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Everquest II Extended with the Dragon*Con MMORPG track

Gaming News 11 Responses »
Sep 082010

Hey gang! I just wanted to put a quick note out here that at some point next week we’re going to start getting together in the (currently Beta) Everquest II Extended Free-To-Play version of the game. If you’re interested in joining us, you’ll need to grab the client here.

I’ll post something official later in the week when I’ve had a chance to, I don’t know, sleep and maybe eat something that wasn’t made under a heat lamp. I just thought you’d all like to get a head start on downloading the client.

Posted by Michael C. McGreevy at 12:01 PM Tagged with: , , , ,

Season's Greetings from DC*MMO

Gaming News No Responses »
Dec 252009

Yeah, I know. We haven’t been as diligent as we should be in updating the site with the latest and greatest news in MMO land. On the other hand, we’re too busy playing them to write much.

In preparation for our next SnarkCast and because Krystalle can be, at times, a moderating influence on me, I have prepared a Christmas “Naughty or Nice?” list of stories, people, and things that have happened in the past year. Don’t expect anything even remotely “correct” or “political”.

Nice
World of Warcraft’s 3.3 patch
The new content is nice, but the LFG tool has made dungeon groups fun again. I don’t think I’ve seen a wait time longer than 10 minutes for a dungeon. I love to bag on WoW on the SnarkCast, but I must give credit where it is due. 3.3 has me playing again… a lot.

Fallen Earth

The folks at Fallen Earth have come up with a rather nifty game set in a Post Apocalyptic American Southwest. (Grand Canyon, to be specific)  If you’re in the mood to check out a game that departs from the average fantasy-based WoW clone, I highly recommend this one.  It’s from a small, independent studio so there are some warts in the game, but the community is tight-knit and the in-game customer service staff is responsive.  Enjoy.

Sony Online Entertainment

SOE has a lot going on.  There is a new EQ expansion out there (16!!!), more EQII content on the way, and Free Realms has gotten off to a very good start.  That, and Brenlo and the gang are lots of fun to hang out with at Dragon*Con.

Ok, enough of the syrupy sweet, here comes the “coal in the stocking”…

Naughty
Aion

A craptacular grindfest which is packaged in eye candy is still a craptacular grindfest.  The fact that NCSoft, a studio which seems all-too-eager to pull the plug on MMO’s that don’t make enough money for them, is behind it leads me to believe that this title won’t have much staying power. (Tabula Rasa, anyone?)

MMO’s which are basically LAN-party sized games with a giant chat lobby.

Ok, so it isn’t Guild Wars’ fault that so many new games are adopting this approach, but for the love of Curt Schilling, can we stop calling games that are chat lobbies for 5-10 player “dungeons” MMORPGs?  Raiding Temple of Veeshan with 300 players is Massive.  Raiding Molten Core with 40 players is Massive.   Sitting in a chat lobby until you can mash together a 5 man group in order to run a dungeon is NOT Massive.  If you can’t get out of the quest hub and explore the world, it’s not an MMO.  If “the world” is instanced to the point that you have zero chance of randomly encountering another player in it, it is not an MMO.  It can still be a great game, but call it something else.

Champions Online

Ok, so I was super stoked about buying this game.  So much so that I got the 6 month subscription (thus guaranteeing me a place in the Star Trek Online beta, which I am currently enjoying)  I played it for about a week, then realized… Grind-tacular snorefest.  The comic book style graphics are interesting and the game has a world of promise, but do us all a favor.  Reduce the level cap by half and cram what content you have into those levels.  Gaps in content make levelling an endless chore.  If I wanted that, I’d have stayed in Everquest.  I hope Star Trek Online is listening…

As always, this is just my opinion.   I can’t help it that I’m right.

Merry Christmas!

-Grim

P.S. as an added bonus, and because I’ve mentioned her in just about every SnarkCast we’ve done, here’s a Christmas pic of Samantha.

Posted by Grim at 12:00 AM Tagged with: , , , , , , , ,

Another year has come and gone - The 2009 DC*MMO Wrapup Post

D*C MMO, Dragon*Con 2 Responses »
Sep 092009

Thanks so much to all of the fans who came out to see us at Dragon*Con this year.  We are still in the process of braindumping and writing “after action reports” so that we retain all of the information and lessons that we have learned at this year’s convention.  Some highlights.

