General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Hello, Robotic Overlords: Intel's Making Tech That Learns And Adapts To Your Habits

Posted: 24 May 2012 12:41 PM PDT

When web surfers aren't busy calling each other Nazis on forums, they're often cracking jokes about greeting their future robotic overlords with open arms. It won't be funny forever; the groundwork for our eventual demise is already being laid by the best minds in the land. IBM announced that it had created prototype cognitive chips modeled after the human brain almost a year ago, and today, Reuters reported that Intel is launching a research project in Israel dedicated to creating smart tech that can learn the habits of its users. (That way, SkyNet will know the best time to strike.)

Until that dark day, the machine learning tech being developed by the Intel Collaborative Research Institute for Computational Intelligence (with help from Technion and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem) will work to serve man by helping him remember his car keys. No, seriously -- that was the example Intel used. If the smart tech's owner has a habit of leaving his keys in his house, Intel wants devices to learn to to remember where the keys are located and eventually even remind its owner to snag 'em on the way out the door. Intel expects its smart devices to become available in 2014 or 2015.

"All of these devices will come to know us as individuals, will very much tailor themselves to us," Intel CTO Justin Rattner told reporters. Actually, that sounds pretty decent when Rattner puts things that way… but then the president of Intel's Israeli arm, Moody Eden, added this terrifying tidbit:

"Within five years all of the human senses will be in computers and in 10 years we will have more transistors in one chip than neurons in the human brain."

Great, teach the robots to learn our ways, then give them human senses, then make them smarter than us. Just which side are you working for, Intel? Maybe the apocalypse will roll out of Jerusalem after all.

Diablo III Shatters PC Sales Records, Server Woes Postpone Real-Money Auction House Launch

Posted: 24 May 2012 11:04 AM PDT

Would-be demon slays ran into a big problem during Diablo III's opening week; nasty errors and server issues forced many first-day buyers into involuntarily sheathing their swords. The congestion highlighted concerns about the game's always-on DRM, but it turns out there was a good reason for the bad server woes: Blizzard claims Diablo III is the fastest selling game in PC history. Wait! Isn't PC gaming supposed to be dead?

Over 3.5 million PC gamers bought Diablo III within 24 hours of the game's launch, Blizzard said in a press release. Another 1.2 million World of Warcraft joined the party, too, bringing the total number of day one gamers -- many of whom were mere attempted gamers -- to a whopping 4.7 million.

That number jumped to 6.3 million players by the end of the first week of sales, though Blizzard is quick to point out that those figures "do not include players in Korean Internet game rooms, where Diablo III has become the top-played game, achieving a record share of more than 39% as of May 22."

Amazon.com's John Love says Diablo III shattered records for the online retailer, too. "Not only did Diablo III break the record for most preordered PC game of all-time on Amazon.com, but it also shattered the record for best day-one sales for any PC game ever on Amazon.com."

Speaking of Diablo III, if you're one of the aforementioned millions of players, you might want to swing over to the Diablo 3 forums, where the game devs just outlined past hotfixes, impending patches and account security concerns. Buried deep in the wall o' words in a brief announcement about the contentious real-money auction house; given the server issues, Blizzard isn't sure when the auction house will launch, but they know for a fact it won't be in May.

You know what we think about Diablo III. What're your impressions so far?

Corsair Shutters IPO, Launches New Force Series 3 SSD Upgrade Kit

Posted: 24 May 2012 10:14 AM PDT

Think you're having a productive Thursday? You've got nothing on the memory makers over at Corsair. It's barely past lunch time on the east coast and the company has already announced plans to drop its plans for a $78 million IPO thanks to "weak equity market conditions," and while the bigwigs were busy doing that, Corsair somehow squeezed in the time to launch its new Force Series 3 SSD notebook upgrade kits. Meanwhile, I'm barely through my second cup of coffee.

Corsair's been toying with the idea of going public for a while; in fact, the company even went so far as to file an S-1 with the SEC a year ago. This morning, Corsair said it was pulling back from the IPO and remaining a private company, at least for now.

"Corsair's board of directors has decided to postpone its IPO due to weak equity market conditions. Our business is growing, and is generating increasing profitability and cash flow. We have decided that we will re-launch when equity market conditions are more favorable," Andy Paul, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Corsair said. "While we do intend to expand our capital base through public capital markets, our existing capital structure and balance sheet provides sufficient capital to enable continued investment in our brand strength, products and people."

That continued investment in products reared its head quickly with the announcement of the Force Series 3 SSD notebook upgrade kits, which are obviously built around Corsair's Force Series 3 SSDs. The kits are designed to make transitioning to a new drive easy thanks to a handy-dandy bundled USB-to-SATA cable that connects the SSD to your laptop, letting you swap over files before you make the physical switch. It comes with software to help you move over your OS and system/app data, too.

The upgrade kits are available now and cost $140 for a 120GB model or $260 for a 260GB model. That's not too outrageous a premium over the SSDs alone; a bare 120GB Force Series 3 SSD will set you back the same $140 on Newegg, but that drops down to $120 after a mail-in rebate.

You can learn more about the upgrade kit on the Corsair blog.

Toshiba Launches AT300 Tablet with Tegra 3, Ice Cream Sandwich

Posted: 24 May 2012 06:41 AM PDT

Tosbhia today officially trotted out its AT300 tablet with a quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 processor tucked inside and Google's Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) running the show. The AT300 features a 10.1-inch LED-backlit touchscreen display with a 1280x800 resolution and Gorilla Glass, 1GB of RAM, and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, upgradeable via a full size SD card slot.

Budding paparazzi will appreciate the 5MP camera with LED flash on the back and 2MP front-facing camera. Connectivity consists of 802.11g/b/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 3.0, micro USB and HDMI ports, and a combo audio output / mic input port.

The AT300 sports a pair of 1W stereo speakers with SRS audio and up to 10 hours of battery life with 100 percent video playback, or up to 12 hours of normal usage. It measures 260.6mm x 178.9mm x 8.95mm and weighs 590g.

Toshiba said the AT300 will be available in the U.K. in the second quarter for £329 (16GB) and £379 (32GB). A 3G model will come out in the third quarter.

