funcom posts

The Secret War draws over 200,000 players to its Facebook battle

by Justin Olivetti May 3rd 2012 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Horror, Sci-fi, Events, in-game, The Secret World

Funcom's Facebook prologue to The Secret World is a sizable success, even if it had a rocky beginning. The studio reports that over 200,000 players have taken the side of one of the game's three factions and are supporting their side through this "unique browser-based social experience."

Over the course of two weeks, participants have unleashed 50 million agents as part of the event, visited the site 1,200,000 times, and spent an average of 20 minutes each visit participating in the game. Since launching The Secret War, Funcom's added goals for the factions to work toward each week. The current prize is a Heart of Africa health talisman.

Two-hundred thousand participants is a solid win for Senior Vice President Morten Larssen, who sees this as an excellent way to prepare players for the factional struggle of the MMO: "This conflict has always been a key driver for activity in our own community, and we are excited to see that more and more people are coming in to join the conflict from outside the community as well."

[Source: Funcom press release]

Tags: agents, facebook, faction, factions, fantasy, funcom, heart-of-africa, horror, Morten-Larssen, mythology, sci-fantasy, secret-world, skill-based, the-secret-war, the-secret-world, tsw

The Daily Grind: Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing?

by Jef Reahard May 3rd 2012 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Daily Grind

Age of Conan game director Craig Morrison recently tweeted a frank reply to one of his followers. The reader asked why Funcom doesn't revamp PvP items to make everyone's minigame stats equal, thereby relegating grindtastic PvP gear to the game's vanity armor slots and providing theoretical balance.

Morrison's response: "Not everyone wants a new player and a two-year veteran to be on equal footing. Many want that to count, aside from knowledge."

By "that," Morrison meant time spent playing the game and paying your character dues, as it were. This brings up an interesting debate, since MMOs have a reputation for rewarding geared players over skilled players in both PvP and PvE. What say you, Massively readers? Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Tags: age-of-conan, age-of-conan-unchained, aoc, aoc-unchained, conan, craig-morrison, daily-grind, equal-footing, f2p, fantasy, free-to-play, funcom, gear-vs-skill, hyboria, opinion, silirrion, skill-vs-gear, tdg, the-daily-grind, time-spent-playing, unchained, veterans-vs-newbs

Not So Massively: Hero spotlights and Diablo III confirms PvP arenas in 2012

by Brendan Drain Apr 30th 2012 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Video, Game mechanics, New titles, Patches, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III

This week, League of Legends revealed plans to buff support tanks in the Varus patch and change several ability power items. Riot also plans to buff Master Yi and nerf Ryze's ability to tank and deal damage at the same time. Dota 2 released an updated user interface designed to take all the pain out of using the courier, and Bloodline Champions revealed its massive $10,000 DreamHack Summer 2012 tournament.

Diablo III revealed the Witch Doctor this week, giving Diablo II necromancer fans a peek at the closest replacement they'll get in the upcoming title. Blizzard's Jay Wilson also confirmed that PvP arenas will be released long before the end of the year. Heroes of Newerth released its new support hero Ellonia, an ice mage whose abilities focus around a stacking slow debuff. Rise of Immortals released a new immortal spotlight video on popular area-effect damage-dealer Netheurgist and encouraged players to start guilds with a contest to win 1,000 prestige points for every guild member.

