• It was touch-and-go there for a while (as all of my game time is nowadays), but I finally completed Saints Row: The Third. Actually, I completed it a month ago, but work with me here.


• When I last wrote about it, I was well into the game, but there were several missions and many open world activities left to complete. But at no point did I feel overwhelmed. At no point did I feel like it wasn't worth going on. If anything, the missions jut get crazier as they go on. Some highlights:


• The mission that takes place in the virtual world is amazing. It riffs on so many different things that aren't referenced anywhere else in the game. Everything is unique for that mission.


• Can you believe that there are ______s in this game? I shouldn't work, but they don't overplay them.


• I love each of the choices you get to make in the game. They all come down to what kind of rewards you receive, so they don't affect the story greatly. But they do add lot of flavor. That doesn't count the final mission, though, which can swing the story a couple different ways.


• I didn't finish them all, but I am close to one hundred percent completion on all activities. I suspect that I'll be going back and finishing them soon.


• I haven't yet tried the DLC (though it isn't getting great reviews), but I liked the activities a lot more than most. So expect to see me in Saints Row for a while to come.

---

© 2012 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.

Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Perfect World International, Classes, Expansions, Patches, News items, Free-to-play

If you're an avid player of Perfect World International, February 15th will be the day that it all goes down. That's the launch date for the game's latest expansion, Descent, which brings along a variety of improvements and upgrades to the game. Despite the low implications of the name, the expansion will be focusing on high-level conflict, with a new zone open to players of level 95 and up to explore. Said zone includes new quest hubs, two new dungeons, and of course several new pieces of equipment.

Progress through the zone will also bring characters into contact with the three Orders, forcing players to choose between the Orders for special character perks and improvements. Even without membership, however, each class will be gaining some new and unique skills that should alter the current distribution of abilities rather than reinforce existing roles. If this sounds right up your alley, check out the full expansion trailer just past the cut, and mark your calendar in advance.

Continue reading Perfect World International begins its Descent

Perfect World International begins its Descent originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Descent teaser site

Filed under: Betas, Polls, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Hands-on, Humor, Miscellaneous, MMObility

I thoroughly enjoy reading your comments, especially when the discussion turns to game design or suggestions for development. I decided it was high time that I sat down and experienced, even if just a little, how the design process goes. I've had plenty of peeks at different studios, but I wanted to know what it is like to actually make a game from basically beginning to end.

So for the next four weeks, I will be doing something special. I invited indie developer Dave Toulouse, maker of Golemizer and Star Corsairs, to help me in this journey. If you'd like to find out more about Dave, you can visit his official website, follow him on Twitter, or even read an interview I did with him a while ago. He really is the epitome of the indie spirit, and I am so thankful that he volunteered to do this with me.

The goal is to start with a basic idea and framework, and using input from our discussions and from reader comments, assemble a very basic working mobile MMO. So let's get started!

Continue reading MMObility: Let's make a mobile game, part one

MMObility: Let's make a mobile game, part one originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Contests, Events, in-game, Xsyon, Post-Apocalyptic, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox

Last year, I had the opportunity to meander around Xsyon for Choose My Adventure. Then, the game was still at the end of its beta phase. Now, with some time under its belt since release, the game continues to grow. And January has seen quite the growth spurt.

I won't complain if the momentum that Xsyon has shown in the last month keeps up. Announcing multiple events and an architecture contest? Not to mention introducing new goodies? You go, game! Though it's small and indie, I am totally rooting for this title to succeed. Why? The main reason is that the game is reliant on player generated content: Instead of developers designing every aspect of the game, they built the world as a foundation and gave players the tools to go from there. This game is one of the few out there that offers many avenues for players to generate their own content and have a visible and lasting impact on the world around them.

And just how is post-apocalyptic Earth shaping up with the players at the helm? This week, Some Assembly Required explores the once-ravaged land to highlight some of that generated content, from events (both player-run and developer sponsored) to small- and large-scale construction.

Continue reading Some Assembly Required: Xsyon picks up speed

Some Assembly Required: Xsyon picks up speed originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A Doctor Who fan with an impeccable name proposes in front of the TARDIS and gets a special message from the Doctor himself.

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NCSoft and Arena.Net will be treating members of the press to a beta event in the near future. MMORPG.com is one of the lucky attendees and we will have full beta previews, news and articles for our readers on February 20th. That's all we can say...for now. ;) Let the buzz begin!

• The rumors have been floating around from some time, but DC Comics finally pulled the trigger on the new Watchmen series. (That is an amazingly apt description, now that I think about it.) Before Watchmen will include seven miniseries and an epilogue for a total of thirty-five issues.


• Fish have to swim, birds have to fly, and comic companies have to exploit their characters. There is a lot of talent involved in this fiasco, which means that this is going to be uneven as hell. If more than one series is any good, I'll be shocked.


• I'm not here to rage. I'd rather they got this all out of their system so that, one way or the other, all this talk of continuing Watchmen will be behind us.


• If there is one highlight of the whole endevour, it's that Darwyn Cooke is involved. That something at least.


• P.S. The new DC logo looks super-90s to me. Come on, how can you mess up two letters?


• P.P.S. While you're at it, here is a defense of the project by JMS. Read and judge for yourself.

---

© 2012 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.

Check out our new series of guides designed to help new players learn their way through The Old Republic!

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, Culture, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic

Bringing someone new into the world of an MMORPG can be a difficult task. BioWare is trying to make it easy for MMO newcomers to get into Star Wars: The Old Republic, and to that end the team has launched the first of a series of video guides to playing the game. The first video, narrated by Social Media Coordinator Eric Musco, covers starting fresh in the game, creating a character, and taking part in your first conversations.

