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DC Universe Online | English mag drops new shots and info
04/07/2008 10:07am
Renowned pedantic British magazine EDGE reported lots of juicy info on the upcoming DC Universe from SOE, their information follows and screenshots are on the game page.
"Some new details have emerged of DC Universe Online, the new PC and PS3 MMO in development at Sony Online Entertainment.
In this month's Edge magazine, executive creative director Jim Lee describes DC Universe as a "kick-ass hybrid between a traditional MMO and a first-person action console game".
You'll get to create your own superhero or villain, choosing their particular powers, according to the Edge article. So you'll decide whether to attack using fire or ice, for example, and move around using acrobatics or the power of flight. Other potential abilities mentioned in the article include speed-running and teleportation.
As with a traditional MMO your character will level up as you progress, and you'll develop your powers. When the game starts you might be able to fly, but only later will you learn how to pull off specific moves and attacks in mid-air.
Although you don't get to "be" any of the famous DC characters, you do get to interact with them. That might mean you end up saving Superman from being stabbed with a shard of kryptonite by Lex Luthor. Or, if you're a villain, you could cause carnage by chucking cars around downtown Metropolis, thereby encouraging the boy in blue to turn up and fight you.
Metropolis is one of two large shared environments revealed so far, the other being Gotham City. Unlike World of Warcraft, DC Universe will be comprised of a mix of these environments and separate instances. And while there will still be instances and raids, the emphasis will be on fast-paced action rather than grinding (penny for everytime we've heard that - Dala).
There will be PvP arenas, and you'll be able to make use of your superpowers and those of others in interesting ways. For example, someone might freeze your character in a block of ice, then pick up the block and chuck it at another player. In some instances, PvP fights will end up turning into giant PvE boss battles.
In the future, it's possible we could see models, environments and costumes from the game turning up in other DC Comics properties, and there are plans for plot crossovers. "We can tie-in future DC tentpole events and translate the stories for the gaming world, and have them occur simultaneously," said Lee. "The possibilities are numerous and very exciting."
UPDATE:This article previously reported that DC Universe Online is out next year. This was an error on our part. Sony Online Entertainment has not yet given any word on when the game will be released. Sorry about that."
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LEGO Universe | How to build a logo with the LEGO team.
03/07/2008 11:55am
The developers at Triple Point have finally settled on a logo for their upcoming brick based MMO, LEGO Universe. I would paraphrase their description of the logo but it's so deliciously pedantic you deserve to read it all;
"Before the official LEGO Universe logo was revealed on the game’s website, The LEGO Group’s design team faced several challenges in creating an emblem for the upcoming MMOG: How do you symbolize an online world so huge with one little logo and still incorporate The LEGO Group’s stunningly high quality standards?
First, the logo had to reflect the excellence of a LEGO product. Second, since the continuous creation of LEGO Universe is in the players’ hands, the design team wanted input from the game’s fans. That input came in the form of hundreds of submissions to the LEGOUniverse.com image gallery. Finally, the visionary LEGO Universe design team utilized its full arsenal of graphic expertise to symbolize the massive new virtual world. The designers overcame the challenges and created an innovative icon for the revolutionary game.
The LEGO Universe logo incorporates The LEGO Group’s longstanding company logo with the hand of a LEGO minifigure. Minifigs are the game’s central characters, and the yellow curve of their hands makes a stunning “U” for the word Universe. The designers built the logo in 3D to boast maximum potential for cinematic storytelling. Soon LEGO Universe animators will be taking the logo one step further by bringing it to life, just as the game will merge the physical LEGO bricks with a virtual play experience."
Basically, it's a LEGO hand holding up the normal LEGO sign. Regardless of how ridiculously in depth they have gone in describing this, a LEGO MMO has our inner child screaming with creative joy and we look forward to some real screens.
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City of Heroes | NCSoft flaunt their games all summer long.
03/07/2008 9:30am
NCSoft will be touring lots of events this summer to show off its existing and upcoming MMO games, from the established comic book inspired City of Heroes/Villains to upcoming titles such as Aion and Dungeon Runners.
At Comic Con International in San Diego, July 23-27, the NCsoft booth will feature game stations set up for attendees to play City of Heroes and other NCsoft games, Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa and Exteel. In addition to other booth activities, City of Heroes fanzine artist, Dave Hamann, will be on hand to draw City of Heroes’ character sketches for players.
