MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News


RaiderZ Zone Overview - Rengot Village

Posted:

RaiderZ Zone Overview - Rengot Village


RaiderZ has released a new trailer showcasing Rengot Village.

Rift: Storm Legion First Beta Event

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Rift: Storm Legion First Beta Event


The first beta event for RIFT: Storm Legion is now underway. The first event, Beta 1: Crucia Unleashed, opens up the new continents, Instant Adventures, Dimensions and new Souls for players to try out during the test.

Elsword News - Kill3rCombo Fully Acquired by KOG, Changes Name

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Elsword News - Kill3rCombo Fully Acquired by KOG, Changes Name


Kill3rCombo, publisher of Elsword Online, has announced that it has been fully acquired by Korean developer, KOG. To bring the publishing house's name closer in line with the developer, Kill3rCombo will now be known at KOG Games.

RuneScape Players Don Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

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RuneScape Players Don Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month


RuneScape literally turned pink yesterday with thousands of players donning pink clothing, hairstyles and even pink armour as they marched through Gielinor, RuneScape's fantasy world.

End of Nations Final Closed Beta Event Now Live

Posted:

End of Nations Final Closed Beta Event Now Live


Trion Worlds has announced that the fourth and last closed beta event for End of Nations has started. It is set to conclude on Sunday, October 7 at 9:00pm PDT.

PlanetSide 2 Video Previews Esamir Region

Posted:

PlanetSide 2 Video Previews Esamir Region


Sony Online Entertainment announced today that Planetside 2′s second continent, Esamir, will be released to beta players this weekend.

League of Legends Season Two World Championship: Playoffs Day One

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League of Legends Season Two World Championship: Playoffs Day One


For the first round of the World Playoffs, eight teams faced off in two groups for a chance to move on to the quarter finals against the seeded teams Team SoloMid, Moscow Five, Team WE, and Taipei Assassins. With only half of the teams advancing today, every match was a battle for tournament survival, and the best-of-one format meant there were no second chances.

Mists of Pandaria Scenarios

Posted:

Mists of Pandaria Scenarios


Show you all the Mists of Pandaria Scenarios

Continue reading Mists of Pandaria Scenarios.

Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes October 2

Posted:

Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes October 2


Patch 5.0.5 Hotfixes October 2

MMORPG Reviews

MMORPG Reviews


Free Realms allows players to dance the Gangnam Style

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 03:51 AM PDT

‘Gangnam Style‘, the hit of the Korean Star Psy, has a great success on the Internet and now this success comes to the Online Games. After Fiesta Online, now it’s the turn of Free Realms, that has launched a Boom Box which allows players to play the music, and dance Psy’s Hit.

Discover another area of RaiderZ, the Rengot Village

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 02:54 AM PDT

RaiderZ has released some screenshots and a video that presents the Rengot village. The Rengot village is inhabited by the proud and hateful Rengot goblins, who took refuge there, after a long and bitter battle against humans. Now hidden in this sanctuary, it is rumored that they are building a giant abomination to regain what [...]

End of Nations begins its last closed beta

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 01:44 AM PDT

End of Nations has beginned its fourth and last closed beta, that also won’t have NDA, which will allow players to share videos and images from the game. As a thank you for taking part in the final closed beta event, all participants will be given a total of 500 in-game promotional credits to use [...]


General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Google Chrome: Optimization Guide

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 01:10 PM PDT

Get the most out of Google Chrome

Let's face it, the light-and-fast Google Chrome browser is the only way to surf the web—no question. But whether you're new to the browser or an old veteran, we've got some tricks to improve your mileage. Our Google Chrome Optimization Guide will show you which Google Chrome extensions to download and ways to tweak settings you didn't even know were there.

