General Gaming Article

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• How to Build a Haswell/GTX 780 PC
• Motorola Comes Out Swinging with Unlocked Moto G for $179 Off-Contract
• Estimating Life Expectancy of Hard Drives is Tricky Business
• For 24 Hours, Iolo is Giving New Customers 6-Month Subscriptions to System Mechanic
• Tale of Two Ultrabooks: Acer Announces TravelMate P645 Laptop and X313 Convertible
• Newegg Daily Deals: Borderlands 2, Intel Core i7 4770 Haswell, and More!

How to Build a Haswell/GTX 780 PC Posted: 13 Nov 2013 11:39 AM PST How to build a badass, silent Haswell gaming PC into an ATX chassis with a GeForce GTX 780 GPU This month, Intel's "Haswell" generation of desktop CPUs landed in the Lab, so like most builders, we were itching to see how she runs. For the uninitiated, Haswell is an upgrade from Ivy Bridge in terms of power efficiency and performance, but it also comes with a whole new motherboard socket—Socket 1150. We were curious to see if our building regimen would require any adjustments. As luck would have it, Nvidia also launched its 700-series cards this month to much fanfare, and since both of these components are going to be popular parts for upgraders and system builders, we decided to jump into the deep end of the pool with both of them and see how the combo performs in gaming benchmarks. On the CPU front, we went with Intel's Core i7-4770K, a quad-core chip with Hyper-Threading. The video card we used is the Nvidia reference GTX 780, basically a slightly watered-down GTX Titan. We also threw in a new SSD from SanDisk, a low-noise case in the form of the Thermaltake Soprano, an alternate drive installation method, and an oversized air cooler. Our goal was to build a quiet, Haswell-based gaming rig that would give our zero-point a run for its money. Assembling the Super Friends You may have noticed we've been using a lot of cases with sound-absorbing panels lately, and you may think we're crazy, especially since we plan to overclock, but once you've experienced a powerful PC emitting nothing more than a gentle hum, it's hard to go back. This month we tapped the Thermaltake New Soprano (which received a 9/Kick Ass verdict in our February 2013 issue). Its massive 20cm front fan should drag in a lot of cool air, and the 12cm rear fan is no slouch either. We ended up making some modifications to the case's interior layout in order to improve airflow, which we'll talk about later. To cool our new Haswell chip we went with a Phanteks TC14PE, which is arguably one of the best air coolers around. That should give us some extra headroom to perform overclocking duties, though the cooler's massive size makes low-profile RAM necessary. SanDisk also has a new SSD, the Extreme II, which should give quite a boost to general desktop performance. Though the previous model, simply named Extreme SSD, was a bit of a me-too drive with its SandForce controller, this new drive has an all-new Marvell "Monet" controller and 19nm toggle NAND, so it's primed for high performance. It even uses a tiny bit of super-expensive SLC NAND in addition to traditional MLC in a setup called two-tiered caching, which is supposed to speed up small writes from the OS. The Intel Core i7-4770K uses Intel's new LGA1150 socket, so we grabbed a brand-new Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H; it's basically the Haswell version of the company's Z77X-UD3H, which has a reputation for allowing high CPU overclocks and being extremely stable. INGREDIENTS PART Price Case Thermaltake New Soprano $120 PSU Corsair HX750 $130 Mobo Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H $180 CPU Intel Core i7-4770K $340 CPU Cooler Phanteks TC14PE $85 (street) GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 $650 RAM Corsair Vengeance 2x 4GB $60 SSD SanDisk Extreme II 240GB $230 HDD Seagate Barracuda 3TB $135 OS Windows 8 64-bit OEM $100 Total   $2030 1. It's About Time Intel has had a "tick-tock" development cycle for its last few generations of desktop CPUs, where each "tock" is a new microarchitecture. Haswell is the latest tock. Each iteration has bumped up performance 5–15 percent, depending on the task. Physically, Haswell is pretty much identical to previous comparable Intel chips, despite changing from an LGA1155 socket to LGA1150. So, we were able to just drop it in like an 1155 chip, dab some thermal paste on top, and use the CPU cooler's installation instructions for LGA1155. We could have gone with the Core i5-4570K, which costs about $100 less than the Core i7-4770K, but none were available as of press time. And the i7 has Hyper-Threading, which is nice for multithread tasks like encoding video. 2. Taking a Byte We chose the Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H because the Z77 version has a good rep for performance and build quality, and this board improves on it. For example, the SATA 6Gb/s port count has gone from two to eight, which is much appreciated. It also has beefier heatsinks around the CPU socket, but we were able to fit the husky Phanteks TC14PE without any obstructions (albeit with low-profile RAM). Gigabyte has also finally upgraded its unattractive EasyTune performance-tweaking software. Before, you could only plot two points on a graph to tell the board how to manage your fan speeds. Now you have five, for much finer-grained control. You also finally have several speed presets to choose from. You won't get as much overall tweaking as with Asus's AI Suite II, but the BIOS should have nearly everything you need, though it's still not as easy to navigate as we would like. 3. Going to Extremes Storage duties are handled by Seagate's 3TB Barracuda, which offers a lot of room for the money and is a snappy performer. It's joined by the SanDisk Extreme 2 SSD, the sequel to a respectable SSD, with the intriguing addition of some internal SLC cache. We removed the lower drive trays to maximize airflow for the CPU and GPU, and installed the drives in the upper section, which has a 3.5-inch drive bay with storage space for both 3.5-inch and 2.5-inch drives. We had to remove the front fan to extract the slide-out tray through the front of the case. Removing the fan requires removing the front bezel, but it snaps on and off fairly easily. Click the next page for the final steps along with our conclusion on how well it performs.   4. Music to Our Ears The Thermaltake New Soprano is a sleek-looking, low-noise case. The thick front door blocks noise coming from the front fan, which has intakes on the sides. The top and sides of the case do not have fan mounts, but that serves to keep the noise down. Both side panels have sound-dampening foam, with the right side's material being thinner to accommodate cables behind the motherboard. The bottom of the case has a 12cm fan mount if you need more airflow, or if you want to put a water cooler on the CPU or GPU. The motherboard standoffs are pre-installed, so installation went much quicker. The case has a few rubber grommets to the left of the board, and we had no trouble threading cables behind the board's tray. Our choice of drive installation had the drive connectors facing the rear of the case, so we didn't end up with as clean a look as we would have liked. 5. An Olympic GPU Right now, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 is the second-fastest single-GPU card on the market (*Note: This article was written before the recently revealed GeForce GTX 780 Ti), behind Nvidia's GTX Titan. It's identical in size, and very close in gaming performance, with the main difference between the two being that the 780 has two disabled SMX units, for a total of 12, and lacks double-precision compute capability. Though we already knew the card was fast from our benchmarks, we were also eager to test the card's heat output and noise levels in a PC that we built from scratch. Subjective tests showed it to be noticeably quieter than the Titan (and like that card, you can select a target temperature or power target according to preference). The back of the case has a bracket that helps hold down the PCI slot covers, so we had to remove that before installing the card. The GTX 780 is 10.5 inches long, so space was a little tight with the storage drives right next to it, but it was manageable. A card that's 11 inches or longer, such as the GTX 690 or HD 7990, would not have fit unless we installed the drives below the card. 6. Go Big or Go Home An LGA1155 or 1150 system with a single GPU should run fine on 500 watts of power, so our Corsair HX750 was arguably overkill, but we like having some power in reserve for hot days. It's also a modular PSU, which is better for cable management. It should also produce highly regulated power for overclocking stability, and it's backed by a 7-year warranty. It felt like a unit worthy of a $325 CPU and $650 video card. The Phanteks TC14PE CPU cooler is a good value for a dual-fan, dual-radiator unit, allowing us a 4.4GHz overclock without  excessive noise levels. A water-cooler might have been better, but the case's limited fan mounts would have left us with too few options to add fans for improved airflow through the system. Also, with an untested CPU, GPU, SSD, and motherboard, we wanted to avoid the unpredictability of a new cooler. The RAM also didn't have to be anything exotic, since games don't tend to benefit from high memory speeds, so two sticks of low-profile 1,600MHz Corsair Vengeance DDR3 RAM did the trick. Haswell That Ends Well Turning on a new PC for the first time is always a tense moment. With a case as quiet as the New Soprano, we had to double-check that we were actually up and running. Once you get a few feet away, this build is basically silent. Performance was excellent, too. By default, the Core i7-4770K runs at 3.5GHz and can Turbo Boost one or two of its cores to 3.8GHz when it doesn't need all four to be running at full speed. We were able to overclock the CPU Turbo Boost on all four cores to 4.4GHz, which is a pretty good result for a CPU not using liquid cooling. The air cooler's dual 12cm fans helped keep the Haswell CPU stable while also delivering a noise level that wasn't distracting. We tried bumping it to 4.5GHz, but with Prime95 running its gnarliest test, the overclock crossed the 80 degrees C threshold, which is a bit too hot for our tastes, so we settled at 4.4GHz. Combine that with a GPU core overclock of 150MHz and a GPU memory overclock of 100MHz (effective), and our reference card was benchmarking about 10 percent faster than stock speeds. The GTX 780 put out a lot of heat, but most of it was being blown directly out of the case thanks to the card's blower cooling design. It accomplished this feat despite its fan operating so quietly that it was effectively silent once the case was closed. The positioning of our storage devices didn't end up being as helpful as we would have liked, since the video card hogged most of the air coming through the intake fan. But the airflow is at least getting to the GTX 780 more quickly, if not the CPU. We had enough airflow to our storage devices, though, as they were both lukewarm, and the SanDisk Extreme II SSD booted quickly and seemed very peppy. In retrospect, it probably would have been better to go with a more conventional case, or at least one with more fan mounts. For example, if we had two mounts in the top, as with the Fractal Design Define R4 (which is also low-noise), we could have easily put in a 240mm radiator and even set up a custom liquid-cooling loop. Removable drive cages also would have been preferable. Other than that, the system has a good feel to it. It's rock-solid (after we figured out the right settings for the CPU overclock), runs cool and quiet, and produces blistering performance. Benchmarks ZERO POINT 3DMark Fire Strike 9,448 9,694   3DMark Fire Strike Extreme 4,774 5,013   3DMark11 Performance 15,195 12,647 (-16.8%) 3DMark11 Extreme 5,924 5,096 (-14%) Batman: Arkham City (fps) 109 75 (-31.2%) The zero-point machine compared here consists of a 3.2GHz Core i7-3930K, 16GB of Corsair DDR3/1600 on an Asus P9X79 Deluxe motherboard. It has a GeForce GTX 690, a Corsair Neutron GTX SSD, and 64-bit Windows 7 Professional.