A few days later the spotlight will move to Brighton, England, where NCsoft Europe will open its doors to the media, presenting the upcoming fantasy MMO Aion: The Tower of Eternity to select members of the press (probably not us - Dala). Showing between July 29-31, this will be the first time for western journalists to see Aion since the summer of 2007.
August 20-24, Aion will be on display once again at the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. The NCsoft booth will be the destination where consumers get to try the game out for themselves at several demo kiosks. Press will be invited to attend presentations of Aion at the Flashpoint booth, within the Business Centre.
Penny Arcade Expo is the final stop for the NCsoft summer tour in Seattle, August 29-31. PAX is the massive convention hosted by the webcomic superstars at Penny Arcade and NCsoft will have a booth where attendees will have a chance to play Aion, as well as Exteel, Dungeon Runners, City of Heroes, Guild Wars and Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa. Guild Wars’ fans will be treated to a special player tournament while Exteel and Dungeon Runners’ teams will conduct play sessions in PAX’ special LAN area. Additionally there will be speaking sessions in the convention center’s auditorium where fans can learn more about NCsoft games.
For anyone that can make it to these events, you are very lucky, and people who are interested in reading more about NCSoft's library of titles, you can head over to their site here: http://eu.plaync.com
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World of Warcraft | Blizzard invitational starts tomorrow
27/06/2008 9:32am
The highly anticipated Blizzard worldwide invitational starts tomorrow and will see Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo super fans converge in Paris to celebrate the company.
The invitational will host a number of events from playing upcoming games to contests, developer Q&A panels, tournaments, and more. The show will conclude with performances by game-music concert group Video Games Live and Blizzard’s own Warcraft-themed rock band, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain.
“We’re looking forward to meeting face-to-face with thousands of our players at the Exposition Centre this weekend,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. “Our employees, partners, and sponsors have all contributed to making this a memorable experience for the attendees, and we hope everyone truly enjoys the show.”
Attendees will also be able to buy an additional layer of security for their WoW account in the form of a keychain that links an additional number to your account. The key-chain, which will cost €6.00 at the Invitational, creates a code that will be required alongside a normal password to sign in to the game.
“It’s important to us that World of Warcraft offers a safe and enjoyable game environment,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and - of Blizzard Entertainment. “One aspect of that is helping players avoid account compromise, so we’re pleased to make this additional layer of security available to them.”
To learn more about the Blizzard Authenticator, head over here: http://eu.blizzard.com/security-token/ and to keep up to date with the latest news from the invitational, including a live stream to make you incredibly jealous, you can check out http://eu.blizzard.com/wwi08/
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Silkroad Online | Lots of people travel the Silkroad
26/06/2008 10:08am
The Joymax developed Silkroad online has hosted 100,000 players concurrently on its global servers, meaning 100,000 people are playing it at once.
The free-to-play MMORPG hosts 7.2 million registered users and if Joymax's numbers are thrown in with their partners in four other countries then they get boosted to a stonking 18 million registered users with a total of 170,000 playing concurrently. Impressive.
Silkroad Online is a historical fantasy MMORPG that puts players deep into ancient Chinese and European civilizations along the Silk Road trade route. Traveling across Jang’an, China to Constantinople, players can make their fortunes as merchants, prey on the rich as thieves, or be protection-for-hire as hunters.Silkroad Online is free to play, and offers the unique chance for players to develop their characters free of restrictions or fixed paths.
Joymax recently released a strangely named new expansion for the game, Legend III Roc Mountain, featuring the essential new territory, quests, weapons, and it also increased the level cap to give players a higher standard to work towards.
For anyone interested in joining this popular free MMO, head over to http://www.silkroadonline.net
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World of Warcraft | Jam along with Azaroth's no. 1 band, rawl rawl rawl rawl!
26/06/2008 9:07am
Elite Tauren Chieftan's legendary track "I am Murloc" is being released as a download track for the PS3 and 360 versions of Guitar Hero 3.
From today, June 26th (two days before Blizzard's Paris invitational), shredders will be able to grab the track and play along to the warbling tones of Warcraft's beloved water based savages.
