| MMOHut Weekly Recap #77 Mar 11 – City of Heroes, Grand Chase, WarFace, & More Posted: 12 Mar 2012 02:47 PM PDT A quick look and discussion for every major announcement and update during the week! This week we discussed updates from the following games: City of Heroes, Grand Chase, Requiem, Warface, Scarlet Legacy, Aika and Carte. The biggest news comes from the announcement that City of Heroes has now released its newest update Issue 22, the first update since the game has gone F2P. The update added new costumes, powers, end game features and more. The biggest portion of the update involves the new co-op zone which is available to players above level 50. You can view all the individual news articles mention over at the MMOHut.com News section. |
| Clone Wars Adventures celebrates 10 million Posted: 12 Mar 2012 01:24 PM PDT Sony Online Entertainment is celebrating over ten million registered players for Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures. The game reached eight million registered users in its first year of service, and has continued to expand content to coincide with the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. The game has 96 trophies and over 15 titles to earn, 584 game stages to play, and much more. Darth Maul will also soon be returning to the game in an upcoming content update. To celebrate the new milestone, all registered players will receive Gold Death Watch Armor. Sony Online Entertainment also publishes EverQuest and Free Realms.  Star Wars: Clone Wars Adentures Gameplay Screenshot Source: JEDI COUNCIL GREETS MORE THAN 10 MILLION REGISTERED PLAYERS IN STAR WARS®: CLONE WARS ADVENTURESTM Squad Leader Sony Online Entertainment Releases In-Game Data to Celebrate Growing Population of the Republic SAN DIEGO, CALIF. – March 12, 2012 – Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE) and LucasArts, a division of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd., today announced that Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™, the free-to-play, family-friendly, online game based on the popular Cartoon Network animated series, Star Wars®: The Clone Wars™, has more than 10 million registered players. "Clone Wars Adventures is one of our original free-to-play games and it continues to demonstrate the success of the free-to-play business model," said John Smedley, President of Sony Online Entertainment. "Surpassing 10 million registered players so quickly is an extraordinary achievement and we have no intention of slowing down. Our goal is to continue to create an immersive environment that captures the essence of Star Wars, and we remain committed to further amplifying the Star Wars experience for all of our 10 million-plus registered players." Since the game's launch less than two years ago, Clone Wars Adventures has steadily increased its player base; reaching eight million registered users in one year and continuing to grow. Additionally, Clone Wars Adventures has released a variety of content to maintain its connection with the animated television series, including the summer game series Mission on Iceberg Three, mini-game Aquatic Assault and combat environment Battle of Umbara. "Clone Wars Adventures does an exceptional job of integrating the storylines from Star Wars: The Clone Wars," said Mary Bihr, VP of Global Publishing at LucasArts. "This unmistakable bond between the animated series and Clone Wars Adventures provides fans an amazing opportunity to actually be a part of the galactic conflict and is an instrumental factor in acquiring such remarkable registration numbers." With more than 10 million registered players in the galaxy, Clone Wars Adventures has seen: - 584 stages of game play (including challenges and multiplayer) for players to enjoy
- 96 trophies for players to earn
- The most popular mini-games in order:
- Republic Defender
- Galactic Forces
- Lightsaber™ Dueling
- Starfighter™
- The most popular character to battle in-game is the Rancor on Umbara
- Over 30 Droids™ and creatures in the game
- More than 15 titles available for players to earn
- More than 4.5 billion meters bounced by Jar Jar Binks, by all users in Stunt Gungan
- 37 Lightsabers, 36 Ranged weapons, and 18 other Wieldables in the game – the most popular is the Rotary Blaster Cannon
- Over 1,000 items added to the game since launch
To celebrate this accomplishment, SOE will be giving an in-game Gold Death Watch Armor to each of its 10 million registered users. Additionally, just as Darth Maul made his triumphant re-entry in season four of the television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the fan-favorite Sith Lord is making his debut in Clone Wars Adventures. Beginning on March 15, the horned villain will appear in Clone Wars Adventures in three different ways, providing players with opportunities to interact with Maul, earn a new player title, and other rewards.
