MMO Updates

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• The Game Archaeologist: Revisiting the BBS
• WRUP: Festivus is almost here edition
• The Daily Grind: Are you talkative in random groups?
• The Stream Team: Visiting Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons on Qalia
• Betawatch: December 14 - 20, 2013
• Double XP now live in EverQuest II
• Storyboard: You ruined your own event
• TERA starts snowball war and prepares to invade China
• Looking for Guild: FFXIV
• Elder Scrolls dev blog on creating PvP keeps
• MMObility: Rail Nation is perfect for armchair engineers
• SWTOR gives Galactic Starfighter crew member bios
• Camelot Unchained producer: 'Be excited. Be very excited.'
• Mortal Online overhauls characters and armor visuals
• Rhode Island governor calls Project Copernicus 'a lot of junk'
• Some Assembly Required: Yet another FFA PvP sandbox
• EverQuest Next Landmark shows off its first building blocks
• The Think Tank: Massively's 2014 MMO predictions
• Mark Kern removed as CEO of Red 5 Studios [Updated]
• The Division will be optimized for PC, not a port

The Game Archaeologist: Revisiting the BBS Posted: 21 Dec 2013 09:00 AM PST Filed under: Video, Culture, The Game Archaeologist, Miscellaneous Back in 2010 (2010, really? Wow.) I gave a broad overview of the history and importance of the BBS -- the bulletin board system. BBSes were a sort-of proto-internet, a homebrew networking solution that allowed users to connect online (via phone lines and low-baud modems) to chat, share ideas, and play lots of games. In fact, it's just impossible to think of BBSes without these multiplayer games that ranged from fantasy dungeon crawlers to cutthroat capitalism in space. Today I'd like to revisit this topic by inviting you to get to know bulletin board systems in a new light. I'm going to share my own experiences with BBSes in the early '90s, a documentary on them that I found fascinating, and a game you can play today to get an eerily accurate feeling of what dialing up BBSes back then felt like. Continue reading The Game Archaeologist: Revisiting the BBS The Game Archaeologist: Revisiting the BBS originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

