More MMOs pledge to fully remove Red Shell spyware, including Secret World Legends

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At the beginning of June, we covered The Elder Scrolls Online’s implementation of spyware program Red Shell, which is designed to track specific information about players and PCs logging into the client, like where on the globe they live. At the time, as fury blazed across Reddit, ZeniMax’s Matt Firor apologized for Red Shell, saying the company was “experimenting” with it and didn’t intend to patch it into the live build, and therefore it would be patched back out.

As it turns out, there are plenty of other games with Red Shell, or parts of Red Shell lingering. Redditor Alexspeed75 has been keeping track of games accused of running the spyware. Most notable on the list for our readers is Funcom; while the studio removed the Red Shell code from Conan Exiles in May following player complaints, players still found parts of it in The Secret World as of last week. That, Funcom has told Redditors, was an error, as it patched out the code last year.

E3 2018: A second look at Trion’s Defiance 2050 reboot

June 18, 2018 Andrew Ross 7 comments

GDC 2018 back in March was good to Defiance 2050, at least in terms of making people aware of the goals of the game. It doesn’t necessarily mean people like what they’ve seen or heard, but Social Influencer and Community Manager Scott “Mobi” Jasper and Community Specialist Coby West feel that particular reveal has done the best for the game.

At this year’s E3 followup, there wasn’t any huge new reveal, aside from the launch date itself – just more tweaks. There certainly seems to be a bit of a disconnect between the overall MMO sphere and the 2050 fandom the devs are used to, with the devs somewhat understandably being more connected to their fans. After all, those are people who are willing to pay to play, and especially for a free to play game, that’s what you need. I got my hands on the game for the second time this year, and while it’s a solid play experience, I worry that, created in a vacuum, its potential for growth beyond the original Defiance experience is limited.

Global Chat: The best of both worlds

June 17, 2018 Justin Olivetti 8 comments

If you have ever played more than one MMORPG, the thought has probably crossed your mind that you would love to see your favorite features from all of them put together. It hurts when one game has great housing and another has some of the best group content that you have experienced. Why can’t you just create the best of both worlds?

Zeriah spent some time wishing for exactly this as she drew up a list of features from both World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV that she’d love to see merged together.

“If I could take a bit from each game and combine it into one, I think I’d be in heaven,” she said. “FFXIV has some of the most amazing outfits I have ever seen in a game and while it has transmog system but I feel it would be made truly amazing by the addition of the armor journal WoW has brought in.”

One Shots: Fashion patrol coming your way!

June 17, 2018 Justin Olivetti 21 comments

Well that is certainly one way to fill up the comments section with tons of screenshots: asking all of you to show of your best and boldest fashion! We had a virtual fashion show last week in the One Shots comments, and here are my personal favorites of the bunch (although most all were tremendous).

First up is UpayaBlossom, who brings some springtime cheer into the dour setting of Secret World Legends. “Oooh… fashion show? I was born ready for this!” she wrote.

Here’s a weird thought. What if all of the enemies in video games were adorable people and we played as the hideous monsters? What kind of fashion would we sport then?

The Stream Team: Sifting through more Secret World Legends sand

June 14, 2018 MJ Guthrie Leave a comment

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With the South African story line done, Massively OP’s MJ is ready to move back to the desert in Secret World Legends to finish up her goal of completing everything in each zone. Those bosses aren’t going to locate and kill themselves! OK, this is SWL, so perhaps they could. But there are many more Egypt missions and bosses to finish up, so join us live at 9:00 p.m. to return to revisit a different part of Africa.

What: Secret World Legends
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 9:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 14th, 2018

One Shots: Rave on Risa

June 10, 2018 Justin Olivetti 59 comments

I love how in the Star Trek universe, the universal consensus on what makes for an ideal vacation spot is a planet that looks a lot like Miami Beach. I mean, there’s a whole galaxy out there, people! Is it possible that there are any slightly more exciting, exotic, and thrilling vacation destinations than Jimmy Buffet’s island paradise?

Junior Ensign JonBuck doesn’t think so: “In Star Trek Online, there’s only one good place for vacations: Risa!”

Yes, I want to go to the place where humanoid cats are getting jiggy with it while wearing a two-piece. Wait, I thought cats don’t like water?

The Game Archaeologist: Myst Online

June 9, 2018 Justin Olivetti 4 comments

The impact of Myst in 1993 was akin to an atomic bomb going off in the PC gaming world. The leap forward in graphical fidelity (aided by the large storage capacity of a CD-ROM and all of the full-motion video and gorgeous images tucked into it) captured gamers’ imaginations and made this adventure title the best-selling PC game of all time, at least for several years. Brothers Robyn and Rand Miller’s story about a stranger who had to solve puzzles through a good-looking (if deserted) landscape was devilishly difficult, yet that challenge kept players coming back for months and even years.

