MMORPG News

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• Champions Online: September State of the Game
• Age of Conan: Unchained: Savage Coast of Turan Early Access Begins
• Black Prophecy: Raptr Included in Game Bundle
• Star Wars: The Old Republic: PAX Interview - PVP, Voidstar, and Replayability
• The Secret World: The Secret World - Faction Fractions
• General: Guild Sores: Go Team!
• General: Karma Koin Cards Arriving Later This Month
• General: Embers of Caerus Seeking Support
• Aika: Fight the Freeze Event Arrives
• Pocket Legends: Nuris Hallows Expansion Released
• Perfect World International: A Month-Long Celebration
• Crystal Saga: Beta Gift Key Handout
• Wizard101: Party in the Spiral!
• DC Universe Online: Fight for the Light DLC Coming September 6th
• Hellgate: September Events Target Demonic Hordes
• Crystal Saga: Open Beta Begins
• General: Rise of Immortals Launching September 12th
• General: Luvinia Online Open Beta Q&A

Champions Online: September State of the Game Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:46 AM PDT The Champions Online team has released the September version of the State of the Game letter. In it, the team reviews what has been going on in game during the past month and previews development coming in the future.

Age of Conan: Unchained: Savage Coast of Turan Early Access Begins Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:30 AM PDT Players who preordered the Age of Conan Unchained adventure pack, Savage Coast of Turan, can now log into the game for early access to the new zone. Savage Coast of Turan does not officially launch worldwide until September 8th.

Black Prophecy: Raptr Included in Game Bundle Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:23 AM PDT Gamigo has announced that the Raptr client will now be bundled with the Black Prophecy game. Raptr brings a host of features to players including in-game screenshots, multiple IM support, game play activity statistics and more.

Star Wars: The Old Republic: PAX Interview - PVP, Voidstar, and Replayability Posted: 01 Sep 2011 01:07 PM PDT During last weekend's PAX, MMORPG.com Managing Editor Bill Murphy managed to corner Bioware's James Ohlen and Gabe Amantangelo to talk about PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They covered a wide range of topics with regard to PvP that you simply must not miss. Keep reading and then let us know what you think in the comments.

The Secret World: The Secret World - Faction Fractions Posted: 01 Sep 2011 12:38 PM PDT The three faction set up of The Secret World is a very popular feature with most players. That is, it's popular until they realize that membership in a cabal (guild) means that all members of the group have to be of the same faction which can be disastrous for large guilds. In Isabelle Parsley's latest Player Perspectives, she discusses how cabal and faction membership don't necessarily go together. Read on!

General: Guild Sores: Go Team! Posted: 01 Sep 2011 12:48 PM PDT We all give our healers a tough time, they can run out of mana and then the whole team just drops like flies. It happens, because sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. We've all seen it, and probably even experienced it. But we have to stop yelling at the healers. They're our lifeblood... literally. In today's Guild Sores, MMORPG.com's David North takes a look at notion of 'healer appreciation' in Guild Sores: Go Team!

General: Karma Koin Cards Arriving Later This Month Posted: 02 Sep 2011 07:02 AM PDT Nexon has announced that it will be launching a new pre-paid game card. Called the Karma Koin card, the new version will essentially be the same type of card as prior versions and will enable users to purchase NX, Nexon's in-game currency.

General: Embers of Caerus Seeking Support Posted: 02 Sep 2011 06:55 AM PDT Forsaken Studios, developers of Embers of Caerus, is an independent development studio that is seeking help from its community to fund the creation of EoC.

Aika: Fight the Freeze Event Arrives Posted: 02 Sep 2011 06:44 AM PDT Recently, the Aika Online team released a content expansion called Epic II: Exodus. To celebrate the new content, the team has a new month-long event planned called Fight the Freeze.

Pocket Legends: Nuris Hallows Expansion Released Posted: 02 Sep 2011 06:34 AM PDT Spacetime Studios has announced the release of a brand new content expansion for its mobile MMO, Pocket Legends. Called Nuris Hallows, the expansion brings a lot of new things into the game including a level cap increase.

Perfect World International: A Month-Long Celebration Posted: 02 Sep 2011 06:29 AM PDT Perfect World International players will want to pay close attention this month as the dev team is ready to kick off a month long celebration for the game's third anniversary.

Crystal Saga: Beta Gift Key Handout Posted: 02 Sep 2011 01:43 AM PDT MMORPG.com has been given special beta keys for their browser MMO Crystal Saga. These keys are for the beta program that is running from Sept 1 through Sept 17, 2011. Get your key and check out this new game now!

Wizard101: Party in the Spiral! Posted: 01 Sep 2011 10:39 AM PDT KingsIsle is getting ready to celebrate the third birthday of Wizard101. It should be quite a celebration with over twenty million wizards having played the game in the past three years. According to the newsletter, more about the special events will be coming our way throughout the month of September.

