Game News

General news about specific MassMOGs and the like.

The Chronicles of Spellborn Launches

Submitted by Hoza on April 23, 2009 - 11:19pm
News from Acclaim is that The Chronicles of Spellborn has launched with a special promotion. Sign up for a new account (free) before May 7th & get a free 2-week "premium subscription" to try out the full game. Essentially, without paying for premium 'scrip, you're capped at level 7 and can only play in the designated "free play" zones. So, hopefully you can get past level 7 in a single play session so you can get on to checking out the premium game to see what it's about!

Age of Conan Still In Development For Xbox 360

Submitted by Hoza on January 23, 2009 - 3:06am

Eurogamer posted an interview with Age of Conan's game director Craig Morrisson, confirming the continued (though limited) development of the 360 version of AoC.

"We still plan on having a 360 version of the game at some stage but I'm afraid I can't go into specifics beyond that at the moment," Morrison said.

He talks about the difficult nature of porting an MMO like Conan over to a console... uh, yeah! I know many players I talked to thought it might be fun to try out on that platform, with the combat system being rather interesting to think of mashing buttons with.

However, from the sounds of it, there's not much of a reason to hold your breath on the AoC Xbox version. When a daunting task is set upon a small group of developers... well, just don't lose too much sleep waiting for it.

My guess would be you'd see the expansion for Age of Conan long before a 360 version. But that's based on nothing but the fleeting thought in my brain... and now it's gone.

Tabula Rasa Free To Play Until Closing Time

Submitted by Hoza on January 19, 2009 - 6:40am

In my opinion, Tabula Rasa is a really fun game... overall. I know I wasn't personally willing to pay $15/month for it, but I'm not completely sure why, in retrospect. I don't know if it was competition for my self-allotted $15-30/month for these dang MMO beasts, or something else. However, I was one of the apparently-many who didn't subscribe.

To me, this game was much better than many that came out and are still running, which baffles me a bit. The world is beautiful and rich with excellent (and compelling) backstory, and the mechanics of gameplay are interesting. I really enjoyed the frantic nature of defending a base from waves of attackers as more players streamed in to help out.

The main feeling of the whole world really being in the middle of a war was very intriguing and there haven't been many games that have pulled off that sense of global tension like TR, I think.

...well, none of that matters now, I guess. The game's going down at the end of February (2009, in case you're reading this late.)

However, you can play it free now through closing. Get your asses in there and at least put this game into your memories as one of the "ones that got away." We all do the (oft-annoying) "Game Z did this really cool thing where such-and-such happened. Man, I loved that!", and I think TR has plenty of those features in it. There are plenty of flaws too, but since it's free and it's all going away soon, do yourself a favor and at least give it a spin, eh?

Tabula Rasa: Now with more free play! will get you the info you need to get in there. If you previously had an account, you can just re-activate it.

...bummer to see this one go, but of course I'm part of the reason it's done, since I didn't pay my bill. I've thought many times about whether I would have played it with a lower fee or maybe even a free-play level of 'scrip with the option to pay for something extra... I don't know. I don't really think I'm a good gauge of this stuff, since I'm not playing anything much at all these days. (And no, I'm not playing WoW at the moment, either.)

Well... quit reading this crap and get your account created/reactivated in RGTR, eh?

MMO Developers Share Their New Year's Resolutions

Submitted by Hoza on January 19, 2009 - 6:10am

This is pretty much fluff and useless info, but I figured since I read the whole thing, maybe I wasn't totally bored by it... MTV Multiplayer posted a batch of interview answers that collectively has become their post: MMO Developers Share Their New Year’s Resolutions

I honestly don't think it's of much use to read, but it did get me thinking about some of the games that it is about time for me to try out again.

For instance, I'm way overdue for a run through Hyboria again! I really wanted to love Age of Conan, but when it launched, I didn't have time to play it much. I love the dirt and grit to that game world and of course the lore is just freakin' awesome. There's a lot of potential in AoC to get some dark play time into my MMO rotation.

...I think I need to fire up my AoC account and see how it's changed.

(And yes, I will be looking at some of the others again too. I'm just more jazzed about Conan at the moment, so please refrain from your flame email about how I should play Game Y instead... well, maybe your suggestions will get me stoked, so go ahead and send them, I guess. :P )

City of Heroes Available For Mac Gamers

Submitted by Hoza on January 12, 2009 - 5:42am

NCsoft has announced the availability of the City of Heroes: Mac Special Edition. The Mac Special Edition is a download-only client that includes the usual 30 days of play time and "a set of exclusive in-game items."

Hurray for Mac folks, eh? Mac players will play alongside PC players, by the way -- in case that doesn't fall more in the "well they sure as poop should be able to!!" category on its own.

"Achievements" to hit World of Warcraft

Submitted by Hoza on July 21, 2008 - 2:51pm

Um, is this a Good Thing? World of Warcraft is rolling in "player achievements" with the Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

...*sigh*

I'm slightly intrigued, but a bit more revolted by what feels like a strange addition to the game. Here's where I found a take on it that can I relate to. Although I'm on the "they pull me back in" phase of my journey with WoW, I've most certainly begun to find an end in sight with some of the end-game goofiness. Here's the thing... I've never been in the WoW end-game world before pretty recently.

