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Hands-on with Arena of Heroes' turn-based gameplay
April 19, 2013

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Handson with Arena of Heroes' turnbased gameplay
During the last week, I've witnessed two excellent unions: My good friend married his college sweetheart, and a MOBA reached out to the ranks of turn-based gaming. Sure, the former had an open bar, but no amount of free booze can quench my desire for something new within the MOBA genre. Enter Arena of Heroes, a new turn-based free-to-play MOBA that can be played on PC, Mac, iPad, and eventually, on Ouya, iOS, and Android.

I spent the morning with Sneaky Games CEO David Godwin and Zattikka Director of Product Alexandra Tinsman to find out why this game will make me bring my iPad everywhere I go.

Continue reading Hands-on with Arena of Heroes' turn-based gameplay

MassivelyHands-on with Arena of Heroes' turn-based gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    World of Tanks' account security compromised
    April 19, 2013

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    world of tanks compromised
    If you have a World of Tanks account, you will want to change your password. Developers report that "some personal information may have been compromised due to a security incident." Time to change the locks on your tanks, folks. Thankfully, you gain more than just personal peace of mind by taking the time to change your account security information. Wargaming.net is rewarding each customer with 300 gold when his or her password is successfully updated.

    Changing your password is simple: Just log into your account management page and fill in the appropriate blanks. Wargaming suggests that your new password consist of capital letters, lowercase letters, and numbers. The devs also say that the longer your password is, the better your protection becomes. This a very important tip considering your Wargaming ID carries across all current and future Wargaming.net games, like the upcoming World of Warplanes.

    MassivelyWorld of Tanks' account security compromised originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    MMObility: Hailan Rising is a lesson in confusion and miscommunication
    April 19, 2013

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    Hailan Rising screenshot
    I was excited to try out Hailan Rising, a new PvP-centric MMO being published by GamersFirst. It looks sort of primitive but has an old-school appeal that I thought would suit my tastes. For a long time I also thought it was a browser-based game, perhaps because it was being built in Unity, but at this point I'm confused about pretty much everything connected with the title. To make matters worse, the forums are filled with similarly confused players who just want some answers. Many of them cannot log in, but I was able to. But then all I found was an empty server, literally.

    I did some research and read up on some of the information we posted on this site as recently as February of this year. I checked the forums and mailed off an inquiry to GamersFirst that as of press time has not been answered. So what is Hailan Rising and what has happened to it?

    Continue reading MMObility: Hailan Rising is a lesson in confusion and miscommunication

    MassivelyMMObility: Hailan Rising is a lesson in confusion and miscommunication originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      SWTOR wraps up expansion class changes with the Sith Inquisitor and Jedi Consular
      April 19, 2013

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      SWTOR wraps up expansion class changes with the Sith Inquisitor and Jedi Consular
      Star Wars: The Old Republic has finished up the last of eight dev diaries featuring changes to the game's classes following Rise of the Hutt Cartel's release. On the docket for today is the Sith Inquisitor and Jedi Consular, mirrored classes that have mirrored adjustments.

      Both classes now have stronger heals (Dark Heal and Benevolence), cooldown-free shields (Static Barrier and Force Armor), and class-wide access to 10 seconds of faster casting and interrupt blocking (Polarity Shift and Mental Alacrity). Both classes also have been treated to a new skill, Force Barrier, which offers total protection for up to 10 seconds of channeling.

      There are plenty of other detailed changes to the advanced classes and roles, so check these diaries out if you're in tune with the Force in a way that makes the rest of us jealous.

      MassivelySWTOR wraps up expansion class changes with the Sith Inquisitor and Jedi Consular originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      Guild Wars 2 goes on sale, releases free retro platformer
      April 19, 2013

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      Guild Wars 2 is more than 30% off 'til April 28th
      Have you been meaning to try out Guild Wars 2 but afraid to commit to the box price? If you have been exceedingly clever, you might have noticed that several sites around the internet have been doing their best to throw trial codes at you for a free weekend experience. If you missed that or have exciting plans for the weekend, however, you might not be quite yet out of luck. Digital and Digital Deluxe editions of Guild Wars 2 are on sale on the official site until the 28th. You can pick it up for roughly 30% less than you would normally. Given that the Super Adventure Box is going strong until the end of the month and Flame and Frost: Retribution will be wrapping up this living story arc, this seems like a pretty promising time to check it out.

      Meanwhile, the team has also released a dev blog chronicling the creation of the Super Adventure Box commercial mocked up for the April Fools' Day events. Turns out that the game the boy in the commercial is playing is called Rytlock's Critter Rampage; it's a real retro platformer game dreamed up by ArenaNet's Delly Sartika, and here's the best part: It's playable right now, by you, in your browser.

