All Posts by Szark

The folks at The Chronicles of Spellborn have posted the first installment in a series of features which looks at the timeline of TCoS.

The world of The Chronicles of Spellborn, as you will be able to experience it yourself in-game, is the result of a long chain of cataclysmic events and almost forgotten stories. In this new feature we will reveal some of these key moments of old along with all the protagonists involved in this troubled past.

Each week, you’ll be introduced to a new period of the timeline, accompanied by concept arts and details on the main items of said period.

So grab yourself a cup of your favorite beverage, and hit the “Read More” button below for the first installment of this Spellborn Timeline, named "The Great Collapse".

Read more here.

SOE has published a list of features that will be included with the Station Launcher which is currently in Beta.

One place for all your Station games...fast, simple, and ready to go any time!

Station Launcher is a simple, one-click application that securely delivers all of your Station games, friends and community news right to your desktop. Manage your Station gaming library like never before; it's fast, easy and secure.

Access all of your Station games in one convenient location. No more need for multiple desktop shortcuts and launch pads for all your Station games. Station Launcher offers one easy to use and secure application that delivers all your favorite Station games and services right to your computer.

Purchase games, updates, services and more. It doesn't matter if you're looking for the newest Station game, the latest expansions, card packs, news updates or Dev chats - Station Launcher has all your Station games and information on file so everything is just a click away!

Read more here.

On Friday, MMORPG.com revealed that several classes would be dropped from the Warhammer Online launch roster, and that Mythic Entertainment had partnered with Punkbuster to fight cheating in the game.  Now Mythic has posted an FAQ which hopes to answer lingering questions about these revelations.

With Friday's announcement we know there have been many questions floating around. We've been spending the weekend reading your feedback and questions on these changes and have compiled an FAQ to address many of them.

We will also be posting an FAQ on the changes to Cities as well that will give you more insight in the the mechanics behind the new Campaign system and how we made our decisions.

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted another edition of Ask Cryptic, which answers fan questions about costumes, raw numbers, knockback and more.

Ask Cryptic is back with answers on levels, hard numbers, mez powers, knockback and costumes. Thanks very much to Arkayne, Heretic and Absinthe for their answers!

Just how "level-ly" are CO levels going to be? Is my progression from level 1 to level 50 going to look like a progression from an 8-year old Robin (as sidekick to Bats) to any of the incarnations of Superman? Or will I still be able to recognizable at level 50 as still the same basic character as he was at level 1? (Captain-Spith)

Arkayne (lead designer): There will be a definite progression from low- to high-powered hero. Characters start off with a few starting powers and gain more powers and more customization options throughout the course of the game. This differs a bit from the Champions tabletop game where players start off with moderate to high-power and have marginal increases over time. We felt our constant power advancement model in Champions Online would be more appealing to players since they can always look forward to expanding and personalizing their suite of super-powers.

Read more here.

Mythic Entertainment has announced that the Guild Beta for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has officially started.

FAIRFAX, Virginia - July 11, 2008 - Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts studio (NASDAQ: ERTS), today announced that the Guild Beta for Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ (WAR) has begun. Over 10,000 guilds applied and those selected will have the chance to experience the game's most expansive beta phase yet.

An historic 750,000 applicants have signed up for the opportunity to enter WAR's closed beta, and the selected guilds will join tens of thousands of new participants as the game enters the final phase of its closed beta test. Guild members, many with long histories playing a multitude of massively multiplayer online games, will test WAR's recently added Guild and Heraldry features, as well as Public Quests™, new dungeons, Scenarios, user interface updates and more as the MMORPG advances towards its launch later this year.

"WAR's Guild Beta is here and some of the world's most experienced MMO players will now get a chance to play one of the most anticipated MMOs of all time," said Mark Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Mythic Entertainment. "We look forward to seeing them beat, bash and burn their way through the world that we have created for their enjoyment. It's going to be a lot of fun and it's going to be glorious!"

Read more here.

CCP has posted the minutes from the first meeting of the Council of Stellar Management and CCP.

The meeting minutes for the first summit between the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) and CCP have been published. Each issue also has a separate forum thread and everyone is encouraged to share their feedback.

Read more here.

The folks at Myth War II have sent over several new screenshots of the recently listed MMORPG, Myth War II.

See all of the screenshots here.

The folks at Pirates of the Burning Sea have announced the introduction of several new ships with version 1.6 of the game.

The Pirates of the Burning Sea Boarding Party has been hard at work collaborating with Designer David ‘Taelorn’ Hunt to introduce the world to the new ships that are on the way in Build 1.6!

You can read more about these new ships by visiting the following links to our Milestone Discussion Forum.

