MMO Roundup: E3 begins
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 15th 2010 at 2:00PM
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E3 reveal: Player spaceships and PvP Battlegrounds in SWTOR A new door has been opened today in Star Wars: The Old Republic: the door to your very own customizable spaceship! Mary Bihr and Dr. Greg Zeschuk, of LucasArts and Bioware respectively, stood on stage at E3 to shock Star Wars fans everywhere. Since the first movie with the Millenium Falcon, the starship has been the center of every character's personal story. Now you can have your own. |
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Ask Massively: Why so serious edition Ask Massively, Massively's version of WoW.com's The Queue, has returned this week with answers to a handful of new questions. Topics include Guild Wars population numbers, All Points Bulletin impressions and our new code of conduct. |
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Battlestar Galactica Online E3 trailer divides players ... literally "Human or Cylon... Man or Machine... who will you choose?" asks the maddeningly vague Battlestar Galactica Online trailer. More of a teaser than anything, this trailer will make the rounds at E3, trying to tempt MMO gamers and Battlestar Galactica fans alike with intergalactic conflict. |
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Massively's tour of the Fallen Earth studio Last week, Massively had the opportunity to visit the home of Fallen Earth: Icarus Studios in Cary, North Carolina. While the 8-hour drive through the mountains of North Carolina was certainly gorgeous, hanging out with the people who make Fallen Earth was a treat in itself. |
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What if...? Ten canceled MMOs that could've changed gaming history It seems that for every MMO that manages to live until its launch day, there's another that dies prematurely. Massively takes a look at ten canceled MMOs that could have changed the landscape of online gaming if they had ever seen the light of day. |
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New video highlights character creation in Final Fantasy XIV The funny thing about Final Fantasy XIV is that even though it's going to be notably different from its predecessor, most of the previews we've seen have focused on points of similarity to Final Fantasy XI. But the most recent new release of information should help silence some of the comparisons -- it's a video of character generation. |
Filed under: MMO Roundup
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
bobikinbobwalker Jun 15th 2010 2:33PM
The E3 2010 trailer for SWTOR is the first thing that really made me consider getting the game. It's just so AWESOME.
Mattimus Jun 15th 2010 2:36PM
I'm eagerly waiting for more information on player ships, and hoping it only be incredibly lame.
Tim {the other Tim} Jun 15th 2010 5:41PM
I so agree. It really shows how a soldier could kill a sith. It made the game make more sense from I guess you would call it a lore stand point. Hopefully everyone will not be siths or jedis...but I want to...
Mattimus Jun 15th 2010 2:36PM
I can't really see the longevity of a Browser MMO based on BSG's second season. How long is it going to last until it runs out of content? How will it even support an MMO on current content?
Moeru Jun 15th 2010 2:37PM
So I haven't really heard anything but one of the articles talked briefly about it. Did the Star Trek MMO bomb or is it out and going?
Mattimus Jun 15th 2010 2:45PM
It's going okay. It's nothing stellar though (zing!).
They replaced the epic feeling of Warp Drive (that EVE Online did so well) with a lame and boring map. They don't let you beam down unless you have a mission, so no just hanging out on Vulcan. Ship combat, when I played, was fairly unbalanced -- science ships were capable of dealing more damage and taking more damage than Cruisers, even though Cruisers were touted as a so-called "Tank" ship.
I personally hated that they went the "Tank/DPS/Support" route with ship types, rather than just building each ship from the ground up. I'd take fewer classes of ships over a large number of classes under blanket functions anytime.
The actual ship combat was pretty fun, but that's really about it. Plus, as a Star Trek game that only really does combat right, they weren't doing the IP any justice at all.
Moeru Jun 15th 2010 2:55PM
Sounds like they didn't do too well with it. I think if they wanted to make it Star Trek-like, early on I would have caught on that it was a unique game, but from what you told me, it seems like they tried to force traditional MMO templates onto something that isn't really made for that.
Another game I played that this reminds me of is the Pirates of the Caribbean Online game. It has potential as a game but it's sluggish and the game play needs to be refined. The boat battles, however, are well made and you can actually feel like you're commanding a ship.
I think sometimes people are too into making games cookie cutter and that they really need to go above and beyond if they want to make something good.
