MMORPG News

MMORPG News

General: World of Battleships Announced

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 06:44 AM PDT

Wargaming.net has announced World of Battleships to accompany already-launched World of Tanks and recently revealed World of Warplanes. World of Battleships is expected to allow players to participate in some of the 20th century's greatest naval battles. As yet, the site has not gone live. We'll keep you posted!

General: Neverwinter Delayed

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 01:13 PM PDT

According to a new article at GameSpot, Neverwinter is being delayed to late 2012. The delay comes on the heels of Atari's sale of developer Cryptic Studios to Perfect World Entertainment. In addition to the sale, Hasbro has retaken the Dungeons & Dragons digital licensing agreement. PWE indicated that the delay was to give the dev team more time to create a more immersive experience.

EverQuest II: SOE Authenticator Released

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 12:01 PM PDT

Sony Online Entertainment has released a keyring authenticator for $9.99. The authenticator functions with all SOE titles. According to the released information, a mobile authenticator is scheduled to be 'released soon'. Players can tie the authenticator to their Station Account.

General: Bright Shadow Open Beta Coming Tomorrow

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 11:55 AM PDT

Gamania has announced that its online card-collecting RPG, Bright Shadow, is set to hit its open beta stage of development beginning Tuesday, August 16th. Players can gain some in-game rewards through a Facebook game tie in.

General: Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles Now on 'Droid

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:59 AM PDT

The little green 'Droid has a new home with the official launch of Spacetime Studios' Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles. Star Legends is the second MMO from Spacetime Studios to launch for Android devices. Pocket Legends has already seen over five million downloads since launch.

Juggernaut: Browser Based Title Launches in French

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:09 AM PDT

Mail.ru has announced that the French language version of its fantasy browser MMO, Juggernaut, has officially launched. Juggernaut utilizes the Unity 3D Engine and is considered by developers to be a fully fledged MMORPG.

World of Tanks: Another "Best of" Award Earned

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 09:49 AM PDT

Wargaming.net has announced that World of Tanks has scored the "Best European Online Game" award at the European Game Awards. This latest award joins the Best in Show award garnered at the recent Russian Game Developers' Conference.

General: Frogster Unveils Eligium

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 09:43 AM PDT

During this week's Gamescom, Frogster has taken the wraps off of its next fantasy MMO, Eligium: The Chosen One. Eligium is set to be a free to play MMO and is being developed by Shanda Games Ltd. It is expected to launch in Q1 2012. To celebrate the unveiling of Eligium, Frogster has posted a cinematic trailer on the official site

Wizard101: Game Cards Coming to Canada

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 09:34 AM PDT

Wizard101 players in Canada will be happy to hear that game cards are headed their way. Currently in the US, on version of the game card gives players a sultan's palace, a flying carpet mount, a genie in a lamp, a casting flute, a snake in a basket and either a month's membership or 5,000 in Crowns, the Wizard101 game currency.

Scarlet Legacy: $40,000 In Cash Prizes Up for Grabs in Open Beta

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 09:26 AM PDT

GamesCampus has announced that the open beta for Scarlet Legacy is set to begin on Thursday, August 18th. During the open beta, guilds will have the opportunity to win one of several prizes including $10,000 cash and $5,000 in Campus Credits, the in-game currency.

LEGO Universe: Build to Your Heart's Content in New Free Zone

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:19 AM PDT

LEGO Universe Online has officially opened the doors on the new unlimited Free Zone where players can game in two adventure zones and one building area. Players can take advantage of the Free Zone for as long as they wish but also have the option of purchasing a $10 monthly subscription to open up the rest of the game.

League of Legends: Season 2 to Feature Five Million Reasons to Play

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 08:04 AM PDT

League of Legends developers and Riot Games have announced that Season Two is set to get underway with a five million dollar prize pool waiting at the end. Devs are hoping that Season Two will outpace Season One which garnered over 1.7 million viewers of the championships.

General: Hedone: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube OH MY!

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 07:57 AM PDT

Acony Games has had a big day already with the official announcement that the closed beta for its MMOFPS, Hedone, will begin on August 24th. In addition, the team has launched a Facebook fan page, a Twitter feed and an official YouTube channel.
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMO updates

MMO updates

[gamescom 2011] Eligium - The Chosen One

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 10:34 PM PDT


(Official website) Back in October last year, I posted about European MMO publisher Frogster Interactive acquiring the rights for Magic World Online 2 (link). Developed by China studio Goldcool, under Shanda Games, the title has now been changed to Eligium - The Chosen One and ready to be displayed at gamescom 2011. For more information of the game, please visit my past posts (link) on Magic World Online 2. Head on to the official website as well to signup for Closed Beta now!

