MMORPG News

MMORPG News

Aion: Wind of Fate Update Reveals Drastic World Changes

Posted: 01 Oct 2015 07:35 AM PDT

Wind of Fate Update Reveals Drastic World Changes

Gameforge has announced that the v4.8 "Wind of Fate" update has been applied to all EU language variants of Aion. Players will find a world drastically altered since last logging into the game, particularly in Katalam, Sarpan and Tiamaranta. At the same time, two new zones Vengar and Signia have risen out of the sea.

World of Warcraft: Changing It Up - Character Services Move to Game Client

Posted: 29 Sep 2015 05:57 PM PDT

Changing It Up - Character Services Move to Game Client

World of Warcraft players will no longer be required to log out of the game to change details about their characters now that several once-online only services have been moved directly into the game client via the in-game store. Players will be able to change appearance, faction, name or race directly from the shop interface on the character-select screen (not while logged into the game itself).

EverQuest II: Sundered Ground Expansion Stream This Thursday

Posted: 29 Sep 2015 05:51 PM PDT

Sundered Ground Expansion Stream This Thursday

Sundered Ground is the next EverQuest II expansion and will be released on November 3rd. Beginning today, EQII players can take part in a prelude event that will run until the expansion release in November. The event includes a special "currency" called Primordial Malice Baubles that can be used to buy special event items while it is live.

EverQuest: Expansion Announcement Stream Tomorrow

Posted: 29 Sep 2015 05:48 PM PDT

Expansion Announcement Stream Tomorrow

EverQuest's Holly Longdale has posted a new producer's letter to announce that the team has been working for the past year on a full-fledged expansion for the game. Longdale indicated that this expansion will bring content to high-level players along with new and updated 105 zones, fifteen raids, level-scaling missions, Heroic Adventures and two instanced raid zones, Plane of Fear and Plane of Hate, for players from 75-105 to experience together.

General: ZergID and Its 500k Strong Army

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 03:56 PM PDT

ZergID and Its 500k Strong Army

ZergID has been in public beta for less than a year and already over a half-million users have joined up and created 750k characters to site profiles. ZergID also announced that it has acquired perennial World of Warcraft site OpenRaid and will be bringing its special brand to the ZergID network.

DOFUS: New Mobile Version Unveiled

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:35 PM PDT

New Mobile Version Unveiled

After ten months in development, the Dofus team has sent world that Dofus Touch will be coming to mobile devices around the world. Dofus Touch is a separate game from the main version, but it brings ten years of adapted content to bear. The French closed beta will be coming soon.

Firefall: Its Groove Found, Its Future Bright

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:27 PM PDT

Its Groove Found, Its Future Bright

To say Firefall has had a long and controversy filled history would probably be an understatement. There was a time when developer Red 5 Studios seemed destined for a fate similar to that of Flagship Studios. But problem child founder Mark Kern was ousted, Chinese company The9 invested 20 million dollars, and perhaps most telling... Chris Whiteside was brought on to lead the studio and future development of Firefall.

General: Nexon's FPS First Assault Beta Event Begins October 1st

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:16 PM PDT

Nexon

The first beta event for Nexon's First Assault will be held from Thursday, October 1st through Sunday, October 4th. Players are invited to take part in the event to earn an exclusive weapon skin, win Logitech prizes and take part in several map challenges inspired by "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex".

General: OpenCritic Seeks to 'Shake Up' Game Review Aggregation

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:22 AM PDT

OpenCritic Seeks to

A new review aggregation site has launched today called OpenCritic. The stated goal of the team behind the site is that it seeks to "shake up game review aggregation" in a number of ways, most notably through transparency. Users can create a list of "trusted review" sites and receive personalized aggregate review scores based on those sites alone.

Neverwinter: R.A. Salvatore Stars in New Developer Blog

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:15 AM PDT

R.A. Salvatore Stars in New Developer Blog

Fans of Wizards of the Coast, DnD, Drizzt Do'Urden or any number of other iconic characters will want to check out the latest developer blog post on the Neverwinter site that stars legendary author R.A. Salvatore.