Motorola Comes Out Swinging with Unlocked Moto G for $179 Off-Contract Posted: 13 Nov 2013 08:12 AM PST An affordable smartphone with no commitment Google and Motorola are trying to change the mobile game as you know it. For those who want a higher-end smartphone without committing to a long-term contract, there's the Nexus 5 that Google commissioned LG to build. However, some may find the $349 starting price a bit too rich. To combat that, Motorola today held a big press event unveiling the Moto G, an unlocked smartphone that starts at just $179 with no contract to sign. Talk about throwing down the gauntlet. As you might expect, at that price the Moto G isn't going to challenge the competition's flagship devices, but at the same time, this thing is far from being a piece of junk (based on paper specs -- we haven't played with one yet). The Moto G wields a 4.5-inch 720p HD display (329 ppi). It also sports a 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM, 8GB or 16GB ($199) of built-in storage, 5MP rear-facing camera, 1.3MP front-facing camera, and a 2070mAh battery that Motorola claims is good for a full day of use. Noticeably missing is 4G LTE support, so that's something to keep in mind. It also lacks a microSD card slot for expandable storage and comes loaded with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, though Motorola promises an Android 4.4 KitKat by the beginning of 2014. Not a bad phone for the money, and it's customizable, too. Motorola is offering 19 customization options, including interchangeable Motorola Shells and Flip Shells in seven colors, as well as Grip Shells in five colors. U.S. buyers will have access to the Moto G with no contract, no SIM lock, and an unlocked bootloader through various carriers and retailers in early January 2014. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Estimating Life Expectancy of Hard Drives is Tricky Business Posted: 13 Nov 2013 07:14 AM PST The curious case of analyzing hard drives Whenever talk turns to the topic of hard drives, inevitably you'll find that some people swear by brand X while others will only buy HDDs from brand Y. Their reasons are often anecdotal, and usually influenced by a bad experience with a particular model or brand. A person may say something like, "Each time I've plopped a brand Y HDD in my home server, it's crapped out after a year, but my brand X drive is still going strong after 10 years!" Unfortunately, two separate accounts of HDD longevity can (and often do) contradict each other, but there are other problems that prevent a logical conclusion, such as the lack of scientific data. What's much more meaningful is an ongoing study of 25,000 hard drives. Backblaze, a cloud backup company, keeps over 25,000 HDDs spinning at all times, but even so, the topic of reliability is a complicated one. In Backblaze's experience, 26 percent of HDDs fail within the first four years. Beyond that, data is limited at this point because Backblaze has only been operating for five years. Another thing that Backblaze has observed is what's called the bath curve, which plots out expected failure rates based on three different kinds of defects or failures: Factory defects resulting in "infant mortality," random failures, and parts that wear out resulting in failures after much use. Since Backblaze began backing up data, it's noticed that the failure rate hovers around 5 percent for the first 18 months, then drops for a period, and then goes up "substantially" around the 3-year mark. The "infant mortality" rate isn't something Backblaze has seen much of in the real world, "but it does look like 3 years is the point where drives start wearing out." There's a lot more to digest -- a LOT more -- in Backblaze's study. If you have some free time and feel like leveling up your HDD geek skillset, we highly suggest giving the study a read. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

