General Gaming Article

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• Study Finds BitTorrent Does Not Hurt U.S. Box Office Numbers
• EU Regulators Expected to Approve Google's Motorola Deal
• Analysts: 9-Inch Kindle Fire This Summer
• Chump Change: Intel Settles Antitrust Lawsuit in New York for $6.5 million
• Micron: DRAM Prices Likely as Low as They're Going to Get
• Motorola Droid 4 Lands at Verizon
• Apple Reloads Patent Portfolio and Takes Aim at Samsung (Again)
• Yar, Mateys! All Of Pirate Bay Made Available As A Single 90MB Zip File
• Need Natural GPU Performance Enhancement? Try AMD's Verdetrol
• This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Study Finds BitTorrent Does Not Hurt U.S. Box Office Numbers Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:05 PM PST Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Wellesley College recently got together to answer one simple question: does BitTorrent hurt U.S. box office numbers? According to this study, the answer is a resounding 'no,' much to the chagrin of the movie industry. The study did find a correlation in the data, but it amounts to Hollywood throwing away money. One of the talking points used to push SOPA and PIPA in recent months was the terrible impact illegal downloads were having on movie ticket sales. The paper in this case found that the volume of BitTorrent downloads a movie got had no measurable effect on box office numbers in the initial U.S. release. However, for films that were not released until later internationally, the study found a small decline in revenue in those markets (about 7%).  "We do not see evidence of elevated sales displacement in US box office revenue following the adoption of BitTorrent, and we suggest that delayed legal availability of the content abroad may drive the losses to piracy," the study reads. So really, if the movie makers are worried about piracy hurting the bottom line, all they need to do is release content in short order all over the world. When people are given the choice of snagging a pre-release leak, or going to the theater, they apparently choose the latter.

EU Regulators Expected to Approve Google's Motorola Deal Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:43 PM PST An unknown factor in Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility has always been the scrutiny it would receive from European regulators. It's a good day in Mountain View, because Reuters is reporting that the EU is prepared to grant its unconditional approval of the deal. Google announced the $12.5 billion buyout last year, but said Motorola will operate as a separate entity.  The suspicion is that Google made the deal with Motorola because the Android OEM has significant patents that cover wireless technology. As the patent war heats up, Google found itself with very little ammunition. The thousands of patents in Motorola's portfolio will be used to shield Android and other products from patent trolls, as well as rivals Microsoft and Apple.  The EU regulators are expected to announce their support on Monday, but that still leaves a few loose ends. The US Justice Department is expected to approve the merger, but there is not firm timeline for that to be made official. Google also has to get approval in Taiwan and Israel, where it has large presences. Do you foresee any problems with this deal going through?

Analysts: 9-Inch Kindle Fire This Summer Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:29 PM PST Amazon is too busy raking in all that Kindle cash to offer any clues about a larger successor to the Kindle Fire, but most industry watchers are convinced that such a device is coming. Following a DigiTimes report in December, Pacific Crest analysts have raised sales expectations for Amazon in expectation of a 9-inch Fire successor this summer. The current Kindle Fire is a 7-inch device running a heavily modified version of Android 2.3 Gingerbread. It lacks a connection to all Google services, instead running Amazon's video, music, and app stores. A 7-inch device is great for reading, but multimedia can often call for a larger screen. Pacific Crest was originally predicting 12.7 million fires this year, but now feels that 14.9 million is more accurate. Despite some mediocre reviews, the Fire has sold briskly. Clearly, there is a market for a $200 Android tablet, even one less capable than other, more expensive options. Would a 9-inch Fire be a possible purcahse for you?

Chump Change: Intel Settles Antitrust Lawsuit in New York for $6.5 million Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:24 PM PST Intel, the world's largest chip maker, has agreed to cut a check for $6.5 million to make an antitrust lawsuit disappear. Or maybe the Santa Clara company will simply dip into its petty cash. Either way, Intel can put the New York state antitrust lawsuit behind it and get back to concentrating on building and selling processors, presumably without running afoul of any laws. In this case, the agreement "expressly states" that Intel is in no way admitting to any wrongdoing, nor is the chip maker required to change the way it does business. Intel simply has to fork over a lump sum and go on with business as usual. "Following recent court rulings in Intel's favor that significantly and appropriately narrowed the scope of this case, we were able to reach an agreement with New York to bring to an end what remained of the case. We have always said that Intel's business practices are lawful, pro-competitive and beneficial to consumers, and we are pleased this matter has been resolved," said Doug Melamed, senior vice president and general counsel at Intel. Intel was accused of "bribing or coercing OEMS" like Dell, HP, and others into entering into exclusive or near-exclusive agreements, allegedly paying out billions of dollars to limit or not carry AMD processors. According to Reuters, the $6.5 million settlement represents less than five hours of profit based on Intel's reported net income of $12.94 billion for 2011.

Micron: DRAM Prices Likely as Low as They're Going to Get Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:59 PM PST At a time when hard drive prices are up, motherboard prices might be going up, and solid state drives (SSDs) are still comparatively expensive (per gigabyte), the DRAM market may have finally bottomed out. That's the feeling from Micron president Mark Adams, who heads the only U.S.-based DRAM maker still in existence. According to Adams, DRAM prices have finally hit rock bottom. "I don't think DRAM goes down from here. It's starting to feel like a stable market," Adams told Bloomberg in an interview. It's Adams' first prediction as Micron's president, a role he was promoted to after former CEO Steve Appleton was killed in a plane crash last week. As far as Micron sees it, the problem DRAM makers face is an oversupply of parts. But now that memory makers are cutting down on production and the hard drive shortage is starting to ease up, which in turn will lead to more PC sales, Micron sees RAM prices going up, or at least no longer going down.

