Latest news with #MMOs
The Verge
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Verge
Final Fantasy fans, now is the time to get into Magic: The Gathering
The Final Fantasy Magic: The Gathering set is here, and there's never been a more perfect assemblage of Magic cards. The set features cards taken from every mainline Final Fantasy title, including the two MMOs, so there's something for every generation of Final Fantasy lovers. And while Magic has featured other video game crossovers in the past (hello, Assassin's Creed and Fallout!), with the way this set is constructed, from card mechanics to art, you can tell this one is a developer favorite, sure to appeal to the massive chunk of people who love both games. But what if you don't inhabit the center circle in the Venn diagram of Magic and Final Fantasy lovers but are still interested in experiencing this set for yourself? Magic: The Gathering is an intimidating game, even if you're a seasoned player like myself. There are so many ways you can play, both in person and online, that it can be overwhelming to figure out the best way to jump in. So here's a few tips and tricks to playing the Final Fantasy Magic set. Be warned, though: this is the best-selling set in Magic's 30-plus-year history, and you will pay for the pleasure of this experience — if you can find the product to pay for it at all. How to play: physical edition Over the years, the designers at Magic developer Wizards of the Coast have realized it can be intimidating as hell for a new player looking to start their planeswalking journey. To help these new players along, Magic developers have created a line of products called Starter Kits. Each is a set of two 60-card decks featuring cards specifically designed for new players and an instruction booklet that goes over the game's basic rules and cadence of play. Keep one deck for yourself, give one to a friend, and learn as you play together. For MTG x FF, the starter kit features two decks themed around Final Fantasy's greatest rivalry: Sephiroth vs. Cloud. These decks are a decent introductory course to Magic. Cloud's is themed around equipment cards (think the Buster Sword or the Ultima Weapon), which are essentially weapons you can attach to your creatures to pump up their damage and hit hard. Sephiroth's deck is all about him. Kill creatures (yours and your opponent's) to make him as big as possible. I played both decks against the set's designers and managed to beat them both, a monumental feat for any Magic player. However, if you want to play them for yourself, the Starter Kit is currently sold out on Amazon, so your best bet to find one is to hit up your local card shop (known in the community as your LCS) to see if it has any in stock. Wizards' website does feature a handy store locator if you don't know where your nearest LCS is. There are also four Commander decks you can buy and play, with each one themed around a specific title in the series. Commander is the most popular format of Magic, but the rules are slightly different from standard play, and matches can often include more than one opponent. The Final Fantasy Commander decks are beginner-friendly but expensive, running anywhere from $80 to $130 when Commander decks in other sets are much cheaper. How to play: online edition If you don't have any friends you can beg, bribe, or beat into playing Magic with you, there is another, far easier option: the game's online version, Magic: The Gathering Arena. Arena is the best way to experience the Final Fantasy set as there's no worry about stock, it's relatively cheaper, and there are so many different ways to play that in-person playing simply does not accommodate. Once you've made your account and downloaded the game, you can play through the game's tutorial, which I recommend to get your bearings. Not only does it explain how to play, but the color challenges also give you a feel for the playstyles of Magic's five different colors. Think of colors and color combos as characters in your favorite hero shooter. Each has different abilities and favors a specific style of play. Blue and white center on going over your opponents' heads with flying creatures, while mono green (my favorite and the best way to play) favors big, stompy creatures that run over your opponents' defenses. The Final Fantasy set makes it easy to find a color or combo that works for you. If you want to get straight into the Final Fantasy set, you can simply skip the tutorial to unlock all of Arena's many game modes and features, and it'll still be there to try if you ever need to go back. Once you're ready, you have a number of options available. You can get right into the thick of things and start playing the game's constructed modes. If you've never played Magic before, do not do this. It is expensive, costing a lot of resources your account will not have unless you buy them in the game's cash shop, and it is hard. Making decks is difficult; even I don't like it that much compared to playing decks preassembled for me. Your best, most economical option is to play Jumpstart mode. In Jumpstart all the hard work of making a viable deck is done for you. You are presented with a number of archetypes: Bold, Mage, Chocobos, Equipment, and more. You can pick two of them based on nothing more than vibes and personal preference, and the game will automatically create a deck using those two archetypes. Then you play your deck against other Jumpstart decks and rack up the wins or the valuable experience that comes with losing. The great thing about Jumpstart is that it's cheap — a new account grants you enough currency to try the mode three times — and the cards you pick are yours to keep. Do it enough times and you'll eventually have enough cards to tool around with making your own decks to try out in the game's friendly mode, Quick Start. I've enjoyed all the different Jumpstart decks I've made, but if you really wanna have some fun, pick chocobos whenever you get the chance. They're creatures that get stronger whenever you play a land card (think of land like the gas that powers your deck's engine) and have incredible synergy with other card types, leading to a deck that will overwhelm your opponent. Also, they're chocobos! What could be more Final Fantasy than chocobos? If you are a Final Fantasy fan, I cannot stress enough how much fun its Magic set is. And if you're intimidated by Magic's difficulty, don't be. There are so many beginner-friendly ways to play, and there are so many beginners trying this set out for the first time, that you'll be in good company. Plus, I've found the community is always happy to help newcomers. When I played at an in-person event, my first opponent had never picked up the game before. Over the course of our match I taught him everything I knew as best I could, and before the end, he beat me. Badly. I've never had more fun.
