General Gaming Article

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• Reflecting on Copyright Laws
• Microsoft Stock Rises After Beating Profit Forecasts
• Corsair Brings the Chill with Dual Fan Hydro Series H75 Liquid CPU Cooler
• Feenix Announces Nascita, a Driver-Free Gaming Mouse with Integrated LCD
• Microsoft Reduces First Generation Surface Pro Pricing to $699
• Sharkoon Launches Rush Core Headset for Gamers on a Budget
• Microsoft Returns Fire at Apple in Tablet Wars, Says iWorks on iPad Air is No Big Deal
• Newegg Daily Deals: Get Gaming with an MSI GS70 Core i7 Laptop with Accessory Gift Bundle!
• AMD Radeon R9 290X Benchmarks

Reflecting on Copyright Laws Posted: 24 Oct 2013 04:32 PM PDT Think of the Orphans Copyright law makes for strange circumstances. This is because it's a monopoly designed to let creators make money, but the vast majority of everything that's copyrighted isn't for sale anymore, if it ever was. Everything is fully protected from the moment it's created, regardless of its creator's intent. But most of what copyright law touches is never commercial, and even the exceptions are rarely commercially viable for long. Are our copyright laws in a state of dissaray? That leaves most human creations in a legally untouchable gray zone. We want to preserve them, or even sometimes use them, but we can't touch them until they fall into the public domain. These lost 20th-century works are called orphans, and this quirk of copyright law is why more books are in print from 1850 than 1950. Often, there is nothing to do but wait. In the meantime, innumerable artifacts of human expression fade away, sometimes literally, as the physical media that holds them decays over time. No one likes this problem, and legislators have been trying to fix it for a while. But no one likes the fixes, either. The UK is taking a stab at it with the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (ERR) Act. This allows the use of orphan works, if their creators cannot be found and if a market-rate fee has been paid to a holding organization in case the creators appear. The idea of a diligent search is still undefined (as is what happens to unclaimed money), and it still doesn't solve the problems of archiving mass content for future generations, but this is a step in the right direction. Copyright is complex, and it's genuinely hard to make it work in the digital age. But there's so little effort to even try that this is fantastic news, and something we'd do well to keep an eye on.

Microsoft Stock Rises After Beating Profit Forecasts Posted: 24 Oct 2013 04:06 PM PDT Things are going well in Redmond Microsoft has been doing everything it can to bump up its consumer sales of the Surface tablets and Windows Phones. It seems that the company also made some inroads with its commercial sales, managing a 17 percent increase in profit in the first fiscal quarter—a total of $5.2 billion—according to a report by Reuters. Windows 8 hasn't made the biggest splash, but it's starting to gain ground—even notoriously skeptical Deputy Editor Gordon Ung has come around. Although Microsoft's devices and consumer business side had a 4 percent increase in revenue, the real star was its commercial business which yielded a 10 percent increase. Analysts had predicted revenues of $17.8 billion on average, and were caught off guard by the 16 percent increase to $18.5 billion. Consequently, Microsoft's stock jumped to $35.65 from $33.72. Todd Lowenstein, a portfolio manager at fund firm HighMark Capital told Reuters: "Beating on revenue and earnings handily will boost confidence that the reorganization is pivoting them in the right direction." Follow Ben on Twitter.

