Thursday, December 21, 2006
Dungeons and Dragons Online News
Release Notes: December 20th
Spawn of Whisperdoom
The Splinterskull Treasures were moved and re-hidden. Players will now need to do more searching in order to find them and some of the treasures may be more difficult to find than before. A balanced, skillful party will have the best luck finding them and the risk associated with their retrieval will better reflect the rewards.
Ungurz Lieutenant will no longer freeze up and stop responding to players after a certain number of interactions.
Rewards for finding Splinterskull Battle Standard, Splinterskull Historical Documents, and the Silver Goblet have been reduced.
Known Issue: The Optional Objective of finding the Standard, the Documents, and the Goblet will often not check off. While you will still be able to get the loot reward for completing this objective, you will not get the XP reward.
Please Note: You need to complete all of the required objectives before you will be able to enter the Lair. The DM text explaining this is currently broken and will be fixed in an upcoming update.
All loot, including Festival Coins will now autostack.
In our last Update, we fixed the pillars in the Titan encounter so that he could no longer get stuck on them. In this hotifx, we are now fixing the Titan so that he knows he can’t get stuck on the pillars. He might still climb onto the pillars, but he should now be able to get back off them again.
Guild Wars News
Screenshot Caption Competition #30
Welcome to Screenshot Caption Competition #30!
You are welcome to submit captions for the screenshot untill Sunday, when we’ll post the best five so you can vote on who should be the winner!
Please take the time to vote on the finalists from last week here.
The winner gets their name and caption immortalised forever in the GW Ogaming Gallery!
Also, if you would like to submit a screenshot to be used in the caption competition, simply Send Eolen Whitefist a PM with your screenshot or E-mail your screenshot!
Here is the Screenshot, please use the official news thread to submit a caption.
Dungeons and Dragons Online News
Database Update: A Variety of Info
Updated Bestiary : Ak’xan Varma - Calar Xal’vak - Darkfang Hunter - Death Stalker - Drow Bard - Drow Disciple - Drow Guardian - Drow Hunter - Drow Man-at-Arms - Drow Priest - Drow Warrior - Drow Wizard - Drow Scorpion Rogue - Drow Scorpion Wizard - Kas’san Gan’ra - Takk Ur’Ros - The Venerated
New Spells: Lesser Glaciation IV - Lesser Glaciation V - Glaciation IV - Glaciation V - Improved Glaciation IV - Improved Glaciation V - Greater Glaciation I - Greater Glaciation II - Greater Glaciation III - Greater Glaciation IV - Greater Glaciation V - Superior Glaciation I - Superior Glaciation II - Superior Glaciation III - Superior Glaciation IV - Superior Glaciation V - Spark IV - Spark V - Lesser Spark IV - Lesser Spark V - Improved Spark IV - Improved Spark V - Greater Spark I - Greater Spark II - Greater Spark III - Greater Spark IV - Greater Spark V - Superior Spark I - Superior Spark II - Superior Spark III - Superior Spark IV - Superior Spark V
Updated Quests: Faithful Departed
New Zones : Tomb of the Ancients
Dungeons and Dragons Online News
Rescheduled Downtime
Downtime, Wednesday December 20th, 7:00 am until 2:00 pm EST
The servers and the billing website will be down on Wednesday December 20th from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm EST for maintenance and a Hotfix. Release Notes will be forthcoming. This downtime replaces the original downtime scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday the 19th.
Online Gaming Radio
Tune into EQ2’s-Day this Tuesday from 3-6pm Pacific for a fun filled adventure with your hosts Akira and Dellmon.
The holiday season is knocking on our doors already as we prepare to do our yearly wishing. As we have done in the past, the week before frostfell’s peak we host a topic about all the different features and goodies you would like to see implemented into Everquest 2.
We go over everything from expansion packs, to individual items, to different services we would like to see offered. But its not just us the hosts wishing! We scrounge up everything we can get, from all players abroad, to give you the most diverse idea’s out there. If we don’t even think a feature could work, we talk about it and tweak/cut it until we can make it sound viable for our Everquest 2 Environment.
Voyage Century : Interview with Daniel Lin
Staff Writer Carolyn Koh took the opportunity to talk to Daniel Lin, the Manager of Overseas Marketing for Voyage Century, about the upcoming Pirate-MMO from IGG.