Tags: action-rpg, Alistar, Amumu, battlenet, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, bloodline-champions, buff, competitive-gaming, courier, d3, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-ii, diablo-iii, dota, dreamhack, dreamhack-2012, dreamhack-summer, dreamhack-summer-2012, e-sport, e-sports, Ellonia, esport, esports, f2p, fantasy, featured, free-to-play, funcom, gothic-fantasy, guilds, heroes-of-newerth, hon, jay-wilson, league-of-legends, Leona, lol, master-yi, moba, multiplayer, nerf, Netheurgist, news, not-so-massively, nsm, Nunu, online-multiplayer, patch, petroglyph, petroglyph-games, pvp, pvp-arenas, riot, riot-games, rise-of-immortals, roi, round-up, roundup, rpg, runic-games, ryze, s2, s2-games, stunlock, stunlock-studios, Taric, torchlight-2, torchlight-ii, valve, varus, video

Age of Conan dev blog outlines stamina changes, multi-spec functionality

by Jef Reahard Apr 30th 2012 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play

Funcom may be gearing up for The Secret World's imminent launch, but the company hasn't abandoned its other Dreamworld-powered MMO. Yes, Age of Conan is still going strong, as it's closing in on its fourth anniversary and pumping out updates on a semi-regular basis.

Today's traditional end-of-the-month development letter focuses on said updates, in particular a few systems changes slated for the near future. Funcom's Craig Morrison gives us an update on extensive changes to AoC's stamina mechanics, which have long been a thorn in the side of PvPers and PvEers engaged in lengthy battles. The new system boasts "a new personal resource that will be used just for sprinting. It is also not observable by other players," the dev blog states. Stamina will now be used exclusively for combos, and caster classes no longer have stamina at all.

Age of Conan is also getting multi-spec functionality with respect to the game's feat system. Switching between specs can be done almost anywhere in the game world (aside from raids and group instances). Look for these changes on the live servers "later in the summer," Funcom says.

Finally, class updates are in the works, beginning with the Tempest of Set and continuing on to the Bear Shaman, the Herald of Xotli, and the Necromancer. There's more too, so head to the official AoC site to read it all.

Tags: age-of-conan, age-of-conan-unchained, aoc, aoc-class-revamps, aoc-stamina, aoc-unchained, classes, conan, craig-morrison, f2p, fantasy, free-to-play, funcom, hyboria, press-shift-to-drain-your-stamina, unchained

Massively Speaking Episode 198: Open beta madness!

by Justin Olivetti Apr 24th 2012 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Podcasts, City of Heroes, MMO industry, News items, Star Trek Online, Guild Wars 2, Massively Meta, The Secret World, Massively Speaking, Star Wars: The Old Republic, TERA, Miscellaneous, Diablo III

Massively Speaking Episode 198 is pumped up about open beta season, as games like Guild Wars 2, TERA, and Diablo III promote their wares through shameless stress test weekends. Does it whet the appetite or serve as a potent first dose of a drug that will drag us down into the gutters of addiction and achievement-hunting? Who cares! Jack us in to the Matrix, baby!

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Tags: action-rpg, anet, arenanet, battlenet, bioware, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, bluehole, bluehole-studios, brant, brianna-royce, cash-shop, city-of-heroes, city-of-villains, coh, cov, cox, cryptic, cryptic-studios, d3, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-ii, diablo-iii, ea, electronic-arts, en-masse, en-masse-entertainment, f2p, faction, fantasy, featured, free-to-play, freedom, funcom, gothic-fantasy, guild-wars-2, gw2, horror, humor, justin-olivetti, lucasarts, massively-speaking, multiplayer, mythology, ncsoft, online-multiplayer, opinion, paragon, paragon-studios, perfect-world, perfect-world-entertainment, podcast, podcasting, podcasts, pwe, roguelike, rpg, sci-fantasy, sci-fi, secret-world, skill-based, star-trek, star-trek-mmo, star-trek-online, star-wars, star-wars-the-old-republic, sto, sub, subscription-fee, superhero, superheroes, swtor, tera, the-old-republic, the-secret-world, tor, tsw

The Game Archaeologist: Are graphical updates worth the hassle?

by Justin Olivetti Apr 24th 2012 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Anarchy Online, Opinion, Ultima Online, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous

"I'd play this game again if the graphics were updated."

"If they re-released this game with modern graphics, it would be way more popular."

"The Game Archaeologist is my hero, and I will name my progeny in his honor."

