General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Tor Project Considers Paying Users $100/mo. For Operating High-Speed Tor Relays

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 10:41 AM PDT

For privacy-minded types and people in repressed parts of the world, Tor is a valuable tool. The anonymity-enabling onion routing service does have a few drawbacks, however, including its sometimes sub-optimal connection speeds. Tor's browsing speeds have gotten noticeably better over recent months and years, and the poor connections may disappear completely if a proposal that's currently under consideration is adopted: actually paying people and organizations with fast connections to act as a Tor exit relay.

The proposal was actually put forth by Tor founder Rodger Dingledine, who has been vociferously against paid relays for years. He recently dove into Tor data, however, and found that Tor clients -- which randomly connect to available exit relays -- connect to the five fastest available servers about a quarter of the time thanks to Tor's built-in load balancing. More capable connections get more Tor client attention, which makes sense from a congestion standpoint, but Dingledine worries that it could adversely affect the diversity of the overall Tor network.

Dingledine suggests that by offering to pay a monthly fee to hosts who operate a high speed exit relay, more people may be inclined to offer their connection for Tor use. The more speedy relays there are, the more diversified the load balancing becomes, making the overall Tor use experience that much faster and more diverse.

Of course, the plan will only work if it attracts people and organizations with high speed connections: to that end, Dingledine suggests offering $100/mo. to folks who can supply speeds of at least 100Mbps. (Other rates will also be considered.) To people who think the figure seems high, Dingledine offers the following:

We should keep in mind that the primary cost of running an exit relay is effort, not dollars: it takes dedication to find an ISP who will host it, and to hold that ISP's hand when an abuse complaint arrives. Or said another way, hosting costs are in many cases not the biggest barrier to running an exit relay.

The Tor Project has already lined up a backer for paid relays; the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the group behind the Voice of America website, has agreed to fund 125-plus fast exit relays over the next year once the details are hammered out. Dingledine warns that Tor can't become dependent on paid exit relays to the point that it crumbles if funding is yanked, however.

You can read Dingledine's entire paid node proposal here. Be warned: it's long.

Do you think the proposal for paying high-speed Tor server operators is a good idea, or do you think it could lead to the demise of Tor as we know it?

Via SC Magazine

HBO On Netflix? Not A Chance, Says HBO

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 09:59 AM PDT

Netflix's recent return to profits must have made CEO Reed Hastings a wee bit giddy; buried deep in the company's new earnings report was a paragraph that teased the possibility of a Netflix-HBO partnership. Will we someday be able to stream Game of Thrones? In a word: no. After the press circulated the speculation yesterday, HBO promptly released a statement squashing the rumor with extreme prejudice.

"We are not in discussions and have no plans to work with Netflix," Reuters reports HBO spokesman Jeff Cusson as saying. Ouch. So there you have it, cord-cutters; don't get your hopes up for on-demand True Blood anytime soon -- at least if you don't have HBO Go. And since you need an HBO subscription to access HBO Go, you wouldn't be a cord cutter if you had it.

HBO's quibbles with Netflix are nothing new, and it isn't limited to streaming video. Earlier this year, HBO stopped giving Netflix a wholesale discount for DVDs of its shows, but only after Hastings publicly identified the premium movie station as Netflix's biggest rival. Oops!

Cisco Workers Brace for Another Round of Job Cuts

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 07:37 AM PDT

San Jose's networking kingpin Cisco is planning to hand out about 1,300 pink slips, which equates to 2 percent of its workforce, as it attempts to cope with a sluggish global economy and flat sales. The latest round of layoffs come just one year after Cisco announced 6,500 job cuts, but reducing jobs is not a cure-all to Cisco's problems, nor is a weak economy the only thing the company has to worry about.

Less than hour after Cisco announced the planned layoffs, VMWare said it was acquiring Nicira for $1.26 billion. A Bloomberg report called the back-to-back announcements a "double whammy," noting that Nicira develops technology that lets businesses enjoy networking features without having to buy costly hardware.

"VMware's purchase of Nicira underscores what may be an even bigger problem -- companies may simply not need as much Cisco gear," Bloomberg writes.