Motorola Droid 4 Lands at Verizon Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:40 PM PST At long last, Motorola's Droid 4 smartphone with slide-out QWERTY keyboard is available at Verizon. Motroloa's newest smartphone runs $200 with a two-year service contract and includes free overnight shipping if ordered direct from Verizon, or $550 sans contract. It's been a long wait for those who've been holding out for this particular phone, which was first rumored to drop on December 8, 2011. It's here now and it brings a dual-core 1.2GHz processor to the Android party. It also has a 4-inch qHD display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage supplemented with a microSD card slot, 8MP rear-facing camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and the aforementioned slide-out QWERTY plank with five rows of keys. If this is the Droid you've been waiting for, you can snag one online here, or head over to Wirefly and get it for $150 instead of $200. As a reminder, Verizion is offering double-wide data caps for a limited time, so instead of 2GB for $30/month, 5GB for $50/month, and 10GB for $80/month, you get 4GB, 10GB, and 20GB, respectively.

Apple Reloads Patent Portfolio and Takes Aim at Samsung (Again) Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:16 PM PST If the ammunition you're using to try and take down your prey isn't getting the job done, you can either hunt different game or try different ammo. Apple has chosen the latter as it continues to chase Samsung through various courts around the world. According to reports, Apple added a pair of patents to its portfolio, which it's using to try and convince a California judge to ban sales of Samsung's smartphones and tablets. Citing documents filed in San Jose federal court, PaidContent.org says Apple is firing rounds at Samsung using newly-granted U.S. Patents 8,074,172 and 8,086,604. The first of those deals with spelling and auto-correct functions when hovering over letters a user is typing. It's less clear what exactly the second patent describes, other than some heuristic algorithm mumbo-jumbo that might be beneficial to search engines. Samsung is proving to be Apple's Moby Dick. The Cupertino company was recently denied a request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung's Galaxy tablet, but that was based on design patents. This new approach focuses on utility patents, a change in strategy Apple hopes will lead to a different outcome.

Yar, Mateys! All Of Pirate Bay Made Available As A Single 90MB Zip File Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:32 AM PST Oh, those tricky Pirate Bay folks. The Teflon buccaneers have always managed to stay one step ahead of the law; for example, the site recently switched to the .SE domain to avoid a Megaupload-style takedown and three of its founding operators fled Sweden to avoid facing jail time and millions in fines. Now, a Pirate Bay user has released a zipped 90MB file containing the key components of every torrent hosted by the site. Basically, if Pirate Bay goes down, anyone with this file will be able to get it up and running again lickity split. A Pirate Bay user called "allisfine" used a script to copy the titles, ID, file size, seeds, leechers, and magnet links for 1,643,194 torrents found on the site. There is a bit of confusion over the number of torrents, which allisfine admits him/herself in the torrent of the torrent site. TPB claims to have close to 4 million torrents. However, TorrentFreak makes the point that the 4 million-ish number includes torrents on public trackers that the Pirate Bay doesn't actually host itself, which could explain the discrepancy in numbers. It's not quite a complete listing for each torrent, however. "I did NOT download comments and/or descriptions, since that would be too big and I didn't want it to be as complete as possible, but as small as possible," allisfine explains. So, how is it that a massive site like The Pirate Bay can fit on a thumb drive? Magnet links. The site recently switched its torrents over to magnet links (also known as "trackerless torrents") and plans to ditch traditional .torrents all together sometime soon. These links are under 1KB each, which greatly reduces the site's footprint. For an in-depth explanation of the technology, check out this TorrentFreak article. Who knows? Maybe the Library of Congress will fit on a USB drive sometime soon.

Need Natural GPU Performance Enhancement? Try AMD's Verdetrol Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:17 AM PST Have you ever taken a little pill to enhance your performance? Hey, not like that! Get your mind out of the gutter! We're talking about graphics card performance. AMD recently shipped a prescription bottle full of blue pills and hilarious dosing directions to reviewers in anticipation of the launch of a 1GHz video card -- presumably the Radeon HD 7700, which has had 1GHz clock speed rumors swirling around it for a while now. Are you ready for some "natural performance enhancement" for your PC? There's another hint that the campaign is leading up to the release of the Radeon HD 7700; the code name for the 7700 is "Cape Verde," and the name of the fake performance boosting pills is "Verdetrol." Legit Reviews was sent a bottle and they report that the gag was very well done, with a dosage size of 1GHz, 28 doses in the bottle (for the 28nm manufacturing process -- get it?) and a prescription number of 1337-2012 for the Leet speakers in the house. For best results, take "1 tablet by fan intake four times daily." AMD even went so far as to set up a Verdetrol website. The picture above is courtesy of LegitReviews; to see lots more -- including images of the hilarious warning labels -- head on over to the Verdetrol thread in the Legit Reviews forums. "Man or woman, young or old, Verdetrol is the solution for anyone looking to get an edge when the heat is on!"