Perfect World delays Neverwinter

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 06:45 PM PDT


(Source) If you have not read, China MMO giant Perfect World recently bought over Cryptic Studios (link), developer of Star Trek Online, City of Heroes/ Villains and Champions Online. In development was Neverwinter (link), the studio's new MMO based on the Dungeons & Dragons franchise. However, Perfect World has now ordered the studio to delay the game, requesting the developers to "invest in a more immersive experience" for the title.


Here is a brief introduction of the title if you have not read about it. Quoted from the source, Neverwinter would let players choose from five traditional D&D character classes. Gamers could then join five-man squads composed of other online players to venture forth into the city's dungeons, completing quests and gathering items along the way. Neverwinter was also intended to offer a single-player component, in which players could recruit computer-controlled allies to accomplish the same missions.

Sword Girls - Slashing its way to you this October

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 06:15 PM PDT


(Official website) A few days back, I posted about China MMO giant ChangYou acquiring the rights for DaVinci Online (link) for its North America and Europe subsidiary. Before the age of Renaissance hits us, ChangYou is taking us back to the world of anime by announcing Sword Girls, a new anime online collectible card game.


Developed by famed Korea studio, Zeonix, it will be ChangYou's first foray in this genre, mostly dominated by indie titles (ok, except Magic the Gathering Online). The official press release is below and the game is slated for Closed Beta in October. I had actually seen this game being advertised in Korea for the past few weeks on ThisIsGame, the country's biggest gaming website. Stay tuned for more info!

SWORD GIRLS SLASHES ITS WAY TO CLOSED BETA ON OCTOBER 12, 2011
ChangYou.com (US) and Zeonix Team Up to Launch the Ultimate Online Collectible Card Game

SANTA CLARA, CA (August 15, 2011) – ChangYou.com (US), a leading publisher of free-to-play massively multiplayer online games (MMOG) in North America, announced today Sword Girls, an all-new anime online collectible card game (CCG), will enter its closed beta phase on October 12, 2011. The first trailer is available for viewing on the official website at www.SwordGirlsOnline.com.

Developed by Zeonix, renowned creator behind popular online trading card games (TCG) Fantasy Masters and Ragnarok TCG, Sword Girls takes the CCG experience to new heights with its visually stunning anime design and strategic game play that will entice both veteran players and newcomers alike. The game features over 500 uniquely drawn playable cards that can be collected through the innovative card crafting system. Players gather crafting materials by competing their way through dozens of dungeon levels against computer opponents or by challenging other players to online duels. Sword Girls is free to play for everyone and works on any Flash enabled web browser. Players can expect frequent content releases that will bring along new cards and new game features.

"We are thrilled to partner with the talented developers at Zeonix in bringing Sword Girls to our western audience," said Jeffrey Shen, Producer on Sword Girls. "Closed beta will give players a sneak peek at the game's unique content and, at the same time, allows us to fix any critical bugs in the process. Access to closed beta will be limited and players who sign up on the official website will have a chance to receive a beta code."

"Sword Girls is a truly unique online collectible card game that fuses charming anime characters, fast game play and deep strategies in one complete package," said Jaehyuck Park, Lead Designer at Zeonix. "By combining our expertise in developing the best online TCGs and ChangYou's vast experience in publishing online games, players can look forward to a fun and addictive online CCG this holiday season."

In celebration of the Sword Girls closed beta launch, ChangYou.com (US) is giving away the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer 16GB tablets to selected lucky fans who register on the game's official website at www.SwordGirlsOnline.com. Registration begins today and will end on October 12, 2011. Additional information about the promotion can be found on the Sword Girls Facebook fan page at www.Facebook.com/SwordGirls.
Posted by Shri Krishna

General gaming

General gaming

Zone of the Enders 3DS Teased by Kojima

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 07:50 PM PDT

Zone of the Enders 3DS

Hideo Kojima loves to tease his fans. Zone of the Enders is one of those franchises that fans have been forced to wait ages for a sequel to -- the second (and last) one came out in 2003, more than eight years ago. While the announcement of an HD collection of the first two games was good news, it wasn't a new game. Judging by a picture sent out a short time ago, it's possible that such a sequel is in the works.