World of Warcraft players will remember the hit “I am Murloc” as the tongue-in-cheek tribute to the beloved race of fish-people by Blizzard Entertainment’s house band, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain. The thrash metal-style song debuted to delighted attendees at Blizzard Entertainment’s BlizzCon™ 2005 gaming convention in Anaheim, CA.
World of Warcraft entertains over ten million players, but if you are yet to be inducted into AboutMMORPG's favourite game you can grab the trial here: http://www.warcraft.com/ghero
And if you're yet to play Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, then this funny and catchy song could be the reason to pick up the plastic peripheral and rock into the night.
The song "I am Murloc" can also be downloaded here: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/downloads/movies.html#l70etc
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Fallen Earth | Post apocalypic humans and fungi reach alpha
20/06/2008 11:22am
Fallen Earth, a post apocalyptic MMORPG with a serious case of needs a hug, has reached the Alpha milestone when the developers can call it feature complete.
The game runs on the Icarus tools suite and has recently been through a major face lift by the team, improving textures, animations, and enriching the overall “look” of the game.
Human models have been completely revamped, areas are more moody with thick fog and newly added creatures include giant genetically engineered super soldiers and vicious killer fungi, somehowthe later doesn't sound as menacing as the former but as long as it gives experience then we'll shoot it.
The game mixes first person shooter and role playing elements to create a fast paced combat system and the team has recently added a multitude of vehicular transport, we're hoping for Mad Max style junk contraptions but all that's promised are muscle cars, motorbikes and ATVs.
Fallen Earth will also contain those essential MMO features such as post, auction houses, guilds and raids, it all sounds extremely civil for such a bleak sounding future. Hopefully raids will be exciting and in keeping with the games aesthetic with encounters such as taking out a bike gang while on vehicles or raiding a well armed bunker, rather than taking down a human that has grown twice its size due to poison or similarly absurd things.
Fallen Earth still lacks a release date, but now that it's at this stage of development we should start hearing whispers of beta soon enough, in the mean time keep an eye out for any vicious killer fungi that might threaten your life.
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Myth War II | Open Beta next week for ambitious free MMORPG
20/06/2008 10:56am
AboutMMORPGs recently asked Vivian Chan, IGG's marketing boffin, to answer some questions about Myth War II which is reaching the end of its week long closed beta, with a public open beta coming soon. The transcript follows;
AM - How long will the Myth War II beta last?
Vivian - The Myth War II closed beta will last for 7 days from 5:30am June 13th until 5:30am June 20th (EDT).
AM - When are you hoping for the game to go public?
Vivian - The launch date for the Myth War II open beta will be on a day between June 27th and June 30th.
AM - What are the games key features?
Vivian - The game's best features are as follows:
- Intricate graphics: The game screen is the perfect combination of life-like 3D and very playable 2D with vivid color and advanced hand-drawn backgrounds.
- ATB and bout online game: Although the ATB system delivers orders in battles just like the bout game system, players can fight in an RTS, and operate according to the situation in any given encounter, rather than taking turns to act. The ATB system is not only as strategic as the bout game type, but also lets players enjoy the excitement of real-time fighting. As a result the Battles are one of the highlights of the game; as they bring more intense, strategic and interactivity for the players. It’s not just a game it’s an experience!
- Guild System: Each guild worships its own god and every guild member must fight to claim and protect their own mine resources and guard their god. The mine scramble war is one of the main focuses of the world.
- Unique Lie System: When hundreds of people tell a lie, then it will become the truth. In Myth War, the players get the chance to do just that and by doing this can increase their popularity and maybe even win rewards. As a result, many people find the often hilariously funny dialogue with the NPCs very appealing.
- Pet System: The pet system in Myth War is extremely singular. Players can catch pets on the field or in their lairs. The pet system works in unison with the guilds, because when the guild consecrates a statue, players in the guild can catch the related Watchmonster as a pet. These Watchmonsters only appear in their own special lairs.
- Title System: The title system is a way to praise the players and to instill in them a sense of pride. It shows that players have strived to be unique in the game world. And as a bonus, the title has positive effect on their abilities. There are five kinds of titles in the game including Race Title, Profession Title, Relationship Title, Official Title and other Titles.