This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:44 AM PST We published our PS Vita review this week. The Vita has generated as much buzz over the years as any of the top smartphones, and it's easy to see why. It's specs are top of the line, and offer a mobile gaming experience far beyond anything that's been possible up to now. But it's not all been about the Vita this week. We've also been playing with the Nokia Lumia 710, a budget Windows Phone aiming to do battle with the likes of the HTC Radar. And the budget theme is continued with the Kogan TV we reviewed yesterday. A 55-inch LED, Freeview HD TV for under £1000. You've got to be kidding, right? PlayStation Vita review We still don't know if anyone's going to buy one, but there is no doubt that the PS Vita is an absolutely fantastic piece of hardware. Combining a brilliant 5-inch touchscreen OLED display, a quad core CPU, a quad core GPU, dual analogue sticks and a touch-sensitive rear, it's the most advanced handheld gaming device the world has ever seen. We even think the price is reasonable – considering the power, quality and polish the Vita brings with it, it's still much cheaper than many mobile phones that offer inferior components. But has the world moved on from £200+ handheld gaming consoles? With smartphones offering excellent games for less than a quid, convincing the public they should buy one and then drop 40 bob on a game is a big ask. Nokia Lumia 710 review The Lumia 710 is a budget Windows Phone. Although we would buy it over the HTC Radar, it's overshadowed by the Nokia Lumia 800, which impressed us a lot more and makes the 710 feel more like its cheaper relative than we would have liked. We know that the phone costs less, but the cost savings feel too apparent. For the small drop in price and the expectation that both phones are to drop in price, we're left feeling that you're better off buying the 800 instead. However, based on the recent announcements from Nokia, it's likely this will remain the budget option for the foreseeable future - a little bit more of a price drop and we'll be a lot more impressed with this otherwise decent handset. Kogan LED55 review In a world ravaged by recession, it goes without saying that the word 'bargain' has become the marketing industry's favourite word. We know you haven't got much money, but this is awesome and cheap and you should buy it! This Kogan TV measures a hefty 55-inches, sports a Freeview HD tuner, 100Hz processing and Edge LED backlighting. And it costs just £999. That's an astonishing price for such a large TV, but would you be better off spending less on a smaller TV from a more reliable brand? Read the review to find out! HP Envy 14 Spectre review We're deep into the second round of Ultrabook releases by now, and we feel the HP Envy 14 Spectre sits alongside the Dell XPS 13 at the top of the heap. But these are two different machines with different focuses. The HP Envy 14 Spectre is the most media-centred Ultrabook, with a larger 14-inch screen, 1600 x 900 pixel resolution and Beats audio technology. But it won't win over fans looking for performance and portability, due to the lower spec processor and bulky Gorilla Glass chassis. If you can overcome the steep asking price then the HP Envy 14 Spectre is a well-built and stylish way to transport and enjoy your music, movies and do a spot of image editing. This week's other reviews: Cameras Hands on: Nikon D800 review Hands on: Olympus OM-D E-M5 review Desktop PCs Hands on: Alienware X51 review OCUK Ultima 9450i Mosasaur MKII review Laptops Toshiba Qosmio F750 review Compaq Presario CQ57-366SA review Monitors Philips Brilliance 241P4QPYES review Philips Brilliance 241P4QPYES review Network adaptors GigaRunner USB remote access drive review Storage Plextor M3 256GB SSD review Plextor M3 256GB SSD review review Intel SSD 520 Series 120GB review review Intel SSD 520 Series 240GB review review

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MMO News

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• Firefall begins Battleframe Trailer Challenge
• Hedone launches 2.4 update
• Perfect World Games celebrate Valentine’s
• Brawl Busters busts out Valentine’s Update
• Web Fiesta launches today
• Forge of Empires Pre-Closed Beta Preview

Firefall begins Battleframe Trailer Challenge Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:51 PM PST Red 5 Studios has announced a new contest for Firefall fans: The Battleframe Trailer Challenge. The contest, which runs until March 16, challenges players to piece together raw gameplay footage and music (provided by the developer) into a trailer or commercial highlighting their favorite battleframe, similar to the Dreadnaught Introduction shown below. Upload these videos to YouTube, and Red 5 will judge submissions based in part by the likes and views of each submission. The grand prize will be an all-expenses paid trip for two to PAX East 2012 plus $500 spending money. Other prizes include an Alienware M14x laptop and an ASTRO Gaming A40 Audio System (Firefall branded). Firefall Dreadnaught Introduction: Source: RED 5 STUDIOS ANNOUNCES FIREFALL BATTLEFRAME TRAILER CHALLENGE Chance to Win a Trip to PAX East 2012, an Alienware™ Laptop, or ASTRO A40 Audio System Laguna Hills, CA – February 10, 2012 – Red 5 Studios™ announced today the launch of its Battleframe Trailer Challenge, a contest for creative gamers to show off their video-making ability, explore brand new Firefall footage, and compete for awesome prizes – including a trip to PAX East 2012. Red 5 is accepting entries now until March 16th, when the winners are announced. Contestants can submit their completed trailers via Youtube at the official contest page: http://bit.ly/firefallchallenge "At Red 5 we're very community-focused and this contest is a great way to get everyone involved in the game," said Red 5 CEO, Mark Kern. "Since we're always making action-packed Firefall trailers we thought it would be cool to see what our fans could come up with. Knowing them, they'll put together some amazing videos that are more than worthy of the prizes we're giving away." Participants will be given previously-unreleased raw gameplay footage along with a handful of music tracks. They'll have until March 16th to craft a flashy trailer/commercial that highlights their favorite battleframe and submit the Youtube link for entry. Red 5 encourages contestants to enter and promote their trailers as early as possible, as the winners will be decided using a special Red 5 algorithm that incorporates the "likes" and "views" of each Youtube submission. Red 5 has partnered up with cosponsors, Alienware™ and ASTRO Gaming, to ensure that the Battleframe Trailer Challenge offers gamers top-notch prizes. The first, second and third place entries will receive the following: · First Place: An all-expenses-paid* trip for two to PAX East 2012 in Boston, along with $500 spending money. *Red 5 will cover up to $1,500 per round-trip ticket ($3,000 maximum). · Second Place: An Alienware M14x laptop containing an Intel Core™ i7 processor, 4GB DDR3 Memory, and GeForce 555M 3GB Graphics Card. · Third Place: An ASTRO Gaming A40 Audio System featuring a Firefall branded A40 Headset and MixAmp™ Pro. Participants can visit http://bit.ly/firefallchallenge to download the official "asset package" and find additional contest details and rules.

