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Archive for September, 2009
Star Wars: The Old Republic: LA: All Business Models on the Table
Sep 9th
LucasArts’ President Darrell Rodriguez spoke to the guys at GamesIndustry.biz recently about Star Wars: The Old Republic, and some interesting comments regarding possibilities for the game’s business model surfaced during the conversation:
Q: There is a lot of talk about the business model for MMOs – subscription, free-to-play… nothing’s been announced for Old Republic yet, so is everything still on the table in that respect?
Darrell Rodriguez: Yeah, we’re considering it all, absolutely. You start looking at how different communities, territories such as Asia, actually play games, and we start to consider it all – especially if we want it to be a worldwide phenomenon.
Does this simply mean multiple business models might be used in different territories, or is there a possibility of seeing a different, universal business model being applied to The Old Republic? Hard to say! What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!
The full interview is available here.
Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: Eberron Unlimited Now Live
Sep 9th
Turbine has announced today that Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited is now live. Eberron Unlimited is completely free-to-play, though offers a subscription option for users who desire VIP Access. Alternatively, players can purchase a variety of additional game features a la carte from the game’s in-game DDO Store.
A break down of some of Eberron Unlimited’s main features can be found below:
- DDO Unlimited’s New Content & Features – DDO Unlimited delivers a new class, increases the level cap to 96 ranks, introduces new adventure packs including a new 12-player raid, and features major combat improvements.
- The Fiercest Combat of any MMO – DDO Unlimited features an extraordinary heart- pounding combat experience that requires players to fully engage in the battle by relying on their wits and reflexes in real time. No more clicking skills and watching the action from the sideline.
- Mind-blowing Visuals – Explore a vast and dangerous online world that features the most advanced graphics in the industry and is stuffed with the legendary monsters, glorious treasures, devious traps, mind-bending puzzles and endless adventures from the world’s best known RPG.
- Full-featured MMO – Experience sophisticated systems found only in the best games including auctions, NPC hirelings, arena death matches (Player versus Player), crafting, and powerful social More >
D&D Online F2P Now Open
Sep 9th
Turbine, Inc. announced today the launch of Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited (DDO Unlimited), a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) which delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industrys best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found in premium subscription-based MMOs. DDO Unlimited introduces an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the games content. Starting today, players can download and play DDO Unlimited for free by visiting http://www.ddo.com.
Today Turbine changes the way gamers experience their online entertainment by providing them with a choice in how they pay and play for a premium MMO, said Jim Crowley, CEO of Turbine, Inc. The DDO Unlimited Beta program has been a huge success and the initial response to the game from both press and players has been nothing short of phenomenal. In response, we have already more than doubled our capacity to handle the increased demand.
DDO Unlimited is the most innovative, exciting More >
Age Of Conan "Rise of Godslayer" at PAX 2009 – Hyborian Adventures
Sep 8th
Age Of Conan "Rise of Godslayer" at PAX 2009
Game Director Craig Morrison shows in game video of Age of Conan "Rise of Godslayer" at PAX 2009!
Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison takes us on a stunning visual tour of Khitai, the Far Eastern styled setting for Rise of the Godslayer. Players will begin their Khitai experience in the 20-40 range, possibly making this the perfect bridge to the endgame for those that found AoC’s post-Tortage experience lacking.
Revel in the Sino-Korean inspired visuals, learn about a renewed emphasis on faction warfare in the expansion and the new alternate advancement system, and see the capstone of the Khitai experience: a tiger or wolf pet that can be tamed for a pet or used a mount as part of very compelling multi-part quest. It’s all in this no-CG, in-game video only demo with Craig Morrison from PAX 2009!
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Coruscant Unveiled!
Sep 8th
One major reveal that occurred at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo was the confirmation of another planet to be featured in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and not just any planet, either! The heart of the galaxy, Coruscant, will be playable in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
What’s the big deal about Coruscant? Producing a planet like Coruscant in an MMOG would possibly be one of the more challenging things you could do. So as a Star Wars nerd, BioWare is really outdoing themselves yet again by promising to feature Coruscant in Star Wars: The Old Republic.
You can’t simply lay down some terrain, pepper it with structures and call it a day. Coruscant as a planet is almost entirely covered in cities. Imagine New York City, only planetwide. There are no bodies of water, and the only landmass that really remains would be the Manarai Mountains. If nothing else, experiencing Coruscant fully realized in an MMOG is enough reason to be excited about Star Wars: The Old Republic.