MMORPG.com: We understand that Voyage Century is a 3D Nautical MMORPG set in the 15th to 18th century. Is it geographically contained or does it span the world?
Daniel Lin: Voyage Century combine the information about the history and geography relating to the voyage in the century of 15–18 and form a side of history spanning 300 years. Voyage Century will make the players feel the real geography and create all kinds of histories in the game. There are two spatial proportions: real proportion of the city scene and the sea battle. Furthermore, the sea map in the earth which is minimized by the virtual time in the game.
The full Q&A is here.
Community Spotlight
This week, Jon Wood returns with a new Community Spotlight. In this edition of the weekly feature, Wood discusses the idea of solo content in MMORPGs.
“I keep reading posts where people complain that they can’t solo their way through MMOs. Now I wonder, what is the motivation for someone to play a MMO, if he or she does not like to group and socialize with other people? Don’t offline-RPGs offer a better experience for this kind of playstyle? Maybe someone can enlighten me… ”
It’s a fair question. A “massive multiplayer” game has two prerequisites. It must be big, and it has to have multiple players. So, there really is an apparent logic-gap when someone tells you that they will not play an MMORPG if they can not solo their way through the game’s content.
Runescape : Secondary Market Prohibited
The folks over at Runescape have sent out a reminder that trading real-world money for Runescape items or gold is strictly prohibited.
As the festive season quickly approaches, we would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that purchasing in-game items or RuneScape gold for real money is completely against the rules and strongly discouraged.
For the safety of players’ accounts, it is very important that well-meaning parents who may think that this would be a nice Christmas present, are aware that any accounts involved run a very high risk of being banned. As such, please do not accept or give away any gift of this kind.
To help spread that Christmas joy, try to find a more suitable present; something that says ‘Merry Christmas’ in a way that no amount of gold pieces or rune armour could ever compare!
If you would like more information on Rule 12: Real World Tradinga,, please see the RuneScape Rules of Conduct.
We would also like to reassure players that we have a very safe way of detecting this (by tracking back to known real-world traders). We DONT just look for unbalanced trades! So there is no need to worry about being banned unfairly. We are extremely cautious to avoid that, and are aware people often lend each other items, etc…
Final Fantasy XI : 7,700 Suspended or Banned
The folks over at Final Fantasy XI have announced that they have suspended or banned over 7,700 accounts for various violations of game’s user agreement.
Over 7,700 accounts in violation of the FINAL FANTASY XI user agreement were suspended or banned today. These accounts belonged to users that engaged in RMT activities or made use of third-party tools or “cheats”.
Click here for details.
Xiah : Manual Patch
The folks over at Xiah have released a new manual patch for their game.
Dear user
Here is a manual patch below. Please, download and install it if you can play Xiah after the maintenance.
Manual PatchThanks
Xiah support team
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Shot Online : Second Guild Tournament
Shot Online has announced its second Guild Tournament. The tournament will be held from today, December 19th until January 8th.
Shot-Online announces 2nd Guild Tournament
San Jose, CA December 19th, 2006 - Shot-Online announced today that it is hosting the 2nd Guild Tournament. Players that participate will have a chance at winning real cash prizes and rare items. The tournament will be held from 12/19/06 (00:00AM) until 01/08/06 (11:59 PM) Current Server Time.
Unlike other Shot-Online tournaments, the 2nd SO Guild Tournament will extend all courses to be designated courses. The guilds with the highest averages will be awarded the following prizes. The average will be calculated by taking the total number of guild points and dividing it by the maximum number of members allowed in that in that guild class.
Tournament Prizes are:
1st Place - $1,200 (US)
2nd Place - $600 (US)
3rd Place - 5,000 Cyber Cash
Lucky Guild - Lucky Box for every member of the Lucky Guild
*One guild will be chosen randomly to be the “Lucky Guild”The Guild Masters from the winning guilds will be given the prizes and have the responsibility to distribute the prizes to their members.
For more information, please visit the 2nd Guild Tournament Page.
EverQuest Online Adventures : New Content and More
Sony Online Entertainment’s EverQuest Online Adventures has annoounced a free 30 day activation program, a new price as well as new player content.
EVERQUEST® ONLINE ADVENTURES™ SPREADS HOLIDAY CHEER WITH NEW PLAYER CONTENT, A FREE 30-DAY REACTIVATION PROGRAM AND A NEW LOW PRICE!