DC Universe Online: Fight for the Light DLC Coming September 6th Posted: 01 Sep 2011 10:29 AM PDT Sony Online Entertainment has announced that the first downloadable content pack for DC Universe Online will be available beginning September 6th. Called "Fight for the Light", the DLC is free to all active subscribers by way of thanks from the dev team.

Hellgate: September Events Target Demonic Hordes Posted: 01 Sep 2011 10:14 AM PDT T3Fun has announced several events for September to entice players to take on the demonic hordes infesting Hellgate. During September, devs plan to host recruitment contests, leveling events, and special boss challenges. The events are scheduled to begin today and run through the end of September.

Crystal Saga: Open Beta Begins Posted: 01 Sep 2011 10:06 AM PDT R2Games has announced that today marks the beginning of the open beta phase of development for Crystal Saga. The team has several contests, events and promotions that will begin with the commencement of the open beta. Crystal Saga is a free to play browser MMO.

General: Rise of Immortals Launching September 12th Posted: 01 Sep 2011 09:54 AM PDT Fans of the MOBA genre will want to sit up and take notice of Petroglyph's announcement that Rise of Immortals will officially launch on September 12th. Anyone participating in the current open beta phase will be awarded over 1,000 Petroglyph Points when the game launches. The points can be used to purchase items from the in-game store.

General: Luvinia Online Open Beta Q&A Posted: 01 Sep 2011 09:13 AM PDT Luvinia Online's open beta is scheduled to begin on September 7th and in preparation for the event, the dev team has posted an in-house Q&A. Topics range from questions about what sets Luvinia Online apart from other MMOs to what features closed beta players liked the best.

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General gaming

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• Postcard from COD XP: Just Arrived
• Capcom Really Wants to Partner with Overseas Developers
• Nintendo's Pre-TGS Conference Will be Streamed Online
• April's PSN Breach Hasn't Stopped 3 Million New Users From Signing Up
• Video Game Confessional: 1UP Members' Darkest Sins
• Here's What Square Enix Says About Deus Ex's "Racist" Character
• 18 Million Map Packs Sold to 23 Million Black Ops Owners
• Star Trek Online Free-to-Play Model in the Works
• Pac-Man and House Lead This Week's Nintendo Downloads
• Watch BioShock Infinite's Elizabeth Recording Her Lines

Postcard from COD XP: Just Arrived Posted: 01 Sep 2011 06:11 PM PDT After a (not so) long, long flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles, there's nothing better to see than a free goodie bag waiting in my hotel room. As you can see in the photo above, Activision blessed me with traditional "man baby" food. Oh, and the wristband you see me wearing will be there... all weekend! At least the employee (that put it on for me), politely mentioned that it's waterproof; so that's good! Call of Duty XP officially starts tomorrow, so expect news on Modern Warfare 3, soon!

Capcom Really Wants to Partner with Overseas Developers Posted: 01 Sep 2011 04:51 PM PDT Japanese developer and publisher Capcom is looking to secure partnerships with overseas developers in the near future as it seeks to increase its overseas business. "Acquisitions and partnerships are one of the important strategies for increasing our market share overseas," reads a note sent to investors, GamesIndustry.biz reports. "We aggressively seek the opportunities of acquisitions and partnerships for the purposes of creating game content with universal market appeal and acquiring technologies and know-how required for our 'Single Content Multiple Usage' strategy." Last year Capcom said it was done having western developers work on original IP. Dark Void, developed by Airtight Games, and Bionic Commando, developed by GRIN, were both to blame for this; neither sold as well as hoped -- Dark Void did 520,000 units when it was projected to do 2 million, and BC did 700,000 when it was expected to do 1.5 million.

Nintendo's Pre-TGS Conference Will be Streamed Online Posted: 01 Sep 2011 04:02 PM PDT The event Nintendo plans to hold prior to the start of the Tokyo Game Show this month will be streamed online, the company has announced. Nintendo's Japanese website has a page dedicated to the upcoming conference, which is being described as a "Nintendo 3DS new product announcement conference," according to a translation by Andriasang. When word of the event first made it out, all of the talk was about it being centered around new hardware as rumors of a second analog stick attachment and a redesigned system had just been reported. All of that seemed unlikely at the time, and it seems even more unlikely now that we've seen the 3DS be the best selling system in Japan for three weeks running -- ever since the price drop -- based on Media Create sales numbers (via NeoGAF).

April's PSN Breach Hasn't Stopped 3 Million New Users From Signing Up Posted: 01 Sep 2011 03:08 PM PDT The PlayStation Network has continued to attract new users and get people to spend money despite the massive breach that took place this past April. Sony CEO Howard Stringer shared the news during a conference at the IFA electronics show in Germany yesterday, Cnet reports (via Gamasutra). "I'm pleased to tell you that the PSN is more secure and better than ever," he said. "We are aggressively expanding its content. We have more than 3 million new customers since the network came back online, and sales are exceeding what we had before the cyberattacks."