Cisco, which had 65,223 workers as of May of this year, said in a statement that the job cuts "are part of a continuous process of simplifying the company, as well as assessing the economic environment in certain parts of the world." How many of those job cuts will affect the Bay Area is unknown at this time.

Image Credit: Flickr (simonov)

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Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Avoids German Court's Ban Hammer, Galaxy Tab 7.7 Not So Lucky

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 07:11 AM PDT

If you're into sports, then you know how maddening it can be to see the referees penalize teams like crazy in one game, and then swallow their whistles in the next. That makes it hard for players and coaches to decipher the rules, which is exactly how Samsung must be feeling right about now. Not only are different courts around the world issuing opposite rulings in Samsung's patent fight with Apple, at least one is also factoring in the size of Samsung's devices, or so it seems.

According to Foss Patents, a German appeals courts sided with Samsung and upheld a lower court's denial of a preliminary injunction Apple was seeking against the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which is a slightly modified version of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1.

At the same time, Apple won a preliminary injunction against the smaller Galaxy Tab 7.7, effectively banning sales of the device across the entire European Union. The reason for the discrepancy in rulings is because the Galaxy Tab 7.7 is essentially a smaller version of the original Galaxy Tab 10.1, not the modified 10.1N. Makes sense, but it comes as little consolation to Samsung.

"Samsung is disappointed with the court's ruling," the company said in a statement, according to AllThingsD. "We will continue to take all available measures, including legal action, to protect our intellectual property rights and defend against Apple's claims to ensure our products remain available to consumers throughout the European Union."

Venue also matters. Apple has been successful in banning sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 here in the U.S., but over the in U.K., a judge denied Apple's request and further ordered the company post a message on its website and take out ads in newspapers and magazines exonerating Samsung by declaring the Galaxy Tab doesn't copy the iPad's design.

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Tough Crowd: Apple Posts $8.8 Billion Profit, Falls Short of Analysts' Expectations

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 06:47 AM PDT

Apple late Tuesday announced financial results for its fiscal 2012 third quarter ended June 30, 2012, and the numbers are nothing short of obscene. All those iDevices, app sales, and other products and services combined to rake in an $8.8 billion profit on quarterly revenue of $35 billion, compared to $7.3 billion profit on $28.6 billion in revenue during the same quarter one year ago. Nonetheless, analysts collectively shrugged their shoulders and said, 'Meh, it could have been better.'

Investors have come to expect much from Apple, sometimes too much, so when the Cupertino company reported 'only' 26 million iPhone sales in Q3, Apple's share price promptly dipped more than 5 percent in after hours trading, The New York Times reports. Those iPhone sales represent a 28 percent unit growth over the same quarter last year, however they're well short of the 35 million iPhone devices Apple sold in the previous quarter. What that likely means is that consumers are already looking ahead to the iPhone 5, which is expected to launch this fall.

"Our weekly iPhone sales continue to be impacted by rumors and speculation of future products," Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer told USAToday.

Apple iPad sales are still going strong. The company sold 17 million iPad devices during the quarter, which is a whopping 84 percent increase over one year ago. It also sold 4 million Macs (2 percent unit increase year-over-year) and 6.8 million iPods (10 percent decline year-over-year).

"We're thrilled with record sales of 17 million iPads in the June quarter," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO. "We've also just updated the entire MacBook line, will release Mountain Lion tomorrow and will be launching iOS 6 this Fall. We are also really looking forward to the amazing new products we've got in the pipeline."

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Apple anticipates revenue of around $34 billion.

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Qualcomm's Reference Android Tablet Intended for Developers, Woos Reviewers

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 06:15 AM PDT

Qualcomm's newest mobile development platform is a quad-core tablet powered by a Snapdragon APQ8064 S4 Pro system-on-chip (SoC) clocked at 1.5GHz, an Adreno 320 GPU, and 2GB of RAM. It runs on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) and has a 10.1-inch display pumping out 1366x768 pixels. All that juicy hardware (save for the screen resolution, which falls well short of the iPad 3's Retina Display and other Android models boasting Full HD 1080p panels) adds up to a powerful Mobile Development Platform (MDP/T) intended to give programmers a potent device to develop, test, optimize, and showcase their latest apps and games.

