US Age of Conan servers down for the merger of Bloodspire and Hyperborea
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Server downtime
Server mergers have finally come to Age of Conan. Today the US servers will be down starting around 7:00 a.m. EST (or 12 p.m. GMT) for about six hours so that Bloodspire and Hyperborea can be merged. Originally planned for early December, the mergers had been postponed when a data problem was identified that might have caused certain items to disappear in the process.
Additional details around how the mergers will be done are available on the AoC FAQ forum threads. If you have characters on these servers (or really anyone playing), it’s definitely worth having a look to determine how you might be impacted. Information on further merges has not yet been released.
US Age of Conan servers down for the merger of Bloodspire and Hyperborea originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
US Age of Conan servers down for the merger of Bloodspire and Hyperborea
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Server downtime
Server mergers have finally come to Age of Conan. Today Tomorrow the US servers will be down starting around 7:00 a.m. EST (or 12 p.m. GMT) for about six hours so that Bloodspire and Hyperborea can be merged. Originally planned for early December, the mergers had been postponed when a data problem was identified that might have caused certain items to disappear in the process. Additional details around how the mergers will be done are available on the AoC FAQ forum threads. If you have characters on these servers (or really anyone playing), it’s definitely worth having a look to determine…
US Age of Conan servers down for the merger of Bloodspire and Hyperborea originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 07:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Investing wisely in massively multiplayer online games
Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Opinion
Even a cursory look back on the last year in massively multiplayer online games reveals a number of titles that, despite their promise (and some promises), ultimately failed. Factor in the high costs of creating and publishing an MMO title these days and the mistakes still being made in the industry, and perhaps it’s time for a primer on how not to lose money when making an MMO to be widely disseminated. Adam Martin over at T=Machine has written just that. In the first of a two-part series, Martin provides insightful analysis of some glaring mistakes made in the MMO industry, and how some of…
Investing wisely in massively multiplayer online games originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year
Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Virtual worlds, Anti-Aliased
var digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/pc_games/Anti_Aliased_Top_5_things_MMOs_should_learn_in_the_new_year’;
Well Happy New Year Massively readers! Hope everything is working out for you all on this second day of the year 2009! Did you get caught up on your favorite MMO yesterday during the holiday? With the new year finally here, we have all sorts of new games in production and slated for a 2009 release. But that doesn’t mean we should entirely forget about 2008. All sorts of things have happened in 2008 that the industry and players can learn from, but what should make the classic “end of…
Continue reading Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year
Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Slay a festive goat to win game-time and prizes in AoC
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Contests, Events, in-game
In keeping with the macabre nature of the Conan world, you won’t be helping orphans for Age of Conan‘s seasonal event. Nope. No delivering festive cookies to elves or spreading holiday love. Just hunting down mountain goats. Nothing says Christmas in Hyboria like a freshly slain and skinned goat carcass for that special someone. The problem in this particular case is that these “holiday” goats are in short supply — extremely short supply in fact, as there will only be one special goat per server. All the bragging rights (and prizes) go to one lucky person per server who manages to track it down.
There will be a hefty portion of luck involved in winning your server’s event, but Funcom is also providing clues to the goat’s whereabouts in the form of riddles on the official site. The events will take place on different days across the servers, and the goats won’t be in the same place either. Now we’ve got to admit that we were a bit slow to catch this (we’ll blame the spirit of the holidays for making us lazy) and some servers have already had their riddles posted and goats killed. However, if your server hasn’t had the event yet, then it will be either be on later today, or the 29th, the 30th, or the 31st of December. Each server’s winner will receive a pack of prizes (the same as the Season give-away pack) and two months of free game-time. Happy hunting!
Slay a festive goat to win game-time and prizes in AoC originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Slay a festive goat to win game-time and prizes in AoC
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Contests, Events, in-game
In keeping with the macabre nature of the Conan world, you won’t be helping orphans for Age of Conan’s seasonal event. Nope. No delivering festive cookies to elves or spreading holiday love. Just hunting down mountain goats. Nothing says Christmas in Hyboria like a freshly slain and skinned goat carcass for that special someone. The problem in this particular case is that these “holiday” goats are in short supply — extremely short supply in fact, as there will only be one special goat per server. All the bragging rights (and prizes) go to one lucky person per server who manages to track it…
Slay a festive goat to win game-time and prizes in AoC originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Dec 2008 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Clan of Conan previews Update 4 and Xibaluku
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Previews, PvP, Grouping, PvE
We’ve already had a look inside the latest Clan of Conan newsletter, finding that there were shiny Kosalan talismans for everyone these holidays. Free jewelery aside, the newsletter also contains a great deal of information about what’s coming in Age of Conan’s Update 4, and a video of the new dungeon Xibaluku to boot. Xibaluku is intended for a full group of max-level players, and will be situated in the Thunder River area. After reading about it in the newsletter, you can click the “read more” link for an in-depth writeup of the dungeon. Players won’t just be free to walk into Xibaluku….
