All Posts by Stradden

Lockpick Entertainment has prepared a new tutorial video which explains the basic systems and concepts that a player needs to know to begin playing Dreamlords: the Reawakening.

Tutorial Video

Lockpick Entertainment has prepared a new tutorial video which explains the basic systems and concepts that a player needs to know to begin playing Dreamlords: the Reawakening.

Carolyn Koh recently attended SOE Fan Fare. While there, she attended a panel on SOE's Gamers in Real Life (G.I.R.L.) program which promotes women in game design. Today, Carolyn files this report:

Gamers in Real Life, G.I.R.L is the name of the initiative started by Sony Online Entertainment in 2007. They had a straight forward mission: To positively influence how women are portrayed in games and to influence game content to appeal to women. Sara Kaplan, PR Manager for Sony Online Entertainment spearheads all the G.I.R.L. initiatives at SoE and was pleased to introduce the panel this first day of SoE FanFaire 2008.

Moderated by Dana Jongewaard, Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com, the panel members were drawn from Sony Online Entertainment. Torrie Dorrell, Sr. VP of Global Sales & Marketin, Laura Naviaux, Director, Global Brand Marketing, Lorien Gremore, Producer of The Agency, Laralyn McWilliams, Lead Designer of Free Realms were included as well as Julia Brasil, the first G.I.R.L. scholarship recipient.

Read the article here.

Kenneth Tarre, our new Aion Correspondent, has written this introductory article about the upcoming NCsoft MMORPG.

Try to imagine a world where the MMO-gamers were divided between people thinking Lineage 2 ought to be considered the world's 8th wonder, and those that wouldn't touch such a game with an eleven-foot (yes, let's be original) wooden pole. Luckily the world isn't that black and white, but there's no doubt that there are a lot of mixed feelings about Asian-made MMOs here in the west. Pessimists often argue that most of the Asian MMOs are mindless grinders, which is indeed a fair argument, as this has been the reality for a long time now. There's no wonder that people choose to be wary, however I believe we're approaching a season where this reality is about to change, as our global world is closing in on us.

Check out the article here.

DDO's Kate Paiz talks about the new experience that the DDO team has created for their early game as well as some higher level content.

Module 8 - New Player Experience

DDO's Kate Paiz talks about the new experience that the DDO team has created for their early game as well as some higher level content.

MMORPG.com news Manager Keith Cross submits this interview with DDO's Kate Paiz where the senior producer talks about the changes to character advancement in their upcoming module.

Module 8 - Character Creation and Advancement

MMORPG.com news Manager Keith Cross submits this interview with DDO's Kate Paiz where the senior producer talks about the changes to character advancement in their upcoming module.

 

Hi guys,

I've been reading these responses and I know that laura would have loved to see what many of you had to say about her.

Laura's parents have requested that anyone in our community who feels like they want to should compose a short letter or story about Laura that can be sent to them through us here at MMORPG.com. You can email those to me at editor@mmorpg.com. Thanks.

As many of you probably already know, MMORPG.com lost a family member last week when we got word that former Community Manager Laura Genender had passed away.

Today, we pay tribute to her in the best way that we know how: with this memorial feature. Out of respect for Laura, her family and friends, we will not be adding any additional content today.

When we thought about how best to pay tribute our dear friend and colleague Laura Genender we decided that we should write, as much or as little as we felt that we needed to, to tell everyone a little bit about a woman that we here at MMORPG.com were proud to call a colleague and a friend.

When you've finished reading, we would like to encourage you to spend some time in the forums, either reading some of the many posts that have already been made about Laura or posting something of your own. We know that she had interactions with many of you and would love to hear any thoughts or stories that you may have.

Laura's parents have requested that anyone in our community who feels like they want to should compose a short letter or story about Laura that can be sent to them through us here at MMORPG.com. You can email those to me at editor@mmorpg.com. Thanks.

Read the memorial here.

Originally posted by Zorvan

Jon, has there been any word on what happened?

No, I'm not entirely sure to be honest. I'm sure we will find out in time.

We here at MMORPG.com are saddened to inform our readers that former Community Manager Laura "Taera" Genender passed away on August 13th.

