PvP

So who wants to hear some cool stuff about WildStar? Thought so!

Massively's Gavin Townsley recently attended a WildStar media event in San Francisco, at which he was treated to a hands-on look at the upcoming sci-fantasy MMORPG's Scientist path and Esper class. He also chatted with Carbine Studios executive producer Jeremy Gaffney, who pulls a Gaffney (I'm coining that) and can't resist leaking a bit of new info about tradeskills while filling Gavin in on how endgame will work, why we should play the Settler path, and whether talent trees are passé. If you think making 10 pairs of cotton space pants sounds boring, then yeah -- you're going to like what he's got to say.

Enjoy all three articles plus the brand-new path videos we've embedded past the cut!

	Hands-on with WildStar's Scientist path and Esper class There is something exciting about taking your first steps into the mysteries of a new planet. I was anxious to mingle with the locals, analyze artifacts, and even pick a few plants -- that is, until I saw a flower burst from the ground as a giant vine-like beast.
	WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney on the Settler path WildStar's Settlers don't just build bonfires for sappy Explorers to sing around; these titans of construction will save you time in dungeons, establish bigger outposts, and open up new realms of quests for everyone.
	WildStar's Jeremy Gaffney on progression, tradeskills, and endgame Jeremy Gaffney divulges the beautiful details on essential parts of the game: character progression, tradeskills that don't suck, and life in the elder game.

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It's time for another update for the WWII-era World of Tanks. Today, Wargaming announced details for 8.6, an update that Producer Mike Zhivets said is "a major step in game balance enhancement and is really going to make SPGs players happy." He continued, "Artillery gameplay is going to feel a lot more balanced with a normal ten tier structure, making advancing through that class of armor more comfortable for players."

Update 8.6 will push the SPG armor line to tier X by promoting current tier 8's up to the top and then adding new SPGs to the middle tiers. The American, Soviet, French, and German tech lines will all receive new artillery units and the British line gets a new premium tank, the A33 Excelsior. A new Korean-based map will also be introduced.

[Source: Wargaming.net press release]

Dota 2 celebrated the incredible sales of its world championship interactive compendium with free gifts for all players; the compendium has now sold over 266,000 units, raising the prize fund in The International to over $2,000,000 US. Third-person MOBA SMITE has recently entered the competitive tournament scene with two new weekly $1,000 tournaments. Rise of Immortals also announced its first competitive tournament since the Battle For Graxia update and revealed details of its hilariously-named ranged centaur character Murderhoof.

League of Legends revealed the new custom item set feature coming in Patch 3.7 and published a new champion spotlight video on classic ranged carry Ashe. Guardians of Middle-Earth also released its latest paid DLC character, The Mouth of Sauron, based on a character who was originally cut from the cinematic release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Diablo III celebrated the first anniversary of its release on May 15th with anniversary livestreams and a magic-find bonus for all players. The latest patch also raised the increments in which money can be sold on the Real Money Auction House to ten million in response to massive oversupply. Path of Exile revealed details of its upcoming Patch 0.1.1.0 that will add new party loot options and other features, and Star Citizen showed off its new website with a special e-commerce section in which players can buy ships for cash.

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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."]

Looking for a beefy enforcer who can dominate close-range combat in Infinite Crisis? Look no further than Gaslight Joker, the newest champion spotlighted in Turbine's ongoing DC-centric MOBA video reveals.

Turbine says its laughing butcher can throw hams at enemies with the Shower of Filth skill, sending them running in fear and debuffing them for good measure. The video touches on a number of other Gaslight Joker skills, too, both passive and active, and it shows off a good bit of Infinite Crisis gameplay footage in the process. See for yourself after the cut.

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Hitting the big 1-0 is certainly a cause for celebration. So how does Conquer Online top its free trip to China offered last year? With a trailer that offers a unique look at the last 10 years and turns attention towards the future. That, and a number of festivities lasting through mid-June that span events, bonuses, and gifts galore. Oh, did we mention another trip to China? This time the trip goes to the supreme champion of the first World Fighting League, a contest open to all new and veteran players spanning all 10 versions of CO.

Launched in 2003, the oriental fantasy game boasting plenty of kung-fu elements has continually added new content over the years, including pirates and more PvP-based activities. This year will see even more expansions, from a new character (the mysterious Kung Fu Master) to a new massive cross-server PvP battle, the Kingdom War. To accommodate new players, Conquer Online has opened two new servers and is giving away special Starter's Packs to aid the newcomers. Veterans have not been forgotten; they'll receive a gift when logging into their original servers.

Want a glimpse at what the future holds for Conquer Online? You'll have to get through the first half of the video to see the preview. Check it out after the cut.

[Source: TQ Digital press release]

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I was this close to saving myself a lot of time by finishing this article with only a few simple words: Why do I play PlanetSide 2? Because it's fun. I'm pretty sure my boss would want me to expand on it just a bit, however, but let me drive those three words home: Because it's fun. I think we are all familiar with the word "fun," but it's something that we really don't hear enough about in MMOs. I don't think we play MMOs mainly because they're fun; I think we play them because they pull out other emotions in us, emotions like wonder or awe. They might help fill in social needs that are sometimes hard to fill out in real life. These are all positive and worthy reactions, but they're different from sheer fun.