Guild Wars 2: Improving the Guild Mission System

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 10:17 AM PDT

Improving the Guild Mission System

The Guild Wars 2 blog has been updated with a look at how the guild mission system will be undergoing a significant update with the Heart of Thorns expansion coming in October.

Black Desert: UPDATED - RU Early Access on Oct 5 & 8, OBT on Oct 12th

Posted: 28 Sep 2015 10:13 AM PDT

UPDATED - RU Early Access on Oct 5 & 8, OBT on Oct 12th

GameNet has announced that the open beta for Black Desert Online will begin on October 12th. The team will be on hand this weekend during Russia's Igromir games festival where players can interact with both BDO and the publishing team. GameNet will reveal more details soon.

Elder Scrolls Online: Imperial City From a PvE Perspective - Is it Worth It?

Posted: 29 Sep 2015 03:38 PM PDT

Imperial City From a PvE Perspective - Is it Worth It?

The Elder Scrolls Online Imperial City DLC came with a host of changes, including the PvP upgrades and balance that many had been hoping for for some time. Cyrodiil is a place where many players do go to enjoy themselves, and Zenimax has stated before that its goal was to create a zone that would attract different kinds of players. So what is Imperial City like for a player like myself who often plays solo and is more of a PvE-oriented RPG player?
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News

Hello MMO - Hot New MMOs in September

Posted:

Hello MMO - Hot New MMOs in September


Time flies, October is coming, but the developers and publishers still brought us many new games in September. Here I have collected 10 new MMO games which are wonderful in September. Let's read on below and find out are there any games which you want to try in this collection.

Blade and Soul Splendid Fan-made Fashion Contest Show

Posted:

Blade and Soul Splendid Fan-made Fashion Contest Show


Lots of players have complained that the fashion style in Blade and Soul has been lowered since the left of Hyung-tae Kim. So this time, NCsoft has held a fashion contest for the game in order to discover some fan-made fashions from players.
Posted by Shri Krishna

MMORPG Reviews

MMORPG Reviews

Things We Love About… Aion

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:05 AM PDT

For our next "Things We Love About…" we take a look at the biggest Korean MMORPG around that continues to dominate both Eastern and Western markets; Aion. This fantasy based MMORPG lets players step into the shoes of powerful "angelic" Daeva, split into two factions they are the Elyos and the more devil like Asmodians, […]

The post Things We Love About… Aion appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

Warface Launches a New Game Mode

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 08:09 AM PDT

Crytek has announced that its Free-to-Play MMOFPS Warface has received a new game mode named “Bag and Tag“. The new game mode is a night-themed PvP map where groups of 16 players will become both hunters and prey. In the new mode players are going to be taken to the Mojave Desert, where they’ll have to use the […]

The post Warface Launches a New Game Mode appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

The Dwarves are Coming to Elvenar

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 06:59 AM PDT

InnoGames TV‘s October episode has shown images and exclusive materials from the Dwarfs, the first “guest race” of Elvenar. In the video below the game’s Graphic Artist Oliver, and the Game Designer Timon are going to present us the Dwarf race and show us their technologies, buildings  and resources. In order to find out more about this game, feel free […]

The post The Dwarves are Coming to Elvenar appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

Armored Warfare Announces Open Beta

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 04:54 AM PDT

Armored Warfare has announced that its open Beta will begin on 8 October 2015, although players who have acquired a Founder’s Pack can enter on October 1. In addition to accompany this announcement, Obsidian and My.com have published today a new trailer (which you can see below). In the Open Beta players can try over 60 vehicles classified in […]

The post Armored Warfare Announces Open Beta appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

The Settlers Online Gets a Huge Content Update

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 02:58 AM PDT

A huge update to content has arrived today to The Settlers Online which expands the home islands and the maximum level to 75, which allow players to have access to new quests, items, challenges and tasks for specialists. The update also adds new resources, production lines and military units. The update also adds 30 new buildings and 60 additional improvements to buildings, […]

The post The Settlers Online Gets a Huge Content Update appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.