"Access to the APQ8064 processor with its asynchronous Quad CPU cores gives Android application developers a powerful platform to develop their differentiated applications for rapid market release," said John Traynor, vice president of products, Bsquare, which announced the general availability of Qualcomm's tablet. "This access, combined with best-in-class engineering support and testing solutions from Bsquare, provides a major benefit to application and game developers developing for a wide range of pre-commercial devices."

It's the first tablet form factor to feature a Snapdragon-based development platform with Bsquare, which distributes Qualcomm development kits. The tablet's also been putting up impressive numbers across the Web. Benchmark comparisons are available at The Verge, and they show Qualcomm's tablet trouncing high-powered tablets and smartphones like the Acer Iconia Tab A700, Asus Transformer Pad, Galaxy S III, HTC One X, and HTC One S. For example, in GLBenchmark 2.1's Egypt test, Qualcomm's deviced posted 131fps, more than double the 63fps Asus' Transformer Pad could muster.

A similar situation is seen at SlashGear where the developer tablet "blew through the roof" in several Android benchmark apps. Based on these early numbers, it's safe to say the future of Android tablet development is bright.

It didn't take long for Bsquare to sell out of Qualcomm's $1,299 tablet, with new orders slated to ship in 2-3 weeks.

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Latest Firefox Aurora Includes Web App Support

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 05:37 AM PDT

It's no longer hard to imagine a world where Web apps are just as powerful and popular as—if not more than—desktop apps. As inviting as such a world may seem to many, there is still plenty of work that needs to be done before web apps can give native apps a run for their money. Mozilla, for one, is doing its bit. We're not talking about the highly ambitious Firefox OS (formerly Boot to Gecko) here. Instead,we're referring to something much more basic: Web app support.

Among a handful of other features and fixes, the latest Firefox Aurora build comes with Web app support baked in. This build, which will eventually become Firefox 16 in October, is noteworthy due to the fact that it's the first to support the long-overdue Mozilla Marketplace, a store for Web apps (à la Chrome Web Store). Currently, only a limited number of "invited Mozillians" have access to the Mozilla Marketplace, which is expected to open its doors to the general public sometime later this year.

Mozilla sees Web apps as being central to its mission of delivering a people-centered experience. As part of its Kilimanjaro initiative, the open-source outfit is trying to "realize a tightly integrated set of products" so as to leave the user in greater control of their apps and identities across multiple devices.

"The Kilimanjaro Event is an initiative to bring Mozilla projects (Firefox on desktop and mobile, Marketplace, Persona, and B2G) together in one integrated experience. It is an opportunity for our entire community to focus on products and features which are most important to Mozilla's mission of an open internet and web platform," reads the Kilimanjaro wiki page on Mozilla's site.

Report: Windows RT to Remain Limited to Select OEMs Until January

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 05:02 AM PDT

In recent times, we've become quite used to a steady stream of Windows 8 news, but the same can not be said to be true of Windows RT. Details of this ARM-friendly version of Windows have been few and far between. But then that's what the rumor mill is for, isn't it? According to an unconfirmed report by the Taiwan-based China Times, Microsoft is tightly controlling the development of Windows RT devices, so much so that at the moment it's only allowing a handful of OEMs near this stripped-down, ARM-compatible version of Windows.

If the report is to be believed, the products that make up the first wave of Windows RT tablets will all be from a handful of top-tier vendors handpicked by chip makers NVIDIA, Qualcomm and Texas Instruments. Apparently, each chip maker was asked to partner with a maximum of two device makers for the development of Windows RT. This reportedly led to NVIDIA pairing up with Asus and Lenovo; TI with Toshiba; and Qualcomm with Samsung and HP. But with HP deciding to go with x86 for its first Windows 8 tablet, Qualcomm is said to have brought in Dell to replace HP.