Hedone launches 2.4 update Posted: 10 Feb 2012 03:10 PM PST Hedone’s closed beta has just launched a new patch, version 2.4, with a host of new updates to enjoy. New in the update are three locations – Cactus, Wreck, and Studio – and one new game mode, Search & Destroy. Two new weapons, the MK3A1 and Black DE.50 Muzzle Brake, also make their debut. All weapons have also been recalibrated and rebalanced for range, damage, and accuracy. The update also improves some network performance issues, and resets the game for the new phase of testing. Hedone is published by Acony. Hedone Gameplay Screenshot Source: Hello fellow Hedone fans! Today is an exciting day as the pilot of Hedone.TV is going into its next evaluation period. Our teams have been working hard to deliver improvements to the show and you’ll be the first to experience them! New Arenas & Game Mode The Location team has been travelling the world seeking out new arenas for Hedone.TV. Three fantastic new locations have passed our evaluation, have been given the Hedone treatment, and will appear in this phase of the show. These are: Cactus Our location scouts have found a superb bit of real estate for the contestants to fight over. From above it looks like a wasteland with not much to hide behind but you'll find out quickly that there are intriguing secrets hidden below the sands. This arena really showcases long-ranged combat skills while still keeping contestants on their toes. Wreck When we stumbled across this unique setting, it was an opportunity that we simply couldn't miss. We bought the island, relocated the villagers and turned their homes, built from the bones of a wrecked cargo ship, into an amazing arena. Hedone is all about getting to the top. The same is true for this arena, where getting high up is key. Studio Who doesn't love the movies? Popcorn, bright lights and expensive soda! Now, we bring the magic of the movies to Hedone.TV with this fantastic arena. We purchased this abandoned movie studio off of a former competitor. Now, our contestants can battle among alien spacecrafts and tentacle monstrosities! In addition to this the Arena team had another look at the Carpark location and improved it. It will be re-added to the show roster in this pre-season. Now that we have even more incredible arenas to use, it’s the perfect time to unveil our new show format. Our lawyers have signed off the ruleset for Search & Destroy for you to participate in as part of the pre-season. Search & Destroy Search & Destroy is a well-known show format. It has been given the special Lazar twist to create an exciting objective based match that rewards teamwork above all else. LazarTech Updates The Tech team has been staying late in the labs to improve the armory and has engineered the following changes and additions: New Weapons / Mods MK3A1 – Fully automatic shotgun complete with a full suite of modifications ready to go Black DE.50 Muzzle Brake – custom-made exclusive muzzle brake for the Black version of the DE .50. Weapons and Combat Adjustments The big news for our contestants is that all weapons have been recalibrated and now perform more reliably over different ranges. As a result all weapon damage has been rebalanced. Further, the following changes have been made to particular items: G17 – improved accuracy MP5 and MP7 – reduced headshot damage Sniper Scopes – Zoom levels changed to 3x for small scopes, 6x for big scopes and 3x/6x for multi-scopes Endorphex – reduced damage slightly, lowered energy recharges rate, and increased energy costs General Network Performance The following changes have been made to streamline the show experience for our contestants: Team Switch – contestants can switch teams faster Server Browser – it’s easier to find show formats that contestants want to participate in Launcher – the launcher was reworked, providing contestants information on the latest updates to the show in a more convenient to use fashion Reward Screen – the look of the reward screen has been improved, in particular it is now easier for contestants to access unlocked rewards in the green room Other Updates Language – Hedone.TV is now available in German, the language can be switched via the launcher All accounts will be reset for this new phase of the Hedone.TV pilot We are looking forward to contestants trying out these new locations, weapons and updates. As always we value your feedback and encourage all contestants to let us know their thoughts on the new features on the Hedone.TV  forum. Let’s put on a show!

Perfect World Games celebrate Valentine’s Posted: 10 Feb 2012 02:15 PM PST Perfect World Entertainment is celebrating Valentine’s across its games with various items, events, and more, as listed below: * Perfect World International: GMs will be roaming the servers in hopes of finding friendly chit-chat and hugs, while welcoming any photo-op requests. Best event themed screenshot will win his or her choice of a rare mount. * Jade Dynasty: Collective wedding event, a free Tiger Mask for players who get married, and a set of free gifts including a 7-day Aeon Lion mount for every player who logs in on February 14. * Rusty Hearts: Show your love for Rusty Hearts by entering the art contest to win Roselle Vegerius, the latest premium character in-game. * Forsaken World:  Players can choose to receive a Valentine's Day card and a random item from four different NPCs. Players can get the random item once per day during the event period. (Event runs from February 14-21.) * War of the Immortals: Get your chocolate fix in Atlantis by collecting them off the ground and hand them in to an NPC for more experience points. (Event runs from February 14-21.) * Ether Saga Odyssey: Join the masses in getting married, bid for a rare pet, send a custom broadcast message, and enter the screenshot contest for a chance to gain EXP and other special items. Perfect World International Gameplay Screenshot

Brawl Busters busts out Valentine’s Update Posted: 10 Feb 2012 01:45 PM PST Rock Hippo Productions has released its Valentine’s update for Brawl Busters players. Players can find new Evil Cutie Costumes to decorate their characters (like the one shown below) and stat-altering accessories, while brawling in their usual style. The game has also added new servers and improved network stability. Rock Hippo also publishes MicroVolts. Brawl Busters Gameplay Screenshot Source: LOVE AND CARNAGE COLLIDE IN BRAWL BUSTERS Rock Hippo Cuddles with Valentine’s Day Outfits Alongside New Game Servers Markham, Canada – February 10, 2012 – Rock Hippo Productions announced today its Valentine Day’s plans for the popular free-to-play online multiplayer action game, Brawl Busters. Starting today players can don amorous outfits to lovingly beat up their opponents, and they will find a smoother gaming experience, when they do, with the all-new game servers! To check out this full, downloadable game, players should visit www.BrawlBusters.com/splash and join in the mayhem. February 14th is a day to show your love, and what better way to do so than to Brawl with your significant other? Do it up in style with new Evil Cutie Costumes as well as never-seen-before stat-altering Accessories. “Brawl Busters redefines how to celebrate Valentine’s Day for both, the singles out there and the numerous couples who play BB together,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions. “The new Costumes alongside improved network stability means you can Brawl in ways you’ve only dreamed of!” Brawl Busters was also recently nominated for the 2011 MMOSITE Reader’s Choice Awards and won in several categories. Brawl Busters took first place in both, ‘Best Graphics’ and ‘Best Music’ categories. The game also placed second in ‘Favorite Action and Casual MMO’ and ‘Best New MMO’ categories. More than 4 million votes were cast for the Awards.

