MMORPG News

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• EverQuest II: 10th Anniversary Celebration - Heroes' Festival Returns
• General: Ubisoft's New RPG - Battle of Heroes: Land of Immortals
• WildStar: Carbine Opens New Level 50 Zone, The Defile
• General: Blizzcon in Pictures
• General: Overwatch: Shooting Through Blizzard's New Universe
• Diablo 3: Season 2 and Next Patch Details Revealed at Blizzcon
• EverQuest II: 10th Anniversary Q&A with Holly Longdale
• General: Overwatch: The Official Blizzard Announcement
• ArcheAge: Latest Producer's Letter Talks Auroria
• World of Warcraft: A New Player’s Impressions of World of Warcraft
• General: Overwatch: Blizzard's First New IP in 17 Years, Beta in 2015
• World of Warcraft: Blizzcon's Opening Ceremony
• Landmark: Quality of Life Enhancements
• Elite: Dangerous: Release Date Announced for December
• Warhammer 40.000: Eternal Crusade: New Animations, Weapons & More in Today's Live Stream
• Das Tal: Successful Greenlight Campaign Announced
• General: Does Gameplay Trump All?

EverQuest II: 10th Anniversary Celebration - Heroes' Festival Returns Posted: 07 Nov 2014 03:33 PM PST It's already been ten years since EQII launched and SOE is commemorating the milestone by bringing back Heroes Festival, this time with a host of fun new activities and rewards.

General: Ubisoft's New RPG - Battle of Heroes: Land of Immortals Posted: 07 Nov 2014 03:48 PM PST This month, Ubi's hoping to capture players' imaginations (and inspire impulse buys) with its new fantasy free-to-play strategy RPG, Battle of Heroes: Land of Immortals. The game is available on the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon app store, and offers players the chance to collect and upgrade their own unique war heroes.

WildStar: Carbine Opens New Level 50 Zone, The Defile Posted: 06 Nov 2014 04:02 PM PST Wildstar continues its quest to retain players with the release next week, of The Defile and embark on the next chapter of Wildstar's World Story.

General: Blizzcon in Pictures Posted: 08 Nov 2014 03:11 AM PST Bill Murphy is on the ground at Blizzcon 2014. In between interviews, game play sessions and shopping at the Blizzcon store, Bill found some terrific things he considered photo-worthy. Check out Bill's Blizzcon 2014 Gallery!

General: Overwatch: Shooting Through Blizzard's New Universe Posted: 07 Nov 2014 10:09 PM PST Today at BlizzCon we went hands on with the first new IP from Blizzard in seventeen years, Overwatch. A competitive team-based shooter, Overwatch looks to do what Blizzard does best; take a genre and refine it, distill it, and bring out the most important parts. Read on for our full first impressions.

Diablo 3: Season 2 and Next Patch Details Revealed at Blizzcon Posted: 06 Nov 2014 06:00 PM PST The Blizzard Diablo III team took to the stage to discuss the upcoming Season 2 and changes that players will notice immediately. There will be new legendaries to collect, new pieces of the seasonal armor, new transmog items, new banners and much more. In addition, each of the Conquests has been examined for the 'fun factor'. Those not measuring up will not be making a return and new ones will be added.

EverQuest II: 10th Anniversary Q&A with Holly Longdale Posted: 07 Nov 2014 08:54 AM PST EverQuest 2 is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. We caught up with Senior Producer Holly Longdale to chat about memories of EQ2. Check it out!

General: Overwatch: The Official Blizzard Announcement Posted: 07 Nov 2014 02:16 PM PST Blizzard revealed its team-based shooter, Overwatch, earlier today. To provide more details, an official press announcement has been released.

ArcheAge: Latest Producer's Letter Talks Auroria Posted: 07 Nov 2014 01:49 PM PST The latest producer's letter has been published on the ArcheAge site. The discussion centers around this week's release of the Auroria zone and the difficulties players had accessing the game due to a nasty disconnect bug. In the future, the team has started making plans for smoother content releases.

World of Warcraft: A New Player’s Impressions of World of Warcraft Posted: 06 Nov 2014 03:26 PM PST I've been playing MMORPGs for most of my gaming life. As someone in their mid-twenties, I can't claim to have been around for years and years losing myself in these virtual worlds, but I feel like I have a pretty good pulse on the industry as a whole. My MMO experiences first started with the original EverQuest, a game I would watch one of my brothers play when I would go to visit him.