Corsair Brings the Chill with Dual Fan Hydro Series H75 Liquid CPU Cooler Posted: 24 Oct 2013 01:35 PM PDT Big-time cooling with a small footprint Corsair's Hydro Series H100i is our Best of the Best pick for the water cooling category, so when the company launches new cooling products, it has our attention. Such is the case with Corsair's Hydro Series H75, a new liquid CPU cooler that uses two 120mm fans to sandwich the radiator and integrated reservoir. It also features a low profile CPU cooling block connected to kink-resistant rubber tubing. The cooling block is designed with a micro-fin copper cold plate and ceramic bearing pump that's both reliable and low noise, Corsair says. Even the radiator is comparatively slim at just 25mm thick surrounded by dual SP120L PWM fans, which as you might have guessed are also slim. Installation is supposed to be easy. Corsair says the Hydro Series H75 uses a tool-free mounting system and is compatible with a wide range of AMD and Intel sockets. Like most self-contained CPU coolers, the H75 is pre-filled and doesn't required any maintenance. The Hydro Series H75 will be available in November for $85. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Feenix Announces Nascita, a Driver-Free Gaming Mouse with Integrated LCD Posted: 24 Oct 2013 12:12 PM PDT A mouse for any grip style Feenix is awfully proud to announce its new Nascita mouse for gamers. The highly hyped rodent supposedly offers a "perfect ergonomic feel" no matter how you choose to grip the mouse, whether it's using your palm, claw, or semi-claw. In addition, the Nascita doesn't require any special drivers or software. Just plug it in and you're ready to game with an 8200 dpi laser engine. The mouse also features state of the art Omron switches for sift clicking with a 10 million click lifetime, in-mouse LCD technology, on-the-fly dpi adjustments, and an anti-sweat and anti-slp materals. Interestingly, Feenix says (PDF) the Nascita boasts a grip that "sets in over time, though the company didn't elaborate. Feenix also launched its Dimora mouse pad with a micro textured sufrace design for low friction and smooth glide action. It has a single body structure and internal diamond-shaped pattern. The Feenix Nascita gaming mouse and Dimora mouse pad are both available now for $97 and $36, respectively. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Microsoft Reduces First Generation Surface Pro Pricing to $699 Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:38 AM PDT How low will Surface Pro's pricing go? Part of the reason why Microsoft had so much trouble moving its original Surface and Surface Pro products was because it priced them too high. And with the Surface Pro specifically, one could also argue that Microsoft did a poor job marketing the device as a full fledged laptop, but that's water under the bridge at this point. Second generation Surface products are now available to purchase in 21 countries, and so to rid itself of old inventory, Microsoft just slashed $100 off the price of Surface Pro. The original Surface Pro now starts at $699 instead of $799. It's the second price drop from its original starting MSRP of $899, and though it's a generation old, it's not a bad collection of hardware for the money. In and around the Surface Pro you'll find a 3rd Generation Intel Core i5 processor with Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage (29GB available for user content), 10.6-inch ClearType HD display (1920x1080) with multi-touch, pen input (pen included), stereo speakers, microphone, full size USB 3.0 port, microSD card slot, mini DisplayPort, two 720p HD cameras, built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and more. Unfortunately the original Surface Pro doesn't come with a full version of Office pre-installed, just a one month free trial of Office 365. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Sharkoon Launches Rush Core Headset for Gamers on a Budget Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:19 AM PDT Premium design in a low cost pacakge Sharkoon is claiming that its Rush Core headset for gamers teeters on the high end with a premium design and feature-set, yet manages to carry a low price tag of just 17 euros (~$23 in U.S. currency). We're a little skeptical at how well a budget priced headset can sound, but on paper and in pictures, it certainly has the look of a quality set of cans (we'll reserve judgement until we get a chance to audition them). The Rush Core is built with a padded headband and soft, supra-aural ear pads for "excellent comfort," even after hours of use, Sharkoon claims. It's not a noise cancelling headset, though the closed design is supposed to beat down ambient noise. There's an integrated microphone that can be swiveled vertically and has a flexible arm. You'll also find volume controls integrated into the cable, which connects to any standard sound source with a 3.5mm jack. Some specs: Speaker = Ø 40 mm Sensitivity = 105 dB SPL by 1 KHz Impedance = 32 Ω Frequency response = 20 Hz - 20.000 Hz Rated power = 15 mW Max. performance = 150 mW Cable length = ~ 250 cm Connection type = 3.5 mm jack plug (stereo) Weight: ~244 g (with cable) Sharkoon says the Rush Core is suitable for gaming, multimedia, and voice applications. What the company didn't say, however, is when or if the Rush Core will ship to the U.S. We've reached out to Sharkoon about this and will update when we hear back. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Microsoft Returns Fire at Apple in Tablet Wars, Says iWorks on iPad Air is No Big Deal Posted: 24 Oct 2013 08:51 AM PDT Comparing apples to oranges During Apple's press event earlier this week, the Cupertino company took advantage of its stage time by taking subtle digs at Microsoft over its Surface strategy and software costs. Apple chief Tim Cook pointed out that Microsoft "tried to make tablets into PCs and PCs into tablets," and Apple made sure to point out the price tag of Windows 8.1 and Office when announcing that OS X Mavericks and iWorks would go the pro bono route. If Apple was hoping to elicit a response from Microsoft, well, it got one. Frank Shaw, Corporate Vice President of Communications at Microsoft, typed up a somewhat lengthy blog post calling out Apple for comparing rotten apples to delicious oranges. "If you are the TL;DR type, let me cut to the chase. Surface and Surface 2 both include Office, the world's most popular, most powerful productivity software for free and are priced below both the iPad 2 and iPad Air respectively," Shaw explains. "Making Apple's decision to build the price of their less popular and less powerful iWork into their tablets is not a very big (or very good) deal." Shaw went on to expound the strategy behind Surface and why Microsoft feels it's such a wonderful product line, noting that it's a "single, simple, affordable device that helps you both lean in and kick back." He also took more shots at Apple, especially the company's efforts to market the iPad as a productivity tool, and referred to iWorks as "watered down" software. "Since iWork has never gotten much traction, and was already priced like an afterthought, it's hardly that surprising or significant a move," Shaw said. "And it doesn't change the fact that it's much harder to get work done on a device that lacks precision input and a desktop for true side-by-side multitasking." Ultimately, Shaw says that dropping the price of "struggling, lightweight productivity apps" isn't a "shot across our bow," but "an attempt to play catch up." Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Get Gaming with an MSI GS70 Core i7 Laptop with Accessory Gift Bundle! Posted: 24 Oct 2013 06:32 AM PDT Top Deal: There was a day when you could throw your back out lugging around a gaming laptop. Heck, there still exists bulky desktop replacements that will test your strength. It needn't be that way. If it's gaming on the go you're after, then check out today's top deal for an MSI GS70 Core i7 Gaming Laptop for $1,899 with free shipping (Free gaming accessories w/ purchase, limited offer). This machine is fully loaded (Core i7 4700HQ processor, 16GB memory, 2 x 128GB SSDs in "Super RAID," 1TB HDD, and GeForce GTX 765M), it's thin and light, and it comes with a gaming accessory gift bundle (SteelSeries Siberia V2 3.5mm Connector Full-Size Headset - Red, SteelSeries Kinzu V2 Mouse, MSU Just Game Mouse Pad). Other Deals: G.Skill Sniper Series 16GB (2x8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory for $144 with free shipping (normally $160 - use coupon code: [EMCWXVV54]) WD My Book 3TB Desktop USB 3.0 External Hard Drive Storage for $100 with free shipping (normally $120 - use coupon code: [EMCWXVV35]) Asus Designo Series MX299Q 29-inch 5ms HDMI Cinematic LCD Monitor w/ Built-in Speakers for $470 with free shipping (normally $520 - use coupon code: [EMCWXVV39]) MSI Gaming N760 TF 4GD5/OC GeForce GTX 760 4GB Video Card for $295 with free shipping (normally $310 - use coupon code: [EMCWXVV67]; Free Batman Arkham Origins w/ purchase, limited offer)

