Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

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The MMO Times: First of 2012

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On January 13, 2012

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

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: The Force Has Arrived!

By

On December 12, 2011

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

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 MMO Times: Panda Edition

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On October 30, 2011

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 19

Welcome back gamers! Issue 19 is brought to you by our new panda friends. We have a couple of interesting things to read in this issue but it is a little short. There is dated news in here so this issue needed to go out before November 1st. I hope you enjoy.

Aion 3.0 – Housing and Mounts

Aion is getting a huge patch soon and apparently it includes player housing and mounts. I guess the PvP players of Aion are none to excited about player housing the everyone else is. I guess there will be an armoire to store the variety of Daeva wardrobes (some of those costumes can be quite … interesting). The Wings Over Atreia post on Massively has a pretty good write-up.
Massively article

Secret Word Beta Has 500k Signed Up

I hadn’t realized there was so much interest in the upcoming Secret World MMO, and apparently Funcom was also surprised. They have already had half-a-million players sign up. I may have to check out this game to see what all the fuss is about. Speak up if you have an idea. Along with the link to the GameSpy article I have also provided a link to the games website where you can register for the beta.
GameSpy article
Secret World website

DC Universe Online Going F2P

Another MMO hops on the Free-2-Play bandwagon. SOE has offically announed that on November 1st (that is this coming Tuesday!) DC Universe Online will be Free-2-Play. I always find it interesting when another MMO decides to go Free-2-Play. I know it has to make things more competitive for other companies also trying to release and promote their titles. Personally I’m on the fence about Free-2-Play, perhaps a topic for a future post. Massively has the article.
Massively article

Diable 3 for WoW Players

I haven’t read this post in its entirety yet but I definitely will (that’s what the iPad is for), but I am definitely one of those WoW players that hasn’t played the first two Diablo’s but will be playing D3. I think a post like this is excellent for players, just like myself, to get caught up in the lore so we don’t feel so lost when we start playing Diabloe 3. Check it out on WoW Insider, it looks to be a good read.
WoW Insider article

Mists of Pandaria Developer Q&A

You can probably find the summary of the developer Q&A for the next WoW expansion everywhere, but I like the way MMO-Champion does it where its a transcript written like a blue post. You do have to scroll a bit to get there (there is a video of the Tyrael’s Charger mount for Annual Pass subscribers as well as a couple other PTR things). There is some good things covered but its a long read.
MMO-Champion post

[Shameless Plug] SWTOR: Bioware’s Launch Plans

One of the things I’m concerned about is how Bioware plans to handle launch. The way I understand it, and anyone please correct me where I’m wrong, is that Bioware plans to limit or control the number of players that can log in at launch… <read more>

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: Back For Blizzcon

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On October 23, 2011

In Gaming, MMO Times, MMORPG

Issue 18

Hello Gamers!! I didn’t think anyone still read these posts or still received the emails but I learned recently that some of you still do and do enjoy them. So, back by popular demand, is The MMO Times and what a better way to come back then with the cool stuff from Blizzcon. Enjoy!

Mists of Pandaria Trailer

I am only providing this video through the blog, obviously I can’t embed a video into an e-mail.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyeZ8khSEC0[/youtube]

Mists of Pandaria Recap

MMO-Champion has the best recap of Blizzcon 2011 including videos and and links to the all of the details around the new World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria. I will be honest, I’m not a fan of the name but some of the new features do have me a bit geeked out. So check out the link and see what you think (I also provided the Massively link, they have some good stuff too).
MMO-Champion article
Massively article

STO Creates Difficulty Modes

As all of you may know by now, Star Trek Online has gone Free-2-Play. It seems they are making more changes to their Strategic Task Forces by creating two difficulty modes, Normal and Elite. You can read more about it at Massively.
Massively article

Transformers Universe Q&A Recap

Jagex held a Q&A session at the New York Comic Con this year for the upcoming Transformers Universe. There were quite a few things discussed about it so check out the Massively article to read more about it. I haven’t looked too much into this MMO yet but I am mildly interested so I might try to see if I can get into a beta or something.
Massively article

A Look At SWTOR Editions

MMOMFG has a pretty good article that discusses the various editions that you can pre-order for SWTOR. There are three editions available, Digital Deluxe, Collector’s Edition (which I have already pre-ordered) and the Standard Edition. I thought a long time about just getting the Standard Edition but the more I played the beta the more I enjoyed the game and decided that, while pricey, I enjoyed the game enough to warrant paying the cost.
MMOMFG article

SWTOR Flashpoints & Warzones

In The Old Republic, Flashpoints are Instances and Warzones are PvP Battlegrounds and ars technica has an article with some decent details on these features. They also have the Signs of War trailer. I haven’t tried the Warzones yet, but I have done some Flashpoints and they are pretty fun and fit well with the storyline (though they haven’t integrated class storylines but I hope they plan on doing that).
ars technica article

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Bioware Has Blizzard Scared

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On October 23, 2011

In Gaming, SWTOR, World of Warcraft

So I have been watching Blizzcon to see all the new things Blizzard is introducing with their various gaming franchises. I think the biggest news from Blizzcon this year is the concept of the World of Warcraft Annual Pass where anyone who commits to keeping WoW for a year will receive Diablo 3 for free and a guaranteed entry into the Mists of Pandaria beta.

