All Posts by Szark

IGG has announced that they will begin alpha testing Zu Online at 12:00 EST on October 25th.

The sparkling diamond of the East is coming and will soon present itself to us for the first time. Zu Online, the new MMORPG game from IGG will officially begin its alpha test on October 25th.

Beginning at 12:00 EST on October 25th, alpha test participants will be able to begin playing the game for the first time. We are ready to provide the test client for download now. Currently we have 4 download addresses for players to download from and we will be offering more official download places and other media download places in the future.

Read more here.

Turbine has sent out a press release announcing the launch of Book 11: Defenders of Eriador, the much anticipated free content updated for Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar.

TURBINE and CODEMASTERS ONLINE GAMING RELEASE BOOK 11: DEFENDERS OF ERIADOR FOR THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE^TM

Biggest Content Update Yet for the Hottest Online Game of the Year

WESTWOOD, MA - October 24, 2007 - Turbine, Inc. and Codemasters Online Gaming announced that Book 11: Defenders of Eriador, the third free content update for subscribers to The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM, went live today in North America.  Book 11 continues the epic story of The Lord of the Rings Online by adding over 100 new quests, a new 12-player raid, two new areas in Middle-earth and introducing the player housing system. 

The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before.  The Lord of the Rings Online is available for purchase at major retailers across North America and Europe. For more information, or to download a free trial, visit www.lotro.com or www.lotro-europe.com.

Read the full release here.

Read the Book 11 release notes here.

The folks at Guild Wars have released word of their Halloween activities, which includes a visit from The Mad King, who will bring mini-games, special gifts, and many laughs.

The Mad King is coming! The Mad King is coming! That's right--he's baaack! Joined by his entourage of ghoulish cohorts, Mad King Thorn will entertain visitors with his cornucopia of mini-games and new jokes, and will reward participants with a variety of special Halloween items!

Mark your calendars for the event, which begins on Friday, October 26th, and runs until 11:59 p.m. Pacific time on October 31st. During the event, adventurers will notice that the Tyrian port of Lion's Arch and the Elonian port of Kamadan shine with an otherworldly glory befitting a king, especially a mad one! Once again, the maniacal monarch has decided to grace both cities with his ghastly presence and will reward his loyal subjects (and party participants) with prizes and a special Halloween gift. Or is that gifts?

So come along and spend a little time with Thorn--his sense of humor is guaranteed to slay you! But while his wicked jokes may lead to your untimely demise, your inventory will be all the richer with small mementos and a unique prize that he generously provides you.

Read more here.

Hi everyone, I've made a few changes to this article and have a few updates.  The word 'continue' was left out of the original headline.  This story was originally posted on Monday, and we posted it again today because the wildfire situation is ongoing.  Many San Diego area companies are working with limited manpower and restricted energy consumption.  Along with the many service disruptions, SOE put up a brief announcement on the Star Wars Galaxies site stating that West Coast Galaxies, including Scylla and Tempest, have been experiencing issues because of power outages caused by the fires.

starwarsgalaxies.station.sony.com/players/news_archive.vm

Sony Online Entertainment, which is located in San Diego, CA has announced that their services continue to be disrupted due to wildfires burning in the area.

In-Game support is in limited operation due to wildfires in the San Diego area, but response time may be delayed. Account and Technical Support is unavailable. We will keep you updated with any changes in the situation and appreciate your understanding.

For your convenience our Self-help knowledgebase is also available at www.station.sony.com/kb with answers to your questions. E-mail support is also available any time at www.station.sony.com/kb.

Read the announcement here.

SquareEnix, the company behind Final Fantsay XI, has announced that they have recently banned or suspended 7,900 accounts for various infractions against the user agreement. They have also released a report from their Special Task Force on the issue.

We would like to report the termination today of multiple accounts held by players involved in the usage of third-party tools or cheats, or engaged in RMT (Real Money Trading) activities.

Based on the results of our investigation, around 6,750 PlayOnline accounts were terminated while around 1,150 accounts were temporarily suspended.
Additionally, we have increased the number of mass bannings against certain PlayOnline violations in order to prevent illegal acts.

More on the story here.

Read the report here.

The battle gets thicker for players of the PvP game, Fury, as the game launches in Europe on Friday the 26th.

The European launch of FURY is this Friday, 26th October. We are currently preparing a small patch in preparation for this launch. It will be applied later this week.

More on Fury here.

The Lord of the Rings Online official site has been updated with a look at Gwindethrond, another of the Tolkien inspired locations created by Turbine for LotRO. 

Deep within the folded lands along the shores of Nenuial, known to most as Lake Evendim, lies a grotto, its entrance hidden behind a waterfall – but this is no ordinary cave, for it is home to Gwindeth, the Blue Lady of Evendim. Who or what she is remains a mystery, but she has dwelt at Gwindethrond for many an age, and was a friend to the Kings of Arnor, from Elendil to Amlaith of Fornost, the first King of Arthedain. Some believe she is kin to the River-maidens – though her temperament is much stronger than theirs – or perhaps even one of the messengers of the Valar who chose long ago to remain in Middle-earth.