I played the game since late-ish beta and loved it for a year.5, but fell out of things before ever getting to 60 with any avatars... yeah, I played the game for well over a year and never hit 60. I was always soloing or playing with a single friend while my guild went through the raid progressions of the time. I was never quite high enough level as I wasn't playing nearly as much as others in the guild. Playing catch-up for over a year finally wore on me and I let the 'scrip go.

Then, after Burning Crusade came out, I got back in to see how things were. I finally leveled to 60 and had only two people to rejoice with -- everyone else laughed and pointed. ...onward to 70! Yay. Now I've been in the world of 70's for a while and I'm of course massively undergeared, even with most peoples' 2nd or 3rd alts. Yay!

So I've found a home of sorts in the world of PvP and here's where I realize this game is testing my limits of determination for MassMOGs in the long run. I would really love to do some of the raiding since I missed out on almost all of the instances -- no exaggeration -- but I don't have time to run through any of this stuff unless that Lotto check comes in.

Running battlegrounds persistently has scored me copious amounts of honor and more AV marks than I can possibly spend (maybe I should buy another Stormpike Battle Charger, just in case my other one gets tired??). Now my gear isn't totally crap (for PvP, anyway) but I still have a LONG way to go in that world... how much more can I take of running BG's repeatedly just to get the currency to buy gear so I can run BG's more effectively??!? Oh, and by the way, Season 4 just came out, so now I'm getting rapidly outgeared -- if my outgeared gear wasn't outgeared enough already.

My nephew and a good friend of mine want to start an arena team, so that's why I'm currently motivated to gear up. We'll see how that goes, but damn, it's been months of playing just to get geared enough to feel like we can do anything worthwhile in PvP! All that gearing to prep us for more gearing! Whooo!!

Anyway, I told you all that to tell you this: Achievements??!?

Maybe I don't get it, but I'm not about to embark on the journey of re-exploring the world so I can have a new tabard to mark my achievements. Now, I might find some satisfaction in getting this achievement!

...maybe I'm missing something.

...maybe I'm just rambling about nothing worth reading. Well, you can stop now. :-P

City of Heroes and City of Villains Merge

Submitted by Hoza on July 17, 2008 - 11:33pm

Ya know... it's long, but just read the press release -- with all the fluff and fervor that the marketing folks could drum up:
--------------
It’s All Access for City of Heroes and City of Villains
NCsoft readies the number 1 super-powered MMO for more

There is a reason for the rejoicing in Paragon City and the Rogue Isles. It is official – NCsoft has completely merged the two games into one game universe. All current subscribers who only had one of the games (City of Heroes or City of Villains) now have access to the features of both games. Additionally, all City of Heroes and City of Villains games for sale at retail or online will grant access to both games.

This is the final step needed in preparing the IP for future projects, to be announced later this year. Paragon City and the Rogue Isles have always been a part of the same game universe. When City of Villains launched in 2005 as a stand-alone game, it did not launch with an extra subscription fee, so there has always been this feeling that they are closely related. What’s different here is that NCsoft has taken down the barrier where players had to have a City of Villains serial code to make a villain, and vice versa. Now, it doesn’t matter if you bought Heroes or Villains, you can make characters from either faction and experience their unique game content. Additionally, Heroes now have access to base building, which was previously only available if you had purchased City of Villains.

“In setting the stage for our upcoming plans for the IP, we felt the time was right to truly consolidate the City of Heroes and City of Villains universe,” said Brian Clayton, General Manager and Executive Producer. “We have removed all restrictions that were created when City of Villains launched in order to make way for some really cool content and features we have in the pipeline. This is an evolution of the IP that lays the foundation for what’s to come.”

The most recent game update, Issue 12: Midnight Hour, launched in May and included a wealth of features, including a new Greek and Roman inspired zone, Villain Epic Archetypes, Powerset Proliferation, as well as more character slots so that players can try out the new character powers and Archetypes.

“We know that character variety is one of our greatest strengths and that’s why our players love to create new characters” said Matt Miller, Lead Designer. “Even former players who reactivate will be pleasantly surprised to see new open character slots waiting for them.”

Uniting the City of Heroes universe enables the development team to focus on other features slated to come in future installments. Improvements to Supergroup Bases and raids, an offline character reward system, and the previously revealed Mission Maker are just some of the systems that will see the benefits of a unified City of Heroes game.
------------------------------

Oh, and there's also "Double XP weekend" starting on Friday, while we're on the subject of City of Heroes.

"Ask Cryptic July 11, 2008" - Champions Online Dev Blog

Submitted by Hoza on July 15, 2008 - 8:34pm

This is one of a long line of Q & A posts done by the good folks over at Cryptic Studios. Today (well, a few days ago, more accurately) the questions revolve around character leveling, in-game stats, powers, costumes and such. I figure I'll just point you there instead of trying to summarize... yeah, I'm that lazy. :P

Ask Cryptic (July 11, 2008)

Syndicate content