The Myst franchise surged forward at that point, with several sequels, remakes, and ports selling like hotcakes through the final game’s release in 2005. Yet something interesting happened along the way when an offshoot of the series — Uru: Ages Beyond Myst — evolved into an MMO. With a focus on multiplayer exploration and puzzle-solving instead of non-stop combat, it may be one of the very few MMOs out there that eschews fighting for brainpower.

It’s an oddity, no doubt, and despite it being an incredibly niche title, it has fascinated me enough to pull me into a research rabbit hole. So let’s take a look at Myst Online: Uru Live!

The Stream Team: Basement dwelling in a Secret World Legends’ mansion

June 7, 2018 MJ Guthrie Leave a comment

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Massively OP’s MJ finally made it into the mansion… sort of. She’s in the basement. Which means she’s closer to unraveling the mystery of the Morninglight in Secret World Legends. Of course, this basement is creepier than your average one, so who knows what all she will run into. OK, you have an idea, but join us live at 3:00 p.m. to see if your suspicions are correct. Remember, spoilers x 1000 here!

What: Secret World Legends
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 3:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, June 7th, 2018

Secret World Legends preps first anniversary event, delays next mission pack

June 4, 2018 Justin Olivetti 9 comments

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If there’s one thing that the Secret World Legends team does really well, it’s keeping upcoming content, well, a secret. It can’t help itself there. Even so, Lead Designer Chris Meredith popped onto the forums to talk in broad, non-specific strokes about the next steps for this rebooted MMO.

First up is Secret World Legends’ anniversary event, which will debut sometime this month. Preparations are ongoing at Funcom for the celebration, and Meredith said that it is “close” at hand. Following that will be the next mission pack at some point down the road. Unfortunately, it sounds as though the studio had to delay it somewhat to get it done.

“Due to the cost and complexity of implementation, the pack won’t be ready as soon as we wanted,” Meredith wrote. “That said, I think you’re going to like it when it’s ready.” He went on to tease efforts in an experimental technology that will allow for difficulty scaling past dungeons.

Source: Official forums

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Perfect World is showing two new games at E3: Mobile sandbox MMORPG ReEvolve and battle royale FarSide

June 1, 2018 Bree Royce 8 comments

Perfect World is up to some stuff at E3 this year. Some good stuff, by my estimation. The company sent ’round PR on two of its upcoming games today: a mobile MMORPG that actually looks really good, and a battle royale game too.

Let’s start with the mobile MMORPG. It’s called ReEvolve, and it’s sort of a post-apoc sandbox with an “immersive, real-world environment, replete with a range of different ecosystems, a day and night cycle, changing weather, and realistic animal behaviors including food chains and migration,” plus crafting, architecture, base-building, housing, farming, animal breeding, PvE, and PvP. Here’s the backstory – and you’ll probably agree it’s a cut above the typical mobile game.

The Stream Team: Discovering Secret World Legends’ South African secrets

May 31, 2018 MJ Guthrie Leave a comment

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Getting through the gate was not as easy as Massively OP’s MJ had hoped. In fact, Secret World Legends had quite the surprise waiting for her. Like we’d expect anything different! But today MJ hopes to unravel the rest of the mystery in South Africa. Join us live at 3:00 p.m. for the next (and final?) step of the Season 2 adventure.

What: Secret World Legends
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 3:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 31st, 2018

The Stream Team: Opening the gate in Secret World Legends

May 24, 2018 MJ Guthrie Leave a comment

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It’s time for Massively OP’s MJ to open the gate. She’s destroyed the wards protecting it, so now she can finally get to Marquard. What will she learn in that mansion on the hill? Secret World Legends is known for its secrets, and MJ is determined to learn them all. Tune in live at 9:00 p.m. to storm the mansion! Remember, every SWL stream is a spoiler!

What: Secret World Legends
Who: MJ Guthrie
When: 9:00 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 24th, 2018

Funcom Q1 2018 financials: Conan Exiles will be the studio’s ‘bestselling game of all time’

May 24, 2018 Bree Royce 22 comments

A year ago, MMO fans were thrilled to find out that Funcom had had its best quarter in ages thanks to the early access launch of Conan Exiles. The first quarter of 2018 wasn’t quite as huge, but you can be sure next quarter will be, as Funcom says it’s already sold 1.4M copies of the game, a million of those before May 8th – which Funcom notes is as many as Age of Conan sold in its first three years of life, making it Funcom’s “bestselling game of all time.” It’s expected to launch on PS4 in Japan this summer, alongside the game’s first DLC in June.

Age of Conan, by the way, gets a note for its Saga of Zath progression server that ran throughout winter and spring; the studio says it was “successful in engaging players and increasing revenue.” Little ink is spilled over Secret World Legends beyond a note about Dawn of the Morninglight and a promise for “more content and events […] going forward.” Anarchy Online is not mentioned.

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See: The Secret World