Clan of Conan previews Update 4 and Xibaluku originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Clan of Conan previews Update 4 and Xibaluku
Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Previews, PvP, Grouping, PvE
We’ve already had a look inside the latest Clan of Conan newsletter, finding that there were shiny Kosalan talismans for everyone these holidays. Free jewelery aside, the newsletter also contains a great deal of information about what’s coming in Age of Conan’s Update 4, and a video of the new dungeon Xibaluku to boot. Xibaluku is intended for a full group of max-level players, and will be situated in the Thunder River area. After reading about it in the newsletter, you can click the “read more” link for an in-depth writeup of the dungeon.
Players won’t just be free to walk into Xibaluku. They’ll first need to complete a new solo dungeon called The Slaughterhouse Cellar, also located in Thunder River and to be released in Update 4. Those that venture deep enough into Xibaluku might find one of two new Undead social pets that are being introduced to the game, which are good for “spreading gloom and dreadfulness”, and probably scaring newbies in town.
Expect the PvP system to receive some tweaking in Update 4 too, with the “PvP resources” system set to debut. If you’re holding PvP resources to bring to an architect and get player-killed, you have a chance of them being looted by your assassin. Architects will need the resources to build and repair battlekeeps, and the hope is that epic battles will take place over the humble gathering nodes.
Clan of Conan previews Update 4 and Xibaluku originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 21 Dec 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Age of Conan, EVE Online, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Behind the Curtain
Is one MMO ever enough?
Lots of people play more than one MMO. Among the staff here at Massively, you would be hard pressed to find a writer with only one active subscription. Ever the exception however, I am a one-game kind of guy.
“Is that through choice, or necessity though, Craig?” I hear you cry. The answer is that it’s a little of both. It’s easy to say that I don’t have enough time to play a couple of MMOs, but if I was really honest with myself, I’d admit to that being a lie. If I’m able to free up a couple of hours every couple of nights to play World of Warcraft, then why can’t I alternate those nights, for example, between WoW and another game?
Continue reading Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs
Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs pt. 2
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Game mechanics, Opinion, Star Wars Galaxies, Behind the Curtain
When I started thinking about this subject, I remembered reading something on the subject a while back on the Daedalus Project.
Going by the figures Nick Yee collected back in 2006, less than a quarter of the players he spoke with had more than one account.
I can’t help but wonder if that number will have increased or decreased with time.
Without getting too much in the state of the world-economy, as we all have to tighten our belts that little bit more, we’ll end up looking for cheaper ways of relaxing and blowing of some steam. I wouldn’t be the first person to point out that the average cost of a monthly MMO subscription is less than you’ll spend on one night at the cinema.
While it’s absolutely not my place to fault Dr. Yee’s work, and I certainly don’t intend to, I would have liked to see him also ask about how many players had more than one account active for the same game, and the reasons why.
The reasons given for having subscriptions to more than one game aren’t surprising. Players maintain several subscriptions due to having friends and family still active in the game; or they feel that the time spent so far with the game will be wasted if they cancelled the account; or for financial reasons like waiting for the subscription plan to expire, or simply forgetting the subscription was there.
If people were asked why they play more than one game, I’d expect to see similar answers, but I’d hope to see some others, too. Game mechanics, for one. When I went back and looked at Star Wars Galaxies a while back, I didn’t feel like it was a game I’d really want to play on a regular basis. That said, the crafting in the game was still as interesting as I remembered. A crafting system that isn’t a simple pass/fail mechanic, rewarding time spent hunting for high-quality raw materials, and classes whose sole purpose is to craft rather than quest ticked a lot of boxes for me. And while the ground game left a lot to be desired, there was still a lot of fun to be had in space, hunting Rebels or Imperials, depending on which side your bread was buttered on.
My point is that it’s a rare game that provides you with everything you want. Maybe you play one game because the combat system is second to none, but another one because the RP tools in it haven’t been bettered yet. Graphics are a big thing for a lot of people, and the cartoonish graphics of WoW have put off more than one person in the past, without a doubt. Realistic graphics and presentation, on the other hand, won’t stop your game from being slated if it deserves it - see Age of Conan for proof.
Your turn now. Do you run more than one MMO at a time? Which ones are they, and why? Hit the comments, and let the world know.
Behind the Curtain: Multiple MMOs pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Dec 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