For 24 Hours, Iolo is Giving New Customers 6-Month Subscriptions to System Mechanic Posted: 13 Nov 2013 06:44 AM PST Keep your PC humming for free If you've been around the PC block a time or two, then you've probably heard of System Mechanic, an all-in-one system tune-up utility that comes with a bunch of different tools to keep your computer running at tip-top shape. A single-year license runs $50, though for the next 24 hours, developer Iolo is offering new users a free 6-month license. Think of it as an extended trial, if you will. "System Mechanic is an all-in-one PC tune-up utility software suite that analyzes, fixes, optimizes, and maintains Windows computers. It incorporates multiple patented and patent-pending technologies, such as ActiveCare, a technology that allows the program to run automatic maintenance scans and repairs on a Windows PC while a computer is on but not in use," Iolo explains. You can find more information about System Mechanic on Iolo's website. As for the giveaway, the promotion runs 24 hours from November 13 (today) at 9 AM Pacific/12 PM Eastern to November 14 (tomorrow) at the same time. After you snag your free 6-month key, you'll have another 24 hours (until Friday, November 15 at 9 AM Pacific/12 PM Eastern) to download, install, and activate service. If you're interested, go here to grab your key. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Tale of Two Ultrabooks: Acer Announces TravelMate P645 Laptop and X313 Convertible Posted: 13 Nov 2013 05:30 AM PST Acer's commercial subscribers have two new Ultrabooks to choose from If you're looking for a new Ultrabook for your business travels, Acer has a couple of new options worth checking out. Both fall under the company's TravelMate umbrella and both rock an Intel foundation, though these are very different systems. One is a more powerful laptop built around Intel's 4th Generation Core i5 and i7 architecture (Haswell) and the other is a convertible style notebook based on Intel's 3rd Generation chips. Starting with the former, the TravelMate P645 features a 14-inch IPS display with either a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) resolution with AMD Radeon HD 8750M graphics or a 1366x768 resolution with Intel HD Graphics. Either way, Acer promises generous viewing angles of up to 170 degrees. There's a full-size chiclet-style keyboard with 1.44mm travel distance and spill-resistant design, GbE LAN, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC support, 720p webcam with dual microphones, up to 12GB of DDR3 memory, up to a 256GB solid state drive, and an optional "ProDock" with USB 3.0, USB 2.0, DisplayPort, DVI, HDMI, and VGA connectivity. The other Ultrabook Acer unveiled is the TravelMate X313. It's a convertible system with an 11.6-inch touchscreen display. It's not as powerful as the P645, but it is better suited for content consumption and is aimed at business users who want to work and play on the same device. Driving the convertible is an Intel Core i5 3339Y processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 4GB of memory, and 120GB SSD. It also sports an HDMI port, 720p HD webcam, 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, full-size USB 3.0 port, and a few other odds and ends. The TravelMate P645 and X313 will both be available this month starting at $950. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Borderlands 2, Intel Core i7 4770 Haswell, and More! Posted: 13 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST Top Deal: Maybe you decided to play hooky from work yesterday and slept the day away. Or perhaps your Internet was out. Either way, if you missed out on yesterday's top deal, here's a second chance. This time we're featuring Borderlands 2 (online game code) for $11 (normally $30). Like yesterday, however, you can score up to 80 percent off of several 2K Games titles, so click the link, browse around, and stock up on games you might have missed when they were full price! Other Deals: Asus Z87-Pro LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard for $170 with free shipping (normally $210; - use coupon code: [EMCWWWV28; additional $15 Mail-in rebate]  ) Intel Core i7-4770 Haswell 3.4GHz LGA 1150 84W Quad-Core Desktop Processor for $295 with free shipping (normally $310 - use coupon code [EMCWWWV27]) Crucial M500 240GB SATA 2.5" 7mm Internal Solid State Drive CT240M500SSD1 for $150 with free shipping (normally $220) Crucial Ballistix Sport 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory for $60 with free shipping (normally $75 - use coupon code: [EMCWWWV229])