Eighth Expansion of Neverwinter Revealed

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 01:53 AM PDT

Perfect World and Cryptic Studios has announced that this fall will release the eighth expansion of Neverwinter: Underdark. This expansion is dedicated to the history of Rage of Demons, which has been written by the well-known writer R.A. Salvatore, who recently published the continuation of Rage of Demons, a novel called Archmage. In Underdark players will […]

The post Eighth Expansion of Neverwinter Revealed appeared first on MMORPG Reviews.
Posted by Shri Krishna


General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

Newegg Daily Deals: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, WD Red NAS 3TB HDD, and More!

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:59 PM PDT

Windows 7

Top Deal:

Everywhere you look it's Windows 10 this and Windows 10 that. Hey, we get the excitement -- the desktop experience is back! It's also a free upgrade for Windows 7 and 8/8.1 owners, though if you're building a new system and need a brand new license, you'll need to pony up for one. Nevertheless, there's no need to pay full price. Just check out today's top deal for Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (OEM) for $80 with $3 shipping (normally $100 - use coupon code: [EMCAXPA24]). Maybe you prefer Windows 7 to Windows 10, in which case enjoy! And if not, this is your upgrade ticket to Windows 10 without paying the full asking price.

Other Deals:

Samsung 850 Evo 2.5-inch 250GB SATA III 3-D Vertical Internal Solid State Drive for $78 with free shipping (normally $90 - use coupon code: [EMCAXPA27])

Western Digital Red NAS Hard Drive 3TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5-inch NAS Hard Drive for $105 with free shipping (normally $112 - use coupon code: [ESCAXPA22])

Seagate Hybrid Drives 1TB 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s NCQ 2.5-inch Laptop SSHD -Bare Drive for $70 with free shipping (normally $77)

Asus Radeon R9 380 GAMING 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express GAMING Video Card for $210 with free shipping (normally $247)

Thinking Inside Boxx: Why Overclocking Workstations Makes Sense

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:48 PM PDT

Big things in a little package

Apexx

Boutique builders come in different sizes and specialties. There are the ones primarily focused on gaming, like Maingear and Digital Storm, and a select few that deal with professional builds. The latter is the category Boxx fits into, though don't mistake the outfit for a cookie cutter operation.

There's an enthusiast edge to Boxx, hence today's introduction of what the company claims is the "world's smallest overclocked workstation," the Apexx 1. That's if you go with the Core i7 option, otherwise you can configure an Apexx 1 with a standard Xeon E5 processor, up to an 18-core Xeon E5 -2699 v3. Essentially your choice boils down to clockspeed or core count (that's an oversimplification, but you get the gist), both of which are liquid cooled.

The Apexx 1 is a compact machine measuring 4.7 (W) x 8.5 (H) x 9 (D) inches, yet it can pack some serious hardware. We're talking up to 32GB of DDR4-2133 memory, two 2.5-inch drives bays with up to 1.2TB SSD options, M.2 SATA support that can be fitted with either a 256GB or 512GB SSD, and a PCI-E 3.x x16 low profile slot with Nvidia Quadro or AMD FirePro graphics. It also has four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 3.1 Type A ports, eSATA, dual GbE LAN, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. 7.1 channel audio, and a few other odds and ends.

Apexx Open

To Overclock or Not to Overclock?

It may not seem obvious to overclock a workstation. These systems tend to work with more mission critical applications than a typical gaming rig, but that hasn't scared off the folks buying systems like the Apexx 1.

"We have a steady demand for overclocked workstations. Once we educate our customers on the benefits of overclocking and how it can benefit their workflow, they're on board," Boxx Senior Product Marketing Manger Chris Morley told Maximum PC. 

And what are those benefits? It starts with faster performance and trickles down from there. 