Image Credit: Toshiba

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Lian Li Envisions Smartphone /Tablet Users Going Gaga for Three New Ultra Compact PC Cases

Posted: 24 May 2012 06:14 AM PDT

Apparently owning a smartphone or tablet means you're predisposed to favoring ultra-compact computer cases over mid-towers or those hulking full-tower hunks of aluminum and steel. Just ask Lian Li, which today introduced a trio of pint-sized brushed aluminum cases "for smartphone and tablet" wielding folk looking to build "personal data storage hubs for all your mobile devices." Interesting pitch, no?

First up is the PC-Q02 with a minimalistic and quiet design. It measures 5.86 x 9.06 x 7.87 inches (WxHxD) and supports mini-ITX motherboards. The case doesn't come with any fans, instead relying on vent holes on the side and rear panels to maximize natural air flow. Features include a single 5.25-inch drive bay, support for one 3.5-inch and two 2.5-inch HDD/SSDs, two USB 3.0 ports, and an included 300W power supply.

Second up to bat is the PC-Q03, a tiny fanless chassis with enhanced graphics capabilities. It's essentially the same as the PC-Q02, only slightly larger at 7.83 x 9.64 x 8.26 inches (WxHxD), which allows it to accommodate graphics cards up to 7.08 inches in length. It also has HD audio ports on the front panel.

Finally, Lian Li unveiled its PC-Q16, a mini-tower chassis that measures 7.83 x 6.29 x 11.41 inches (WxHxD). This one is built for storage junkies and can hold a single 3.5-inch HDD and up to three 2.5-inch HDD/SSDs, though it doesn't come with a 5.25-inch drive bay, which rules out an internal optical drive. Like the PC-Q02, this one ships with a 300W power supply.

All three cases will be available in the U.S. and Canada at the end of May for $150 (PC-Q02 and PC-Q03) and $160 (PC-Q16).

Image Credit: Lian Li

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Hewlett-Packard Reports $1.6 Billion Profit, Gets Ready to Print 27,000 Pink Slips

Posted: 24 May 2012 05:52 AM PDT

Hewlett-Packard on Wednesday announced financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2012, noting net revenue of $37.7 billion, a big number, though down 3 percent year-over-year. The Palo Alto company raked in a $1.6 billion (with a 'B') profit in its second fiscal quarter and returned $601 million in cash to stockholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases, which is far better than what 8 percent of its workforce will receive -- pink slips -- as part of a multi-year restructuring effort.

In a separate announcement, HP outlined a multi-year plan that it expects to generate annualized savings of $3 billion to $3.5 billion by the end of 2014. Getting there, however, requires axing 27,000 employees, which accounted for 8 percent of HP's total workforce as of October 31, 2011. Those who receive a pink slip will be offered an early retirement program.

In addition to headcount reductions, HP plans to cut costs through supply chain optimizations, SKU and platform rationalization, go-to-market strategy simplification, and business process improvements, HP said.

"These initiatives build upon our recent organizational realignment, and will further streamline our operations, improve our processes, and remove complexity from our business," said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. "While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs, they are necessary to improve execution and to fund the long term health of the company. We are setting HP on a path to extend our global leadership and deliver the greatest value to customers and shareholders."

HP said it plans to record a pre-tax charge of about $1.7 billion in fiscal 2012 related to its restructuring effort.

Image Credit: HP

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Original RickRoll Video Returns to YouTube After 24-Hour Copyright Hiatus

Posted: 24 May 2012 05:33 AM PDT

Strange things happen on the Internet all the time. The art of RickRolling was -- and for some, still is -- one of them, whereby for a short period of time it became vogue to trick people into visiting Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" video on YouTube. Even more strange than RickRolling becoming a thing is the fact that AVG Technologies managed to convince YouTube to pull the popular video yesterday.

"This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by AVG Technologies. Sorry about that," a message read at the destination for the original Rick Astley video.

Torrent Freak first reported the copyright takedown notice yesterday, which is odd not only because the video has been around for five years and amassed over 61 million hits, but also because AVG Technologies, makers of well known antivirus software, made the copyright claim.

Just another strange day on the Internet, though in this case, the original video is now back online. Oddly enough, Torrent Freak says this isn't the first time YouTube has yanked the 1980s hit offline, claiming it was also pulled in 2010 for -- you guessed it -- copyright reasons.

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Posted by Shri Krishna

MMO News

MMO News

Perfect World International: Imperial Fury Wants YOUR Questions

Posted: 23 May 2012 04:34 PM PDT

Hey MMOHut readers – we’ve got a job for you!

Perfect World Entertainment is looking for some questions and feedback for their newest Perfect World International update: Imperial Fury.  You can find details about the changes below. The expansion features new end-game content, new exclusive hard-mode dungeons and gear, as well as brand new skills for you to learn.  The skill books are also fully tradeable!

If you have any questions at all for the Perfect World International team, leave them in a comment below, and we’ll forward them on for you! In the meantime, keep an eye out for the return of your questions – and answers – from the team.

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Perfect World International “Imperial Fury” Gameplay Screenshot

Source:


The end-game just got more massive with the launch of PWI: Imperial Fury, the latest content update for the North America-based version of Perfect World International, one of the most successful MMORPGs in the world. Inspired by Chinese mythology and based in the mystical world of Pan Gu, PWI is a graphically stunning and immersive world of adventure and chaos.

In the Imperial Fury content update, the heroes of Perfect World must execute a plan to infiltrate the land of Morai, currently under the foul influence of the Dark Lord Jian’rin’s, and retrieve the powerful City Essences that were stolen during the Descent wraith invasion. Together, they must stand toe-to-toe against Jian’rin’s most powerful emperors in a bid to keep the Dark Lord from manipulating these Essences to his own nefarious ends.

Features:

  •  NEW DUNGEON EXPANSION–ADVANCED ENDLESS UNIVERSE

Engage in combat with one of four evil emperors: Aohe, Chigo, Locen, or Aurogon, depending on your luck when entering the dungeon. Each variation also includes completely new and challenging instance mechanics that include timed events, using the environment to defeat bosses, and powerful NPCs that will fight by your side.