Take a Shortcut

Before we dive in to Chrome's many hidden gems, let's start with some basics (run before you walk, as they say). Just like in Windows, shortcuts can save you a ton of time in Chrome, as well as having to constantly reach for the mouse to perform menial tasks such as opening new tabs. Memorize these handy shortcuts and you'll be well on your way to mastering Chrome:

Google Chrome and Keyboard

  • Ctrl+N: Opens a new window.
  • Ctrl+T: Opens a new tab.
  • Ctrl+Shift+N: Opens a new window in incognito mode so you can, uh, shop birthday gifts on the sly. Yeah, that's what this is used for, right?
  • Ctrl+Shift+T: Resurrects the last tab you just sent to the graveyard. You can reopen the last 10 tabs you closed.
  • Alt+F or Alt+E: Opens the Chrome menu.
  • Ctrl+Shift+B: Toggles the bookmarks bar on and off.
  • Ctrl+H: Opens the History page.
  • Ctrl+J: Opens the Downloads page.
  • Shift+Esc: Opens Chrome's Task Manager, so you can see which tabs are using the most resources, potentially slowing down performance.

These are just some of the many, many Window keyboard, Google Chrome feature, address bar, webpage, and text shortcuts available in Chrome. If you spend a few minutes each day learning a couple of new shortcuts, it won't be long until you've committed them all to memory.

Now, onto the fun stuff...

Enable Chrome's Gold Icon

Chrome Gold Icon

Vinyl decals won't make your Honda Civic go any faster than it's already capable of going, and by that same token, replacing Chrome's icon with the hidden Gold version doesn't offer anything other than an aesthetic change. Be that as it may, it's super easy to add a little bling:

  1. Right-click Google Chrome's shortcut and select Properties
  2. Select the Shortcut tab and click Chance Icon...
  3. Choose the Gold icon and press OK, then Apply the change

After you swap the icon, sit back and languish in the jealousy of your co-workers!

Get Freaky with Favicons!

Chrome Favicons

One reason to use Chrome is because it offers a clean and clutter-free interface, a fact that's not lost on competing browser makers who've attempted to emulate the look and feel of Chrome. Even still, there's room for improvement. One way to simplify Chrome's interface even further is to only use Favicons in the bookmarks bar.

First, make sure the bookmarks bar is enabled. If it isn't, press Ctrl+Shift+B to toggle it on, or press the Menu button denoted by three lines in the upper right-hand corner (previously the Wrench icon), expand the Bookmarks option, and select Show bookmarks bar.

Now that you can see the Bookmarks bar, go through your bookmarks and delete the text of existing ones, and do the same when adding a new bookmark. What you'll be left with is a bunch of Favicons, which not only looks cleaner, but it saves space too. Pretty neat, isn't it?

Home Sweet Homepages

Chrome's Startup Pages

Why settle for a single homepage when you can own two, three, or even a dozen? Or more! We're creatures of habit, and if you're like us, you have a selection of websites you visit every time you fire up your browser. In Chrome, it's easy to configure multiple homepages. Just go to Menu > Settings and select the 'Open a specific page or set of pages' radio button. Click the Set pages hyperlink and start typing in your go-to websites.

Fool Your Friends with Fake Edits

Chrome Elements

It's not nice to prank your friends and family, but it can be hilarious, not to mention incredibly easy in Google Chrome. Let's say you want to convince your co-worker that AMD just purchased Intel for a mere $35 million (as if!). Load up a reliable website for tech news, like MaximumPC.com, right-click an article's headline, and select Inspect Element. This will bring up a developer console in the lower portion of the browser where you can edit the webpage locally. Change the headline, and if you want to go all out, do the same for the thumbnail image and even the article text. Close out the developer console and all that's left is a fake news story on a legitimate website!

Of course, there are practical uses for the developer console that don't include pranking your buddies. It's a neat way to inspect various web code and analyze HTML parse errors to ensure a clean website.

Command Chrome Like a Boss

Chrome Flags

Google Chrome is a constant work in progress, and often times the developers will disable certain functions that might not be ready for prime time for one reason or another. If you want to see what they are, and even enable them, type Chrome://flags in the address bar (Omnibar) and hit Enter. Bear in mind that they've all been disabled for a reason, and enabling one could break your browser.

Another one of our favorite commands is Chrome://memory, which shows not only how much memory Chrome is consuming, but also other browsers running on your system.

There are lots of other commands to play around with. Type Chrome://about to see a list of them.

