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Archive for October, 2009
Aion: Entering the Game
Oct 7th
Like many others, MMORPG.com Correspondent Dana O’Shea recently started playing NCsoft’s Aion. In this article, he describes his early experiences in the game as a player from "Down Under."
The biggest thing about this game’s hype is the flight. It is said to be the best implementation of fight added to an MMOPRG so far. It’s not long into the game before you get to experience this but I have spent my gaming time with Aion exploring the early parts of character construction, and just exploring the world.
As an Oceanic player I am very grateful that NC Soft had decided to assign a server to just us Aussies. At release it is just a West Coast server but I am told it will later be adjusted to our time. This makes a bigger difference than some people might realise. For a start, an MMO that has maintenance at times convenient for US players means that Oceanic players lose some of their peak playing time (I am assuming they will adjust maintenance as well). The dream for many of us is that one day we will have local servers to cut down latency troubles but, as conciliation, at least if all of us More >
Star Trek Online: Ships Overview, Roles, and Customization
Oct 6th
A new article posted on the official Star Trek Online gives an overview of the various types of ships available in Star Trek Online, as well as how they differ from one another. Also described, albeit briefly, is the type of visual customization players can expect for their ships.
Visual customization is described as:
Visiting a ship “tailor” will allow you to change the color of your ship, the nacelles, the neck and/or nacelle pylons, its saucer, its name, its registry number and so on. And since ships have paperdolls and Bridge Officer stations, the decisions you make in how you outfit the ship’s weaponry, impulse engines, shields, deflector dish and mods guarantee your gameplay experience will be unique to other players, but at the same time still feel like Star Trek.
Moving on from there we learn about the various ship types:
- Bridge Officer station arrangement. Science vessels favor Science Officer stations, Escorts favor Tactical Officer stations and Cruisers favor Engineering Officer stations.
- Utility. Science vessels are innately able to detect cloaked ships and are specialized in subsystem targeting. Cruisers have lots of crew, repair very quickly and lots of power to distribute across their subsystems. Escorts are the gunboats of the Federation fleet; More >
ZTGD Interview with Game Director Craig Morrison – Hyborian Adventures
Oct 6th
ZTGD Interview with Game Director Craig Morrison
ZTGD sits down with Age of Conan Game Director Craig Morrison to talk about the upcoming expansion Rise of Godslayer
Rise of the Godslayer handles leveling in a rather unique way, and even offers lower level players a taste of the experience.
Morrison: What happens is between levels 20 and 40 the players can play the Gateway to Khitai so when they leave the starting area at Tortage they can arrive in Khitai and go through quests between level 40, and then they’ll have to return to the mainland for parts and then the content picks up again at level 80. So the majority of the content is for the level 80 players, is beyond the Great Wall…they can start to experience the faction system because the Great Wall kind of acts as this cool barrier for us that lower level players can get into Khitai and kind of explore around up to the gates of the wall and then it’s the high level players that are actually powerful enough to be able to pass through the wall and experiences adventures in the other four play field regions … We’ve ended up putting gameplay in the More >
World of Warcraft: Chatting With Blizzard
Oct 6th
Blizzard VP Frank Pearce and World of Warcraft Production Director J. Allen Brack recently spoke to MMORPG.com about the company, Cataclysm and the state of World of Warcraft.
When interviewing and talking with Production Director J. Allen Brack about the upcoming additions to World of Warcraft there were a lot of ideas that look great for the game. The MMO market is changing and WoW is set to change with it. Their system of the five man, 10 man, and 25 man advancement dungeons are tiered so that players with all kinds of time can enjoy the game. If you do not have the time to raid every night, you have the chance to do instances and still gain the epic gear in the game. Brack was definitely excited about Patch 3.3 were players will get the chance to square off against the Lich King himself and hope to add some epic storylines into the dungeons they are creating. The idea of a two handed legendary axe named Shadowmourne has Death Knights, Hunters, and Warriors eager with excitement. Patch 3.3 will have normal and heroic five-man, normal and heroic ten and twenty five man instances. You can except some heavy lore added More >
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning: Live Event & Podcast: Daemon Moon Rising
Oct 6th
Daemon Moon Rising, a new live event that will run from October 23rd to November 2nd has been announced on the Warhammer Online official website.
Similar to last year’s Witching Night autumn event, there will be masks as part of this event, with several new ones to acquire, as well as some familiar ones from last year. This year’s masks will have a bit of a twist, however, as each mask will grant special abilities.
Like all previous WAR events, Daemon Moon Rising will require players to complete tasks in order to earn their rewards. A few examples of these tasks include, killing players while wearing a mask, slaying hordes of daemons, and completing the High Pass Scenario, which will be open from Tiers 1-4 for the duration of the event.