How many times have we heard the above statements? From my perspective as someone who tries to keep tabs on classic MMOs, I see these claims quite a lot. Such sentiments pop up in nearly every other post Massively does about older games: "This title is rock-solid except for its aging visuals. Update those, and it would recapture its former glory and then some."

This has gotten me thinking whether such logic would pan out or not. With Anarchy Online's much-hyped graphics overhaul on the way, this discussion seems to crop up more often. Is the power of a graphics conversion or overhaul strong enough to pull back in previous players and fresh blood? Or is it merely slathering on new paint over a rusting hulk?

Tags: activision, anarchy-online, ao, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, classic, classic-mmo, classic-mmos, classics, client, ea, electronic-arts, enhanced-client, fantasy, featured, funcom, game-archaelogist, kingdom-reborn, lord-british, mythic, mythic-entertainment, nostalgia, opinion, sci-fi, the-game-archaeologist, ultima, ultima online, uo, warcraft, world-of-warcraft, wow

Not So Massively: Diablo III open beta weekend edition

by Brendan Drain Apr 23rd 2012 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, New titles, Patches, PvP, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III

Diablo III's open beta weekend was a huge success, giving developers the chance to stress test the servers that will be used when the game goes live in just over three weeks. Torchlight II teased fans this week with the release of its official opening trailer, which picks up the story from the end of the first game. Web series Extra Credits ran a special episode this week discussing Firefall's plan to let players work together to push back the map boundaries and unlock new content.

Rise of Immortals rolled out a new guild system in this week's patch and released its new area-effect tank immortal, Shard. Dota 2 added classic hero Brewmaster to the beta roster, and Bloodline Champions began preparing patch 2.4 with its new healer bloodline, Dryad. Wrath of Heroes released a hero spotlight video on melee fighter Bax Dreadtoof, and League of Legends highlighted some awesome fan-made art.

Tags: action-rpg, battlenet, bioware, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, bloodline-champions, brewmaster, competitive-gaming, d3, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-ii, diablo-iii, dota, dryad, e-sport, e-sports, ea, electronic-arts, esport, esports, extra-credits, f2p, fantasy, featured, free-to-play, funcom, gothic-fantasy, hyun90, league-of-legends, lilypichu, lol, moba, monk, multiplayer, mythic, mythic-entertainment, news, not-so-massively, nsm, online-multiplayer, petroglyph, petroglyph-games, pvp, red-5-studios, riot, riot-games, rise-of-immortals, roi, round-up, roundup, rpg, rvr, shard, stunlock, stunlock-studios, video, war, warhammer, warhammer-online, warhammer-wrath-of-heroes, woh, wrath-of-heroes

Leaderboard: Age of Conan's score vs. Guild Wars' score

by Justin Olivetti Apr 23rd 2012 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Polls, Age of Conan, Guild Wars, Opinion, Miscellaneous, Leaderboard

Believe it or not, there are actually loads of incredible MMO soundtracks. Oh, I know we all bellyache about the repetitive music and how we turn it off and just listen to speed metal or Justin Bieber while we grind boars, but the scores are often wonderful when removed from infinite looping.

Today we're going to pit two of the greatest MMO soundtracks against each other as they vie for your approval. In the first corner is Age of Conan's score, which was composed by Knut Avenstroup Haugen. It's not only award-winning and famous outside of MMO circles but hauntingly beautiful to listen to as well. In the other corner is Mr. Jeremy Soule's epic Guild Wars soundtrack (we'll lump all four of them together for this poll), which many claim to be just as memorable as the game's visuals.

It's the cream of the audio crop presented for your judgment: Age of Conan's score vs. Guild Wars' score. Give each one a listen and then let us know which you'll vote for after the jump!