Continue on to page 2 for Google Chrome extension recommendations and more. 


 

Experiment on Canary and Leave Chrome Alone

Canary

If you're not feeling adventurous enough to tweak your stable Chrome build but still want to experiment, what you need is Canary. What's Canary, you ask? It's the nightly build of Chrome intended for developers, so you may run into buggy behavior on occasion, but the neat thing is Canary can run alongside Chrome at the same time. Changes you make to the Canary browser have no effect on Chrome, and vice versa.

Split the Browser Window

Chrome dual panels

The advent of tabbed browsing changed everything, but sometimes you may want to see two webpages side-by-side. You can do that by dragging and splitting a tab from the main browser window so that it runs in a separate window, but you can also split Chrome into a dual-view mode with a bit of JavaScript magic.

Chrome Split View

Click the above hyperlink and type in the two webpages you want to view side-by-side in a single, neat window. It's an easy way to compare prices between two online vendors, search results from two different engines, or keep track of different sports, among other uses.

Create a Separate Account for Little Billy

Chrome Users

It wasn't all that long ago when creating separate profiles for multiple Chrome users was slightly complicated and involved mucking around Windows folders, copying contents, and performing other tasks. These days it's as simple as going into Settings and clicking the Add new user button under the Users section.

Creating a separate Chrome account is a handy way to keep little Billy's browser settings separate from yours, and also allows you both to sync your Google account on the same PC. What it doesn't do is secure your data from prying eyes, so view this more of a convenience than a security setting.

To switch between multiple users, click the icon in the upper left-hand corner and select the appropriate profile. Alternately, you can press Ctrl+Shift+M to switch between accounts.

Extensions, Extensions, Extensions

Awesome New Tab Page

Still the best way to customize Chrome to your liking is with Extensions, and long gone are the days when this was a reason to cling to Firefox. Chrome's extensions have grown in number and functionality, and there are plenty of good ones out there. Some of our favorites include:

  • Awesome New Tab Page: Do you know who's awesome? You are, and that's why you need Awesome New Tab Page. In a word, it's 'awesome'. Yes, it looks a little like Metro, or whatever Microsoft is calling the funky UI in Windows 8 these days, but instead of dominating your desktop, it simply spices up Chrome with a highly customizable interface that displays a series of widgets and links.
  • Buffer: Are you addicted to Twitter, Facebook, Google Reader, Reddiit, or Hacker News? Then for the love of all that is holy, do your followers a favor and install Buffer, which will spread your flood of tweets and messages out over time. It's an easy way to stay social, and also the courteous thing to do.
  • Too Many Tabs: There's no shame in being a tab-aholic, nor is there in admitting you need help. That's exactly what Too Many Tabs does -- it helps you sort through your bazillion open tabs and find the one you're looking for.
  • Print Friendly & PDF: If you print out a lot of webpages, this is a must-have extension. It allows you to strip out unnecessary items, like ads and other content and wasted space that takes up paper or ink.
  • Pacman: In the old days of computing, you slacked off by playing Minesweeper or Solitaire. Maybe you remember playing SkiFree. There are better time wasters out there, and one of them is Pacman. which is available to play right in your Chrome browser with those familiar sounds that used to cost a quarter to hear.

Have a groovy Chrome tip, hack, or extension that you think should have been included? Don't be a miser; share it with the world by posting the details in the comments section below!

Daily Deals: Dell Desktop with Free $200 Gift Card for $379 and More

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 10:59 AM PDT

Dell Optiplex 390

logicbuy

Top Deal

Today's top deal from LogicBuy is the Dell Optiplex 390 on sale for $379 (normally $664) that comes with a free $200 Dell e-giftcard. The desktop features include a G630 Pentium Dual Core 2.7GHz processor, 2GB of DDR3 RAM, and a 250GB hard drive. While it's certainly not the most powerful PC out there, the Dell gift card really sweetens the deal. Furthermore, the Optiplex 390 could serve as a solid secondary/network computer. 

Hardware & Peripherals:

Samsung 830 Series 128GB SATA III 6GB/s SSD for $80 with free shipping (normally $130).