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MMO Updates

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• Massively Exclusive: Jade Dynasty Regenesis preview
• WildStar unveils the Esper again
• Fiesta Online's sixth anniversary celebration includes disco
• Life is Feudal is offering a look at the gameplay via livestream Friday
• SMITE video shows off revised He Bo, God of the Yellow River
• City of Steam: Arkadia offers first screenshots and update
• Age of Wushu releases the Ultimate Scrolls
• ArcheAge wins big at Korea Game Awards
• World of Warplanes takes off into official launch
• The Daily Grind: What pre-orders were totally worth it?
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• The Stream Team: Launching into EQII's Tears of Veeshan
• Get Guild Wars 2 for 30 bucks and give to charity at the same time
• Here are a couple more EverQuest Next Landmark videos
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• Surprise! DCUO Game Update 31 is going live today
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• Flameseeker Chronicles: How Guild Wars 2 can step up its roleplaying game
• Dungeons & Dragons Online launches Game Update 20
• Marvel Heroes brings Asgard in with update 2.0
• Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track

Massively Exclusive: Jade Dynasty Regenesis preview Posted: 13 Nov 2013 09:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Lore, Patches, Previews, Free-to-Play, Jade Dynasty, Dev Diaries Jade Dynasty, that colorful free-to-play MMO from Perfect World, has a new expansion on the way, and we have the full scoop. Called Regenesis, the expansion will greatly grow Jade Dynasty's portfolio, including a new Etherkin race, a pair of additional classes, graphics updates, alliance bases, and a reworked beginner experience. You can get all of the details for Regenesis straight from Perfect World's mouth, including the lore, after the break. Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Jade Dynasty Regenesis preview Massively Exclusive: Jade Dynasty Regenesis preview originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WildStar unveils the Esper again Posted: 13 Nov 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Sci-Fi, Video, Classes, Game Mechanics, Previews, News Items, WildStar, Subscription, Buy-to-Play While WildStar kicked off its class re-reveals with the most physical class possible, the Esper is the exact opposite. It's all about mind games. Of course, when you're talking about a powerful telekinetic and telepathic dynamo of illusions and mental weaponry, "mind games" still involves blowing things to pieces with remarkable alacrity. So perhaps it's not quite as much of an opposite as you might think from a quick glance. The Esper isn't just about creating various telekinetic blades to slice apart foes from afar, of course -- the class can also heal, crowd control, and even move around quickly through various mental abilities. It's a good thing, too, since the class is also limited to light armor and doesn't do well under pressure from a concentrated physical assault. Take a look at the new video past the cut for a better picture of this mental dynamo in action, complete with that golden armor buff you've seen from several screenshots in the past. Continue reading WildStar unveils the Esper again WildStar unveils the Esper again originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Fiesta Online's sixth anniversary celebration includes disco Posted: 13 Nov 2013 08:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Trailers, Video, Events (In-Game), News Items, Free-to-Play, Anniversaries What six-year-old doesn't want a big bash full of fun for his birthday? Well, Fiesta Online is no different, and the free-to-play anime game is celebrating its sixth birthday with a party that lasts the rest of the month! The festivities -- running from Friday, November 15th through Sunday, December 1st -- include a dolled up anniversary town, an open disco floor for getting your groove on, and a new multi-part quest that includes an exclusive Black Archon mount. Players can also dress up as popular townsfolk using new masks, compete in a GM-led dungeon-diving speed game, or collect Murumuru minipets. Get in the celebrating spirit with the anniversary trailer below. [Source: gamigo press release] Continue reading Fiesta Online's sixth anniversary celebration includes disco Fiesta Online's sixth anniversary celebration includes disco originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Life is Feudal is offering a look at the gameplay via livestream Friday Posted: 13 Nov 2013 08:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Livestream, Sandbox, Crowdfunding Show me the sandbox! If you've wanted to catch a glimpse of Life is Feudal gameplay, the recently announced medieval sandbox being developed by Bitbox, set some time aside this Friday. At 3:00 p.m. EST on November 15th, devs will be livestreaming some of the gameplay of this project they've been working on for the last three years. Will the live show highlight the terraforming, the crafting minigames, or the target-less combat (which includes aiming for ranged attacks)? And how much of the seamless world can the devs traverse in just one livestream? You'll have to watch on Friday to find out! The address for the stream will be announced later, but those who miss it can take note of the game's official YouTube channel in order to watch it afterwards. [Thanks to Kuroi for the tip!] Life is Feudal is offering a look at the gameplay via livestream Friday originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Livestream announcement

SMITE video shows off revised He Bo, God of the Yellow River Posted: 13 Nov 2013 07:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Trailers, Video, Patches, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MOBA Although not implying that the old He Bo was washed up, SMITE treated the God of the Yellow River to a makeover. A mage who uses water to drown and destroy his enemies, He Bo's new visage better fits his mythology. His skills include the passive Steady Flow (a buff that increases his magical power), and three active attacks: Water Cannon, Water Spout, and Atlas of the Yellow River (previously known as Flood Waters). He Bo's ultimate attack is Crushing Wave. Besides the revised god, today's update includes other changes as well, including a semi-transparent mini-map that players can control the opacity of, a new view mode that allows players to follow the action of their teammates even after death, and improvements to the league and god screens as well as the match lobby. For more on this update, check out the official notes. And to hear the lore behind the god He Bo and see a demonstration of his skills, watch the video below. [Source: Hi-Rez press release] Continue reading SMITE video shows off revised He Bo, God of the Yellow River SMITE video shows off revised He Bo, God of the Yellow River originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

City of Steam: Arkadia offers first screenshots and update Posted: 13 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, Browser, City of Steam, Steampunk Since it bought back the rights to publish City of Steam in English, Mechanist Games has been toiling away at getting the re-christened Arkadia ready for its re-launch. To give players a peek at how things are changing in more than name only, the devs have released a few screenshots showing off the burning house in the Delton intro. Also included in this week's update was news that forum avatars and titles will be restored on the new forums and that CoS: Arkadia would be available as an all-browser gaming experience or via a easy-to-download micro-client that's "just megabytes." City of Steam: Arkadia offers first screenshots and update originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: First screenshots