- Quest System: If a player finds the killing of monsters to be monotonous then they can still level up through the myriad of quests in the game. They can find themselves becoming very involved with the background stories. There are 11 kinds of quests including Newbie Quests, Race Quests, Qualified Quests, Chain Quests, Statue Quests , Guild Quests, Reward Quests, Couple Quests, Rebirth Quests, Treasure Quests, Bodyguard Quests, and some special quests. The Quest System offers players more fun and variety than just killing alone.
- Player interaction: The powerful player interaction function enables players to communicate with one another easily. 100 emoticons are available for use when chatting. It also informs players if one of their friends has come online and allows players to send messages to a whole group, to use blacklists and later on in development it will even have a mobile phone message function.
-Rebirth system: Players who reached a certain level are eligible to be reborn so that they can face even greater challenges. After rebirth, the player will be at level 1, but their growth rate will have risen and they will also gain other extra rewards. And they can use a new appearance and name color to set apart from the other player’s first life characters.
AM - What is the reaction of current players within the closed beta?
The large majority of our Closed Beta testers have stated that the graphics in this newer version of the game are much clearer, more dynamic, game zones are more diversified and quest modes are more abundant. In addition, the rebirth system (that allows eligible player characters to be reborn twice), the mining war, the marriage system, the brotherhood system, the PVP system and all of the other features are top class. A big shout out also went to the many ways in which players are able to communicate with one another more often and actively. Also, Myth War II was found to be far more convenient for players, for example it allows players to set a bank password in the game and deliver mail. To sum up the general feeling given by our testers is that they are eagerly anticipating the release of the game and expect a vast flock of players joining up. Even going so far as to say that they will definitely be inviting their friends to play and spread the love for Myth War II.
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Myth War II sounds like an exceptionally robust MMORPG and considering it's free and won't give your PC a hernia when you try to play it, everyone should be keeping an eye on http://mw2.igg.com/main.php for the open beta next week.
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Fiesta Online | The festival comes to Europe!
19/06/2008 12:44pm
Gamigo AG has acquired the rights to bring the free, cel-shaded MMO Fiesta Online to European shores. This means full English, German, French and Spanish translations will be added alongside separate servers.
The Korean developed game is already enjoying success in the US and Asia, and already has a strong European following but lacks a proper translation.
“Fiesta Online is our biggest game so far and has already proven successful in the US and Asia”, explains Sven Ossenbrüggen, CEO gamigo AG. “Improving the international versions with a completely reworked translation and storyline, we are offering players a high quality game to enjoy for free!”
The game's content is similar to any retail MMORPG, offering a large amount of quests, four class', content for thirty man parties, guilds, and the ability to carry a house in your pocket like a turtle, or a snail.
We have managed to get some screens and from a quick glance it reminds us of Namco's Tales of Symphonia while the healtdisplayh gives off a Zelda vibe, and while it looks pretty Holic has a better style, we'll have to see how the gameplay compares.
The game will be launching in German first and English hot on its tail this summer while French and Spanish players will have to wait till later if they want to understand the cutesy world.
The European beta test has 5,000 slots available and will be starting soon, you can create an account and keep a beady eye on http://fiesta-online.gamigo.com/ if you want to play, and after finding out there is a pet and marriage system, you'll find me there on day one...
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Atlantica Online | Journey to Atlantis! But wait for your turn.
19/06/2008 9:32am
NDOORS Interactive, US subsidiary of Korean developer NDOORS, is bringing MMO players a slice of the turn-based strategy RPG soufflé with their new title Atlantica Online, set around the doomed city of Atlantis.
Players take on the quest to destroy the Oriharukon energy, a powerful sensor from Atlantis that is poisoning the world. This journey will take players around the globe, including the ancient civilizations of Hanyang (Korea), Indus Valley (India and Pakistan), Mesopotamia (Iraq, Syria and Turkey) and Egypt, as well as North America and legendary locales such as the Pyramids and Angkor Wat.
Famous turn-based strategy RPGs include Fire Emblem, Disgaea, and the brutally hard Final Fantasy Tactics, but the main problem is that these games have sold roughly thirteen copies between them considering this is possibly the most niche genre on the market, with the exception of train simulators. However on further inspection of the screenshots it appears to have a more classic Final Fantasy approach, we'll see when it arrives.
Not satisfied with one character, Atlantica Online lets you control a party of nine willing warriors during combat, this is made up of a main character and eight mercenaries, players can then combine their forces with two other players to create a fighting force of twenty seven warriors. Party set up will be this games depth as you shape and mould your squad into a versatile and powerful team.