At the behest of Amlaith, Gwindeth placed under her protection the last of the Silithair, gems of surpassing beauty and power crafted by the Elves. Aragorn, son of Arathorn, came to Gwindethrond to seek the Silithar, but Gwindeth turned him aside. Aragorn still hopes that the Silithar can be recovered, for its power will be needed to help drive back the Shadow in the East.

Read more here.

CPP has announced that they will be holding a silent auction at this year's Fanfest to raise money for Child's Play, a charity that provides toys, games and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals.  Among the items available to be bid on is a tour of CCP's office in Reykjavik.

At Fanfest this year we’ll be holding a silent auction with all proceeds going to support Child’s Play, a charity founded by Penny Arcade. The goal of Child’s Play is to improve the lives of hospitalized children and their families worldwide with toys, books, craft materials and games. 100% of everything donated goes directly to the program; there are no administrative fees or charges.

To place your bid, head over to the Fanfest Silent Auction page! Among the prizes is a tour of the CCP Office in Reykjavik but of course we will have other great prizes as well.

Read more here.

Blizzard has announced the launch of the World of Warcraft Guild Relations program, a program designed to strengthen relations between guild communities and WoW developers, while providing other benefits to participating guilds.

We're pleased to announce the official launch of the Guild Relations Program. The primary goal of this program is to strengthen our interaction with World of Warcraft guilds and also strengthen the interaction of guilds among each other.

The inaugural members of the Guild Relations Program are:

• Sleeper Cartel
• Resurrection
• Your Quest Log is Full
• Blackrock Legends
• Exanimus

Additional details concerning this new program, including what your guild can do to become a member, can be found on the Guild Relations Program main page. If you haven't done so already, you can check out the Guild Relations forum, which is a great place to discuss the game and interact with members of the program.

Read more here.

The folks over at WYD Global have announced the release of their new God Class Characters. To mark the occasion they will be holding several events, including double exp for the entire month and the "WYD Global GOD System Update Commemoration Event".

The long wait is finally over! With Your Destiny Global has finally released the God Class Characters! Get ready to face your destiny!

Starting from Oct. 23, 2007 With Your Destiny Global has finally released it's newest update the God Class System! Get your characters ready for the God Class because a whole new world of adventure, excitement and challenges are coming your way.

Along with this new update, WYD Global released a new event called "WYD Global GOD System Update Commemoration Event". This new event will feature a lot of new surprises to all the players of WYD Global. First on the list is the WYD Global Ranking System wherein God Class characters will be ranked to see who among them is on the top of their game. Starting from Oct. 22, 2007, God Class characters users will be ranked to receive special points. Fifty users of each class will receive special points depending on their rank and a total of 200 users will be awarded everyday. The points you have accumulated within the event duration can be used to exchange for special prizes. Exciting prizes awaits you so start earning those points right now!

Second, WYD Global will be having a Double Exp Event for the whole month! The event will be held during Sundays starting from Oct. 28 to Nov. 25, 2007 and all players will be experiencing double experience for the whole day! This event was released to celebrate the coming of the God Class System. Now leveling up your character to become one of the God Class will be much easier!

Read more here.

Flying Lab Software has announced the Pirates of the Burning Sea pre-order, which starts on Tuesday October 23rd.

And now, the news you’ve all been waiting for!

Pirates of the Burning Sea, the MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder, is scheduled to be available for pre-order starting Tuesday, October 23rd at participating retail locations.

Players who pre-order the game will receive the following:

• An invitation to the Pre-Boarding Party allowing them access to the live game up to 15 days prior to launch, and the ability to keep their characters, skills and equipment after launch with purchase of game and paid subscription (characters will have a level cap of 20 during the pre-boarding party)
• Captain's Best Friend + a blue and yellow parrot
• Mighty Blades – Swedish Rapier, Old World Steel or Musketeer's Matching Blades (depending upon which fighting style is selected)
• Original Game Soundtrack CD + 60 minutes of pirate themed music (comes in pre-order box)

Pirates of the Burning Sea is scheduled to be available for preorder in North America on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. A European pre-order date has not been set at this time.

Read more here.

The Camelot Herald has been updated with a guide to the style changes that have been made in the most recent version of Dark Age of Camelot.

We've come up with a comprehensive guide to all of the style changes that have gone in so far for 1.91. This guide is for your reference while testing the new adjustments.

Since there is a good chance things will be changing, we didn't want to update the official Herald documentation just yet, so please use the following links as your guide to what's on Pendragon right now.

• Sword Changes
• Celtic Dual and Dual Wield Changes
• Left Axe and Hand to Hand Changes
• Shield Changes

Your feedback is very important to us! Please send your suggestions to us using our feedback form and be sure to select Class Balance Issues from the dropdown menu. Thanks!

Read more here.

Seven new images have been added to our Chronicles of Spellborn screenshot gallery.

To view the full size images, and to see the rest of the new screens, visit our gallery here.

