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One Shots: My little pony

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots

You ever have one of those days when you're out working hard for The Man, and you get smacked down? Well, normally in MMOs, one would think you'd avoid this, but apparently Arthas had a bad-side-of-the-bed morning and decided to take it out on Jayden Beresford as she writes in: For the people who don't play this game a fairly large part of World of Warcraft lore was the attack on the people's of Azeroth by the Scourge. Many brave lives were lost in this fight, the warriors of the magnificent Horde and the pesky Alliance defeated by the legions of undead under the command of Arthas, the Lich king. My poor Troll warrior met her fate this way, her body forgotten on the battlefields until claimed and resurrected by the Scourge and turned into one of their own, a death knight who's purpose is to fight against the races she once defended. With only her master's voice in her head my reborn Deathknight supervises ranks of undead archers seeking to bring an end to life. Pity her Master saw fit to play a joke on her and assign a pony from Darkmoon Faire as her trusted war steed.

One Shots is in need of more screenshots, so if you've got some time while out adventuring, why not gather some up for us and send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com? Add your name, the game it's from, and a description -- guild and server welcome too -- and you're set!

Gallery: One Shots

One Shots: My little pony originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Alganon community interview: Your questions answered

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Alganon

Last week, we reached out to the Massively readers for questions to ask the team at Quest Online regarding the upcoming Alganon MMO. David Allen, president and co-founder of the studio, stepped up to answer the ten questions chosen for him by us.

In addition to this Q&A -- found after the jump below -- Alganon is also announcing their open beta that kicks off today. So if you find David's answers interesting and think you might want to try the game out for yourself, head on over to this link and check it out for yourself.

Continue reading Alganon community interview: Your questions answered

Alganon community interview: Your questions answered originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Subscribe to Age of Conan and receive The Secret World beta access

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Age of Conan, News items, The Secret World

Funcom recently announced their plans to get older players back into Age of Conan and boost multi-month subscription rates. Players with inactive subscriptions are invited to retry the game for two weeks and receive a double experience bonus. Those who sign up for multi-month subscriptions will receive these additional bonuses:

3-month sub: Beta access to The Secret World
6-month sub: Beta access + in-game helmet that boosts experience gain by 10%
12-month sub: Beta access + helmet + a free copy of Conan expansion Rise of the Godslayer

Age of Conan has received many updates in the year and a half since its release. However, MMO players can be an unforgiving bunch, so these incentives to give the game another shot are quite necessary. And it's extra-smart given all the excitement around The Secret World. Considering how many players would be willing to pay for beta access, a subscription to a vastly improved AoC is just icing on the cake.

For those interested in catching up on AoC, check out the most recent game director's letter, new content, and revised subscription options. Have a burning question for Funcom about this or anything else? Ask it here.

Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!

Subscribe to Age of Conan and receive The Secret World beta access originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Star Trek Online system requirements revealed

Kyle Horner — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, News items, Star Trek Online

It looks like most people won't have a whole lot to worry about when it comes to the system requirements for Star Trek Online, unless of course you couldn't play Champions Online. Actually, that's a pretty good measuring stick in one way, since both games run on the Cryptic engine. Although, there is a useful rule of thumb when considering performance.

The lower your display resolution, the higher your graphics settings. Or in other words, if you're running a laptop and float somewhere between the minimum and recommended specs then it's likely your game will look rather good. Why? Most laptop displays have native resolutions lower than what you'll get on a 21 inch desktop monitor. If you are running a desktop and find yourself wondering what your most important upgrade is when preparing for an upcoming game, the answer is usually a new videocard.

Find the full system requirements after the jump.

Continue reading Star Trek Online system requirements revealed

Star Trek Online system requirements revealed originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda hosting weekend beta event

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Business models, Events, in-game, PvP, News items, PvE, MMOFPS, Global Agenda

Thanksgiving, for those of us in the US, is still a couple of weeks away. But beta testers of Global Agenda will have something to be thankful about earlier than that, as this weekend promises to host another beta event for the game. The testing will be running between 11 AM to midnight PST, and the event spans both Saturday and Sunday, each one testing another aspect of the game's growing combat systems.

