Tag Archives: Betas

Cutting to the heart of extraction in The Repopulation

If you want to craft items in The Repopulation, you're not going to go down to the science fiction equivalent of Ikea and buy the Martin Plasma Rifle. You're going to get out into the wild and get the resources you need. There are two systems for gathering items in The Repopulation, and the newest development blog for the game discusses one of the ways to grab those resources: Extraction, also known as "digging useful components out of corpses."

Since the game doesn't feature levels, there's a more organic system to gathering these resources. Players first decide how difficult the extraction should be, with higher difficulties resulting in higher-grade resources. More difficult extractions take longer, however, and as a result, players have a higher chance to fail unless they've practiced harvesting a particular species. For more details on the specifics, check out the full development blog on the official site.

MassivelyCutting to the heart of extraction in The Repopulation originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 May 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Repopulation adds gore, stampedes, turrets, and more

The Repopulation has pretty pink plants The Repopulation's end-of-the-month progress report is here, and judging by the sheer length of the thing, April was one for the books. The new update takes a high-level view of development and it states that since the majority of The Repopulation's features are complete, the dev team is now focusing on content creation and an enjoyable new player experience.

Highlights from April's patch cycle include the new harvester system, player turrets, AI tweaks, stampedes, and gore options. Of course, that's just the tip of the iceberg, so be sure and read the full post for all the details.

[Thanks J.C.!]

MassivelyThe Repopulation adds gore, stampedes, turrets, and more originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Storybricks team announces EverQuest Next collaboration

EverQuest Next collaborating with Storybricks What's the Storybricks team been up to lately? Oh, nothing much. A few tweaks here, an idea or two there, and a whole lot of vacationing in Norrath. What's that, you say? It turns out that Namaste Entertainment has been teaming up with SOE to work on EverQuest Next, of all things.

"After several months of working together with Sony Online," the team posted, "we can finally reveal that we are collaborating on EverQuest Next. EQNext is 'the biggest sandbox ever designed' and we are extremely happy to be working on the most innovative MMORPG under development."

The post couldn't go into specifics about the project, but it did say that the team is doing "remarkable things" with the game.

MassivelyStorybricks team announces EverQuest Next collaboration originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Name this Repopulation zone, win a $100 Kickstarter pledge

Name this Repopulation zone, win a $100 Kickstarter pledge Want to leave your mark on Above & Beyond Technologies' new Repopulation sandbox? You can via a contest that will allow players to name a newly created zone in the sci-fi game. Entries must be submitted via a forum thread or Twitter, and finalists will go into a pool of five from which the winner will be selected by a poll.

Said winner will receive a $100 Kickstarter pledge to the game or a bump if you're already an early adopter. Full details are available at The Repopulation's official site.

MassivelyName this Repopulation zone, win a $100 Kickstarter pledge originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Apr 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Black Desert interview talks active combat and the big picture

Is it just me or does that guy have a punchable face? Black Desert is not a game that can be faulted for lack of ambition. A recent interview with the design staff helps show off just how big the game aims to be, which includes territory control, building relationships with NPCs, and an open-world housing system with a limited number of houses. It also discusses the game's combat, which is meant to be realistic active combat with an emphasis on skill and momentum.

The game's combat system will include combat on foot or while mounted, with mounted combat having several obvious advantages -- charging while mounted can be incredibly damaging, and you have an easier time knocking down targets on foot. Combat is meant to be slightly loose rather than forcing characters to have perfect timing, but the emphasis is on "realistic" combat over a string of abilities. For more details, take a look at the full interview (scroll down to see the English version).

MassivelyBlack Desert interview talks active combat and the big picture originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 18 Apr 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XL releases ArcheAge fishing trailer

XL releases ArcheAge fishing trailer Ho hum, fishing in MMOs. Who cares, right? Wrong! XLGAMES cares, and the company apparently thinks enough of its ArcheAge angling mechanics to make a gameplay trailer out of them.