The report further claims that this restriction is only for the first wave of Windows RT tablets and the platform will be open to all other OEMs come January.

MMO News

MMO News


Twinfusor Update Available For Tribes Ascend

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:23 PM PDT

The Twinfusor update is arriving in Tribes Ascend.

The update introduces the new Twinfusor weapon, which launches two disks in succession when it fires. Two new Capture the Flag maps, Permafrost and Dangerous Crossing, also make their debut. The patch also includes a party creation system, new skins and voicepacks, and several weapon and perk tweaks and changes.

Tribes Ascend is published by Hi-Rez Studios, which also publishes SMITE and Global Agenda.

Tribes Ascend: Update #7 Twinfusor

 

Runes of Magic

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:14 PM PDT

Runes of Magic is a MMORPG published by Frogster Interactive, that truly represents the classical, tried and true approach to the MMO experience. Play a combination of 10 classes divided amongst three races, while enjoying a huge degree of customization, as you explore a lush and massive world. Amongst its many features are dungeons, a multi-class system, a plethora of PvP modes and even a housing system. With massive quantities of content, Runes of Magic has enough to keep even the most devoted players entertained for weeks on end.

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Publisher: Frogster- Gameforge Group
Playerbase: High
Graphics: Medium
Type: MMORPG
EXP Rate: Medium
PvP: Open/Duels/Battlegrounds
Filesize: 8.7GB

Pros: +Enormous amounts of content. +Fun dual-class system. +Incredible avatar customization. +Well-stocked cash store. +Public quests & world events. +Player housing. +Solid PVP (Open world & otherwise).

Cons: -Aging graphics & interface. –Cash store imbalances parts of the game. –Imitates World of Warcraft in many, many aspects. -Quests lack direction.

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Overview

Runes of Magic Overview

Runes of Magic is a MMORPG that provides a thorough experience, touching on nearly all elements commonly seen in modern MMOs, ranging from PvP sieges to player housing, with all the customization that you expect in-between. It's a title that stands out not only for its scale, but for its dual-class system that lets players mix & match their skills, while simultaneously acquiring special skills restricted to their specific combination. And with constant releases of new content, the experience is constantly expanded. There are currently 3 races and 10 classes, with some of them being race specific:

Character Classes:

Warrior – Masters of armed combat. Warriors can use any close combat weapon and any type of armor besides plate. They deliver special strikes and blows which have various effects on their targets.

Scout - Adapt at long-ranged combat, Scouts use their bows or crossbows to deal heavy damage. They are vulnerable at close range and rely on a series of evasive and delaying skills to keep enemies from closing in.

Rogue - Specialized at inflicting deadly blows at a fast rate, rogues use daggers which can cause heavy bleeding or be coated in poison. They are very capable at dodging blows, but their speed comes at the expense of armor and health. Rogues can also lay traps, scout, and increase a group's income generation.

Mage - Commanding the elements of fire and lightning, Mages deal heavy damage from afar. They possess direct damage, and area of effect spells. Mages can also cast barrier spells and strength buffs, adding to their utility.

Priest (Human Only) - While priests can cast water based spells to deal damage, they primarily play a supportive role. Priests can cast healing spells, boost their allies' stats, and even bring fallen comrades back from the dead. They can equip shields which aid their defense, but are still frail.

Knight (Human Only) - Heavily armored fighters, Knights are the only class that can wear plate armor. Knights go into battle head-first equipped with shields and light-based attacks. They are the tanks of RoM and have the ability to draw their foes attacks towards themselves.

Druid (Elf Only) - Attuned to nature, Druids are a versatile class capable of healing allies, casting damage over time spells, and even mind controlling opponents. Druids possess a special ability that allows them to gather Nature's Power and unleash it at any time to cast powerful spells.

Warden (Elf Only) - Close combat specialists. Wardens can use a diverse set of weapons and can wear chain armor. Wardens can summon powerful pets to fight alongside them, and have access to magical spells which strengthen themselves and weaken their opponents.

Champion (Dwarf Only) - Rune-wielding tanks, Champions mix close combat proficiency with a variety of buffs and spells, while retaining a capacity for mobility. Their abilities range from close-combat magic, to ancient blacksmithing that enables them to enchant weapons and armors.