Saturday will be focused on PvE content, including a new mission type that promises to offer some interesting new dynamics to the gameplay. The "Double Agent" mission type, which is limited to regular subscribers at launch, puts one player amidst of a horde of NPC allies and pits them against a four-person squad of players, thereby mixing PvE and PvP combat into a single arena. Sunday's testing, by contrast, is a pure PvP slugfest. 10v10 matches will be run, allowing people to queue up in groups of up to four to help establish allies for coming events. The developers are also teasing at new maps being dropped into the mix during this testing.

The bad news is that only a small number of new testers will be added for the event -- this party will mostly be confined to existing beta testers. Watch your mail closely, either in hopes that they let you in or for the preparation mails Hi-Rez Studios is forewarning testers about, and keep an eye open for a chance at some early testing starting on Friday.

Global Agenda hosting weekend beta event originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Champedia launches for Champions Online

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Super-hero, News items, Champions Online

As MMOs become more and more complex, there's an increasing need for information regarding the game at a player's fingertips. Especially since most of them are being played while on the computer, so a quick search of information is just an alt-tab away, no matter what the situation. Champions Online has stepped up to the plate with their own official offering: the Champedia, a database of every superpower, mission, super group, and character currently in the game. It's fully searchable at this point, although it's still in beta.

There have been debates in the community about adding on currently-played characters into a publicly accessible database, but Champions Online also includes the feature for guild masters to manage their organization directly from the site. A quick log-in allows the group leader to do everything from changing the message of the day to handling promotions without ever having to enter the game. It's not perfect yet, of course -- the Mission section, for instance, includes nothing but the basic mission text -- but if properly managed it could be a great asset to the community looking for information straight from the official source. Now if only it included wiki functionality...

Champedia launches for Champions Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Producer letter addresses the future of Warhammer Online

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, Warhammer Online, News items, Opinion

It's funny how times change. Not so long ago the most disconcerting thing that players of Warhammer Online players had to deal with were the numerous changes introduced in patch 1.3.2. Now, however, the recent layoffs that have hit EA and Mythic are far more worrisome. Executive producer Jeff Hickman has taken the time to try and assuage the community fears with a recent letter to the community regarding the future of Mythic's franchises and the game's ensuing viability. Hickman doesn't address the layoffs directly, instead using the letter simply to try and reinforce the image that the game is going to continue and keep being improved upon.

The letter becomes a bit more unsettling when Hickman calls the response to the aforementioned patch 1.3.2 "great." It's quite likely nothing negative is going to happen to Warhammer Online, as it has been making an earnest effort to turn around a disappointing first year, but time hasn't yet healed the wound of "triple A and here to stay." Different companies and different games, but it's fresh in our collective memory, and only time will tell what the ultimate impact of recent events will be upon WAR.

Producer letter addresses the future of Warhammer Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What part has stayed the same?

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind

MMOs change. A lot, in fact. There are always new updates or new developments, always something that's being improved or altered, added or removed, whatever. But even with all of that, there are certain things that don't change after all. If you've been with your current favorite game for a couple months or several years, there are usually fixed aspects that weather the changes and can server as comforting touchstones. Sometimes it's that certain classes always have the same role, sometimes it's the way the game plays, sometimes it's even just the look of a very familiar area. Whatever it is, there are constants that don't move even as the rest of the game does.

We ask you today: what part of your preferred MMO has stayed the same for you? What feels like a bedrock portion of the game, something that you'd miss immeasurably if it was removed or altered? No matter how silly or serious, there are things we use as fixed points of commonality, so what serves that purpose in your game of choice?