BBC News has run a story about ways that the business world can tap in on an increasingly game savvy workforce, particularly the online gaming crowd. The article discusses how online gaming can help develop employee's teamwork and group communication skills and help them deal with information overload, as well as the use of MMO style reward systems to motivate workers and better identify individuals who excel at their jobs.

When work becomes a game

Video games are big business and soon they could be big in business too.

A whole generation is growing up for whom video games are a key part of how they relax, whether it be fragging friends in a first person shooter or backing up the main tank in a Warcraft raid.

And it is not just youngsters. There are plenty of older folks who shake off the dust of the working day in many different virtual worlds.

Statistics from the the US Entertainment Software Association (ESA) back this up. It claims that the average player is 33 and has more than a decade of gaming under their belt.

All of a sudden, say academics and researchers, companies have realised that all the time employees spend gaming in virtual worlds is changing them.

Ian Hughes, IBM's metaverse evangelist, said many organisations were considering ways of harnessing the skills and familiarity their employees have with virtual environments.

Read the full article here.

Turbine has published the release notes for Update 1 of Module 5 for Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Release Notes for Module 5, Update 1 - Monday, October 22nd, 2007

• Large violet slimes will no longer split an infinite number of times when a Blade Barrier is cast upon them.
• Any bag containing a bind on acquire item will become bound. The bag itself will become bound once a bind on acquire item is put in it and will unbind once all bind on acquire items are removed from it.
• The Accursed Ascension now has a repeat delay timer.
• In Ghosts of Perdition, Cholthulzz now retreats deeper into the icy cavern. You will now have to chase him all the way down before you can launch your attack.
• Exploiting Cholthulzz through the walls was not very "cool". Now it is. Some would say, down-right icy.
• The giant gate lever in The Black Mausoleum now requires constant attention. If all members of the party leave the room, the Abbot’s minions will turn it closed and the party will need to pull it again to restart the process from the beginning.
• As originally intended, the gate levers in Tomb of the Forbidden will now require a gear to unlock whenever they are to be pulled. You will have to quickly switch the gear between the two levers.
• In response to player feedback on the usability of the experience, many small tuning changes have been made to the Black Abbot's Ascension raid.
• Fixed an issue where other player's movement may appear to stutter during non-peak times.
• Sir Rohine Stiedra will now take your sigil after your dialog instead of before it.
• Fixed a bug with Minos Legans Helm.
• The "limbchopper" effect is now removed by death or by a good rest.
• The final vampire room in the Cursed Crypt will now seal upon completion.
• Desecrated Temple of Vol Changes:
  • The Shadows of Vol have become more deadly and numerous in the temple in response to the trespasses of raiding adventurers.
  • The random chest found within the Desecrated temple will not always appear, as was originally intended.
  • The seal to enter the lower level now requires a silver key and a gold key, as opposed to two gold keys.

Known Issues:
The issue with abandoning the quest from Sir Rohine, has been fixed so that it no longer happens to players who abandon the quest. However, if you already had abandoned the quest, you will still be unable to talk to the NPC for now. We are working on a fix for those who are already affected and hope to release it in the next patch. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience.

Read more here.

The Star Wars Galaxies official site has been updated with information on their Halloween events, in and out of game.  The Haunted Showcase calls on players to spruce up their structures or storyteller event with a spooky theme.  The Pumpkin Challenge asks players to leave their computers and go out and butcher a pumpkin, take a few pictures of the gore, and then return to their computers to tell everyone about it.

Haunted Showcase

Get those skeletons out of the closet – the Haunted Showcase is back for another year of spooky fun! In honor of Halloween, the last Showcase of October will feature multiple entries that will be shown off on the most frightening day of the year, October 31st. Drag those decorations out and give your structure or storyteller event a spooktacular spruce-up if you'd like to participate.

Pumpkin Challenge

Get out your knives and spoons -- it's time again for a pumpkin massacre!

Find a pumpkin, capture it, and bring it home. When you have returned with your squashy treasure, get that pumpkin up on the chopping block and carve yourself a jack-o-lantern. Then take a picture of your jack-o-lantern and send the image or URL to us at starwars@soe.sony.com.

Read more about the Haunted Showcase here.

Read more about the Pumpkin Challenge here.

Blizzard has posted a new PvP information page where players can get quick and easy access to information regarding all things PvP in World of Warcraft.

Player vs. Player combat is one of the fundamental aspects of World of Warcraft. The element of human intelligence, skill, and unpredictability when facing other players instead of computer-controlled enemies is one of the main draws of participating in PvP.

Players of all ability and gear level as well as time commitment can find an outlet in World of Warcraft's PvP system - whether it's in the fierce struggle between the Alliance and Horde in Battlegrounds, the competitive, fast-paced world of Arena combat, or the potentially massive conflicts of World PvP.

In addition to the thrill of battle itself which is its own reward, players can earn powerful material rewards from participating in PvP. An assortment of powerful weapons, armor, and other items, including the epic armor and weapons purchased with Arena points and from the Honor system, are available to the victorious.

Visit the WoW PvP hub here.