Warlock (Dwarf Only) - Long range damage and support, the cloth wearing Warlocks benefit from spells capable of not only damaging the opponent, but also weakening them with a variety of curses and hexes. If needs be, they are also able to switch to a team support role.

 

Runes of Magic Screenshots

Runes of Magic Featured Video

Click here to view the embedded video.

Full Review

Runes of Magic Review

By G. Barbeau-Roberge

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Runes of Magic has been a juggernaut of the free-to-play industry for quite a while now, with millions of players, a huge world, and now a fifth major update that brings Runes of Magic an additional race, and two entirely new classes. It is hard to review without a short disclaimer; this game looks, feels and plays a lot like World of Warcraft. It's not only a polite imitation; it's an almost awkward copy in parts. However this doesn't mean that it's not able to stand on its own merits, and Runes of Magic makes a point of expanding in directions that World of Warcraft has not even touched. Thus, Runes of Magic is a title of its own, and will be reviewed without bias. Though if you don't enjoy the classical WoW style gameplay, it's very fair to say that this game might not be for you. So with that said, how does Runes of Magic fare post-chapter 5?

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Classy Mix & Match

Runes of Magic starts off strong straight from the character creator, staying true to its promotional efforts that banked on above average customization elements. It's definitely the case here, with three races to pick from (human, elves, dwarves), a truckload of faces, hair styles, and sliders to change the size of the variety of features you have access to. You also have to choose a server type, allowing you to play on an open PvP server if you so desire. The classes are definitely one of the highlights of Runes of Magic, and where it exceeds most; they're not only interesting, but you can also mix them by using the dual class system. This allows you to use the skills and mechanics of both classes, in addition to awarding you some special elite skills specific to your chosen combination. As an example, you could have Warlock, to benefit from curses, and Mage for some direct damage capabilities. Wonder what a Priest/Rogue would look like? Here's your chance! Once you've figured out what you want to do, you log in, do the little tutorial for a reward, and you're off.

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Quantity is a Quality

The gameplay's strength lies in diversity; there is more to do here than in most MMOs, with a complete crafting system, PvP options, dungeons and, of course, five chapters worth of PvE content. As far as the PvE goes, don't expect anything out of the ordinary — you grab quests in town, which involve a variety of "go-there-kill-this" quests, do them, then return for rewards, until you move on to the next hunting area. Runes of Magic spices this up  by adding things like public quests, which have you cooperate with  many other players to defeat a foe in a small area (think, RIFT or Warhammer Online), or world PvP, which like other MMOs with the feature, will have you watching your back at all times. Crafting is another fun goodie and works essentially like World of Warcraft, where you pick gathering skills to harvest resources from nodes, and crafting in order to make stuff out of them. Dungeons also provide some very interesting encounters, and allow players to raise the difficulty for increased rewards.

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Venerable Runes

With that said, the graphics and animations, though strong at release, are now starting to show some age, mostly in comparison to some of the more recent releases. The animations are a bit stiff, and the interface feels very rough. Environments are somewhat better, but still nothing amazing. The interface, while tolerable a few years back, is starting to feel antiquated, mostly when it comes to the quest system. This is a game whose weakness is essentially age, and its comparison to modern heavyweight competitors. While Runes of Magic does it all, there isn't much that can't be found in other recent releases, done better, with some notable exceptions (housing comes to mind). Even the dual-classing system begins to pale in comparison to more polished systems like Aion's class trees. This is a game that has aged badly, and finds relief mostly in the fact that it manages to gather so many features under one release, while adding more as time goes.

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Goodies' Galore

A special mention has to be made for the in-game store. The sheer amount of stuff you can purchase in it is simply astounding, going from costumes to mounts, to in-game housing furniture. This goes right on top of the game's already strong focus on detailed customization, allowing you to go one step further by getting that special mount you've been aching for, or that neat class costume (and there are quite a few). Unfortunately, Runes of Magic has a long history of going past vanity items, to give purchasers a variety of in-game advantages through enchantment items. Though this is a small downside compared to the neat stuff you can find in there, it's still likely to deter a few players from taking the competitive approach, since it requires you to dish out your hard-earned money (rather than time and effort) for much desired diamonds (in-game currency).

