Posts Tagged ‘biggest’

Blizzard Offers Free Authenticators to Large Guild

27 October 2010 | 2 Comments » | Heartbourne

Many large guilds have been abuzz with the guild changes in Cataclysm for over a year. With features like guild experience, leveling, reputation, currency, and more, many plus-sized guilds had a lot to look forward to.

However, Blizzard announced that a cap of 300 members would be placed on all guilds. This would preclude guilds like Alea Iacta Est (AIE), <Taint>, and Goon Squad which each have upwards of 5,000 characters, from adding new members. There was lots of discussion on the official WoW forums and the officers of these guilds met to discuss possible solutions. Blizzard announced that the cap is largely for technical reasons, but that the developers were able to raise it to 1,000. Existing guilds would keep all current characters, but be unable to add more until they fell below the cap. All characters would be eligible for guild benefits.

The Goon Squad urged members of <Taint> to send letters directly to Mike Morhaime, CEO of Blizzard, to ask him to take action in assisting the large player base that their decision affected. Many players pointed to the good press that <Taint> generates as a safe haven for LGBT players.

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4 MMORPGs That Should Have Been Great

15 April 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

Starwars Galaxies

Probably the biggest disappointment in MMORPG history. The Starwars universe just screams MMORPG, how can you possible mess up a game like this. Well we all got the answer when the game was released on June 20, 2003. No Jedis, no space combat and boring quests. Seriously, are you sure this is based on Starwars? It would be 7 MONTHS before the first player unlocked the Jedi class and another 9 months for the first expansion, Jump to Lightspeed, allowed players to finally jump into the pilots seat of an X-wing or TIE fighter. Future changes to the combat system and a reduction of playable professions would completely lay waste to what was so far a decent game. However there is no arguing that even it you consider Starwars Galaxies a good game, it should no doubt have been one of the best MMORPG of all time.

Matrix Online

What can I say about the Matrix Online, another franchise that should feel right at home being a MMORPG. However when The Matrix Online launched it seems Agent Smith was wreaking havoc because the game was extremely buggy. Reports of crashes, random disconnects, being stuck in walls and falling through the world are just a few. Aside from the bugs the missions were painfully repetitive. Go here, find something or someone, perhaps kill them, come back. Rinse and repeat. To make things worse all the buildings looked similar and were very boring to explore. However the biggest disappoint was that you don’t actually fight the machines or agents. Seriously that’s like Starwars with no Jedis, oh wait. :?

Planetside

This is one game that definitely did not reach its full potential. Hundreds of players in a FPS fragging each other for territory with a crap load of weapons and vehicles to choose from, whats not to like. Unfortunately this game wouldn’t be on this list if there wasn’t anything wrong with it. Planetside’s problem was that the terrain was boring, all the bases looked the same and no one ever won. It was just a three way tug-o-war battle that would rage on forever. Future expansions added new mech vehicles that altered the games balance and not in a good way. Planetside unfortunately never recovered and is a dying game. Perhaps the upcoming Huxley or Earthrise can fulfil all our MMOFPS desires.

Dungeons & Dragons Online

For many D&D fans, this was the MMORPG they were waiting for, too bad for them it was just an average game. D&D Online concentrated on group play, the problem with that is many players that were looking to solo couldn’t and unless you were in a large guild or had a lot of online friends you would spend almost as much time looking for groups as you would playing. Lack of content and repeating quests is also a major issue. It doesn’t matter how good the dungeons look, after a dozen times your going to get bored. Speaking about dungeons I think they should have called the game Dungeons & More Dungeons Online.

First Look: Global Agenda Screenshot Blowout!

13 March 2008 | No Comments » | LHStaff

If you will take the time to remember, a few weeks ago I wrote a piece on a very ambitious MMO project dubbed Global Agenda. The developer, Hi-Rez Studios is claiming their game to be a spy-fi (spy/sci-fi, I know, I love it too), mission based MMORPG. Anyways, enough about that, if you have yet to read up on what exactly Global Agenda is you can check it all out HERE, or simply scroll down to read the official press release.

All caught up? Good, because now we get to the fun stuff, the screenshots. After contacting Hi-Rez Studios about the game I was able to nab some of the very first in-game screenshots, and now I am absolutely delighted that I can show them off to you guys. Check em out!

The game is being run off the Unreal 3 engine, so, much as the screenshots show, the game looks to have great graphics, as well as an engine that should be equally as great. We will be in continuing contact with Hi-Rez Studios over the development of the game so expect a lot more from us. Enjoy the screenshots, press release is below:

GLOBAL AGENDA is a fast-paced action MMO using Unreal® Engine 3 set in Earth’s near future, a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. In the wake of severe global disaster, the political face of 22nd century earth has changed.  Player created factions scheme against each other for power while simultaneously opposing a totalitarian world government bent on domination.  Traditional full-scale wars a thing of the past, factions must rely on covert agencies, teams of elite special operatives able to seize and defend key facilities.  The future of humanity is their battleground, where knowledge is power, technology is a race, and everyone has an agenda. The players are truly in control of Global Agenda, forging alliances with their peers and executing lightning strikes against their enemies.  They determine which factions to aid and which to oppose, while the only thing that stands in their way is other agencies. 

  • Develop your agent – Create, extensively customize, and improve your agent character over the course of your career, complimenting your FPS skills with RPG-style progression and high-tech gear.
  • Advance your agency – Join a player-created agency, compete in technology races for advanced equipment, and capture critical locations to increase your influence in the world.
  • Compete in fast-paced PvP combat – Work with your allies to gather reconnaissance data, then raid or capture enemy controlled facilities during objective-based missions.  Equip yourself from a powerful array of weapons, armor, and strategic devices like triggered explosives, deployable turrets, stealth suits, holographic disguises, and remote control robots.
  • Experience a dynamic, player-driven world – Agency leaders navigate through a global conflict of other player-run groups, striving to reach their goals first.  Territory, resources, technology, and influence are all valuable commodities, with agencies engaging in politics, intrigue, and outright deception to control them.

About Hi-Rez Studios
Hi-Rez Studios, Inc. was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment and is located just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.   For more information, visit www.hirezstudios.com.

Unreal is a registered trademark of Epic Games, Inc.

NCSoft's Exteel goes Open Beta

16 November 2007 | No Comments » | LHStaff

A new free to play MMO by NCSoft, Exteel, went into open beta today. Not the biggest news out there, so why am I blogging about it? Two reasons, I love mechs and MMOs, so put those together and I’m going to write about it. As I’m typing this I am simultaneously registering for open beta and will soon be downloading the game. I haven’t heard much about this game, other than what I just found on the website, so I’m not sure what to really expect, but considering NCSoft is behind it, I’m pretty hopefully. They have a pretty good lineup of MMORPGs, so hopefully this one will be worth playing, if its not, well hell its free anyway.

The only question I have now is why did it take so long for a mech mmo game to come out? I think Planet Side has mechs now, but its not a Mech MMO, big difference. I mean, who doesn’t like mechs? There huge robots, enough said. Anyway, I’m off to try this out. I’ll let you know if its worth downloading, even though it is still in beta.