The Daily Grind: What part has stayed the same? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion announces holiday items for players

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, News items

The holiday season is approaching, and NCsoft is leading the charge for the annual rush of holiday celebrations and items in MMOs. Yesterday they announced the Aion Holiday Ascension Pack for those of you who haven't purchased the game yet, or are hoping to receive it as a gift.

The Ascension Pack comes with an extra holiday bonus in the form of four gifts to give your character a little boost and shine up his or her appearance a bit. It contains 20 Lesser Life Potions, 15 Lodas Amulets, 15 Lesser Running Scrolls, and a special dye for your character. You'll get a different dye color depending on where you purchase your Ascension Pack, so you may want to choose your purchase place with that in mind.

Amazon - Hot Orange Dye
Best Buy - Mustard Dye
Game Stop - True Black Dye
Target - True Red Dye
Wal-Mart - True White Dye

Aion is only the first game to begin announcing their holiday plans - we're sure much more will be coming soon, and we're looking forward to it!

Aion announces holiday items for players originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation

James Egan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, MMO industry

One of the strengths of the sandbox game EVE Online is its player-driven economy, which developer CCP Games monitors through a small team of researchers headed up by Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson (aka CCP Dr.EyjoG). They observe all manner of player interactions and sift through a tremendous amount of data to track how EVE Online's economy changes over time. Their findings are presented to the playerbase (or to anyone curious about virtual economies) in the form of Quarterly Economic Newsletters (QEN). CCP released the 3rd Quarter 2009 report this week, which gives us a look at player demographics and the most popular ships flown by those players. (It's interesting to note that the most popular ship in the game is now the Hulk, a mining vessel which has usurped the Raven battleship as EVE's most flown ship, while Black Ops battleships are EVE's least flown ships.)

This latest QEN also gives various price indices and Market Snapshots, which chart the volumes of a number of popular items traded on the open market. CCP also shows the impact "Operation: Unholy Rage" -- their anti-RMT initiative -- has had on EVE Online's economy with over 18,000 (paying) accounts banned to date. Dr.EyjoG writes, "Unholy Rage taught us a great deal about RMT operations in EVE. We now have a much clearer picture of the extent of operations and the tools and methods they use."

Continue reading EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation

EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Electric Playground sits down with Blizzard to talk Cataclysm

Seraphina Brennan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Expansions, Interviews, MMO industry

The gang over at Electric Playground just recently wrapped up their "Week of WoW" segment with a fitting conclusion -- a look into Cataclysm with Frank Pearce, Blizzard's Executive Vice President of Product Development, and J. Allan Brack, the production director on Cataclysm.

While the interview doesn't cover new information, it does give insight as to why Blizzard has chosen to go back and recreate the mainland of Azeroth. Thanks to lessons learned in The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, Blizzard wants to take their new knowledge and apply it to their old zones, hence the diversity and changing of quests that Cataclysm is bringing to the table.

But don't take our word for it! Check out Electric Playground's interview for the full story.

Electric Playground sits down with Blizzard to talk Cataclysm originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda to feature Vivox voice integration

James Egan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, MMO industry, New titles, MMOFPS, Global Agenda

Massively has been following the growing prevalence of MMOFPS games poised to enter the market in the coming months and years, with the most notable of these being Global Agenda. The game's developer Hi-Rez Studios got in touch with us today to let us know about their partnership with Vivox, who will provide voice features for Global Agenda. Vivox will enable push-to-talk voice chat and in-game news broadcasts "that describe key victories and events associated with Global Agenda's persistent territory control gameplay," states Hi-Rez Studios. An additional (subscriber-only) feature will be out-of-game voice chat that will keep agency members in touch when they're not fragging their rivals. According to Hi-Rez, "Players can use a variety of access methods including the Vivox Web Voice within the toolbar controls, Vivox Voice on Facebook, or calling into a specified chat channel from their phone."

Hi-Rez also announced they will hold a dev chat via Facebook on Wednesday, November 18th, from 10-11pm (Eastern), which will require participants to download the Vivox Voice app for Facebook. A Facebook group announcement from Hi-Rez today states that the dev chat will be limited to 75 people who will pose questions to the Global Agenda devs.