I have oodles of fun in PlanetSide 2. Gobs of it. Barrels of fun. The fun is powerful in this one. You get the point. PlanetSide 2 actually makes me laugh to myself, makes me yell at the screen -- you know, those noises you hear from someone who is having a blast. Of course, there are a few other reasons I play PlanetSide 2 as well, so I'll fill you in on those.

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Instead of just rolling out a wall of text to discuss the changes and updates hitting League of Legends in the 3.7 patch, Riot Games offers players a video preview to get a glimpse of what's to come. And among the goodies is one of the most player-requested features -- Custom Item Sets.

Want to create a specific set of items, tailored to individual champions and/or maps before you get into a match and the fighting begins? Or how about just browse through the entire item shop on PVP.net just to see what's available? Both will be possible with the new Custom Item Sets feature. Initially, these custom builds will be stored on players' local machines only, but the devs plan on adding server-side storage in the future.

The video also discusses some balance changes to the champions Rumble, Twisted Fate, Caitlyn, and Nunu. Check out the specifics after the break.

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I'm always looking for things to teach players in the Summoner's Guidebook. We have, however, covered a lot of the low hanging fruit in one way or another. In League of Legends, and virtually every other asymmetric competitive game, matchup knowledge comprises the huge bulk of information that is truly useful to read about. This week was originally going to be a counter-Ryze guide, but then I decided to cover a broader topic to help reach more people.

I don't really like discussing specific character matchups largely because the character you're using matters almost as much as your opponent's. What does Ryze do against Kassadin in lane, for instance? The answer is not a whole lot if the Kassadin is decent. I could write a counter-Kassadin guide, but a lot of it wouldn't be usable by Ryze. Instead, this week we'll discuss how to think about the opponent's kit and develop a strategy to win on your own (or at least survive).

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Man up MJ, you said. Forsake the fetters of safety and wander the wilds of the world. Yes, folks, for the next phase of our Choose My Adventure project, you directed me to leave the confines of the starting cities and surrounding lands to explore and harvest in the unprotected areas in Darkfall Unholy Wars. That, and get familiar with the workbench for crafting. So said you all, and so I did.

I ran little Emey Brokenclaw beyond the bounds of the safe zones and introduced her to the vast lands stretching across Agon. I enjoyed some exciting experiences as well as learned quite a few things during that journey, though not necessarily what you'd expect.

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"This is going to be the best game most of us have built in our lives," Carbine Studios Executive Producer Jeremy Gaffney said bluntly.

The game in question, of course, is WildStar, and it represents Gaffney's 10th or so trip through the beta development chute on the way to release. There's an undeniable note of pride and calm confidence in his voice as he talks about the baby that's growing inside Carbine's womb right now, and he was definitely not shy in opening up about all of the decisions and work the team's made as WildStar heads into its second trimester... er, closed beta test.

Before that, however, Gaffney provided a recap of the first closed beta test. He said that it was pretty limited, with only 2,000 players testing out the lowbie Exile zones. The team moved some of the elder game content down in level so that people could test it out, and developers spent some time doing impromptu Q&A sessions with players in the field. As a result, Carbine is ready to shift over to the Dominion side and greatly expand the beta in size and content. Read on for the full scoop on what the next step will entail.

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Ready for the latest SMITE character reveal? Isis is here, and Hi-Rez has published a blog post and a gameplay video heralding her arrival. The Goddess of Magic is a sceptre-wielding mage -- no surprise there -- who relies on her Funeral Rites passive ability and spiffy attacks like Wing Gust and Spirit Ball.

Hi-Rez has also tweaked SMITE's level system in the latest patch. God leveling earns you worshippers after every victory, which in turn translate to God Rank for a given avatar. The devs have also changed the old player level to something called Beta level. If you reach Beta level 30 prior to SMITE's official release, you'll get a free Ymir Cocadeamon skin. There's more info on all the changes at the SMITE website, and don't forget the Isis trailer after the cut.

[Thanks Don!]

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Want to be a part of EVE Online's 11th annual Alliance Tournament that starts on July 20th, 2013, but not from the cockpit of your ship? You can apply to be one of the PvP commentators who will discuss the tourney, tactics, and teams involved live on air with developers as well as providing commentary on matches as they unfold. Yes, live means you'll actually be in Iceland for this gig! Qualifications include having a valid passport, being over 21, having a sharp wit, and being well-versed in PvP. Full details for the application process are available on the official site.

If you'd prefer to participate in the battles themselves, note that there will be a few changes to the tourney from years past. To start, Alliance Tournament XI will run over only three weekends, not four. Second, qualifying rounds and group stages have been replaced by double elimination from the get go. Next, from the second weekend onward, two ship types will be banned from the match by team captains. And finally, to fly with an alliance you had to have been a member since downtime this morning. Dev blogs covering all the rules, the broadcast schedule, and sign-up details will be coming soon.

[Update: CCP has been busy today! The official site has now also been updated with a dev blog announcing that dual character training will ship with the Odyssey expansion next month.]