Wizardry Online

SOE's Wizardry Online website has updated with a post outlining an upcoming "major code update." The patch will bring the western client "one step closer to all the advanced features of the Japanese version of Wizardry Online," the company says.

Advanced forging and the game's socketing system take up most of the space in this particular blog entry, but there's also a mention of new skills for each class as well as a skill reset NPC.

For those put out by Wizardry Online's performance issues as of late, SOE has posted assurance that the worst is behind everyone: "Our engineers have been working tirelessly to address the issues and we're confident that you will have a better experience now."

The studio is offering compensation for the inconvenience starting with a 300 Station Cash credit to players who logged into Wizardry Online before today. SOE is also handing out free seven-day Dimento Medals in the game. Finally, players who subscribed before March will see a seven-day membership credit added to their accounts.

While we've known that SOE Live was moving location and dates this year to Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas from August 1st through the 4th, we now have official confirmation from the studio itself.

SOE Head of Global Relations Linda Carlson drafted up an accompanying post about the upcoming convention that includes several pictures from previous years. "We're all gamers too," she writes, "and can hardly wait to hang out with you again! Everyone at the company LOVES going to SOE Live, the one event each that focuses solely on our players. We have everything in common!"

Carlson explained that the change in venue was made for several reasons, primarily to keep costs down, have more flexible meeting space, and experience better air quality. She confirmed that, as in previous years, kids will get in free to the event.

If you've been waiting to get your fill of fantasy in the no-holds-barred setting of Wizardry Online (and then waited some more when the launch was pushed back), your patience is about to be rewarded. The time is finally at hand; the hardcore game sporting permadeath and friendly fire launches today.

Curious about what lies ahead in the wilds of Wizardy Online? Get a glimpse of dungeons and death along with a taste of the adventures that await you through our hands-on experiences, gallery, videos, and news bytes after the break.

Continue Reading

Wizardry Online has conjured more than a few different opinions from our staff during its beta, and we're happy to say that the game is finally launching tomorrow! To help celebrate the launch, SOE is hosting a special webcast on Thursday, January 31 at 7:00 p.m. EST on its Twitch.tv channel.

Host and Senior Global Brand Manager Omeed Dariani will be joined by Senior Producer Todd Carson and Associate Producer Rod Haza to discuss the game's features and what we can expect in the future of the game.

While we remain on standby for Wizardry Online's delayed launch, the team at SOE has used the time to shoehorn in an additional feature for release: the Underground Dragoon Ruins. The Dragoon Ruins is a high-level dungeon full of nasty creatures and even nastier traps.

We've got a video featuring combat and exploration of the ruins after the break. It's got a warrior beating up ghosts, giant rock monsters, and -- most insidiously of all -- little glowy lights. A little glowy light once killed that warrior's whole village, and she's sworn revenge over it. That's all you need know.

Continue Reading

If you had plans to skip work tomorrow to play on Wizardry Online's launch day, you should probably go ahead and earn a paycheck instead. SOE announced that it's moving the release date for the hardcore MMO from January 16th to January 30th.

The delay of two weeks was a necessary step, according to the company: "As we head into final preparations for launching the game, we have decided to move the launch date in order to allow us extra time to ensure we're delivering the most epic gameplay experience possible to our players."

Community Manager Piestro elaborated on the delay later in the announcement thread. "The transition from beta to live requires integrating with a good number of other systems. We are also planning to launch on Steam which complicates matters and requires other sorts of implementation work. Specifics aren't necessarily meaningful to those who aren't familiar with our internal systems, or particularly valuable. That being said, we aren't wasting this time and are definitely looking to see what else we can accomplish. More news later this week I'm suspecting."

Don't have enough vitamin hardcore in your diet? Then make a new year resolution to try out Wizardry Online. SOE announced that the permadeath-happy fantasy title will release on January 16th.

Wizardry Online is the latest in the long-running Wizardry series and features many mechanics not typically seen in modern MMOs, such as the aforementioned permadeath and friendly fire. Massively previewed the title at SOE Live and more recently got to take it for a more extensive test drive.

