PvE

Last month saw the huge tenth anniversary EVE Online Fanfest, a three-day convention packed full of exclusive reveals, behind-the-scenes talks, and community events. This year's Fanfest was the biggest one yet, celebrating EVE's tenth anniversary with special guest speakers from the scientific community, the reveal of a new virtual reality dogfighter, DUST 514's launch, and details of the upcoming Odyssey expansion. Massively was there to bring you coverage of the big news as it happened, and CCP streamed some of the key talks and events live to viewers at home.

This year's Fanfest sold out so quickly that many people who wanted to go didn't get a chance to, and only a select few talks were shown on the public livestream. With such a packed event schedule, even players in attendance couldn't be there for every interesting talk. Thankfully, CCP recorded over 30 of the most anticipated events and has now uploaded the videos to YouTube. Highlights include the Make EVE Real videos, the EVE keynote, the CCP Presents Keynote, and the talks on how DUST 514 integrates with the EVE economy.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I round up all of the EVE Fanfest videos in a handy list.

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Darkfall's long-awaited Unholy Wars makeover launched almost a month ago, and now Aventurine is turning its eyes toward the future of its PvP-focused fantasy sandbox. AV's Tasos Flambouras posted a schedule of planned content updates on the forums earlier this week that stretches all the way into July. Aside from the usual MMO bug fixes and tweaks, there are major additions like the Svartvann, Marthnyr, Hardruk, and Dulguna dungeons, new families of monsters, new ships, and sea fortresses. [Thanks Dengar!]

[Update: Aventurine is reporting that its NA servers are suffering the effects of a DDoS attack. The official blog reads, "In regard to the ping issues on the NA server the past couple of days, this was due to a DDoS attack during NA prime time. We have taken measures in cooperation with our hosting providers to filter this attack, and we're monitoring the situation. We'll keep you updated and we apologize for any inconvenience."]

Who says we can't get what we want? I wanted the Shugo Kingdom Adventure event to return to Aion, and I'm getting my wish. Booyah! No, really, it's true: Starting after maintenance on May 22nd, Daevas who've flown over level 50 will again be able to journey for a limited time to the long lost vaults of the Shugo Kingdom in search of great and glorious treasure. And by treasure, I mean a trove of chests filled with AP items, Stormwing armor pieces and weapons, or even rare sets of wings. Of course what you get depends on how many keys you have and a little luck, so there's no harm in starting your sacrifices to Aion's RNG gods now.

Did you miss out on the event last time but are looking forward to it this go around? Or maybe you need a refresher because the trauma of not getting that one item caused you to block all knowledge of the zone from your mind? Either way, this edition of Wings Over Atreia will give you a heads up on what to expect. And as an added bonus, Associate Producer Sean Orlikowski shared his tips and tricks for making the most of your Shugo Kingdom Adventures.

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Remember A Mystical Land? Well, forget about it, at least under that name. Mad Otter and Neonga have sent out a press release announcing that the title is now called Villagers & Heroes in an effort to "better match the content and focus of the game."

The name change isn't the only change, either, as gameplay has been upgraded by the addition of player-created custom gear, new realms to explore, and new epic bosses.

Animal ranching is a thing now, too, so you can raise sheep, chicken, and pigs alongside those crops in your backyard. Additional improvements are planned for future updates, and Villagers & Heroes is also seeking your approval on Steam's Greenlight service.

[Source: Neonga press release]

Cryptic is pumping out the Star Trek Online dev blogs as the game's Legacy of Romulus expansion draws near. The latest comes to us from content designer Sean "Commander Ander" McCann, and it's all about the Nimbus adventure zone.

Nimbus is a crime-ridden locale currently lorded over by the Orion Syndicate. The new episode series Wasteland takes gamers all over the planet, from the run-down fugitive haven of Paradise City to a destroyed ship that doubles as an Orion stronghold to a Gorn-filled canyon that houses some sort of mysterious project.

Nimbus also boasts dailies, open missions, and accolade rewards for said missions and for exploration. More details are yours at the official STO website.

June 4th is coming up fast, and with it EVE Online's new Odyssey expansion. The content drop will feature improved explorer pursuits, with particular emphasis on removing the "'sit and wait' aspect of exploration gameplay" in favor of "something interesting to do."

In the case of today's dev blog, the interesting thing to do is hacking, and CCP says that it drew inspiration from roguelikes for the new minigame's "procedurally generated levels, turn-based combat, and permadeath." You can read all about it on the official EVE Online website.

I've been waiting a long time to type "transmedia synergy" in a news post again, and that day is finally here! Yes, Defiance has patched, says FPS General, and the update is known unofficially as the TV tie-in patch. And you what that means, folks. Say it with me.

Traaaaaansmedia syyyyyyyyyynergy!

