24/7 Player

Filed under: RPGs, Meta (about Joystiq), MMO

It’s patch day again in the World of Warcraft, and that means there’s a whole bunch of upgrades and updates and brand new challenges, quests and things to do in the most successful MMO ever made. Joystiq’s sister site WoW.com has all the patch 3.3 info you’d ever need, from the new Dungeon Finder system to class changes, to all of the various UI tweaks and tips for getting your add-ons ready. Find ten of our most popular posts of the past week after the break, and head over to WoW.com for the latest on the game’s newest update.

Continue reading The best of WoW.com: December 1-8, 2009

The best of WoW.com: December 1-8, 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on December 9th, 2009 at 3:00am by Mike Schramm
Filed Under: World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, addons, dungeon-finder, gender, mmorpg, officers-quarters, patch-3.3, patch-day, spiritual-guidance, update, world-of-warcraft, wow-com, wow-patch-3.3

In a news story that we’re sure will surprise precisely nobody at all, The9 — China’s previous operator for World of Warcraft — has reported a serious decline in profits for this last quarter. Since last year when The9 still had World of Warcraft in its stable of games to now, they have seen a staggering 94% drop in revenue. Since the split became final in June of this year, there was also a 91% drop between last quarter and this one. Between The9’s lawsuit against Blizzard for (among other things) software copyright infringement and selling nearly 15% of its shares to Activision Blizzard competitor, EA, The9 has pretty well ensured that there’s never going to be any kissing-and-making-up over this whole mess.

Still, not everything is completely negative for The9. In the on-again-off-again World of Warcraft presence in the Chinese market altogether, owing to the squabble between The Ministry of Culture and the General Administration of the Press and Publication (GAPP), they’ve seen an increase in players from when they initially lost World of Warcraft. According to reports, the increase — a modest bump from 3.2 to 3.4 million players — is owing largely to a new update to Soul of the Ultimate Nation, as well as their other games Sword of the New World, FIFA Online, and Atlantica Online. Now, so long as more of their shareholders don’t wind up suing them for making misleading statements about their connection with Blizzard, things might just start looking up for this former major player in the Chinese MMO market.

Filed under: World of Warcraft, MMO industry, News items, Legal

The9 sees enormous drop in profits after split with Blizzard originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on November 29th, 2009 at 12:00pm by Krystalle Voecks
Filed Under: WoW, activision-blizzard, blizzard, china, ea, lawsuit, legal-problems, profits, the9, world-of-warcraft, year-on-year, year-over-year, yoy

Some may think it hard to figure out what to get that MMO fan in their life. Would they want cases of energy drinks? Maybe a grill so they can cook while raiding like Vork from The Guild? Well never fear as I’ve compiled a list of gifts that you can get for that MMO fan, and I’m not just talking about World of Warcraft! In this MMORPG Holiday Guide we also have ideas for gamers playing Aion, Lord of the Rings Online, Guildwars, Warhammer Online and Age of Conan. I’ll also go into some peripherals that any MMO gamer would love to have. To start off, I’ll focus on some of the other popular MMOs and gifts that you can snag for your friends or family.

An easy start is to get them something new to play! Aion ($46.99) is the newest MMO to be released and has been getting some rave reviews. Released by NCSoft in September 2009, there has been a steady buzz around the game, and I’ve known several people who have given up other MMOs to play this one. From all I’ve seen and read it’s a pretty solid game, and will appeal to most fans of the genre. And if they’re already playing Aion, why not snag them one of the cool shirts that Jinx just released?

If your friends or family are already playing another game, you can always buy them game time via cards or offer to pay for in game items to help them boost their characters or explore new regions. Blizzard sells pre-paid cards for game time in World of Warcraft ($29.99) and so does Warhammer Online($29.99), Age of Conan ($25.99), and Lord of the Rings Online ($29.99). These will give them 60 days of free time to play in their game of choice!

