MMOGaming News

MMOGaming News


GW2 – Tournament PvP Guide: The Keep Is Lost!

Posted:

GW2 – Tournament PvP Guide: The Keep Is Lost!


Structured PvP in Guild Wars 2 is like a whole different game within it. It has its own rules and idea's and to be good at sPvP you need to know quite a lot; with the help of GG.Livewire we have written this guide to help you figure out the basics of Tournament PvP!

Ragnarok Online 2 Updates With A Colosseum

Posted:

Ragnarok Online 2 Updates With A Colosseum


Why settle for PvP or PvE when you can have a mixture of both, Colosseum-style? Ragnarok Online 2: Legend of the Second will be getting an update early next week that introduces a Colosseum where players will engage other players as well as monsters simultaneously. Besides the chance to earn a last-man-standing trophy from besting the entire field, participants can earn PvP points to use for purchasing PvP gear. Check out a preview of the Colosseum in the video after the break.

[Tokyo Game Show 2012] Phantasy Star Online 2's New Trailers for All Platforms

Posted:

[Tokyo Game Show 2012] Phantasy Star Online 2's New Trailers for All Platforms


Over at Tokyo Game Show 2012, SEGA revealed 3 new trailers for Phantasy Star Online 2. Currently in its commercial stage in Japan for the PC system, the PS Vita version, coming 2013, will sync with it (players on PC and PS Vita share the same server). The PC English client will arrive in Spring 2013.

Fierce Argument about DC & DC II when OBT to Come

Posted:

Fierce Argument about DC & DC II when OBT to Come


With the "yay" speedy release of Dragon's Call II, when some veteran players of Dragon's Call are still living under a rock, DC II Open Beta Test is even slated to be launched on 22:00 Sept.25th (EDT), after this period of successful Closed Beta Test, game adjusted, bugs fixed and system improved, owed a lot to the enthusiastic participation by loyal players of DC, growing up with the official.

MMORPG Reviews

MMORPG Reviews


Enjoy this exclusive interview about Guild Wars 2

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 10:12 AM PDT

Enjoy this exclusive interview about Guild Wars 2. Thanks for giving us the possibility to interview you about Guild Wars 2. First of all, could you introduce yourself to our readers? Matt Wuerffel: My name is Matt Wuerffel, and I'm a game designer here at ArenaNet. I'm a content designer, which means I work on [...]

Knight Age has announced its first update

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 09:10 AM PDT

Knight Age has announced its first update, that is going to arrive on September 25. One of the most important things that comes with this update are the new Pupa Bosses, special pets that may only be obtained by defeating certain bosses, and looks just like them. Starting September 25 players are going to be able [...]

SG Interactive has launched Grand Chase: Rebirth

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:11 AM PDT

SG Interactive has launched Grand Chase: Rebirth, the fifth season of the game. Rebirth comes with 3 new designs for the game characters Elesis, Lire and Arme, a fourth skill for each character job, and improvements to the existing user and character creation interface with increased resolutions, and optimized graphical icons. The dungeon interface has [...]

RaiderZ open beta will begin on October 24

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 06:15 AM PDT

RaiderZ has announced that its open beta will begin on October 24. To celebrate the arrival of this open beta, Perfect World has put for sale the RaiderZ Founder’s Pack. This pack contains many unique items to use in the game and the pack Elite version also includes access to the closed beta of Neverwinter. [...]

Cross Fire presents the new addition to its zombie mode: “the Crater”

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 05:17 AM PDT

Cross Fire has introduced a new addition to its zombie mode: “the Crater“. In the Crater players will find a hidden underground military laboratory now exposed to the Chicago city streets thanks to a devastating explosion, and where gamers are going to fight against waves of reanimated soldiers, genetic mutations, military experiments, and even a new [...]

Brick Force has released a update full of new features

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 03:36 AM PDT

Brick Force has released a new update that comes loaded with new features, objects, and changes to the game. For example, the update brings changes to the mode “Build and Destroy” now giving the possibility to build and shoot at the same time. Moreover the new “Defense” mode, new dayly missions, and new rewards in [...]

Exclusive review of Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Online

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:58 AM PDT

We had the chance to play Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online from Ubisoft, the newest title in the Ghost Recon series that is currently going through open beta. Most console gamers will be familiar with the series, however Ghost Recon Online is currently only scheduled for release on the PC, and whilst in June 2011 [...]