AMD Radeon R9 290X Benchmarks Posted: 23 Oct 2013 07:10 PM PDT AMD Radeon R9 290X: Killer Performance at an Amazing Price AMD's Hawaii-based flagship GPU has finally arrived to take on Nvidia's super-sized GK110. This is a GPU grudge match that fans of hardcore PC performance have been waiting for, as both companies have been ratcheting up the tension ahead of today's announcement for the past few weeks. The bottom line is this - at just $549, the R9 290X represents a very serious threat to Nvidia's single-card GPU dominance. Read on to see how it fares against Nvidia's top-shelf silicon, and what it all means for PC gamers. AMD's New Flagship The Radeon R9 290X is the first GPU from AMD based on its new silicon dubbed Hawaii. This new chip is a tweener model, bigger than the previous flagship die named Tahiti, but not quite as big as Nvidia's Big Kepler core named GK110. The Hawaii die measures 438mm squared compared to GK110's 551mm, and packs 6.2 billion transistors compared to GK110's 7.1 billion, so it's just a bit smaller than GK110 but larger than Tahiti. AMD recently argued in an interview with Forbes magazine that it didn't need a die as big as GK110 to deliver the same performance, and as it turns out, they were right. AMD's reference cooler design isn't quite as fancy as Nvidia's flagship design, but it still has a menacing look to it.   The R9 290X will sit at the top of AMD's product stack for the near future as its flagship 28nm GPU utilizing its GCN architecture. It strikes an imposing figure at 11" long, but only requires one six-pin and one eight-pin power connector instead of dual eight-pins like we've seen on some of the Tahiti boards. AMD isn't saying what the card's TDP is, but did mention to us in an offhand manner that it's in the neighborhood of 250W, but it certainly seems based on our testing it's a bit higher than that. Hawaii will be offered in two SKUs - the R9 290X you see here today, and the R9 290 model that is still to come, so hopefully we'll have more info on that board in the coming weeks. For now, let's examine the specs of the card along with its competitors.     As you can see, on paper this is one hell of a competitive offering from AMD, and the surprisingly low price of $549 is the clearest sign yet that AMD is dead set on hitting Nvidia where it hurts, in price-to-performance. Nvidia has been fortunate to remain unchallenged in the upper stratosphere of pricing for all of 2013, dual-Tahiti cards excluded, but it appears those days are now over. Nvidia will certainly have to respond with price cuts for either its GTX 780, GTX Titan, or both. We'll update this post when and if that happens. "Up to 1GHz" When AMD first shared the specs of the R9 290X with us, the clock speed section read "up to 1GHz," and we figured it was just a matter of this information coming before the release of the card when AMD was still finalizing the details of the card. We've seen clock speeds change at the very last minute in the past, from both AMD and Nvidia, so this is nothing new. What we now understand after testing the card is that the clock speed really is "up to 1GHz" thanks to the new power settings AMD has granted the board, which is known as PowerTune. Basically the card will run at the highest clock speed that it can given its operating temperature, all the way up to 1,000MHz. If it gets too hot, which just so happens to be exactly at 94C, it will lower its clock speed dynamically in order to maintain that temperature. It's very similar to what Nvidia is doing with its GPU Boost 2.0, and lets you control variables including clock speed, maximum temperature, and maximum fan speed. You can tweak all these variables in a semi-confusing matrix, shown in the photo below.   This is the interface for AMD's PowerTune utility. You'll also be able to use 3rd party overclocking tools as well.   Dual Bios and Uber and Quiet Mode The R9 290X ships with a teeny, tiny switch atop its PCB that lets you switch the card from Uber to Quiet mode. In Quiet mode, which its set to by default and is what we recommend, the fan will never spin faster than 40 percent, which keeps the card relatively quiet. It's not "whisper quiet," but is certainly more quiet than the HD 7970 GHz edition we have on hand, that is for damn sure. AMD has made tremendous strides in keeping the R9 290X quiet, and to quote Gordon during testing, "It's like it's not even an AMD card." In Uber mode the fan spins up to 55 percent, and you can definitely hear it. However, the primary benefit to this mode is that the extra cooling afforded by the additional fan speed lets the GPU operate at 1,000MHz all the time. However, in our testing we found almost no difference whatsoever between peformance in the two modes, and even in the AMD-supplied benchmarks there was very little difference. Therefore, our recommendation is to just run the card in quiet mode at all times. Your ears will thank you, and you won't notice a significant performance loss running in this mode at all. Also, one annoyance is that in order to switch the card you have to shut the system down and hit the switch while it's off, then make sure to hit the "default" button in the Catalyst Control Center to make sure the changes have been applied. It's too klunky to really be useful, and seems like a feature AMD tacked on at the last minute. Calling it "Uber" is just silly too since it provides a barely noticeable performance increase. The Dual Bios switch on the R9 290X toggles between Uber and Quiet modes. That about covers the basics, so hit page two to see how it performs!     The Benchmarks As you can imagine we were pretty stoked to benchmark this card. After all the build up we could not wait to see if it was actually going to be competitive with, or possibly dethrone, the GK110 GPUs from Nvidia. We strapped the R9 290X to our Core i7 test machine, installed Catalyst 13.11 Beta 5 drivers, and began our testing at our standard settings, which are at 2560x1600 with all settings at maximum, and 4XAA. 2560x1600 Benchmarks   As you can see from the chart, any question we had as to whether or not this card could compete with the GTX 780 evaporated as soon as we started testing. It trades blows quite well with the GTX 780, and was faster in 3DMark, Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, and Battlefield 3. In several other tests, it was just a handful of frames slower, and came extremely close to topping the almost twice-as-expensive GTX Titan in a few tests as well, which is impressive. It doesn't hand the GTX 780 a crushing defeat, but it lands several hard punches, and is very close in performance, and when you consider it costs $100 less, it then becomes an obvious win for AMD. It is clearly the fastest card at the $550 price point, no question.   