  •  EXCLUSIVE HARD-MODE DUNGEON BOSSES AND GEAR

The high-level Lunar Glade and Warsong City instances now have new extra-tough optional bosses. These bosses will be a challenge for seasoned players with rewards that can be used to substantially upgrade what is currently the most powerful gear in the game. PWI is the only version of Perfect World that has this particular content.

  •  BRAND NEW SKILLS

After clearing the new Advanced Endless Universe instance, players will have the opportunity to obtain multiple brand new skill-books for each class. These skill-books are also fully tradable, allowing players to profit tremendously in the event that they obtain one for a different class than their own.
Posted by Shri Krishna

Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

Latest Gaming and MMORPG Updates

Diablo III – Giving Blizzard the thumbs down

Posted: 23 May 2012 10:14 PM PDT


I still remember around 11 to 12 years ago, me in my school uniform, skipping my choir lesson just to queue up for a box of Diablo II. Man, I had so much fun with the game, the items, the challenging buy possible Hell mode... Well, that was the past. Fast forward till today, the much anticipated sequel left a really bad taste in my mouth. Diablo III itself is a 7/10 for me, but let us look at the problems besieging the game which frustrated gamers from all over the world. This is a borderline rant post, and definitely not a "professional" paid-to-write article, so spare me your criticisms.

1. Server capacity, Error 37

Yes, Blizzard, with 10 years of experience hosting World of Warcraft, couldn't predict "near" accurately the number of gamers logging in on launch day. Seriously? The last I know, they ought to have numbers of how many physical copies were shipped out to stores and how many digital copies were already paid for. I am no analyst expert myself, but as a multimillion company with the resources, how could Error 37 even happen in the first place, and for a few days at that. Although I did not apply for annual leave, various of my gaming buddies did.


Over at the Asian server, the same thing happened. With Taiwan and Korea supposed to be under the Asian region, queues begun to form after the server capacity reached its limits. And Blizzard's comment? The maximum bandwidth has been hit, and players are encouraged to switch to either to The Americas or the Europe server, although characters are not able to go cross-servers. I mean, seriously? The good folks spent money, most probably just wanted to play LAN with their friends and offline single player modes, why must they, or rather, we, agree to this crap? Before you go "Blizzard did stated that the game was online only", people bought the game assuming the servers are stable and safe, which Blizzard touted.

To add salt to the wound, Taiwanese gamers found out that once they change their own IP to a Korean one, they can log into the Asian server, located in South Korea, with ease. What kind of gamers does Blizzard think the modern day ones are? Tech green horns? Subsequently, Blizzard blocked Taiwanese IPs from the Asian server, although I am not sure of the situation now. All in all, this situation should never have had happened in the first place if proper estimations were made. Or did Blizzard even kept track of how many copies of Diablo III they sold?

Finally, this just happened a few minutes ago. I got banned for 24 hours from the Blizzard forums for "advertising". Let me get this straight, everyone is so pissed about the auction house errors, the hacking and whatsoever, I thought posting something which I feel is a novelty might perhaps bring a smile to those wry faces. It is actually an image of a shirt from an online T-shirt store, which I mentioned the shop's name.

The shop is actually a partner of IGN, a games website where Diablo III is heavily advertised. I would be happy if I get a warning, but no, the easy way out, like how Funcom almost got my YouTube account banned, is to just swing the axe. No wonder the community and customer service folks are always on the chopping block first when there is a retrenchment exercise.


2. Items and equipments

I will have to admit, I was expecting a much improved Diablo II, something like a true sequel and not a total remake. Remake is fine, only if the changes are really convincing. What I got was instead a pile of ego lumped together in a much beloved franchise. Hear me out.

First, set items. When I was playing Diablo II, me and my friends actually took the initiative to collect all the set items, equip them and took screenshots signalling our successful "farming". That took place even before we hit level 99, had tons of fun. Now, set items in Diablo III are so rare, I have only seen 2 or 3 different sets before the level 60 ones. There is a serious lack of set items in the game, why so? Is it another easy way out?

End-act bosses, such as Azmodan and Diablo, will not drop as many yellow, rare goodies after the first time. It means the end of boss farming for drops. Blizzard argued that this is to prevent, well, boss farming continuously. So, at level 60, players who kill elite monsters and group mobs (which are often stronger than the final act bosses) will gain 1 buff, improving magic/rare items' drop rate. It can be stacked up 5 times. So now, players will have to run around maps finding these mobs to kill before teleporting straight to the final boss.


From the looks of it, it sound pretty novel. But in actual game implementation, it makes no sense to me at all. While Blizzard touted there will be many builds players can switch to according to different situation, the buff actually cancels when players change skills. Certain gamers have a set of skills for mass mobs, another set for single target bosses, so where the hell is the link to what Blizzard said?

Final note about the drop rate buff. Blizzard implemented this system to make sure players enjoy the full game content without traveling straight to the boss. If you happen to meet elite mobs which you are geared to kill, good for you. If you happen to meet those which are impossible to solo, such as enchanted with insane arcane lasers, walls, invulnerability minions etc, you will have to spend time finding others (buff ends in 30minutes, resets every time an elite mob is killed) or log out, which will cancel all buffs gathered.

I understand this new system is implemented as a time sink in order not for players to rush through the game. But let's face it, this is 2012, gamers' mentality has changed, they want some fast, engaging action without having to repeat procedures too often. This only happens mainly in MMOs, yet Blizzard claim Diablo III is just an online game, not a MMO. What?

3. Game was not fully tested before shipping, game design based on "assumption"

I was directed to this thread by another overseas Diablo fan, and was amazed to even read what was posted by Blizzard's community manager. He claimed that they, Blizzard, "purposely launched the game with Inferno being far more difficult than what we were able to progress in ourselves, assuming people would find it as difficult but with a few skilled players able to pull it off". In other words, the team was not able to clear the original Inferno difficulty themselves, yet shipped the game out with Inferno even harder and hope some skilled players are able to do so. What kind of excuse is this?


I understand that Blizzard wanted Inferno to be hard, but the least they could do is to ensure the right equipments drop time to time. I, having farmed Hell mode's Azmodan and Diablo a couple of nights with the drop rate buff at full, only found a couple of equipments which are a little better than what we were wearing, but no where near to ensure we will not be "1 hit KO" in Inferno's Act 2.The item stats are so random, we could be farming for the next 2 years to get something useful for Inferno. Yeah, the auction house. Don;t even get me started on that game breaking feature.