General: Overwatch: Blizzard's First New IP in 17 Years, Beta in 2015 Posted: 07 Nov 2014 11:58 AM PST During the opening ceremonies at the 2014 Blizzcon convention, it was announced that Overwatch would be joining the Blizzard stable of games. It is a cooperative team-based shooter and the beta is expected to kick off in 2015. The team released a game play video to show off the wonder of its new game.

World of Warcraft: Blizzcon's Opening Ceremony Posted: 07 Nov 2014 10:22 AM PST Blizzcon is set to officially kick off in just over half hour with the Opening Ceremonies, usually a spot where the first major announcements for Blizzard titles is made. We'll be updating this post throughout the 45-minute presentation so keep refreshing the page and let us know what you think.

Landmark: Quality of Life Enhancements Posted: 06 Nov 2014 03:17 PM PST SOE has been hard at work at adding more quality of life improvements to the game, most notably in terms of graphics rendering as well as the building system of the game. Here's what to expect if you haven't logged back and updated the game in the past two weeks.

Elite: Dangerous: Release Date Announced for December Posted: 07 Nov 2014 10:01 AM PST Elite: Dangerous now has a release date thanks to a Twitter post from the team. Players can look forward to December 16, 2014 to get their hands on the game.

Warhammer 40.000: Eternal Crusade: New Animations, Weapons & More in Today's Live Stream Posted: 07 Nov 2014 09:16 AM PST Behaviour Interactive will be hosting its weekly Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade live stream at 1:30 p.m. EST / 10:30 a.m. PST today. During the stream, fans will get a look at new animations, updates to the lascannon, navigation and more. The team will also be on hand to answer player questions.

Das Tal: Successful Greenlight Campaign Announced Posted: 07 Nov 2014 09:09 AM PST The Das Tal team has announced that it has successfully completed its Steam Greenlight campaign. The campaign lasted three months but on successful completion, Das Tal immediately entered into the Top 100. To celebrate, players can check out some of the supporter packages.

General: Does Gameplay Trump All? Posted: 06 Nov 2014 03:09 PM PST With BlizzCon ramping up for this weekend, there's a fair amount of buzz here among the staffers regarding the Warlords of Draenor release. I myself have received the customary pre-launch emails from Blizzard encouraging me to re-activate my World of Warcraft account with seven free days of game time. Like with previous WoW expansions, I've given the thought of resubscribing more than a passing thought. Unlike previous releases, however, I'm not as convinced that I need to jump back in.

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MMOGaming News

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Cross Fire Developer SmileGate Takes Four New Games to Gstar 2014 Posted: Today, the developer of Cross Fire, Smile Gate Korea announced their project plan to take four games showing in Gstar 2014. Three of them are MMOs and one is mobile game. They are Project T, Project V, Azera and Project Puppy respectively. Continue reading Cross Fire Developer SmileGate Takes Four New Games to Gstar 2014.

Rift - Nightmare Coast Guide Posted: Nightmare Coast is the first new dungeon you come into with Nightmare Tide, designed for players level 60 to 63. It's really not a tough dungeon, though it does require a bit of strategy to complete. Continue reading Rift - Nightmare Coast Guide.

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MMORPG Reviews

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• Battle for Gea Gameplay Commentary
• Hands-On with Eredan iTCG
• First Look at the New Dungeons in TERA
• Infinite Crisis Seasonal Skin Giveaway
• Aeria Games Announces Echo of Soul
• How Free to Play Is World of Warplanes Really?

Battle for Gea Gameplay Commentary Posted: 07 Nov 2014 07:46 AM PST This week we have tested for the first time Battle for Gea, a free to play browser-based trading card game developed by the Spanish developers Iron Belt Studios. Battle for Gea has a very rich history, shares many features with the traditional TCGs, and has more than 300 different cards with which you can build […] The post Battle for Gea Gameplay Commentary appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

Hands-On with Eredan iTCG Posted: 07 Nov 2014 07:45 AM PST RATING: Graphics: 7 Sound: 6 Gameplay: 7 Overall: 6.5 Pros: Nice artistic style, fun and addicting gameplay. Cons: May become repetitive after some time, sounds could be improved. We've lately dedicated some of our time to checking out a popular browser-based trading card MMO that's free to play: Eredan iTCG. Developed and published by Feerik […] The post Hands-On with Eredan iTCG appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

First Look at the New Dungeons in TERA Posted: 07 Nov 2014 04:28 AM PST Today, we want to provide you with a few details as well as several regarding the 4 new dungeons TERA‘s 1st expansion, Fate of Arun, will add to the game. There's moreover a trailer showcasing the most challenging one. Prepare yourselves for battles against unique and deadly bosses. These are the 4 new dungeons: Sabex […] The post First Look at the New Dungeons in TERA appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