Laura, who was a long time volunteer with our site before becoming our Community Manager, had recently taken a job working on EVE Online for CCP.

Needless to say, Laura was a cherished co-worker and a beloved friend to all of us here at MMORPG.com. We miss her already.

Tomorrow, MMORPG.com will honor her memory by way of a posted memorial to a dear friend.

City of Heroes has announced the launch of their new facebook page.

Join your fellow Heroes & Villains on the Official City of Heroes Facebook page! Our community team has been working to create a new page on Facebook where you can receive news feeds, share images and videos with the community,...

Read more here.

Funcom has announced that tehy will be revealing a number of new features at the upcoming Game Convention in Leipzig, Germany. MMORPG.com will be there to get the whole scoop.

New locations, content and features to be revealed for both press and consumers at the show - Thousands of exclusive give-aways, including free trial accounts and limited edition game DVD

 

Durham, USA – August 15th, 2008 – Conan is invading this year’s Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Funcom and Eidos invites everyone to come join the festivities at his majesty’s outpost located at stand B10 in Hall 5. Behind the tall walls of the King’s fortress press and gamers alike can play the game, meet and chat with the developers, collect amazing give-aways and observe live stage shows where Funcom will reveal and demonstrate brand new and never-before-seen locations, content and features that will be put into the recently launched massively multiplayer online game ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ in the months ahead.

“We are very pleased with the tremendously successful launch that we had,” says Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Funcom, Morten Larssen. “But this is where the real journey starts for ‘Age of Conan’. In the months ahead we will be putting a lot of effort into expanding and improving on the game, and we look forward to using the Games Convention to unveil some of the locations, content and features we have in the pipeline.”

During the live stage shows Funcom will present new locations, content and features coming to ‘Age of Conan’. Blue Orb Inc. will also be present to demonstrate how you can use their software to play ‘Age of Conan’ with a gamepad, while the guys behind ‘TripleHead2Go’ have prepared a machine with a three screen setup so that gamers can come and play ‘Age of Conan’ in all its unprecedented visual glory using cutting-edge technology. Funcom will also be giving away exciting loot such as the legendary inflatable swords and free trial accounts together with limited edition DVDs containing the entire game. This is the first time Funcom hands out free trials and the supply is limited, so we encourage you to make your way to Conan’s outpost as soon as possible!

Behind closed doors members of the press will also be treated to a presentation of exclusive DirectX10 features, technology that will add even more power to the spectacular graphics featured in the game. Press interested in attending these presentations should contact Funcom, but please note that seating is very limited at this point.

‘Age of Conan’ launched in May this year and immediately topped sales charts around the world. It has received more than thirty magazine covers and more than fifteen major awards, including numerous "Best MMO of E3" awards and the "Best Online Game of Show" award at GC 2007. The game has received numerous glowing reviews, including a 9.4 score from US website GameZone. ‘Age of Conan’ is a key title in Microsoft's Games for Windows line-up, as well as a showcase title for nVidia thanks to its jaw-dropping graphics.

Read more here.

Blizzard has activated a new talent calculator for talents in their upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King.

Are you curious about the changes and additions in store for class talents in Wrath of the Lich King? The new interactive talent trees for every class are now live on our talent calculators. Please note that all talent information is not yet finalized, and is subject to significant change during the testing process.

Read more here.

New Rohan: Blood Feud Correspondent Jay T. Clark pens this first look at the game that is currently in open beta.

Imagine for a moment that you are a great warrior- a warrior from a vast continent inhabited by warriors of all races.  In your quest, you are destined to follow in the footsteps of your ancestors, while striving to maintain the very existence you know and love.  Many wars are waged on this land, and you must fight among men, elves, half-elves, and the many other evils that lurk on your beloved birthplace.  This is the world of Rohan Online:Blood Feud.  And guess what?  It's the newest free-to-play MMO from YNK Interactive.

