New Titles

Blade & Soul's biggest update yet is coming on June 26th according to Steparu.com. The site reports that new skill revisions, an upgrading system, new dungeons, an increased level cap, new story chapters, new instanced dungeons, and new PvP areas are on the way.

Whew!

Yes, that's a lot of new, and Steparu has also posted a handful of gorgeous new Blade & Soul posters for your viewing enjoyment. Have a look via the link below.

So, EverQuest Next is officially called EverQuest Next. At least until SOE comes to its senses. OK, OK, I'm only half kidding. It's not the worst name ever, but for a game that's already carrying the burden of substantial expectation before it's even been publicly unveiled, EQN seems a little bit vanilla to me.

Titles can be important, too, particularly in terms of first impressions and roping in those yummy casuals. So, how about it Massively readers? Is an MMO's title important to you? Vote after the cut!

Ever wish that you could put to rest a long-standing MMO debate once and for all? Then welcome to the battle royal of Massively's Leaderboard, where two sides enter the pit o' judgment -- and only one leaves. Vote to make your opinion known, and see whether your choice tops the Leaderboard!

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Jagex has announced today the appointment of Alex de Rakoff as Creative Director to the popular MMO studio. Not only has de Rakoff directed award-winning music videos, but he's also well-known for his films, working with actors like Orlando Bloom and Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson.

No, that doesn't mean Jagex is working on a Legolas or a gangsta rap MMO, but it does mean that the upcoming Transformers Universe and RuneScape 3 will both benefit from de Rakoff's experience and creativity. In fact, before being officially hired in-house by Jagex, de Rakoff had already been writing the story for Transformers Universe under contract.

You can learn more about Alex on his IMDb profile.

[Source: Jagex press release]

When City of Steam threw open its browser-based beta doors to all players, certain classes and races were noticeably missing from the soirée. But some fan-favorites have finally gotten their invitation and will be rejoining the party when the 1.3 patch Tears of the Oracle hits next week; greenskins, dwarves, and Channelers will once again be available to play.

And that's not even the half of it! This next patch will also be raising the level cap, expanding questlines, and adding plenty of new things, including the Founder's Annex suburb, a PvP event, a collection system, rare mobs in dungeons, plenty of cosmetic items, and even a new crafting system. On top of that, levels one through nine can resurrect for free in dungeons and the salvage system got an overhaul. So get ready to get your goblin (or hobbe, or orc) on next week!

[Source: Mechanist Games press release]

At SOE Live last year, fans were told that the EverQuest Next moniker was only a working title for the upcoming sandbox sequel to the Norrathian franchise. Most believed that the true name would not be revealed until the annual convention this year. However, one fan took to Twitter and point blank asked Dave Georgeson, the franchise director, about the impending title. And Georgeson answered! So the official title for EQ Next is -- *drum roll* -- EverQuest Next!

Yes folks, the working title has now been declared the official title. Surprise! OK, maybe it isn't really a surprise, but there were plenty of creative ideas floating around for possible names that could have been used, not to mention ones I'm sure we haven't even heard yet. But for now, EQN is set in stone... or is it? The game itself was totally blown up and redesigned from scratch, so it stands to reason the name could follow suit.

Tell us, Massively readers, what name would you slap on the side of this sandbox? Give us your best ideas in the comments below.

MMO players eagerly awaiting a taste of Black Desert Online will be waiting just a bit longer than expected; the closed beta phase has been delayed from sometime this summer to sometime this fall. Apparently, Pearl Abyss wanted a little bit of extra time to add some polish and shine to the beta, thus completely defying the point of having a beta in the first place.

This delay appears to apply to the Korean closed beta test, and there's no clear word on what's going on with any of the game's other localizations beyond rumors of a 2015 launch.

Neverwinter formally launches in just two days, but it appears as though the folks at Cryptic aren't quite done adding features to the game. The company has just announced that an entirely new profession, alchemy, will go live at the same time as the game's official launch. This brings the total number of professions in Neverwinter up to six.

Alchemy works in the way you might expect: You use resources gathered from the environment to make potions that enhance your abilities or restore your health. There are also unstable concoctions that provide random buff or debuff effects depending on your luck. Alchemists will be able to create dyes that can be used for color customization.

Alchemy joins endgame PvE and PvP dungeon Gauntlgrym as day-one new content for Neverwinter players. Neverwinter is set for officially official release on June 20th.

With a name meaning the center, you'd expect City of Steam's Nexus to be a happening place even in beta, right? That means plenty of events for folks to get in on. Well, it just so happens that there are two general events already in game and a third on the way, and Mechanist Games gives players the lowdown on how to get in on the action in the latest dev journal.

Unlike temporary in-game events, events in CoS are permanent instances you queue for. Of course, victory promises reward. Of the two current events, the Arena is all about survival of the soloist as waves of mobs crash into you whereas Tesla Defense is a five-man tower defense. When patch 1.3 releases, the PvP-based Siege of the Spire will join the event lineup as a MOBA-inspired arena that includes mobs, turrets, and team bases. Players can join the regular events as well as daily and weekly events with larger rewards. For more details, check out the official site.