Rhabella Jun 15th 2010 2:40PM
Concerning the "What if?" post. They said, concerning Halo online, "Blizzard reaped the benefits of Ensemble's closing in more than one way, as they absorbed several of that studio's employees."
Wasn't the key acquisition, at least to the WoW community, the great and powerful crab or am I completely mistaken?
Mattimus Jun 15th 2010 3:09PM
Actually, yeah. Ghostcrawler came from Ensemble. And we're all the better for it, if you ask me.
Gilgamesh Jun 15th 2010 3:34PM
I'm incredibly excited about SW:TOR. The cinematics are awesome, but its the gameplay mechanics released so far that appeal (esp "cover" classes -- oh yeah, sniping from cover!). Bioware's been doing a great job courting my $$$ with Dragon Age and Mass Effect, I'm hoping SWTOR will be my next 6 year mmo journey.
And maybe I'll properly memorialize my time in wow with a figureprint of my main (if only there was a decently designed hunter outfit! It's all horde-ish crap!)
dawnseven Jun 15th 2010 4:34PM
So did Blizz take a pass on E3 again this year?
Mattimus Jun 15th 2010 5:21PM
What could they do at E3 that they can't do better at Blizzcon?
RogueJedi86 Jun 15th 2010 5:35PM
Blizzard has given up ever showing their games at any convention that isn't BlizzCon. Sucks I know. It'd be like if LucasArts only showed off SW games at the Star Wars Celebration that happens every few years. At least make an appearance at the Conventions and show off what you've already been showing off for a year everywhere else. Just leave your premiere exclusives at BlizzCon, but at least show up at the gaming cons. Blizzard Entertainment HQ is only a stone's throw from LA, would it be that hard to carpool a few guys down to the LA Convention Center and talk about Cataclysm?
Mattimus Jun 15th 2010 5:44PM
@RogueJedi86
What, exactly, do you want? They did, in fact, give a ton of interviews over the weekend about Cataclysm, directly to web sites to spread the news. They have no need to spend money setting up booths and stuff at other gaming conventions, ESPECIALLY E3 (which is press-only). They do, however, participate in PAX.
If they went to E3 and showed us all things we've already seen months and months ago, it would be a waste of their time and a waste of ours. If they showed new stuff, they'd devalue Blizzcon.
The don't need to glitz the press like other companies do at E3. Most of the time, they bring their material straight to the customer -- Blizzcon, PAX, the forums. Giving interviews to WoW fan and news sites is about as close to the actual press as they get, the majority of the time. They rightly figure that anyone following E3 for Blizzard news is already aware of places like WoW.com, MMO-Champion, etc.
pytol23 Jun 15th 2010 6:00PM
mount is awesome :)
Drakkenfyre Jun 15th 2010 7:29PM
Are you STILL spamming that shit?
You started spamming it a month ago. No one cares you bought the mount. Stop spamming that shit on stories that have nothing to do with it. They should ban you if you keep it up.
You must be like a little kid, 12 years old or something, if you think anyone gives a shit about you buying the mount and posting it on multiple stories.
Stevee Vader Jun 16th 2010 2:22AM
Star Wars looks interesting HOEVER and this is the big however. Blizzard have turned WOW into a social media making it long standing and a fixed point in MMO's for instance it's community is based on secondary and time based reactions rather than an initial overall reaction for example people at first HATED TOC but that overall thought changed and from being hated it was down graded to lacklustre.
All these new MMOs being released are overlooking how to be a strong contender and that is not the OMFG new Shiny Keys. Blizzard have mastered it by staying in touch with their audience providing them constantly but overall being viewed as entertainers and creators who love games and lore. Not being in an ivory tower and knowing their full names. Kind of like Cliffy B or in a way Veronica Beaumont. I know them in a way and know their personality.
However when it comes to Star Wars it seems to be only going by the Shiny Red Ball factor. It has potential and I certainly will try it, I just don't think WOW's community which is the biggest in the MMO world will shift.
shadcroly Jun 16th 2010 2:51AM
Final Fantasy XIV finally released it's Benchmark program, which can be downloaded from the Nvidia website.
If you wanna know how your computer will fare trying to run Square Enix's new MMO and/or want to see the power of the Crystal Tools graphics engine in action, go check it out.