Of course, you might be an old hand at playing the game by now. (If not, the video is embedded just past the cut.) For those players not in need of a helping hand, BioWare has also announced the launch of two weekly features -- a blog post rounding up all developer posts to the forums over the prior week, and a Q&A session that will pull 10 questions from a community thread to be answered each week. So even if you don't need help getting into the game, you can have a little extra guidance about what's going on behind the scenes.

Continue reading BioWare bringing weekly blogs and video guides for Star Wars: The Old Republic

BioWare bringing weekly blogs and video guides for Star Wars: The Old Republic originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: New Player Guide videos, New weekly community blogs

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, Previews, RIFT, Dev Diaries

"What an amazing year it has been," begins Scott Hartsman in his one-year state of the game report for RIFT. Citing Trion Worlds' ability to "think about MMOs a little bit differently than everyone else," Hartsman recalls the mountain of accomplishments of the previous year, including the seven major content updates leading up to the recent Update 1.7 and the RIFT Lite service.

The best part? "We're just getting started," he exults.

Hartsman identifies the "key themes" of the team's 2012 focus, including playing with other people, improving the soul system, leaping forward in PvP, coming up with new ways to interact with the game world, and expanding RIFT's endgame. The interactions theme is intriguing, especially considering his phrasing: "When we say interact, we mean both interacting with the game in non-combat ways, and interacting from out of game entirely."

The letter dives into more specifics with each of these themes before culminating in a promise of even more surprises to come later this year.

'Just getting started': Scott Hartsman rallies the RIFT faithful for 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: State of the Game

Filed under: Sci-fi, Previews, News items, Free-to-play, MechWarrior Online

MechWarrior Online previews BattleMech upgrades and pilot skill trees originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: MechWarrior Online -- Role Warfare Continued

Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, Betawatch, Miscellaneous

This week, TERA revealed the details of its North American and European pre-orders and associated closed beta tests. WAKFU, still in beta but launching at the end of February, likewise unveiled its subscription plans, and Mythos Global officially entered open beta. Again.

Finally, Brick-Force, a Minecraft-inspired sandbox-shooter pseudo-MMO (say that 10 times fast) from German publisher Infernum, joined our open beta list.

Read on for the entire Betawatch roundup.

Continue reading Betawatch: January 28 - February 3

Betawatch: January 28 - February 3 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BioWare has coyly hinted that there may be a good reason to keep your saves around even after finishing Shepard's story.

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It's tough to stand out as the nerdiest person at the local D&D game, but this new accessory could easily help you win this position.

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European gamers are going to have to wait a little longer for their slightly watered-down Twisted Metal fix.

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Sony remains unconcerned by the Vita's poor sales.

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Bioware promises future editions of Mass Effect: Deception will be more consistent with the source material's lore.

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Torhead has leaked information about patches 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, and 1.5.  You can view the full information here I’ll just put some of the best part here.

Patch 1.2 –Prepare to return to Corellia to battle each other for control over the Black Hole, scout the Lost Island, and head to the planet of Denova to [...] Related posts:

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In today's Chronicles of One Telaran, we get an inside peek at v1.7's new Soul Templates, a nifty (an quick) way to get the build you want. In addition, we gain a bit of knowledge about the history of St. Valentine's Day and how it ties into Rift. Oh really? Yes! Check it out!

We've pored over your many awesome DDO screenshots for this week's "Screenshot of the Week," and today we're excited to announce the winning entry!

Did you honestly not expect this whole skimpy-female-armor thing?  Are you really acting shocked about this?  Especially after, and this is important, ArenaNet outright said a year ago that it would have skimpy armor in the game?  People, this is not new.  From ArenaNet’s own mouth, last year: “We make armor that looks protective and …

Check out our new series of guides designed to help new players learn their way through The Old Republic!

Posted in Anne-BlatherDDOCast Site News

Hey DDO & DDOcast fans! I failed my Strength Check this week and took 1d10 damage from an evil moving box this week. My cleric told me to rest as much as I can while my back heals. This means no pushing, pulling, lifting, driving, typing nor mousing (too much) until the swelling goes down.  Sadly [...]

Filed under: Super-hero, Previews, Free-to-play, Champions Online, Dev Diaries

As the groundhog pops up to see his shadow, so too do the devs of Champions Online pop up with their monthly UNTIL Field Report, dishing out the plans and proposed future updates for the game. This month's report is rather lengthy and kicks off with a promise about upcoming "ambitious" re-itemization of all items and rewards in Champions.

Currently in testing and on deck for the near future is a '90s Iron Age costume set, alerts, zone balancing, and a look at why them women folk walk so dang funny (apparently arms and legs are moving out of sync on female characters). Players also have a new travel power -- Distortion Acrobatics -- and specialization trees to look forward to.

There's also some good information in the report as to why some features and concerns have yet to move from low to high priority, such as the "lukewarm" feedback of team duels and the difficulties of balancing XP gifting.

As the next update for Champions Online nears, Cryptic promises a more in-depth series of dev diaries detailing the changes.

Champions Online 'ambitiously' re-itemizing the game originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: UNTIL Field Report

Filed under: Betas, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Miscellaneous

Victory was originally picked up to be published by GamersFirst, but after three years of deliberation, Vae Victis decided to self-publish the title "to best fulfill each particular need it will have and finally create the best possible product for our beloved players." The official post goes on to announce the initiation of Victory Beta 1, which is "a new version of the game that offers dozens of new features and fixes," such as the addition of a matchmaking system, achievements, new game modes, the Pro class for experienced players, and much more. For the full details, head on over to Vae Victis' blog, and then click on over to the game's official site to get behind the wheel.

Victory: The Age of Racing changes publishers, burns rubber into beta originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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• Source: Vae Victis official blog