A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: MMO Times Page 21 of 25

The MMO Times: First of 2012

Issue 25

Hellooooo Everybody! Sorry for the delay between issues, the Christmas and New Years holidays have a tendency to make things pretty busy. So without keeping you any longer, check out these headlines that I hope you find interesting as I have. Enjoy!

TERA Beta Sign-ups Opens

January 12, En Masse has sent to call for TERA testers. This game got a lot of attention in the gaming conferences last year. The graphics look pretty awesome. I probably will not have time to try out the beta, but if anyone else does check it out, let me know what your thoughts are. Remember, this is just a sign-up which means its not a guarantee beta invite. Follow the links for the Massively article or the TERA website for signing up.
Massively Article | TERA Website

League of Legends Hits 11.5MM

This is probably another foreboding sign for Blizzard and World of Warcraft. League of Legends, a Free-2-Play MMO by Riot, now has 11.5 million active players far surpassing the 10.3 million that are playing WoW. I think its pretty interesting that a F2P game now has more players then WoW. Follow the link to see the Forbes article.
Forbes Article

More On MechWarrior MMO Going F2P

A developer at Piranha Games explains the reasons the MechWarrior MMO will be going with the Free-2-Play model. They mention in the article that the games anticipated release is expected to be in the second half of 2012. There is also a link in the article that elaborates on the CryEngine 3, which is the graphics engine the game is being built on. Follow the link to read more at VideoGamer.
Video Gamer Article

Rift Offers New Subscription Plans

Another interesting competitive move by one of WoW’s biggest competitors, Rift. They have adjusted their subscription plans which actually makes playing Rift cheaper then playing WoW. As if Blizzard didn’t have enough problems keeping players in WoW, lowering prices below their rate is going to make life even more difficult. Many have been clamoring for Blizzard to consider the Free-2-Play model and they have fervently stated they will not consider the Free-2-Play model beyond level 20. Follow the link to read more at tom’s hardware.
tom’s hardware Article

SWTOR ‘Fastest Growing MMO’

I love reading good things about SWTOR and I think this one is really exciting. Based on the millions of players that flocked to play SWTOR when it was released, it has been crowned the “Fastest Growing MMO in History”. I think that is a pretty prestigious acolyte. Follow the link to read more Attack of the Fanboy.
Attack of the Fanboy Article

SWTOR Covers New Flashpoint

On January 17th Bioware will be issuing its first content patch for SWTOR. The patch will fix several known bugs and introduce a new, level 50, flashpoint. The planet of Kaon has fallen victim to the Rakghoul plague (which is the Star Wars version of zombies – because who doesn’t like zombies!). Players must go to the planet to rescue survivors and eliminate the plague. Follow the link to read more on Massively and view the trailer.
Massively Article

WoW 4.3.2 Patch Notes

I decided to go way back on WoW Insider to find the post about the 4.3.2 patch. The reason is that I wanted to  point out a particularly interesting feature that will be in the patch. You will be able to enter Raid Finder with your Real ID friends (as long as you are the same faction). So if your friends are on other servers, you can now do a raid, or older normal/heroic raids. They are also fixing a few bugs, such as the annoying mature language filter, and players winning multiple copies of an item in Raid Finder. Follow the link to read more at WoW Insider.
WoW Insider Article

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe.

The MMO Times: Merry Christmas!

Hello again, gamers! I hope you all can tear yourselves away from SWTOR to check out the following articles that I found interesting over the past week. This will be the last one I do before Christmas so Merry Christmas all! Enjoy!

Guild Wars 2 Enters Closed Beta

December 16th, 2011 – Guild Wars 2 will be entering closed beta. NCSoft will be running an internal selection process to determine who will be in the beta. There won’t be any public application process. I’m sure, regardless, fans are excited. Check out more at the Massively article
Massively article

Aion Going F2P in Europe

I was excited when I first read about Aion going Free-2-Play because I thought it would be for all servers. Apparently, at the time that I am writing this, it is only going F2P on the European servers. This is scheduled to happen in February, so there is still time for NCSoft to change their mind about the NA servers.
Massively article

Farewell SWG

Well, the first ever Star Wars MMO is officially shutdown. December 15th was the last day for Star Wars Galaxies. I never played it, I thought about it, but I didn’t know anyone that was playing so I didn’t partake. Despite the fact that I never played it, a part of me is still sad to see it go. Jef Reahard, of Massively, gave SWG a very well written farewell.
Massively article

Previewing MechWarrior Online

Massively has a pretty decent article that covers some of the “nuts and bolts” of the upcoming MechWarrior Online MMO. There are several images of some concept art in the post. I never played MechWarrior, but I knew of it. Some are claiming that this is their most anticipated game of 2012 (which means it has a release date of sometime next year). Check out the article and tell me what you think.
Massively article

Marvel Universe MMO Renamed

Gazillion’s newest project, Marvel Universe, has been given a new name. It makes sense, they want to differentiate their game from the DC version. It is now called “Marvel Heroes”. I found the post on an MMO News site. There still isn’t a lot of details provided about the game. Check it out if you are interested.
MMONews post

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe.