Tags: age-of-conan, age-of-conan-unchained, anet, aoc, aoc-unchained, arenanet, battle-royal, conan, f2p, fantasy, free-to-play, funcom, guild-wars, gw, hyboria, jeremy-soule, Knut-Avenstroup-Haugen, leaderboard, ncsoft, one-on-one, one-vs-one, opinion, poll, polls, unchained, versus, vote, votes, voting, vs

Funcom temporarily takes The Secret World Facebook tie-in offline

by Jef Reahard Apr 19th 2012 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Browser, The Secret World, Casual

Earlier today Funcom pulled its new Secret War game from Facebook. The minigame launched yesterday in an attempt to drum up interest in the upcoming The Secret World MMO.

We've received a few news tips and heard a few rumors as to why the game was taken offline, so we decided to contact Funcom directly for the full scoop. Director of communications Erling Ellingsen gave us the low-down:

What's happened is that the activity levels on sharing to Facebook has been significantly higher than expected, and we have been asked by Facebook to make certain adjustments. So we are taking down the experience now and will be bringing it up again once the necessary adjustments have been made.

Even shortly after launch yesterday we had tens of thousands of people playing and sharing actively, so the interest for the experience has been very high.

And there you have it. We'll update the story as Funcom brings The Secret War back online or if there are any further developments.

[Thanks to Adam for the tip!]

Tags: erling-ellingsen, faction, fantasy, funcom, funcom-secret-war, horror, mythology, sci-fantasy, secret-war, secret-war-facebook, secret-world, skill-based, the-secret-war, the-secret-world, the-secret-world-facebook, tsw

Choose My Adventure: Ultimate road trip edition

by MJ Guthrie Apr 18th 2012 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Polls, Hands-on, Choose My Adventure, Miscellaneous

Let's go for another spin!

Just like Mikey of Life cereal fame, I ventured into the realm of Choose My Adventure once before, and I liked it! Grand adventures, camaraderie with readers, exploring the unknown... what more could I ask for? More time, obviously!

It ended all too soon. I was totally revved up and ready to jump right back in, but unfortunately neither pleading nor bribery worked to continue my stint as your plucky puppet (and locking the other staff members in a dark closet didn't pan out either -- they escaped), so I had to park it and wait my turn. It took much too long, but finally my time has come again. *happy dance*

Now the boss may have handed me the keys, but you will be the ones driving. The top is down, and I've got snacks and shades; all that is left to begin our adventure for the next six weeks is to pick which direction to head and floor it. Although a lot of good places have already been visited, there are plenty more to choose from. In the mood for fantasy? Capes? Nebulas? Heavy artillery? Cast your votes by Sunday, April 22nd, 2012, at 11:59 p.m. EDT for your chance to steer me to the world of your choice. Our possible destinations (in no particular order) are...

Tags: ac, aeria, aeria-games, age-of-conan, age-of-conan-unchained, anarchy-online, ao, aoc, aoc-unchained, asherons-call, champions, champions-online, champs, choose-my-adventure, choose-my-adventure-mj-guthrie, city-of-heroes, city-of-villains, classic-mmo, cma, co, coh, conan, console, consoles, cov, cox, cryptic, cryptic-studios, dc-universe, dc-universe-online, dcuo, eden-eternal, f2p, fantasy, featured, free-to-play, freedom, funcom, hands-on, historical, hyboria, ncsoft, opinion, paragon, paragon-studios, perfect-world, perfect-world-entertainment, playstation-3, playstation3, poll, polls, ps3, pvp, pwe, readers-choice, sandbox, sci-fi, soe, sony-online-entertainment, star-trek, star-trek-mmo, star-trek-online, sto, superhero, superheroes, tank, tanks, turbine, turbine-entertainment, unchained, vote, voting, war, wargaming.net, world-of-tanks, wot

Funcom giving away in-game prizes, studio trips via The Secret World Facebook tie-in

by Jef Reahard Apr 18th 2012 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Horror, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World

The Secret World - all your personal info are belong to us

There's something decidedly ironic about a conspiracy-laden game rife with (fictional) secrets and sensitive information taking to Facebook to advertise itself. Funcom's new The Secret World MMO is doing just that, though, thanks to a tie-in game called The Secret War that kicked off last night.

