The Week In Massively Features E3 Edition
E308: DC Universe Online roundupSony Entertainment Online revealed a metric ton of new information on their upcoming superhero MMO DC Universe Online at E3 this week, and Massively was on hand to pick the spicy brainmeats of Creative Director Chris Cao, SOE-Austin VP of development John Blakely, and famed DC artist and Executive Creative Director for the project, Jim Lee.
The Digital Continuum: Five KOTOR MMO Jedi counter-measuresWith the less-than-grandiose announcement that Electronic Arts, BioWare and Lucas Arts are working together on a KOTOR MMO, I've found myself pondering the game that until now was nothing but a rumor. Granted, I already thought about the game quite a lot even before it was the now more official affair.
E308: Membership and microtransactions in Free RealmsWe know that SOE's upcoming title Free Realms will be free to play, but that begs the question of how SOE might profit from the title. (Especially considering that Lead Designer Laralyn McWilliams stressed that Free Realms is just as important to SOE as the other titles being shown off at E3, The Agency and DC Universe Online.
E308: Erling Ellingsen talks patch timeframes for Age of ConanEarlier today we sat with Age of Conan product manager Erling Ellingsen. Due to the development cycle Conan is in right now, Ellingsen didn't really have anything in particular to show us - but he did have some things to tell us.
E308: SOE President John Smedley talks Free Realms, possible sequelsYesterday at Sony Online Entertainment's E3 headquarters, the Massively team got to see and hear the latest details on SOE's trifecta of new titles: The Agency, DC Universe Online, and Free Realms. There will be in-depth coverage of these games across the site during the rest of the day. To kick off, and to give you some perspective on what these games mean for the company, we sat down to talk with SOE's CEO John Smedley.
Massively's exclusive tour of LotRO Book 14As we announced earlier, Massively recently participated in a hands-on play session for Lord of the Rings Online's newest patch, Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion. In this session, we were able to play through some of the exciting new content and document it for you, the faithful readers.
E308: Social networking and web-games in Free RealmsFor a game that's not actually browser-based (though it will only require a small download and stream content in the background, Free Realms is a client-based game), Free Realms will have an unprecedented amount of browser-based content. Free Realms will have all of the web content you would expect from a modern MMO...
E308: Combat in Free RealmsBecause it's not required in order to advance (characters will be able to level up without ever killing a monster), combat in SOE's upcoming free-to-play MMO Free Realms is a bit different than you may be accustomed to.
E308: Warhammer Online to feature fully customizable UIWe spoke earlier this week with Josh Drescher and Adam Gershowitz about the latest changes to Warhammer Online, and we were enthused to hear that the game will feature a fully customizable user interface. Agility training
E308: Champions Online gameplay videoIt's late in E3 week but we've still got plenty of goodness coming. We've got a fun tidbit from the folks at 2K games (Champions' new publisher), a brand new gameplay video for Champions Online. It doesn't have a lot of guidance as to what we're seeing onscreen, but we do get to see a lot of day-to-day style gameplay.
E308: Warhammer Online is pretty much doneWe had a chance to chat today with Josh Drescher and Adam Gershowitz, two of the leading lights behind EA Mythic's Warhammer Online. Even just two months after our huge Massively goes to WAR series, there were new elements to view and discuss.
E308: MMOs for your PS3Touring SOE's swanky E3 press room, we noticed a trend while chatting up various developers: the PlayStation 3. Though up to this point, console MMOs haven't been the norm, Sony seems to be pushing hard in that direction.
E308: Warhammer Online trailer showcases RvR combatThe Warhammer Online folks are keeping sort of a low profile this week, but in honor of E3 they have released a brand new trailer highlighting Realm vs. Realm combat.
E308: A first look at Champions of the ForceWe admit: we're addicts. Addicted to the drug that is collectible trading card games. So when SOE recently announced their latest online trading card game, Champions of the Force, we knew we were destined to be consumed by it.
E308: John Smedley on Star Wars Galaxies, reconnecting with playersOur lengthy discussion with John Smedley yesterday focused primarily on Free Realms and the possibilities in SOE's future. We also chatted briefly about the newest surprise from the company - a collaboration between the Austin and Denver studios called Champions of the Force.
E308: Runescape HD and the role of Jagex in the MMO IndustryWe sat down Tuesday morning to talk with the people at Jagex, the US-based company that develops the wildly popular Runescape MMO. They're a company in the midst of growing from a one-game studio to a multi-game mini-empire. Alongside the casual game service FunOrb and the newly announced in-development title Mechscape, these titles combine to portend a unique future for this Korean-inspired American company.
Behind the Curtain: Gone for good?I've been thinking recently about loss. Having been incredibly lucky with my own brush with the possibility of losing my World of Warcraft characters, I got to thinking. Not only about what I would have done if things hadn't worked out for me, but about how loss works in MMOs today.
Ask Massively: Enough business already!With all of the talk in previous columns about the business side of MMO gaming, it can be easy to lose track of the real reason that we are all here. Fun! Since I have been up to my eyeballs in the business side of things recently, I thought we'd return to the realm of fun for this week's Ask Massively.
MMOGology: Will mobile MMOGs evolve genre expectations?What makes an MMOG an MMOG? When we talk about massively multiplayer games, certain expectations immediately form in our minds. Looking at the components of the acronym itself it seems pretty straightforward. We know that MMOG stands for massively multiplayer online game.
EVE Evolved: Freeform professionsEVE Online is a game often lauded for its sandbox style open-ended gameplay. Some of the best parts of the game have been entirely developed by the players and this trend continues in the field of professions. At launch, CCP advertised the professions miner, trader, bounty hunter and pirate. Little did they know that players would add double-agent, stock broker, artist and many others to that list.