This year’s event rewards start out pretty impressively as well, with the Basic Reward consisting of the Fiendfang, an item that boosts damage, healing, experience, and renown gain by 10%, though it only lasts for 3 days. The advanced reward is a stiched pigface mask called the Meatcleaver’s Mask, which will grant a as of yet unspecified ability to be used on the battlefield. The elite event reward will be the Malleus Daemonarium, which More >
Aion: Getting Free Server Transfers
Oct 6th
NCWest Executive Producer Lance Stites addressed the Aion community in a recently released State of the Game letter. The topic of discussion? Horrible queue times! The problem isn’t a lack of servers, Aion has plenty. The problem is that many players are attempting to pile onto the more popular servers (anyone who played WAR at launch should find this problem all too familiar) and so queue times are still a stand out issue.
So, what’s the solution? It’s not more servers, according to Mr. Stites. Mr. Stites explains that throwing more servers at the problem wouldn’t solve the issue, due to the fact people are simply lining up to enter the same servers.
What NCWest will do, however, is implement one-time free server transfers beginning next month to help players frustrated by queue times but unwilling to move servers due to a loss of character progress an opportunity to make a new home on another server.
Lance Stites Talks About the State of Aion Today.
Aion: Instance Guide: The Nochsana Training Camp
Oct 6th
The Nochsana Training Camp is a relatively small Asmodian instance in the Abyss and today we have a guide on what to do in there.
The Nochsana Training Camp is a relatively small Asmodian instance in the Abyss, although I’m sure the Elyos have some equivalent. Because of its location within the Abyss, you cannot access it prior to level 25. It should probably take you no more than 45 minutes to run through, maybe less depending on how efficient your group is. Mine consisted of a Gladiator tanking, three Rangers (don’t ask), a Chanter, and a Spirit Master. The Spirit Master was of limited use though, considering they were AFK for most of the dungeon. Despite this, with three Rangers the damage seemed just fine, and we were able to burn through the mobs with relative ease. The tank was able to hold threat just fine the majority of the time. Only one of the Rangers ever pulled aggro on any of the mobs. Suffice it say, that Ranger was either incredibly bad ass or incredibly bad. Yeah, I was that Ranger, so I’ll opt to say I was just incredibly bad ass.
Read it all here.
More >Dev Blog: Intro and Updates – Hyborian Adventures
Oct 5th
Dev Blog: Intro and Updates
This weeks blog covers updates that are on the way for Age of Conan!
Hello Everyone! Famine added me as a contributor to this blog a few weeks back and it has been a busy few weeks for me but I thought I would drop in to give everyone a few updates and talk about what is going on in Age of Conan. Before I get into the good stuff I should probably let everyone know who I am and what it is that I do here! My name is Dominic Acquarulo and I am the US Community Coordinator here at Funcom and you will find me on the forums as Senek.
Before working with the community team I was a CS Lead for AoC so I have a spent a lot of time actually in the game. One of the cool things I have been able to work with lately is the Advocate Program. The Advocates are a group of players that give Funcom feedback reports based on their experience and the discussions they have with the community in regards to their class. As of late I have recruited several new Advocates who are doing More >
EVE Online: Corrupting The Incorruptable
Oct 5th
There’s a fledgling democracy in EVE Online and Kevin Schram reports on it and some of the controversies that have surrounded it and the game so far.
In part because of the t20 controversy, CCP announced in March 2008 that a Council of Interstellar Management would be created. Nine players would be elected to the Council and would be flown to CCP headquarters in Iceland and would hold court with CCP developers and be able to voice the concerns and suggestions of the games’ player base.
Since the creation of the CSM in 2008, they have claimed several vital improvements in EVE as their doing. First and for most, being the skill training queue. For the uninitiated, skills in EVE are based on ’setting a skill to train’ and then waiting for a timer, as opposed to a certain game with elves and mages where you kill butterflies for hours, grinding your way to a higher skill level. The timer on these skills range from just 30 minutes for some low level ones to 25 days for some higher level ones. Formerly, if you weren’t online to change your skills when the previous one ran out, your character would stop skilling. The More >
Final Fantasy (NES) Hits The Virtual Console
Oct 5th
The virtual console on the wii has been updated with the original Final Fantasy! If you havent ever played this two decade old classic, or dont own it go ahead and download it for five bucks!
FINAL FANTASYOriginal platform: NES
publisher: SQUARE ENIX
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone) – Mild Fantasy Violence
Price: 500 Wii Points
Description: The world lies shrouded in darkness. The winds die. The sea rages. The earth decays. But the people believe in a prophecy, patiently awaiting its fulfillment. "When darkness veils the earth, four Warriors of Light shall come…." After a long journey, four young travelers did at last appear, and in the hand of each was clutched a crystal.