The thing is, gamers do want something challenging, not near impossible. I am looking at gradual scaling in terms of difficulty, not just bump up the mobs to ridiculous stats and say "go ahead and try it, even though we as developers couldn't complete it ourselves". What kind of game design philosophy is this? Based on assumption?

Too many negatives overshadowing an otherwise great game

I could just go on and on and on, but still, Diablo III is a good game, minus the non-stop technical hiccups since launch and flawed game design mechanics. The combat is fun, I love the fact Diablo is back, graphics is looking awesome and certainly unique classes such as the Witch Doctor. There are many issues to be solved right now, including a buggy auction house and accounts being hacked left and right. Given the promises of the game being safer, more stable etc in an online-only environment, it is not too much to say the game is a major letdown as well.


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Blade Wars MMORPG Review

Posted: 23 May 2012 04:01 PM PDT

Blade Wars is a Chinese MMORPG with 2D and 3D elements presented with an isometric camera view. Based on Asian mythology, the game has three races, the Abyssals, Humans, and Immortals who are locked in a battle for dominance. Plenty of PvE and PvP challenges await players in Blade Wars.

 

 

Publisher: ChangYou
Playerbase: Low
Graphics: Low Quality
Type: MMORPG
EXP Rate: High
PvP: Arenas / Guild battles / PvP Flag
Filesize: ~ 1130 mb

Website: http://bw.us.changyou.com/en/

Pros: +Fast paced combat. +Play musical instruments. +Guild battles and PvP arenas. +Earn extra experience & coins in groups. +Create custom Combos.

Cons: -Dated visuals and interface. -Monsters provide no challenge. -Limited display options.

 

Blade Wars is the second MMORPG to hit Western shores by the Chinese studio ChangYou. Like Battle of the Immortals, it boasts '2.5D' graphics. This means the graphics and camera view are similar to many action-RPGs. Blade Wars has fast paced gameplay with a combo system and plenty of skills. Progression is fast paced and there are plenty of quests to complete. The five playable classes are broken down into three races.

Classes:

Assassin - Quick and deadly. The ultimate trained killers. Their skills are breathtaking to watch and their weapons of choice are the Twin Blades and Twin Rings.

Knight - Skilled with Swords and Bladed weapons, Knights excel at dealing consistent damage. They are natural born leaders.

Shura - Masters of fist weapons including Claws and Cestus, Shura distinguish themselves with their use of powerful Talisman.

Warrior - Brute fighters with are well suited to use Axes and Hammers. They have high health and defense making them ideal front line soldier.s

Warlock - The primary spell casters in Blade Wars. Warlocks possess long ranged elemental attacks. They also rely on fire and lightening abilities for defense. Their weapons of choice include Staffs, Wands, and Flails.

Races - Abyssals, Humans, Immortals

 

 

Blade Wars System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:
OS: Windows XP / 2000 / 98 / Windows ME
CPU: 800 MHz Pentium 3
RAM: 256 MB
HDD: 2 GB Free
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce2 MX 400/32M

Recommended Specification:
OS: Windows XP / 2000 / 98 / Windows ME
CPU: 2.0 Ghz Intel P4 or better
RAM: 512 MB  RAM or more
HDD: 2 GB Free
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce2 MX 400/64M

Musings from the Public Domain

Posted: 23 May 2012 03:47 PM PDT

Feature

1UP COVER STORY

Header

1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 21 | WHAT IF?

Musings from the Public Domain

Cover Story: A view from a world where the "Mickey Mouse" copyright extension act never became law.

T

he spring release season is now fully upon us, and with it comes the usual trickle of new IPs and a torrent of sequels to comparatively recent franchises. The biggest deal of the season, however, has to be the absolute flood of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King games and films. A&E's blockbuster LotR miniseries is finally moving on to its conclusion, and It's pretty much impossible to visit a flash game portal without tripping over a Minas Tirith tower defense game. Meanwhile, Rockstar's open world take on Rebel Without a Cause has emerged as the definitive reimagining of the flick even against all the major studio remakes, to say nothing of the glut of halfassed student films. Finally, Edmund McMillan's deeply unsettling take on Lolita as a dungeon crawler played from the point of view of the title character is still looking for a bold enough publisher despite sweeping this year's IGF awards.

That's just a small sample of a motley assemblage of games that all have one thing in common: They're all based on properties that entered the public domain this year. The yearly rollout of old properties, both celebrated and obscure, has long since become something we've taken for granted. We even make a point of taking a annual look at what will be emerging from the copyright cage once we're done breaking all our new year's resolutions, and we barely bat an eye when we're treated to a glut of weird furry Lady and the Tramp dating sims. Geeks around the world are already anticipating next year's Superman revival, or dreading his inevitable crossover appearance in every other comic in existence. It's so much a part of the culture at this point that it's easy to overlook the fact that it can all be traced back to a single momentous decision.

We certainly wouldn't be seeing so many films and TV shows based on Sherlock Holmes if the character were still the IP of a single publisher, and we sure as hell wouldn't be seeing him fight Dracula quite so often.

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The Nintendo Play Station: A Retrospective

Posted: 23 May 2012 02:52 PM PDT

Feature

1UP COVER STORY

Header

1UP COVER STORY | WEEK OF MAY 21 | WHAT IF?

The Nintendo Play Station: A Retrospective

Cover Story: As Nintendo and Sony prepare to announce the Play Station 4 at E3, we remember the console that set the stage for modern gaming.

A

s we gear up for E3 2012, the biggest announcement expected to come out of the L.A. Convention Center this year is the latest generation of gaming's console goliath, the Play Station 4. Based on early reports from trusted third-party developers and info leaks from Chinese parts suppliers, the PS4 seems a given -- and with its arrival, the continued dominance of the games industry by joint Sony/Nintendo venture Taido should be a lock as well.

With the PS4 right around the corner, now is as good a time as any to look back at the history of the Play Station family and how two Japanese giants teamed up to put an entire medium in a 20-year hammerlock.

