Virtual World News
Filed under: Sci-fi, Events, in-game, Lore, PvE, Opinion, Roleplaying, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon
Earlier this year, Update 1.1: Rise of the Rakghouls brought us a new flashpoint called Kaon Under Siege. A ship crash landed in the heart of the Tion Hegemony, taking the Rakghoul virus off the planet Taris and spreading it to a new world. Both the Republic and the Empire sought to find the source of this outbreak. Like all flashpoints, Koan Under Siege is instanced and separate from the rest of the open world.
Relatedly, and quite surprisingly, BioWare started its first world event without announcing it on the official website or even letting anyone know that it was happening. On Sunday morning, everyone who was stopping by Carrick or Vaiken station could overhear an announcement that the planet Tatooine had been quarantined due to an outbreak of the Rakghoul virus.
So started my investigation...
Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Outbreak
Hyperspace Beacon: Outbreak originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play
The company says that players will "traverse an endless series of monster-infested plains" while exploring an "exotic medieval world," but Aeria hasn't released many details in regard to Waren Story's mechanics.
There is a brief trailer available, though, so click past the break to check it out.
[Source: Aeria Games press release]
Continue reading Aeria announces new Waren Story MMO, releases trailer
Aeria announces new Waren Story MMO, releases trailer originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Culture, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Legal, TERA
ThisIsGame.com points out that there could be more bad news coming for the team that turned Lineage III assets into TERA, as the outcome of a $5.7 million civil suit is still pending.
MMO Culture has published a timeline of the TERA legal proceedings, though neither website cites a source for its information. We'll update the story with more details as they become available.
Korean court confirms guilty verdict in TERA criminal trial originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: ThisIsGame.com
Filed under: Betas, Historical, Video, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, War, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries, World of Warplanes
The clip resides on Wargaming.net's YouTube portal (and we've also got it for you after the cut, below). It's entirely in Russian, but fortunately it's also packed with sub-titles for the rest of us. Much of the info is a recap if you've been following the game for some time, but there are some interesting tidbits regarding aircraft prototypes (i.e., avatars that are quite different from the usual Mustang, Spitfire, and Sturmovik suspects found in most flight sims).
The dev diary also tells us that while WoWP will initially ship with 20 planes per nation, the roster will gradually expand up to 100 aircraft for each faction.
Continue reading Wargaming.net releases World of Warplanes video dev diary
Wargaming.net releases World of Warplanes video dev diary originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Expansions, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play
Chief among these are the drider, the dire bear, the green dragon, and the draegloth. We've got these and a few more available for your perusal in our DDO gallery below, so give them a good look before you head to the game's official site for more info on the expansion. And hurry up already, the new content is coming June 25th!
[Source: Turbine press release]
Turbine shows off new DDO expansion beasties originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Just a quick reminder: Registration for the Digital Kids Conference ends this Friday, April 20th. The show is just over a week away (April 25-26, 2012 in Los Angeles at the Pasadena Convention Center in Pasadena). Onsite registration will be available but the price goes up substantially.
Choose from the following:
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Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Sci-fi, Classes, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, PvP, News items, MMOFPS, DUST 514, Sandbox
The sci-fi shooter is, of course, set in EVE Online's New Eden universe, but how exactly does the new player experience look and feel? That question is answered at length on the site's latest blog post. Dropsuits and dropsuit fittings are covered in detail, as is DUST's complex skill system.
Also noteworthy are the tidbits relating to missions and PvP. DUST, like EVE, starts newbs off in high-security space where there are plenty of NPC corporations willing to hand out mercenary contracts. These aren't just bot matches, though, as you'll go up against other players who have chosen to work for competing corporations. The blog also delves into DUST's version of blueprint originals and blueprint copies as they relate to gear acquisition, not to mention a host of other interesting topics.
Fansite details DUST 514 newbie experience originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: DUST514.org
Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Economy, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, TERA
You'll find info on TERA's staged invasions, public quests, and economic system archived in the lengthy new post. The update also recaps the game's reputation system, its dungeon roster, and a few of the more interesting class tweaks to boot. Head to the official TERA site for all the goods.
En Masse highlights shiny TERA launch features originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: TERA launch features
Filed under: Sci-fi, News items, Star Wars: The Old Republic
According to the SWTOR community team post, this new site -- which was rebuilt from the ground up -- will provide "you with the latest game updates in an easy to navigate way." The team expounds on what we should expect from the new site later in the article: "In addition to all of the latest news and information that is released, we're also going to give you much more information about in-game content." The first example of this is the breakdown of each of the 17 flashpoints.
Although the new site falls back on a more traditional look, the community team assures us that this will help to increase overall functionality and allow for additional features such as guild support, skill trees, character profiles, and more.
SWTOR's official website receives a face lift originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
- Source: SWTOR announcement
Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Flameseeker Chronicles
These simple systems pop up all over the place: the straight-forward lists of boons and conditions that affect players, the common capture point mechanic over which more intricate PvP objectives can be layered, and the relatively small pool of skills from which to assemble a build. The beauty of their simplicity is that the simplicity itself isn't a limiting factor -- you can't do only simple things with them.
In this way, simple systems have a low entry barrier and a high complexity capacity. That means that more people can enjoy the game with relatively little skill and that there's a lot of room for time, dedication, and finesse to lead to outstanding results. Anyone can play, but not everyone can (or will) master elements of the game.
Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: Simplicity itself
Flameseeker Chronicles: Simplicity itself originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Apr 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.