WRUP: Festivus is almost here edition Posted: 21 Dec 2013 07:00 AM PST Filed under: Massively Meta, Miscellaneous Tomorrow, my wife and I will be heading to a Festivus party. I've spent my whole year storing up smoldering resentment for the Airing of Grievances and working out in preparation for the Feats of Strength, so I have high hopes for this to be the best Festivus ever. Shortly thereafter, we will spend the remainder of the holidays with family. Why Festivus? Well, we have two cats. An unadorned aluminum pole is the one form of holiday decoration that will stand unmolested for the duration of the season. It's time for this week's installment of WRUP, which discusses Festivus precisely no times outside of this header. (The actual date is the 23rd.) Click on past the break to see what we're up to for the weekend, and let us know what you're planning on doing for the pre-holiday weekend down in the comments! Continue reading WRUP: Festivus is almost here edition WRUP: Festivus is almost here edition originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Daily Grind: Are you talkative in random groups? Posted: 21 Dec 2013 05:00 AM PST Filed under: Culture, Opinion, The Daily Grind, Miscellaneous, Dungeons Final Fantasy XIV's Duty Roulette has had an unusual effect upon me: It's made me more talkative in dungeons. Oh, I've always been happy to talk strategies and let people know what we're doing, but with the added incentive of the commendation system, I'm far more likely to crack jokes, be silly, and generally aim for making the run more pleasant for everyone. As cynical as that may sound, I find that I'm having more fun as a result, even when I'm doing most of the talking. Not everyone likes to be chatty in groups, of course. Some people prefer runs that are silently professional, slicing through content without so much as a "hello." Me, I like to say hello, get to know the people in my group, even if only briefly. What about you? Are you talkative in random groups, or do you generally prefer to let your silent competence (or lack thereof) speak for you? 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: Are you talkative in random groups? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 21 Dec 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Stream Team: Visiting Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons on Qalia Posted: 20 Dec 2013 06:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Vanguard, Free-to-Play, Hands-On, Livestream, Dungeons, The Stream Team All aboard for the next stop on Dungeon Tours! We got a taste for the first two dungeons of Vanguard's Thestra last week; now it's time to check out the desert lands of Qalia. Massively's MJ has put on her sunblock and plans to visit Rockspine Lair near Pankor Zhi. If time permits, she might also poke into Ksaravi Hollow near Khal. If you have a new character on Qalia, now is a great time to jump in and test yourself in these dungeons in the level 5 to 11 range. Game: Vanguard Host: MJ Guthrie Date: Friday, December 20th, 2013 Time: 9:00 p.m. EST Enjoy our Steam Team video below. Continue reading The Stream Team: Visiting Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons on Qalia The Stream Team: Visiting Vanguard's lowest-level dungeons on Qalia originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Betawatch: December 14 - 20, 2013 Posted: 20 Dec 2013 05:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, MMO Industry, News Items, Betawatch, Miscellaneous After a wait so long that you could be forgiven for thinking it would never happen at all, DayZ's standalone version is finally in testing! It's a buggy and early sort of testing that requires you to drop money for it on Steam first, but it's still testing. The standalone reincarnation of what was previously a mod for Arma II seems to have done brisk business. A lot of games have moved into the testing phase for the holidays: Inferno Legend opened its beta doors, Strife did the same, and ArcheAge went into beta in Russia. (It will never happen here.) Meanwhile, Ingress polished off the last of its testing and went out into the world, while Hearthstone announced an open beta delay. Yes, there's a full list with more games and such past the break. As always, we appreciate people letting us know if a game crept between testing or launch stages without our noticing! Continue reading Betawatch: December 14 - 20, 2013 Betawatch: December 14 - 20, 2013 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Double XP now live in EverQuest II Posted: 20 Dec 2013 04:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, EverQuest II, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, PvE, Free-to-Play SOE's Holly "Windstalker" Longdale has checked in with a new holiday-themed producer's letter for EverQuest II. She recaps recent quality-of-life changes including increased alternate currency acquisition rates for gold members and 10 percent mount speed boosts. Today also marks the beginning of a double XP weekend for adventure, tradeskill, alternate advancement, and guild experience. In January, gold members can look forward to getting their hands on past expansion items via loyalty tokens, and the next set of fabled dungeons -- this time from the Kingdom of Sky expansion -- is scheduled to release on January 23rd. Double XP now live in EverQuest II originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Producer's letter

Storyboard: You ruined your own event Posted: 20 Dec 2013 04:00 PM PST Filed under: Events (In-Game), Opinion, Roleplaying, Storyboard, Miscellaneous You're running a roleplaying event, and it's going well. It's lively, people are having fun, characters are playing off one another well, it's ideal. So you decide to push things a little further, to take things up a little more, and the next thing you see is people mumbling excuses and leaving until you're left with one or two people who remain less as a function of fun and more as a testament to bitter determination. What in the world happened? I'll tell you what happened: You ruined your own event. This has kind of been a week for me of people ruining good stuff, which makes this week's column unintentionally apropos. A lot of roleplaying events start out great, with everyone invested and happy to be present, but they quickly dissolve when a few well-intentioned but poor choices are made by the people running the event. And while I can't chronicle every possible pitfall, I can at least talk about the most common ones that I see again and again. Continue reading Storyboard: You ruined your own event Storyboard: You ruined your own event originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

TERA starts snowball war and prepares to invade China Posted: 20 Dec 2013 03:30 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Events (In-Game), Free-to-Play, TERA There's snow mercy with TERA's winter update this year, as the free-to-play title started a massive snowball fight this week as a way to celebrate the holiday season. The Wintera Snowfield is a new 10v10 battlefield where players will line up to take potshots at each other (in love, we assume). Since everyone's health will be equalized and all of the abilities will be the same, victory will be determined by player skill and resource acquisition. Both winners and losers will receive tokens to spend on rewards, although the former will receive quite a bit more. The event ends January 2nd. TERA is also going to be taking its first steps into the Chinese market with a test starting on January 9th, 2014. Continue reading TERA starts snowball war and prepares to invade China TERA starts snowball war and prepares to invade China originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments MMO Fallout, Snowball war