Web Fiesta launches today Posted: 10 Feb 2012 12:32 PM PST Fiesta Online has launched its browser-based, 3D version of Fiesta Online, Web Fiesta, today. Web Fiesta offers the same gameplay and features as regular Fiesta Online, allowing players to continue to experience the game in a 3D client without the need to download. Several celebrations are going on in the community for the launch, including several in-game event. Players can join the Great Leveling Race, the Fiesta Comic Event, Fun With Fiesta, or even Date-A-GM. Players can also redeem a limited edition goldfish mini-pet with the code GOLDIMONWANTSFIESTA (expires February 14). Fiesta Online is published by Outspark, which also publishes Luvinia Online. Fiesta Online Gameplay Screenshot Source: Web Fiesta Revolutionizes Browser Gaming with Full 3D Outspark Proving to Be A Genre-Defining Force for Free-To-Play MMORPGs SAN FRANCISCO – February 9, 2012 – Starting today, millions of Fiesta fans will be able to pick up their game wherever there's a PC without ever leaving the party, as Outspark launches Web Fiesta , the new browser version of Fiesta Online, a wildly popular free-to-play MMORPG. Now on a beach, in a café, on a train, epic battles and romance are just a few clicks away, and in full 3D. That's not something that's been done before. “This is a huge moment for the free-to-play industry as we bring true 3D to the browser. With Web Fiesta, players can pan 360 degrees around objects, an experience previously limited to the download client. This frees the player to take deep, immersive adventures on the road, and friends they meet along the way can join the fun in just a matter of clicks!" cheered Philip Yun, CEO, Outspark. "It's been truly fantastic working with our developer OnsOn Soft and partner SpawnApps delivering this seamless play experience to our community. It's the same game on the same servers, but now players have the choice to play on their download client or log into the web." To celebrate the launch of Web Fiesta, Fiesta's Game Masters are hosting several exciting in-game events for valuable prizes. The Great Leveling Race is a race to the top for glory and SparkCash, the Fiesta Comic Event is a showcase of community's clever comic tales, and Fun With Fiesta rewards players for simply exploring the game. In addition, Date-A-GM makes its return as a Valentine's dating game where players face-off in a test-your-wits challenge to win dream in-game experiences with a Game Master. For details on these events and more, check out fiesta.outspark.com, join our rapidly growing fanbase on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter. Play Web Fiesta for free and receive a special gift, a goldfish mini-pet, which will give your base stats a nice boost. Redeem your free mini-pet here and enter code GOLDIMONWANTSFIESTA, expires 2.14.12.

Forge of Empires Pre-Closed Beta Preview Posted: 10 Feb 2012 11:41 AM PST InnoGames is an established publisher when it comes to browser-based strategy games, hosting both Tribal Wars and Grepolis. This year, Innogames is introducing another new strategy game to its line-up: Forge of Empires. MMOHut had the chance to join the Exclusive Preview period of Forge of Empires to get an early look at this new contender. Not Another Clone Let's get something out of the way first: Forge of Empires is not another cookie-cutter MMORTS. Naturally, there are some shared elements with other strategy games, including producing resources, building a city, and sending out armies to infiltrate and plunder. But if you're worried that it's going to be another grind where you build and upgrade lumber mills and quarries, mass recruit soldiers to go farm, or sit around staring at a static city map waiting to something to happen, you have reason to relax. In fact, the system for Forge of Empires more strongly mimics Facebook-style strategy games, which require more active participation and less micro-management. City Building with Ragu You'll start out as many strategists do: as the leader of a budding little city in the most primitive state possible. The game offers a solid set of tutorials and tutorial quests with the helper of an NPC named Ragu Silvertongue. For a while, Ragu will be your sole guide; later on, other NPCs will chime in their advice and offer quests to complete in order to take your civilization further. City building in Forge of Empires is grid-based, but offers a great amount of freedom. You can choose to place buildings and decorations wherever they fit within your city, and even pick up and move these items whenever you need to adjust for efficiency. Many buildings do need to be connected to roads, which are also yours to place as you wish. In fact, as your city grows, you'll find it necessary to rearrange and rebuild parts of your city to maximize its efficiency. Buildings come in several types, from houses that offer population and regular money, to goods and services that offer regular production, to happiness-boosting decorations and public services, to military buildings designed to train units from your population. One key importance in managing a city is that all of these features require some level of time-watching to maximize their effectiveness: by collecting your money or supplies when they become available, you let nothing go to waste. There's almost always something to check in with on Forge of Empires. Pillage, Plunder, and Negotiate Forge of Empires also offers a solid single-player campaign, promoted primarily through the quest system. Through this campaign, you can take your army into different provinces, each of which is divided into further sectors. Conquering each of these sectors (through attacking, negotiating, or infiltrating) grants a small reward, while conquering the entire province unlocks a greater reward. However you choose to conquer, gaining more territory offers bonuses to your home city and progresses you further along the storyline. While not developed fully yet, Forge of Empires also offers PvP. Players can easily challenge each other through the game's menus, and face off in AI-controlled duels. PvP towers also offer weekly tournaments. On The Battlefield Battles in Forge of Empires are a nice harken back to classic strategy games. Battles take place on hex-based battlefields, populated with different types of terrain. Terrain offers different bonuses or penalties to defenders and attackers, and so plays a key role in each battle. Each unit (you can only take eight into battle) can be controlled individually through movement and attacks. You can also ask the game to control a unit for a single turn, or to control the entire battle in an auto-battle. Each unit has health that is lost as it battles, and if all its health is lost, the unit is lost as well. Damaged units can return to the city to heal, or be healed with cash currency. A Promising Start Forge of Empires' twists of strategy game systems – from classic to casual – weave together to create something new for strategy fans to enjoy. For an early stage, the game shows a high amount of polish and depth, and it seems that InnoGames is carefully planning each step in the game's development to ensure that each new feature is implemented positively. If you've gotten tired of the common formula for strategy games, keep an eye on Forge of Empires and sign up for beta.