This week saw the world's largest annual LAN party get underway as Sweden played host to DreamHack Summer 2013 and a series of live cash-prize competitive game tournaments. League of Legends had the biggest showing, with a dedicated 1,200-person stage for its $30,000 DreamHack Championship tournament. Heroes of Newerth presented the $30,000 HoNTour grand finals with livestreaming and commentary from the Honcast crew. Dota 2 launched its own huge $46,600 tournament for the event, but fans have been up in arms about the tiny seating area reserved for their game.

Blizzard revealed more details on its upcoming console release of Diablo III, from skill and runes to transferring your co-op characters between consoles. Path of Exile tackled the issue of RMT head-on by locking currency items to new players' accounts until one of their characters hits level 25 and revealed that thousands of players are being banned each week for botting and RMT spam. Indie MOBA Skara also dropped a gameplay trailer this week and was at E3 to show the game off, but things aren't looking good for its kickstarter campaign.

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Last week's E3 reveal of Ubisoft's The Division MMO shooter was met with some oohs, some ahhs, and some WTFs as PC gamers realized that the software giant was ignoring their platform of choice to focus on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

What's a disgruntled gamer to do? Sign a petition, of course, and as of press time, over 50,000 disgruntled gamers have expressed their desire to see the Tom Clancy-style title find a home on the PC. According to Dark Side of Gaming and PC Gamer, Division developers encouraged potential players to "sign petitions, get on forums, and post their requests."

So E3 happened this past week. If you're a Massively regular, you're no doubt aware of that since we spammed up our front page and your RSS feed with gobs of hands-on coverage including everything from racing games to The Elder Scrolls Online.

One thing we didn't cover was Star Citizen, because thankfully, Cloud Imperium's upcoming space sim sandbox didn't bother with an official E3 presence.

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HEX. It's a difficult concept to grasp: a massively multiplayer online trading card game, combining elements of roleplaying goodness and the thrill of building a deck of powerful cards to combat the next evil underlord monster.

At this year's E3, Massively sat down with Cory Jones, president of Cryptozoic Studios, to get the skinny on what HEX is all about.

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Ubisoft's claim that its new MMO shooter The Division will have a "persistent world" piqued Massively's collective interest. At E3, we chatted briefly with Game Director Ryan Bernard, who has previously worked on EverQuest, EverQuest 2, and Warhammer Online. I asked what about the game and its persistent nature would appeal to MMO players and was told that actually, the team doesn't plan to make it "too persistent" at all. Each player will have his own little chunk of the world. Everything in that part of the world is persistent for him, and his friends can come over and help him out, kind of like Animal Crossing without the talking tanuki. The developers believe this will allow for a strong single-player experience while still having a visible impact on the player's slice of the world. There are places in the world that are persistent for everyone: the PvP areas. You won't want to travel around them without friends, but unfortunately, Bernard couldn't reveal more.

The game is being released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, but Ubisoft hasn't ruled out other platforms or cross-platform play just yet.

Massively's on the ground in Los Angeles during the week of June 10-13, bringing you all the best news from E3 2013. We're covering everything from WildStar and Elder Scrolls Online and ArcheAge to FFXIV's inbound revamp and TERA's latest update, so stay tuned!

The more convention coverage I read and the more conventions I go to, the more I'm concerned by them. The atmosphere is unlike anything I've ever experienced before, and rubbing shoulders with the developers of some of my favorite games has its perks. But you hardly ever get to the meat of what determines a great game. Amidst the hype and free booze, every game looks and tastes great, but even the greatest games are less filling under those circumstances. Even we observers from home receive only a candy-coated glimpse of what a game really offers.

The news pouring in from the The Elder Scrolls Online really exemplifies the layers of fluff that the convention atmosphere can place on a game. Two of our reporters spent time talking to the developers of the next venture into the world of Tamriel, and both stepped away with a very positive experience. Admittedly, I feel the excitement, too. I'm twitching with joy. Our freelancer Andrew's note that he "just didn't realize [he] was starting a quest when [he] talked to [quest givers]" piques my interest. Have we finally found a game that feels like a living world? And quotes from the ESO developers like, "You can pick up a sword and shield if you start as a sorcerer class and become a sword and shield user, and that's fine" have me wondering if we haven't stumbled upon the best mix of sandbox and themepark in an MMO.

This week and next, I want to delve deeper into the reports from E3. Do we find some concerns that the developers are trying to gloss over, or is ESO everything we ever wanted from an Elder Scrolls game?

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The European cousin to Age of Wushu, the martial arts sandbox already released in North America, is finally cracking open its beta doors to let in select players next week. That's right: Age of Wulin starts closed beta on Monday, June 17th. But eligible testers needn't wait until then to make their characters; gPotato has enabled access to the launcher until the evening of the 15th to let players create their avatars and reserve their names. Players should note that CBT characters will be wiped for when beta opens to all.

Got other questions about Age of Wulin's upcoming closed beta? If so, gPotato has some answers via its new FAQ. For instance, this closed beta will be short but all players will enjoy full VIP status. Another important item to note is that AoW will not have an NDA; players are welcome to talk about, review, livestream, and share their in-game experiences with others. And for those who haven't yet received a closed beta key, don't worry -- more were sent out today. While checking your email, catch the closed beta trailer after the break.

[Thanks to mad283 for the tip!]

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