Looking for Guild: FFXIV Posted: 20 Dec 2013 03:00 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Guilds, Final Fantasy XIV, Miscellaneous, Subscription, Looking for Guild Final Fantasy XIV's successful relaunch was certainly one of the big stories of 2013, taking many of us on the team by surprise. It gave us hope that game companies can recover from failed launches if they play their cards exactly right. We see that love for the reborn fantasy MMO here in the LFG column, especially, as more and more Massively readers are reaching out to find like-minded guilds to join. This week is no exception as we have an archer looking for a free company to call home in today's listing. Continue reading Looking for Guild: FFXIV Looking for Guild: FFXIV originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Elder Scrolls dev blog on creating PvP keeps Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, New Titles, PvP, News Items, The Elder Scrolls Online, Subscription ZeniMax's latest dev blog talks up The Elder Scrolls Online's keeps and the design and engineering know-how that went into producing them. The devs wanted the game's three-faction PvP battles to "consist of multiple stages, allowing the attackers and defenders to each have several opportunities to turn the tide of a siege." Keep layouts were planned accordingly, and player abilities like knockbacks, gap-closers, and AoEs factored in as well. Read the full blog at the official ESO website. Elder Scrolls dev blog on creating PvP keeps originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Dev blog

MMObility: Rail Nation is perfect for armchair engineers Posted: 20 Dec 2013 02:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Historical, Screenshots, Trailers, Game Mechanics, Previews, PvP, Opinion, Free-to-Play, Browser, Casual, MMORTS, MMObility Travian Games' Rail Nation, a new browser-based, non-combat MMORPG, is intriguing, especially if you are a fan of trains, sim management, and friendly player competition. Admittedly, much of the competition in the game is just as cutthroat as I have seen in more "hardcore" games, but at least there is no blood involved. Players start off with a very basic train and route, and a friendly NPC called William L. Smith explains things nicely to get things moving. The idea is to connect your trains to goods, open new routes, and upgrade your fleet of trains to help level your city (a group of players) as you pass through six different eras of technology. Each era lasts two weeks, and the last era is a competition between the 10 highest ranking cities in the game. As you grow you'll also need to open more routes by adding new tracks, which require more goods. Many industries are not even visible on the map until the player unlocks them, giving the game a real feel of moving forward in time. Travian Games likes to put a time limit on gameplay, meaning that there is a true "win" scenario for players to pursue. While I'm not a big fan of a time limitation on an MMO, and I'm definitely not very skilled at micromanagement, Rail Nation is a lovely game that is relaxing to play. It does take time to grow on you, and its beta access means that the game still has a few issues that need to be ironed out. Continue reading MMObility: Rail Nation is perfect for armchair engineers MMObility: Rail Nation is perfect for armchair engineers originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

SWTOR gives Galactic Starfighter crew member bios Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:30 PM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, Expansions, Lore, Free-to-Play, Star Wars: The Old Republic Whether you fight for the Republic or the Empire as a space jockey, you're going to need a good crew member at your side in Star Wars: The Old Republic: Galactic Starfighter. BioWare's lined up two pages detailing the bios of eight crew members you can pick up for your adventures. The Empire crew members include Aven Geth, a human shield tech; MZ-12, a proud astromech; Salana Rok, a Chiss underworld enforcer; and Writch Hurley, a talented if incomprehensible engineer. Over on the Republic side, there's Kendra Novar, a good-hearted slicer; B-3G9, a mixed-up protocol droid; Oro Wogawa, an Ithorian engineering wiz; and Ashy, a Rattataki with a hair trigger. Check out their full bios and let us know which crew member you prefer! SWTOR gives Galactic Starfighter crew member bios originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Empire crew members, Republic crew members