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MMO Updates

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• MMObility: Let's make a mobile game, part two
• Celebrate Valentine's Day with Perfect World Entertainment
• Diablo III sort of confirmed for Q2 2012
• Some Assembly Required: Salem dev talks permadeath, griefing, and skill-based gameplay
• The Daily Grind: Where does gaming fall on your priority list?
• This Week in MMO: CCP has gone crazy edition
• The MMO Report: Elvis invented rock 'n' roll edition
• The Guild Counsel: Why is it so hard to say congratulations?
• Ask Massively: We do not play games for a living edition
• TERA brings more pre-order customers into the beta process
• LotRO struts the runway for Fashion Week
• WoW loses another 100,000 subscribers
• EVE Online's time dilation keeping game in sync
• The Perfect Ten: MMO prisons
• You (yes, you) can expand Firefall's gameworld
• Funcom reveals The Secret World skill deck templates
• The Summoner's Guidebook: A community guide to League of Legends

MMObility: Let's make a mobile game, part two Posted: 10 Feb 2012 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Real life, Business models, Game mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-play, Browser, Mobile, Casual, Humor, Miscellaneous, MMObility Last week I started working with Dave Toulouse, indie developer of Golemizer and Star Corsairs, to build our very own mobile MMO. For the sake of completing the project within the month of February, we kept our game designs simple and easy for anyone to play. The idea was not to create a state-of-the-art video game but instead to build a working framework that illustrated some of the basics of MMO design. Ironically, my first column on the subject was received rather coolly when I consider my normal column response, but last week's responses taught me a valuable lesson about design: Players often want to talk about what is not possible rather than what is. Dave told me how his players often told him what they wished his games would achieve, without ever considering just how difficult it is to make a game. Still, there were several great ideas in the comments section. I'm going to use those ideas to break down this week's update. Continue reading MMObility: Let's make a mobile game, part two MMObility: Let's make a mobile game, part two originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Celebrate Valentine's Day with Perfect World Entertainment Posted: 10 Feb 2012 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Perfect World International, Events, in-game, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play If you haven't made any MMO-centric plans for Valentine's Day, consider the offerings from free-to-play giant Perfect World Entertainment. The company is playing cupid in several of its online titles, and players can acquire "wedding fashions, romantic items, spectacular mounts, mystery boxes, and more." Jade Dynasty features a wedding event and items for marriage-minded avatars, while Perfect World International GMs will be interacting with players and giving out a rare mount. Rusty Hearts is putting on an art contest, and the prize is Roselle Vegerius (the game's latest premium character). Forsaken World players will receive a Valentine's Day card and random items, while War of the Immortals fans can collect chocolate and trade it for additional XP. Finally, Ether Saga Odyssey players can enter a screenshot contest to win XP and bonus items, as well as bid for rare pets and send custom broadcast messages. [Source: Perfect World Entertainment press release] Celebrate Valentine's Day with Perfect World Entertainment originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Diablo III sort of confirmed for Q2 2012 Posted: 10 Feb 2012 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, New titles, News items Looking for a definitive release date for Diablo III? So are we, and unfortunately Blizzard isn't cooperating. The best the company can come up with is Q2 2012, according to Rock, Paper Shotgun. The site reports on Blizzard's recent investors call, during which Mike Morhaime stated the obvious before alluding to the launch window. "Given the popularity of the action RPG genre, and the keen interest in Diablo III, we expect this launch to be a big opportunity for Blizzard. We can also confirm that we are targeting a Q2 launch for Diablo III. We expect to announce more details about the release schedule in the coming weeks," he said. But hey, at least he didn't say "when it's ready." [Source: Activision investor call] Diablo III sort of confirmed for Q2 2012 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Via: RPS

Some Assembly Required: Salem dev talks permadeath, griefing, and skill-based gameplay Posted: 10 Feb 2012 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Free-to-play, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox, Crafting Hello, sandbox faithful, and welcome to a special interview edition of Some Assembly Required. We recently had a chance to pitch some questions to the team behind Seatribe's upcoming Salem title, and creative director Björn Johannessen was kind enough to answer them. Salem is being advertised by publisher Paradox as "the crafting MMO," but it's also rife with throw-back mechanics including a huge amount of player freedom and a permadeath/punishment system similar to the one in Johannessen's Haven & Hearth. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: Salem dev talks permadeath, griefing, and skill-based gameplay Some Assembly Required: Salem dev talks permadeath, griefing, and skill-based gameplay originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Where does gaming fall on your priority list? Posted: 10 Feb 2012 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Back before I had a family, it wasn't unusual for me to play a video game for eight-hour stretches at a time every day. But now that I'm a father of three, I don't even want to think about playing a game unless I'm playing with my family or it's after their bedtime. On the other side of that coin, there are plenty of people who put gaming before just about everything else in their lives. When you're "too busy" to work or spend time with your family, but not too busy to raid every night, that's a problem in my opinion. This might sound odd coming from a guy who has made gaming his career, but I respect balance and moderation. I could go on and on about how so many people are losing their perspective on having fun by being "hardcore," but I'll save that for a Soapbox article one day. In the meantime, I want to know how you feel about gaming on your priority list. Is it numero uno, towards the end, or somewhere in between? 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! The Daily Grind: Where does gaming fall on your priority list? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