      MassivelyGuild Wars 2 goes on sale, releases free retro platformer originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      Defiance producer addresses issues in recent patch
      April 19, 2013

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      TWERK IT
      No launch period is without its stresses, bugs, and crises. Defiance Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson took some time to address some of the recent drama brought on by patching in new content and fixes. He called on the old adage that "the road to hell is paved with good intentions," explaining that some of the problems in the most recent patch were due to the team wanting to get content out too quickly. "I could have pushed less and said 'no' and had it longer in testing and prepared better," Richardsson explained. He also stated that some of the problems couldn't have been caught with more thorough testing because of the differences between the live and test environments.

      He concluded that the team is determined to do its best by Defiance, as "she deserves it." It's quite the delicate balance, we're sure, to deal with the fact that your game is out and being adored and also that it's got some vital issues. Richardsson summed up those feelings with, "I can go from sad to twerk in a heartbeat."

      You can check out an ever-updating list of known issues here. Until the next patch, keep on twerkin' on.

      MassivelyDefiance producer addresses issues in recent patch originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      City of Steam gets the green light
      April 19, 2013

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      City of Steam has been greenlit for Steam
      The steampunk browser MMO City of Steam is happy to announce today that it has been greenlit by the benevolent members of Steam.

      What does this mean? It means that the people have spoken and they want to see City of Steam on... Steam, and the folks at Mechanist Games can now work with Valve to get the game up on the popular game distribution platform, opening the free-to-play title up to much more exposure.

      Out of 1195 games campaigning for a spot on Steam, CoS came out in "8th or 9th place," according to the team's recent news post. Up next: getting out of beta and on to a finished client-based version for Steam.

      Congratulations to everyone at Mechanist Games!

      MassivelyCity of Steam gets the green light originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      War Thunder opens US beta server, starts development on mobile version
      April 19, 2013

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      War Thunder opens US beta server, starts development on mobile version
      War Thunder, formerly World of Planes, has been soaring through open beta for several months now. Gaijin Entertainment decided that it's time to make a few flight adjustments, however, and announced that it has opened up a separate US gaming cluster to improve latency times for North American players.

      The developer also let slip that it has begun development on a mobile version of the game for both iOS and Android platforms.

      Gaijin said that War Thunder has attracted 1.5 million active users who have flown a total of 224 million missions since the start of beta. The developer recently put out version 1.29 for the flight sim; the patch makes a number of significant improvements such as four new aircraft, improved damage models, and a new economy.

      [Source: Gaijin Entertainment press release]

      MassivelyWar Thunder opens US beta server, starts development on mobile version originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      Betawatch: April 13 - 19, 2013
      April 19, 2013

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      Being able to blow up transparent villains seems kind of comforting right now.
      If you've been looking at Firefall longingly and wishing you could get in on the game, the open beta has finally been announced to start on July 9th. That means everyone can get in on the destruction of various science fiction beasties. By contrast, Origins of Malu has had to push its own closed beta back slightly, with a revised date to be announced shortly.

      Ragnarok Online 2 and Lost Saga are both moving forward in their testing routines, with the latter hitting open beta and the former kicking off several in-game events for testers. Runescape 3 has also started its testing, The Lost Titans has moved into open beta, and War Thunder has opened a US beta server. Not too bad considering everything else going on this week.

      As before, there's a full set of tests in the list past the break. If something's snuck in a functioning cash shop without us noticing, feel free to let us know in the comments, or just discuss your testing experiences (where it would not violate NDAs).

      Continue reading Betawatch: April 13 - 19, 2013

      MassivelyBetawatch: April 13 - 19, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        Star Trek Online outlines the fine details of Romulan ship progression
        April 19, 2013

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        Having Romulan allies is only slightly less disconcerting than having Cardassian allies.
        The Romulan faction in Star Trek Online's upcoming expansion does not play like mirrors of the Federation or the Klingons. The race's ships are less diverse in some ways, but its cloaking devices that allow for stealth even in combat make it clear that this is a race about subtle manipulation and careful subterfuge. A new development blog outlines the fine points of ship progression including refit ships, retrofit ships, and small craft for the faction.

        In addition to the cloaking devices, all Romulan ships feature a powerful Singularity Core that allows access to a different tier of special abilities for each ship. As with other factions, refits and retrofits of lower-tier ships can be purchased from the game's cash shop, complete with new customizable skins and new consoles for these variants. Players interested in seeing the full details should take a look at the development blog and get ready to remind the galaxy why the phrase "warbird decloaking" is never a sign things are going well.

        MassivelyStar Trek Online outlines the fine details of Romulan ship progression originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 19 Apr 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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