"Overclocking may net more frame rates for gamers, but it makes money for creative professionals," Morley added. "Professionals can get more work done, faster, with an overclocked workstation" and in turn "get home to their families."

That's all fine and dandy but it all goes right out the window if a system is blue screening at every turn. Morley says that's not the case. In fact, he tells us "there's almost no difference in failure rates in the field" where there are thousands of overclocked Boxx systems currently in use.

Nevertheless, we wondered if customers tended to shy away from overclocked workstations. Surprisingly, they're not. Boxx's overclocked machines are finding homes all over the place -- virtual effects houses, defense contractors, major architectural firms, and so forth.

Boxx's approach to overclocking is somewhat unique in that it guarantees the specific speed of a system during the warranty period, which could be three years. What that means is if an overclock proves unstable, Boxx won't dial it back 100MHz or whatever the case may be, it will replace the part that's having trouble keeping up.

"We also have universal BIOS settings for each model.That means an Apexx 2 Model 2401 @ 4.5GHz will have the same OC settings whether you buy 2 or 200," Morley says.

It's an interesting proposition, particularly for a compact box like the Apexx 1, which is 70 percent smaller than the aforementioned Apexx 2.

Pricing starts at $3,895 for a Xeon-based Apexs and $4,710 for a Core i7-5960X Extreme Apexx.

Microsoft to Open Five-Story Flagship Store in New York Next Month

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 11:26 AM PDT

Raising a new flagship

New York Microsoft

Microsoft is getting ready to open two new flagship retail locations, one in New York and the other in Sydney, Australia. Both locations have been six years in the making and will be Microsoft's largest stores to date.

The store in New York will be Microsoft's first full size store in Manhattan (it has a kiosk in Columbus Circle in Manhattan). It's a five-story, 22,696 square foot facility located at 677 Fifth Avenue, the old address for Fendi. The store's staff will be a diverse makeup coming from five boroughs and surrounding areas, with more than 19 languages spoken.

Microsoft's store in Sydney won't be quite as big -- it's over 6,000 square feet and spans two floors. It will have a retail sales space and an interactive area to serve local customers and businesses, with staff coming from over 11 countries and speaking more than 21 languages, Microsoft says.

"When we architected our retail plans, we committed to providing exceptional choice, value and service, and making a positive impact on the communities in which we operate. These flagship stores will deliver on these commitments, offering premier shopping destinations," Microsoft said in a blog post.

To celebrate the opening of two new flagship locations, Microsoft said it will donate more than $5 million in software and technology grants to select local organizations. Those organizations will be highlighted during the grand opening events.

As with past grand opening events, you can expect there to be prizes, special guests, and probably musical entertainment.

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GeForce Now Service Streams Games to Nvidia Devices for $8 Per Month

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 09:42 AM PDT

Netflix of games

GeForce Now

Services like Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify have proven there's a vast market for streaming services., and it looks like Nvidia will help itself to a slice of the pie. The way it will do that is through GeForce Now, a $7.99 per month on-demand gaming service for Shield devices (namely the Shield Android TV, Shield Portable, and Shield tablet).

This is sort of the end-game for Nvidia's GRID service, which has been operating in beta for the past couple of years. When GeForce Now goes live on October 1 in North America, GRID will go dark, though Nvidia insists that GeForce Now is more than just a renaming of GRID. Nvidia says it's "an entire new platform and architecture," one that's "faster, better, more reliable, and more robust," according to PCWorld.

GeForce Now will still stream games at 1080p and 60 frames per second, the first non-beta cloud-gaming service to do so. It will launch with over 50 titles. Most of them are slightly older games such as Batman: Arkham Origins, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, and Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, to name just a few.

Nvidia will also offer newer "Buy and Play Instantly" titles like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt ($60) and Saints Row IV ($20). In other words, some games will be available for sale

"GeForce NOW is all about instant gratification. But it took us a decade to invent the technology behind the service that streams GeForce GTX-quality graphics to SHIELD devices," Nvidia stated in a blog post.