The mercenaries you add to your ranks need to be watched as not only will they fight beside you, they will also go grey, fall over, and die while you're not looking.AO provides ways to manipulate this aging system however, letting you marry off your lackeys in the name of superior offspring to replace their decaying parents.
The game falls in line with the recent trend of guilds being able to control towns, except here it's a game in itself as players will need to plan everything from culture, commerce and industry, even deciding where to place buildings for maximum output. Groups of guilds can then band together, go a bit risk and take control of countries, Controlling cities and countries allows players to obtain rare items and mercenaries.
“We really strived to create a game that gave players something new,” said Peter Kang, CEO of NDOORS Interactive. “Atlantica was designed to bring the gameplay that RPG and strategy fans love [together with] the most the MMO world [has to offer]. Atlantica takes smarts, requiring planning and strategy at every step.”
Launching into closed beta next month Atlantica Online certainly looks different, but worries persist that this is a terribly niche genre. As long as everyone that loves it takes the bait it could ignite a passionate and deepMMO experience but until we get our mits on it, we'll stare at the screenshots and try and decide how it is actually going to play...
To sign up for the beta and view the swish CG trailer, head over here: http://www.playatlantica.com/
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Warhammer Online : Age of Reckoning | Crafting system explored.
18/06/2008 10:02am
When you hear crafting, you think of using items that adhere to dictated recipes in the name of making items to sell on to other players, it also brings up horrible memories of slogging through a lot of useless tat before reaching the stuff that people actually want.
Warhammer: Age of Reckoning thinks this is rubbish and wants you making money as soon as possible, so it has created a gathering and crafting system to reflect this. There are currently four gathering skills and two crafting, but you can only have one of each so you'll have to choose carefully from the list;
Gathering Skills
Cultivating - Collect seeds and spores from monsters, merchants, and other players to grow your own personal stash of weeds and fungi. Growing them is a time consuming process that gives players the chance to affect the outcome by forcing additives upon their crops in the growth period, rewarding cruel scientists with potentially superior, genetically mutated freak herbs.
Magical Salvaging - Break down magical items into their core magical essences, these items can be found in all areas of the game.
Scavenging - If a monster is smart enough to wear clothes, then you can become smart enough to put your fingers deeper into their pockets, this will yield rarer treasures both for yourself and to sell to others.
Butchering - If a monster isn't smart enough to wear clothes then you can mutilate the corpse and carry away their dripping meat, bones, and flesh in your bags. Harsh.
Crafting Skills
Apothecary - Gather ingredients from merchants and the cultivating, salvaging, and butchering skills, throw it all in a pot and mix over a medium heat. Unlike recipe based systems Warhammer lets you choose your main ingredient and three additional ones to see what you get, meaning experimentation and a notebook are the order of the day. This system should give inquisitive players something to really get their teeth into.
Talisman Making - Talismans can be hooked onto high level items, and are crafted in much the same way as potions in apothecary. A main ingredient is something from magical salvaging, and the additional ingredients can be anything and everything to help boost the talisman's power. As with the apothecary skill this free form design should give players a lot to experiment with.
If you can endure some obvious editing and poor attempts at humour, check out EA Mythic's official video explaining the gathering and crafting process' in depth over at game trailers by clicking the link;
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/35242.html
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EverQuest II | Violent winds gather for new Everquest content.
17/06/2008 5:16pm
Update forty six, that's right forty six, for Sony Online Entertainment's long running MMO Everquest 2 has gone live under the pretentious moniker of "Gathering Tempest", which when translated directly means a group of violent winds or general disturbances meeting in one place.
The update promises to add a new live event, a new zone, and a plethora of new content for everyone still playing the game which includes new quests alongside new loot and "a whole new experience"... Ho hum.
The first live event, The Void Storms Part 1: The Invasion, will run through the middle of July and lets players join the investigation of mysterious electrical spikes surrounding the wild energy storms appearing in Norrath. This is the first of many scheduled live events being releasing this summer as part of the Living Legacy program and is open to players of all levels who, through their participation, can obtain various rewards.