The ‘Treason’ Pirate Flagship!
The ‘Archelon’ Frigate!
The ‘Couronne’ Mastercraft Galleon!
The ‘Monarch’ Indiaman!
The ‘van Hoorn’ Mastercraft Snow!
The ‘Dauntless’ Frigate!
New Testbed Ship: ‘Cyclone’ Corvette

Many thanks to the following Boarding Party members, in alphabetical order, for their help in preparing this information for you: Adythiel, AStrangeMonkey, Kylia D, lincolnc, LoJo028, NMAL72, TomSavage and Sir Trafalgar.

Read more here.

NCsoft has posted the patch notes for the most recent update for Aion's Korean Closed Beta Test.

NC Korea started the third phase of Aion's Closed Beta Testing (CBT) last week and with a new phase of testing comes updates to the test client. In an effort to keep the Western community up to date on Aion's development, an English version of the Patch Notes are available.

Please note: This information pertains to the Korean Aion Beta Test. The US/EU Preview Event has not started. An announcement will be made in the future concerning the US/EU Preview Event schedule.

Read more here.

NCsoft has published the patch notes for the most recent game update for City of Heroes and Villains.

On the morning of Wednesday, July 9th we pushed out a new patch to City of Heroes and City of Villains. The patch includes some powers revisions, the new unlockable Rularuu claws along with bug fixes and corrections.

Read more here.

The folks at Bounty Bay Online have announced the availability of a new equipment package designed to help give new players a boost.

Berlin, 2008-07-11: For newcomers on the virtual Seven Seas, there is a brandnew starter-kit available in the Bounty Bay Online webshop. For an unbeatable price of 25 points ingame-currency, inexperienced sailors can get a massive tailwind on their journeys and their first few days in the free-2-play version of the game. With a virtual jewel set, compressed provisions, clothing, a double experience-point scroll and a powerful figurehead, players receive a significant power-boost for their first ingame challenges. Thus the starterkit makes entering the world of Bounty Bay Online a lot easier and supports players on land as well as on the high seas. New Sailors will be well equipped for the first levels and all the tasks they are facing will almost be a piece of cake. Especially their progress in the game will be accelerated substantially. Equipped with the starter-kit, no one can stop you now!

Read more here.

Vivendi has announced that the merger between Activision and Vivendi Games to form a new company under the name of Activision Blizzard has been finalized.

July 10, 2008 -- Paris, France and Santa Monica, CA – Vivendi (Euronext Paris: VIV) and Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced the completion of the transaction announced on December 2, 2007 to create Activision Blizzard, as the world's most profitable pure-play online and console game publisher. Activision Blizzard was formed by combining Activision, one of the world's leading independent publishers of interactive entertainment, and Vivendi Games, Vivendi's interactive entertainment business, which includes Blizzard Entertainment's® World of Warcraft®, the world's #1 subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Activision Blizzard will continue to operate as a public company traded on Nasdaq under the ticker ATVI.

Jean Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, said: "We have created the world leader in online and console games with this transaction and the combined strengths of the two businesses offer immense growth potential. I am also very confident that, with the new leadership team in place, the new entity is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these rapidly developing markets across the globe."

René Pénisson, Chairman of Activision Blizzard, added: "We are delighted that the merger has been completed. We are very excited about the opportunity for Activision Blizzard to create a broader entertainment software platform. We are leaders across North America and Europe and are creating a substantial footprint in the rapidly growing Asian market. We are determined to ‘think big'!"

Read more here.

Read the FAQ here.

2K has announced that they will be the publisher of Cryptic Studios' upcoming superhero action MMO, Champions Online, based on the pen and paper RPG of the same name.

New York, NY – July 10, 2008 – 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO), announced today that it will be the North American and international publisher for Cryptic Studios'™ highly anticipated massively multiplayer online (MMO) action game, Champions Online™, being developed for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft* and Games for Windows®. Champions Online is scheduled for release in spring of 2009.

"2K Games is excited to work with such a talented group as Cryptic Studios," said Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K. "Given their stellar pedigree and amazing grasp of the MMO genre, we are confident that Champions Online will deliver an innovative and exciting action MMO experience to gamers."

Cryptic Studios, based in Los Gatos, CA and established in July 2000, is one of the leading independent developers of massively multiplayer online games for Windows PC and current generation systems. As an independent, employee-owned company, Cryptic is committed to delivering high quality, innovative cross platform MMO gameplay. Cryptic is best known as the creator of the award-winning City of Heroes® and City of Villains™ MMO titles. Based on the popular Champions™ pen-and-paper RPG, Champions Online will give players the power of total customization for their hero experience while they explore a vast comic book universe.

Read more here.

Funcom has sent out a reminder that Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is now available through digital Download.

Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is now available as a digital download from Funcom! Start playing by completing the following steps:

• Register & Buy
• Download
• Play

Start your career in the merciless universe of King Conan and join the hundreds of thousands that are already playing one of the most exciting MMOs ever created!

Read more here.

The folks at EverQuest II have published an overview of the EQII economy, which has been written with with new players in mind.