SOE will be talking about Wizardry Online's release date and other launch details in its webcast at 7:00 p.m. EST this evening. You can catch the webcast on Twitch.tv.

[Source: SOE press release]

If you've had questions about some of the nuts and bolts of the upcoming free-to-play fantasy game Wizardry Online, the incoming update to the official wikia might just give you some answers. From controls and settings to shops and dungeons, this update will offer more information on a variety of game mechanics and features.

Did you know that you can pick up the body of a fallen player to be deposited at the Quopaty Temple once you travel back to town and pay a fee to increase the odds of revival once there? Or that you'll need entry permits to enter dungeons? Or that shopkeepers will identify items for adventurers? You will when you read through the details of this substantial wikia update! You can also learn more about Wizardry Online by checking out Massively's hands-on experience.

[Source: Sony Online Entertainment press release]

Our knowledge of SOE's upcoming Wizardry Online is growing by leaps and bounds. A little later today, the official wiki will be rolling out a huge info update that will include specifics on many of the game's systems, including the ever-so-popular permadeath and PvP.

Some of the interesting tidbits that we've learned include the fact that resting in inns is essential to leveling you up, enemies can and will attack specific parts of your body, the game has a pretty traditional skill tree, and you'll be unable to move if you exceed your carrying weight capacity.

Permadeath can happen only if your character meets several criteria: You've reached soul rank two or higher and you've failed two revive attempts in a row. Likewise, the game's free-for-all PvP might not be as harsh at it initially sounds. If you're killed in PvP, you have a much greater chance of being revived, and player killers (PKers) will become criminals who can have bounties placed on their heads.

If you're curious about Wizardry Online, why not read our hands-on with the title?

Wizardry Online, an upcoming fantasy-based MMO from Sony Online Entertainment, is a "hardcore" MMO. I know this because the word "hardcore" shows up on the game's official beta sign-up page no fewer than three times (once in all caps). The website promises that thanks to Wizardry Online's "insane difficulty," my "greatest challenge" will be found somewhere in its universe. Perhaps in one of those "complex mazes" packed with "unrelenting mobs."

Now, I'm not one to back down from a challenge. In fact, I love a good fight, especially if it can potentially end in my suffering an embarrassing and expensive defeat. So I hopped into the brutal world of Wizardry Online to tempt fate and see just what this game was all about.

As it turns out, it's about dungeons, permadeath, and missed opportunities to make either worthwhile.

Continue Reading

If you have more questions about Wizardry Online than have been answered to date, hopefully you'll start to fill in those gaps come this evening. The devs are preparing to release a post on the official Wizardry Online Wiki that will shed some light on the various classes as well as the in-game chat system.

The classes set to be revealed are the melee Fighters, healer Priests, hard-hitting Thieves, and ranged Mages. The studio is giving each class a difficulty and survivability rating, as well as the alignment and requirements to roll one.

It looks as though Wizardry Online will handle its game population through automatic world instances called channels. New channels will be created when the number of players demand it, and players can choose a specific channel, a type of channel, or the first available channel upon logging in.

Keep an eye on the wiki for the dev blog to go live at 6:00 p.m. EST tonight.

[Source: SOE press release]

Wizardry Online is a peculiar beast. One one hand, you have the familiar IP of Wizardry to bring in any and all old school fans, and on the other hand, you have that infamous feature known as permadeath. SOE is looking to take the Wizardry franchise and make it into a seriously hardcore MMO next year with beta now in full swing.

But we're sure you have questions about the game, aside from those answered in our own recent in-depth coverage. Luckily for you, SOE will be hosting a live webcast with Senior Community Manager Eric "Piestro" Cleaver interviewing Senior Producer Todd Carson and Senior Global Brand Manager Omeed Dariani. It all goes down this Thursday, November 1, 2012 at 7 p.m. EDT on SOE's Twitch.tv channel.

There's probably no better way to sum up Wizardry Online than with the phrase, "Be careful what you wish for." If you've been yearning for a game with permadeath, you have reason to celebrate. At this year's SOE Live, the Wizardry Online team showed off the game, and it's every bit as hardcore as promised. If you're looking for an old-school challenge, you'll want to check out the highlights below.

Continue Reading