Age of Wushu releases the Ultimate Scrolls Posted: 13 Nov 2013 06:45 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Trailers, Video, Expansions, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Age of Wushu It's time for another big expansion to Age of Wushu, and this time it's all about the Ultimate Scrolls. You might have thought before that you had some pretty great scrolls, maybe even excellent ones, but they're nothing compared to these scrolls. That's reflected in the release of new techniques for all schools, allowing expert martial artists to climb even higher in power. And given all of the challenges you'll be facing in the expansion, you'll need it. The crux of the expansion are the teachings of the Helianthus Codex and the Star Vortex, offering players new paths to wisdom. Players can also take part in the new Forbidden Instances deep within each school and explore a new morality-based PvP system, forcing players to determine not only if they will fight but why they will fight. The patch is out today, and you can take a look at the trailer just past the cut. Continue reading Age of Wushu releases the Ultimate Scrolls Age of Wushu releases the Ultimate Scrolls originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Ultimate Scrolls release

ArcheAge wins big at Korea Game Awards Posted: 13 Nov 2013 06:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (Real-World), MMO Industry, News Items, ArcheAge If you don't know about the Korea Game Awards, you're... well, probably not from Korea. Which is kind of understandable seeing as how this site is published in English and focuses mostly on the western side of the pond. But as you can imagine from the name, these awards are a pretty big deal for a Korean game like ArcheAge... and to its credit, it managed to clean up at the most recent award ceremony. Not only did Jake Song's sandpark take home awards in two categories through the show (planning and scenario, graphics), it also took home the big prize of the night as the best game in show. It's good news to see for fans, especially in light of some rumbling that the game hasn't been doing as well in Korea as initially expected. Congratulations to XLGAMES, and here's hoping that the award-winning game comes over to these shores sooner rather than later. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] ArcheAge wins big at Korea Game Awards originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: MMOCulture

World of Warplanes takes off into official launch Posted: 13 Nov 2013 06:00 AM PST Filed under: Launches, News Items, War, Free-to-Play, World of Warplanes If you've been anxiously awaiting the day that World of Warplanes would shed its lingering beta title, today is the day. After a brief delay the game has officially opened its doors for everyone, letting all players download to start dogfighting immediately. If you've played World of Tanks you have a solid idea of the core game concept, but instead of focusing on lumbering land weaponry this is all about high-speed planes engaged in aerial arenas. If you already play World of Tanks on a regular basis, the new title hopes to entice you with the new unified account system for both games, allowing you to enjoy some premium bonuses in both titles rather than just in the one. While there's no direct integration between the two (your plane can't fly in and strafe some tanks, for examples) it's still an incentive to get players into the same cockpit that 4.5 million beta testers sat in. So take to the skies, would-be pilots! Then shoot everything else up there that moves, including ducks. Especially ducks. [Source: Wargaming.net press release] World of Warplanes takes off into official launch originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: What pre-orders were totally worth it? Posted: 13 Nov 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous Every time a studio announces a new game or expansion, there's always one issue that pops up early on for the community to consider: Is it worth it to buy the pre-order? EverQuest Next Landmark has its Founder's Packs now available, with all sorts of shinies including alpha access, beta head-starts, gear, inventory, and coveted forum titles. Forum titles, people! That's how the peons know that you're their better! Anyway, we were talking about what package might be worth it, and that led our staff into reminiscing about previous pre-orders. Some, of course, were a complete waste of money, but others delivered the goods quite admirably. So in retrospect, what pre-orders were totally worth buying? 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: What pre-orders were totally worth it? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Nov 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Jukebox Heroes: Ultima X Odyssey's soundtrack Posted: 12 Nov 2013 07:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Ultima Online, Jukebox Heroes, Music Out of all of the MMOs that never made it to launch, Ultima X Odyssey could have really been something. It had a wonderfully stylized look, an immense amount of resources and talent behind it, the Ultima franchise legacy to draw upon, a cool morality choice system, and a pretty strong following. All of that fell apart when EA pulled the plug on the project in 2004, leaving fans in the lurch. However, since UXO was far enough along in development, it's one of those cancelled MMOs that has an actual soundtrack (just like Project Copernicus, which I talked about a few weeks ago). Composer Chris Field completed and recorded an album for the game in 2003, and although it was never released, it was distributed into the wild for free, and certain portions of the soundtrack were repurposed for the game Lord of Ultima. I have to say that it's a good (possibly even great) score, and it's a shame it didn't get to be in an MMO for us gamers to appreciate. That doesn't mean we can't have a listen right now and speculate on what players in parallel universes might be enjoying right now, yes? Continue reading Jukebox Heroes: Ultima X Odyssey's soundtrack Jukebox Heroes: Ultima X Odyssey's soundtrack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Spacetime debuts Battle Command strategy MMO Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Launches, New Titles, War, Free-to-Play, Mobile, MMORTS Spacetime has a new MMO out that isn't saddled with the "Legends" moniker. The studio, which is now called Spacetime Games, announced the release of Battle Command for Android devices. Unlike Spacetime's previous games, Battle Command skews away from an RPG and toward a city-building RTS. Players will develop a futuristic base, pump out an army, and fight both the computer and other players in offensive and defensive campaigns. Alliances can be forged as well, linking players together in economic and militaristic support. The free-to-play title is currently available on Google Play. Spacetime debuts Battle Command strategy MMO originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Droid Gamers

