Massively^™

Atlantica Online is one of those MMOs that people always seem to talk about, but never really get fully in-depth with. Insight into the game recently came from an unexpected source: Craig "Grimwell" Dalrymple, a noted MMO blogger and senior community relations manager for Sony Online Entertainment. Craig just recently spoke up about the turn-based MMO, relating his experiences and gripes with the game on his blog.

For him, the strong points of Atlantica are the turn-based combat (as it allows PvP to be a bit more tactical rather than a fast paced gankfest,) the mercenary system (which is different from the NPC system of Guild Wars, as you actually build up your mercenaries like second or third characters,) and the crafting system (which features both the ability to craft any item in the game and learn crafting skills from other players rather than NPCs.) The game's swift advancement seems to also be in Grimwell's liking, as he's hit 61 out of the 120 levels since he's begun playing in October. For the rest of his experiences with Atlantica, including his two gripes with the game, check out his blog post on the matter.

Back in 2005, I became obsessed with the art of tanking in EVE Online. Before writing the definitive tanking guide for EON issue 2 (for which the EVE community dubbed me "the tanking guy"), I spent a lot of time working out the mathematics behind the art. At a time when people preferred a trial and error approach to combat, I went as far as to create a spreadsheet to automate calculations on the strength of your tank. Over the years, more advanced tools like EFT (EVE Fitting Tool) have been released which have this functionality and more. In this short series of articles, I aim to cover tanking from start to finish in a concise and informative manner. In this first part, I begin with an introduction to tanking and follow up with a brief guide on how to select which type of tank to use and a complete overview of armour tanking.

What is tanking?:
Any MMO player will know the role of the "Tank" but the word's usage in EVE Online is a little different. Broadly speaking, a tank is whatever you use to keep yourself alive and it's something every ship can do. The MMO holy trinity of tank, healer and damage-dealer are combined into every ship in EVE. Because of this ability to self-heal, the word "tank" in EVE generally refers to the combination of both resisting damage and healing it. Fitting your ship then becomes a matter of balancing between tank and damage.

Read on to find out how to select what type of tank to use and learn all about armour tanking.

Like many MMOs, EVE Online offers a free trial to let players try the game out before they buy it. While this lets you see if you like the gameplay before committing, the sheer scope of EVE makes it practically impossible to experience everything the game has to offer within the trial period. Additionally, since the learning curve is relatively steep to begin with, it's very easy to become overwhelmed in a short trial period. These factors can make it hard to experience what EVE is really like, meaning it's hard to make an informed decision.

In this guide, I explain how you can maximise your time and fun with the EVE free trial and help make an informed decision on whether it's the game for you.

TurpsterVision is back with vengeance now with four episodes every month focusing on one MMO at a time. This month, along with the rest of the Massively team, we are venturing deep into Middle Earth and exploring the depths of the Mines of Moria.

Hey folks, it's good to be back; MMOs just wouldn't be the same without TurpsterVision! Today we are taking a look at Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria's new Legendary Weapons. I've often wanted to have a sword glow blue and warn me when danger is near. To be honest I'd settle for an iPhone app that would do the same thing. But fortunately for me I don't have to settle for anything less than the real deal, albeit a virtual-real deal.

Moria not only granted us two new classes, which I'll be exploring one at a time over the next two weeks, but it also granted players the ability to gain Legendary weapons of old which they can level up alongside their character. But enough reading about it, this is TurpsterVision! Watch on after the break...

Do you dig anime? Are you fond of mythology when coupled with strange and adorable characters? Looking for a free-to-play MMO with a large community and a surprising amount of PvP? This week, we look at the free-to-play/microtransaction title Trickster Online Revolution, which includes all of those and quite a bit more. Remember - this isn't a review; just a First Impression of a new (to us) MMO. As always, if it looks interesting to you, be sure to check it out on your own. After all, it doesn't really cost you anything beyond a bit of time. That said, on with the show!

Trickster Online Revolution is actually not a new title in the free-to-play space. This game actually launched on August 22, 2007, and has been steadily gaining players since then. The Ntreev USA staff have worked hard with the Ntreev Soft staff in South Korea to create many things from beginning quests to special pets and items specifically for the North American localization. From what I could tell, the community in the North American game seems to dig all the work they've put into it - and are definitely enjoying those fun little pets!

This Monday, gamerDNA will be unveiling their newest feature entitled the Discovery Engine, specifically created for members of their social networking site. This new engine aims to show gamers what types of games they would be interested in playing based on more factors than simply what they've purchased previously or what game they might be playing right now. It is created to refine gaming interests based on the "hows" and the "whys", more than simply the "whats".

We caught up with gamerDNA's founder Jon Radoff for a comprehensive tour of this new feature and an explanation of how it works to benefit the current generation of gamers immersed in a world of overwhelming choices. Follow along just after the cut below for our impressions and more information on the Discovery Engine.

Eurogamer recently went in-depth with the City of Heroes huge Issue 13 update, checking out the new day jobs, leveling pact, and dual-spec options. However, not everything was rainbows and sunshine with the large new update, in the opinion of Eurogamer.

With servers in Europe that are suffering from lack-of-player-itis, Eurogamer points out that there's nothing in this new update that can really attract players back to the game. Even if players do come back for the new day jobs and content, they're not being rewarded for playing the game. Leveling pacts and day jobs reward the player for not playing the game, which doesn't do much for low server populations.