4K Benchmarks Both AMD and Nvidia have really been stressing how 4K is the future and that its new GPUs are more than ready for this kind of action. We concur, it is the next level for hardware junkies, and offers an amazing level of detail that is simply not possible using our current 2560x1600 displays in the lab. To test this card and the Nvidia equivalents we used the new 32" 4K panel from Sharp (PN-K321), which runs at 3840x2160 and is functionally the exact same display we used for Dream Machine 2013. In the interest of full disclosure, AMD sent us the panel for testing, but we examined it thoroughly to make sure it wasn't a "cheater" panel, as if that is even possible. Also, astute readers will notice we swapped motherboards for the 4K tests, and this was due to our original test platform experiencing a malfunction on one of its PCIe slots. Without further ado, here are the benchmarks. 4K Benchmarks Best scores are bolded. Our test bed is a 3.33GHz Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition run on an Asus Rampage IV Extreme board. We used 16GB of DDR3/1600 and a Thermaltake ToughPower 1,050W PSU. The OS is 64-bit Windows 8.  All games were run at 3840x2160 with AA disabled.   Having a look at the benchmark chart it's easy to see why AMD is stressing 4K peformance with this card - because it beat the GTX 780 in Unigine Valley, Crysis 3, Far Cry 3, Tomb Raider, and Battlefield 3. Of course, the R9 290X still loses in most tests to the GTX Titan, but it did match it in Crysis 3, Tomb Raider, and even beat it by two frames per second in Battlefield 3. We know those are all AMD-badged titles, so perhaps this isn't a surprise, but again when you examine the price disparity between the cards it is clear AMD has a real winner on its hands with the R9 290X. It is just as fast, and faster in a lot of games, than its competitors from the Green Team, so well done AMD.   Power, heat, noise, and overclocking It's all been quite positive up until now, so here's a little bit of bad news. This card runs hot, as in it sat at 94C the entire time we were testing with everything set to default settings. As hardware testers used to seeing around 80C on a GPU this was quite a surprise to us, as we've never seen a card run this hot before. Even on the Nvidia cards if we set their fans to 20% or so they would never get hotter than 85C or so typically. To AMD's credit, even though the R9 290X ran hot it was 100 percent stable throughout testing, and never rebooted, shut down, showed on-screen artifacts, or exhibited any sign of overheating whatsoever. We even left it running Heaven 4.0 over a 3-day period only to come back and find it purring right along, pegged at 94C, with the GPU's clock speed fluctuating around 925MHz or so. The air around the card was also quite cool, so the reference cooler AMD has built does a very good job of exhausting air out the back of the card.   The R9 290X ran at 94C during testing, but was totally stable and didn't overheat at all (surprisingly). Also, we asked AMD about these temps since we were iniitally concerned we had missed a setting somewhere, and it assured us the card was designed to run at 95C until the cows come home, and was in no danger of overheating or exhibiting any weird behavior. As crazy as it sounds, AMD is right. This card is happy to run at those temps all day long. There's just one problem with this situation - since the card was already running at max temperature in stock trim, we couldn't overclock it at all. In order to do that we'd need some headroom on the temperature side of things, and that just wasn't happening. We could have turned up the fan sped, but it gets very audible very fast, as in going from 40 percent to 47 percent changes it from semi-quiet to very audible. We talked to AMD about this and it told us that when water blocks are available that will offer at least 20C or so of headroom, which will grant the user some overclocking ability. We also expect add-in-board manufacturers to come to market with custom coolers, which could accomplish this goal as well, however AMD told us the card will only be available with the reference cooler initially.   Final Thoughts Based on everything we heard about this card before its release, we were fairly certain it would be competitive with the GTX 780 and possibly the GTX Titan, but we weren't sure just how competitive it would be. Now that we have those numbers, we can say it's obviously extremely competitive with both of those cards, and with its support for AMD's new Mantle API as well as its TrueAudio support, it's a contender for sure with exclusive features not available from Nvidia at this time. Of course, the same can be said for Nvidia too, with its new G-Sync technology, PhysX, generally excellent drivers, GeForce Eperience and ShadowPlay, TXAA, and so forth. However, what Nvidia can't provide (at this time at least) is a similar price as the R9 290X. Its GTX 780 is $100 more expensive, and the GTX Titan is $450 more expensive, which makes both of those cards seem overpriced in comparison. Nvidia recently announced the GTX 780 Ti, but has been tight-lipped about specs and pricing so far, so it will be very interesting to see how it prices this card. If it puts the GTX 780 Ti at $550 to match the R9 290X, that would mean it would have to go even lower with the GTX 780, which would be unprecedented. AMD also still has the R9 290 waiting in the wings as well, which could do some serious damage to the GTX 770 and prompt a total shakeup in Nvidia's lineup. All in all, AMD has a winner on its hands with the R9 290X. It's faster than Nvidia's GTX 780 in a lot of our tests, and costs $100 less, making it by far the fastest GPU available at its $550 price point, and the best price-to-performance GPU available on the upper end of the market as well. It's been a long time since we've seen AMD deliver such a decisive victory, and we're certainly glad to see competition ramping up. It'll be interesting to see how Nvidia responds, that much is certain.