The MMO Times: The Force Has Arrived!

Issue 23

Welcome back gamers to another MMO Times. We have some exciting stuff in this issue so I hope you enjoy what I have provided for you! I thinking about renaming the MMO Times to The MMO Pulse; not sure if I like the sound of it yet.

Diablo III Cinematic

So many people are excited about Diablo III. I haven’t even played the first two and I am excited so I can’t imagine what the people who are fans are feeling right now. Blizzard released the official opening cinematic for Diablo III so enjoy (because it looks frakking awesome!)
Massively article
Diablo Fans website

Updated MoP Talents

Blizzard recently updated the talent trees for the Mists of Pandaria talent system. The new system is receiving a lot of criticism from the player base. It seems many are upset that they are taking away the granular talent trees to the more versatile version Blizzard introduced. I’d be interested in some of your thoughts so please feel free to leave a comment on the post with your thoughts. The link I provided is to the actual talent calculator.
MoP Talent Calculator

SWTOR Tips & Tricks

This is another shameless plug. I wrote a post with some tips for getting started in SWTOR. These are some of the things that are often asked by people in the global channels and things I often forgot to do myself when I had to start toons over. I hope anyone playing SWTOR finds them useful.
Biggs Zone post

EverQuest II Goes F2P

Yes, you read that right. SOE announced Monday, 12/12/11, that EverQuest II is now Free-2-Play. You can now download, install and play EverQuest II without being charged, however you will be limited on what you can do. Things like races, bags, spell tiers, character slots are restricted for those playing for free. I found the article on The Daily BLAM.
The Daily BLAM article

SWTOR Launch Guide

I would still highly recommend checking out my post on starter tips for SWTOR, but Massively has assembled a launch guide for SWTOR. I haven’t gone through the entire post but just looking at it briefly it seems pretty comprehensive. Check it out and tell me your thoughts.
Massively SWTOR Launch Guide

Top 5 Biggest MMO Flops

Piki Geek has a list of, what they consider to be, the top 5 biggest MMO Flops. I only recognized like two of these titles, and I was a little surprised to see that Lego Universe didn’t make the list. Check out the list and see if any of them is something you tried out.
Piki Geek post

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe.

The Chuck Norris ..er MMO Times

Issue 22

Hello Gamers! I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. Here are some of the postings I found during my various opportunities to peruse the internet during my holiday. I hope you enjoy.

F2P DCUO Pays Off

I find the shift to Free-2-Play paradigm fascinating. Some of the games that have converted to F2P were met with failure, recently Lego Universe suffered this fate. Recently Sony decided to take DC Universe Online Free-2-Play and it looks like it paid off. I’m glad to hear that this worked out well for them. I found an interesting read at Venture Beat.
Venture Beat article

Chuck Norris Commercial

Blizzard aired a new WoW Commercial during the football games the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Yes, the newest celebrity to don a World of Warcraft character is the iconic Chuck Norris. Below is the video but for the e-mail I have a link to the WoW Insider post that contains the video for you to watch. Iconic, yet a bit corny. Enjoy.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arKpdxjHamI[/youtube]
WoW Insider post

Mists of Pandaria Talent Calculators

Blizzard unveiled the Mists of Pandaria talent calculators. I suspect WoW Head will have theirs updated to match the official talent calculators. I haven’t been able to look at them too much yet but its exciting to get to play around with them early.
WoW Insider post

TORHead Beta

One of my favorite websites for World of Warcraft is WoW Head. I love the information about all the loot and the talent calculator. Last week the beta of TORHead went live. It also has talent calculators, item details, crew skills, all the stuff you would expect it to have based on WoW Head. I’m very excited.
TOR Head website

WoW Patch 4.3 Live

The final patch for the Cataclysm expansion hit the live servers this week. The final raid, Dragon Soul, is now available to raiders. This is the final showdown with Deathwing. Players will also receive Transmog, Void Storage, three new instances as well as a few other goodies. The post from MMO-Champion has an excellent summation. WoW Insider has the official announcement from Bashiok.
WoW Insider article
MMO-Champion post

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

The MMO Times: Let’s Make Everything An MMO!

Issue 21

Hello gamers! This issue is full of more announcements of things that are, and some that never should be, MMOs in the making. Enjoy.