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| BBC launches Doctor Who: Worlds in Time Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:11 PM PDT BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games, partnered with Three Rings (developer of Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights), has officially launched Doctor Who: Worlds in Time. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is a browser-based, free-to-play online game based on the Doctor Who series. The game features story missions, minigames, customizable avatars, contraption creation, and more. Players will be able to travel to worlds including Ember, Mars, and New New York to defend civilization.It is available at DoctorWhoWIT.com. Doctor Who celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2013.  Doctor Who: Worlds in Time Gameplay Screenshot Source: BBC Worldwide Transports Doctor Who: Worlds in Time Into Commercial Launch
Casual Multiplayer Online Game Proves It’s “Bigger on the Inside” LOS ANGELES, March 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/– BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games today announced the official launch of Doctor Who: Worlds in Time (DoctorWhoWIT.com), the first-ever browser-based, free-to-play multiplayer online game based on the popular television series. Created in partnership with Three Rings, the award-winning developer of persistent online worlds Puzzle Pirates and Spiral Knights, the game transports fans and gamers alike on a journey throughout the boundless Doctor Who universe. Doctor Who: Worlds in Time offers something for everyone, including an intriguing narrative for sci-fi followers and serious gamers and stimulating missions for game enthusiasts looking for a quick pick-up-and-play game. After preparing the TARDIS, players travel to various immersive worlds (including Ember, Mars and New New York) and work together to defend civilization against infamous villains (including the Weeping Angels, Cybermen, Daleks, Autons, Oods and Zygons) bent on creating chaos and destruction in the universe. Since the open preview launch in December 2011, the BBC and Three Rings have worked to make more Doctor Who environments available, as well as introduce additional virtual items and create deeply engaging communal features. “Worlds in Time offers players a multitude of elements and opportunities to socialize,” said Robert Nashak, Executive Vice President, BBC Worldwide Digital Entertainment and Games. “From introducing beloved characters and progressive storylines to presenting additional guild play, our goal is to become the largest Doctor Who community ever assembled, while also being an enjoyable experience for all players.” While Doctor Who: Worlds in Time is free-to-play, ,players can enrich their gameplay and hasten their progress through the purchase of Chronons, which help them to customize their avatars, complete mini-games, build new contraptions and more. “I have been a fan of Doctor Who since I was a child, so developing this game with BBC Worldwide is a dream come true,” said Daniel James, CEO of Three Rings Design, Inc. “Like the Doctor, we have our own mission, to provide Doctor Who fans an experience matched only by the wondrous TV series, and casual gamers a warm opportunity to discover the marvelous world for themselves. It’s exciting to see the Doctor Who universe come to life in such a unique way.” Doctor Who, one of BBC Worldwide’s flagship brands, is the longest-running science fiction series in the world and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2013. It’s the story of the Doctor, the mysterious traveller in time and space, who has saved the universe so many times. The Doctor is a Time Lord, one of a legendary race of powerful beings whose job it is to observe and record, but never interfere. 2011 was the biggest year ever for Doctor Who on BBC AMERICA with record ratings and mass critical acclaim. The series broadcasts in more than 70 million homes and On Demand across all major digital platforms.