The Stream Team: Launching into EQII's Tears of Veeshan Posted: 12 Nov 2013 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, EverQuest II, Expansions, Free-to-Play, Livestream, The Stream Team Beta peeks and dev tours are all well and good, but nothing compares to finally getting into the newly launched Tears of Veeshan expansion for yourself on one of your favorite characters. And now launch day is finally here! Massively's MJ is excited to dive into EverQuest II's 10th expansion on her Fury and poke through the newest lands and content. Join us live at 9:00 p.m. for a trip to the Eternal Broodlands, the afterlife of the dragons. Game: EverQuest II Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Tuesday, November 12th, 2013 Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Launching into EQII's Tears of Veeshan The Stream Team: Launching into EQII's Tears of Veeshan originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Get Guild Wars 2 for 30 bucks and give to charity at the same time Posted: 12 Nov 2013 05:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, MMO Industry, News Items, Guild Wars 2, Buy-to-Play Have you bought Guild Wars 2 yet? If not, there's no time like the present thanks to The Humble Store. The title is currently on sale for $29.99, and the best part is that 10 percent of the proceeds go to charity. Better hurry up, though. The site's ticker says the current deals expire in just under 18 hours. [Thanks burnhaus!] Get Guild Wars 2 for 30 bucks and give to charity at the same time originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Here are a couple more EverQuest Next Landmark videos Posted: 12 Nov 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Business Models, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, EverQuest Next, Sandbox Still have questions about the newly announced Founder's Packs for EverQuest Next Landmark? SOE has released a couple of videos that may fill in some blanks. The first clip features senior producer Terry Michaels talking about the basics including early access, special items, and the three tiers on offer. The second clip is a teaser trailer of sorts that shows off various in-game vistas as well as some of the game's construction and crafting possibilities. [Source: SOE press release] Continue reading Here are a couple more EverQuest Next Landmark videos Here are a couple more EverQuest Next Landmark videos originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Trion hints at 3.0 in RIFT state of the game letter Posted: 12 Nov 2013 04:45 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, RIFT RIFT game director Bill "Daglar" Fisher has released a new state-of-the-game post that you'll find front-and-center on the fantasy title's website. The letter contains some very general insights into Trion's development methodology ("keep listening, keep adjusting, keep delivering") as well as a bit of a tease for the game's 3.0 update. RIFT players may in fact be getting some new goodies before the game's next expansion. "Why wait for an expansion pack to release a new crafting profession," Daglar asks. "Why wait to introduce new souls for each of the callings? Why wait to start introducing the story of 3.0?" There are no concrete details as of now, but Fisher says to expect more "as time goes on." Trion hints at 3.0 in RIFT state of the game letter originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: State of the game

Surprise! DCUO Game Update 31 is going live today Posted: 12 Nov 2013 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play, DC Universe Online DC Universe Online players got a bit of a surprise this afternoon when SOE decided to go ahead with the superhero title's GU31 update. "We apologize for the mid-day downtime, but we simply cannot wait to share this game update with all of our players," SOE explained in its patch note prelude. The update contains extensive art tweaks in preparation for the upcoming PlayStation 4 launch, as well as a smoother pre-30 leveling curve. SOE reduced the amount of experience required between levels eight and 29, and it says that "players within this range may log in and find their level increased." [Thanks William!] Surprise! DCUO Game Update 31 is going live today originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: DCUO forums

OMFG: It's a PlanetSide 2 optimization patch Posted: 12 Nov 2013 04:15 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, Patches, PvP, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, PlanetSide 2 Now that that's out of my system, let's see. SOE has released phase one of Operation: Make Faster Game for PlanetSide 2. The firm's press release bills today's push as the "first major optimization patch" in the MMOFPS title's short history. OMFG includes "optimized UI, physics, sound, player processing, rendering code, and more." Put another way, you should experience significantly improved performance while you're fragging it up all over Auraxis. In fact, SOE says that frame rate gains will top 30 percent in some cases. [Source: SOE press release] OMFG: It's a PlanetSide 2 optimization patch originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Camelot Unchained dev blog talks leprechauns Posted: 12 Nov 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, New Titles, News Items, Free-to-Play, Dev Diaries, Crowdfunding, Camelot Unchained, MMORPG City State Entertainment issued a lengthy update this week centered on the Luchorpan race of Camelot Unchained. In the post, CSE walked through the lore of the Luchorpan, a short humanoid race that lists teleportation, ore detection, and distraction as its strengths while confessing slower movement speed, reduced attack chance against tall foes, and line-of-sight restrictions as its weaknesses. The post also included a collection of concept art for the new race showing off possible hair styles and jewelry; the Luchorpan appear to be quite fond of beards and gold. Camelot Unchained dev blog talks leprechauns originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Morning Update - November 11th, 2013

Star Trek Online Season 8: The Sphere energizes today Posted: 12 Nov 2013 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Patches, Star Trek Online, Free-to-Play As part of what I'm calling "Mega-Update Tuesday," Star Trek Online has released Season 8: The Sphere for brash and bold captains to explore. Season 8's storyline challenges players to explore a Dyson Sphere that could be pivotal in the politics of the galaxy. The sizable update contains a new adventure zone, a reworked Federation tutorial, a new reputation track, a battlezone, queued events, curved hallways, and more goodies for fleets. For a limited time, Cryptic is giving players a free Solanae Tribble to celebrate the new season. Massively's been to the sphere and back to bring you the trailer and an in-depth preview of Season 8, so consider it your captain's duty to check those out. Star Trek Online Season 8: The Sphere energizes today originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Free Tribble, Season 8

Former EVE Online GM talks abusive players Posted: 12 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: EVE Online, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, PvE, MMORPG "Game companies are not the Political Correctness Police," says Elizabeth Wyand, "and cannot be expected to adjust every player's rotten attitude." Wyand, a former GM for EVE Online, recently posted an interesting blog that discusses problematic players and the responses to their behavior -- one that exposes a fundamental misconception players have about the GMs who enforce the rules. Wyand's main point, though perhaps a bit too easy to misconstrue, is that being a jerk in most games is not against the rules. There is a big difference between threatening someone's life and hurting someone's feelings when it comes to enforcing chat violations or actioning players, and those who choose to offer up personal information about themselves must be aware that certain unsavory individuals will be happy to use it as a weapon at the first available opportunity. The full post is worth a read and includes some real-life examples of complaints Wyand received while manning CCP's support desk. It's worth noting, of course, that every game company has its own set of rules when it comes to harassment; what brings down the banhammer in RIFT might not even be a blip on the radar of a World of Warcraft GM. Former EVE Online GM talks abusive players originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Miranda

