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Final Fantasy XIV launches patch 1.22

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

Feel as if the last major Final Fantasy XIV patch just had too much to absorb at once? Well, you're going to be a bit stuck today if that's the case because patch 1.22 has just gone live and brought with it another host of improvements, updates, and changes. The good news is that this patch doesn't contain the same number of system changes as the previous patch, but that's because of the sheer amount of new content included.

The patch adds another four ranks to the Grand Companies, another set of quests, the new Garuda battle, the first of the hamlet defense points, and more besides. Players will also be able to obtain new items from crafting, gathering, and victory in the Garuda fight, and they'll be able to see the first hints of what will happen to the world as the era draws to a close. Servers are expected to be back online later tonight, and players will no doubt have plenty to explore once they can log in again.

[Thanks to Alex for the tip!]

Final Fantasy XIV launches patch 1.22 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What was the best patch ever?

Eliot Lefebvre — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous

There are three responses to every patch released by every game, no matter what the patch does or doesn't contain. There will be people who decry the patch as something horrible, those who act indifferent, and those who enthusiastically gush about how wonderful it is. But there are some patches that stand out as being real game-changers, from Star Trek Online's enormous Season patches to the various content-and-system upgrades doled out regularly for World of Warcraft.

If you've been playing long enough, you can reflect on the patch history for your favorite game. What was the best patch that you can think of in terms of its individual impact? Was it one of the major overhauls introduced to Final Fantasy XIV? One of the story updates for Lord of the Rings Online? Or some of the large epilogues added to Guild Wars? What has your nod as the best patch ever, 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!

The Daily Grind: What was the best patch ever? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 15 Apr 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: What's your longest patch-day wait?

Jef Reahard — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Culture, MMO industry, Patches, Opinion, Free-to-play

Patch days are generally a crapshoot for MMORPG fans. Smaller updates usually have a minimal impact on your gaming schedule (but still may necessitate some custom UI maintenance or an adjustment period for various game changes). Bigger updates can cut into your playtime by a significant amount, to say nothing of the changes wrought on your favorite game world.

Age of Conan's 2.6 patch (or Unchained, if you prefer) falls into the latter category. It was so big, in fact, that the game servers were down for a whopping 13-plus hours last Thursday. While this was expected and Funcom did an admirable job of updating the launcher as well as a relevant forum thread, the wait tested the patience of some AoC die-hards before it finally went live around 10:30 p.m. EDT. For today's Daily Grind, tell us about your patch-day patience. Do you constantly watch for updates, or do you forget about the game for a while and do something more productive? What's the longest you've ever had to wait?

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!

The Daily Grind: What's your longest patch-day wait? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online's Incarna 1.0 coming Tuesday

Jef Reahard — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items

It's almost Incarna time for residents of CCP's New Eden, and EVE Online's website has been updated with a brief blurb warning users to prepare for some extended downtime on patch day.

The update process is scheduled to last for 14 hours on Tuesday, June 21st, so make sure you've got some long-haul skills in your training queue this Monday. Incarna version 1.0 is bringing the much-ballyhooed captain's quarters patch to EVE, and it represents the first step towards fully functional space station interiors. The update will also feature a new tutorial experience (though the familiar voice of Aura isn't going anywhere) as well as new agent finder and corporation recruitment tools.

CCP says that full patch notes are in the works, and in the meantime, you can join the forum discussion at the official EVE website.

EVE Online's Incarna 1.0 coming Tuesday originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 17 Jun 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Late-month update for Final Fantasy XIV to include an item search

Eliot Lefebvre — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy XIV has not had an easy road out of launch, with several large patches having been added to the game in short order. The most recent patch was only a week ago, but the newest patch is slated to go live tomorrow as the second update for the month and the last one for the year. Although the full details have not been released at this time, one thing that is known for sure is one of the much-requested features due for inclusion -- an item search feature.

The crafting-heavy system of the game has suffered from the lack of a dedicated auction house, but the continued reorganization and restructuring of the market ward system has helped address that. With the newest update, it will be possible for players to search for the item they want as soon as they step into the wards, thereby improving the time between entering the markets and determining whether your desired item is available. What else will be included -- if anything -- will become clear to Final Fantasy XIV players tomorrow afternoon.

Late-month update for Final Fantasy XIV to include an item search originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Dec 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Warhammer Online drops 1.3.6 today

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Warhammer Online, News items

The odds weren't in favor of us seeing the newest patch for Warhammer Online so soon... but that works just fine, since the patch itself is Against All Odds. Even if you're not using it to set up a lame joke, however, patch 1.3.6 is going live today after slightly extended server maintenance, bringing with it several updates and improvements to the game. The eponymous Against All Odds mechanic is one of the central changes, giving a side without sufficient numbers in an RvR lake bonus rewards for persistence.