Developers have also added the new, curiously titled Heroic Runnyeye zone which beckons adventurers to wander through enclosed tunnels to fight massive eyes, goblins of all colours and sizes, and glowing minotaurs all in the name of new loot and quests, originality was evidently not one of their focus points when brainstorming ideas for this content. Regardless of the recycled concepts it could be just the thing for players worn out on the previous forty five updates.
We've got a collection of screenshots in our gallery, and are trying to host the official trailer but for the time being you can visit the official website at www.everquest2.com for more information.
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Pirates of the Burning Sea | Prima solves pirating problems.
17/06/2008 2:07pm
Game guide veterans Prima games have released a revised eGuide for the recent nautical MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea, which also gives players an exclusive pet.
“We are very excited to be able to offer a newly updated and revised guide digitally for this well-loved MMORPG,” says Debra Kempker, president of Prima Games. “Continuing in a new tradition of in-game items, we were able to once again offer exclusive content—something we hope to keep doing in the future.”
The guide is written by a group of Prima authors in collaboration with online gaming guild The Syndicate. The two groups worked side by side on the original guide and have worked together again to test long lasting strategies for all elements of the game, making this the best resource available for players.
Purchase of the guide also gives gamers a code that entitles them to an exclusive lizard to perch upon your character's shoulder. Meaning if any players need help, all they need do is look for the scaly beacon of guide purchase upon a character's shoulder, before bombarding them with whispers, wear with warning.
“Our friends at Prima have created a must-have guide for every Pirates of the Burning Sea fan,” said Troy Hewitt, Director, Community Relations at Flying Lab Software. “Filled with the latest in piratical play-tips, this official guide is a tremendous resource for even the most sea-worthy captain of the Burning Sea! Let’s not forget that exclusive shoulder lizard—Yar!” (Not much of a pirate, everyone knows that a real yarr has two r's - Dala).
If you need help pillaging towns and kidnapping wenches, the guide can be purchased now from Prima's official site, www.primagames.com for the price of $19.99.
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L2 | T-Entertainment's L2 gets unreal.
17/06/2008 1:59pm
Korean based T-Entertainment, developers of MMORPGs Laghaim and Last Chaos have licensed the Unreal engine 3 for their latest foray into the genre, tentatively titled L2.
L2 is described by T-Entertainment as a mix of role-playing (RPG) and real-time strategy (RTS) games, and is described as a “futuristic fantasy with a taste of space opera.” There are no images or art available for the game yet, so we'll just imagine anorc in full space marine get up singing 'Don't Cry for me Argentina'. Oh dear...
The Unreal engine is developed by Epic games and powers a lot of modern games, from Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 3 to any Tom Clancy game you can name. It also powers upcomingMMOs APB and the DC comics online game. While the engine's speciality is shooters Epic stress that it is a diverse development platform, they even created a golf game using Gears of War assets for marketing reasons.
“We have a team of seasoned professionals devoted to L2 project, and we are confident that by integrating our expertise and Unreal Engine 3’s excellent performance, L2 will be a top-tierMMORPG that fascinates gamers all around the world,” said John Hong, CTO of T-Entertainment.
“T-Entertainment is a well-diversified entertainment company that is poised to launch yet another successful MMORPG worldwide,” said Jay Wilbur, vice president of Epic Games. “We are constantly improving the Unreal Engine, and look forward to providing them with cutting-edge game development tools and technology for many months to come.”
Unreal Engine 3 gives developers a number of helpful tools including dynamic fluid surfaces, advanced character lighting and ambient occlusion (realistic water, pretty lighting and detailed shadows), so even if the game is unimaginative it should be one of the best lookingMMO when it launches in 2010.
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WoW Wrath of the Lich King | Northrend has wyrms.
16/06/2008 1:16pm
Blizzard have updated Wrath's bestiary with the Jormungar, a massive wyrm that lives underneath Northrend and will not hesitate to snack on unsuspecting adventurers. The additional artwork shows a wyrm with an opal mouth that bears teeth-like spikes all around it, there's clearly no escape if this thing gets its chomper around you. The wyrm also makes a mockery of the human in the artwork, making us think this wyrm might replace Outland's Fel Reavers as the largest mob in the game. Devastating mandibles and gargantuan size aside, your first time seeing one of these penetrate Northrend's surface will be a monumental occasion in your campaign around Northrend.