We WTFPWNED! the old Thriller Dance record set at William & Mary (Bill and Buffy) University.  They had just over 200 people dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.  Dragon*Con had over 900.

Comic-Con took the record for largest charity blood drive from us…briefly.  We retook the record with over 1900 units of blood donated.  DC*MMO’s own “Horde vs. Alliance” blood drive saw 250 donors step up and bleed for a good cause.  My most sincere thanks to everyone who gave. (even if it did make you a cheap drunk for the rest of the weekend… Don’t think we didn’t notice.)

50 panels and events on the MMO track this year, and hardly a “bomb scare” in the bunch.   Thank you to our guests and panelists for making this year’s DC*MMO track such a success.

Felicia Day is amazingly cool, and apparently had a really good time at Dragon*Con.  Thank you Felicia, and thank you fans for showing her a good time this year.  Felicia screened all of seasons 1 and 2 as well as the first episode of season 3 which debuted last week just before the convention started.

Thank you Funcom for throwing a killer party on Friday night!

Thank you Sony Online Entertainment for throwing a killer… well… all day Sunday!

Thank you CCP, Cartoon Network, Wardog Studios, Artix Entertainment, Hi-Rez Studios, Massively.com, and WoW.com for hosting excellent panels and events for us.  We look forward to working with you again next year.

Thank you, WoWTCGLoot.com, NCSoft, iZ3D,  and Turbine for donating prizes for us to give away this year.

Most of all, thank you to my staff of unpaid volunteers who busted their humps for me all year long in order to pull this weekend off.

My assistant directors, Trevor Legg and Krystalle Voecks.  I could not have done this without you two by my side to keep me sane and remind me of all of the things that could have slipped through the cracks.  Trevor’s ideas and ability to think creatively (I hate the term “outside the box”) and Krystalle’s organizational skills and industry knowledge were both absolutely essential to our success.  I thank you both.

To the rest of the gang, Michael McGreevy, Rafe Brox, Ian Wickenkamp (I didn’t forget you this year!!!), Jonna Crane, Doug Keller, Scott Blanks, Jay & Sheryl Sturrock, Sam Levine (Happy Birthday!) and all of the folks who stuck around and chipped in to help us even though they didn’t have to… You have my thanks, and that doesn’t even begin to cover it.  I put you guys through a pretty brutal wringer this year, and you all came through shining brightly.  Rest well, you have earned it.

Planning for Dragon*Con 2010 starts next week. :-)

-Grim

Posted by Grim at 12:03 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Oh, and another sign that we're getting close...

D*C MMO, Dragon*Con 3 Responses »
Aug 132009

You may see this plastered somewhere around the convention.  When I tell you that we can always use creative talent, this is why.   I actually had to do this bit of photoshoppery myself.

flyer_final_small

Posted by Grim at 5:42 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Actual Dragon*Con MMO News!!!

D*C MMO, Dragon*Con 5 Responses »
Jul 202009

I know, it’s been a while…

Scheduling is pretty much complete and now we turn our attention towards our giveaways, contests, and other events. One such bit of news, for those of you who are interested in attending our WoW Party on Saturday night, is that we will have a cash bar inside the ballroom this year.  You will not have to leave the party to obtain performance enhancing substances for our contest this time around.

Our new friends at Comcast (yes, THAT Comcast) have decided to sponsor our WoW party this year and will be adding some fantastic prizes for us to give away.  I could tell you… but I’d rather keep it a surprise.  You will not be disappointed.

We will also have some goodies to give away during our MMO Trivia contest on Sunday night, courtesy of Sony Online Entertainment, Funcom, Hi-Rez Studios, and a cast of dozens.  More details to follow, but I can say that we will probably have more free stuff to give away this year than we did last year… And last year, we had a LOT.

Posted by Grim at 6:40 PM Tagged with: , , , , , ,

SnarkCast #3: Return of the Snarkcast!