1.3.6 also brings two major changes to items in the game. The first is the addition of an appearance system, allowing players to make their armor look like whatever set they want without losing the benefits of high-end rewards. The second is equally significant, splitting the high-end Sovereign armor into two sets to celebrate alternate playstyles for each class. As always, there are a number of adjustments and bug fixes listed in the full patch notes, but Warhammer Online players should be happy enough knowing that the game's latest patch is live and ready to enjoy.

Warhammer Online drops 1.3.6 today originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Revelations of Gipat goes live for Allods Online

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Free-to-play, Allods Online

It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." While it would be more than three-quarters of a century after that when Allods Online was released, he certainly could have been referring to the Fear of Death penalty that caused quite a bit of fear and rage among players. But that tortured analogy no longer applies, as today sees the release of the newest patch for the game, Revelations of Gipat, which removes Fear of Death for good and puts a new death penalty into place.

For many of the game's players, removing the unnecessarily cash-shop-based penalty would be enough to make the patch laudable. But as was revealed when the team released the patch notes last week, the update also sees the addition of a new zone, a raise in level cap, and new content for everyone to enjoy. After the marathon maintenance session, Allods Online is live again and ready for play -- it's worth checking out, even if the size of the patch might scare you off. You can also check out our gallery, showing off some of the new content players can expect as well as mounts.

Gallery: Allods Revelations of Gipat gallery

Revelations of Gipat goes live for Allods Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Jul 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Global Agenda's Sandstorm goes live with phase one

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Patches, News items, Global Agenda

It's time for some changes over in Global Agenda... big, persistent ones. Hi-Rez Studios has been hard at work on their latest large content addition for the game, and its been in testing for nearly a month. Now the much-awaited event -- phase one of the Sandstorm patch -- drops to the live servers today. It's quite the overhaul, changing everything from the setup of weapons in the game to the persistence of the world map.

For those feeling a bit overwhelmed by the scope, we've written our share of coverage including an analysis of the upcoming changes and a chat with Todd Harris about the patch. In brief, the changes are aimed at making Global Agenda closer in scope and feel to a classic MMO while retaining its skill-based and energetic combat system. How they'll actually play out remains to be seen, but thus far the developers seem to know what they're doing. Brush up on the changes and the scope, or just jump in game and start exploring them for yourself.

Global Agenda's Sandstorm goes live with phase one originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 03 Jun 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Aion plans eight-hour downtime for 1.9 patch

Jef Reahard — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Patches, News items

Aion's 1.9 patch has gotten a lot of press recently, and rightfully so, given the game-changing updates it brings to the table. With the big day officially scheduled for tomorrow, June 2nd, the community team has updated the official site with word on the expected server downtime, which currently stands at eight hours.

The servers will go dark at 4:30am PDT at the start of the process, which works out to an estimated 1.9 launch time of 12:30pm PDT tomorrow. Check out the announcement over at the official site, as well as the patch notes. While you're at it, have a gander at some of our 1.9 coverage to get up to speed on the forthcoming changes.

Aion plans eight-hour downtime for 1.9 patch originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth's developers talk patch 1.3

Eliot Lefebvre — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Events, in-game, Patches

Patch day is an exciting time to be playing an MMO, assuming you can look past the various instabilities, server crashes, and inevitable bugs that come with a major update. Even then, there's still the sense of doing something new and different in a familiar game, however touch-and-go the new content might be. Fallen Earth is not too far from their next major patch day, but if you can't wait for the patch to go live, there's a new developer diary and Q&A from Dev Team Lead Marie Croall and Live Team Lead Ian Lemke.

The patch's major focus was a thorough revamp of the area around the starter towns, and between those towns and the central cities. It might seem odd to add such a large patch to improve the first few levels of the game, but from the developer's point of view, it's those levels that really first get a player hooked on the game, so they wanted to make it as memorable as possible. There's also some information on Deadfall Point, a new encounter area in Sector Three, offering the higher-level players something new to experience. Be sure to take a look at both features to get a picture of what's coming in the near future for your clone in Fallen Earth.

Fallen Earth's developers talk patch 1.3 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What does WoW's Patch 3.0.2 mean for the casual player?

Shawn Schuster — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Game mechanics, Patches, Education

For many Massively readers, playing multiple MMOs is a way of life. With so many exciting and new games to choose from lately, it's really difficult to stick with just one. Chances are you've at least played World of Warcraft, although it may not be your primary game. With the introduction of the newest patch yesterday, a more 'casual' player may be a bit overwhelmed at the enormous scope of changes included in Patch 3.0.2.

That's where our sister site WoW Insider has saved the day with their latest WoW, Casually column. In it, we get a brief description of the latest changes in Patch 3.0.2, including the removal of pets and mounts from your inventory space, the new Achievements system, the introduction of the Inscription craft and much more. Check out the complete article, and more on WoW Insider's complete coverage of this newest patch entitled Echoes of Doom.

