1 million WoW subscribers Chat log includes more details on Jumpgate Evolution Disney making online game based on the movie "Cars" Conan newsletter brings blood, savagery, information Funcom: cool stuff coming for AO in 17.8 Massively's massive giveaways: Ideazon Z-Board winners!
Yesterday on Massively: November 29, 2007
It's Friday, and you know what that means! One more day at work/school/etc. before it's time for another relaxing weekend. Ah, yes, weekends, the bastion for those not cursed with finals wanting to get away from the hustle and bustle. Of course, if you've been far too busy this week to catch up on gaming news, it's all good. Every morning we wrap it all up in a pretty package and deliver it here to you. And for days as busy as yesterday was, that can be very handy! Features The Daily Grind: The end of the affair The Digital Continuum: Don't drink the casual koolaid Behind the Curtain: Evolving the World of Warcraft Cinemassively: Mercury Metropolitan's 18th birthday One Shots: A hidden mural General news Read the patch notes for AC's November update Damion Schubert seeks a different kind of grind EVE Trinity screenshots galore Massively interviews Netdevil's Hermann Peterscheck, producer of Jumpgate Evolution RF Online on going free-to-play, localization differences New MMO: Luminary: Rise of the GoonZu CoX costume token, free respec delay Wearable MoCap suits to put animators out of a job Poll confirms six Stargate Worlds planets AcroGames using Unreal Engine in new online game DOMO: Broken mirror, broken dreams Tchurvul and Derneal battling openly in DDO