Camelot Unchained producer: 'Be excited. Be very excited.' Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:00 PM PST Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, PvP, Dev Diaries, Camelot Unchained, Subscription Camelot Unchained Producer Tyler Rockwell has emerged from a busy year of work on this upcoming RvR MMO to look forward to the next year through the lens of the game's development. Rockwell's December producer letter claims that a game is beginning to emerge from all of the hard work. He reiterates that the main focus is preparing Camelot Unchained for January's internal playtest. He also praised many members of the team, including the animation editor, the engineers, and the artists, for their hard work. Rockwell says that fans of Camelot Unchained have good reason to be pumped for the title: "[Bat shit crazy] is a favorite term of Mark [Jacobs] that, honestly, I believe defines what is going on, mostly in secret, right now. We use the term BSC knowingly because many of the ideas are counter to much of the current MMOs out there. We hope our fan base will be excited by these ideas as we are here. Be excited. Be very excited." Camelot Unchained producer: 'Be excited. Be very excited.' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Producer's letter

Mortal Online overhauls characters and armor visuals Posted: 20 Dec 2013 12:30 PM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Patches, PvP, Free-to-Play, Mortal Online, Crafting Mortal Online has been hard at work performing comprehensive overhauls to character and armor, making them look better than ever. The character improvements for the game include visual passes, more natural animations, a new character creation system, and high-definition upgrades to armor. The visual improvements to crafted armor make up 90% of the game's wearable gear. The recent update also added in three new craftable armor sets and improved large-group performance for mass battles. Due to the character overhaul, Star Vault is giving a free recustomization option to all players. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!] Mortal Online overhauls characters and armor visuals originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Character and armor revamp

Rhode Island governor calls Project Copernicus 'a lot of junk' Posted: 20 Dec 2013 12:00 PM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, News Items, Legal, Miscellaneous Were you surprised that Project Copernicus didn't manage to sell at auction? Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee wasn't. In recent statements to the associated press, Chafee stated that the property was "a lot of junk" and decried every step of the loan process for 38 Studios. In the governor's own words: "People just panicked and gave a retired baseball player a huge amount of taxpayer money with no experience in this industry or any other businesses." Curt Schilling (the second key player in this ongoing drama, with the other being the state of Rhode Island) responded to the governor's statements on Twitter, claiming that a failure is obvious in hindsight. He also cited Chafee's current job approval numbers, suggesting that the state as a whole would like the opportunity to re-do its gubernatorial election. Richard Land, the man in charge of auctioning Project Copernicus and other 38 Studios assets, is allegedly still looking for private buyers for the IP. Rhode Island governor calls Project Copernicus 'a lot of junk' originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Gamasutra

Some Assembly Required: Yet another FFA PvP sandbox Posted: 20 Dec 2013 11:30 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, PvP, PvE, Opinion, Some Assembly Required, Sandbox I dabbled in yet another alpha-state indie sandbox game this week. As you'd expect, the title is rough around the edges. Also as you'd expect, it boasts FFA PvP and the correspondingly godawful community for whom the game's "do whatever you want" mechanics immediately translate to "kill everything that moves first and ask questions later, if at all." Since it's still alpha, there's plenty of time for the devs to correct this unfortunate bit of business and separate this particular game from the legions of crappy FFA-PvP-with-zero-consequences titles clumping together in the vast litterbox of bad MMO ideas. Will they do that? Probably not, but at least I'll get a good rant out of it. Continue reading Some Assembly Required: Yet another FFA PvP sandbox Some Assembly Required: Yet another FFA PvP sandbox originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

EverQuest Next Landmark shows off its first building blocks Posted: 20 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Filed under: Fantasy, Video, Previews, News Items, EverQuest Next, Sandbox EverQuest Next is going to give players a lot of tools to make things, and EverQuest Next Landmark is all about making things without the restrictions of the full game. But what will you be making those things out of? We're glad we assumed you asked because the latest video from the game is all about showing off the building blocks players will have access to. First up on display: the tropical environment. It's only fair to warn you that the video is fairly short, so you won't be gleaning huge amounts of new gameplay information from it. You will, however, have a glimpse into how you'll be shaping an environment with nothing more than creativity and some tropical trees, complete with object rotation and careful building. Click on past the break to check out the whole video, and start thinking about what you're going to build when you get the chance. Continue reading EverQuest Next Landmark shows off its first building blocks EverQuest Next Landmark shows off its first building blocks originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments YouTube