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Diablo III Sales Bode Well for PC Games, Poorly for Always-Online Haters

Posted: 23 May 2012 02:31 PM PDT

Diablo III

Diablo III was expected to do well, but with so many factors to take into account -- competition from Torchlight II, an always-online requirement, and complaints about a supposedly dumbed-down skill system and colorful art style -- it was hard to say for sure exactly how well it would do. It turns out it did tremendously well; Blizzard has announced the long-awaited sequel has already broken sales records, something the folks over at Activision are pretty accustomed to thanks to Call of Duty. However, Diablo's success may have more far-reaching effects than simply ensuring Blizzard and company are flush with cash.

More than 3.5 million copies of the game were sold in its first 24 hours of availability, according to Blizzard. This figure does not include the freebie digital versions handed out to those who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass. Over 1.2 million people took advantage of that offer, bringing the total number of gamers with a copy of the game on launch day up to 4.7 million, good enough to make it the "biggest PC game launch in history." After the first week, that figure now sits at 6.3 million.

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Eve Online: Inferno out now

Posted: 23 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT

The 17th free expansion for subscribers to one of Iceland’s biggest exports, Eve Online, is now available.

While Inferno includes updates as wide-ranging as graphical enhancements, usability tweaks and fixes, the expansion focusses on delivering new and improved means to wage war on your enemies.

The ageing war declaration mechanism has been completely overhauled to remove exploitable loopholes and keep track of your ongoing battles be they for revenge, financial gain or simply for the hell of it.

Factional warfare has also had considerable (not to mention long-overdue) attention paid to it making the enlisting of your player or corporation into Eve’s universe-wide game of conquest more rewarding than its ever been.

Another brilliant addition to the mix is the Mercenary Marketplace, which allows players to pay for the best guns-for-hire or alternatively offer your PvP skills to the highest bidder.

"If you've ever had dreams of piloting a spaceship into a full blown Sci-Fi war of thousands of ships, EVE is your game and Inferno your expansion. Or, if you've been skirting the edges of conflict for years, there are going to be some pretty compelling reasons to put your hull at risk," says Jon Lander, Senior Producer of EVE Online.

The surprise star of the show, though, are the amazing new graphical effects for missiles and launchers, which is demonstrated rather nicely in the Inferno launch trailer.

Eve Online recently celebrated its ninth birthday and its ninth consecutive year of growth by launching an eve ‘Pod’ containing the names of all it’s players into the stratosphere before sending it hurtling back to Earth.

Posted by Shri Krishna

MMO Updates

MMO Updates

Lord of the Rings Online Spring Festival is live

Posted: 24 May 2012 10:00 AM PDT

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It's that time of year again in Middle-earth, as Turbine has blown the dust off Lord of the Rings Online's annual Spring Festival. A Casual Stroll to Mordor opines that this year's edition won't depart too much from years past, so you can expect to find the usual hedge maze, horse-racing, and Inn League shenanigans out in full force.

The site's annual festival guide isn't ready for prime time just yet, but you can check out the 2011 version while you wait for the update.

MassivelyLord of the Rings Online Spring Festival is live originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 May 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Summoner's Guidebook: Improving your game through spectator mode

Posted: 24 May 2012 09:00 AM PDT

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League of Legends screenshot
I love spectator mode. Since the patch introducing it to League of Legends, I've had the opportunity to observe top-level players and even my own friends. If you ever wanted to learn how to play like a pro, you now have your chance. High-level games of Summoner's Rift are just a few mouse clicks away, and if you're a little mentally fatigued from playing the game, you can sit back and enjoy some high-level play. It was one of the best updates thus far for League.

Watching high-level streams or spectating high-level games can dramatically improve your game if you know what to look for. This week, we're going to cover some of the ways you can improve your game by stealing strategies and techniques from top players.

Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: Improving your game through spectator mode

MassivelyThe Summoner's Guidebook: Improving your game through spectator mode originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 May 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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    Raising hell in The Secret World's Hell Raised instance

    Posted: 24 May 2012 08:00 AM PDT

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    Seems legit.
    Welcome to The Secret World's Overlook Motel, where the sheets are clean, the service is friendly, and there's an ominous doorway to Hell in every room. Such is the beginning of the second instanced dungeon of Funcom's upcoming horror-fantasy MMO, which sees players descending deep into the bowels of the underworld to put an end to a raging demonic war that's causing Hell to leak through to the real world.

    I had the pleasure of joining Funcom's Tor Andersen on a guided tour of Hell Raised, the first in a series of three dungeons that take place in the fiery depths, and boy did I ever have a hell of a time (sorry). If you're interested in finding out what awaits players of The Secret World in the depths of Hades itself, follow along with me as I give you the ins-and-outs of surviving a confrontation in the midst of an infernal warzone.

    Continue reading Raising hell in The Secret World's Hell Raised instance

    MassivelyRaising hell in The Secret World's Hell Raised instance originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 May 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      Project Copernicus 'racial' screens leak from 38 Studios

      Posted: 24 May 2012 07:00 AM PDT

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      Copernicus
      While 38 Studios remains in dire straits, fans are getting a bittersweet treat of Project Copernicus reveals. It's sweet because we've been dying to see more information on this game, but bitter because its fate is still up in the air.

      Today fan site 38 Watch posted a trio of official-looking screens straight from Copernicus' world. In the screens, three races are revealed: the human-looking Almain, the dwarven Dverga, and the orcish Jottun. The game's art style and lush color palette are on full display, opting for more of a stylized than realistic approach.

      We recently heard that Project Copernicus has a possible June 2013 launch window and got our first look at the game in a flyby video. You can scope out the new screens in the gallery below.

      Gallery: Project Copernicus

      MassivelyProject Copernicus 'racial' screens leak from 38 Studios originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 May 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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      The Daily Grind: Would you leave your current MMO for its sequel?

      Posted: 24 May 2012 06:00 AM PDT

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      Guild Wars 2 Engineer
      With Guild Wars 2 in the offing, long-time Guild Wars fans have an interesting dilemma on their hands. Trading up is probably a foregone conclusion in most cases, but abandoning Guild Wars altogether may sting a bit if you've invested a lot of time and energy into the original incarnation of Tyria.