On his English Twitter account, Kojima tweeted out several pictures, including the one above, which he says he saw on "Omori-kun's desk." In the background, you can see what looks to be "Z.O.E. 3DS." As noted by IGN, it looks as if the 3DS text is "ZOE" flipped. However, the fact that there are no periods in between the letters for 3DS (as there are in ZOE) would seem to indicate that this is a tease of Zone of the Enders for 3DS. Whether that's Zone of the Enders 3 or something else, it's impossible to say.

Such an announcement would come as a surprise given the timing and the platform. Kojima promised a ZOE sequel would be made eventually -- it was a high priority at one point -- but the project was "pushed to the back" according to a statement he made last summer.

Neverwinter Delayed as Hasbro Regains D&D Digital Rights

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 06:18 PM PDT


The upcoming Dungeons & Dragons co-op RPG Neverwinter has been pushed back until next year in order to give it time to become a deeper game.

Rather than be released on PC later this year as planned, the Cryptic Studios-developed Neverwinter will instead be coming out in "late 2012." This is due to Perfect World's desire to invest in "a more immersive experience."

Cryptic was acquired by Perfect World earlier this year and is best known as an MMO developer, having worked on City of Heroes/Villains, Star Trek Online, and Champions Online. The developer had been owned by Atari up until this year.

Spoil Gears of War 3, Risk Getting Banned at Launch

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 04:42 PM PDT

Gears of War 3

An early, unfinished copy of Gears of War 3 was leaked onto the Internet more than a month ago. This led to countless, spoiler-filled videos ending up on YouTube. Besides trying to get these videos pulled as they go up and investigating the leak, Epic has also plans to punish those who are going around, spoiling the game for series fans.

Gears executive producer Rod Fergusson reiterated in an interview with Edge earlier this month that what was leaked is an early, pre-beta version of Gears 3. He noted that it's fortunate Gears is a 360 game because, unlike leaked PC games, where there is no real restriction to playing a pre-release game, the number of people with a capable 360 is much smaller.

In addition to calling it "frustrating," he said, "So we're extremely diligent about getting that stuff taken down and issued a call to the fans to not perpetuate it because it's not helping anybody to perpetuate that. And just keeping track of those who do. I don't think everybody's always aware of the potential repercussions of those types of actions so it's just a matter of being diligent."

Rock Band Maker's VidRhythm is Coming to iOS [Update]

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 03:32 PM PDT


Update: Harmonix's director of communications and brand management, John Drake, points out on Twitter that VidRhythm "isn't a game per se." That opens up the possibilities for something much different than your typical touch-based rhythm game. It also makes it much more difficult to give an educated guess as to what it could be. With the game coming soon, we should hopefully learn more before long.

Original Story: A trademark for VidRhythm popped up last month, inadvertently revealing the name of a new Harmonix game. Besides confirming that it was a game it's working on, the Rock Band and Dance Central maker didn't share any details about it. While we still don't know its exact nature, we do now have word that it's coming to iOS platforms.

VidRhythm is just one of several games in development at Harmonix, where Dance Central 2 and a music game for 3DS are known to be coming. Speaking with Gamasutra, CEO Alex Rigopulos looks at this as "our first iOS release as a studio."

How Deus Ex Started a Revolution

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:50 PM PDT

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How Deus Ex Started a Revolution

More than a decade on, the original Deus Ex still offers an unparalleled experience.

By: Scott Sharkey August 15, 2011

Deus Ex is one of those genre-defying games that defies classification, unless you feel like employing awkward hyphenated combinations of three-letter acronyms. "FPS-RPG" will do in a pinch, but it sells the game's complexity short. Warren Spector, the game's producer, was fond of calling it an "immersive simulation game" -- a label he also applied to Ultima Underworld and System Shock, two of his previous projects whose influence on Deus Ex is undeniable. Ultimately, it comes down to a game where both skill and stats count in equal measure; almost every challenge has multiple solutions; the narrative branches based both on dialogue and actions; and the player is seldom removed from absolute immersion except by the necessary evil of the inventory screen or the occasional menu. Deus Ex is a game you can live in, one that can be played through three or four times with each trip offering an almost completely different experience.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Secret Plan to Give You Free Will

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:50 PM PDT

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Deus Ex: Human Revolution's Secret Plan to Give You Free Will

Human Revolution's designers on creating a world you can think (or fight) your way through, seamlessly.

