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Archive for November, 2009
Accounts giveway to Lords Online’s alpha test
Nov 27th
IGG is very proud to announce the Lords Online Alpha Test will begin at 9:00 EST (GMT-5) December 3rd 2009. It is an elaborately designed combo set of strategy and RPG elements, which has been deemed the next generation in browser based gaming. To ensure an active and diverse Alpha Test group, IGG will be giving out Alpha test accounts to every player that wants to join in the fun.
To find out who is truly worthy of becoming a Lord of the land, IGG officials will be giving away AT keys as part of forum events. Interested? Getting in on the action is simple, just visit http://lo.igg.com/questionnaire/ to join.
Breaking the typical MMO mold, this new game incorporates an SLG style more suited for browser-based games. Set amidst an elaborate medieval-style land in constant conflict, Lords Online features a high degree of freedom in gameplay choices, encouraging creative battle tactics and kingdom management.
The game provides two map modes for players to choose from: Lord mode and Hero mode. Those who love the detached SLG style can use Lord mode and focus their attention on city development and arms coordination, while those who prefer RPGs can choose Hero mode and experience epic adventures. More >
Altis Gates: pet system
Nov 27th
The chief developer of Altis Gates talks to us about the pet system.
"In most games featuring pets, these creatures act as a sort of sidekick, jumping in with friendly spells during battle and dutifully following you wherever you happen to be going. For me, this simple and effective style is boring, and ignores the enormous potential for player-pet interaction. Why not take these robotic creatures and give them a life of their own? This will make each pet more lifelike with a unique temperament and talents that they can learn to use as they grew in power, just like you! You can even talk with your pets, casually conversing as you venture into new lands together.
Casual conversations are not the only things Pets will be able to do in Altis Gates, they will also serve as advisors, giving advice in battle, from suggesting strategies to assisting with powerful foes you wouldn’t otherwise be able to take out alone. Imagine facing a monster with high melee attack power and your pet suddenly suggests terrifying the monster to prevent it from attacking for several rounds. And after a tough battle, they may even bust out with a bad joke or two to lighten More >
Dragon Oath Review: The Game You Don’t Want to Miss This Fall
Nov 27th
Our forum volunteer James Jackson brings us this first look at the upcoming martial arts Chinese fantasy F2P MMORPG Dragon Oath. Dragon Oath was primarily released in Mainland China back in 2007 by ChangYou.com Ltd., China’s leading online game developer and operator. It now boasts a massive 800,000 concurrent player base and nearly 75 Million subscribers. The company’s U.S. subsidiary brought this game to the U.S. this year, and it is their first release in the North American market.
Two Bosses Enter: Gortok Palehoof vs. Krik’thir the Gatewatcher
Nov 27th
Two Bosses Enter … but only One Boss Leaves, in WoW.com’s series of fantasy death matches. This season’s combatants come from the original five-man instances of Wrath of the Lich King.
We’ve got adds here, people: it’s Gortok Palehoof (Utgarde Pinnacle) versus Krik’thir the Gatewatcher (Azjol-Nerub). Gortok steps into the Thunderdome fresh from a resounding defeat of Lavanthor, while Krik’thir arrives after besting the Commander Stoutbeard/Kolurg from The Nexus.
Let’s review the ground rules:
- Assume that the opponents share similar levels, health pools and comparative overall damage output.
- New clarification: All of the competitors’ abilities, including crowd control and other effects to which bosses are usually immune, work on their opponents.
- This deathmatch takes place in neutral territory, which shall in no way hinder either opponent from using his usual resources.
- Don’t get caught up in gameplay mechanics and what actual players might do in each encounter.
- Don’t neglect style, story and scale.
Let the doors open, and let the contestants come forward. As Dr. Dealgood would say: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls … Dyin’ time’s here.
Continue reading Two Bosses Enter: Gortok Palehoof vs. Krik’thir the Gatewatcher
Covert Moon Mining Operations Net Billions for C.R.S. Corporation – news from EvE
Nov 27th
Undisclosed System, New Eden – Using covert ops to scout activity in nullsec regions and blockade runners to ferry starbase structures, C.R.S Corporation [C.R.S] has set up multiple undercover mining operations behind Alliance-controlled borders harvesting moon resources.
A source close to C.R.S. claimed "The corporation has sneaked behind sovereignty borders and set up moon mining [operations]. They utilize covert ops pilots and probe when no one is in system to detect the moon probes. Moons harvested are low-end moon resources up to tungsten and platinum. They don’t maintain the [operation] forever, just till detected, which so far is an average of 2-3 months. The scheme has been in place for approximately 4 months and total disclosed [income] is in the ballpark of 3 billion."
"First C.R.S. was doing it for an experiment" a source from within the corporation confirmed, "[we] made a mistake going to the wrong space but made an accord to move out".
Later, a more focused approach was developed. The operation initially chooses a region and intelligence is gathered on alliance claims to the space. Less than a handful of pilots in covert ops drop probes on unused moons, looking for rare to mid-range moon materials and monitoring system traffic; More >
Political Analysts Question Aguard’s Chances Following No-Vote Bill – news from EvE
Nov 27th
Following the passing of the bill to deny votes in occupied Federal systems, several political analysts in the cluster agree that presidential candidate Celes Aguard may have lost one of her largest voter blocs.