Tactx keyboard from Alienware

For the World of Warcraft fan, I found many things that one could buy, but I’ve narrowed it down to just a few products. First off, from the official store I have to recommend either Murky or Lurky ($15 each) plush dolls for either kids or for adults (My Murky sits on the top of my computer). Also along the kids line, if you have a guildmate or friend who just had a new baby or is expecting, I highly recommend the “My Other Stroller is [Epic]“ onesie from Jinx. For the more grown up WoW fan, you can also get a Horde or Alliance appropriate beanie so that they can show their pride throughout the winter! In general the majority of the WoW collection at Jinx is pretty awesome, and it’s all reasonably priced. There are also the new in game pets you can buy from the pet store: the Pandaren Monk and Lil’ KT who is the most adorable lich!

Now if you want to get your friends some new gaming peripherals, I recommend checking out the latest Alienware line which I have previously covered. The TactX mouse and keyboard are a little more pricey, but they’d be a great gift idea, especially if they’re in need of an upgrade. Also in November, Creative will be releasing special WoW themed headsets that look great and will help show your Horde or Alliance Pride! Another great item that you could get is the Xeno by Bigfoot networks. Cherithe recommended this in our gadget gift guide, and it’s definitely worth repeating! The Xeno is a great plug-and-play card that will prioritize gamng by bypassing your OS which enables smoother playing and voice chatting.

Now the other gift idea that you can do is for those fellow players who want to get something nice for an in-game friend or guildmate. You can save up to get them a vanity pet,  money for a new mount, or some new armor. It’s thoughtful, and something that will surprise them to see in their mailbox or a trade window! There are also the new in game pets that Blizzard released which you can buy from the online pet store: the Pandaren Monk who does some impressive kung fu and Lil’ KT who is the most adorable little lich!

I hope that this guide can help you out with some ideas for that MMO fan in your life. Have a great holiday and spread some /cheer!

Posted on November 21st, 2009 at 1:27am by stealthyslyth
Filed Under: Alienware, Angel Life, Games, Jinx, Massively multiplayer online game, Video Games, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, Xeno, age-of-conan-hyborian-adventures, aion, blizzard, warhammer-online, world-of-warcraft

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Grouping, Opinion, Academic

Back in the day, there were two ways to play most MMOs — you could form a group with other players, or you could stay inside the cities and wait. Those days are long gone, of course, and it’s a rare game that doesn’t allow a player to do quite a bit without the support framework of a group. But there’s a point to be made about what’s been lost in the process, and We Fly Spitfires has an interesting take on how we now have to be pushed and prodded into grouping. There was a time when people were expected to group to complete tasks, but players are increasingly opposed to the idea as more and more becomes possible to solo and we grow less and less patient for finding a group.

Unsurprisingly, Game by Night brings up the obvious counterpoint: that evolving game design has relegated forced grouping to the past. There are more MMO players now than there were back then, and the majority of them started on games such as World of Warcraft or City of Heroes where grouping was only occasionally necessary, and even then only for specific tasks. By removing the requirement, player expectations become different, and there’s no longer a sense from most of the playerbase that soloing should be possible for a majority of tasks. It’s a debate that’s been had over and over through the years, but as the solo play model becomes more and more expansive, it no doubt will be revisted time and again — and attitudes toward it will shift as the playerbase does.

Grouping versus soloing as the genre evolves originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 7:00pm by Eliot Lefebvre
Filed Under: WoW, academic, city-of-heroes, city-of-villains, coh, cov, cox, culture, game-design, game-mechanics, group-play, grouping, mmo-history, opinion, solo-play, world-of-warcraft

Continue reading The best of WoW.com: November 10-17, 2009

The best of WoW.com: November 10-17, 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Posted on November 18th, 2009 at 2:00am by Mike Schramm
Filed Under: Mr T, Weekly Recap, WoW, blizzard, patch-3.3, stories, warcraft, world-of-warcraft, wow-com, wow-patch-3.3