      The same could be said for faithful EverQuest fans when EverQuest II rolled around in 2004, and perhaps again whenever Sony Online Entertainment formalizes its EverQuest Next project. For today's Daily Grind, then, we'd like to know how easily you could leave your current MMO if a sequel were to materialize. We know you'd check out the new shiny, but would you leave the older title for good?

      Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

      MassivelyThe Daily Grind: Would you leave your current MMO for its sequel? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 May 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        Perfect World International's end-game gets imperially furious

        Posted: 23 May 2012 09:00 PM PDT

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        Perfect World International and the Case of the Glowing, Three-Headed Wurm
        It is a truth universally acknowledged that an MMO in possession of an experienced player-base must be in want of more end-game. In honor of that, and in response to heavy player demand, Perfect World International is getting a sizable update. PWI: Imperial Fury will introduce the brand new Advanced Endless Universe dungeon, changes to existing dungeons, and a whole passel of other improvements.

        Players are charged with retrieving the Perfect World City Essences within the Advanced Endless Universe dungeon. This dungeon, which will be accessible six times per week, will present one of three variations of itself upon entry. All three variations are distinctly different, and all three will require significant effort and coordination for successful completion. Hard work does not go unrewarded, however, as completion is rewarded with a chance box containing either a brand new skill book or a stack of potent consumable buffs -- and as both the boxes and their drops can be traded, you can always sell anything you don't want for yourself.

        Lunar Glade and Warsong City have received a design facelift, had their difficulty ramped up and their rewards increased -- rewards that include materials for upgrading the most powerful gear (at present) in the game.

        A temporary and intermittently-recurring NPC, the Aurora Agent, will allow characters over level 80 to trade Tokens of Luck for a chance to get rare and powerful items. There will also be new Bounty Hunter bosses, improvements to Phoenix Valley, more ways to gain Prestige, improvements to player-enemy targeting, the return of Secret Passage to its "more carebear-friendly roots," and more. So suit up and get ready to kick imperial hiney!

        MassivelyPerfect World International's end-game gets imperially furious originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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        Free for All: Istaria's updates, community, and future development

        Posted: 23 May 2012 08:00 PM PDT

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        Istaria concept art
        Before anyone asks in the comments section: Yes, Istaria is still around. I've noticed that many players seem to think if something is out of their sight, it's out of every other player's mind too, but the truth is that there are many, many smallish and indie MMOs in existence that not only continue to do well but offer unique gameplay for anyone who might be interested. Istaria is even still referred to as Horizons by many, even though that change was made a long, long time ago. Despite all of the outdated opinions and its status as an "older" game, interesting things are happening in the world of Istaria.

        I took some time and asked Amarie Ancalimon, Community Relations manager from Virtrium, about the latest string of patches and updates. I got plenty of information back, so let's get to it!

        Continue reading Free for All: Istaria's updates, community, and future development

        MassivelyFree for All: Istaria's updates, community, and future development originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          RIFT Conquest video boasts 'this is where realities collide'

          Posted: 23 May 2012 07:30 PM PDT

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          RIFT
          Curious how the makers of RIFT are going to turn a two-faction game into a three-faction PvP brawl? Us too! But Trion Worlds has a few clever ideas to capitalize on the best elements of PvP innovation and evolution with its upcoming Conquest system.

          "With Conquest we're really trying to capture the essence of open-world PvP gameplay," shares Lead Designer William Fisher in a new developer video. "This is where realities collide." He goes on to say that this new system isn't Defiants against Guardians, but instead three brand-new factions from across the planes duking it out with player assistance.

          Check out the new video after the jump, and when you're done with that, catch up with our very own Karen Bryan's hands-on experience with the Conquest system!

          Continue reading RIFT Conquest video boasts 'this is where realities collide'

          MassivelyRIFT Conquest video boasts 'this is where realities collide' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          New Pathfinder dev blog talks contract, questing mechanics

          Posted: 23 May 2012 07:00 PM PDT

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          Pathfinder Online - This guy broke his contract
          The latest Pathfinder Online dev blog is all about contracts. It's also about 20,000 pages long, so reading it starts to feel like reading a real contract after about the 10,000 page mark. OK, it's not all that bad. Heck it's actually pretty interesting stuff, since most MMOs these days go out of their way to segregate players from each other and from decisions that have lasting gameplay implications.

          Not so in Pathfinder, thanks to its contract mechanics, which Ryan Dancey says are like "a questing system hidden in plain sight." While some of what you'll read in this particular blog is theoretical (and as such, it carries the standard subject-to-change disclaimers), the system as it stands right now is broken down into four in-game tools: escrow, reputation, alignment, and the law.

          Contracts themselves are sub-divided into assassination, auction, bounty, guard, loan, purchase, sale, and transportation flavors. It sounds somewhat complex, but there's definitely a method to Goblinworks' madness. "Ideally, most of the commercial, diplomatic, and adventuring activities in the game will develop through player-to-player contracting," Dancey writes. "If somebody offers you a reward for bringing them 10 rat tails, it will be because another player needs 10 rat tails for some reason, not just because an NPC has an exclamation point bobbing over his head."

          MassivelyNew Pathfinder dev blog talks contract, questing mechanics originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          Mortal Online's CEO has high hopes for the game's subscriptions

          Posted: 23 May 2012 06:30 PM PDT

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          I see this armor as being able to stop a dragon's breath without a problem.
          A game company's CEO should always promote the company's games and be enthusiastic. There is such a thing as too much enthusiasm, however. Case in point: StarVault CEO Henrik Nystrom's comments during an IRC chat with fans. The chat was meant to cover the game's next major update, Awakening, but it included fan questions for future updates as well. It also included Nystrom telling a fan that he sees Mortal Online having roughly as many players as EVE Online in five years.

          By way of elaboration, EVE Online currently has roughly 450,000 players. Mortal Online's subscription numbers have never been revealed, but estimates place it under 10,000 players.

          An impossible goal? Definitely not, but certainly one that might be a bit overly ambitious. Fans of the game can still take a look at the chat for other interesting tidbits, however, including plans to add drugs and improve the new player experience in the future.

          [Thanks to Sandboxer for the tip!]