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| Player Expectations vs. Developer Expectations Posted: 12 Mar 2012 12:05 PM PDT By Gavin Dickson Whenever a new game is announced people everywhere overflow with excitement anticipating their next adventure into a new game. Some would argue that players tend to expect too much when a new game is announced. Even though this is how adoring fans show their gratitude towards developers, it could potentially set an unreasonable expectation level that the game MUST hit. In the minds of gamers this is normal, yet developers know full well they cannot please everyone and sometimes players can't agree with that. Being a Gamer and a Jr. Developer myself, I know how frustrating it is when something doesn't match up with my expectations and how hard it is to meet everyone else's too. With that in mind let's dive a little deeper into what players expect versus what developers expect to deliver. Player Expectations Players always set a high expectation on the latest and greatest games coming out. Having these expectations isn't a bad thing by any means, but it could potentially ruin their overall experience. They expect the game to be bug free, polished, and filled with all new features thus pleasing their every need. Truth be told, in the past I had the exact same mindset, but let's face it people, this is NEVER going to happen. The reason being is that every time a developer fixes one problem or decides to go down one design path it creates a chain of new complications. Sometimes these lead to bugs or a piece of the game not being as polished as the rest. Perhaps maybe even left out entirely, such is game development. Again this links to games trying to please everyone with the short answer being they can't. Even if a game pleases the masses there is always going to be someone who just wasn't satisfied and/or let down because they hyped the game up so much. It is ridiculous to think that every game is going to please every single person on this planet because every individual has a different taste when it comes to games in general. Overall, players tend to expect too much from games nowadays. There is only so much a developer can do to cater to a certain audience. At the end of the day, developers are trying to please as many people as possible in a certain gaming spectrum and people can either hop on the bandwagon or hop off it. 
Expected too much…Got way too little Developer Expectations Developers have a completely different mindset when creating a new game. The first thing they talk about is the audience they are trying to bring in with their new project. This is what the game itself is planned around. Then they try their best to narrow their audience down to the casual and hard-core market because it gives them a foundation from which to design the overall experience. This doesn't mean that gamers from both markets won't play the game; it just gives the developers a clearer definition of what content should be in the game. Developers always research their audience before they develop, knowing well they will not be able to please everyone. If it was easy for developers to create an experience that everyone could enjoy, then there wouldn't be a casual or hard-core market. Every game created wouldn't have ESRB ratings saying what age group and audience will legally enjoy the game. Most of all, there would be no disappointed people and no expectations of games in general. The gaming industry's dream is to create content that every person can enjoy equally, but they know full well that it would take the challenge out of development. All-in-all developers expect to please only a portion of the market with their new title. But what separates a good developer from a bad one is knowing how they can best please that portion and live up to the majority of the player's expectations. Asking any more from them and you risk the integrity of the title as a whole. |
| Update 6 arrives in The Lord of the Rings Online Posted: 12 Mar 2012 11:50 AM PDT Turbine has launched the latest major update to The Lord of the Rings Online – Update 6: Shores of the Great River. The update introduces a new part of the epic story, free for all players to enjoy, which sends them on a journey to see Galadriel’s wisdom. This quest takes part in place in the new Great River region, featuring seven new areas; quests here are free to VIPs. The update also allows players to summon their skirmish soldier into the field itself, and makes several improvements to the instance finder as requested by players. Turbine also publishes Dungeons and Dragons Online. The Lord of the Rings Online: Update 6 Screenshots:
Source: The Lord of the Rings Online
Update 6: Shores of the Great River
The journey towards Rohan begins with Update 6: Shores of the Great River! Overview The Great River Region
Travel along the shores of the mighty Anduin in the expansive new region coming in Update 6! The signs of war are all around you as Isengard and Barad-dûr put their dark plans into motion. Push back the Easterlings, dangerous brigands and an ancient enemy of Rohan, as they gather for an attack on Rohan and Lórien. Explore seven new areas along the upper Anduin including the green plains of Parth Celebrant where treacherous shades roam, unable to rest. The Great River region is free to VIPs! Epic Story
The latest chapter in LOTRO's free Epic Story awaits! Travel to Lothlórien to seek Galadriel's wisdom after experiencing troubling dreams. Investigate the grim tidings along the Great River but be prepared as the evidence may point to a foe more terrible than your darkest nightmares. Soldier on Landscape
Get the helping hand you need with LOTRO's new Soldier on Landscape! This new feature allows you to summon your faithful skirmish companion in the field. Customize your skirmish solider to help you tackle even the toughest challenges! Instance Finder Update
You spoke, we listened, and now we're making Instance Finder better than ever! Instance Finder will soon allow you to queue for the specific instances and skirmishes that you want to do. You can also choose to change loot rules and remove players with a fellowship vote. The rewards are being enhanced, too, granting additional XP for skirmish completion and scaling currency bonuses for when you queue for a larger range of instances.
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