Lord of the Rings Online 'currently testing' level boost feature Posted: 12 Nov 2013 02:45 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, News Items, Free-to-Play, Rumors If you're a Lord of the Rings Online fan, you may have heard the rumor that Turbine is considering a feature that would allow players to boost a character to level 50 in exchange for Turbine Points, the game's real-money currency. Well, the rumor appears to be true. We've received confirmation from a Turbine rep stating that level boosting "is a feature that's been requested repeatedly since going free-to-play, and it's something [Turbine is] currently testing." That's all we know so far, but we'll be sure to keep you posted as new information turns up. Lord of the Rings Online 'currently testing' level boost feature originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Starr Long explains Shroud of the Avatar's combat, crafting, and magic Posted: 12 Nov 2013 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, Sandbox, Shroud of the Avatar, Buy-to-Play Shroud of the Avatar's initial release client is rapidly approaching and fortunately for fans, the dev team at Portalarium has started to ramp up the flow of information. The latest dump is a lengthy post by executive producer Starr Long that covers the game's magic, combat, and crafting systems in quite a bit of depth. You'll find everything from damage types to base stats to active and innate skills in this particular post. You'll also find info about Shroud's two experience types (crafting and adventuring) as well as its magic skill trees. Starr Long explains Shroud of the Avatar's combat, crafting, and magic originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: SotA forums

Hands-on with Darkfall's Japanese open beta Posted: 12 Nov 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Darkfall, Culture, Game Mechanics, Guilds, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Hands-On, First Impressions, Sandbox I'm not very good at aiming. I prefer third person to first person view. Nintendo consoles and games are my drug of choice when I'm not on a PC. I hate duels and arenas. I tend to spend my time gathering resources or crafting and want to kill only mobs or players if I must. On the Bartle test of gamer psychology, I'm 60% Explorer/Socializer and 40% Achiever/Killer. And I loved Darkfall Online. Aside from Aventurine's little, ah, "delays," Darkfall was always a lot of fun for me, even though the guild I joined was established years before I met its members. However, when I moved to Japan, I was region-locked out of the game and unable to check out the revamped Dark Fall: Unholy Wars until recently when the Asian open beta began. I've done my best to keep up to date on the game, but reading information and playing the game are two different things. This was not so much a welcome home for me as it was a returning to my hometown after a few years to find that the buildings and local language have changed. That may sound negative to some people, and it could be, but for me, it was an adventure, which has always been something DF offers me that other games struggle to match. Continue reading Hands-on with Darkfall's Japanese open beta Hands-on with Darkfall's Japanese open beta originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Soapbox: Instant leveling and the whining fringe Posted: 12 Nov 2013 01:30 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, EVE Online, EverQuest II, Business Models, Events (Real-World), Expansions, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Events (Massively's Coverage), TERA, The Soapbox, Miscellaneous, Sandbox, Subscription, MMORPG Over the weekend at Blizzcon 2013, Blizzard Entertainment announced the fifth World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor. The content add-on brings most of the things one might expect from an expansion -- new zone, new features, new quests, new dungeons -- but perhaps most notably includes the option to instantly raise any one of your characters to WoW's current level cap of 90. While you'll still face 10 levels of Warlords of Draenor questing, killing, and fetching if you opt to take the insta-level, the feature has re-ignited the argument among MMO fans as to whether offering players a maxed-out character somehow violates the core rules of the MMO genre. Should developers really provide high-level characters just to get/keep players in the game? The short answer, of course, is "duh." Here's the long answer. Continue reading The Soapbox: Instant leveling and the whining fringe The Soapbox: Instant leveling and the whining fringe originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Lord of the Rings Online offers up the Helm's Deep soundtrack Posted: 12 Nov 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News Items, Free-to-Play, Music All right, Lord of the Rings Online fans, another expansion is coming out really soon. It's only a week away. But maybe you still can't stand the wait. You're logging in and playing the game every night but you need something to make the next few days bearable. That's a bit of an overreaction, but Turbine has you covered with the addition of the Helm's Deep soundtrack to SoundCloud. Yes, you can now listen to the entire soundtrack from wherever, although you won't be able to download the tracks for obvious reasons. The music is the same orchestral score that players have come to expect from the game, with an atmosphere of desperate conflict and impending violence. It's the sort of thing that's very well-suited to a protracted siege and a last stand against Mordor, in other words. Even if you're not a fan of Lord of the Rings Online you can enjoy the soundtrack. Lord of the Rings Online offers up the Helm's Deep soundtrack originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Helm's Deep soundtrack on Soundcloud

Blizzard updates World of Warcraft recruit-a-friend program Posted: 12 Nov 2013 12:30 PM PST Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Video, PvP, News Items, PvE, Promotions, Subscription, MMORPG Blizzard Entertainment today unveiled a revamped recruit-a-friend system for World of Warcraft that enables you to choose your own recruit-a-friend reward from a list of exclusive mounts and pets, some previously unavailable in specific regions. The process for inviting friends has also been simplified; invitations can now be sent directly from the in-game social interface. If your friend accepts your invite and creates an account, you'll be officially linked in the RAF system. Linked players receive bonus experience when playing together and can instantly teleport to one another. Additionally, the recruited player can grant the veteran player extra levels. If the friend you recruit purchases WoW and pays for 30 days of game time, you get a month free. If the friend pays for two months of game time, you'll be granted your choice of one of the recruit-a-friend mounts or pets. All previous recruit-a-friend mounts are present, along with a brand-new emerald hippogryph. Check out the new RAF mount and a tutorial on how the system works after the break. Continue reading Blizzard updates World of Warcraft recruit-a-friend program Blizzard updates World of Warcraft recruit-a-friend program originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Recruit a Friend has Leveled Up!