In First Impressions, Krystalle takes on a new MMORPG weekly and reports back at what the first few hours of playing it are like. Is it painful? Awesome? Are there cool mechanics? Silly quests? Find out each week as she takes an unscientific (and highly opinionated) view at a game you may not have seen. Also remember, this is not a review; simply a First Impression - as such, we always recommend you give games that seem interesting a shot and decide for yourself.

This week I head into the world of Gaia Interactive's beta MMO project, zOMG! Having never actually waded hip-deep into the Gaia community, it was certainly an enlightening experience. Some good, some bad, with a word to parents as well. Curious as to what's involved in the anime-inspired world of zOMG? Have a seat and read on, but watch out - some of the chairs bite.

A common theme in popular MMOs today is the idea of exploration. For a surprisingly large number of players, their reason for playing an MMO is to experience new content and explore new lands. Each new MMO or expansion becomes a new country to explore with its own set of features and game mechanics. Limits such as levels, raid progression and quest chains are used to ensure we don't burn through all the game's content too quickly.

New Eden:
EVE Online is set in the expansive universe of New Eden. This nebular stellar nursery contains thousands of stars, of which approximately 5000 have been explored and added to the game's stargate network. Even though EVE doesn't have level limits, it does have a familiar approach to exploring content. Some content such as difficult complexes (space dungeons) will not be completable solo and other content like level 4 missions will be so difficult as to require large ships with a lot of skills behind them. The majority of the universe, however, is free to explore from day one and there's a lot to explore.

In this visual article, I explore some of the stunning content of EVE Online and take a brief look at what the future holds for explorers in New Eden.

I am no stranger to the iPhone and the addictive game that dominates said iPhone, Aurora Feint. When we had an email come along letting us know that a follow up was being released, I put my iPhone down and picked up a normal phone (it had buttons on it - it freaked me out!) and spoke with Danielle, Peter and Jason, the people behind the smash hit iPhone app Aurora Feint: The Arena, follow up to Aurora Feint: The Beginning, and asked a few questions about this platform defining MMO experience.

They hadn't slept in 36 hours but some how still managed to get through 30 minuets talking with me about their game and still remain incredibly passionate and excited about it's release. Their first title got twenty-four hundred reviews, four and a half stars on the Apple App Store and one million downloads. Their latest title has a lot to live up to.

Aurora Feint: The Arena is the iPhone/iPod Touch's first 'Asynchronous' Massively Multi-Player RPG. It's a bit of a mouthful, so lets break it down (Ed. Drop that beat T!). Being 'Asynchronous means that when dueling another player in Aurora Feint: The Arena they aren't playing you directly. Instead you compete through taking a trip down on to the summoning circle and rustling up yourself a Ghost.



Check out the gallery above for some in-game action from the hit smash and join me below the break where you can read a little more on my thoughts of this new venture for MMOs.

Since the launch of open beta in Europe and removal of the NDA this weekend, The Chronicles of Spellborn has now entered the public eye on a much larger scale. MMORPG has been providing some in-depth coverage of the game recently, including one of the first extensive looks at the character creation process.

However, sometimes it's good to get a "regular-guy" perspective on these first impressions, so we're particularly interested in a recent run-down from the A Ding World blog. In this thorough look at the current state of open beta, Sente runs through character creation, control, user interface, questing and much more. It's a great read if you're interested in learning more about this upcoming MMO, set to launch on November 27th in Europe and in January for the US.

Have you ever had one of those creative moments where you have absolutely no idea how to proceed? Whether you call it "writer's block", "stage fright", or even "performance anxiety", such a moment can be utterly paralyzing. At Ask Massively, for this week anyway, we don't have that problem. The following email is loosely paraphrased from an amalgamation of sources. For a small bribe, I will refrain from using words like "amalgamation" in the future.

Dear Massively,

I think you need to spend more time talking about World of Warcraft. In fact, I'm going to toss you a question that I'm fairly confident that nobody else has thought about asking this week.

What do you think of Wrath of the Lich King, so far?

-- Any one of about a gazillion emails in the Inbox

As probably one of the most vocal supporters of KingsIsle Entertainment's Wizard101, Tipa over at West Karana certainly has shown us the beauty of this new free-to-play children's MMO. Her blog posts have covered several months of experiences progressing through the game, and have probably had a hand in getting many others into it as well.

In a recent post, Tipa takes a retrospective look back at the game and what she thinks was done right or wrong in its development so far. One particularly interesting part is her analysis of the security measures taken to prevent children from talking to random strangers in the game. "W101 is a great game," she writes. "It's a fun game, it's an innovative game, but it's a game that has bought into the hysteria that every adult is a real or potential child abuser, completely disregarding that children are in considerably more danger from people they know in real life than from anyone they might meet playing a video game." It's certainly an interesting point on an innovation that has been showcased as a main family-friendly feature. Check out Tipa's complete blog for more of her thoughts on Wizard101.

In Sunday's The Daily Grind, we asked if you had purchased the Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Collector's Edition. Some of you said you did, while others of you said that you didn't see the sense in paying extra for physical items that would simply collect dust or sit in a box. While we're not here to push unwanted extras on anyone, we wanted to show our readers what all is included in this complete Collector's Edition box.

Follow along through the unboxing gallery below for a piece-by-piece tour of the LotRO: Mines of Moria Collector's Edition box contents.