MMO Culture has uploaded the trailer to YouTube, and in it you'll see over a minute's worth of deep sea fishing plus the transporting of the day's catch back to land, presumably to sell or cook. ArcheAge is gearing up for its Chinese closed beta phase, a date for which will be announced later this month. The game has already released in its native Korea and will be published in the west by Trion, though no date has been forthcoming.

You can view the trailer after the break.

Continue reading XL releases ArcheAge fishing trailer

MassivelyXL releases ArcheAge fishing trailer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise: First Impact shows off new alpha footage

Earthrise First Impact shows off new alpha footage When Earthrise closed down in early 2012, many MMO fans chalked it up to another failure in a growing heap of MMO ideas. German publisher SilentFuture snatched the IP and assets up a few months later and are happily chugging along with the game's alpha as we speak. But this still left many of us skeptical about the potential success of something that's already failed once.

Earlier today, the devs released two alpha-footage videos showing off the Earthrise: First Impact's improved character creator and a bit of running around in the game world. You can see both videos after the jump below and be sure to head on over to the game's Facebook page to let the devs know what you think of the footage.

[Thanks to David for the tip!]

Continue reading Earthrise: First Impact shows off new alpha footage

MassivelyEarthrise: First Impact shows off new alpha footage originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Repopulation needs you!

The Repopulation needs you! The folks at Above and Beyond Technologies are done playing jokes on you for April Fools' Day and are ready to show off their for-real content update for The Repopulation.

Coming off of the player feedback at PAX East, the studio aims to increase its tester base and improve communication with all alpha testers. This will help the team achieve their beta window later this spring and shoot for a better playable demo at PAX Prime in August.

Be sure to check out the extensive update notes for the latest alpha build as well as more info on how to become an early adopter.

MassivelyThe Repopulation needs you! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Apr 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC 2013: Age of Wushu’s world is your playground

GDC 2013 Age of Wushu As Age of Wushu is just a couple of weeks away from launch at this point, catching up with Snail Games at GDC this year was one of our highest priorities. We tagged and bagged Associate Producer Colin Miller for a brief interview about the latest pre-launch decisions and preparations that the team is making.

Miller had a lot to say about the tweaks and improvements that have been done to this martial arts sandbox. A huge amount of work has been poured into cleaning up the localization over the beta period, not to mention the interface. "Most of our feedback was pretty negative on the UI that we had in place, so we've been trying to rework that a bit," he said. "Hopefully there's going to be some improvements there."

All systems are go for an April 10th launch, Miller assured us. Keep reading after the break for more on what Snail Games plans for Age of Wushu after it goes live.

Continue reading GDC 2013: Age of Wushu's world is your playground

MassivelyGDC 2013: Age of Wushu's world is your playground originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX East 2013: A first look at WildStar’s housing and new zones

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Home, home on the orbital defense ring.
If you've been keeping up with activity here on Massively over the past couple of years, you know that I'm pretty excited about WildStar. So I was pretty happy to sit down and get a look at the game's high and low areas, not to mention the game's housing system. I was a bit less happy that said look didn't include a chance to play the whole thing myself, but if I had that opportunity I probably never would have let go of the demo station.

While the demo was hands-off, it did give plenty of opportunity to see a sample of the game's starting areas, what the high-level regions look like, and what players can expect when they sit down to start building their homes. So let's start out at a region that's both high in level and high above the rest of the game... because it's in high orbit. (And don't forget the housing video past the break!)

Continue reading PAX East 2013: A first look at WildStar's housing and new zones

MassivelyPAX East 2013: A first look at WildStar's housing and new zones originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PAX East 2013: Repopulation’s crafting detailed in 21-minute video

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The Repopulation crafting UI
Earlier this week The Repopulation's dev team released a combat-focused trailer on the eve of its trip to PAX East. Today, Above & Beyond Technologies has another clip to share, this one a 21-minute dive into the game's crafting mechanics.

