So many MMOs on the horizon

It seems like every hot up and coming game is in closed beta right now, this is certainly a great time to be an mmo junkie. Though with all of these great games in beta that means you'll be fervently checking your inbox every time a new batch of invites goes out, and then crying yourself to sleep when you don't see that pretty little "Welcome to Such-and-Such MMO!" subject line staring you in the face. So here is a recap of what is currently in closed beta(links to the application provided).

1. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Ahhh the big guns! This is what I know many out there are looking for to be the so called "WoW killer", possibly because it just looks a whole lot like it but with a greater focus on PvP(when did PvP become so damn critical in MMOs? a whole different discussion). The game just recently went live with their closed beta and of course it is currently under NDA but with the limited screenshots they have offered it certainly looks great and if you are an old Warhammer miniatures player such as myself it certainly brings back a whole lot of memories of those simply bad ass dwarves. The game so far, as most every mmo in beta looks great and I am certainly looking forward to it.
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2. Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures

Another big up and coming title, Age of Conan is all about the PvP and I know quite a lot of people really looking for this to be their next big addiction. With a more mature aim this title certainly looks like it is going to be a taste of something different(I even saw a screenshot with a full blown boob!). Now I am personally pretty excited about this because it is a new direction in MMOs, when everyone seems to want to copy WoW and its family friendly feel, AoC seems like it is aiming at the die hard PvP audience and looking at a much more "mature"(mature meaning people that are into blood and gore) crowd. Now I don't know a single person in this beta so I have absolutely no thoughts about it, but from all of the teasers and interchatter I can say I am jazzed about this title and can't wait to hear more about it.
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3. Tabula Rasa

Ahhh the great Sci-Fi MMO, a rare and curious bunch are they. TR recently opened up their closed beta to 10k new people and it has certainly garnered its share of attention. For being one of the only major sci-fi titles of the past couple of years this game has quite a lot of hype built around it and for good reason, those clamoring for a GOOD(the operative word being good there) sci-fi mmo have been left in the dust for far too long. TR has a lot of little quirks about it that I'll get into in a later post, but it is safe to say that this is a sure fire hit, for at the very least because it is a good looking sci-fi mmo that doesn't have SOE at the helm.
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4. Fury

This lesser known title is currently in closed beta and focuses heavily on PvP. I've heard comparisons to Guild Wars, with its instanced team combat, look here for a good overview of how the game works. I'm pretty interested in the skill based combat and "rolling your own" class which I am more than a little curious about, the game types are very FPS like, and with mostly instant cast spells and abilities this game is shaping up to be very competitive and will surly turn out the action junkies.
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5. Saga

Now this is a new one, an MMORTS!? Yep! In Saga, you will be able to buy buildings, purchase, troops, etc... All of the usual RTS concepts are there, but this time they exist in a persistent world and you can beat the heck out of your friends and other players. Your troops will be able to gain experience, and gain skills, armor, and all of that over time, if they die you can rez them and the same with your buildings. This is certainly a leap in the genre, and I am pretty excited to see how it goes, though I'm not sure I am personally interested in this experience, it would be fun to check out, I'd have to imagine the world would be simply massive to handle a large number of players, but we'll see as I have no contacts in the beta as it is. To give the game some credibility the Starcraft: BroodWars lead programmer is working on Saga, so we'll see how it turns out, maybe its a sleeper hit, who knows right now.
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6. Sword of the New World

This new fantasy style MMO has had a bit of buzz around it, it is no major title, but it is garnering some attention in the MMO circle. The game is in open beta, so go try it out, I havn't had the chance yet, but am eager to check it out, the artwork is simply beautiful(I am a sucker for that FFXI style art) and other than that it seems rather ordinary, if someone would like to comment on it, please do I'd love to hear more, and as soon as I try it out I'll be sure to let you guys know my impressions.
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7. Gods and Heroes: Rome Rising

This Roman based MMO is pretty interesting, it relies heavily upon Roman/Greek Mythology and is neat in that it employs player controlled squads which you control and can be made up of a set number of classes, you yourself also choose a class and a deity to follow. The deity that you choose also will grant you powers along the way so that you might smote your enemies or something fancy like that. It seems worth checking out at least when open beta hits.
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Now that is a list if I've ever seen one! And what a summer it is for MMOs, if this list can't keep you busy until the retail release of "the next big thing"TM then I don't know what will.

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Cheston

What a week!

Well I just moved into my new place for the remainder of the summer, I've spent a ton of time fixing the place up as it was a total mess when I arrived. Anyways just wanted to let the internet folks know I'm still around and am going to bring some serious content as soon as I can get my desk organized and read all of the articles piling up in my rss reader. Once I get settled I'll really kick this blog into full gear, I have so much to rant about and oh so little time.

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Cheston

Podcasts!

I listen to quite a few podcasts these days, now I don't have time to listen/watch everyones but I try to give each at least one try. Anyways here are a list of the MMO related poscasts I currently listen to.

1. Shut Up We're Talking

This is a great podcast by Cuppy of Cuppytalk and Darren of The Common Sense Gamer. The twosome generally provide a casual atmosphere for MMOG discussion, covering the latest news and the MMO blogosphere. Most of the time the show tops out at an hour and change, a good listen if you get the chance, both hosts are knowledgeable and have a passionate interest in the MMO genre.