Docholidaymmo.com reports that the new Facebook game grants in-game prizes for The Secret World (in the form of cosmetic gear, potions, and starter weapons). Funcom is also giving away eight trips to its Montreal development studio as well as a chance to get your name embedded in The Secret World's retail client. Still not enough for you? How about chances to win access to the title's upcoming beta weekends?

You'll need to head to the official Secret War site and link your Facebook account (or your fake Facebook account, according to the report). After you've done so, each of your Facebook friends who is playing the game will go into your pool of agents and may be assigned toward the ultimate goal of world domination.

The Secret World is now available for pre-order and launches June 19th.

Tags: facebook, faction, fantasy, funcom, horror, mythology, sci-fantasy, secret-world, skill-based, the-secret-war, the-secret-world, the-secret-world-facebook, tsw

Not So Massively: PAX East, D3 unlocks, and MOBA news

by Brendan Drain Apr 16th 2012 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, New titles, PvP, News items, Opinion, Free-to-play, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III

With just less than a month until Diablo III hits the shelves, Blizzard released another 275,000 beta keys into the wild. The share meter on the game's social media microsite also reached 30% this week and unlocked the first three pieces of exclusive content. Meanwhile, Path of Exile celebrated an incredibly successful pre-order campaign, netting over $200,000 in just six days and selling 13 of its $1,000 diamond packages.

In the land of MOBAs, League of Legends looked back on PAX East this week and celebrated some of the incredible costumes that fans turned up in. Dota 2 fixed a few behavioural problems with bots, added the ability to skip straight to kills in a game replay, and brought back the popular Random Draft game mode. Bloodline Champions revealed its new bloodline Dryad, and Rise of Immortals revealed its new crystalline tank immortal Shard. Heroes of Newerth released its third ranged agility hero in a row this week, the unfortunately named Artillery.

Tags: action-mmo, action-rpg, annie, artillery, barbarian, battlenet, beta-key, beta-keys, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, bloodline-champions, book-of-cain, competitive-gaming, d3, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-ii, diablo-iii, diablo-iii-beta, dota, dryad, e-sport, e-sports, esport, esports, f2p, fantasy, featured, free-to-play, funcom, gothic-fantasy, grinding-gear, grinding-gear-games, heroes-of-newerth, hon, league-of-legends, lol, lux, moba, multiplayer, news, not-so-massively, nsm, online-multiplayer, orianna, path-of-exile, pax, pax-east, pax-east-2012, petroglyph, petroglyph-games, poe, pre-order, pvp, random-draft, riot, riot-games, rise-of-immortals, roi, round-up, roundup, rpg, s2, s2-games, shard, stunlock, stunlock-studios, unlock, video

PAX East 2012: Exploring the dark corners of The Secret World

by Matt Daniel Apr 11th 2012 at 10:30AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Previews, Opinion, Hands-on, The Secret World, Massively Hands-on, Massively Event Coverage

As anyone around the Massively offices can tell you, I am eagerly-bordering-on-obsessively awaiting the release of Funcom's latest entry into the MMO market, The Secret World. I'm all about the supernatural, occult, and paranormal, and The Secret World's "all the myths are true" philosophy is right up my alley, so when I heard that there would be a playable demo at PAX East 2012, it was all I could do not to squeal like a 12-year-old girl (and I may have done so anyway).

Of course, many people are hesitant about the title. Between The Secret World's subscription-cum-microtransactions business model and Funcom's track record of poor launches and bug-laden games, some gamers are finding themselves hesitant to get hyped up for the game's June 19th launch. Of course, I'd be lying if I said I weren't at least a bit cautious myself, regardless of my enthusiasm for the game. So how is the game shaping up? Well, sit down, grab yourself a drink, and let me tell you what I think.