The Think Tank: Massively's 2014 MMO predictions Posted: 20 Dec 2013 10:30 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, New Titles, Opinion, Massively Meta, Miscellaneous, The Think Tank The end of the year is our time to not only reflect on the last 12 months but also look forward to what's to come. Since some of the more anticipated MMOs like Elder Scrolls Online and Wildstar have missed their anticipated 2013 launches, we now have that to look forward to in 2014. But what else? Follow along after the jump for the Massively staff's 2014 predictions, and for an added laugh, take a look back at our 2013 predictions to see how close (or far off) we were. Continue reading The Think Tank: Massively's 2014 MMO predictions The Think Tank: Massively's 2014 MMO predictions originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments

Mark Kern removed as CEO of Red 5 Studios [Updated] Posted: 20 Dec 2013 10:00 AM PST Filed under: Sci-Fi, MMO Industry, News Items, Free-to-Play, MMOFPS, Rumors, Firefall According to a recent report from Gamefront, Red 5 Studios CEO Mark Kern has been terminated by the company's board of directors, effective immediately. Vice President of Development James Macauly has apparently sent an email to all employees informing them of the change in leadership, with this latest dismissal coming in the wake of several previous layoffs at the Firefall studio. No official statement has been issued to the public by the company at this time. An anonymous source within the company has also spoken out against Kern in The Escapist, claiming that the CEO was frequently absent and arrived sporadically to hand down arbitrary decisions. How true these statements are cannot be confirmed, although the company does hold a low rating for employee satisfaction overall. We'll have more on the situation if and when a statement is issued regarding Kern's continued employment or lack thereof. [Update: Red 5 Producer Matt DeWald has issued a formal statement on the now-confirmed rumors: "As of Thursday, December 19th, Mark Kern is no longer the Chief Executive Officer of Red 5 Studios. Mark founded Red 5 Studios in 2006 to provide exceptional game entertainment along with a world-class team of developers working on the MMO Shooter, Firefall. Red 5 Vice President of Development, James Macauley, will be moving into the role of acting CEO. The team at Red 5 continues work on Firefall and looks forward to all that we have to offer in 2014."] Mark Kern removed as CEO of Red 5 Studios [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Gamefront, The EscapistMMORPG.com

The Division will be optimized for PC, not a port Posted: 20 Dec 2013 09:30 AM PST Filed under: MMO Industry, New Titles, News Items, War, Community Q&A Fans waiting for Tom Clancy's The Division to hit the PC will be happy to know that the game won't be just a port over from the console "but a full-fledged, optimized version," according to the newest Community Q&A. The remainder of the Q&A focuses on the the Snowdrop engine, detailing the features that make it unique and will allow players to feel more immersed in the shooter's universe. Thanks to the Snowdrop, devs feels their destruction system is the most realistic to date, and players can check out the realism of the shaders, lighting, and particle effects in the many screenshots devs shared in the post. The Division will be optimized for PC, not a port originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Dec 2013 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments Snowdrop Q&AIGN

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MMORPG News

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• WildStar: WildStar-ESP Interviews Matt Mocarski
• War Thunder: Taking Flight in War Thunder
• EverQuest II: Tears of Veeshan & Assorted MMORPG Expansions
• General: James Phinney & Motiga - For the Love of the Game

WildStar: WildStar-ESP Interviews Matt Mocarski Posted: 20 Dec 2013 05:01 AM PST The team over at Spanish WildStar fansite WildStar-ESP recently scored an interview with Creative Director Matt Mocarski of Carbine. We've teamed up to transcribe the full interview for you here, while the Spanish translation is over at WildStar-ESP. Enjoy!

War Thunder: Taking Flight in War Thunder Posted: 18 Dec 2013 05:45 PM PST The Tourist heads to the wild blue yonder to check out Gaijin's War Thunder. See what he discovered and then leave your own impressions in the comments.