Video Game Confessional: 1UP Members' Darkest Sins Posted: 01 Sep 2011 03:07 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Video Game Confessional The 1UP community confess some of their most shameful gaming sins. By: 1UP Staff September 1, 2011 Often times, we as gamers find ourselves doing something that we're not too proud of. Sometimes we may unleash fits of rage while playing on Xbox Live. Other times we might spend too long oogling an attractive in-game character. And on occasion we may miss out on an entire storied franchise, even if we might consider ourselves video game scholars of sorts. Our resident priestly figure/Editor-In-Chief Jeremy Parish decided to pose the question to 1UP's community: what are some of your darkest, most shameful gaming sins? You can read his personal confession, or share a few of your own on the message boards. Repent!

Here's What Square Enix Says About Deus Ex's "Racist" Character Posted: 01 Sep 2011 02:04 PM PDT Exploring the world of Deus Ex: Human Revolution might just be my favorite thing to do in the game, as you never know what you'll find. If you're like me, you've probably already spoken with everyone in Detroit, in which case you've run across Letitia. Letitia is an NPC who used to serve as an informant for Adam Jensen when he worked for the police. When you find her, she'll offer up some information and tips if you're willing to bribe her with cash. (Or give her four beers and she'll grant you access to a hard-to-hack area nearby.) While that sounds harmless enough, it's the way she speaks that has prompted some criticism, namely from Time's Evan Narcisse, who wrote a piece calling the character "the worst thing about Deus Ex: Human Revolution."

18 Million Map Packs Sold to 23 Million Black Ops Owners Posted: 01 Sep 2011 12:51 PM PDT There were quite a few angry people out there when Activision decided to bump the price of Call of Duty map packs up to $15 each from $10. Some even promised to avoid buying the map packs altogether to protest the "ridiculous" new price. Whether or not they stuck to that -- something tells me many didn't -- there are more map packs selling now than ever before. Activision revealed some numbers during an Analyst Day event today, including the fact that the company has seen $1.7 billion in digital revenue in the 12 months leading up to this June. By comparison, the previous 12 months (up to June 2010) saw $1.4 billion, and the 12 months before that (up to June 2009) saw $1.2 billion. That's only going to continue to grow with Diablo III on the horizon and Call of Duty Elite coming up. It was also noted that more than 23 million copies of Call of Duty: Black Ops have been sold, with 18 million map packs sold for the game. Modern Warfare 2 sold 19 million units and 11 million map packs; World at War did 9 million units and 9 million map packs. Keep in mind that each game had multiple map packs released, so it's not as if everyone who bought World at War purchased a map pack.

Star Trek Online Free-to-Play Model in the Works Posted: 01 Sep 2011 11:23 AM PDT Although Cryptic has yet to begin talking about it, its new owner, Perfect World, recently announced plans to convert Star Trek Online into a free-to-play game. A transcript of a recent Perfect World conference call shows Kelvin Lau speaking about change at Cryptic and free-to-play games in general, which led to him saying, "And also Star Trek Online, after the acquisition, in fact Cryptic is working on the free-to-play model for Star Trek Online. This is going to be launched by the end of this year as well." It's not a major surprise to see the game move in this direction. Both of Cryptic's previous MMOs, City of Heroes and Champions Online, began as subscription-based games and eventually adopted the free-to-play model. Champions did so in less than a year and a half, even quicker than STO, which launched on February 2, 2010. Also remember that Cryptic outright said it could make the change if Champions Online proved to be successful with its new business model.

Pac-Man and House Lead This Week's Nintendo Downloads Posted: 01 Sep 2011 10:26 AM PDT The ten free NES games for 3DS Ambassadors were meant to be the big downloadable release today. With those becoming available yesterday, today's Nintendo Download update isn't quite as good as it otherwise would have been. 3DS gets a single new game all to itself: a port of Pac-Man for Game Boy. For $3.99, you can enjoy the old Game Boy version of Pac-Man in its monochromatic glory. It's not especially exciting with the recent Championship Edition versions making the original seem somewhat stale (particularly when it's not even in full color), but it's a classic nonetheless.

Watch BioShock Infinite's Elizabeth Recording Her Lines Posted: 01 Sep 2011 08:59 AM PDT In an unusual move, Irrational Games decided to prominently feature two of BioShock Infinite's voice actors at PAX Prime this past weekend. Voice actors don't generally get a lot of face time or attention for their contributions to games, at least before they're out, but Irrational had Courtnee Draper (Elizabeth) and Troy Baker (Booker) at the show to talk about their performances. "I think we had a lot of people asking about the characters at E3 -- Booker and Elizabeth and what their story was, and so much of that came out of... well, we were lucky enough to find Courtnee and Troy and work with them," Ken Levine told 1UP. "I like them so much, and their work is so important to what we're doing, that I think it's important not to bury that light under a bushel." During an Irrational panel with Levine, Draper, and Baker, the video above was shared with the crowd. It shows a short clip of Draper recording lines for Elizabeth overlaid on the corresponding footage from the game's very impressive E3 demo.

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