This Week in MMO: CCP has gone crazy edition Posted: 09 Feb 2012 07:00 PM PST Filed under: Video, Culture, News items, Opinion, Miscellaneous It's time for This Week in MMO once more, and this time around, the show kicks off with the rather daring statement that CCP Games has completely gone off the deep end. Well, maybe not that far, but the show does start off focusing on recent comments from the company about how DUST 514 could be one of the biggest shooters of the year... a statement that strikes the hosts as being just a wee bit pompous. Aside from that, there's talk about Star Wars: The Old Republic's subscriber numbers and what those numbers mean in the long run as well as the latest trailer for TERA. If you'd like to get some roundtable discussion about the past week's biggest MMO stories, you don't need to go far. Just skip on past the break to watch the newest installment of This Week in MMO, which is quite possibly the best roundtable discussion about MMO news with a six-letter nickname in existence. Continue reading This Week in MMO: CCP has gone crazy edition This Week in MMO: CCP has gone crazy edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The MMO Report: Elvis invented rock 'n' roll edition Posted: 09 Feb 2012 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Video, MMO industry, News items, Opinion, Humor, The MMO Report, Miscellaneous This week on The MMO Report, Casey insists that he's a "wise-cracking superhero with a heart of gold," not a noob who doesn't know his MMO history. "For the record," he says, "I do realize that EverQuest wasn't the first MMO. I was just saying it was the game that brought MMOs mainstream attention... like how Elvis invented rock 'n' roll." Casey reports on Warhammer 40K: Dark Millennium Online's financial woes, RIFT's new infinite trial, Star Wars: The Old Republic's impressive sales numbers, and TERA's beta plans. Then he dips into Uncle Casey's Mailbag to discuss -- what else -- hot dorf-on-dorf action. All this and more in the HD MMO Report tucked behind the cut! Continue reading The MMO Report: Elvis invented rock 'n' roll edition The MMO Report: Elvis invented rock 'n' roll edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: The MMO Report

The Guild Counsel: Why is it so hard to say congratulations? Posted: 09 Feb 2012 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Guilds, Opinion, The Guild Counsel, Miscellaneous When was the last time you said congratulations to someone in game? And no, I don't mean the spammy "congrats" when someone in guild gains a level, an AA, a skill up, a crafting combine, or any of the dozen other milestones that pop up every day in chat. Those are the easy congratulations because the accomplishment has no direct effect on you. I'm talking about the congratulations when someone beats you in game. You might be in a duel or battleground, and the other guy ends up taking you out. You might be racing for a named mob, and the other guy gets there first. Or you might be in that guild that always seems to fall just a bit short and winds up the bridesmaid when it comes to guild progression. There is plenty of competition in MMOs, but you rarely see much sportsmanship from players. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at why it's so hard to say "congrats" and why that has an effect on guilds as well as on the communities overall. Continue reading The Guild Counsel: Why is it so hard to say congratulations? The Guild Counsel: Why is it so hard to say congratulations? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Ask Massively: We do not play games for a living edition Posted: 09 Feb 2012 04:30 PM PST Filed under: City of Heroes, City of Villains, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Opinion, Ask Massively, Miscellaneous One of the most persistent misconceptions about what we do here at Massively is this idea that we play games for a living. Allow me to be perfectly clear in this: What you're seeing right now? This article? The one I wrote? Writing this is what I do for a living. I write about games, and I enjoy games, but if I decided to not write any of my columns for a month and just play Star Wars: The Old Republic, I would be fired. That is not my job. Now that we've gotten that out of the way, it's time for another installment of Ask Massively, this time featuring questions about gambling and the latest City of Heroes cash shop offering. If you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment of the column, mail it to ask@massively.com or leave it in the comments below. Questions may be edited for brevity and/or clarity. Continue reading Ask Massively: We do not play games for a living edition Ask Massively: We do not play games for a living edition originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

TERA brings more pre-order customers into the beta process Posted: 09 Feb 2012 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, News items, TERA TERA has hit a few snags of late, including some woes with the whole system of getting pre-order beta access for appropriately pre-ordered customers. Luckily for some fans of the game, it looks like things are moving forward for players hoping to get into beta testing this weekend. An official announcement on the forums earlier today confirmed that GameStop has received valid beta codes and should be distributing said codes to customers via receipt or via phone. Any players who preordered from Amazon or Best Buy and still haven't received a code are asked to send in a letter to the customer service staff before 9:00 a.m. PST on February 10th. Players are all warned that the game's download is currently clocking in at 17 GB, which means that you'll need plenty of time to get the client installed on your computer. A lengthy download is preferable to ambiguity as to whether or not you'll even get your beta access, though. TERA brings more pre-order customers into the beta process originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Beta distribution announcement

LotRO struts the runway for Fashion Week Posted: 09 Feb 2012 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Contests, Events, real-world, Events, in-game, Free-to-play Are you more into looking good in Lord of the Rings Online than defeating the very heart of evil? Then Turbine's got a special week planned just for you. Starting today and going through the 16th, Fashion Week will be blazing through LotRO. LotRO's cosmetic system allows players to assemble their own outfit looks independent of slotted gear and has become a popular feature in the game ever since its inception. Through Fashion Week, Turbine will call on the best-dressed to strut their stuff in the hopes that in-game CMs will see them and award special titles. Also included in the week will be fashion-themed lotteries and a screenshot contest in which the best entries will be voted upon by the community. To give players inspiration, Turbine links to three game outfit blogs -- Lotro Fashion, Lotro Stylist, and Cosmetic Lotro -- and has given each of the blogs special codes to hand out for free in-game dyes. LotRO struts the runway for Fashion Week originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: LotRO.com

WoW loses another 100,000 subscribers Posted: 09 Feb 2012 02:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, real-world, MMO industry, New titles Thanks to our sister blog WoW Insider, we've got the scoop on today's Activision-Blizzard investor call. The results? Turns out World of Warcraft isn't dying, but it's certainly seen better days in its record-breaking run. Blizzard's flagship MMO now boasts "only" 10.2 million subscribers worldwide (10.3 million were reported during the call in November). The company believes the success of the 4.3 patch contributed to subscriber retention, as did the success of the annual pass; in fact, a million players took Blizzard up on a deal to purchase a year's worth of WoW in return for a free copy of Diablo III. Blizzard also confirmed plans to launch at least two titles this year, including Diablo III in Q2. Mists of Pandaria, WoW's much-maligned upcoming expansion, might be the other, though Titan, Blizzard DOTA, and a new StarCraft II campaign are also in the works. The company's expected revenue for 2012 is $4.5 billion US. WoW loses another 100,000 subscribers originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Activision.com Via: WoW Insider