EverQuest II: Tears of Veeshan & Assorted MMORPG Expansions Posted: 18 Dec 2013 05:34 PM PST Game expansions are the lifeblood for longevity of the MMOs we love to play. In his latest column, Adam Tingle talks about expansions in general and about EverQuest: Tears of Veeshan in particular. Read on before heading to the forums to chat.

General: James Phinney & Motiga - For the Love of the Game Posted: 18 Dec 2013 05:13 PM PST James Phinney and his Motiga development studio have been working quietly on an as-yet-unnamed project for the past couple of years. We caught up with James to see what we could ferret out about the game, the studio and much more. See what he had to say in our exclusive interview.

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MMOGaming News

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Diablo: Reaper of Souls Available, March 25, 2014 Pre-purchase Now! Posted: Diablo III's first expansion entitled Reaper of Souls is now available to pre-order via the Battle.net Shop. Only digital versions of the game can be pre-purchased. While Diablo III. was available for free to everyone, who has subscribed to the Annual Pass (12 month subscription to World of Warcraft), this expansion needs to be purchased. There are two editions: Continue reading Diablo: Reaper of Souls Available, March 25, 2014 Pre-purchase Now!.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Closed Beta Review Posted: Hearthstone is a free to play card game created by the guys at Blizzard. The cards in the game are based on characters from the Warcraft universe and for some reason, the artwork reminds me of Magic: The Gathering. While Hearthstone seems like an interesting game, it takes a while to get started due to how new cards are obtained. Continue reading Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Closed Beta Review.

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MMORPG Reviews

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Aura Kingdom’s Closed beta item pack giveaway Posted: 20 Dec 2013 07:27 PM PST Aeria Games is partening with FREEMMORPGlist.com and MMOReviews.com to celebrate a Closed Beta item pack giveaway for Aura Kingdom. The game is a free to play fantasy based MMORPG where players get to step in the shoes of eight adventuring classes chosen by the planet itself to act as its saviour. With spiritual abilities awoken […] The post Aura Kingdom’s Closed beta item pack giveaway appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

The Mystic arrives to C9 – Continent of the Ninth Seal Posted: 20 Dec 2013 03:06 AM PST WEBZEN has unleashed the Mystic, a new basic class for its dungeon-based MMORPG C9 – Continent of the Ninth Seal, which will be available for all players who have the game's fourth expansion. The Mystic is a melee fighter armed with a mighty hammer, that can perform powerful omnidirectional attacks and hit multiple enemies at the same time. […] The post The Mystic arrives to C9 – Continent of the Ninth Seal appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

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General Gaming Article

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• OPPO N1 Launching With CyanogenMod Installed
• GPU-Z Update Adds Support for 12 Additional Graphics Cards, Stomps Out Bugs
• Winamp Sale Could Save Media Player From Extinction, Shoutcast Too
• XFX is Busy Building a Super Cool and Quiet Radeon R9 290X Graphics Card
• Acer Announces 20-inch FT200HQL Capacity Touch Display for $199
• BlackBerry Bleeds Red Ink on Massive Charges, Posts $4.4 Billion Loss
• Newegg Daily Deals: Asus RT-N66U N900 Wireless Router, Intel 530 Series 240GB SSD, and More!

OPPO N1 Launching With CyanogenMod Installed Posted: 20 Dec 2013 04:00 PM PST Cyanogen teams up with Oppo for the first dedicated CyanogenMod smartphone CyanogenMod has come a long way from its roots as an alternate ROM for the HTC Dream. Its latest milestone is the impending launch of the first smartphone running CyanogenMod straight from the factory: the CyanogenMod OPPO N1.   It's a limited edition version that repurposes the existing OPPO N1 White hardware with CyanogenMod 10.2 in tow. That's a good thing because the N1 White packs a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Quad-Core 1.7GHz processor, a 5.9-inch (1080x1920) Gorilla Glass 3 screen, and a rotating 13-megapixel camera.  What makes the incoming N1 particularly interesting is that it's already passed Google's compatibility test suite (CTS) which means that the Google Play Store will be available on the device by default. The partnership seems to be more than just a simple install at the factory. "This was an awesome, and incredibly challenging project given the crazy timeline we were on," wrote Cyanogen co-founder Steve Kondik in a Google+ post. "Myself and a bunch of other guys have not slept for over a month now." If this sounds like something you'd want, it'll be available starting Dec. 24—probably at a price close to the N1 White which costs $600 for the 16GB version and $650 for the 32GB version. Follow Ben on Twitter.