          MassivelyMortal Online's CEO has high hopes for the game's subscriptions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          38 Studios appears to be getting no new help

          Posted: 23 May 2012 06:00 PM PDT

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          Metaphor.
          The bad news continues to accumulate for Rhode Island developer 38 Studios. According to Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, the company has received a grand total of no outside investment. It also has not received any of the tax credits that it requested, leaving the studio still deep in the hole. Chafee has stated that he is doing everything in his power to prevent the studio's closure.

          Staff members are also leaving the company at an alarming rate, with CEO Jen MacLean and senior VP of product development John Blakely both confirming their departures from the company. The hiring of both individuals was trumpeted as a mark of success as recently as March of this year, and Blakely was still employed by 38 Studios as recently as Monday evening. There's even talk of the company's health insurance running out. None of this news suggests that Curt Schilling's company will make a quick turnaround -- if indeed it makes a turnaround at all.

          Massively38 Studios appears to be getting no new help originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          WildStar Wednesday shows off Eldan technology

          Posted: 23 May 2012 05:30 PM PDT

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          This has a name! I call her Vera!
          Players might be exploring the world of Nexus in WildStar, but it's not their world. It belonged to the Eldan, and while the race itself might not be present, its technology is still everywhere. The newest installment of WildStar Wednesday takes a look at some of the automated robots left behind by the Eldan. They're not directly malicious, but they're also not particularly friendly, pursuing ancient objectives and antiquated functions with single-minded devotion.

          While Probes are primarily meant for gathering information and surveillance, the floating eyes are equipped with shielding and directed-energy weapons to keep themselves safe. Protectors have a more direct combat function; the lumbering humanoid robots found gathered around important scientific sites. Last but not least, the Augmentors are rare but potent machines capable of injecting nanomachines into a subject to start a process of mechanical integration known as augmentation. Take a look at all of the machines on this week's installment of the preview column -- even if you don't necessarily want to blow these gadgets up, they don't have any such compunctions about you.

          MassivelyWildStar Wednesday shows off Eldan technology originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          Discussing the design of quests in The Elder Scrolls Online

          Posted: 23 May 2012 05:00 PM PDT

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          Instead of wiping out these skeletons and the dread necromancer animating them, let's go back to the village and wipe out the villagers. Less complaining.
          The Elder Scrolls Online has certain player expectations going in, such as an expectation of the sort of quest structure you usually find in the series. More specifically, it's the sort of structure in which you start off on some simple quest and wind up wandering off into some completely unrelated point of interest. A recent interview with creative director Paul Sage and lead content designer Rich Lambert reveals that the team is aiming for just that sort of model in the game.

          As Lambert explains, the team wants to move away from the usual hub design in favor of several points of interest, each of which provides a little snippet of content and story. The points aren't meant to be structured as an A-to-B affair; instead, you have several points of interest in a given region which build into a large overarching story. Take a look at the full interview for more information about how quests will work in the game and how players will be guided through objectives as they play.

          MassivelyDiscussing the design of quests in The Elder Scrolls Online originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          The Old Republic interview on patch 1.3 covers LFG, perks, and gear

          Posted: 23 May 2012 04:00 PM PDT

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          SWTOR
          Star Wars: The Old Republic is gonna get some mighty fine updates with the onset of patch 1.3. Game Designer Daniel Erickson had a chat with PC Gamer to shed some light on the changes in the upcoming patch.

          Players in SWTOR don't like standing still. As Erickson says: "You can craft on the move, run [war zones] from anywhere, and basically never slow down -- except when looking for a group." To put an end to that difficulty, 1.3 will include a LFG interface that players can use to find a pick-up group to run with (except for Hard Mode Operations, which aren't really designed for uncoordinated PUGs). The tool won't work cross-server, but that's because the dev team is looking to move to servers with a much, much higher population cap in the near future.

          The patch will add new perks to the legacy system, most of which are aimed at customizing the way players level their alts. With a high enough legacy and enough credits, players could use XP perks to skip side quests altogether, although Erickson points out that that there are perks for Bonus Series quests that may tempt players to visit planets they've previously left alone.

          The last bundle of tidings of great joy for the patch is directed at gear. There's a fine balance between freedom of dress and the importance of visual distinction, and SWTOR aims to find it by allowing "social gear" to be worn anywhere. Additionally, "almost every single item in the game" will get customization options thanks to augment slots. Players can use augment slots on gear to add, well, augments, which will allow them to further customize their character and playstyle.

          MassivelyThe Old Republic interview on patch 1.3 covers LFG, perks, and gear originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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          A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The growing, creeping power

          Posted: 23 May 2012 03:00 PM PDT

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          A Mild-Mannered Reporter header by A. Fienemann
          City of Heroes is a rarity. It's a well-established game that hasn't yet raised the level cap even once. Oh, sure, the Incarnate system is cheating a couple of extra level-like improvements out, but you hit the cap at 50 now just like you did when the game first launched. Compared to World of Warcraft, which ups its top level biannually, the game provides a real sense of security that the cap hasn't changed. Level 50 content is still relevant because the top end of power has remained stable.

          Of course, there's a downside to that as well. While having a forever-rising level cap has its own issues, a firm cap has left us with an endgame that's grown bloated as only games with entrenched caps can. We're not constantly having to relearn the entire endgame so much as we're getting new widgets added on, and we're finding ourselves stuck with a growing problem of old-fashioned power creep.

          Continue reading A Mild-Mannered Reporter: The growing, creeping power

          MassivelyA Mild-Mannered Reporter: The growing, creeping power originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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            Enter at Your Own Rift: Conquest PvP

            Posted: 23 May 2012 02:00 PM PDT

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            rift conquest
            RIFT fans wracked their brains trying to decipher the cryptic message on the forums a few weeks ago, and it turned out they were right: RIFT is on the verge of seeing the arrival of three faction PvP, and the game took its first step toward that with a test session on PTS last week.

            If you missed it, take heart because this week's Enter at Your Own Rift gives a recap of the event and a beginning look at how Conquest plays out. Read on for handy primer on three-faction PvP in Telara!