Lead dev Joshua Halls walks us through crafting events, resource attributes and refinement, and shows off the general complexity of the tradeskill mechanics. There's a brief mention of the game's crafting achievement system as well, so be sure to check out the video after the cut. If you're heading to Boston for PAX East, you can see The Repopulation at booth 581 on Friday and Saturday.

Continue reading PAX East 2013: Repopulation's crafting detailed in 21-minute video

MassivelyPAX East 2013: Repopulation's crafting detailed in 21-minute video originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 22 Mar 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Leaderboard: Defiance vs. DUST 514

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DUST 514 remote vehicle repair
Shooter gameplay is on the rise in the MMO space, as titles like PlanetSide 2, Firefall, DUST 514, and Defiance are all marrying twitch-based running and gunning with some sort of persistent open-world progression component.

Defiance and DUST are particularly interesting, to me at least, because they're part of a larger IP. IN DUST's case, the title shares a game world and a server back-end with long-running sci-fi MMO EVE Online. Defiance, of course, is joined at the hip with the upcoming television show of the same name, though just how joined remains to be seen. For today's Leaderboard, let's pit these two titles against one another and see which is more anticipated amongst Massively readers. Vote after the cut!

Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!

Continue reading Leaderboard: Defiance vs. DUST 514

MassivelyLeaderboard: Defiance vs. DUST 514 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Origins of Malu gameplay vid shows house construction

Origins of Malu - Player house construction If you've got nine minutes of free time and a predilection for sandbox MMOs and player housing, you might want to check out a recently released Origins of Malu clip. The sci-fantasy title features open-world housing and the ability to build your humble abode from the ground up, and the video features footage of a player doing just that.

We get to see the avatar place a foundation as well as walls and doors, a roof, and some basic furniture items. Head past the cut for a look-see.

Continue reading Origins of Malu gameplay vid shows house construction

MassivelyOrigins of Malu gameplay vid shows house construction originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 18 Mar 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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‘Don’t believe the ArcheAge hype,’ lengthy fan review warns

ArcheAge human city Hyped about ArcheAge? We are too, but as with any MMO, great expectations can lead to great disappointments. That's why we're linking to another fan review of the game's Korean client. While the previous such post was largely high on the game from a dedicated player perspective, this piece at AltTabMe raises more than a few concerns involving AA's combat, sandboxiness, character creation, and more.

While most of the combat complaints can be summarized by the subjectively nebulous it-doesn't-feel-as-polished-as-game-XYZ argument, the sandbox and economic concerns are a bit more concrete. "And like the pirate system that has no reward for serious consequences, the economy has the opposite, high reward with no consequences, except to those who also play the game," the author writes. "Without money sinks and a way to balance out the economy, ArcheAge is heading toward a flatline when it comes to worth."

He also alludes to the possibility that the game's extensive housing and farming systems will be lost in translation from the social gaming culture in Korea to the isolationist achiever mentality prevalent in the West. "When you apply these [housing items] to the real world/game practice you see player-run towns that don't look like towns, but rather more like FarmVille: a homestead of the same resources in bulk, such as goats (which are the most profitable resource) filling every single bit of available space. So you go from being aesthetically pleasing to a resource farm," the writer explains. "The magic of a home and town is lost to min-maxing personal gain. ArcheAge turns into Men Who Stare at Goats."

[Thanks Dengar!]

Massively'Don't believe the ArcheAge hype,' lengthy fan review warns originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XL releases offline farm monitor for ArcheAge

Oh no, we might actually have to play our MMOs! So farming is kind of a thing in ArcheAge. According to a recent review of the game's Korean client, it's also a thing that requires a certain amount of in-game maintenance, lest your crops wither away and your cute little cows and chickens die of starvation.

Management minigames tend to give time-poor players a severe case of eyetwitch, though, so XLGAMES has released a new tool designed to help gamers keep track of their farm and its furry denizens. The system is basically a monitor designed to alert you (through either a web or mobile app) that your assets need attention. MMO Culture reports that there are currently no options to harvest your crops or feed your livestock outside of actually connecting to the game server.

MassivelyXL releases offline farm monitor for ArcheAge originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Feb 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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