EVGA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2GB video card for $115 with shipping (normally $170).

Logitech Revue with Google TV (refurbished) for $80 (normally $100 - use coupon code: KNN67639).

Logitech Z906 5.1-channel 3D Surround Sound THX-certified Speaker System for $340 with free shipping (normally $400 - use 15% coupon code: 7BRL7?2ZDK?H4G).

Super Skyrim Bros. Mod is Elder Scrolls on Mushrooms

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 10:48 AM PDT

Super Skyrim Bros. ModIn a roundabout sort of way, Super Mario finally made the jump to PC, albeit in an unofficial and oddly entertaining capacity. We're talking about the Super Skyrim Bros. mod for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, which we reviewed at the beginning of the year (the game, not the mod), and it's exactly what it sounds like. Princess Toadstool once again finds herself captured by Bowser, and it's up to you to save her by traveling through Mushroom Kingdom and beating up Goombas using a Plumber's Hammer, Staff of Fire Flower, and Staff of Frost Fire.

"The mod adds an entirely new Kingdom (mini game) to play in the world of Skyrim," the mod's developers state. "This mod will not affect the look of your Skyrim game at all! All the new objects have been placed in a brand new world space. You will not see any Super Skyrim Bros. objects such as Brick Blocks, Question Blocks, or Super Skyrim Bros. enemies in any Skyrim locations. You will be able to keep an immersive experience while playing this mini game."

There's no eating mushrooms in the Super Skyrim Bros. mod, though take a minute-and-a-half to watch the above clip and you'll wonder if you already have.

PCGamer.com, our sister site, recommends that your character be at least level 20 before jumping into this funky alternative universe.

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BenQ Quietly Rolls Out XL2411T Monitor for Gamers

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 09:05 AM PDT

BenQ XL2411T MonitorIt's a bit unusual for a company to release a product without a bunch of fanfare, or at the very least a press release pimping the product's highlights, and that's especially true for gear aimed at gamers. Be that as it may, BenQ has quietly slipped a new gaming oriented monitor into its product lineup, the XL2411T, an apparent successor to the XL2410T we reviewed last year. In lieu of a press release, BenQ used the XL2411T's product page to hype the display, which the company says is "built for victory."

As the model number suggests, it's a 24-inch panel with a Full HD 1080p (1920x1080) screen resolution. Other vitals include 350 cd/m2 brightness, 1,000:1 native contrast ratio (12,000,000:1 dynamic), 5ms response time (1ms GTG), and 72 percent of the color gamut on the TN screen.

The LED-backlit panel also boasts a 120Hz refresh rate for 3D gaming, but perhaps the most interesting feature is BenQ's proprietary FPS Mode.

"The FPS Mode was co-developed with gaming legends to let you tap into the fundamental insights of pro gamers and view the game how a gaming legend would see it. This out-of-the-box preset automatically adjusts your monitor calibrations to provide you with optimal brightness, contrast, sharpness and color tint," BenQ says. "Being able to spot your enemies and track their move carefully in every situation put you at an advantage over your opponents. There are two variations to this special mode: the FPS1 mode is designed to configure and optimize the display for Counter-Strike 1.6 and the FPS2 mode for Counter-Strike Source as recommended by BenQ."

BenQ FPS

Whether or not it's a gimmicky add-on is something we won't be able to determine until when/if we get a chance to play with one in person. One thing that's definitely not a gimmick, however, is the panel's ability to rotate into portrait mode, a feature that may not be all that useful for gaming but can be a boon for power surfing and certain productivity chores.

No word yet on much the XL2411T will cost or when it will be available.

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This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 07:05 AM PDT

Philips 46PFL8007 review

Is time speeding up? How can there by only 79 days until Christmas? Is it really now more than a year since Steve Jobs passed away? Is the Samsung Galaxy S4 out yet?

It's hard to believe how fast the world of tech spins on its axis. We've reached the quietest time of the tech year and yet we've still got a steady stream of awesome gear coming through our doors.

So allow us to walk you through some of the week's highlights and link you to all the other reviews we've published in the last seven days.