            Continue reading Enter at Your Own Rift: Conquest PvP

            MassivelyEnter at Your Own Rift: Conquest PvP originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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              ArenaNet talks about naming Guild Wars 2's world

              Posted: 23 May 2012 01:30 PM PDT

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              Guild Wars 2
              While it's easy to get caught up in the big picture side of the development process, we risk overlooking the smaller but crucial work that goes into gluing the game together. One of these tasks is the naming of the world and all that lies within it. Content Designer Annie VanderMeer Mitsoda wrote an ArenaNet blog post about the challenges and decisions that went with labeling everything under the sun in Guild Wars 2.

              Mitsoda said that the team has established a system for nailing down names. After coming up with the name, the team sends the moniker through a "sanity check" that makes sure it's not too hard to spell or say. The team also tries to weed out the more obscure or overt pop culture references, then passes along the names to the team's "loremasters," who check it against an internal wiki for consistency.

              She goes on to share a few anecdotes about the naming process, such as the evolution of Charr names, the difficulty of putting a label on an animal that has no Earth equivalent, and how the creepy rat-dog Murellow got its name. It's an interesting read into a different side of the development process that often goes unnoticed, so check it out!

              MassivelyArenaNet talks about naming Guild Wars 2's world originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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              Choose My Adventure: The last mile

              Posted: 23 May 2012 01:00 PM PDT

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              Choose My Adventure road trip
              You haven't steered me wrong. At least, not yet.

              I am pretty sure there is that nagging worry at the back of the Massively writers' minds when they give themselves over to the masses for Choose My Adventure. Sure, there is an element of mystery and excitement, but what if... just what if the majority manifests an evil streak and sends you careening over an embankment to your virtual doom? Or banishes you to tasks that would make you want to lobotomize yourself with your mouse -- things like run Death From Below repeatedly? Thankfully, you all spared me from such torture. And with this week's tour of the Mission Architect system in City of Heroes, you definitely steered me right -- this is my favorite aspect of the game yet!

              I am glad to say that my trust in you all has not been unfounded, and I will speak on your behalf to the others. The fact is, I have enjoyed our little road trip immensely and am sad it must come to an end. So let's take one last cruise through City of Heroes together before you drive off into the sunset with Eliot.

              Gallery: CMA: City of Heroes

              Continue reading Choose My Adventure: The last mile

              MassivelyChoose My Adventure: The last mile originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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                Turbine hosts 300 job-seekers at Rhode Island hiring event

                Posted: 23 May 2012 12:00 PM PDT

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                Lord of the Rings Online - landscape screenshot
                If you were vying for one of the 50 jobs Turbine put up for grabs at last night's job fair, well, get in line. The Providence Journal reports that 300-odd people showed up at the event, a turnout that the paper says was "higher than expected."

                How many of the 300 were 38 Studios refugees? That's hard to say since neither Turbine nor the job-seekers who came down wearing 38-branded jackets and sweatshirts would offer a comment. Turbine's Adam Mersky said the timing and the location of the meet-and-greet was no accident, as Turbine set up shop in a hotel mere blocks away from 38 Studios headquarters. "It's no coincidence that we're down here looking for talent," Mersky told the Journal.

                MassivelyTurbine hosts 300 job-seekers at Rhode Island hiring event originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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                Diablo III vs. Torchlight II: Battle of the dungeon-crawlers

                Posted: 23 May 2012 11:30 AM PDT

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                ROUND ONE: FIGHT!
                We know you're all still enthralled by Blizzard's latest blockbuster, Diablo III, but it's important to remember that it's not the only major dungeon-crawler hitting the market this year. Runic Games' Torchlight II is also slated for release, and it's sure to offer plenty of dungeon-delving, loot-gathering goodness as well.

                But the real question is, how do the two games stack up against one another? The Ancient Gaming Noob has decided to pit the two titles against each other in a no-holds-barred Thunderdome deathmatch to see which game emerges victorious!

                On one hand, you have Diablo III's simplified method of character progression utilizing runes and a number of skill combinations, and on the other hand, there's Torchlight II's more traditional talent trees and attribute points. Atmosphere (bright and colorful vs. dark and dreary is a battle for the ages), story, and gameplay are all matters of contention between the two, and each category receives ample coverage, providing a detailed look at the similarities and contrasts between the titles. If you're unsure which dungeon-crawler you want to swear allegiance to, head on over and give the full piece a read for a bit of help in the decision-making process.

                MassivelyDiablo III vs. Torchlight II: Battle of the dungeon-crawlers originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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                Why I Play: Vanguard, Saga of Heroes

                Posted: 23 May 2012 11:00 AM PDT

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                vanguard
                "How is Vanguard?"

                If there's one question that comes up time and time again, it's that one. It experienced a launch disaster, lack of content post 35+, bugs, duping, exploits, performance issues, and the sad "parking lot layoffs," yet Vanguard: Saga of Heroes always seems to generate buzz any time it comes up in conversation.

                There's a certain aura surrounding this game, and even though it languished with low subscription numbers for years, it always seems to attract attention when it's covered at Massively. There's something about Vanguard that kept me playing solidly well past launch and still pulls me back from time to time. With a free-to-play launch just around the corner, it seems like the perfect time to explain why I play Vanguard.

                Continue reading Why I Play: Vanguard, Saga of Heroes

                MassivelyWhy I Play: Vanguard, Saga of Heroes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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                  Massive ARGO Online patch raises level cap, adds new dungeons and quests

                  Posted: 23 May 2012 10:30 AM PDT

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                  ARGO Online - floating steampunk dude with wings and a huge weapon
                  Remember ARGO Online, the free-to-play steampunk fantasy MMO that launched in early 2011? If not, now's as good a time as any to refresh your memory since the game is about to undergo the largest content update in its history.

                  First up is a max-level increase (to 55), followed by a new "expert" island called Naviruo, which is geared toward level 50-plus players. Here you'll find more than 400 new quests that continue the tale of conflict between the Floresslah and Nobilan factions. There are also seven new dungeons to satiate your PvE and PvP appetites, not to mention over 300 new types of monsters to make things a little more challenging.

                  As always, more info is available at the official ARGO website.

                  [Source: ProSiebenSat.1 Games press release]

                  MassivelyMassive ARGO Online patch raises level cap, adds new dungeons and quests originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 May 2012 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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