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Final Verdict: Great

Whether you're new or returning, Runes of Magic has something to offer for everyone. With several major updates to keep the content fresh, it ensures that there is always something interesting to return to. It's a title that stands out by its capacity to bring together an enormous amount of content, making it, in a way, more than the sum of its parts. If you enjoy classical MMORPGs and give it some time, I can assure you that the pros far outweigh the cons. Thus, if you haven't tried this classic yet, you'd shoot yourself in the foot by not giving it a shot.

Screenshots

Runes of Magic Screenshots

Videos

Runes of Magic Videos

Click here to view the embedded video.

Links

Runes of Magic Links

Official Game Page

System Requirements

Runes of Magic System Requirements

Recommended Requirements:
OS: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7
CPU: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent
RAM: 2GB
HDD: 15GB
Graphics Card: Direct X 9.0c compatible with 128MB RAM, Pixel Shader 2.0+

Divina Officially Launches

Posted: 25 Jul 2012 02:06 PM PDT

Gamania has announced the official launch of Divina at 3pm Pacific today (July 25).

The launch update will include the introduction of the Cash Shop, plus a new Rescue Chicken mount that increases speed by 130, a new White Miluko mini-pet that hovers by a player’s side and offers passive buffs, and new unique hairstyles and face shapes.

To celebrate the launch, players will earn double loot between Friday 7pm Pacific until Sunday 7pm Pacific. A special “Olympic March of the Penguins” event will also be held on Friday July 27 at 5pm Pacific.

Gamania (beanfun) also publishes Lucent Heart and Bright Shadow.

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Divina Gameplay Screenshot

Source:

GAMANIA LAUNCHES FREE-TO-PLAY MMORPG, DIVINA


New Mount, Mini-pet, Events, and More


IRVINE, Calif. – July 25, 2012 – Gamania Digital Entertainment today announced that after successful open beta testing, Divina is now ready to launch. The free-to-play 3D MMORPG is scheduled to go commercial at 3:00PM PDT with a full Cash Shop available for players. New content has also been added for launch-day, including the Rescue Chicken mount, White Miluko mini-pet, new hairstyles, and more. In addition, Gamania will be hosting a double loot drop weekend as well as running a ceremonial event to kick off the 2012 Olympic Games. Anyone can sign-up for a free account at the official homepage: http://us.beanfun.com/divina/


Divina is the latest free-to-play MMORPG to launch on Gamania's US beanfun! platform. Developed by Playcoo, the team who made Lucent Heart, Divina brings players to a vibrant world filled with Gods and Demons on a quest to save the land from Ragnarok, the end of everything. Divina offers unique features such as the class-swapping Quick Change system, creature transformation system, professional voice acting by anime stars, and customizable companions that fight alongside players – on top of thousands of open world quests.

 

New to Divina are unique hairstyles and face shapes, the Rescue Chicken mount, and White Miluko mini-pet.

 

  • White Miluko: Don't be fooled by her adorable appearance; this tiny tiger's claws aren't just for show. While summoned, Divina's mini-pets hover sweetly behind their master giving passive buffs during battle.
  • Rescue Chicken: Whenever there's danger, Rescue Chicken is ready to save the day…or at least help with a speedy getaway! Rescue Chicken increases Movement Speed by 130.

This weekend, players will receive double loot to celebrate Divina's launch. The event begins Friday at 7:00PM PDT and runs until Sunday at 7:00PM PDT. In addition, Gamania will mark the beginning of the 2012 Olympic Games with Divina's Olympic March of the Penguins event. Players can join the ceremonial march from Sacred Springs to Sakura Shrine on Friday, July 27th, at 5:00PM PDT.

 

Players can join Divina by signing up at the official website (http://us.beanfun.com/divina/) or meet its friendly community at the official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/divinaenglish).

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