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MMO Updates

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• Massively's guide to MMO Halloween 2013
• Trials of Ascension launches Kickstarter
• APB Reloaded brings Fright Club and Certain Death to San Paro
• EVE Valkyrie could be coming to console before PC
• The Think Tank: Would you participate in an in-game protest?
• The Daily Grind: How closely do you follow an MMO's development?
• Sun Wukong returns to SMITE
• Cryptic details Star Trek Online's latest fleet progression update
• Still more Black Desert beta vids, PvE impressions
• Latest stretch goal speaks to Star Citizen's 'immersive, world-building experience'
• DayZ standalone shows up on Steam database
• The Art of Wushu: Lifting the veil on the winter expansion
• PAX East 2014 tix now on sale
• Aion opens Halloween-themed Nightmare Circus dungeon
• WildStar Community Director Troy Hewitt announces departure from Carbine
• 'Old School' RuneScape grows to 1M players, opens God Wars dungeon
• DC Universe Online shows off major graphical upgrades
• Choose My Adventure: Off to Never, Neverwinter land
• Brick-Force Season 3 trailer highlights Bricksaga update
• Free for All: The other side of MMO leveling

Massively's guide to MMO Halloween 2013 Posted: 24 Oct 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Events (In-Game), Guides, Miscellaneous Halloween's arguably the biggest virtual holiday of the MMO year, with practically every game sporting some sort of special event, giveaway, limited-time challenge, or landscape makeover. Plus, there's lots and lots of candy that looks absolutely scrumptious but you can't eat because it's not real. That's just a massive tease by the MMO industry, in our opinion. With only a couple of short weeks to cram in as much trick-or-treating, pumpkin picking, haunted hayrides, spooky mansion tours, and headless boss fights as possible, we're here to help point you in the direction of all of the fun. So put on your scariest outfit and get ready to explore the dark side of MMOs with our guide to Halloween 2013! Continue reading Massively's guide to MMO Halloween 2013 Massively's guide to MMO Halloween 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Trials of Ascension launches Kickstarter Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:30 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Crowdfunding Although originally announced to start on October 21st, Trials of Ascension's Kickstarter was delayed a couple of days, and finally launched today. Now that its hat is thrown into the crowdfunding ring, ToA hopes to garner enough player support to bring this sandbox with a skill system, dynamic spawning, and multi-step crafting to fruition. If you want to get a quick glimpse of the world and hear the game's philosophy straight from the dev's mouth, the campaign page offers a video clip along with a look at the various backer reward packs available. [Thanks to Android for the tip] Trials of Ascension launches Kickstarter originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: ToA kickstarter