2. Ringcast

Ringcast is a great LOTRO themed podcast, the hosts are a husband and wife(Brad and Elizibeth). These two chat about the latest news and trends in LOTRO, often going into detail about specific classes/professions/etc.. which can be very informative, it is a much less casual podcast, more about information really than people just chewing the fat which is great, I've learned a great deal from these two and really enjoy their style. If you are LOTRO player/fan or just looking for information check it out.


3. The Instance

Probably one of the best World of Warcraft podcasts out there, the two hosts, Scott, and Randy cover the spectrum of WoW players. Scott is the lead host and a casual gamer who probably hasn't gotten a character above level 30, but this is nice as it provides a different point of view. Randy the ex-hardcore gamer who generally puts all of the news in context as far as the end game goes. Now I don't listen to this podcast as often as I used to since I quit WoW but it is still worth checking out as the guys usually cover news, rumors, and have a core issue per episode which wraps everything up well. A must listen for any WoW player or even if you don't play it is just a good time.

Those are the podcasts I'm listening to right now, if anyone has a recommendation please leave it in the comments and I'll check it out. Anyways, thanks guys and I'll be sure to post some serious content soon.

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Cheston

MMOs on the Mac

Ahhh the elusive Mac Gamer, a loud, passionate, but small group. Mac isn't exactly the optimum gaming platform right now, things are changing albeit slowly. So as a mac user I'm interested in finding those MMOs out there for my platform, because lets face it Bootcamp is nice, but it isn't fun having to reboot every time I want to load up a game. So I've compiled a list of games that run natively on Mac OSX.

1. World of Warcraft

No matter what your opinion of Blizzard, they are simply the best when it comes to Mac releases, it is hard to find someone that is more dedicated to the platform. WoW of course doesn't need much introduction so I will leave it at that.


2. EverQuest For Mac

Another big name in the MMO world, EverQuest is not just a PC game. Though I should add that this isn't the PC version, EQ for the Mac has its own server, so you can't play with your friends on the PC. Also EQ for Mac hasn't been kept current with standard EQ, EQ for the Mac only has four expansions, Ruins of Kunark, Scars of Velious, Shadows of Luclin, and Planes of Power. So don't expect to be getting the full 14 expansions that standard EQ has. Still a fun game, with a good community of members still hanging around.
(note for those on Intel Macs, EQ for Mac isn't a Universal Binary)


3. Second Life

Though Second Life isn't your standard MMOG, it is certainly worth mentioning as it does have native Mac support, and is growing at a rapid pace.


4. Shadowbane

A bit older, Shadowbane has been around a few years, and isn't considered one of the top tier but it is now completely free to download and play.


5. Lineage

One of the biggest MMOs ever is also for the Mac, now this was primarily popular in Korea, but also had quite the following in the States. With a free trial it is certainly worth checking out.


6. A Tale In the Desert

I have never really tried ATITD, I've heard people speak highly of it. Leave a comment if you have played this game I'd be interested in hearing about it from a player.


7. EVE Online

This is a bit premature, but CCP has said that they will have a Mac OSX client out by the end of summer '07, so let us keep our collective fingers crossed. From what I hear on the internets, CCP will be utilizing Transgaming's Cider technology to bring EVE to the Mac.


8. Vendetta Online

Sporting a nice Mac OSX port along with a Linux port, this space MMO is small but from what I've heard close knit with a good community.

That's all I've come up with right now, if you think I should have included something please leave a comment and I'll be sure to include it. See you next time!

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Cheston

So what is going on these days?

As a proper post-first post I'm just going to talk a little bit about what I am playing right now. I'll get into in depth discussion later, this is just "where I stand" sort of post.

Anyways, what am I playing?
Lately I've been into the new hotness Lord of the Rings Online(lotro for short). I have a level 21 Human Captain on Gladden, which I don't play all that much anymore, and a level 17 Hobbit Burgler on Silverlode. I switched servers not because of any fault of the community, but because I had a few friends on Silverlode and wanted to see how things went with them. So far things have been great, I've been enjoying the game quite a bit, and though it lacks many features I'd consider a must, it certainly makes up for in eye candy, and general fun.

Now I know a lot of MMO bloggers out there are hot for EverQuest2(EQ2), and honestly I'm interested greatly. As an ex-EQ junkie I can safely say that EQ2 provides a very attractive package at its current stage. Unfortunately I've run into some technical issues that have yet to be resolved, to be specific, as my main gaming machine I have a Macbook Pro. Now of course I run all of my games under Windows XP using Bootcamp, but there seems to be some hardware issue with the MBPs that causes EQ2 to crash after about a minute of playtime. The only solution is to upgrade to Vista, something I havn't really gotten around to doing. So when I do I'll let you all know how it works out, but I just wanted to clarify that I harbor no ill will against EQ2, I just havn't gotten the chance to really explore it in its current state. I did play it a year or so ago, but due to the large changes made I don't think I really have much room to talk about the current state of the game.

Anyways, that is what I am up to. If I have any readers, please share what you are currently playing, I'd be interested to hear what you internet peoples are up to.

First Post!

Welcome to MMOpinionated! My name is Cheston and this is basically my blog to discuss MMOGs(Massively Mutliplayer Online Games), MMO design, my game related experience, and just generally chit chat about virtual worlds.

A little background on myself, I am a senior undergrad student at Rochester Institute of Technology studying Information Technology & Computer Science. I've been playing MMOs since EverQuest and have since become a bit of a junkie. I'll leave the stories for later posts, but in short I hope this blog will evolve into something useful that people will actually read. Thanks, and expect many posts in the coming weeks.