What does WoW's Patch 3.0.2 mean for the casual player? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Oct 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Preparing for tomorrow's launch of LotRO Book 14

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Events, in-game, Patches, Education

We know you're excited about tomorrow's new content patch for Lord of the Rings Online. With Book 14, we'll get some wonderful new additions to the game as well as some hearty preparation for Mines of Moria later this year. So it would only make sense that you'd want to play as soon as possible, right? You don't want to sit around patching with everyone else, you want to play the second Book 14 releases!

Turbine makes it easy for players to do just that. Their Downloadable Updater will patch Books 13 and 14 onto your computer before the official release hits the live servers. Not only will this let you be ahead of the game, but you can also download this content on another computer, transfer the file onto a disk or device, then run it on your computer with a LotRO client to access the update. The downloaded update won't apply itself until the servers go live on patch day, but consider this a great little tip on getting yourself prepared.

Preparing for tomorrow's launch of LotRO Book 14 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom apologizes for downtime, awards free day

Chris Chester — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Bugs, Forums, Patches, Server downtime

Funcom showed some symptoms of growing pains yesterday, as the anxiously anticipated patch for Age of Conan, which promised to bring many important bug fixes, failed to get off the ground until around 7pm EST instead of 12pm EST, as originally scheduled. It's not entirely abnormal for players to clamber about receiving compensation for lost time in situations like these, but it is somewhat rare when a company actually follows through on this expectation.

Much to our surprise, Funcom offered an official apology for the delays yesterday, and have granted all active accounts an additional day of play-time to compensate for the outage. We doubt this will quell the steady drumbeat of players who are dissatisfied with the Age of Conan experience, but then, what will?

Funcom apologizes for downtime, awards free day originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively covers Dungeons and Dragons Online's Module 7

Mike Schramm — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Classes, Culture, Game mechanics, Patches, PvE, Massively highlights

DDO's Module 7 goes live today, and boy, if you're looking for information about it, you're in the right place. Massively has been covering Module 7 since before Module 6 dropped, and just in case you missed out on any of our great coverage, it's right here for your perusing pleasure.

Live at Connect '08, we provided coverage of the DDO panel, including a first look at the Monk class Turbine released in this patch.
Shortly after that, we chatted with the woman herself, DDO Senior Producer Kate Paiz, on what worked well with Module 6, and everything else they were planning in Module 7 and beyond.
We covered "Monk Week" and the official Turbine events leading up to the game.
Not only did we provide great original coverage, but we aggregated coverage from around the 'net, including other interviews with Ms. Paiz, as well as official info drops (and did you take advantage of your chance to grab the soundtrack?)
And finally, Massively's got the dungeonmaster of all Module 7 previews, including the number one reason you'll want to roll a Monk, a look at the Gary Gygax shrine and the new midlevel content, the new high level instances and bosses, and even an exclusive video preview of what you'll see in Module 7 (which you'll find right after the break).

We critted on the coverage of this new patch (going live today), and you get to be the one to claim all the loot. Before you sign in and check out Module 7 today, be sure to check all the links above and read about it here.

Gallery: Dungeons & Dragons Online: Module 7 Walkthrough

Continue reading Massively covers Dungeons and Dragons Online's Module 7

Massively covers Dungeons and Dragons Online's Module 7 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Book 13 downloadable patch comes alive

Kyle Horner — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:15:00 EST

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, News items

For those Lord of the Rings Online players whose client is currently up to date, Turbine is offering yet another downloadable patch for your convenience. The download is currently offered in torrent-form, which should make it pretty easy to obtain; even at a hefty 635mb file size.

Did we mention that Book 13 is huge? Yeah, it's big.

The obvious benefit here is that players who download this update can apply it ahead of time and be ready to jump right into LotRO the moment servers go back up on patch day. It's always nice when a developer minimizes player downtime as much as possible, so we can all get into Forochel as soon as possible.

Book 13 downloadable patch comes alive originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The nine most important things about World of Warcraft patch 2.4!

Michael Zenke — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, At a glance, Fantasy, Classes, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Launches, Lore, Professions, PvP, Endgame, News items, PvE, Hands-on

If you play World of Warcraft, you already know today was a gaming holiday. Patch 2.4: Fury of the Sunwell, dropped on an unsuspecting Azeroth, and our friends at WoW Insider have been posting All. Day. Long. to keep you in the know. Click through to their coverage on one of these most important patch topics, or check below the cut for even more roundup action!

Gallery: Patch 2.4 Sunwell Isle

Continue reading The nine most important things about World of Warcraft patch 2.4!

The nine most important things about World of Warcraft patch 2.4! originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 25 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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