Infinite Crisis Seasonal Skin Giveaway Posted: 07 Nov 2014 03:23 AM PST Do you have a knack for plants? If so, we hope you're not as fanatical about them as Pamela is. However, you’ll love this Infinite Crisis giveaway either way. Grabbing your code will allow you to unlock Poison Ivy as a playable champion as well as her rare Autumn Queen seasonal costume. Just follow these […] The post Infinite Crisis Seasonal Skin Giveaway appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

Aeria Games Announces Echo of Soul Posted: 07 Nov 2014 01:41 AM PST Aeria Games has just announced plans to publish the free-to-play MMORPG Echo of Souls in Europe and North America and also released a trailer in this context. The title was released in Korea last year already and is supposed to debut in the western part of the world in Spring 2015. “Since its launch in […] The post Aeria Games Announces Echo of Soul appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

How Free to Play Is World of Warplanes Really? Posted: 07 Nov 2014 01:10 AM PST Today's F2Pmeter takes us high up into the skies, as World of Warplanes is the next MMO the free-to-play-ness of which is tested. For those of you who haven't known before, this MMO is dedicated to the golden era of military aviation and officially launched in November 2013. Featuring over 130 warplanes from 6 nations […] The post How Free to Play Is World of Warplanes Really? appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

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General Gaming Article

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• Blizzard Announces Team-based Shooter “Overwatch”
• Zalman Claims Bankruptcy Rumors are Completely False
• Lenovo May Leap into Low-Cost Chromebook Market Next Year
• Ubisoft Reveals Minimum and Recommended PC Specs for Far Cry 4
• Nvidia Posts Record Revenue Following Maxwell Launch
• Security Firm AVG Sees Rash of Suitors Emerge
• Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair Force LX 256GB SSD, Intel 730 Series 240GB SSD, and More!

Blizzard Announces Team-based Shooter “Overwatch” Posted: 07 Nov 2014 06:10 PM PST We go hands-on with Blizzard's take at Team Fortress Blizzard may have canceled Titan, but today it revealed that the company hasn't given up on trying to create a first-person shooter by revealing Overwatch. Overwatch is being pitched as a team-based multiplayer shooter. In short, it's basically Blizzard's take on Valve's popular Team Fortress 2 shooter.  Meet the Reaper The new IP takes place on Earth approximately 60 years in the future. Blizzard said it had been dying to do a highly fictionalized version of the future of Earth, but said they wanted to do it in the relatively near future. While the story won't be a huge component when you play the game (Blizzard says it hopes to create additional narrative elements outside of the game with things like Youtube videos), the premise goes that the 30 years prior to the game's setting, evil robots take over and wreak havoc. Humanity then created a Overwatch strikeforce team which dispatches the robots. Over the decades, however, the strikeforce team ceases to exist. While it sounds like a depressing scenario, Blizzard said that it wanted to create an upbeat environment as it didn't want levels to feel drab and dreary, which could get tiresome to play. The game certainly has a unique artstyle from what we've seen and is almost a mixture of Disney meets Team Fortress with a dash of anime influence to it. One of the levels we saw also had a very BioShock vibe to it, albeit not as dark.  Mercy doing her healing Even though the game is pretty fast paced, Blizzard wants to provide non-twitch class characters with medic and engineer-like heroes. Blizzard says it wants to take a "less lethal" approach to the shooter meaning that players will die less frequently than most other twitch-based shooters. In this regard, again, it definitely feels much more like TF2 than Counter Strike. Another thing that sets the game apart is that teams are composed of 6v6. Blizzard said teams larger than that got too chaotic from its tests, but that teams smaller than that put too much pressure on individual players to succeed, although Blizzard admits that this balance mechanic could change with additional community testing. Like Team Fortress 2, Overwatch will not have a traditional deathmatch mode and will be an objective-driven game with modes like attack/defend, payload, and control points.  While there are about a dozen characters to choose from right now, Blizzard says the game will have plenty more and that it will be a character-driven game and not a class-based one. Piggybacking on that notion is the fact that each player has multiple, unique special abilities, somewhat similar to characters in MOBAs. For instance, hero Tracer can teleport a short distance ahead by pressing shift up to three times with about a one-second cool down period in between each, can throw a bomb by pressing Q and can jump three seconds back in time (location and health) by pressing R.  Hanzo using his bow There's a variety of other different characters with traits and attributes. The talking, space gorilla Winston and chivalrous knight Reinhardt are tanks that soak up damage and use a melee style of combat. Then there's damage dealers like the dual pistol-wielding Reaper and rocket launcher-carrying Pharah. And for the non-twitchy players, there's Torbjorn who's basically the engineer of the game with his turrets and Mercy, who's the medic. Blizzard wants to make this game appeal to the non-shooter crowd as the company realizes that many of its loyal players don't play FPS games.  There's a bunch of other characters and while the amount of characters can seem overwhelming, like TF2, Blizzard is encouraging players to switch characters between lives. The idea is to pick the best character for the given scenario. Even in its early state, the game is really fun and feels quite polished. If you enjoy Team Fortress and are looking for Blizzard's take on the genre, keep your eyes on Overwatch.