EVE Online's time dilation keeping game in sync Posted: 09 Feb 2012 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Dev Diaries Leave it to one of the most popular MMO studios to figure out how to control time -- and do so successfully. Through technical wizardry, CCP did just that when it released a time dilation feature into EVE Online last month to reduce lag during massive space battles. So far, it's working great, according to CCP Veritas. In a new blog post, he shows off graphs and recounts recent events that show how "TiDi" (as he calls it) is successfully slowing down in-game time to keep player commands and on-screen action in sync. "In all cases, it has kicked in appropriately when the server node has become overloaded, keeping things running responsively and sanely," he writes. "In both huge fights [shown on the graphs], the module response time was kept under one second for the vast majority of the action, which is a tremendously large improvement over the 20, 40, 600 seconds we'd sometimes see in fights of this scale." EVE Online has also made a few quality of life improvements to EVE Gate, including a better login system, a navigation menu tied in with the rest of the site, and a way to quickly zip to dev posts on the forums. EVE Online's time dilation keeping game in sync originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: EVE Online #1, EVE Online #2

The Perfect Ten: MMO prisons Posted: 09 Feb 2012 12:00 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Age of Conan, City of Heroes, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Fallen Earth, Opinion, Ultima Online, Humor, Champions Online, DC Universe Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Perfect Ten, Miscellaneous Chillin' in the clink. Spending time in stoney lonesome. Thrown into the slammer. Checking in to the big house. Doing (perfect) 10 to life in the hole. Learning the ropes in juvie. Prison: The only fun thing about it is the slang that people have come up to describe it. And while you may never actually want to spend any time in the crowbar hotel in real life, chances are you've already done so in MMOs. Jails are an ever-popular locale in online gaming, and they almost always deal with an epidemic of escaped -- yet still milling around casually -- prisoners. So in today's Perfect Ten, we talked to the warden and got you a special glimpse into pixelated pokeys, if only to scare you straight. No more exploits and bots for you, young man or woman! Continue reading The Perfect Ten: MMO prisons The Perfect Ten: MMO prisons originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

You (yes, you) can expand Firefall's gameworld Posted: 09 Feb 2012 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Free-to-play, MMOFPS Red 5 Studios is making a little marketing push for Firefall, and the first salvo takes the form of a new dev diary video starring CEO Mark Kern. If you're not familiar with the game, this clip is a great place to start. Kern explains how Firefall is really two titles in one, with the first game being a ginormous open world featuring loads of PvE content. The second game is centered around Firefall's e-sport components, which include ranked leaderboard matches ranging from 5-on-5 to 15-on-15. Kern also mentions the game's unique take on beta and launch. In basic terms, Red 5 implements feature sets, collects beta feedback, and iterates on down the line (as opposed to presenting a finished product for mass beta testing). This staged approach will also apply to the game's launch, and Kern says the game will be rolled out "organically" much like Google's Gmail service. Finally, content expansion in Firefall will be player-driven. Cross-server cooperation will be necessary to craft MRU units that will expand the playable area from 10 square miles to an entire globe. Kern also touches on the trendy games-as-a-service mandate, and he says that as long as players are around to support Firefall, Red 5 will be around to generate new content. Watch the full video after the break. Continue reading You (yes, you) can expand Firefall's gameworld You (yes, you) can expand Firefall's gameworld originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: YouTube

Funcom reveals The Secret World skill deck templates Posted: 09 Feb 2012 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries Funcom has penned a new dev diary at MMORPG.com, and the piece reveals three new skill decks from the firm's The Secret World title. What's a skill deck? It's The Secret World's answer to the how-do-you-make-a-level-free-MMORPG question, and it allows players to select from 500 abilities to create "exactly the type of character they want." Funcom thinks the system will seem daunting to players used to simpler class-based mechanics in competing MMOs, and as such the firm is adding a few deck templates to offer players a helping hand. Three of these are profiled in the new diary, including one from each of the game's factions. The Witch Hunter focuses on big damage spikes and represents the Templars, the Warlord is your basic swordfighter from the Dragon faction, and the Thaumaturgist is the Illuminati's answer to the gunmage archetype. [Thanks to fallwind for the tip!] Funcom reveals The Secret World skill deck templates originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Skill deck reveal

The Summoner's Guidebook: A community guide to League of Legends Posted: 09 Feb 2012 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Free-to-play, Guides, MOBA, League of Legends, The Summoner's Guidebook Greetings, summoners, and welcome to the first installment of the Summoner's Guidebook! For a new player, the Guidebook is a one-stop-shop to gaining familiarity with the various elements of League of Legends. For the more advanced players, we'll also be covering ways to improve on weak areas of your play and how to deal with the toughest of matchups. I was a new player once, and I remember being extremely daunted by the number of things I needed to learn to be competitive in LoL. Although the journey from newbie to expert was long and difficult, I learned a lot about common mistakes and how to reduce them. If you're looking to step up your game or if you're just getting into the League, the Summoner's Guidebook is the place for you to learn without being treated like you're a noob. This week, we're going to cover the community resources available to you. There are a lot of websites dedicated to League of Legends, and it would be foolish to assume that this column is the only place to get advice on the game. If there's something I haven't covered yet or there's a topic I'm unfamiliar with, you can be sure that one of these places will have the info you're looking for. This article can't possibly cover all the League fansites on the internet (there are probably hundreds), but I can focus on the ones with the best information. Continue reading The Summoner's Guidebook: A community guide to League of Legends The Summoner's Guidebook: A community guide to League of Legends originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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