Global Agenda to feature Vivox voice integration originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Where in the Champions Online world is Carmel Santiago?

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Contests, Culture, Champions Online

That is the big question in Champions Online. Ring any bells? Community member Mr. Funsocks began this contest yesterday and plans to continue it on a weekly basis, offering up a pretty nice prize in exchange for your time. Just meet up at Club Caprice at the appointed time and pay your 50n entrance fee. The money goes into a pot along with an additional 5g from Mr. Funsocks. The first person to find this strangely familiar person wins the pot. There are a few rules, including "no excuses", that you can read in the forum thread along with details on where, when, and how.

The contest thread sparked an interesting discussion exploring copyright, fair-use, parody, and Cryptic's wishy-washy policies regarding these issues. It will be interesting to see how that conversation plays out, but in the meantime big thanks and kudos to Mr. Funsocks for creating what looks like a great community event.

Where in the Champions Online world is Carmel Santiago? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaked test feedback offers insights into Linden Lab design processes

Tateru Nino — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, News items, Opinion, Second Life, Virtual worlds

Back, just before Halloween, a Linden Lab staffer accidentally sent an email intended for internal circulation to a mailing list containing quite a number of Second Life users. We were sent a copy a few minutes later, and the email was widely circulated among developers of third-party Second Life viewers by Halloween.

What caught people's eye about the email was how harsh it was when it came to describing aspects of the upcoming Second Life Viewer 2.0 user-interface (the key feature of that software). It certainly didn't pull many punches leveling criticism at various design choices that were obviously in evidence in the evaluation version that had come up for testing.

And for just that reason we are, after a little thought, rather heartened by it.

Continue reading Leaked test feedback offers insights into Linden Lab design processes

Leaked test feedback offers insights into Linden Lab design processes originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: We could use a vacation here

Krystalle Voecks — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Age of Conan, One Shots

With the chilly, rainy winter settling in for much of the northern hemisphere, scenes like today's One Shots from Age of Conan are welcome sights. If you use those powers of imagination, you can almost imagine the balmy breezes coming in off the water as you disembark in a strange new land. Ray S. sent this great shot in of his first moments in town, and explains the scene: This is the view of Tesso village in Wild Lands of Zelata that greeted my Assassin Deltex when he was fresh off the boat from Old Tarantia in Age of Conan.

We love to look around the lands of Conan, but we need all of you players to send in your screenshots! All you have to do to show off the parts of the world you like best is to email your images to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to add in your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll put them out here on Massively for everyone to check out and give you the credit. Couldn't be easier!

Gallery: One Shots

One Shots: We could use a vacation here originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The aesthetics of Black Prophecy's Genide faction

James Egan — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Black Prophecy

We had some good news about Black Prophecy the other day and how things are looking up for the game's developer Reakktor Media. We're hoping more info will be revealed about the game in the coming months, and now they've released a dev blog on the art direction of the game's Genide faction. Whereas the Tyi faction is a cybernetic offshoot of humanity the Genides embrace biogenetic manipulation in their pursuit of perfection. The aesthetics of what the Genides have become is the focus of Black Prophecy Art Director Nick Ebenhoch's dev diary.

Nick kicks it off by explaining the significance of the Genide faction logo and what the symbol was designed to represent. Unlike the more utilitarian Tyi faction which favors a modular complexity, the Genide's cleaner, minimalist aesthetic sense permeates everything they create. This is seen in the smooth and tall look of their various space ships, which have vertical wing orientation rather than the standard horizontal orientation typically seen on such vessels, explains Nick.