Up in the air? GeForce Now will kick off with a free three month trial when it launches next month.

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How PC Power Supplies Work

Posted: 30 Sep 2015 12:00 AM PDT

A look at the gritty details of what gives your rig its juice

00 PSU opener

The power supply unit (PSU) is one of the PC components that we tend to take for granted. It sits in the case with a bunch of wires sticking out of it, and maybe once in a while we blow some air blown into it to get rid of dust bunnies. But it's arguably the most important piece of hardware in the PC because it does one thing: feeds the rest of the machine the electricity it needs.

Unfortunately, electricity as it comes out of the wall socket just isn't the right kind. Electronic devices are designed to use DC electricity, while what's coming out of the wall is AC. Plus, the electricity from the wall is way too powerful. This means the primary role of the PSU is to convert AC electricity into DC electricity at a safe level.

We'll take a look into how a PSU does this, and the actual hardware inside it that makes this possible. As a visual aid, we'll be cracking one open to expose its innards.

Quick Primer: types of power supplies

Power supplies come in two main flavors: linear and switched mode.

Linear power supplies are simpler, requiring only a few steps to convert AC electricity into DC electricity. They expend energy constantly and normally dump excess energy as heat and will require larger components for high power delivery. This limits them mostly to smaller power applications. Where they really shine is that their output has little noise to worry about, and laboratory-grade bench supplies will often be linear for this reason.

A switched mode power supply, on the other hand, has an internal switch that controls the flow of electricity going into the rest of the power supply. While this adds complexity, it has a couple of benefits. The first is that the power supply uses less electricity than a linear power supply. The second is that the switching action generates high-frequency AC electricity, which in turn allows some components, such as inductors and transformers, to be smaller. The downside is that the switching creates a lot of noise that needs to be filtered in the output and possibly shielded to prevent leakage.

From AC to DC: steps in a power supply's process

As mentioned, the primary job of the power supply is to convert AC to DC. Once the DC electricity is made, it turns this into the appropriate voltages for the components to use. It gets a bit complicated once other features are taken into account, so here's a block diagram breaking it down:

01 Psu_block_diagram

Block diagram of a PC power supply. Red lines are AC, green lines are DC.

Here's a picture of the PSU we're examining with the parts that do all of those steps highlighted. In case you're wondering about the white goop and plastic sheets, the goop is to minimize vibrations while the plastic sheets are to isolate components from touching either each other or the chassis, which has the ground wire connected to it.

02-psu Layout

Step 1 – Filtering the AC input

Electricity coming out of the wall is very noisy, for a number of reasons. The first step is to filter out as much of the noise as possible, using a combination of capacitors (known as X and Y capacitors) and inductors. In addition, there may be some protection circuitry similar to that found in surge protectors to guard against sudden in-rushes of current.

If the power supply has a physical voltage switch, the input either goes into a voltage doubler circuit or continues on. The voltage doubler is used when the input is 115V, so that the rest of the power supply only has to work with 230V regardless of the actual input. If there's active power factor correction, then it takes care of this step. Thus if the power supply takes 115V–230V with no physical switch, there's a good chance it has active power factor correction.

03-ac Filter And Recitfier

This picture shows the bulk of the AC filtering and parts of rectifying the AC electricity described in step 2. The screws in the middle of the heatsink attach a diode for power factor correction (described in step 3) and a couple of switching MOSFETs (responsible for switching described in step 4).

Step 2 – Rectify and filter

Electricity coming from the wall is alternating back and forth between positive and negative voltages. This causes current to flow back and forth throughout the wires, producing no real work over time. Rectifiers convert the alternating current into a purely positive current as seen in the picture below:

04 Rectifier_circuit_with_graph

AC input to a full-wave rectified output (from Falstad's Circuit Simulator).

A reservoir capacitor is used to capture energy from the still alternating flow to turn it into a more flat and stable one.

