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Filed under: Opinion, Virtual worlds, MMOS XMMOS X is a bi-weekly column dedicated solely to gaming on the Macintosh natively. "Running Boot Camp or Parallels" is not an option here. This column is for people who want to get the most out of their Mac gaming, as meager as it is.Originally, this week's column was going to be a technical how-to, but a series of snafus -- not the least of which included me slapping my head and going, "You moron, combat logs changed after patch 2.4. That's why this new analyzer you are looking at is barfing on your Karazhan logs from February." However, my focus changed when, like many of the Faithful, I turned my attention to the West Monday to see what our Leader had to say.Frankly, all I wanted Jobs to say was, "with iPhone 2.0, now you can sync iCal tasks to the iPhone." I didn't get that. Instead, I got a bunch of technical jargon that went over my head. Really, who did he think he was talking to, a bunch of developers or something? When a couple of game developers got up to show off their new iPhone apps, a light bulb went off for this week's late column.Continue reading MMOS X: How the MMOs and the iPhone can meet. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Video, Virtual worlds, Humor, Kids SocioTown, a newcomer to the browser-based MMO scene, has an interesting take on letting users control who can play in their spaces. Outside the Box Software, the developers of SocioTown, are placing the ban hammer firmly in the grasp of players who can actually boot uninvited guests from their virtual homes. That's right: Ban hammers for everyone! Players can choose between ways of kicking people to the curb: 'toss out', 'punch out', or even 'bat out'. This video shows what it looks like, as obnoxious couch tourists and close talkers are booted one after another. If you've ever had a houseguest who just wouldn't take the hint to leave, you'll know what this is all about... it might even be cathartic. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, Maps, Virtual worlds, Player ConsequencesThere are a lot of reasons for the increasing popularity of MMOs and the amount of game developers who are entering into the market. I personally think that MMOs with their rich and complex fantasy worlds have a huge advantage over most single player games. There are a few exceptions like Baldur's Gate and Oblivion, but in general if you want to experience a completely different world then you need a MMO. I think this goes back to the days when online fantasy games were text based and developers tried their best to create immersion through good lore and storytelling.In fact a lot of players enjoy the immersion in MMOs and have fun exploring the hidden areas in the game. Going into the unknown has always had an attraction for some people and history is filled with the names of famous explorers. However, in modern times the world doesn't really contain that much which is unknown and it will probably be a while before we get to another planet. Thus virtual worlds offer a false, but satisfying sense of exploration. Not everyone wants to be an explorer when playing a game and the majority of players tend to fall more into the achiever player type.
Continue reading Player Consequences: Pervasive Map Features Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Forums, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily GrindLet's say you're responsible for an MMO that's steadily losing players. Without being able to pinpoint why, you head to the forums and listen in: "PvP sucks!" "Classes under/overpowered!" "Not enough kittens!" Making the tough choices is your job, and you realize you can't address all of these concerns in time to keep a huge number of paying players from quitting forever. What do you do?Do you offer to make the game free? If your model depends on monthly fee revenue, switching to an ad-supported model or microtransactions is no trivial matter and won't happen quickly enough. Do you grant 5x experience for a month? People won't want to level up more quickly in a game they don't like enough to keep around. What's a good solution? If your favorite MMO were to make you angry enough to leave, what would keep you? Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, Reviews, Hands-on, EVE Evolved
When talk of how Faction Warfare was going to work began, the goals it hoped to achieve were laid bare for all to see. EVE Online developers CCP wanted to encourage small-scale PvP combat and make the experience easy for even new players to get involved in. Now that Faction Warfare has been live for several days, the dust is beginning to settle and the question of whether or not those goals have been achieved can be examined. In this article, I will examine faction warfare based on my experiences of it since launch.
The early days:The first two days of the Empyrean Age saw a flood of news posts and some in-game events, carrying on with the momentum generated by the trailers and build-up news stories. Early reports showed that the Caldari militia organised itself well to begin with, leading fleets of over 100 ships. Since then, comparable fleets have been organised by the Gallente and Minmatar militias, with multiple gangs of over 80 ships being a daily occurrence. The Caldari faction retains its size advantage for now but statistics show that the Gallente militia is the most deadly, having over twice the number of confirmed kills per pilot. Epic fleet battles and tactical manoeuvres that were once the sole domain of 0.0 alliance warfare now rage across EVE in the border zones between faction territories.
Read on as I discuss the state of faction warfare and examine whether or not the goals announced earlier have been met.Continue reading EVE Evolved: Faction warfare unleashed Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Second Life

Hangars Liquides -- a tangled, futuristic city.
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News - TenTonHammer

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Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Quests, News items, PvEEVE Online developer CCP Molock writes in his dev blog that CCP Games has big plans for PvE content in the game, especially for mission-runners. Eight devs are currently working full-time on mission and deadspace creation. In addition, there are a number of freelancers working on new mission text. The freelance opportunities were announced in EVE's EON magazine, so it seems they found the people they needed -- particularly in light of just how much PvE content is on the way. Molock describes the process of getting everything in order for The Empyrean Age and Factional Warfare as 'dizzying', particularly in light of the 160 new Factional Warfare missions that were part of the expansion's launch. Molock states that more content is to come in subsequent Empyrean Age releases, and explains what we can expect from EVE's PvE experience in the future.Continue reading EVE Online dev blog: new missions galore Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Super-hero, City of Heroes, Contests, Events, real-world, MMO industry, ComicsIn line with many amazing competitions from NCsoft Europe and their Draw the World Together children's charity, the most recent contest involves the UK's Daily Mirror. To celebrate the latest expansion to City of Heroes: Issue 12: Midnight Hour, NCsoft is offering one lucky Mirror reader a chance to win their very own Intel Core 2 Duo PC complete with 20" monitor encased in a uniquely-crafted case hand-painted by Andrew Wildman, one of the Draw the World Together artists.Wildman is best known for his amazing work on the ThunderCats and The Real Ghostbusters comics during the 80's. One of his crowning achievements during this era was his work on the final issues of the Transformers comics for Marvel. To own a PC case hand-painted by him would be an honor for any comic book or gaming fan. Entering the contest is easy, and even if you don't win the grand prize, four runners-up will each receive a copy of the game. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: At a glance, Massively meta