The Star
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Star
Trip down memory lane: The golden age of the MMO game
Role-playing games are nothing new. They have been a part of gaming subculture for decades now, beginning in 1974 with Dungeons And Dragons , a tabletop role-playing game in which players role play as adventures in a fantasy setting being guided by a 'dungeon master'. In some ways, the Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) game is this concept taken to its natural conclusion with the advent of accessible Internet. The 2000s were marked by the appearance of many families procuring PCs for home use, as well as a flourishing of cyber cafes, which were establishments furnished with rows upon rows of computers catering for online gamers who preferred to play in public. The rise of a genre As such, it is little wonder that the MMO became so popular amongst the youngsters just beginning to explore the Internet. Here were beautifully rendered fantasy worlds where you could live out a second life, inhabiting a fantasy character. You could meet like-minded people and forge friendships that went beyond the game itself. Unlike most other MMO gamers, Tan played as the same character in MapleStory for nearly 20 years. — TAN JUN SZEN Some of the games that were household names in Malaysia during the heyday of the MMO were MapleStory , Ragnarok Online , and Runescape , just to name a few. Most of these games continue to be supported to the current day, albeit at diminished player counts. Tan Jun Szen, 31, played MapleStory during his childhood, starting in 2005 when he was 11, and continuing well into adulthood on the same character, only stopping in 2023. 'The reason why I started playing it was because my brothers and cousins were playing as well,' Tan says. This was one reason why MMOs enjoyed such popularity in those years; the games spread through influence within social groups. If everyone in one's group of friends or family members is playing, one is more likely to try the game out, if for no other reason than to play together as a social activity. K'vin Chan, 32, concurs. He played Chinese MMOs during his secondary school years, such as Mo Siang Online and Jade Dynasty . 'I played these games mainly because of my friends. When there are people to play with you, it feels different.' Chan was a fan of Mo Siang Online and Jade Dynasty, Chinese MMOs. — K'VIN CHAN Aesthetics was also a major factor in drawing in players. Robin Chia, 36, says of Ragnarok Online : 'I think it was groundbreaking because it was the first online side-scrolling online game that featured anime-styled characters, and combined that with character jobs and classes that you see in Western fantasy.' Tan also adds that the cuteness of MapleStory characters was a big factor in convincing him to play. 'The monsters, characters, and environments were all really unique.' MMOs could perhaps be considered one of the most immersive video game genres of all. Chan says, 'You're playing as whole other identity in an imaginary world. I think that's the biggest difference compared to other genres.' Algebro, who prefers to go by his in-game name, says of Runescape : 'I liked how big the game was, how many things there were to do, and I liked it as an escape from daily life. It offers a fantasy and you can immerse yourself in it. The genre was new, coming on to the scene during the Internet boom, and it offers social interaction and fantasy. I think that's why it got so much traction.' The basic gameplay loop in an MMO revolves around strengthening your character, typically by gaining experience points to level up, as well as collecting equipment. While this is not much different from other video games of today, in the MMOs of the 2000s this gameplay loop was taken to a completely different level, with character growth requiring much more time compared to other types of video games. This process was often referred to as 'grinding'. A screenshot from Old School Runescape, showcasing a location filled with characters. — ALGEBRO As such, this required a greater level of commitment from the player, with the game often became an entrenched part of a player's lifestyle. 'It became a constant in my life,' Algebro says. 'It was always there for me to return to. And it helped me be more sociable.' MMOs as social platforms The most prominent way to hasten character growth was to team up with other players to form a party or guild. This, for many players, was the core appeal of the MMO genre, allowing them to make new friends, or strengthen bonds with existing friends. For example, in Ragnarok Online , War Of Emperium was a game feature that allowed guilds to fight with each other for control of castles which could be used as bases and could confer certain benefits. 