APB Reloaded brings Fright Club and Certain Death to San Paro Posted: 24 Oct 2013 09:00 AM PDT Filed under: Events (In-Game), PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, All Points Bulletin, Crime While almost every game has some kind of Halloween celebration this time of year, only APB: Reloaded has nabbed the talents of the Scottish metal band Certain Death to add to the ambiance of this holiday update. The band picked three songs to add to APB's soundtrack, which the guitarist Steedo said "would fit the game as well as the new Halloween update." The Halloween shenanigans include new in-game content and challenges including Fright Club, the temporary relocation of the popular Fight Club mode to an abandoned asylum filled with ghoulish gang members. Starting today, players can also get a new Punk pack, complete with devil or bat wings, witch and wizard hats, pumpkin and bat glow-in-the-dark weapon themes, and a scoped version of the new primary weapon, the STAC 10 (Somatic Tactical Assault Carbine). The holiday-themed festivities run until November 6th, 2013. [Source: GamersFirst press release] APB Reloaded brings Fright Club and Certain Death to San Paro originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Valkyrie could be coming to console before PC Posted: 24 Oct 2013 08:00 AM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, EVE Online, MMO Industry, New Titles, Rumors EVE: Valkyrie was officially revealed back in August of this year with a teaser earlier at Fanfest, but details have been scarce so far. We know that it's a dog-fighting sim that uses the Oculus Rift, but a recent interview over at Rock, Paper Shotgun hints that the game may not be coming to the PC -- at least initially. "It technically works on PC, and it's working fine," chief marketing officer David Reid told RPS. "But there are other platforms it could run on. There's nothing that technically prevents it from running on a console, for example." While Reid does say later in the interview that PC is "definitely in the cards," there certainly seems to be a prominent nudge toward the game coming to consoles first. And interestingly enough, it's not even really confirmed that the game will be released for the Oculus Rift specifically. "While we can't get into details here," Reid pointed out, "there are other platforms that are available. It is technically possible to run this game without a Rift. There's a whole bunch of different things out on the market right now." EVE Valkyrie could be coming to console before PC originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Rock, Paper Shotgun

The Think Tank: Would you participate in an in-game protest? Posted: 24 Oct 2013 07:00 AM PDT Filed under: Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, The Think Tank In-game protests are nothing new, but the recent Dungeons and Dragons Online sit-in is the most recent proof that players can effectively organize in large numbers against policies they believe to be unfair. Like real-life protests, these demonstrations can work or be largely ignored by the powers-that-be. Have any Massively staffers participated in an in-game protest? How many feel that these types of demonstrations can actually be effective? These are the questions I posed to the team members this week. Continue reading The Think Tank: Would you participate in an in-game protest? The Think Tank: Would you participate in an in-game protest? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: How closely do you follow an MMO's development? Posted: 24 Oct 2013 06:00 AM PDT Filed under: Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Star Citizen Even if space sims aren't your thing, it's hard not to be impressed with the sheer amount of information available regarding Star Citizen's development process. Aside from releasing various game modules to backers as they reach a playable state, the team is also offering an unprecedented look behind the scenes on a AAA dev project including extensive chats and real-time interaction, videos galore, and the weekly Wingman's Hangar web show. Keeping up with it all can be a challenge, particularly if Star Citizen isn't the only game you're following! What say you, Massively readers? How closely do you follow an MMO's development? Do you soak up everything the dev team releases, or do you try to keep abreast of roundups or less frequent updates? 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: How closely do you follow an MMO's development? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Oct 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Sun Wukong returns to SMITE Posted: 23 Oct 2013 07:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MOBA Another god has stepped into the SMITE arena, and it's one who will be familiar to longtime players of the game. Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, is making his return to SMITE with a new look and new abilities. Wukong is a physical melee character who has special protections against critical attacks depending on his health and uses his massive cudgel to dish out damage to enemy gods. Sun Wukong also has the ability to transform into an eagle, ox, or tiger, with each form bringing a special combat effect. As an eagle, he moves quickly and passes through enemies. As an ox he injures and knocks back any enemy in his path. And as a tiger he pounces on and stuns the first enemy he encounters. Check out the full reveal video from Hi-Rez after the break. [Source: Hi-Rez press release] Continue reading Sun Wukong returns to SMITE Sun Wukong returns to SMITE originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Cryptic details Star Trek Online's latest fleet progression update Posted: 23 Oct 2013 06:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, Guilds, MMO Industry, News Items, PvE, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play, Dev Diaries Another day, another Star Trek Online dev blog. Today's wall o' text is titled Fleet System Expansion: Spire Outpost, and as you might guess, it concerns the game's next fleet holding. "The Spire can be most closely compared to the Embassy in terms of it being more about providing high-end equipment than it is about providing fleet convenience and discounts," Cryptic says. "That being said, there are some excellent benefits for fleets that progress through the Spire holding's tiers." The Spire ultimately provides an additional progression avenue for STO fleets, complete with new rewards, a new social environment, and plenty of unlockable special projects. Read all about it via the links below. Cryptic details Star Trek Online's latest fleet progression update originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Dev blog

Still more Black Desert beta vids, PvE impressions Posted: 23 Oct 2013 05:00 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Video, Bugs, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, PvE, Sandbox, Black Desert Steparu is still playing this week's Black Desert closed beta, and fortunately for all of us on the outside, that means more gameplay videos and commentary. Today's focus is leveling and PvE, the latter of which is apparently lacking due to the pedestrian questing system. Steparu says that there are no dynamic events, though there are main story quests that become available at various points throughout the level range. The article also touches on PvP and what appears to be a button for opting in or out of the game's open-world free-for-all system. Click past the cut for the videos, including some HUD-free Archer and Sorcerer combat, and don't forget to read the full impressions piece behind the links below. Continue reading Still more Black Desert beta vids, PvE impressions Still more Black Desert beta vids, PvE impressions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Steparu