The official bestiary entry follows, as does the concept art;
" The fiercely aggressive jormungar are a marvel of evolution, possessing rows of chisel-like teeth capable of boring through solid rock, as well as muscular, flattened bodies well adapted to rapid underground navigation.
Legends tell of the nerubians' using the jormungar as creatures of labor, forcing them to carve massive tunnels through Northrend's subterranean ice and lay the groundwork for the nerubians' ancient civilization. With the fall of the nerubian empire, swarms of rogue jormungar ran amok, drilling through the region's permafrost, attacking surface dwellers, and devouring everything in their path."
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Age of Conan | Mammoth year for new content...
14/06/2008 12:18am
Barbaric players have been slicing their way through Conan's world for a few weeks and details of the game's first onslaught of content have been spilled by Funcom and Eidos, and once the jargon has been wiped away there are some interesting things in store...
“While we have enjoyed the initial success for Age of Conan, we know that a solid launch is but the start when it comes to the MMO genre,” said Gaute Godager, Game Director on Age of Conan. ”As we look ahead we are preparing a huge amount of new content, and what we are presenting today will evolve Age of Conan even further. It’s naturally an incredibly ambitious update plan for a live MMO game, but we are certain our players would want nothing less.”
Much of the content has had obvious... Influences from other successful MMOs but the scope of the update is impressive and should keep people interested in the Hyborian age for months to come. Below are the intended updates in decending order of interest and straight to the point;
[b]To the Death[/b] - A PvP update set for late June, "To the Death" is set to improve Conan's exciting player against player combat. The update will be penalising the heinous act of picking off low levelled players by marking the guilty party as a fugitive, making them easier to track and because the download is adding more consequences and rewards to PVP combat, players will not want to openly mark themselves as a twat for fear of being repeatedly killed themselves... Hopefully. Exact details of these consequences are secret, but let's hope that ganking players somehow lose an arm, or get slapped by wenches around cities. The update also adds PVP related gear rewards.
[b]Guild Alliance Warfare[/b] - Or, let lots of guilds band together so that they can go and crush any opposition. New features allow these guild groups to build personal Battlekeeps and wonders of the world. Funcom will also be kicking their servers into gear to facilitate larger battles than those currently available, expect this content later in the year.
[b]Community feedback[/b] - What you say helps them improve the game, get to those message boards!
[b]Powerpoints[/b] - A form of currency gained from doing anything in the game, methods announced include owning a Battlekeep, playing the end-game at level 80, winning PvP matches, or simply being an active guild member or subscribing to the game, hopefully you will get lots of powerpoints for reporting gold sellers, and even more for spilling their guts. You can use these points to purchase new items and upgrades.
[b]Social updates[/b] - Not much revealed about this, apart from the addition of a combo-based dance system... Epic.
[b]New areas and dungeons[/b] - self explanatory. For those interested this includes a brand new dungeon in Aquilonia, reshaping three dungeons in Stygia, and an entire mountain range in Cimmeria.
[b]More adventures[/b] - More quests.
For those that like their jargon thick the latest edition of Clan of Conan has in depth previews for most of these new features, and can be found by following the link at the end of this article. Once you've read all about it, start pleading to the best guilds to let you into their group so you can leech off their funds and strength later this month...
http://funcom.cachefly.net/WebFiles/Newsletter/Issue17/
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Hellgate: London | Hellgate staff leave "in droves".
12/06/2008 9:52am
Flagship employee Guy Somberg is telling the world that Hellgate staff are leaving "in droves" via his blog at http://adiss.the-cabal.org/blog/. The game was released last year to lukewarm reviews and because it hasn't received the positive consumer feedback those working at flagship expected, everyone is acting very mature by throwing any toy to hand out of their big pram of solid employment and storming out.
"We’ve had programmers, accountants, HR people, and artists leave", writes Somberg. "The founders are all still around, but they’ve been floating away from Hellgate to work on various other projects. Thing is, the way things are going I’m likely to be the only programmer still working on Hellgate left from the original crew. I’ve heard rumours that other programmers and artists are thinking of leaving."
And with all these people leaving it means that Hellgate can not evolve simply because all the people that contribute to making extra content are not there to make it. Perhaps a post apocalyptic London is just not a nice place to spend an extended period of your career? "It could be much worse, of course. At this point, though, what I need is some fresh projects; I’m getting burned out onHellgate."