D*C MMO, Podcast No Responses »
Jul 032009

After a month off to tend to various injuries (Krys hurt her wrist, and Grim busted up his knee), Krys and Grim are back with another SnarkCast.  Everyone and everything is fair game for our snarktastic duo this time around.  If you, or the game you love, find yourselves in our cross-hairs, take solace in the fact that you aren’t alone.  We snark because we love. (Except Gold Farmers, nobody likes those little idiots.)

 DC*MMO SnarkCast - Episode 3 [33:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (592)

In this week’s show, we snarkify (otherwise known as “show notes”):

(Opening music, courtesy of …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, “Isis Unveiled”)
Posted by Grim at 5:24 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The schedule is almost ready...

D*C MMO, Dragon*Con No Responses »
May 182009
  • 65+ hours of programming…
  • 43 events…
  • 23 MMORPG’s (and counting…)
  • 9 ballroom events…
  • 9 game development companies (we’re not done yet…)
  • 6 parties…
  • 2 best-selling authors…
  • 1 amazingly cool geek celebrity gamer babe…
  • a live action quest that lasts all weekend…
  • …and a charity event that we’re gonna make you bleed for.  (Relax, it’s part of the blood drive.)

That’s what we have in place so far for the MMO track this year.  More importantly, we’re not done yet.

We’ve got a few more commitments to nail down.  Once we submit the final schedule to the powers that be, we’ll post an unofficial schedule here.  Once the schedule is made official, we’ll have links to iCal and XML files so you can put the entire weekend of events in your phone or PDA.  Why?  Because we’re geeks, and we love our toys too.

Stay tuned, folks.  We’re only a couple more months away.

Posted by Grim at 7:12 PM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

DC-MMO Update - March 30, 2009

D*C MMO No Responses »
Mar 302009

Welcome to the first weekly installment of the DC-MMO Update.  Now that we’re about 5 months away from Dragon*Con, and preparations are underway in earnest, it makes sense for us to keep everyone up to date on where we are.

So, with no further ado, here’s where we stand.

We will definitely be back in the Sheraton this year, specifically in the Athens and Augusta rooms.

The following companies have already confirmed that they will be participating in Dragon*Con this year:
Sony (EQ, EQ2, Star Wars Galaxies, DC Universe Online, Free Realms, The Agency)
Funcom (Age of Conan, Secret World, Anarchy Online)
CCP (EVE Online)
Adventure Quest (AQ Worlds)
Gaia Interactive (Gaia Online)
Wardog Studios (Force of Arms)
Cartoon Network (FusionFall)

We are still in talks with the following companies:
NCSoft (City of Heroes, Guild Wars)
EA/Mythic (Warhammer Online)
Cryptic Studios (Star Trek Online, Champions Online)
Bioware (Star Wars: The Old Republic)
Blizzard (DUHHHHHH)
38 Studios (Copernicus)
Frogster Interactive (Runes of Magic)

We are planning additional panels on topics such as
Guild Management
Dead MMO’s
Free MMO’s
WoW Lore (with authors Richard A. Knaak and Keith R.A. DeCandido)
The state of MMO gaming (with representatives from several MMO companies)
The Guild, starring Felicia Day (not nailed down yet, but we’re working on it)

Of course, we are also planning a series of parties/events for our night time sessions…
Quest Givers (yes, we’re doing the weekend-long live action quests again!)
Kickoff Party on Friday Night
World of Warcraft Trivia Contest
Hardcore MMO Trivia Contest (all games)
WoW Olympics (Gnome Tossing, Dodgeball, Dance Contest, Emote Contest, etc)
Kingdom of Loathing Party
Sony Party (EQ, EQ2, SWG, etc)

We are also working on getting all of the MMO games that we will be discussing included in the computer gaming lab in the Hilton so that you guys can try out some of these games on your own time.  As with all convention preparations, things can (and often do) change at the last minute, but this is a snapshot of where we are as of right now.  We have our 12th, and final, staff member on board for this year and we plan on moving very quickly to finalize our plans for this year so that you guys will have plenty of opportunity to get ready for an outstanding Dragon*Con this year.

If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, please contact us and let us know about it.  If you’d like to buy a shirt to help us out, that would be great too!.

Posted by Grim at 9:28 AM Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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