District 187 celebrates a new event named Play and Win

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 01:39 AM PDT

CJ Games Global has beginned a new event named Play and Win for the MMOFPS District 187. The event reward the players of its closed beta with a trip to the New York Comic Con 2012, a Gaming set which includes helmet, mouse and keyboard, and Gear Packs which includes t-shirts among other things. The [...]


General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article


Daily Deals 9/21/12: Dell Slim Laptop $400, iPad 3rd Gen $399, and More

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:52 PM PDT

dell

logic buy

Top Deal:

If you're looking for a 14" laptop to do some photo editing, today's top deal is right up your alley. Dell's Inspiron 14z Slim 14" Core i3 Aluminum Laptop and Adobe's Elements 9 Bundle are on sale for $399.99 (with free shipping). Considering the package is normally $499.99, that's a solid deal. To snatch it up yourself, use $100 coupon code $0XXM1GP5QSND3.  

Computing Hardware & Peripherals:

Apple iPad 3rd Generation 16GB (refurbished) for $399 with free shipping (normally $499 new or $450 refurbished).

Pivos AIOS Full HD Gigabit Media Center (PTGMCART35-US) for $49.99 with free shipping at NewEgg (normally $100).

Kingston HyperX 3K 2.5" 240GB SATA 6GB/s SSD (SH103S3/240G) for $149.99 with free shipping (normally $199.99).

OCZ Synapse Cache 2.5" 64GB SSD (SYN-25SAT3-64G) for $33.99 with free shipping (normally $60 - use coupon code: HARDOCPX919A).

Blueprints: The Maximum PC Recommended Builds (September 2012)

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:38 AM PDT

NeweggWhat time is it? Blueprints time! We've built three rigs at three approximate price points: Baseline, Performance, and, because you asked for it, Budget. Baseline gets you a powerful, no-compromises rig, suitable for gaming and content creation at 1080p. Performance gets you more, and Budget is for those who want to be frugal. 

These rigs are lab-tested and editor-approved, and we'll update them every month. Feedback is, of course, welcome. Tell us what you think!

Blueprints is sponsored by NewEgg.com. All parts selections are made by MaximumPC editors.

Note: Updated 9.21.2012 with the builds from the November 2012 magazine issue.

Baseline

 

An unlocked Ivy Bridge quad-core and a kick-ass midrange GPU power this lean, no-compromises gaming PC. Thanks to falling HDD and SSD prices, we're able to get both speed and capacity. On the video side, we were torn this month between the Radeon HD 7850, which has dropped to around $220, the 7870 GHz Edition, which is around $290, and the new GeForce GTX 660 Ti, which outperforms the 7870 GHz Edition in most tests and is $310. We settled on the 660 Ti, but it's a close one: The 7870 GHz Edition and the 7950 would also be good picks.

Baseline
baseline

Approximate Price: $1,330

Performance

For the performance machine, it's a hard choice between the Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K and the Sandy Bridge-E Core i7-3820. Both are quad-core CPUs with HyperThreading, but Sandy Bridge-E gives you more of an upgrade path: Ivy Bridge-E will come out next year, and there are always six-core Sandy Bridge-E processors. Depending on your needs, either would be a good choice. Either way, you get plenty of overclocking headroom, a kick-ass GPU, 16GB of DDR3, a Blu-ray burner, SSD, 3TB hard drive, and a sleek case with plenty of expansion opportunities, all for under $1,900.

Performance
performance
Approximate Price: $1,870

Budget

Budget Rosewill 218

So let it be written, so let it be done! We promised you a sub-$1,000 budget machine to alternate with our $3,000-plus Ultra configuration, and here it is! Our Budget box is the machine we need, not the machine we deserve. It has an inexpensive, overclockable Phenom II X4 chip and a modern motherboard that supports USB 3.0 and 6Gb/s SATA—albeit with only one x16 PCIe slot. For just over $600, we don't get a fancy SSD, classy chassis, or a Blu-ray drive, but at least we have a 1TB 7,200rpm boot drive, 4GB of RAM, and a modern DirectX 11 GPU, the Radeon HD 7770. If you have a little more scratch, you can easily swap the Phenom II CPU for a faster Bulldozer or "Vishera" chip when that comes out, get a faster GPU, expand your RAM, get an aftermarket cooler for overclocking, or a fancier case and beefier PSU—whatever your heart desires. But this Budget box is enough to get you started with enthusiast computing without dipping into your college fund.

