Category: MMO (Page 5 of 9)

Funcom offers “unlimited” Age of Conan trial

December 15, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Funcom is offering up a holiday special on Age of Conan, granting conditionally free access to anyone who downloads the client and creates a new account between now and January 1st. The developer calls it an unlimited trial, “a special holiday offer to anyone who wishes to experience the sexy and savage world of Conan.”

You only get to play for free up to level 20, at which point Funcom hopes to lure you into spending money on the game. Level 20 is pretty generous, but I found even getting to that point a chore. I’m pretty sure I quit the game somewhere around level 11. The “unlimited” is in there because at level 20 you could conceivably start all over, playing through the same content you’ve already seen. I know people do this in MMOs, but usually not until they’re significantly into the game.

Check the full press release for more details.

Deals, MMO, PC

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Get a baby core hound when you buy a Blizzard Authenticator

December 10, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Blizzard, and by extension Activision, will do just about anything to get your money, including tempting you with little animated puppy versions of a familiar best friend, the core hound. Blizzard is offering up an in-game pet for those players willing to pay the extra $6.50 or so to get the Blizzard Authenticator for World of Warcraft accounts.

If you don’t know, the Blizzard Authenticator is an added layer of security for your WoW account. You can get it at the Blizzard Store, but the company also gives them away during Blizzcon. Personally, I never needed one. Maybe I was lucky, maybe I just paid enough attention to my computer that it wasn’t an issue, but over two years of playing, I never had an issue with hackers. Just the same, $6.50 for a cute little core hound isn’t so bad, particularly if it adds extra security to the account into which you’ve invested far too much time.

Accessories, Activision, MMO

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Little Gray beats World of Warcraft

December 2, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Yes, someone has done the impossible – someone has beaten World of Warcraft. The honor goes to a Taiwanese player known as “Little Gray,” and while you can’t technically beat WoW, he’s as close as anyone I’ve ever heard of. Little Gray managed to complete 984 out of the 984 possible achievements in the game.

Now technically he’s still missing an achievement. There’s a bug that allows him the 100% completion, even though he’s still missing a Winter Veil quest from the upcoming festivities. Being that he’s done the other 983 quests, though, I’d be willing to bet he’ll go ahead and round things out as soon as he can.

Though we’ll probably never know, I’d be interested to see his time /played. I know some people who play a lot, and I used to be someone who played a lot and I was nowhere close to his figure. I don’t even think I was at half when I quit playing. Whatever the figure, I’m sure it’s obscene.

Source: CVG

Activision, MMO, News

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Blizzard says WoW imitation is flattering, “not the right move”

December 1, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

In an interview for the latest issue of PC Zone, Blizzard lead producer Shane Dabiri tried to discourage aspiring MMO developers from attempting to copy World of Warcraft, saying it’s “definitely not the right move.” Instead, he thinks those same devs should be looking to create “innovative new MMOs.”

Sounds like good advice to me. Really, why would anyone play a new game that’s just like WoW when there’s an established player base – a gigantic one at that – around Blizzard’s baby. “Players that have invested time in WOW don’t just want to do the same thing in other game – they want to try something completely new and different,” said Dabiri. Again, true. This was part of the reason I quit playing Warhammer. I thought I was just burnt on WoW, but almost all MMOs today use the same grinding method to grant players rewards. It gets old. Someone, somewhere has to have a new idea about thousands of players interacting with one another.

That’s another important point – the shift in MMO development has to be about more than just setting. Part of WoW‘s success is that it has an engaging, coherent world, but more importantly it was a new style of play for millions of people. That’s what we really need from a new MMO – something that feels completely different from anything we’ve played before.

Source: cvg.com

Activision, MMO, PC

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Today marks World of Warcraft’s fifth anniversary

November 23, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Today Blizzard’s World of Warcraft turned five. Though not the first game of its kind, it’s certainly the runaway hit of the MMO genre, only likely to be dethroned by Blizzard’s next massively multiplayer project.

The game launched on this same date in 2004, marking the 10th anniversary of the Warcraft franchise. Since then it has sold nearly 9 million copies in the US, added two expansions, and has a third on the way. The numbers are mind-blowing, especially when you consider the subscriber base that plunks down as much as $15/month for access to the ever-changing world.

Let’s avoid the “pathetic waste of time/best game evar” debate to simply consider the impact WoW has had on the industry. Pretenders to the MMO throne are usually long dead by five years, and the ones that survive are top-heavy ghost towns where only the zealous continue to play. By contrast, WoW has continued to grow and expand around the globe, attracting attention even from people who could care less about the game. The sheer number of man-hours invested in the game is no doubt staggering, and something I’d really like to see when Blizzard finally shuts down the servers.

So here’s to WoW and all the fun we’ve had in Azeroth. Now, who wants to buy my account?