Zalman Claims Bankruptcy Rumors are Completely False Posted: 07 Nov 2014 11:05 AM PST PC cooling pioneer blows cold air on bankruptcy rumors We can all cool it, Zalman isn't going bankrupt, nor is the company abandoning its customers, we're told. Following numerous reports that Zalman was forced into filing bankruptcy due to a scandal involving its parent company, Moneual, we reached out to one of our contacts to see what was going on. Short and sweet, we're told that no bankruptcy proceedings involving Zalman are taking place and that the company will continue to release products. Zalman tells Maximum PC that the bankruptcy rumors are "completely false," and while there are some "financial difficulties due to the recent troubles experienced by Moneual, Zalman is not going bankrupt," plain and simple. Furthermore, if you currently own a Zalman product that's under warranty, nothing is changing -- existing products will continue to be covered as usual. We're also told that Zalman will release a more in-depth statement later this month to explain "the recent scandals in Korea" by Moneual, but in the meantime, the company will continue to operate as normal. In fact, Zalman tells us to be on the lookout for its new Z11 Neo PC case, which is headed to the North American market soon. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Lenovo May Leap into Low-Cost Chromebook Market Next Year Posted: 07 Nov 2014 10:41 AM PST Low cost laptop wars are brewing It was easier to make an argument in favor of Chromebooks as early as a month ago. There's plenty they can't do, but they're cheap and sufficient for basic computing tasks, like surfing the web. They're also nice tools if you're heavily tied into Google's ecosystem. Several vendors have jumped on board the Chromebook bandwagon, and rumor has it Lenovo will offer an ultra-affordable Chromebook model of its own next year, but has their time in the spotlight come and gone? First things first -- according to Digitimes and the sources it spoke to within Taiwan's supply chain, Lenovo is looking at launching a Chromebook in the sub-$170 range in early 2015. These will be powered by CPUs from China's Rockship Electronics. By lowering the price, Lenovo reportedly expects to ship 1.5 million Chromebooks next year, up 212 percent compared to 2014. However, there's a concerted effort by Intel and Microsoft to push Chromeooks out of the market place with low-cost Windows alternatives. One of the first models out of the gate is the HP Stream. It's a Windows 8.1 laptop that starts at $200 for the 11-inch version and $230 for the 13-inch model. And as time goes on, there will be other competitors in the $200 Windows laptop space. Should Chromebooks dip down to $170, we imagine Windows models will follow suit, though it will be interesting to see where vendors cut costs since the OS is already being provided for free from Microsoft. What do you think -- are Chromebooks long for this world, or will these low-cost Windows laptops drive them out of the market as intended? Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Ubisoft Reveals Minimum and Recommended PC Specs for Far Cry 4 Posted: 07 Nov 2014 10:22 AM PST Here's what you'll need to enter Kyrat There's a vast open world coming your way later this month, and it's filled with monkeys and tigers and bears, oh my! We're of course talking about Kyrat, a fictional region in the Himalayas that serves as the setting for Ubisoft's forthcoming Far Cry 4. There will be lots of animals, enemies, weapons, and vehicles, but before you think about getting acquianted with any of them, here's a look at Far Cry 4's system requirements. Starting with the minimum set of specs you'll need, you're looking at the following: OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64-bit versions only) Processor: Intel Core i5 750 @ 2.5GHz or AMD Phenom II X4 955 @ 3.2GHz Memory: 4GB Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 5850 (1GB VRAM) DirectX: Version 11 Hard Drive: 30GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with latest drivers Nothing real earth shattering there. Now here's a look at what Ubisoft recommends (labeled as "Optimal"): OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8/8.1 (64-bit versions only) Processor: Intel Core i5 2400S @ 2.5GHz or AMD FX-8350 @ 4GHz or better Memory: 8GB Video Card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 or AMD Radeon R9 290X or better (2GB VRAM) DirectX: Version 11 Hard Drive: 30GB available space Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with latest drivers Far Cry 4 is set to release on November 18 for PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4. If interesting, there's still time to place your pre-order and receive a free upgrade to the Limited Edition. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Nvidia Posts Record Revenue Following Maxwell Launch Posted: 07 Nov 2014 09:29 AM PST PC gaming and graphics are alive and well If you caught Gordon Mah Ung's farewell podcast last week (*sniffles*), you heard him talk about the ridiculous theme he's heard throughout his career at Maximum PC, that being the impending death of the PC. The same has been said about PC gaming -- they go hand-in-hand, after all -- but in reality, PCs and PC gaming are in great places right now. If you don't believe it, put your iPad down and check out Nvidia's record performance last quarter, in which it reported revenue of $1.23 billion en route to a $173 million profit ($220 million on a non-GAAP basis). That's up 16 percent from $1.05 billion a year earlier and up 11 percent from $1.10 billion sequentially. And if you look at revenue for the past three quarters, it comes out to a record $3.43 billion, up 15 percent from $2.99 billion a year prior. So the next time a naysayer spouts off the usual "PC is dead" nonsense, kindly inform him or her of Nvidia's record breaking performance. "Nvidia's focus on creating visual computing platforms for datacenter, mobile and PC drove record revenue this quarter," said Jen-Hsun Huang, president and chief executive officer of Nvidia. "Growth drivers have kicked in for us on several fronts. High-performance computing, virtualization and web service providers have created demand for our GPU-accelerated datacenter platforms. Automakers are using Tegra to help reinvent the driving experience. And our new Maxwell architecture is a giant leap forward that has triggered a major upgrade cycle by PC gamers," Huang added. It was a busy quarter for Nvidia, which saw the launch of new GeForce GTX graphics cards based on its Maxwell architecture, as well as the continued push of its Tegra K1 mobile processor into new products like the Nexus 9, Shield Tablet, and select Chromebook models from Acer and HP. Nvidia's also made inroads in the automotive industry; there are now more than 6 million cars on the road with infotainment systems powered by Nvidia, with more to come. Looking ahead to next quarter, Nvidia is forecasting $1.2 billion in revenue, plus or minus 2 percent. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Security Firm AVG Sees Rash of Suitors Emerge Posted: 07 Nov 2014 08:05 AM PST Software security makers are suddenly hot acquisition targets One of the names that always comes up when discussing free antivirus software is AVG Technologies. The company also offers a line of paid products for those who want more robust protection and features, and after 13 years in the business, has built up a market capitalization of around $930 million. AVG's also made itself attractive to suitors -- it's being reported that potential buyers have approached AVG amid a wave of deals for security software makers. Citing "people familiar with the matter," The Wall Street Journal reports that multiple private equity firms and at least one technology company have all approached AVG about a takeover. These are all unsolicited bids, and though nothing is imminent, if a deal does take place, it's likely to happen in the coming months. Security software is sexy right now, and AVG is a recognizable brand with quite a few assets. Indeed, AVG has been increasing its brand value through acquisitions of its own. It's an ongoing strategy, with AVG recently announcing plans to acquire mobile security outfit Location Labs as well as Normal Safeground, WSJ says. The play for security software is likely to intensify as cyber attacks increase in frequency and sophistication. And with AVG, it's a relatively affordable option, considering that Intel paid nearly $7.7 billion to acquire McAfee. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

Newegg Daily Deals: Corsair Force LX 256GB SSD, Intel 730 Series 240GB SSD, and More! Posted: 07 Nov 2014 06:33 AM PST Top Deal: Life is full of bad decisions, like that time you were talked into going snipe hunting as a teen. And then there was that time you turned your nose up at Apple's $22 IPO only to later invest it all in Enron (Fun fact: $5,000 invested in Apple's IPO would be worth over $1.3 million today). Well, it's time to start leveling the playing field by making good decisions, and you can start with today's top deal for a Corsair Force LX Series 256GB Solid State Drive for $86 with free shipping (normally $116; price after $30 mail-in-rebate). Your aging hard drive will thank you for its retirement. Other Deals: Intel 730 Series 2.5-inch 240GB SATA 6Gb/s MLC Internal Solid State Drive for $150 with free shipping Acer H6 Series 23-inch 5ms (GTG) HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LED Backlit LCD Monitor, IPS Panel 250 for $130 with free shipping (normally $140 - use coupon code: [EMCWWPD84]) Microsoft Xbox One Console Without Kinect for $350 Asus Pro R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS for $100 with free shipping (normally $135 - use coupon code: [DD131851]; additional $15 Mail-in rebate)

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