Archives for Nov 9th, 2012
Betawatch: November 3 - 9, 2012
It hasn't been hard to get into Firefall's beta test as long as you know a friend who plays the game. If not, you're sort of out of luck... well, until today, when the game opens up for its first limited semi-open weekend event. If it's already too late for you, don't worry; there are two more in...
Former president of Square Enix calls corporate merger a disaster
Corporate mergers always create hard feelings. Combining two separate groups of people into a single culture is naturally going to generate some feelings that the companies were better off apart. That's certainly the case for Hisashi Suzuki, the former president of Square Enix who recently called...
Fallen Earth to introduce farming
Fallen Earth's upcoming content includes new stage 3 coresuits, skill and mutation adjustments, and farming. Yes, farming is coming to Fallen Earth! According to the most recent dev blog, post-apocalyptic farming will be a crafting skill that will allow a player to build a three-, six-, or nin...
PlanetSide 2 takes a ride with Azure Twilight of the Vanu Sovereignty
Earlier this week, PlanetSide 2 unveiled a video of the Terran Republic's Black Widow Company showing off how they roll. If you favor the Terran Republic, that's obviously a good thing. If you're more in line with the Vanu Sovereignty, then you'll be very happy to know that the newest video from ...
PlanetSide 2 releases huge beta update with metagame content
In less than two weeks, Sony Online Entertainment's new MMOFPS PlanetSide 2 is launching. And with that November 20th date fast approaching, the development team is cranked into high gear, deploying frequent patches to both add content and squash various bugs. Last week, the patch included the fi...
Blizzard facing class-action lawsuit over Battle.net authenticators
World of Warcraft creator Blizzard Entertainment is on the receiving end of a class-action lawsuit filed this morning by players who allege that the company is unfairly forcing players to purchase Battle.net authenticators in order to keep their accounts secure. The two plaintiffs claim that i...
New Darkfall Unholy Wars video demonstrates gameplay in HD
With the launch of Darkfall's brand-spanking-new incarnation Unholy Wars right around the corner, Aventurine has released a short HD gameplay video to show off what players can expect in-game come November 20th. Starting with serene music and players slipping quietly through the water, the video ...
Blizzard lowers the boom on Diablo III cheaters
Blizzard's had all it can stands, and it can stands no more. The studio is taking aggressive action against botters and cheaters in Diablo III, reporting that it's gone through "several rounds of account bans" against such players. The studio also used the ban announcement as an excuse to clar...
Storyboard: Community sites and what they can do
No MMO, to date, has a system to facilitate roleplayers interacting with one another outside of actual roleplaying. There are hubs you can haunt, there are things you can do, and there are addons in the games that support them, but at the end of the day, all you can do is throw your hat into the ...
Firefall beta weekend schedule released [Updated]
If you've been watching Firefall from afar, salivating over news tidbits and dreaming of one day getting to actually play the game yourself, today is a very special day. Not because you get into the game today, of course, but because there's finally a schedule for when you can expect to play. N...
Star Citizen crowd-funding tops $3 million with 10 days to go
The news keeps getting better and better for fans of Chris Roberts' new Star Citizen space sim. Cloud Imperium just issued a press release trumpeting the fact that SC's crowd-funding initiatives have surpassed $3 million with 10 days to go. The company initially launched a self-managed fundrai...
The Tattered Notebook: Touring Chains of Eternity with the EQII team
EverQuest II's newest expansion, Chains of Eternity, launches in just a few days. SOE Live brought a slew of news about both the expansion and the future of the game, and for longtime fans, there's a definite return to the game's roots. This past week, we had a chance to see some of the new zo...
Elite: Dangerous Kickstarter page updated with video, concept art
What is it with super-cool space sim reboots and their gooftastic titles? First it was Star Citizen, and now there's Elite: Dangerous, which, with a name like that, should probably feature a soundtrack by Kenny Loggins. In any event, Frontier's Kickstarter page has updated with some concept im...
MMO Blender: Larry's anti-power-creep MMO
On Tuesday, I suggested ways to get rid of power creep in MMOs. You know power creep: the constant treadmill of stats that keep getting better and strong but ultimately start to feel like more of a grind? It's very annoying to long-term players, and I'd imagine that it's frustrating to game desig...
MMObility: Windows 8 and gaming in the Metro browser
So, you've heard about the recent Windows 8 release but aren't sure whether or not you should upgrade? How will the operating system affect your gaming, and are you going to go with any of the Microsoft Surface products? All of these questions can be answered in numerous ways, but I wanted to ans...
Disney partners with Smilegate for a new MOBA that includes Marvel characters [Updated]
Ready for another Marvel online title? Or at least a title with Marvel characters? If so, we have good news and bad news. The good is that Disney Interactive just inked a deal with Korean firm Smilegate to develop a MOBA that will include Marvel's iconic heroes among other "mythical and historica...
The Daily Grind: What's the worst thing a cash shop can try to sell you?
MMO gamers, including our commenters and even some of our own writers, are in an uproar over the terms of Star Wars: The Old Republic's upcoming free-to-play transition. The game's F2P matrix seems to be hitting all the industry low points: lottery tickets, combat-affecting items, travel buffs, c...
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