Tags: con, convention, expo, faction, fantasy, featured, funcom, hands-on, horror, kingsmouth, mythology, pax, pax-2012, pax-east, pax-east-2012, penny-arcade-expo, preview, previews, sci-fantasy, secret-world, skill-based, templar, templars, the-secret-world, tsw

Massively Speaking Episode 196: Tales from PAX East

by Justin Olivetti Apr 10th 2012 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Podcasts, Events, real-world, MMO industry, Massively Meta, The Secret World, Humor, Massively Speaking, Miscellaneous

Massively Speaking Episode 196 takes us to the front lines of PAX East 2012, where the Massively team combed through all the latest and greatest exhibits and demos to find all the juicy revelations and impressions that will fill your hype tanks until the next convention. Eliot and Matt join us to give us all the latest and greatest (swag).

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot an email to podcast@massively.com. We may just read your email on the air!

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to Massively Speaking directly in iTunes.
[RSS] Add Massively Speaking to your RSS aggregator.
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly.
Listen here on the page:

Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Tags: action-mmo, brant, brianna-royce, cryptic, cryptic-studios, dnd, eliot, f2p, faction, fantasy, featured, free-to-play, funcom, horror, humor, justin-olivetti, massively-speaking, matt, mythology, neverwinter, opinion, pax, pax-east, pax-east-2012, perfect-world, perfect-world-entertainment, podcast, podcasting, podcasts, pwe, sci-fantasy, secret-world, skill-based, the-secret-world, tsw

Not So Massively: Meet Diablo III's demon hunter

by Brendan Drain Apr 9th 2012 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Trailers, Video, Game mechanics, Previews, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Not So Massively, MOBA, League of Legends, Diablo III

With five weeks left until Diablo III launches, Blizzard started its pre-launch marketing campaign this week with a new series exploring each of the five classes. This week kicks off with a preview of the Demon Hunter. Meanwhile, Torchlight II revealed details of a new charge bar mechanic designed to keep a rapid pace of action, and dungeon crawler Path of Exile started gearing up for release with some tempting pre-order packages.

Penny Arcade made a guest appearance in League of Legends this week with a special comic introducing upcoming champion Varus. Riot also revealed the next champion due for release, armoured spectral warrior Hecarim. Rise of Immortals got the Penny Arcade treatment this week too when joke character Karapyss the Crabomancer was actually released. Bloodline Champions launched an Easter egg painting contest this week and asked players whether grades should be reset for the current competitive season.

Blacklight: Retribution officially launched this week and celebrated with the release of its first new gun, the heavy assault rifle. Finally, Wrath of heroes released its first hero spotlight video this week, introducing hybrid damage-dealer Nethys.

Tags: action-mmo, action-rpg, battlenet, bioware, blacklight, blacklight-retribution, blizzard, blizzard-entertainment, bloodline-champions, champion, champions, comic, competitive-gaming, crabomancer, crabomancy, d3, demon-hunter, diablo, diablo-2, diablo-3, diablo-ii, diablo-iii, dota, e-sport, e-sports, ea, easter, electronic-arts, esport, esports, f2p, fantasy, featured, fps, free-to-play, funcom, gothic-fantasy, grinding-gear, grinding-gear-games, heavy-assault-rifle, hecarim, karapyss, karapyss-the-crabomancer, league-of-legends, lol, Microtransactions, mmofps, moba, multiplayer, mythic, mythic-entertainment, nethys, news, not-so-massively, nsm, online-multiplayer, path-of-exile, penny-arcade, perfect-world, perfect-world-entertainment, petroglyph, petroglyph-games, poe, pvp, pwe, riot, riot-games, rise-of-immortals, roi, round-up, roundup, rpg, runic-games, stunlock, stunlock-studios, vanus, video, warhammer, warhammer-wrath-of-heroes, woh, wrath-of-heroes, wrath-of-the-lich-king