'There were so many people inside,' Chia reminisces on the ferocity of the fighting. 'I would go into the portal to the castle and die immediately at the portal.' Chia got into playing Ragnarok Online with his school friends through free CDs distributed through comics and magazines. — ROBIN CHIA Tan says, 'Back then even though levelling up was hard, what we had was a sense of community. You'd log in, talk to your friends, and do quests together. There was a sense of adventure as a community as well.' Naturally, this hard-earned progression evoked strong feelings of accomplishment. Tan and a friend trained for two weeks to be able to defeat a series of bosses and unlock a stronger form for their weapons. 'When we cleared the boss, the sense of achievement was crazy,' Tan says. The other major social aspect of the MMO was commerce, introducing many young minds to the ins and outs of business. In practically all MMOs, designated market areas would be bustling with traders looking to buy or sell exclusive in-game goods. Chia says, 'You could go into the city, and merchants would have their pop-up stalls there. They'd be AFK (Away From Keyboard) and leave their characters there with their items and pricing. You could spend hours there clicking on the shops, one-by-one, looking for rare or cheap items.' Social interactions in the games were so ubiquitous that most players in those days would end up developing close bonds with other players. 'It was a social platform,' Chia says. 'We didn't have Facebook yet.' Players selling in-game items in Ragnarok Online. — Valve Tan says, 'For some of the friends that I met through Maple , we still do keep in contact. It has been 15 years of friendship. I went to Singapore once, and for the whole trip I was accompanied by friends from Maple .' Chan says, 'The friendships you form in the game are very pure. You start out just discussing the game, and (from) there you start talking more and more.' The bonds formed while playing MMOs is of course not limited to just friendships. You could get married in-game with another player, something both Tan and Chia did in their respective games. Sharing Runescape with a romantic partner is also a fond memory of Algebro's. MMOs in today's gaming landscape The MMOs that have survived to the current day have all changed in certain ways. Levelling up has become easier, and has become arguably less dependent on working together with other players. 'It has become more streamlined,' Tan says. 'You can reach Level 200 in one day.' By comparison, in the 2000s it might have taken a player months to reach Level 50. Tan continues, saying, 'I feel that we as a society has changed as well. Our attention span has become shorter, and we want instant gratification.' As a result, today's MMOs can sometimes be less of a social experience. The cuteness of MapleStory characters was a big factor in convincing many players to jump into the game. — Nexon MapleStory Algebro says, 'Over time, we seem to have become more of an individualistic society. Or maybe it's just me growing up. Nowadays, even if there's someone next to you in game, they're just minding your own business, and you don't really talk that much. 'We do lose a lot of the random chatter, but if we do find someone that we feel we can talk to, we are able to keep that connection for longer.' Private servers still exist of these MMOs. The games themselves may have changed over the years, but many fans have preserved a version of the game that they remember from the past, where they can continue to play out the 'good old days'. 'I still feel nostalgic when I see Ragnarok Online ,' Chia muses. In today's gaming landscape, mobile gaming seems to have taken the place of MMOs. 'You don't see cyber cafes anymore,' Chia observes. 'Now it's the mamak, you go there and you see youngsters playing mobile games together there.' Chan believes that the genre may have been outclassed by the more refined, mainstream games of today. He says, 'There are many more options now. More consoles, better technology. Game design is more interesting now, more skill-based and less reliant on grinding.' Although MMO as a genre may never regain the popularity it had once attained in the 2000s, it lives on in the fond memories of the players who had spent their youth within its digital realms.