The Basics

Rohan Online: Blood Feud is a fantasy free-to-play MMORPG built atop a persistent world that is filled with hard fought battles and countless quests to embark upon.  As with any modern MMORPG, you may choose to go at it alone, or journey together with friends to solidify your place among Rohan's greatest of warriors.  As you shape your identity in Rohan, you may choose to form guilds and as such, fight for the respect you and your warriors deserve.  Furthermore, just this month YNK Interactive announced the addition of Township battles, which will extend the fight from PvP to guild versus guild.  In addition to the in-game battles and quests, Rohan has an impressive trade center which consists of a web-based item mall and exchange market.  So, let's take a deeper look at Rohan by discussing the various classes that are available to players, the battle system, a few of the things that make Rohan an awesome MMO, and lastly we can briefly discuss the details of the Trading Center.

Check out the whole thing here.

IGG has released the most recent patch notes for their MMORPG, ZU Online.

IGG has announced the release schedule as well as the major features of the new Zu Online (http://zu.igg.com) version 1.5.03. The version will be released on August 18th. After Zu Online version 1.5.03 is released, the level cap for Zu Online will be 240, which will allow for many new quests, talents, items, etc. Additionally, the gear decomposing system and spirit training system will be available. Below are the major features of Zu Online version 1.5.03 that IGG has announced:
 
1. New Level cap: 240.  

2. A new zone: Watercloud Palace

3. Gear Decomposing System is now available.

4. Spirit Training System is now available.

5. Level 7 Suits and Level 8 Suits are now available.

6. New talents (Level 181-240) for each clan have been added

7. New gear attributes: Decrease critical hit chances and garrote chances. Decrease damage sustained from critical hits and Garrotes. Gear will be able to have these new attributes.  

8. Rounds quests can now be accepted as many times as you like.

9. Players are now able to ride a mount at Level 30.

10. System prompts while creating a character have been improved.

11. Attributes of Superior items and Epic items have been modified.

Read more here.

The folks from Runes of Magic have provided us with this great overview of The Ystra-Highland, giving us a look at a number of different locations.

Khazor's Mountain Road

The Road was built in conjunction with the Order of the Dark Glory’s advances into the Ystra-Highland. It is named after the nobleman Khazor, who accidently lost his life during its construction. Now a memorial plaque reminds travellers of the tragedy. The Mountain Road is segmented into three parts. The first part leads through a steep and narrow pass from the Aslan Valley into the Ystra-Highland. The second part runs parallel to the edge of the forest, where defence fortifications have been built to counter assaults on the road by Ystra’s monsters. The third part leads directly to the Dust Devil Canyon. It already existed beforehand and all the Order of the Dark Glory did, was to make some adjustments to improve the traffic flow.

Read it all here.

To celebrate the Olympic Games in beiging, IGG has announced a new contest taking place in Wonderland Online.

In order to celebrate the Beijing Olympic Games, IGG (http://www.igg.com/) has decided to hold a series of events in the Wonderland Online (http://wl.igg.com/) forum. Each of these four events will last one week to make it a whole month of fun in August. They have prepared rich rewards for participating players, including Small Love Bouquets, Dark Chocolate and more.
 
Event 1: Comic Strip Competition

Participants should create their own comic strips by editing screenshots they take. They can edit these by hand or with image editing software such as Photoshop.

Event2: Enchanted Moment

Write stories about Wonderland Online. These stories can be short stories, essays, poems or novellas. But all works must have titles.

Event 3: Drawing Competition

Reproduce the most beautiful pictures featured in Wonderland Online. They can be done in black and white or in color.

Event 4: Idea Collection

Participants can share their funny ideas about events.

Read more here.

Tracy Hickman, famed Dragonlance author, will have his DnD shot into space along with Richard Garriott in a program that will see the designer take a digital time capsule of the human racetaken to the international space station when Garriott makes the trek in October.

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 14, 2008 – Operation Immortality™, the project to create a digital time capsule of the human race, has joined forces with famed author and game designer Tracy Hickman.  Hickman is best known for his work on the Dragonlance novels and the innovative Ravenloft module of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game system. As part of Operation Immortality’s mission to preserve the most talented and influential people of our time, Tracy Hickman will be sending his digitized DNA into space with video gaming luminary Richard Garriott as he travels to the International Space Station (IS