Contests

Have you ever thought that MOBAs release far too many new heroes and champions? This week Riot Games revealed not one but two new champions coming to League of Legends: stealthy assassin Rengar and telekinetic mage Syndra. Heroes of Newerth released its brand-new Core Pool game mode that lowers the MOBA learning curve by limiting the playing pool to just 40 available heroes. The game also switched from a two-week hero release schedule to a four-week schedule as there are already well over 100 heroes to choose from.

Valve announced its new free Dota 2 Spectator Client, which that aims to get all Steam users interested in the game's upcoming competitive tournaments. Upcoming MOBA SMITE revealed its latest character, the adorable little cherub Cupid, God of Love. Blacklight: Retribution's $1,000 US per day 30 Days of Fight contest has officially begun, and its new Siege game mode is now live.

Diablo III announced many of the changes coming in its upcoming patch 1.0.4 this week, including details of upgraded legendary items and a whole series of buffs for every single class. Finally, Path of Exile updated players on the game's current development progress this week, revealing that over a million US dollars had been secured in pre-purchase supporter packs.

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Spending two weeks away from the game I love is always a challenge. Star Trek Online came up with some nifty things while we were away in Las Vegas enjoying the Star Trek Convention, and I'm back to cover what they are.

Star Trek Online's Fleet Week bonuses are out for a limited time, a new ship has appeared in the ZEN Store, additional account bank slots are now available for purchase, rewards are now available for those who helped test Season Six on the Tribble test server, and a small update was made to clarify the state of the Foundry. So join me past the jump and we'll catch up on the game!

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There once was a High Elf from Tamriel / whose foppishness the villagers did tell / she had many fears / about bees flying in her ears / and thus plugged them with honey so well.

Think you can do better? Bethesda is hoping you can, which is why the studio is hosting a "lore limerick" contest for potential players of The Elder Scrolls Online. Fans can submit a single limerick about Elder Scrolls lore to the team by August 31st.

Winning warrior poets will receive several different TESO prizes, including canvased and signed concept art, t-shirts, and a mention on the official TESO Facebook page. The contest is restricted to US and European residents who are 18 or older.

When I first started following the League of Legends pro scene, I was introduced to top teams like Team Solo Mid and SK Gaming. As I watched matches and player interviews, the first thing that came to my mind was this: If Korea fielded a LoL pro team, it would be incredibly scary.

When Riot Games added support for Korean League of Legends and OnGameNet began running regular tournaments, I had to check it out. Sure enough, big pro-gaming teams like StarTale and MiG started fielding pro League teams, and most of the things I suspected were true. Korean teams have amazing coordination and incredible mechanics compared to their western counterparts.

This was put to the test last weekend during Major League Gaming's LoL Summer Arena, where Korean qualifying team Azubu Blaze utterly destroyed the other teams, losing only once to Curse Gaming. Most of the matches weren't even close. What's the secret to Azubu Blaze's dominance? Can it be reproduced in the West, or is League of Legends going to end up like StarCraft -- dominated by the Korean scene?

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With a housing feature as robust as EverQuest II's, players can create a multitude of original spaces. To highlight the abundant creative decorating skills of EQII players, Sony Online Entertainment is bringing back the Norrathian Homeshow.

If you think your place deserves a spotlight tour on the official website, snap some flattering screenshots capturing the best of your creation (sans UI of course) and send it via email to homeshow@soe.sony.com along with character name, server, and title of the home or dungeon. Players should also add a general description of the place as well as caption each screenshot.

For full details on how to submit your home, check out the official announcement. Selected entries will be featured in a future Norrathian Homeshow.

It might be your time up there, but it's my time -- my time -- down here! For this latest edition of Choose My Adventure, I get to hand out a selection of odd little games for you to vote on, and then for the next month and change, I will stumble my way through the title. At your direction and with your help, of course. The trouble is that I have already played darn near everything. I've downloaded and tried so many games that I simply can't remember them all. So, what to do?

Well, I decided to give a mix of games a chance at several weeks coverage here on Massively. I picked out an assortment of browser games, independent titles, and lesser-known client-based MMOs. Hopefully you will steer me the right way, and if I am lucky, I won't even have a horrible time. I chose games that I know have a robust community in the hopes that plenty of voters will turn out. The key is to get the word out there, so if you have a favorite, go tell your community!

But first, click past the cut and vote on the game you would like to see me tackle for the next several weeks. Just don't expect to see triple-A games on the list!