The content centers on an Irathient named Rynn who crosses over from TV show to MMO according to producer Nathan Richardsson's latest dev letter. Players should seek out lawman Jon Cooper and complete the new Episode mission called The Vagabond to reveal Rynn's motives and "unlock more missions and rewards."

Snail Games may be best known for Age of Wushu, but that may change later this year as the company's Black Gold Online makes it way west. The steampunk fantasy title recently received a website update and a feature listing in its native China, and MMO Culture has translated the details.

Those details include 300 square kilometers of explorable landmass, two factions, six races, and 18 classes. The game will also feature dynamic events of some sort, as well as faction wars and cross-server PvP.

Action combat is on the menu, too, as are a variety of mounts including "mecha suits," anti-air tanks, flying dragons, and more. We've embedded a six-minute gameplay trailer from late last year just past the break.

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Pocket Galaxy, a new sci-fi mobile MMO, is relatively impressive at first. It's a nice looking game that feels like a cross between Dark Orbit, Asteroids, and EVE Online and seems to be pretty casual and cheap to play. These things make me happy. I've adopted a casual playstyle because of my need to be the guy who plays every single game he sees, and that has had the side effect of making casual gaming perfect for me.

For example, a Pocket Galaxy player who wants to craft more ammo for one of her guns needs to create the items by waiting a certain amount of real time that can be shortened by using cash. Many players might see this as some sort of money-grab. I see it as a casual game with the option to speed up build times, but then again... I'm patient.

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I remember playing Age of Conan when it first came out; it seems like an eternity ago. So many titles have been released and failed since then that it's easy to get it all mixed up, and it doesn't help when many of those titles are sub-par or just plain boring and forgettable. Age of Conan sort of messed with my head with its insistent instancing and odd combat mechanics. I just couldn't wrap my head around what the game was trying to do.

Is it a hardcore PvP-centric MMO? Many would say so. Is it a grand, single-player adventure? In some ways. Is it an immersive romp through the long-lived lore of Conan the Barbarian? I guess so. It's a bit of all of these but does none of them perfectly. I decided to jump back into the game because the last time I played it was when it switched over to its odd freemium model that is all-too-common in Western MMOs these days.

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MMO quests are old hat by now, and the vast majority of them are some slight variation on the standard kill-10-rats or FedEx mission. Some are unique, though, in terms of both their rewards and their mechanical presentation.

I'm thinking of EverQuest II's betrayal quests here, which allow you to switch factions, home cities, and in some cases, even classes. What MMO quests or questline do you find the most memorable and why?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Are you anticipating World of Warcraft's 5.3 patch that's on the horizon? If so, Blizzard offers a handy preparation guide to help you get ready for it. Among the proffered hints is one to keep ahold of some of the currencies earned throughout patch 5.2 as the gear-upgrading Void Binders are returning. The guide offers a breakdown of associated costs for various gear and the different currencies. Also revealed is an 33% reduction in the XP needed to level from 85 to 90.

The guide continues with suggestions for item level requirements for various scenarios and dungeons, information on changes to lesser charms of good fortune, and an update on PvP Season 13. And if you haven't played in a while but intend to after the patch, save some time by making sure your game is up-to-date as well as any UI add-ons.

With the last bit of Update 2.1: Customization revealed yesterday, I can talk about an item that will change the free-to-play side of Star Wars: The Old Republic. After the next update, F2P players can withdraw credits from escrow with Cartel Coins. Although I will not have a way to find out whether this will actually affect the prices on the Galactic Trade Market until it goes live, I think it's safe to say that prices will initially go up.

Let's talk about this and group leveling in this week's SWTOR free-to-play experiment.

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May has just gotten started and already ArenaNet has another content update scheduled for Guild Wars 2. Called The Secret of Southsun, this May 14th update comes right on the heels of the final installment of Flame and Frost and extends the episodic content that began with that first series. This time, the adventures focus on troubles brewing on the tropical island of Southsun Cove where players must quell the rising violence and discover the secret that hides there.

The Secret of Southsun also brings an end to culling in the rest of the world (it was previously only disabled in World vs. World) and introduces two an improvement to WvW -- traps and an improved award system. Traps will remove supply from enemies. and players will gain reward for a wider range of activities in the Mists, such as destroying siege weapons, escort missions, and repairing walls. Players can also try their hand at a new crab toss mini-game.

On top of the update announcement, ArenaNet has recently posted additional lore expanding the story of Rox, the Charr. Read on to see where her latest adventures lead.

[Update: It seems ArenaNet let some of this info out before it intended to, as detailed in this forum post. So the WvW award changes won't be in just yet. ArenaNet has also informed us that it will be holding off on the culling as well and has now altered its official announcement to reflect these changes.]

[Source: ArenaNet press release]