Star Citizen breaks $27 million Posted: 12 Nov 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Business Models, MMO Industry, PvP, News Items, PvE, Miscellaneous, Crowdfunding, Star Citizen, Buy-to-Play Star Citizen, the crowdfunded space sim helmed by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts, continues to demonstrate its incredible ability to generate enormous sums of money. Roberts today announced that Star Citizen has officially passed the $27 million mark, an amount that makes it possible for Cloud Imperium to add new ships and technology based on the Banu race of tradesmen. Roberts also announced the next stretch goal; at $29 million, Cloud Imperium will add more resources to the single player campaign such as an epic opening battle and more animations. Star Citizen breaks $27 million originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Letter from the Chairman: $27 Million

Lightning strikes Final Fantasy XIV on Thursday Posted: 12 Nov 2013 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Events (In-Game), News Items, Consoles, Final Fantasy XIV, Subscription It's been previewed, it's been discussed, and now it's starting. From Thursday onward, Lightning of Final Fantasy XIII will be arriving in Final Fantasy XIV, offering characters a set of cosmetic armor and weapons straight out of the former game. If you've been wondering exactly how the crossover is going to make any sort of sense with the lore of either game, that's when you can start finding out one way or the other. The full series of quests will be released in stages; the second quest in the chain will be added on November 16th, the third on the 18th, and the final quest on the 20th. All of the quests will be available until December 9th, with a repeat engagement already scheduled for February of next year when Lightning Returns launches in North America. It's also worth noting that everyone who clears the first quest will be able to unlock a special hairstyle when patch 2.1 arrives, so lovers of cosmetic equipment and hairdos alike will want to be in the game on Thursday. Lightning strikes Final Fantasy XIV on Thursday originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Lightning Strikes!

Flameseeker Chronicles: How Guild Wars 2 can step up its roleplaying game Posted: 12 Nov 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Opinion, Guild Wars 2, Roleplaying, Flameseeker Chronicles, Buy-to-Play I'm a roleplayer at heart. My characters have backstories and relationships and hobbies and favorite foods. They have careers beyond "Necromancer" or "Guardian." They have homes and responsibilities. All of them have their own little places as supporting characters in the much larger story of Tyria. Sadly, I've never found Guild Wars 2 to be the most welcoming MMO for RP, mostly because none of the above can really be expressed well through gameplay. There's a lot of emphasis on epic stories and your character influencing the world and being a hero, but because GW2 is such a combat-focused game, it's hard not to feel as though my characters are too busy being epic to have lives outside of tireless badassery. That confuses me because so much of what ArenaNet wants to do ostensibly revolves around making the game world seem more alive, and I can't think of a better way to accomplish that than by giving players the tools to help create that feeling for ourselves. Continue reading Flameseeker Chronicles: How Guild Wars 2 can step up its roleplaying game Flameseeker Chronicles: How Guild Wars 2 can step up its roleplaying game originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Dungeons & Dragons Online launches Game Update 20 Posted: 12 Nov 2013 10:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Game Mechanics, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play The latest update for Dungeons & Dragons Online is out now, and it features a whole lot of new options for reincarnation. More than you might expect. If you feel you haven't incarnated nearly enough, this update promises to fix that. Sure, there's True Reincarnation, but now you have both Heroic True Reincarnation and Iconic True Reincarnation along with Epic Reincarnation and... you get the idea. There's a lot of new ways to go back to the beginning and start a life over, that's the point. These changes coincide with alterations to the amount of experience needed to level characters on their second lives, making it easier to hit 20 after reincarnation. There are also new quests and alterations to the quest experience rewards, changed so that longer quests are no longer less proportionally rewarding than shorter ones. Plus there are plenty of changes to Enhancements, a new Enhancement tree for Sorcerers and Wizards... you'd probably better just read through the patch notes. There's a lot going on. Too much? You can take a look at our preview of the update to help guide you. Dungeons & Dragons Online launches Game Update 20 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Update 20 Release Notes

Marvel Heroes brings Asgard in with update 2.0 Posted: 12 Nov 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Super-hero, Trailers, Video, Patches, News Items, Free-to-Play, Marvel Heroes One constant to the Marvel universe is that no matter how big your last enemy might be, there's always someone waiting in the wings to make things even worse. Sure, the players of Marvel Heroes have defeated Victor Von Doom and shut down his nefarious plans... but someone was waiting to take all of his power just offscreen, someone with just as much of a chip on his shoulder. Now it's Loki's time to shine. Yes, the next major installment for Marvel Heroes is here now, and it's focusing on all of the Norse goodies you would imagine. That means new items, new enemies, new areas, and the Trickster himself as a playable character. You can log in right now to start adventuring across the Bifrost Bridge into Asgard proper, but if you're at work or something similar, you can ease the wait by taking a look at the new trailer past the break. Continue reading Marvel Heroes brings Asgard in with update 2.0 Marvel Heroes brings Asgard in with update 2.0 originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Source: Update 2.0

Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track Posted: 12 Nov 2013 09:30 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Expansions, Patches, PvP, Endgame, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hyperspace Beacon, MMORPG This past weekend, a friend of mine came up from Texas. Not only did we talk about our families and such, but we also spent some time talking about Star Wars: The Old Republic PvP. We have both been following the game about the same amount of time, and we are now in the same guild. I argued that PvP in SWTOR is broken. A couple of Advanced Classes excel while the others are just filler or fodder. Even if there were balance in the classes, BioWare does little to encourage the competitive player. In July, I gave a mid-term report card for SWTOR based on Dr. Richard Bartle's assessment of the different types of MMO gamers. As you might guess, SWTOR failed miserably in the "killer" category. As I talked to my friend, we came to the conclusion that SWTOR is a PvE game with a side of PvP. However, given some of the additions coming later this year, I think our Star Wars MMO might raise itself above the F grade I gave it a few months ago. Today, marks the start of Season One PvP, and in less than a month Galactic Starfighter launches. Both of these additions mark significant changes to the perception of game through the eyes of a "killer." Continue reading Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track Hyperspace Beacon: Putting SWTOR PvP on the right track originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 12 Nov 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

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