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Those of you partying it up in Guild Wars 2's final beta weekend event might be interested to know that you can win a few prizes if you keep your finger hovering over the print screen key. ArenaNet announced that it's holding a Moment to Moment screenshot contest over the course of the weekend.

Participants may submit action and landscape shots in an attempt to net a SteelSeries prize package. The package includes a Guild Wars 2 mouse, headset, and mousepad.

Submissions will be taken through Monday, after which players will vote on the best to formulate the top 20 in each category. Finally, ArenaNet will pick the best of these 40 screenshots for the prizes. Since you can submit only one action shot and one landscape picture for the contest, Massively advises you to choose wisely!

Folks attending Comic-Con 2012 in San Diego or even just generally in the convention area have most likely seen some form of promotion for Syfy and Trion's transmedia project, the upcoming MMO shooter Defiance. If you have, a picture could be worth more than 1,000 words -- it could be worth a trip to the Defiance premier party in April 2013! To enter the contest, fans need to take a picture of any Defiance promotion at Comic-Con and either upload it to the official entry form, email an entry, or tweet a link of the picture to @DefianceWorld #DiscoverDefiance.

The contest is open to US residents 18 years and older and will end on July 16th, 2012, at 10:00 a.m. EDT. Full contest rules are available on the official entry form.

The final Guild Wars 2 beta weekend event happening from July 20th to 22nd might just be your last chance to play the game before you decide whether you'll be pre-purchasing to play on August 25th for the head start. Luckily for you, we have some keys to give away for this final beta event so you can try it out for free!

As part our final key giveaway on the site (that's right: We're not doing any more key giveaways for any games after this!), we're happy to end on a high note with 3,000 keys for our readers. Simply head on over to our giveaway page to grab yours before they run out, then head to http://register.guildwars2.com to redeem the key and start the download. Good luck and see you in Tyria!

[Update: Keys are gone already!]

Before Star Supremacy's launch, Barbily Games both sought player input on design decisions by offering a spaceship design contest and solicited feedback for future events. Fast forward to today, when players now have the opportunity to submit their own ideas about what the MMORTS title's storyline should be in a new contest.

Players eager to see their ideas truly influence a game need to post their entry on the official event thread. The winner of the storyline event will have his or her ideas about how Star Supremacy should grow and develop story-wise incorporated into the game.

[Source: Barbily Games press release]

EverQuest II's Dungeon Maker is a love-it-or-hate-it feature. Some love it for the story possibilities and the player-generated content; some hate it because of the number of 50 Tokens Solo Nao dungeons that infest the feature. In a move that promoted the former use of the feature, Sony Online Entertainment hosted a contest utilizing the Poet's Palace map with entries being judged on creativity, originality, and theme, meaning storytelling was just as important as design and action.

The judges were so taken with the talent displayed in the 82 entries to the contest that they couldn't decide on just 10 finalists, so they chose a lucky 13 instead (although they will apparently be going without lunch now). The top finishers all received a set of heritage armor of their choice, the in-game title Dungeon Maker, and 2,000 Station Cash.

Congratulations to all the winners! For a list of 10 of the winners (the top three will be announced next week) and where to find their dungeons, check out the official announcement. Then tell us what you think of the dungeons!

Have you ever wanted to stroll through a game before anyone else, taking the first steps in an untouched world and exploring areas unknown to other gamers? The devs at City of Steam are offering just that chance with an exclusive personalized tour of the fantasy steampunk game during these early stages of development.

Unlike many contests where you just submit your name for a random drawing, this contest asks tour hopefuls to post why they believe the tour should be given to them. Preference will be given to active community members, so be sure to jump in and start taking part in discussions on the forums to increase your chances! The lucky winner will then get to invite two friends along to peek into new aspects of the game, all while chatting with the tour guide developers.

So brush up on those writing skills and dazzle the judges or just check out the other entries. In the meantime, tell us: If you were the winner, would you prefer to tour the game as a Goblin or a Draug?

One of our favorite things to do here at Massively is introduce you to new MMOs. Luckily, Gravity Interactive has a new MMO called Maestia: Rise of Keledus that it wants you to check out.

We're giving away 2,000 keys for the free-to-play fantasy MMO's upcoming closed beta, and all you have to do is head to our giveaway page to grab one. The beta itself starts on June 14th, but grabbing a key now will get you started and ready. Read past the cut for complete instructions on how to grab and redeem a key for yourself.

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