World of Warcraft dev spills the secrets of Patch 6.1

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We can't blame World of Warcraft fans for being in an excitement tizzy (that's a thing, right?) over the upcoming Patch 6.1, as it looks to add a slew of improvements to the game. While we can't shorten the wait for you, we can point you to the following informative video interview with Blizzard Lead Game Designer Ion Hazzikostas. Hazzikostas...

Hyperspace Beacon: Eight reasons to return to SWTOR

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In the midst of this rebirth of Massively, I found myself suddenly placed in charge of my Star Wars: The Old Republic guild. We are on a roleplay server because we like to be friendly to roleplayers, but we are not strictly a roleplay guild. I'm actually happy with that stance. I would like there to be more roleplay in my guild...

NCsoft buys Netmarble stock to block hostile takeover by Nexon

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How do you prevent a hostile takeover? In NCsoft's case, you buy something. Specifically, you buy a large portion of shares from Netmarble while also engaging in a large-scale swap of stock between the two companies to provide a buffer against Nexon's moves toward a hostile takeover. The deal in question involved a purchase of $345 million worth of...

Crowfall thinks you play games to crush… voxels

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Crowfall developer ArtCraft Entertainment has announced today that the game will employ the Voxel Farm technology platform. If that name sounds familiar, it's because Voxel Farm is licensed to several other high-profile MMORPGs, including Landmark and EverQuest Next. The best part is how the studio leads describe what they're doing with the tech. "We want to create hundreds of unique worlds, with unique...
Das Tal

Das Tal’s latest dev blog talks bug squashing and upcoming tests

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Das Tal's latest dev blog is live, and with it all manner of detail as to what the team's been up to lately. Last month's build update led to a couple of serious bugs -- including player invisibility -- which have since been squashed. The blog also gives readers a sneak peek at the sandbox PvP title's next world map...
Needs more space dragons.

EVE Online launches the Tiamat update

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The face of war is changing in EVE Online with the Tiamat update, and not just because of the introduction of a mysterious new faction known as the Drifters. Players will have to deal with a new Tech 3 destroyer capable of transforming into three modes with an eye toward projectile weapons, which comes along with a rebalancing and...

The Daily Grind: Do you see hate speech in your MMO?

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The other day one of our readers, Joe F., pointed us at a conversation between Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman and an ArcheAge customer who was banned. In the exchange, Hartsman said he reviewed the chat log that led to the ban, concluding, "In 2015, those two words aren't 'cussing.' One is hate speech, the other racism. We wish...

Not So Massively: Star Citizen offers rental gear, Diablo III player hits level 1000, and Dota 2’s Year Beast controversy

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Welcome to Not So Massively, Massively Overpowered's weekly roundup of all the news from the world of MOBAs, lobby-based games, and other online multiplayer games that aren't quite MMOs. If this column looks familiar, that's probably because back on Massively we had a similar column called Not So Massively. With the site's rebirth, the column is back with a new...

SkySaga’s NA alpha test begins on February 19

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You won't have long to wait at all to get a shot at playing SkySaga if you're in the US or Canada. The sandvox title is preparing to open its closed alpha test to North American players from Thursday, February 19th through February 26th. Thus far, SkySaga's alpha has been contained to Europe only. Interested players will need to...

Player creates EverQuest missions in Neverwinter’s foundry

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MMO player and blogger Tipa (of West Karana) decided that she wanted to marry her long-running interest in EverQuest to her current online adventures in Neverwinter. Thus, she began what she called the "EverQuest in Neverwinter" campaign: a series of foundry quests that revolve around classic EQ lands and continue stories from that game. Last year she released a few EQ-themed...