By: Jeremy Parish August 15, 2011

When Deus Ex arrived in June 2000, it was unlike any game that had come before it. While ostensibly a first-person shooter, Deus Ex offered a sense of freedom and variety one would normally associate with an RPG, not a run-and-gun action game. Its intricate and generally well-written story provided context for the action, but it was the player who guided both the direction the story took and the means by which they arrived at one of the tale's many possible conclusions -- means that need not involve firing a single bullet, despite the game wearing the trappings of a shooter.

In many ways, Deus Ex remains unique to this day. The notion of a shooter/RPG hybrid no longer seems quite as unusual as it did a decade ago, but the specific form in which the two genres mingled in Ion Storm's classic has never been duplicated precisely. Even as the legacy of the original PC classic has largely been overshadowed by the success of modern blockbusters Mass Effect and Fallout 3, it still stands out amidst these recent giants. Despite all their accomplishments, they nevertheless don't offer the same exquisite balance of action and role-playing seen in the original Deus Ex.

1UP Cover Story: Reinventing Deus Ex

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:49 PM PDT

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Reinventing Deus Ex: A Visit with Eidos Montreal

By: Jeremy Parish August 15, 2011

"How did the need to maintain narrative continuity with the original Deus Ex affect the play mechanics of Human Revolution at all? I mean, how have you dealt with the fact that Adam Jensen technically shouldn't be a more impressive hero than J.C. Denton, given that he's a more primitive kind of cyborg?"

I recently put this question to Deus Ex: Human Revolution director Jean-Francois Dugas. Now that Eidos Montreal has put the wraps on the game -- a project years in the making -- I was curious to learn how Dugas and his team worked in the shadow of someone else's masterpiece. The philosophy with which Eidos Montreal has tackled the Deus Ex universe could ultimately make or break the game, or at least shape the public's reaction to it. The weight of a legacy is a tricky matter for any sequel (or prequel, in this case), but it's especially touchy when following up a game as revered as Ion Storm's Deus Ex.

Del Toro Talks About Building a Sandbox for Insane

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 02:29 PM PDT


With the Red Faction franchise being relegated to the back burner for at least the immediate future, Volition is free to focus on Saints Row: The Third and Insane, the game being collaborated on by Hollywood director, writer, and producer Guillermo del Toro.

Del Toro spoke about the game's status with MTV, pointing out that it's still two to three years away and, from the sound of it, might be an open-world sandbox game.

"We had to build a sandbox, so we designed all the architecture already," he said. "We're developing in Champaign, Illinois, so it's a very short trip from Toronto, so I don't have much weekends. My life is pretty much 24/7 work, but we're giving it the proper attention. We've spent an inordinate amount of time into that project. It's because it's worth it, I think. You learn more, as a narrator, for this medium, than I ever expected."

Vita Expected to be a "Car Wreck" by UFC Personal Trainer Devs

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 01:32 PM PDT

PlayStation Vita

At least two people at Heavy Iron Studios don't think too highly of the dedicated handheld game system market. Lyle Hall and Matthew Seymour shared their outlook for the Vita in a new interview, with Seymour going so far as to call it a "car wreck."

The lack of success experienced by Nintendo with the 3DS, which led to a very early price cut, is evidence that a similar device like Vita can't do well, extra horsepower or not. That's according to Hall, who is Heavy Iron's president and CEO.

"If people aren't willing to pay $249 for a Nintendo 3DS why would they pay $299 for Vita? People don't want to carry more than one thing in their pocket, that's why Android and iPhone have done so well, they are the devices of choice, they offers multiple functions outside of gaming," he told GamesIndustry.biz. "People don't want it. That's Nintendo huge challenge -- how do they add value to that?"

Bethesda Forums Possibly Hit by Hackers

Posted: 15 Aug 2011 12:41 PM PDT

Bethesda logo

It has, thankfully, been some time since the long string of attacks by hackers on games and game companies earlier this year. Unfortunately, Bethesda, one of the targets during that period, may have been hit again this past week.

A post on the official forums reveals that there was a "potential breach of our forum user database" on Friday, August 12. In response, all forum passwords have been reset, so existing members will need to create a new password before being able to log in again. There are also instructions for who to contact if you no longer have access to your old email address.

Bethesda was among those attacked in June by hackers seeking to steal user data, but the public was reassured that billing information was not at risk. Hacker group LulzSec, which was reportedly responsible for many of the attacks that took place after the PlayStation Network breach, claimed to have in its possession Brink players' personal information, although nothing ever became of it.

Posted by Shri Krishna
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