Things can get expensive in Norrath, and sometimes a new adventurer can have trouble trying to make their way in the world. The guide below is intended to help those just getting started get on the road to riches.

Spoils of the Hunt

Perhaps the quickest way to start making money in EQII is by taking quests and hunting NPC's. Quest rewards vary, but usually include some coin and often a loot item or two, such as armor, jewelry, or weapons. Hunting rewards are quite similar; some NPC's drop money, some drop loot, and some drop both.

Winning coin and item upgrades is great, but selling the loot and rewards that you don't need will bring in even more money. You won't necessarily be rolling in plat at the start, but for buying lower-level upgrades to spells, armor, and weapons, it's a no-cost way to put a little jingle in your coin purse. And if you're fulfilling quests by killing monsters, you're getting double the bang for your buck; experience points plus money and loot.

Read more here.

NCsoft has announced that they will be holding a double rewards weekend in City of Heroes and Villains starting Friday July 18th.

That’s right folks, starting on Friday July 18th, 2008 City of Heroes and City of Villains will be giving away double the experience, prestige, influence, & infamy through Sunday July 20th. Check out our Official July Calendar for the listing and other important dates.

 

Rally together as super teams and discuss how you will be spending your Double XP Weekend in this forum topic.

Read more here.

IGG has posted a guide to help new players level up in Myth War II, along with word of the latest version of the game.

Myth War II, the new sequel to the classic MMORPG from IGG, continues the tradition of excellent play and an exciting community of players. Today the Myth War team is going to talk to you about their plans for helping newbie.

Getting depressed at your low level? Finding that monsters are always defeating you? Are you racking your brains for a way to level-up quickly? Maybe it doesn’t help that so many of those attractive Item Mall objects are out of your reach. Don't worry, we’ve decided to open up the Item of Item Mall for newbie players. Once you reach a certain level, we will make certain items available to you to help you improve quickly.

For example, when you reach levels 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50, you can go to the Mall Promoter in Woodlingor (x 216, y 177) who will give you items that can help you improve quickly, for free! Items include: Source of Life, Source of Magic, Double-Experience Roll, Double-Talent Scroll, Devil’s Tear, Convenience Store and different shape-shifting cards.

These items are untradeable and characters can only receive them one time, when they’ve reached the appointed level. For more details visit the official website? http://livechat.igg.com/livesupport.php?gid=2

Besides, Myth War II has been upgraded to version 1.0.4.22 after the regular maintenance on July 4th. Players can visit the below link to download the newest client: http://mw2.igg.com/download/client.php

Read more here.

GamesCampus has announced that the closed beta for their MMORPG Asda Story will begin on July 15th.

San Jose, Calif. (July 9, 2008) - San Jose-based online game publisher, Gamescampus.com (www.gamescampus.com, run by OnNet USA), announced today it will begin the closed beta test for its newest game, Asda Story, that will be launching in the U.S. market later this fall.

The closed beta session will commence on July 15, 2008 and will run for one week only. The closed beta will be hosted by Gamescampus at http://asdastory.gamescampus.com/. Gamers are invited to join the closed beta by going to the official website at http://asdastory.gamescampus.com/ where they can create an account and sign up to participate.

"We are very pleased to release this captivating game to our players for closed beta testing," said David Chang, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Gamescampus.com. "Asda Story has long been anticipated and we are proud to enter this new phase in development prior to the official launch in the U.S. market this fall. We will continue to adjust and fine tune the game based on the feedback we receive during the closed beta test in order to ensure that our players have an excellent game experience."

Based on a colorful, bright and cheerful world, Asda Story is a free to play exciting fantasy-style anime 3D MMORPG game that features a unique 'Soul Mate System.' The unique party system offers two players the ability to align to become 'soul mates' and allows them to wear unique costumes and use special skills. Another key feature of the game is the 'Real Costume System,' which gives players some of the most extensive personalization and design options ever seen in an MMORPG.

Read more here.

EA Mythic has mentioned in the WAR Herald that they are still looking to fill a number of customer support positions for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Just a reminder, we're still looking for talented and enthusiastic people to become a part of our studio in the Customer Service department! Do you have great communication skills and a passion for MMOs? Apply for our recruiting Open House this Summer!

Read more here.

Cryptic Studios has posted a profile of Champions online lead artist Christopher "Absinthe" Chamberlain.

Today we get to learn more about Christopher "Absinthe" Chamberlain, the lead artist in charge of characters, animation and FX for Champions Online.

Q: What do you do for Champions Online?
A: I have the best job in the world! I get to design the look of the characters you see in game, guide the overall vision of the game and set up the character creation structure.

Q: How long have you worked in gaming, and what did you do before Champions Online?
A: Almost 10 years now, starting at Atari. Before Champions Online I worked on City of Heroes, City of Villains, Vanguard and a plethora of games that never saw the light of day, including the Marvel MMO – twice!

Read more here.