EverQuest II GU46 -- The Void InvasionIn EverQuest II's Game Update 46, you will be tasked with uncovering the mystery of the Void Storms, and freeing the native creatures of Norrath from their baleful influence. Your dedication will not go unrewarded; full sets of appearance armor (and one set of ... non-appearance armor) are yours for your hard work.

Exclusive images of the new Legends of Norrath: Oathbreaker loot cardsToday we have for you a great big spoiler. Every pack of cards has a chance to drop one of the rare loot cards into your account. We've got every single one of those cards from the Oathbreaker set laid out for you in a gallery below.

Exclusive interview with AoC Senior Dialog Writer Aaron Dembski-BowdenThe credit for a bewilderingly vast amount of this material goes to Aaron Dembski-Bowden, a young British writer already known for his work in the tabletop roleplaying field. We tracked him down and managed to secure an interview.

Are female characters really penalized in Age of Conan?The bombshell comes on page 7, where the reviewer states outright that '... Age of Conan's weapon swing time depends on the duration of the visual swing animation, and female characters swing their weapons about 25% slower than males - so every female melee character does 25% less damage over time!'

MMOGology: There's no place like AzerothIt seems like World of Warcraft operates as many gamers' home base. They might leave for a while to try out a new MMOG when they inevitably burn out on WoW; but most eventually gravitate back. The return might be in anticipation of an expansion, it might be that the gamer misses his guildies, or maybe it's the old, comfortable game mechanics.

Continue reading The week in Massively features Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Interviews, MMO industry, Virtual worldsAge of Conan's Game Director Gaute Godager has definitely made an effort to reach out to the fans, involving himself in promotional videos pre-release and often weighing in on the forums in the last few weeks to discuss current game issues. Despite this, most people probably don't know much about the man himself -- that is, until now, as MMORPG.com has conducted an interview to find out more about AoC's visionary.The mighty Commodore 64 is responsible for breeding Godager's love of gaming, and Pool of Radiance and The Bard's Tale brought him to the world of RPGs. Of course, his fondness for sci-fi and fantasy books (in particular from Asimov and Tolkien) were what made him seek out games in the first place, to further the escapism that he had experienced in reading. This led to him dreaming about creating these worlds himself, and becoming a founding member of Funcom -- and eventually, to bringing us AoC. Check out the whole interview for more on Godager's past and a tiny bit on how he thinks his latest game is going. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Guides, Lore, Races, Blogging into MordorLooking to create an elf in the Lord of the Rings Online but not sure what to name it? Want to avoid naming it "Legolazs" or "Elronde"? Have you unfortunately already used one of these names but are looking to change it? You're in luck! This article will show you how to find a decent, lore-appropriate name for your elf. And if you are not playing LOTRO but are looking for a name for an elf in World of Warcraft or a similar game, this guide might be a handy tool. Since elves are a very popular race in LOTRO, and there are a lot of famous elves in the lore that many players wish to emulate, finding a decent name can be difficult. It is important to remember to follow the naming rules of the game, which means you cannot choose a name that is close in spelling or sound to any of the actual characters from the books (such as Legolas, Arwen, etc). If your name is too similar to one of these characters, it will be changed. A good way to make sure that you are not accidentally stealing a name from the books is to use it in a Google search or consult a book such as the Complete Guide to Middle Earth.Continue reading Blogging into Mordor: Finding the perfect name for your Elf Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeon Runners, PvP, Free-to-play
For over a year now we've enjoyed Dungeon Runners without a specific European server. This means that Europeans had to put up with Americans for all that time! We're not sure how they did it either, but NCsoft has announced that their newest server -- World 8 -- is optimized for European players. This doesn't mean anyone else from around the world can't play on it, but they might not enjoy the low ping rates as they've had on the American servers, if they are American.This eighth world is a PvP world, making it the second such PvP server in addition to World 5. For PvE players, you have several server choices for free players, plus World 2, which is only open to those who pay the $5 monthly membership fee. One of the beautiful parts of the Dungeon Runners server system is the fact that your characters are available on any of the servers, so you can feel free to check out the new-server smell at the European server any time you'd like. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Age of Conan, One Shots
There's something to be said for turning a corner and sizing something like this up as it looms into view. This particularly impressive (and doomy) One Shots vista from Age of Conan comes to us courtesy of David L. We haven't run into this area just yet (well, okay, a couple of us have, but we're trying to not spoil the game for others) but David says: [this is] the Sanctum in Age of Conan. It has a great Indiana Jones feel. Just so long as that Indiana Jones feel involves us getting away with the loot and our lives, we're cool with that! Do you have a screenshot of an area we haven't seen yet? Perhaps you've found the den of All Things Evil in your favorite game and you'd like to show us? All screenshots are welcome, no matter how serious or silly. Just pack those up along with a description of what we're looking at and send it to us at oneshots AT massively.com. Yours could be featured in an upcoming One Shots!Gallery: One Shots
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