Budget 
budget
Approximate Price: $610

Verizon CFO Strips 'Unlimited' of Any Meaning, Says It's "Just a Word"

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 11:23 AM PDT

Verizon Wireless StoreWhether you camped out in line and picked up an iPhone 5 this morning or upgraded to a Samsung Galaxy S III instead (or any other smartphone), the stakes are the same for Verizon Wireless customers. In order to qualify for that sweet subsidiary pricing, you have to upchuck your grandfathered unlimited data plan and swallow a relatively new Share Everything plan. But hey, don't worry about it, because as Verizon's Chief Financial Officer explains, "Unlimited is just a word; it doesn't really mean anything."

Um, actually it does. We double-checked with Merriam-Webster just to make sure, and sure enough, it's in there with not one, but three definitions. One of them defines unlimited as "boundless, infinite."

It's not totally fair to take Fran Shammo's statement literally, but no matter how you slice it, it's a poor choice of words on a sensitive topic. The trend in wireless is, for the most part, away from unlimited data plans and towards shared caps. At least that's what AT&T and Verizon have done.

Shammo's statement came during a Goldman Sachs conference in New York (you can view the webcast or read a PDF transcript on Verizon's website), and what he was trying to convey is how popular his company's Share Everything plans have become.

"We have more people going to shared than we actually anticipated. Adn the thing that really surprised us is we have a lot of people coming off unlimited to go to shared," Shammo said. "So what customers are understanding and through our good sales routine is once you explain to a customer their usage on a monthly basis, unlimited is just a word, it doesn't really mean anything and that people don't really -- I think a lot of consumers think they consume a lot more data than they really do. So that whole unlimited thing I thing I think is going by the wayside and they see the benefit of going to the shared."

His comments make more sense when put into context, but at the same time, he fails to mention that customers don't have a choice in the matter when upgrading. Not a good choice, anyway. If you were to pick up the new iPhone 5, for example, you could keep your existing unlimited data plan, but only if you pay full price for the handset ($649 for the 16GB model). If you want the subsidized pricing ($199 for 16GB), you have to commit to two years of Share Everything. In that way, the numbers are surely skewed.

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Details Emerge on Nvidia's GeForce GTX 650 Ti, Could Launch Next Month

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 10:34 AM PDT

Nvidia Graphics CardIf you fancy yourself an Nvidia fan, you might be feeling left out of the online water cooler chatter and wondering what the flip is going on with all the recent AMD graphics card leaks, including the mid-range 8870 and 8850 parts, and high-end 8970. Lest anyone think we're playing favorites, we're just the messenger (so don't shoot!), and you'll be happy to know that we have some info on Nvidia's upcoming GeForce GTX 650 Ti hardware.

We've rounded up the rumored info that's floating around the Web, and here's the gist of it. The GTX 650 Ti is being built around Nvidia's GK106 GPU, which is a 28nm slice of silicon that, in this instance, has an entire Graphics Processing Core (GPC) disabled, effectively reducing the CUDA core count to 576 (down from 970 on the GTX 660).

The TMU (Texture Mapping Unit) count is reduced to 48 (from 80), and ROPs will be the same as the GTX 660 (24). There's some conflicting information about the size of the memory bus. Some sites are reporting 192-bit, while others are saying it will be 128-bit. Finally, look for for the GPU to run at 960MHz (base, with no boost) and the memory at 1,350MHz (5,400MHz effective).

Nvidia Graphics Card Fan

Based on what we've read, the GTX 650 Ti is (unofficially) scheduled to launch on October 9 and expect to retail for around $169 to $189, a price that pits it against AMD's Radeon HD 7850.

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This week's hottest reviews on TechRadar

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:47 AM PDT

iPod touch 5th Generation

We've been working hard on our ultra in-depth iPhone 5 review and will have you something to read on that very very soon. But in the meantime, check out all the other awesome gear we've been playing with in the last seven days!

Hands on: iPod touch 5th Generation review

It's been a couple of years since we saw a new iPod touch. The smartphone invasion, combined with the success of Spotify and other streaming services has very much put a stop to the popularity of dedicated music players. But that hasn't stopped Apple refreshing both the iPod touch, which now comes in multiple colours, and the iPod nano.

The touch we have here packs the same A5 dual-core chip as we've seen in the iPhone 4S which means it's faster and much more graphically capable than previous models. It's definitely a worthy upgrade for owners of previous iPod touch models that want to take full advantage of iOS 6's new features. Apple's fifth-gen iPod touch can be preordered at www.apple.com: $299 (249) for 32GB and $399 (£329) for 64GB, and it ships in October.

Hands on: Canon EOS 6D review

Hands on: Canon EOS 6D review

All things considered, the Canon EOS 6D looks like a pretty decent DSLR, with the Wi-Fi and GPS technology being nice bonuses for the average photographer. At 20.2MP, the resolution is not a great deal more than that offered by Canon's APS-C format DSLRs, but there should be a significant image quality advantage. You'll also be happy that the Canon EOS 6D uses SD format cards rather than CF, but we wonder whether this could be a limiting factor for video shooting.

Priced at £1,799/$2,099 body only or £2,519.99/$2,899 with an EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM kit lens, the Canon EOS 6D is appreciably more affordable than the Nikon D600. But the figure still feels a little on the high side for a camera aimed at enthusiast photographers, and many will wait a few months for the price to come down.

Hands on: Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 review

Hands on: Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5

As before, the new Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 is smaller than the Olympus PEN, but bigger than the Olympus PEN Mini E-PM2. The compact system camera also accepts interchangeable grips that are fixed onto the body by a chunky screw, and boasts a touchscreen. Like the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL3 that it replaces, the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 has a tilting screen, but this 3-inch device is now touch-sensitive. The touch sensitivity doesn't extend to making menu selections, but it functions with the Live Guide that helps novices change settings.

The Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5's interchangeable grips are an option we have seen before with the Olympus PEN, and its a great idea that enables you to find the grip that suits you. This, and the tilting LCD screen, makes the Olympus PEN Lite E-PL5 a more versatile camera.

LG Optimus G review

Hands on: LG Optimus G review

Is the LG Optimus G the phone of the year? It's too early to say, for a number of reasons: the first being that we won't see it in the US until later in 2012 and may never see it on European shores at all. Then there's the issue of price, or lack of one. While LG usually undercuts its competitors, it will need to do so pretty strongly here to make sure it stands out of the throng of top-end smartphones available today.

It's a well-designed handset with plenty of interesting features we can't wait to get our teeth into, as well as more grunt than most other phones out there. We're not sure it will be the phone to propel LG back to the front (there needs to be a phone that takes the user by surprise with a new UI or fantastic design to achieve that) but it's one of the best the Lucky Group have come up with in a long while.

HTC Windows Phone 8X review

Hands on: HTC Windows Phone 8X review

What we can say so far is that we're fans of the new design HTC has brought to the table, and as long as the on-screen performance matches the quality of the body, the HTC Windows Phone 8X is shaping up to be quite a device.

Cameras

Hands on: Sony Alpha a99 review

Hands on: Sony NEX-6 review

Hands on: Panasonic GH3 review

Hands on: Fuji X-F1 review

Hands on: Olympus XZ-2 review

Hands on: Olympus PEN Mini E-PM2 review

Hands on: Canon PowerShot S110 review

Hands on: Canon PowerShot SX50 HS review

Hands on: Nikon P7700 review

Hands on: Canon PowerShot G15 review

Disk Drives

Neutron GTX 240GB review

Plextor M5 Pro 128GB review

Graphics Cards

EVGA Geforce GTX 660 review

Gigabyte GTX 660 Ti Superclocked review

Headphones

Apple EarPods review

Mobile phones

Hands on: HTC Windows Phone 8X review

Hands on: HTC Windows Phone 8S review

Hands on: LG Optimus G review

Hands on: Motorola Razr i review

Motherboards

Gigabyte Z77X-UP5TH review

Asus P8Z77-V Premium review

Operating systems

Apple iOS 6 review

Tablets

Hands on: Dell Latitude 10 review

AMD Readies New Flagship Radeon HD 8000 Series Graphics Card

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 08:13 AM PDT

AMD TenerlifeYesterday we told you about a pair of Radeon HD 8000 series graphics cards set to storm the market at competitive price points, with the Radeon HD 8870 expected to rival Nvidia's GeForce GTX 680 for $279, and the 8850 taking on the GTX 670 for $199 (both are expected MSRPs). What about the high end? Fear not, AMD is working on an enthusiast grade 8000 series part, as well.