Latest stretch goal speaks to Star Citizen's 'immersive, world-building experience' Posted: 23 Oct 2013 04:00 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, PvE, Sandbox, Crowdfunding, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play Earlier this week Cloud Imperium released both a brochure and an in-engine video devoted to Star Citizen's Anvil Aerospace Hornet. Apparently the info dump was well-received, as the crowdfunded space sim passed the $24 million mark shortly thereafter. As per usual with each $1 million milestone, CIG head honcho Chris Roberts responded with a Letter from the Chairman and a sneak peek at upcoming stretch goals. This latest milestone unlocked public transportation, and while that may sound somewhat -- ahem -- pedestrian at first, consider Roberts' description. "A public transportation system may not seem as sexy as a new bomber or a cruiser, but it speaks directly to the goal of making Star Citizen an immersive, world-building experience," he says. "Instead of having a simple fast travel option like an MMORPG, Star Citizen will feature a living, breathing system to support that gameplay requirement... a system that will be impacted by the economy and player actions in all sorts of exciting ways!" Roberts also unveiled the game's $26 million stretch goal, which takes the form of expanded capital ship systems like damage control teams, bulkheads to slow boarders, and various navigation and engineering console management options. Latest stretch goal speaks to Star Citizen's 'immersive, world-building experience' originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Chairman's letter

DayZ standalone shows up on Steam database Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:30 PM PDT Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, MMOFPS, Post-Apocalyptic, Miscellaneous DayZ standalone has appeared on the Steam database, with its creator confirming that development is on "the final lap." Escapist noted that an entry for "DayZ Early Access" showed up yesterday on the Steam Database for the USA territory. The title was delayed last August when the team was waiting for the core network architecture to be put into place. Joystiq contacted Lead Designer Dean Hall, who said that the game is nearing its final stretch to an alpha test. "All I can say is that progress has been very good," Hall said. "We're a mix of nervous and excited. And as I'd stated on my twitter when I announced my break from social media/updates, we are on the final lap. Part of the final process involves the actual administration of the release, which is actually surprisingly complex and time-consuming. So, to confirm, there is no release date announcement and we're 100 percent focused on getting the alpha out the door." DayZ standalone shows up on Steam database originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Joystiq, Steam DB Via: The Escapist

The Art of Wushu: Lifting the veil on the winter expansion Posted: 23 Oct 2013 03:00 PM PDT Filed under: Historical, Interviews, Patches, Free-to-Play, Age of Wushu, The Art of Wushu, MMORPG Some of you may have heard about new content coming to Age of Wushu in the winter in the form of the Ultimate Scrolls expansion. Although it contains some new content including the much-anticipated marriage system, Snail Games has released scant few details about new features. We went behind the scenes and asked the studio what we can expect in the winter expansion and what we can look forward to in the future. The developers were pretty open about what was coming soon, which -- like Mt. Hua -- is chock-full of new features. Continue reading The Art of Wushu: Lifting the veil on the winter expansion The Art of Wushu: Lifting the veil on the winter expansion originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

PAX East 2014 tix now on sale Posted: 23 Oct 2013 02:30 PM PDT Filed under: Culture, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, News Items Save the date, PAX fans. Well, actually, save two dates. The first is April 11, 2014, which is when the next iteration of PAX East officially throws down. The second date is today, and that's when tickets officially go on sale. As of press time, three-day badges are gone, but single-day passes are still available. PAX East 2014 runs from April 11 through April 13, 2014 at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. PAX East 2014 tix now on sale originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Announcement

Aion opens Halloween-themed Nightmare Circus dungeon Posted: 23 Oct 2013 02:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Events (In-Game), News Items, Free-to-Play, Dungeons Did you enjoy the novelty and rewards of Aion's double run of Shugo Kingdom Adventures, the limited-time instance that offered some pretty nifty rewards to those who chose wisely? If so, you might be glad to hear that Aion has introduced a new version themed for the holiday: Nightmare Circus. As before, only special skills can be used within the instance and only Daevas level 30 and above can enter. This time, however, instead of becoming a Shugo, players will be transformed into a bear-like Khum'gom. Even more power can be obtained if players transform into a Nightmare Circus Harlequin using an item available via quest and in the store. Also, anywhere from two to six players can participate. The instance consists of three stages, and rewards can include exclusive costumes and wings, dyes, consumables, manastones, and much more. For a full accounting of all the possible prizes and a breakdown of each stage, check out the official announcement. But if you want to get in on the event, you'd better hurry -- the Nightmare Circus is in town for only two weeks and packs up November 6th, 2013. Aion opens Halloween-themed Nightmare Circus dungeon originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Nightmare Circus instance

WildStar Community Director Troy Hewitt announces departure from Carbine Posted: 23 Oct 2013 01:30 PM PDT Filed under: Sci-Fi, News Items, WildStar It's a sad day for the WildStar community. Carbine's Community Director Troy "Aether" Hewitt announced today in a post on the WildStar site that he is stepping down from his position and leaving the studio. He confides in the community the reason for his departure: "Without going into too much detail, recent tragedies in my family require that I return home to be closer to my family [...] It was a decision I can only define as agonizing, but in the end, my family needs me." While this may be disheartening news for many fans, Hewitt is confident that he leaves the community in capable hands. In addition to the North American and European community teams, Hewitt specifically mentions three "forever friends of [his] and industry leaders in their craft" that will be taking care of the community in his absence: Carbine's new VP of Brand, Mona Hamilton; Director of Interactive Marketing, Christophe Bahamed; and new PR Manager, Michael Shelling. In closing, Hewitt tells fans, "While this is goodbye for now, I guarantee you that we'll be playing WildStar together on launch day." WildStar Community Director Troy Hewitt announces departure from Carbine originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: WildStar -- A Personal Message from Troy "Aether" Hewitt