Continue reading The aesthetics of Black Prophecy's Genide faction

The aesthetics of Black Prophecy's Genide faction originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCsoft hints at Guild Wars 2 beta in 2010, launch in 2011

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, News items, Guild Wars 2

Fans of Guild Wars have been waiting for well over two years for Guild Wars 2, ever since ArenaNet fired up the hype machine in a big way back in March of 2007. Anet announced Guild Wars 2 and Eye of the North at the same time, and anticipated that the beta for GW2 would arrive in the second half of 2008.

Since the announcement, the Guild Wars player base has become intimately familiar with various versions of the phrases "We haven't released that information" and "TBA", punctuated occasionally with new information.

While the bits of information given here and there add up to something relatively substantial, fans are still asking the big question: When? Obviously the planned 2008 beta didn't happen, and now fans will have to wait a bit longer.

CEO Jaeho Lee referred to GW2 and Blade and Soul in a recent conference call with investors: "I believe there will be certain public events in the year 2010... at least a closed beta test for those titles. Commercialisation will be expected, at this point, probably some time in the year 2011."

At least fans have plenty of time and motivation to finish filling their Hall of Monuments. Silence and delays aside, when Guild Wars 2 finally arrives, most fans trust ArenaNet to give them something well worth the wait.

NCsoft hints at Guild Wars 2 beta in 2010, launch in 2011 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The systems of battle in Champions Online

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Endgame, Champions Online

We've been getting a generous look under the hood of Champions Online courtesy of designer Brian Urbanek, with the second part of his system-focused developer diary now available. The first part covered the progression and improvement of a player's heroes, while this diary focuses on the mechanics of that ever-present diversion in almost every game -- combat. As one can imagine, with a game whose systems are based on a tabletop roleplaying game dating back more than twenty years, there are a lot of numbers and expressions to be thrown around.

Urbanek explains, in detail, how the team set up values for stats and durability with some baseline assumptions. They knew what they could expect for an "average" player to do in terms of damage-per-second at high levels, and they had some idea of how long they wanted each fight to last (the time cited is twenty seconds). From there, the diary goes into the balancing and scaling factors needed to ensure that players and enemies both are dealing reasonable damage and surviving for the preferrable amount of time. If you like numbers and systems, or just a clearer picture of how Champions Online works, this diary should be perfect for you, with promises of still more to come down the pipeline.

The systems of battle in Champions Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Allods Online closed beta begins today and we have more keys!

Shawn Schuster — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-fi, News items, Giveaways, Allods Online

Last week, we announced an upcoming closed beta test for Allods Online, with 500 keys to give out to the Massively readers. Since that went so well (the keys were gone in less than two hours!), we've been given 1k more to kick off the official CBT1, which starts at 2pm ET today. This first stage of closed beta covers levels 1-10 for both League and Empire sides, including all races, classes, and relevant zones. The beta test will run from November 10th through November 24th.

To grab your key, head on over to our giveaway page and follow the directions there. Remember, it doesn't start until 2pm ET today, so you have plenty of time to download and be ready!

Allods Online closed beta begins today and we have more keys! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spouse Aggro explores Darkfall's self-imposed limitations

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Culture, Opinion

Beau Turkey from Spouse Aggro took a look at Darkfall yesterday, a game he checked out earlier this year, and had an interesting perspective on the game and how it's painted itself into a corner with regards to its player base. "[...]the game really deserves more praise than it gets. It is fantastic looking, is very immersive and so far the developers have proven that updates will be frequent enough and great.", says Beau. So what's the problem?

Whether it's a problem or not really depends on your perspective. Beau explores the combination of open PvP, hefty system requirements, and no ongoing free trial period and how they combine to aim toward a very specific target audience: young, male, and aggressively PvP-centered. What this means is that Darkfall is unlikely to enjoy the huge player base that WoW or similar games like EVE Online do. As Beau points out, EVE Online is similar in several ways, but gives players the option to get away from PvP areas/turn the graphics down and still enjoy them/use a free trial, which potentially opens the game up to many more paying customers.

The entire post can be read over at Spouse Aggro.

Spouse Aggro explores Darkfall's self-imposed limitations originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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