"Aguard’s pledge of support for frontier settlements and low-security regions, as well as her wish for a total military effort to reclaim the lost systems gave her a strong base of support in Placid and Verge Vendor," says Arroch Dermani, an expert at Gallente politics working for Amarr Certified News. "The disenfranchisement of those territories has denied the Aguard camp one of its strongest cards."
"This has strengthened Jacus Roden position as a top candidate, followed by Garioss. Aguard still places high in Everyshore polls, but with the loss of these potential votes her chances of winning the presidency are slim," comments Felisenne Olvenari, Professor of Political Sciences at the University of Caille in Aporulie.
The Scope’s own Remi Eyeleranne said in his news segment Eye on the Election: "Celes [Aguard] now has to fight an uphill battle where most of her opponents have the higher ground." And the passing of the bill prompted him to move Aguard down from her position in his "Election Prognosis" after having been More >
World of Warcraft and Battle Chest on sale for Black Friday
Nov 27th
Yes indeed, this Friday is none other than Black Friday, which means the deals will be aplenty, the crowds will be horrendous, and the holiday money drain will begin (of course, you could go with Buy Nothing Day, but that seems a little too grinchy to me — why not go ahead and buy while the buying’s good?). Fortunately, there are a few WoW deals floating around out there, in case you need to pick up a copy of the game for a loved one (or that Recruit-a-friend account you’ve been planning to make).
The regular WoW vanilla game (useful for leveling to 60, but if you want to go past that, you’ll have to buy the expansions) is on sale in a few places for super cheap — the Ladies of Leet saw it at Best Buy for just five bucks, and Gamestop’s matching that price. Gamestop also will have the Battle Chest (with WoW and BC and a few other goodies) for $19.99, and Newegg has the same price if you don’t want to fight the crowds. Unfortunately, there’s no sign of Wrath on sale — you’ll still have to pony up the $40 if that’s the one you want. But stay tuned in More >
WoW Rookie: Recruit-a-Friend
Nov 26th
New around here? WoW Rookie points WoW’s newest players to the basics of a good start in the World of Warcraft. Visit WoW.com’s WoW Rookie Guide for links to all our tips, tricks and how-to’s.
Your evil plan has come to fruition: your significant other, best buddy, school pal or co-worker has finally confessed an interest in playing World of Warcraft. Send your buddy a Recruit-A-Friend invitation, and let the bodies hit the floor. You’re about to cut a mean swath through Azeroth while enjoying some sweet side benefits:
- 300% XP bonus for both you and your recruit (when grouped)
- 10% reputation bonus for you and your recruit
- The ability to summon one another to each other’s locations across the world
- 30 levels of "free" XP from your recruit, granted to any of your lower-level veteran characters
- A free month of game time for every recruit who upgrades to a retail account
- The ever-so-sweet, exclusive Zhevra mount for one of your characters, once your recruit pays for 60 days’ worth of game time
Continue reading WoW Rookie: Recruit-a-Friend
Know Your Lore: Quel’delar, the Sister Blade
Nov 26th
Welcome back to Know Your Lore, WoW.com’s column about the story behind the game we all play.
A featured questline in Patch 3.3, the story of Quel’delar is available to any player who attains the Battered Hilt, which can drop from any mob in the Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons. But what’s the story behind this ancient and powerful weapon?
Long ago, the night elves and the five Dragonflights worked together with great ceremony to forge a set of incredibly powerful prismatic swords, intended to be the first line of defense against any evil that would challenge the races of Azeroth: Quel’serrar, the High Blade, and Quel’delar, the Sister Blade.
Quel’serrar was gifted to the night elves, but ultimately nearly destroyed. For thousands of years it remained partially intact with the Shen’dralar of Eldre’thalas, who anticipated that one day it’d be possible to reforge the blade. Only recently did this occur, with heroes reforging the blade in the flames and black heart of Onyxia, broodmother of the Black Dragonflight. The blade’s triumphant return to its full glory brought great joy to the night elves, who thought the blade lost forever.
Its sister blade, however, followed a different path.
This writeup contains spoilers from the Quel’delar questline More >
Cory Stockton breaks down the process of making an instance
Nov 26th
Blizzard has done a lot of press regarding the fifth anniversary of the game (and there’s probably more to come), but Curse has done one of the more interesting pieces so far. Instead of just chatting with Cory Stockton about his experiences, they had him sit down and explain just how Blizzard puts an instance together. They specifically talked about Ulduar, but the process Stockton reveals works for all of the instances Blizzard has created for the game.
A few interesting things — they "block out" the instances first, create lower-res versions of them to play around in and create the mechanics for the fights. They also do some boss testing outside of the environments — Razorscale, specifically, says Stockton, was actually tested down in the Stranglethorn Arena. Finally, once the encounter team works out the basics of the encounters, the art and item teams move in, and create art and loot, sometimes with the two of them collaborating (the art team will make a cool item for a boss, and then the item team, with the help of Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, will give the item stats and balance). Interesting just how collaborative the whole process is — even the Ironbound More >