Philips 46PFL8007 review

After a lengthy absence from the TV market, the 46-inch Philips 46PFL8007 marks a very strong return to the UK TV market for Philips. It's a truly high-end model with a super-slender design, Edge LED lighting and local dimming technology that also benefits from the brand's highest level of picture processing, Perfect Pixel HD. Philips sensibly enables you to adjust almost every facet of this processing, as well as providing enough colour, gamma and white balance management options to earn the endorsement of the independent ISF calibration group.

It's also equipped with active 3D technology (two glasses are included), and best of all, it's the only LCD TV we've seen this year able to produce pictures good enough to give the all-conquering Sony HX853 models a run for their money.

View21 VW11FVRHD50 review

View21 VW11FVRHD50 review

It remains to be seen if YouView does sweep away Freeview+HD boxes, but over-priced, so-called smart boxes such as this one will struggle to stem that tide. You could make a case for its thoroughly disappointing Play app being a mere extra feature, and therefore beyond much criticism, but apps like this do offer a genuine reason to buy, so its failure in our test is decisive.

Not so the excellent Photo app, and picture quality is beyond reproach, but there are just a few too many niggles for us to be comfortable living with it. And while it will do a reasonable job in most living rooms, the lack of Wi-Fi and a third tuner make the VW11FVRHD50 appear far from mighty – though it's the high price that takes it down a full mark.

Sony Xperia T review

Sony Xperia T review

The Sony Xperia T is a very, very good phone. Everything about it is slick and well-executed and the performance is certainly what we expect from a £400 device. However, the Sony Xperia S was a very, very good phone. When a new model comes out, we look for it to improve upon the previous one and unfortunately, hand on heart; this doesn't improve on the last generation of smartphones as much as it should.

Admittedly, it's not about simply ramming higher specs into a thinner and lighter phone – we've moved past that now. But it should be about offering a fresh experience with new features and offering us a die hard reason to shell out for an upgrade.

Sony KDL-26EX553 review

Sony KDL-26EX553 review

Smart TVs for a second room are rare, and this 26-inch effort from Sony canters to victory by sporting a good array of apps and a great all-round picture that's helped by its 'kind to YouTube rubbish' HD-ready resolution. If Sony hadn't skimped on sound and build quality it could have been on to a real winner, but we'd still recommend the Sony KDL-26EX553 as one of the most capable 'second screens' around.

Linksys EA4500 review

Linksys EA4500 review

The Linksys EA4500 isn't like a normal router. It's more like a glimpse at the future of networking. The specification list includes dual-band Wireless-N, DLNA certification and support for gigabit Ethernet - although the imminent ratification of 802.11ac does cast a shadow over the EA4500.

And this week's other reviews...