05 Filter_cap_and_ripple

Notice that on the output, there's a sort of saw-tooth pattern. This is because the capacitor can only be charged up when the voltage of the rectified output reaches a certain point to the peak voltage. Otherwise it's discharging. The lowest and highest points in the saw-tooth form what is known as ripple. The amount of ripple depends on the quality, capacity, and type of capacitor. High-quality power supplies will keep ripple to a minimum.

As an aside, the ATX specification calls for no more than five percent ripple on the 3.3V, 5V, 5V_SB, and 12V lines.

Step 3 – Power Factor Correction (PFC)

Power factor is a phenomena that happens with AC circuitry. There are two types of power in AC circuits: active and reactive power. Active power is power that's being used on resistive loads, like turning a motor. Reactive power is power that works on components such as capacitors and inductors to charge them up, with no work done on the actual load.

Power factor is the ratio between the sum of the active and reactive power (called apparent power) and the active power itself, and is always lower than 1. Power factor correction aims to get this ratio as close to 1 as possible. While this sounds similar to efficiency, efficiency is an inherit component of electronics that cannot use all of the electricity to do useful work and dumps what it can't use as heat.

There are two types of power factor correction: passive and active. Passive PFC uses inductors, a passive electric component. Active PFC uses control circuitry and transistors, or active electric components.

Step 4 – Switching

Switching clumps a few actions together to achieve the same effect: allow electricity to flow through to the rest of the power supply. Other functions of switching include:

  • Protection circuitry, such as overvoltage, overcurrent, overpower, and short circuit protections.
  • Provide basic feedback to the computer, the most important one being the power good signal, which tells the motherboard that the PSU is good to go.
  • Create a high-frequency (in the tens of kilohertz range) AC output. The reason is that this allows the transformers used in the next step to be small.

Switching requires feedback from the output in order to work properly. This is done by tapping into the output voltages that feed into the computer.

06-control Circuitry

This is the control circuitry for handling switching.

Step 5 – Transform

Transformers are used to step down the voltage to a primary 12V line and a secondary 5V line. The main 12V line is then stepped down further using DC-to-DC converters to 5V and 3.3V for the PC to use. A secondary 5V line is used to supply the 5V standby power circuitry so that the computer can turn on from the front power switch.

Step 6 – Rectify output and filter

After transforming the input into a safe voltage level output, it's time to rectify and filter once more, because what's coming out of the transformer is AC electricity. It's basically a repeat of step 2.

07-output Rectifier

The picture shows the rectifier on the right, which for this model is the half-wave type. This means only half of the AC wave is used. This is most likely a cost-saving measure to avoid needing a more complex transformer. To the left of the rectifier are the capacitors used for filtering.

The output is tapped back into the switching circuit. For safety reasons, the output circuitry is not directly connected to the input circuitry. That is, there's no PCB trace or wire connecting the two. To get around this, this power supply uses an isolating transformer. In other power supplies, they may use what is called an optocoupler. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opto-isolator)

Step 7 – Convert and regulate

Since only 12V is created from the main transformer, DC-to-DC converters are used to create the 5V and 3.3V. Regulators help keep voltages as stable as possible. The following images show the output of these lines. The output wires are very thick because they have to support a lot of current.

08-12v And 3v Outputs

The 12V and 3.3V lines come out here.

09-5v And 3v Outputs

The 5V line comes out here.

10-main Output

All of those wires lead into the main distributor PCB. Nothing fancy going on here.

You may have noticed there were two 12V lines coming out of the output (noted by the label "12V2" on the PCB). This would imply that this particular power supply has two 12V rails, most likely distributed between the main 24-pin connector and EPS12V connector for one rail with the peripherals, including the PCI Express connector, for the other.

Putting it all together: It takes a lot to convert electricity

For the seemingly simple task of converting electricity, the power supply goes through more than a few steps to ensure the safe, correct electricity plugs into your components. While this article scratches the surface of its inner workings, we hope the information gives a better appreciation of an often overlooked part.
Posted by Shri Krishna
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