GPU-Z Update Adds Support for 12 Additional Graphics Cards, Stomps Out Bugs Posted: 20 Dec 2013 01:10 PM PST Handy utility displays your GPU's DNA and vitals Every power user has a set of go-to programs and utilities that he or she carries around on a USB thumb drive. One that should be included is GPU-Z, a lightweight utility that takes up all of 1.3MB or 1.4MB of space (depending on whether you want the standard version or the one with an Asus ROG skin). Even though it has a teeny-tiny footprint, it can tell an awful lot about your graphics card, which can come in handy when troubleshooting. The newest update -- version 0.7.5 -- released today adds support for 12 more discrete GPUs and an additional integrated GPU. They include: AMD Radeon R7 260 AMD Radeon HD 7600A AMD Radeon H 8850M AMD Radeon HD 8400 AMD Radeon HD 8240 AMD Radeon HD 7620G Nvidia GeForce 705A Nvidia GeForce GTX 645 Nvidia GeForce GTX 650 OEM Nvidia Grid K260Q Nvidia Quadro K5100M Nvidia Quadro K6000 Intel GMA (Bay Trail) HD 4200 In addition to recognizing a bunch of new GPUs, the latest release fixed a few issues, including one that caused the utility to hang or crash on Nvidia Optimus and/or during CUDA detection. Voltage monitoring support has been added for new Bonaire/Pitcairn SKUs, Windows 8.1 is now detected properly, and sensor data in shared memory will now update once per second, as intended. You can download GPU-Z from TechPowerUp. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Winamp Sale Could Save Media Player From Extinction, Shoutcast Too Posted: 20 Dec 2013 11:40 AM PST Don't turn out the lights, the party might not be over If you've been crying crocodile tears over the impending demise of Winamp, you can put that box of tissues back in the bathroom, the popular media player form yesteryear may not be getting unplugged after all. AOL is reportedly close to finalizing a package deal involving both Winamp and Shoutcast, and if completed, both would continue to exist under new ownership. News of the potential deal comes from TechCrunch, which is owned by AOL. TechCrunch says Microsoft was previously in talks to purchase both Winamp and Shoutcast, though it's not clear if the Redmond software giant is the mystery suitor this time around. Even if the negotiations run past today, TechCrunch's source says its unlikely either service will shut down, so long as a potential deal is on the table. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

