Each of us has a different idea of the perfect game, whether it’s an existing game with a few tweaks or something completely new. Game designers work tirelessly to make their own vision of the perfect game a reality, but there’s no telling what players will think of a feature until it’s finished. In the process of transforming a feature from a gleam in the game designer’s eye to a finished product, something is unfortunately often lost in translation. Limitations in the technology being used or the manpower available can render the ideal implementation infeasible.

As players, we don’t really see that full development process. That doesn’t stop us from painting our perfect vision of an upcoming or potential feature and how awesome it could be. In the coming years, the EVE Online developers will be going through the process of making some of their most incredible visions a reality. Ideas like walking in stations and integrating the upcoming MMOFPS Dust 514 with EVE’s planetary interaction feature will be put through a potentially brutal development process. We can only hope that as little as possible of those visions we’ve heard from EVE’s developers gets lost in translation.

In this speculative opinion piece, I look at a few areas in which EVE is sure to be expanded in the coming years and discuss what I’d consider to be the ideal way they could be implemented or handled.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: The EVE Online that could be

EVE Evolved: The EVE Online that could be originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s come to my attention that some new members have been abusing the points feature here. For those that have heavily abused the friend request feature, your points have either been reset to 0 or removed just the points for all the spam friend requests (depending on your community involvement).

There are plenty of ways to earn points. Until this contest is over, points for completed friend requests are set to zero. When I talk about abusing the friend request feature, some members sent out over 20+, some 40+ friend requests.

Also, please don’t create groups that are better left as a forum topic. When creating a group, think of a more central subject, such as a fan club or gathering place.

If you notice any points abuse please contact me or Jay about it. If you need a forum post approved we will get to it as soon as possible.

Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online (longest. name. ever.) is perfect for Rise and Shiny: it is unusual, makes some people uncomfortable, free-to-play, and more “indie” than “AAA.” I’ve played it off and on since its release but never found the time or desire to really push into it. After all, the combat in the game takes patience and knowledge, something that requires, well, patience and knowledge. Over the last week I decided to dive right in, changing my normal procedure of blindly downloading, playing, and socializing. I broke my habit of ignoring the wiki and the information from the playerbase, and I have decided to actually immerse myself into a week-long college course on whatever game it is I am playing at the time.

The effort paid off big. The combat became more enjoyable, and the game made more sense. I met some very nice community members, and even found myself wanting to go through an epic hour-and-a-half dungeon experience. The game is not without its frustrating moments, of course. Starting out can feel like a pretty overwhelming experience. While there is a great beginning tutorial to help players understand the complicated combat system, many areas of the game require information that is so hidden that you must simply look it up in a wiki.

Continue reading Rise and Shiny recap: Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online

Rise and Shiny recap: Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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There’s no denying that Aion has some beautiful art. Aside from the detailed wings splayed all over the game’s advertising, there’s also a plethora of finery players can enjoy getting dressed up in. But what’s the point of getting all dressed up if you have no place to show it off? Well, if you’re out of ideas, you could do what today’s contributor, Marc, does when he’s kitted out. We’ll let him explain: “This is what the roleplayers on Gorgos do when there’s a double experience weekend. Well — the wacky ones from the LFRP channel, that is. We all love a filled experience bar, so we went and partied like madmen! Dance parties in Aion rock. Unfortunately, the music in that place wasn’t really danceable though — it’s Asmodian.”

Find something worth sharing on your recent adventures? Just in the mood to show off what you’ve been doing? All you have to do is email your screenshots to us at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the game your screenshots are from, and a quick note about what we’re seeing. We’ll post it out here and give you credit for sending it in!

One Shots: A party in grand style originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Players can expect to see seasonal events — though they are still in the planning stages.
• Sundi believes FFXIV and FFXI should be combined into the same VanaFest-type event.
• As for VanaFest, the team is mulling over how to best serve Japan, North America AND Europe — don’t forget Europe! — as they plan more offline events.
• The upcoming launch party in Japan (350 Japanese beta testers will receive an invite via lottery selection) will be fairly low key, with no live streaming for overseas players.  Some Japanese media will attend.
• The Premiere Site system will return, but cover many more sites, including those run by individuals.  The idea is to promote the work of true fans and further alienate RMT.
• The team is ready to support player-run events in game.  Currently, you need to send an e-mail to apply, but they will have a form set up in the future.
• PVP may be included as part of a specific event in the game, but there will be no open PVP.

Crom bless Craig Morrison. Not just because Age of Conan is developing into a terrific MMO under his watch, but also because he’s one of the rare developers who communicate with both the fans and the press on a regular basis. From a fan’s perspective, it’s gratifying to see the head honcho hob-knobbing with the customers and keeping folks reasonably well-informed. From a journalist’s perspective, the monthly development updates (as well as the frequent forum postings) make the job of finding something to write about Age of Conan a veritable walk in the park.

Speaking of development updates, Silirrion released the latest this past week, and with it a preliminary glimpse at Age of Conan’s fall patch schedule. Join us after the cut as we break down what’s coming, and what we hope is coming.

Continue reading The Anvil of Crom: Deconstructing the development update

The Anvil of Crom: Deconstructing the development update originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It was hard to miss Final Fantasy XIV at PAX Prime this year — its booth loomed large, white and sprawling right inside of the main exhibition hall doors. As players poured in to get their hands on this imminent title, Massively pulled aside Square-Enix’s Yasu Kurosawa and Sage Sundi for a chat about managing the global community.

Sage deals with more of the global aspect across multiple regions, while Yasu is Square Enix’s North America representative and is tasked with bringing the community’s voice back to Japan. Unfortunately, we were limited from discussing gameplay aspects of FFXIV, but the pair were open about the challenges and difficulties of handling a community worldwide, especially in regions where the game’s developers are not linguistically fluent. Read on for their thoughts on the subject.

Continue reading PAX 2010: Wrassling the FFXIV community with Square-Enix

PAX 2010: Wrassling the FFXIV community with Square-Enix originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Sep 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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