It's not all bad news, the title is doing well in Korea and will be launching in China soon so while the west might not want to potter around demonic versions ofPiccadilly and Trafalgar the game may still do strong on foreign shores. At least Mystos is shaping up nicely, so some people must still be working at Flagship.
The original blog entry has since disappeared but thanks to the magic of google, it can still be found here:
http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:EWj5vpvGDwAJ:adiss.the-cabal.org/blog/2008/05/09/work-is-depressing/+adiss+cabal+org+blog+2008+work+depressing&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us
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Star Wars Galaxies | KOTOR 3, an MMO after all?
11/06/2008 11:41pm
Anyone that has been abruptly kicked from a group, or sacked from a job knows that sense of anger against those that you once held in such high regard, and you know that urge to unveil all their secrets you've been holding for them, in a last ditch attempt to soil their name, or cause them a few hours of misery at the very least.
Last week Lucas Arts did this to a few employees, somewhere between 75 and 100 and any level of responsibility from lowly testers to the producer of Lego Star Wars and Indy, quite why you would sack the genius that set those games going shows that Lucas' marbles are anywhere but safe.
Fortunately for everyone besides Lucas Arts bigwigs one mouth has started flapping, and it tells of interesting things. A waggle-tastic wii star wars title, a non-lego Indy adventure and the bombshell that is an MMO set in the KOTOR universe.
For the uninitiated, KOTOR (Knights of the Old Republic) is Bioware's (http://www.bioware.com/) award winning Star Wars RPG that set new standards for gameplay, characters and story within modern RPGs, the sequel developed by Obsidian also received high praise and the company used its lessons learned in the development of KOTOR in creating 2007's Mass Effect.
The prospect of a Star Wars MMO done right is one thing but the idea of Bioware, king of western RPGs making an MMO in such a well established universe is enough to cause hype meters to explode in anticipation.
Lucas Arts and Bioware have not commented on the project yet, after all it could be a cruel trick from an aggitated employee, but nevertheless we are waiting for the force to send us some signals. Or failing that an e-mail.
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All Points Bulletin | New appointment on APB project
11/06/2008 8:43am
Perhaps The Hoosiers knew this before us, writing the song 'Cops and Robbers' in unadulterated excitement at the thought of getting their hands on All Points Bulletin, Real Time World's Grand Theft Auto inspired MMO, or maybe the brain melting potential of this project is making us think about it whenever we hear mention of the law and the unlawful.
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APB represents a brave move in the MMO sphere, moving away from orcs and humans and opting for a bleak crime-fuelled version of reality, putting a gun in the player's hand and dumping them in a harsh PVP world featuring a thousand Shaft wannabes and another thousand Scarface's. It's all enough to make a little bit of wee come out, and we could be robbing banks and shackling perps soon...
Chris Dye, recently hired community relations manager at Real Time Worlds said, "APB is at an extremely exciting and important stage, and we can now begin the process of introducing to the gaming community the various aspects of what will make up this genre definingMMO”
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Mario Rizzo, Business Development Manager added “This appointment signals the start of a new phase for APB where we can interact more fluidly with both gaming sites, and our potential future player base. This is an important milestone for the game now that we are transitioning into Alpha and moving towards the full public beta of APB.”
Public betas are common for MMOs, but when it's for one that offers the ability to administer rocket launcher justice with no repercussions, wear crazy modern fashions, and wield guns with skulls on them, we just want to know when we can start our sirens.
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Age of Conan | Beta opens May 1st for Age of Conan
21/04/2008 1:14pm
The developer for Age of Conan has released a statement indicting that the game will be entering open beta, and with this 50,000 new players will be invited to join in testing of the game, to obtain one of these places players will have to apply at some high profiles sites and no doubt through some competition or subscription based offers.
[QUOTE]The Open Beta will be hosted exclusively by IGN’s popular game download site, FilePlanet.com, as well as being offered through partner IGN sites such as Gamespy.com, Tentonhammer.com and Warcry.com. The application pages at FilePlanet.com are now open for registrations, and gamers from across the world can sign up. As 50.000 gamers prepare their Hyborian assault, rivers of blood are about to flow, and it’s exclusively available through FilePlanet and IGN partner sites.[/QUOTE]
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