XFX is Busy Building a Super Cool and Quiet Radeon R9 290X Graphics Card Posted: 20 Dec 2013 11:00 AM PST Another card for the Litecoin miners to snatch up It's starting to get a little bit easier to find AMD Radeon R9 290X graphics cards in stock, but before you pounce on one, you may want to hold off and see what XFX is cooking up. The enthusiast brand is supposedly working on a custom cooled Radeon R9 290X that's both quieter and much chillier than AMD's reference design, the latter of which means there's less chance of the card throttling down its clockspeed. The folks at news and rumor site Fudzilla claim that one of these cards is currently being shipped to its office, with XFX telling the site that its card is "considerably quieter" than the stock cooling solution. "According to XFX the new cooler is very powerful as it manages to keep the GPU temperature under 85 degrees Celsius," Fudzilla says. "The AMD reference cooler is not as good and the reference card can hit 95 degrees with relative ease." XFX took some dark and blurry photos of the card, but there are some specs to share. The cooler features 7 heat pipes, a copper base that makes direct contact to the GPU, dual double dissipation 90mm fans, and more. It's supposed to run just 32dB versus 57dB put out by the reference cooler; its idle noise level is just 15dB to 20dB. Image Credit: XFX via Fudzilla Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Acer Announces 20-inch FT200HQL Capacity Touch Display for $199 Posted: 20 Dec 2013 10:06 AM PST A small but affordable touchscreen display Microsoft has never hidden the fact that Windows 8 works best when you're able to touch, tap, swipe, and get hands-on with your display. The problem there is that most existing monitors lack touch support, so if you want that functionality on your desktop, you're looking at investing in a new panel. Acer's new 20-inch FT200HQL is one such option, and though the 19.5-inch screen is on the small side, it supports 10-point capacitive touch input. It's also VESA wall-mountable. If you prefer to plop it on your desk, the stand tilts from 10-90 degrees, which Acer claims is especially beneficial for touch-friendly activities like playing games, viewing photo albums, flipping through cookbooks, and surfing the web. Acer's FT200HQL sports a native resolution of 1600x900 with a 5ms response time, viewing angles of up to 170 degrees horizontally and up to 160 degrees vertically, and a 100,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio. It also has built-in dual speakers, a VGA port, and two HDMI ports. You can find the Acer FT200HQL selling now for $199 with a three-year warranty. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

BlackBerry Bleeds Red Ink on Massive Charges, Posts $4.4 Billion Loss Posted: 20 Dec 2013 07:39 AM PST More sour grapes for BlackBerry BlackBerry can't seem to catch a break no matter what it does. This was a year of change for BlackBerry, from a shakeup in management to new devices and even a new name. However, the end result is still the same -- losses. The latest loss comes to $4.4 billion for the Canadian handset maker's three month period ended November 30, 2013. No company wants to be staring at $4.4 billion loss, though the majority of that red ink is due to charges. Not including pre-tax charges of $4.6 billion associated with long-lived assets, inventory and supply commitments, and previously announced restructuring costs, BlackBerry's losses for the quarter came to $354 million (PDF), or $0.67 per diluted share, compared with a $248 million loss in the prior quarter. There's still not a lot of solace to be taken in those adjusted figures. Part of the problem BlackBerry faces is that customers aren't flocking to its newer BlackBerry 10 devices as the company anticipated. Of the 4.3 million smartphones it sold during the third quarter, 3.2 million were BlackBerry 7 devices. BlackBerry remains optimistic as it continues its restructuring effort. As part of that, the company announced a 5-year strategic partnership with Foxconn, the same company that builds the bulk of Apple's iPhone and other mobile products. Under the new relationship, BlackBerry says the two will jointly develop and manufacture certain BlackBerry devices, with the initial focus on a smartphone for Indonesia and other fast-growing markets in early 2014. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Asus RT-N66U N900 Wireless Router, Intel 530 Series 240GB SSD, and More! Posted: 20 Dec 2013 06:37 AM PST Top Deal: Think all wireless routers are essentially the same? Like most other hardware, features and performance separate one router from another, and the one you choose can be the difference between getting the Internet service you're paying for, or not. One model that's definitely up to the task is the topic of today's top deal -- it's an Asus RT-N66U Dual Band Wireless N900 Gigabit Router for $125 with free shipping (normally $170; Free 5-port gigabit switch w/ coupon code: [EMCWVWL23]). Dubbed the "Dark Knight," this router rose to the top of our Best of the Best list when we reviewed it back in 2012, earning a perfect 10/10 score. It's range is incredible, it's fast, the antennas are upgradeable, and it even supports DD-WRT. Other Deals: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-16GXM for $130 with free shipping (normally $150; use coupon code: [EMCWVWL22]) Intel 530 Series SSDSC2BW240A4K5 2.5-inch 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) for $155 with free shipping (normally $200; use coupon code: [EMCWVWL224]) Asus GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card for $180 with free shipping (normally $200; use coupon code: [EMCWVWL98]; additional $20 Mail-in rebate) Seagate Constellation CS ST3000NC002 3TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch Enterprise Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive for $165 with free shipping (normally $200; use coupon code: [EMCWVWL33])

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