I thought that was a pretty bold move by Blizzard and then it occurred to me, I think this is a tactic to combat the release of Star Wars. I think Blizzard is actually scared about losing players to Star Wars. So much so that they want players to commit to playing their game for a year, and if you do, they will let you play their other game for free. I know that quite a few of the Blizzard employees are Star Wars fans, they have made many comments during other Blizzcons and there is the various Star Wars references in the game (ex: an NPC named Landoo). So I know they have been following the development of SWTOR just as much as the rest of us have been following (obsessively?) it.

I don’t know if any of you watched the in-depth coverage of Mists of Pandaria but some of the Monk abilities seem to have a Star Wars influence. The Monks have a Holy Power-like resource called Dark/Light Force and the Death Knights are getting a new ability called Asphyxiate. Asphyxiate is a new silence ability where the Death Knight chokes the target while lifting them in the air … seems blatantly obvious.

Perhaps Blizzard is trying to increase the Star Wars influence in the game to keep players from going to SWTOR. I’m sure that’s just wild conjecture but its hard to deny suspicion when some of these mechanics are “lovingly” ripped off from Star Wars.

Despite their best efforts, World of Warcraft will never be Star Wars. I’m sorry Bilzzard but no matter how close a Gamorrean is to an Orc, the two will never be the same. If Star Wars fans want to play SWTOR, they will play SWTOR regardless of the fact that a Death Knight can do a Force Choke.

Cheers!

The MMO Times – The Revival

By

On September 18, 2010

In MMO Times

Issue 10

I know it has been a while since I have posted a new MMO Times. I apologize for the lapse in delivery but I had to make a few adjustments to the mailing portion of The MMO Times. I am excited to say that the new mailing list is working great. So, without further adieu, here is the latest MMO rumblings.

Latest DCUO Screenshots
SOE has issued some new screenshots for DC Universe Online and they feature some combat and game locations. If you visit the article, there is a gallery at the bottom of the post; Massively has the info.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/18/newest-dc-universe-online-screenshots-highlight-game-locations-a/

SWTOR Devs Talk About Designing the Jedi Classes
I love reporting more SWTOR news. This article from Massively has a video where the Bioware developers for SWTOR discuss the challenge of designing the two Jedi classes. Enjoy.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/17/swtor-devs-dive-deep-in-jedi-design-in-this-weeks-dispatch/

New Cataclysm Mounts and Pets
The latest beta build for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has some new mounts and pets. The most interesting of the items listed is the new companion mount where you are turned into the mount, and another player can ride on your back – my guess is this is the new Alchemist mount that has been alluded to before. I also think this gives a whole to meaning to “mount”.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/18/cataclysm-beta-new-mounts-and-companion-pets-in-build-12984/

Pre-Cataclysm Patch Download Starting
If you have played World of Warcraft at all this week  you will notice that the background downloader has started downloading a 1.58GB patch. Yes, that is the 4.0.1 patch that will begin the pre-Cataclysm changes to Azeroth. This means the world event for Cataclsym could happen very soon.
http://www.blizzplanet.com/blog/comments/pre-cataclysm_patch_data_in_live_servers/

Going Live! – Read below to see what games/patches/expansions have recently gone live.

Clone Wars Adventures Launches
September 15, 2010 – This F2P game from SOE, based on the popular Clones Wars animated series, has left open beta and is now live. I am a big Star Wars fan but I’m not sure about this one. I might give it a try and see what I think.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/15/clone-wars-adventures-launches-with-new-trailer/

Beta News:

Vindictus Enters Open Beta
September 15, 2010 – This past week Vindictus entered into open beta and they are doing something interesting. You have to register to receive a key and it is required to play the beta. In addition, when you receive your beta, you receive two additional keys to share with friends.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/13/come-snag-a-vindictus-beta-key-and-cover-yourself-in-the-blood-o/
http://vindictus.nexon.net/

Forsaken World Beta Keys Available
October 27, 2010 – Yes, I know its a month away before the latest F2P from PWE starts testing but you can go there now to receive your key to the closed beta.
http://www.massively.com/2010/09/16/forsaken-world-readies-first-closed-beta-test/
http://fw.perfectworld.com/

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

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