Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Darkfall, EVE Online, MMO industry, PvP, Opinion, Community Detective

"We hope you understand that there's nothing we can do at the moment," says the support email we just received from Aventurine, developers of Darkfall. Not exactly what you want to hear from customer service, is it?

Welcome to another issue of Massively's Community Detective, where we're primed and ready to take you into the trenches of MMORPG community and customer service. This week we've got full-blown battlefields complete with land mines, dismemberment, e-peen waving, and all the other things you've come to know and love about PvP. Yes, we're delving into the world of Darkfall, and if that's not enough for you, we'll also be heading for the heavens in a very different (but equally cutthroat) PvP sandbox called EVE Online.

Join us after the cut to see how these two titles fared in terms of community and customer service support.

Continue reading Massively's Community Detective, Issue #2: Darkfall and EVE Online

Massively's Community Detective, Issue #2: Darkfall and EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Fantasy, Darkfall, Expansions, News items, PvE

One of the things that makes Darkfall unique is its mob and NPC AI. Unlike traditional MMORPGs, the creatures in the world of Agon use the same skills that players use and also drop appropriate loot (for example, killing a goblin will likely net you his sword and armor, and boars don't drop coin).

With the upcoming free expansion, the developers at Aventurine are further tweaking the game's PvE elements by adding additional monster skills to specific creatures. Laenih, Aventurine's community liaison, has all the details in a new post on the game's official forums. "Some existing monsters as well as new ones have already received their own abilities which we'll leave for you to discover. Additionally there will be more strategic interaction between monsters that spawn together," he writes.

You can get a glimpse of one of the new monster teams in the form of a video that showcases the Gorra Dar and Gorra Slaves. Check it out after the cut or on YouTube.

Continue reading Darkfall details expansion mob AI

Darkfall details expansion mob AI originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Darkfall, Business models, Culture, Economy, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Comics, Casual, Kids, Free for All

I decided to write this article based on a nagging feeling. It's not something I would normally look into, being that the questions I have are not that easy to ask, or not that easy to clarify. But, as I sink deeper and deeper into the world of international websites, games and toys, I always find certain attitudes pop up during my conversations about my findings. Perhaps it is because I am used to the sights, sounds and styles of free-to-play titles, and have learned to look beyond some of the long titles and odd descriptions. I no longer see games divided into groups and sub-groups.

When hearing the complaints about "foreign" games, I rarely see the counterbalance to the comments. If "Asian" games are grindy, that would mean that North American games are not? If free-to-play games "force" you to spend money, then that means that North American subscription titles do not? The descriptor "free-to-play" is accurate, nine times out of 10, yet there seems to be an issue with using that term, because at some point the player might need to spend money to go at a pace she wants to.

In fact, I am confused by the constant use of the words free-to-play to describe, essentially, a class of game. Where is the counterbalance to that? Does that mean that all subscription games are from a different world of higher quality?

Continue reading Free for All: Assumptions based on assumptions

Free for All: Assumptions based on assumptions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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