'Old School' RuneScape grows to 1M players, opens God Wars dungeon Posted: 23 Oct 2013 01:00 PM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Video, MMO Industry, Patches, RuneScape, Free-to-Play The "Old School" version of RuneScape has proven to be a hit with players, growing to over one million users. Jagex trumpeted the milestone along with a new update to the game bringing back the God Wars dungeon. Executive Producer Phil Mansell thinks that this shows classic servers have strong appeal for the community: "Seeing RuneScape Old School hit the million player mark so soon after launch is a great milestone for the game, and our players have joined the celebration by voting for the game's most epic update to date." Over 89% of the playerbase voted for the inclusion of the God Wars dungeon, in which groups will face-off against four bosses for a shot at a legendary Godsword and other shiny gear. You can check out the dungeon video after the break. [Source: Jagex press release] Continue reading 'Old School' RuneScape grows to 1M players, opens God Wars dungeon 'Old School' RuneScape grows to 1M players, opens God Wars dungeon originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: God Wars announcement

DC Universe Online shows off major graphical upgrades Posted: 23 Oct 2013 12:00 PM PDT Filed under: Super-hero, Video, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Consoles, DC Universe Online Sometimes all it takes is a graphical improvement to make a game feel new. DC Universe Online has to keep its graphics at a level the PlayStation 3 can use, but with the pending release of the PlayStation 4, the game is going to be able to offer better textures and lighting all around. You can check out a preview video past the break to see what the game will look like with the visual upgrades. But that's not the only thing coming along with the new patch; in order to ease new players on the PS4 into the game, the game's early leveling has been revamped and improved and several areas have had environmental details and quest flow updated as well. So experienced players can enjoy looking at a world in greater detail and new players will find it easier than ever to get into the game. That seems like a pretty solid update. Continue reading DC Universe Online shows off major graphical upgrades DC Universe Online shows off major graphical upgrades originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Eurogamer

Choose My Adventure: Off to Never, Neverwinter land Posted: 23 Oct 2013 11:00 AM PDT Filed under: Fantasy, Polls, Classes, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Races, Choose My Adventure, Neverwinter Twenty-four hours after voting for this round of Choose My Adventure started, I had no idea who was going to win. All the games were neck-and-neck. But on the last day of voting, Neverwinter pulled out ahead of the pack with 40.8% of the vote. A friend of mine who will likely be joining me for my quest suggested that you voted for Neverwinter because I said I would make a Foundry quest with your help. I am interested in why that was your final decision, so let me know in the comments why you voted for Neverwinter too. Of course, I need to create a character before I actually step into this world. And unlike most MMOs that attempt to be balanced in every possible way, Neverwinter isn't afraid to dole out impactful choices at the very beginning. Even my character's race matters in Neverwinter. Not only does each race have its own set of abilities, but it also has its own stat bonuses. Now, I'm assuming that in the endgame that these bonuses turn into quality-of-life additions, but at the beginning of the game, they are more meaningful. And this is before we even choose my class, which we are also going to do today. Continue reading Choose My Adventure: Off to Never, Neverwinter land Choose My Adventure: Off to Never, Neverwinter land originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Brick-Force Season 3 trailer highlights Bricksaga update Posted: 23 Oct 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Trailers, Video, Patches, PvP, News Items, Sandbox, Player-Generated Content If you like brick-by-brick construction in a sandbox environment coupled with a first person shooter, have we got the game for you: Brick-Force! Here, players fight out matches in maps they build themselves. And now Season 3 - Bricksaga brings even more to the experience. Along with a new medieval setting (complete with wizards and knights), Season 3 introduces a host of new goodies to the game, including features, costumes, weapons, and even new game modes. Players can now use interactive bricks and portals as well as doors, windows, trap doors, and spike traps to add a previously unknown dynamic and variety to matches. Additionally, level progression has been revised, match assignments have been improved, and players can unlock equipment on a regular basis. Check out all the action in the trailer below. [Source: Infernum Productions press release] Continue reading Brick-Force Season 3 trailer highlights Bricksaga update Brick-Force Season 3 trailer highlights Bricksaga update originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Free for All: The other side of MMO leveling Posted: 23 Oct 2013 10:00 AM PDT Filed under: Business Models, Culture, Game Mechanics, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Casual, Free for All As I pointed out in last week's column, I am more fond of spending money to obtain a high-level character than I am grinding out levels to gain one. As usual, I put out my opinion without considering how many people might take it the wrong way. To set the record straight and to give some evidence to the pro-leveling side of the argument, I would like to list off some of the reasons leveling is important. (Also in my opinion, of course.) While I did refer to leveling as drudgery, my opinion does not automatically set some universal definition. What can be drudgery to me can be bliss to someone else, and so -- because it is gaming -- the impact of leveling can be felt differently by different people. It's not science; it's opinion. Besides, it's not all drudgery anyway. Continue reading Free for All: The other side of MMO leveling Free for All: The other side of MMO leveling originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Oct 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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