Ignited Games Vampire MMO

We have come full circle. Last time I found details about a Zombie MMO and now Ignited Games has a closed beta for their Vampire MMO called DarkEden. You can sign up for the beta at the official website which I have also provided.
Massively article
Ignited Games website

A Total Recall MMO in Production (Unfortunately)

There are just some days when you read something like this and all you can do is /facepalm. Why in the world of Azeroth would someone want to make an MMO based on Total Recall?!? Its not like that was the best movie ever made, its just popular because of “tri-boob chick” (WARNING: NSFW!!!). Anyway, I found this post on a website called Gamasutra that Sony Pictures is behind this atrocity.
Gamasutra article

Game of Thrones MMO Announced

I haven’t read this series yet, but its on my ToDo list. I’m not surprised, based on the success of the novels and the TV mini-series, that the possibility of an MMO would emerge. Bigpoint has announced that they are working on making an GoT MMO.
Massively article

Lineage Eternal Announced

NCSoft announced that there will be a third installment of the Lineage universe called Lineage Eternal. It was announced at the Korean equivalent of E3 and the author of the article feels that there will be no doubt Lineage Eternal will be release overseas.I found the announcement at a website called The Sixth Axis but Massively also had a trailer.
The Sixth Axis post
Massively article

STO Will Be F2P 01-17-2012

Finally something to talk about that doesn’t refer to a new MMO. A few months ago I found an announcement that Cryptic would be making Star Trek Online Free-2-Play. I found an article from a website called Ology that gives the date STO will be F2P, January 17, 2012. I think I saw somewhere that Tom’s Hardware also had the announcement.
Ology article

Aion Double XP Weekends

In an attempt to bring players back, every weekend from now until December 6th NCSoft is offering Double XP weekend from gathering, crafting and killing mobs in Aion. Massively has more details and a trailer called the Shugo Event Showcase.
Massively article

4.3 Valor and Conquest Point Changes

WoW Insider has an article about what to expect in regards to acquiring valor points when 4.3 drops. It looks like Firelands will still drop Valor Points, just fewer valor points and Dragon Soul will drop twice that. Check out the article for more details.
WoW Insider post

Happy Thanksgiving!

Since the next MMO Times won’t be until the week following Thanksgiving I want to take a moment and wish everyone a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

The MMO Times: Issue 20!

Issue 20

Wow! I have made it to my 20th issue of MMO Times. Thank you all for reading. I’m excited that so many of you enjoy reading these posts. So here are the topics for the 20th issue; there are quite a few topics this time so I hope you enjoy!

More 4.3 Changes

The latest build on the PTR for the 4.3 patch has some interesting changes. They made some more changes to the World Map and the mini-map by adding additional tracking filters. They also made some more minor adjustments to the druid hurricane animation and I gotta tell ya, I like it. There is a video. Check out the post on MMO-Champion.
MMO-Champion post

Details on SWTOR PvP Warzones

GameSpy has some details about the PvP aspect of SWTOR. The comments are pretty harsh about Huttball. I think Huttball sounds pretty cool, and its a new type of PvP. Obviously most of the comments come from hardcore RP players. There is a video that explains how Huttball works. Take a look and see what you think.
GameSpy article

MechWarrior Online MMO

Yes, MechWarrior fans, Piranha Games has announced that there will be a MechWarrior MMO. They haven’t given too many details other than there is a tentative 2012 release. MMO Crunch has the article.
MMO Crunch article

Lineage II Going F2P

Another known name in MMOs will be going Free-2-Play. MMO Crunch, again, has the details on NCSoft’s announcement of Lineage II going Free-2-Play. It’s interesting to see the paradigm switching among the bigger names in the MMO industry. I still wouldn’t look for Blizzard changing their mind, they are holding their ground.
MMO Crunch article

A Zombie MMO!

I’m not joking, there is going to be a Zombie MMO. I am going to give you guys a minute to calm down from the excitement. GameDev has the details, it sounds like they are behind the development of the game.
GameDev post

Lego Universe Shutting Down

As a Lego fan growing up (and still a fan as an adult) it sucks to see this game going away. I was in the beta for it last summer and I found it only OK. So from a gamer perspective, I’m not surprised it didn’t survive. Massively has the article including the official press release.
Massively article

Aion 3.0 Trailer

Last issue I talked about the upcoming Aion 3.0 patch that included player housing and mounts. Massively has another post with a trailer for Aion 3.0 which includes not only how you can customize the player house but various mount options. It also includes scenes from the new zones, bosses and instances. Check it out at Massively.
Massively post

SWTOR Pre-Order Early Access Is …

So its the time all of us who have pre-ordered have been waiting for, how early will our “early access” to SWTOR be? This past weekend Bioware announced that, depending on when you redeemed your pre-order, your early access will be up to five days. I think that’s pretty significant; I mean you could be max level before the game officially launches. The article I decided to post from GameSpy also has an Imperial Agent character progression video. Enjoy.
GameSpy post

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please subscribe

Page 21 of 25

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén