Know Your LotRO Lore: The Elves
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Lore, Education, Know Your LotRO Lore
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world as it intersects with Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online. The Elf is possibly the most intricately-detailed race in all of J.R.R. Tolkien’s works. He created their histories, bloodlines and origins throughout his entire life, from before The Hobbit to works published after his death. Did Tolkien invent Elves? No, but he did redefine them as they’re portrayed today in modern fantasy settings. Mostly everything we see in WoW, Warhammer, and of course LotRO come from Tolkien’s…
Know Your LotRO Lore: The Elves originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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MMOGology: Looking for incentive to group
Filed under: World of Warcraft, Game mechanics, Leveling, Grouping, Opinion, MMOGology
In a post-World of Warcraft world the concept of grouping while leveling has changed. Where grouping was once essential to survival in MMOGs, today it’s an optional extra. As a result, leveling up can feel pretty lonely. In most MMOGs it’s no longer necessary to group unless you’re running an instanced dungeon or the rare quest geared toward a specific number of players. While I love the fact that I can play WoW on my own terms and my own schedule I feel like I’m missing out on the whole “massively multiplayer” thing. Isn’t that the reason we play MMOGs to begin with? Why should we wait until end-game raid content to play together?
Most people don’t group while leveling because there’s no real incentive to group. Soloing nets you more XP than grouping and most of the content is easy to take on by yourself. There’s no waiting around for others, no sharing of loot, and no arguing about what to do when. So why bother? I’d like to see developers provide players with more incentive to level up together. In my opinion, MMOGs should always work to increase entertainment value when players work together. Read on to explore ways to achieve that objective.
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MMOGology: Looking for incentive to group originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EVE Evolved: The art of tanking - Armour tanking
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, PvP, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, Education, EVE Evolved
Back in 2005, I became obsessed with the art of tanking in EVE Online. Before writing the definitive tanking guide for EON issue 2 (for which the EVE community dubbed me “the tanking guy”), I spent a lot of time working out the mathematics behind the art. At a time when people preferred a trial and error approach to combat, I went as far as to create a spreadsheet to automate calculations on the strength of your tank. Over the years, more advanced tools like EFT (EVE Fitting Tool) have been released which have this functionality and more. In this short series of articles, I aim to cover…
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EVE Evolved: The art of tanking - Armour tanking originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Jan 2009 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The week in Massively features
Filed under: At a glance, Massively meta
GamerDNA and Massively look back at the MMO year in review Today’s column features data from July through December. GamerDNA being a startup, our data collection in the first half of the year was not consistent enough to use for anything but wild guessing and drinking games. Listen, a start up tech company can make ANYTHING into a drinking game.
Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year I am absolutely no more inventive than every other blog in existence, this edition of Anti-Aliased is dedicated to the top 5 things the industry…
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The week in Massively features originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 04 Jan 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Digital Continuum: Sci-fi geeks need to experience Jumpgate Evolution
Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, New titles, Opinion
Spring is right around the corner and with it comes warmer weather, rain showers, blossoming fauna and Jumpgate Evolution. As much as I’d love to think there are thousands of you out there that know all about the game, I get the feeling that in actuality the number is significantly lower. Granted, real-time action space shooter MMOs aren’t exactly a mass market genre, so it’s probably a fair shake overall. But what’s really worrying me is that even those who should be excited for Jumpgate Evolution are seemingly unaware of it’s forthcoming release. This won’t do, and so I present to you the…
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The Digital Continuum: Sci-fi geeks need to experience Jumpgate Evolution originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Anti-Aliased: Top 5 things MMOs should learn in the new year
Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Virtual worlds, Anti-Aliased
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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…
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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.
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Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 37
Filed under: Culture, Massively meta, Massively Speaking
Massively Speaking Episode 37 is a quiet little show with just Shawn and Michael. For the last Massively Speaking of the year, we thought we’d talk about the year just past and gab a little bit about what we hope is coming down the pipe. Join us for a retrospective/prognostication episode of Massively.com’s companion podcast. Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we’ll read your letter on the air! Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to Massively Speaking via the Zune service. [RSS]…
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Massively Speaking Podcast Episode 37 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 31 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Know Your LotRO Lore: Celebrating the holidays Hobbit style
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Lore, Academic, Education, Know Your LotRO Lore
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world as it intersects with Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online.
For some, the holidays are already over, but for many they’ve just begun. Throughout Middle-earth, none are known better for their love of celebrating those holidays than the Hobbits. We’ve talked about the Hobbits here before on Know Your LotRO Lore, but with the winter festivities in full swing, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to explain more specifically about just why those Hobbits are so infamous for their partying.
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Know Your LotRO Lore: Celebrating the holidays Hobbit style originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Know Your LotRO Lore: Celebrating the holidays Hobbit style
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Culture, Lore, Academic, Education, Know Your LotRO Lore
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world as it intersects with Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online. For some, the holidays are already over, but for many they’ve just begun. Throughout Middle-earth, none are known better for their love of celebrating those holidays than the Hobbits. We’ve talked about the Hobbits here before on Know Your LotRO Lore, but with the winter festivities in full swing, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to explain more specifically about just why those Hobbits are so infamous…
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Know Your LotRO Lore: Celebrating the holidays Hobbit style originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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EVE Evolved: Making the most of your EVE Online free trial
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Previews, Professions, PvP, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved
Like many MMOs, EVE Online offers a free trial to let players try the game out before they buy it. While this lets you see if you like the gameplay before committing, the sheer scope of EVE makes it practically impossible to experience everything the game has to offer within the trial period. Additionally, since the learning curve is relatively steep to begin with, it’s very easy to become overwhelmed in a short trial period. These factors can make it hard to experience what EVE is really like, meaning it’s hard to make an informed decision.
In this guide, I explain how you can maximise your time and fun with the EVE free trial and help make an informed decision on whether it’s the game for you.
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EVE Evolved: Making the most of your EVE Online free trial originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