A new trailer featuring the planet was demo’d at the show, and GameSpot has a high resolution version of it up right now. Check out the high-res trailer here.
Star Wars: The Old Republic: PAX Reveal
Sep 8th
MMORPG.com’s Carolyn Koh was at this past weekend’s Penny Arcade Expo and submits this report on Bioware Austin’s Star Wars: The Old Republic, which was on display at the event.
LucasArts and Bioware showed a live demo of Star Wars: The Old Republic at Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle both Saturday and Sunday, with slight variations on their demonstration each day. They showed cinematic trailers, some in-game footage as well as a live-demo of the game play. All four classes revealed thus far were shown to fans, including a demo of the female Bounty Hunter’s voice effects.
They pulled a joke on Saturday, announcing a big reveal then flashing up "Darth Binks" to stunned silence and a smattering of laughter. "I think we failed on humor," said Bioware Producer, Jake Neri. "Wait, what did you think?" asked Lucas Arts Public Relations Manager, Adam Kahn. Well, I was laughing so hard, I forgot to take a picture of the "reveal." Darth Binks was not shown again on Sunday, but from my reaction and the bits of laughter they had heard from the crowd, they thought the joke a success. Yes, with this many dedicated Star Wars fans, canon humor is a little tough.
Read More >
City of Heroes: Playing With the Fire / Fire Blaster
Sep 8th
MMORPG.com City of Heroes Correspondent Cecil Adkins writes this look at the Fire/FireBlaster character build in Paragon Studios’ City of Heroes.
My first character in City of Heroes, way back in June 2004, was an Electrical Blast/Electricity Manipulation Blaster. I’m not sure why, other than I think I thought it might be fun to ZAP! the bad guys. His name was Merrlinn or something dumb like that, and he didn’t last very long. He maybe got to level five before I deleted him.
Shortly thereafter, after trying out a Tanker and not liking it, I made another Blaster. This time I went Fire Blast/Fire Manipulation. At the time, everyone was making Devices Blasters because of a "decimal error" in the Smoke Grenade power that made its "To Hit" debuff much stronger than it should have been (basically villains that you attacked wouldn’t be able to hit the broad side of a barn). But I didn’t know that, because that was before my involvement in the game’s community in general and the official message boards in particular.
Read Playing With the Fire / Fire Blaster
GC 2009 - Articles francophones – Hyborian Adventures
Sep 7th
GC 2009 – Articles francophones
La GamesCom a fermé ses portes il ya deux semaines, l’heure est au bilan. Voici un résumé non-exhaustif des articles parus dans la presse en ligne francophone.
- JeuxOnline : questions/réponses avec Craig Morrison et Joel Bylos
- Gamekult : l’extension présentée
- jeuxvideo.tv : Vidéo Gameplay commentée
- Univers Virtuels : un bon gros résumé
Whoops! 6 Mistakes in the MMORPG world
Sep 7th
This Article is Originally from MMORPGATE.COMIf You Want to Know More Details about it, please check out the link below:http://www.mmorpgate.com/…mistakes-in-mmorpg-world.html
Developing a MMORPG is an arduous and long-term task, and when the game finally hits the shelves the work is still far from finished. Any false step may compromise all your efforts, be it during the design phase or while watching over the community.
Some of the best known examples of the genre and other, yet unreleased names, prove that mistakes, voluntary or not, may have a serious effect on any strategy. MMORPG Gate looks at a few of those situations.
Lineage III – NCsoftMistake: Source code theft Star Wars: The Old Republic – BioWareMistake: ?Champions Online – Cryptic StudiosMistake: ? …
Third Warhammer Online Novel will be Available
Sep 6th
Mythic Entertainment, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, and The Black Library, a division of Games Workshop, have announced Forged by Chaos, an original novel based on the critically acclaimed Massively Multi-player Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. The third in a series of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning novels, Forged by Chaos will be available in all major bookstores and on the Black Library website in the Autumn of 2009.
Warhammer Online – The Wild Hunt
Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer for Mythic Entertainment said:
With the first two Warhammer Online novels, Empire in Chaos and Dark Storm Gathering, we saw the Realm vs. Realm conflict from the besieged viewpoint of Order. Forged by Chaos provides readers with their first look into the dark, megalomaniacal minds of the forces of Destruction. Rife with internal conflict, shifting allegiances, and a never-ending lust for murder, we see firsthand how this unholy alliance of Destruction is just as deadly to each other as they are to the armies of Order.
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