A leaked slide tipping AMD's next generation "Tenerife" GPU found its way to the Web (funny how that always happens), and it's a beast. As part of AMD's Sea Island based HD 8000 Series, the Tenerife part is a power user card that will dethrone the HD 7970. We'll go ahead and call it HD 8970, with the understanding that this isn't the official name (yet).

The proposed 8970 card is said to have 2,304 Stream Processors, 128 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Clockspeeds are unknown, but it will be capable of more than 4.5 TFLOPS of processing power and 20 percent more compute performance than the current flagship part.

AMD Tenerlife Slide

Other features include 3GB of GDDR5 memory racing along at 6GHz on a 384-bit bus, two mini DisplayPorts, an HDMI port, and DVI connectivity. TPD will be 250W.

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MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com

MMO and SEO News from Gameforumer.com


HP to Debut Envy M4 Notebook, Two Pavilion Sleekbook Ultrathins on October 26

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 02:20 AM PDT

Adding to an already long list of devices that are set to debut on the same day as Windows 8, Hewlett-Packard on Thursday announced the 14-inch HP Envy M4 laptop and a brace of Pavilion "Sleekbooks." Come October 26, these Windows 8 laptops will hit the market with the promise of "great performance and beautiful [...]

ICGC season 4 kicks off this October

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:39 AM PDT

The fourth season of the Indian Cyber Gaming Championship or the ICGC as its more commonly called will take place in Goa this October from the 5th to the 7th. The event is being origanised by Re-Inforcement, part of Nodwin Gaming, and will attempt to highlight and reward the finest gamers all across India. The [...]

Sevencore – New Aimon race trailer released

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:27 AM PDT

First announced in Japan yesterday, the new Aimon race for Sevencore got its own introduction trailer earlier this morning. The signature cute and fluffy playable species for almost all MMORPGs nowadays, Aimon's racial passive allows it to recover 5% of its HP every 5 seconds when out of battle, and the 2nd passive gives it [...]

The Secret World – Tools available to turn game Free-to-Play

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:24 AM PDT

Did Funcom's new CEO, Ole Schreiner, dropped a hint on The Secret World's incoming future? Assuming position sometime early July, the man himself has now spoken of the inevitable, with Age of Conan used as an example as well in his latest interview over at GameIndustry. Of course, the most significant moment came from: "we [...]

ArcheAge flagging system, piracy options explained

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:23 AM PDT

So you wanna be a pirate in ArcheAge? It’s doable according to a translated post on the ArcheAge Source fan forum. The game’s PvP implementation features a familiar “red” flagging system for outlaw players. Killing (or stealing from) your fellow players will result in bad karma. When your meter gets to 3,000, you’re a red, [...]

Chinese MMO market gravitating toward hardcore and competitive titles

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:18 AM PDT

China has something of a reputation in the online gaming world as the land of many MMOs, but it looks like things may be changing soon. Gamasutra reports that a study by Niko Partners, an Asian game-market analytics firm, shows that “Chinese players are showing an increased demand for hardcore browser-based web games.” According to [...]

Continent of the Ninth – Korean server closure announced

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:15 AM PDT

The Korean server for Continent of the Ninth (C9), published by Hangame, has announced its closure on 18th October next month. This comes after "operating and publishing problems" caused the game to continually lose its user base. Webzen has also confirmed Continent of the Ninth will be hosted by them instead, with promises of a [...]

Free for All: Dragon Nest’s Boswell discusses birthdays, rental items

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:11 AM PDT

I first got my grubby gamer paws on Dragon Nest at E3 2011. I stood in line to take my turn asking the devs questions, said no to an offer for free booze (it was early, after all!), and was thrown into an impromptu team with another writer who obviously had no single idea about [...]

Aion 4.0 – Silhouettes of 3 brand new classes teased

Posted: 21 Sep 2012 12:07 AM PDT

A couple of weeks ago, news was first released about Aion 4.0 getting 3 brand new classes, which is a joyous news as some were afraid the game getting left behind due to the incoming Blade & Soul. Today, 3 mysterious silhouettes surfaced of the 3 classes, with a couple wielding pretty unconventional weapons (a [...]

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