Cameras

Nikon D600 review

Sony HX10V review

Fujifilm FinePix F770 EXR review

Canon PowerShot A4000 IS review

Lomography Fisheye No 2 review

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W690 review

Digital TV recorders

View21 VW11FVRHD50 review

Disk Drives

Integral Crypto SSD review

Transcend StoreJet 35T3 review

Games consoles

Sony PS3 review

Gaming accessories

Duo Gamer iOS Controller review

GPS

TomTom iOS Hands Free Car Kit review

TomTom Hands Free Car Kit for Android review

Graphics Cards

Sapphire Vapor-X HD 7970 GHz review

Headsets

Sony Pulse Wireless Headset: Elite Edition review

Laptops

Medion Akoya P6635 review

Razer Blade review

Samsung Series 3 NP355V5C review

Mobile phones

Apple iPhone 5 review

Samsung Galaxy Mini 2 review

Apple iPhone 5 (Verizon) review

Apple iPhone 5 (AT&T) review

Apple iPhone 5 (Sprint) review

Sony Xperia T review

Hands on: HTC One X+ review

Hands on: BlackBerry 10 review

Modem routers

TP-Link TL-WR702N Wireless N Nano Router review

Monitors

Samsung Series 9 S27B970D review

AOC myStage e2343Fi review

Motherboards

ASRock Z77E-ITX review

Projectors

Epson EH-TW9000W review

Routers

Linksys EA4500 review

Speakers

Orbitsound T9 soundbar review

Storage

Crucial v4 128GB review

OCZ Vertex 4 512GB RAID0 review

Tablet accessories

Fitbit Aria review

Tablets

Hands on: Dell Latitude 10 review

Hands on: Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 review

Televisions

LG 50PM670T review

Philips 46PFL8007 review

Smartphone Toxicity Study Reveals iPhone 5 is Less Toxic than Galaxy S III

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:57 AM PDT

 X-ray fluorescence spectrometryYou probably never considered the chemical composition of your smartphone, but it's a topic HealthyStuff.org decided to breach, the results of which were posted on iFixIt. iFixIt, best known for tearing down electronic gadgets and rating them with a "Repairability Score" on a scale of 1-10 (the higher the score, the easier it is to service a product), explains why the chemical analysis of 36 mobile phones, including the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S III, should be of concern to consumers.

"Why does it matter? Toxic chemicals don't disappear when you throw your phone away. Though electronics recycling is up in general in the US, cell phone recycling rates lag behind," iFixIt explains. "Each year, Americans discard 130 million cell phones, of which only 8 percent are recycled properly. When phones are not recycled, they often end up in landfills or incinerators, which can release heavy metals into groundwater and air, respectively."

According to iFixIt, some states have enacted bans on dumping electronics in landfills and incinerators, but 32 states still don't. The result is that the groundwater underneath ends up contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, which iFixIt says are linked to liver, thyroid, and immune diseases.

"Even sending a phone to an electronics recycler will not always keep it from polluting the environment," iFixIt adds. "Some 'recyclers' actually ship used electronics overseas to places such as Ghana, China, and India. In the best cases, these electronics are refurbished or repaired, used, and eventually dumped (usually in landfills without expensive liners to protect groundwater). Unfortunately, formal recycling practices in developing countries are currently minimal at best, where they exist at all."

So that's iFixIt's motivation in a nutshel. As to the method, HealthyStuff.org submitted the components of three dozen smartphones to X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. Phones were then rated on a scale of 1-5, with lower scores representing lower levels of toxicity.

Phone Toxicity Chart
Image Credit: iFixIt

The least toxic of the 36 devices examined turned out to be the Motorola Citrus, followed by the iPhone 4S, LG Remarq, Samsung Captivate, iPhone 5, and Samsung Evergreen. A little bit higher up on the chart is Samsung's Galaxy S III, though it isn't terribly far behind the iPhone 5.

Make of all this what you will, but if you ever wondered how "toxic" your smartphone is, there you go.

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MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com

MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com


RaiderZ Highlights Rengot Village

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:47 AM PDT

Counting down to its open beta launch on October 24, RaiderZ has released a new trailer showcasing Rengot Village. Rengot Village is home to the Rengot goblin tribe, where they were banished after a long war with the humans of Rendel. Here, they not only use primitive tools to survive, but hide secrets from others [...]

Assassin’s Creed III gets Season Pass

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:44 AM PDT

Ubisoft has unsurprisingly announced a season pass for Assassin's Creed III that will grant players access to all the game's forthcoming DLC packs. There are five in total with three being dedicated towards episodic single player content while two will expand upon the game's multiplayer. The single player DLC titled The Tyranny of King Washington [...]

Review: Cave Story (3DS eShop)

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:19 AM PDT

For those of you who have lost count, this is the third time that I’ve reviewed Cave Story, and the second time I’ve reviewed it on the 3DS platform. That may sound like a lot, but I’ve actually been slacking. This eShop-specific version of the game marks the fifth time that publisher Nicalis has put Cave [...]

Super Skyrim Bros mod turns Elder Scrolls into Marioland

Posted: 05 Oct 2012 06:06 AM PDT

Mario on Gameforumer? Mario on Gameforumer?! But wait – before your temporal artery explodes from the side of your face in sheer exasperation at this tainting of our pure PC space, let it be known that this is a Skyrim mod and thus legitimate PC news. Honest! In fact the mod itself avoids crossing the [...]

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