WHAT:
In the spirit of the season, Sony Online Entertainment is introducing exciting new holiday content and special offers for fans of EverQuest Online Adventures, the massively multiplayer RPG for the Sony PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. Along with new game content, Sony is offering those that want to rejoin the adventure a chance to come back for a 30-day trial period! Plus, as a final show of goodwill, the game itself will be offered at a special low holiday price of $9.99 in the Sony Station store!
Fans of the series who have not played in awhile will want to take advantage of this chance to explore the new zone, Zaoran Plateau, the Plane of War, while embarking on new quests and encounters for adventurers of all levels. Customize your character’s special abilities and items with new class masteries! Enjoy Level 60 Epic Path Quests that deliver the kind of fast-action excitement and rewards we all love!
For those that want to rejoin the adventure, the 30-day free service period begins as soon as you log in, but you must take advantage of this special offer on or before 11:59 P.M. (PST) January 31, 2007. Making it easy to reconnect with old friends, you do not need to enter payment information to reactivate your account during the free service period.
And, for those who know someone else who craves online entertainment in a world that brings thousands together in the ultimate quest for adventure, give the gift of EQOA Frontiers for only $9.99 between now and January 31st, 2007 at the Station.com store!
Adventurers past, present and future, experience the new fast-action encounters and questing adventures that you have come to love, waiting for you in EQOA!
WHEN:
December 19, 2006
WHERE:
Rejoin the adventure at: EverQuestOnlineAdventures.station.sony.com
Purchase EQOA Frontiers for $9.99 between now and January 31st, 2007 at: http://www.Station.com
WHO:
Sony Online Entertainment LLC (SOE), a recognized worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online games, with hundreds of thousands of subscribers around the globe. SOE creates, develops and provides compelling entertainment for the personal computer, online, game console and wireless markets. Known for its blockbuster franchises and hit titles including EverQuest®, EverQuest® II, Champions of Norrath®, Untold Legends™, and PlanetSide®, as well as for developing Star Wars Galaxies™, SOE continues to redefine the business of online gaming and the creation of active player communities while introducing new genres on various entertainment platforms. Headquartered in San Diego, CA, with additional development studios in Austin, TX, Seattle, WA, Denver, CO, and Taiwan, SOE has an array of cutting-edge games in development. SOE is owned by Sony Pictures Digital and Sony Computer Entertainment America.
Guild Wars : State of the Game
Guild Wars has released a new State of the Game article for our reading enjoyment. This one focuses on proper positioning and movement in groups.
This week’s State of the Game article takes a look at a key component of competitive play: the teamwork and strategy involved in proper positioning and movement for each member of the group. Find general tips, role-specific suggestions, and notes on special situations, as well. Check out the article here.
Voyage Century : Launch Date
Voyage Century has announced that their game will launch on December 22nd. On top of this announcement, it has also been decided that beta players will be allowed to keep their characters.
Voyage Century Online Announces Official Launch Date!
Grab your calendar and mark the date in red! Voyage Century Online, the innovative 16th century nautical online game from Internet Gaming Gate (IGG), announces its official launch date: December 22nd at 12:00 p.m. EST.
And as if this isn’t good news enough, Voyage Century Online promises all beta accounts and characters will not be deleted. In fact, if you want a jump on everyone, you can still sign up as a beta tester here: http://www.voyagecenturyonline.com/beta/.
Voyage Century Online will be forever free, and will feature a live support team 24/7. This means gamers will be able to contact GMs directly. So come explore the world, fight epic battles, pit your wits against traders and pirates, and experience the adventure of 16th century sailing! Voyage Century Online is a ground-breaking massively multiplayer online nautical game. Featuring visually powerful, intense combat and adventure on land and sea, Voyage Century Online is a dream game for armchair captains everywhere. Trade, craft, wage war around the world, even search for buried treasure –Voyage Century offers just about everything imaginable from the 16th century seafaring era. For more information about Voyage Century Online, please visit http://www.voyagecenturyonline.com.
Read more here.
KALOnline : Scenario 3-1
Kal Online has announced update scenario 3-1.
Hello.
This is Kalonline.
We are so pleased to announce that Kalonline updated scenario 3-1 (Destructing key points), which is a part of scenario 3 consisting of ‘Destructing Key Points’, ‘Protecting Leader’, ‘Suffering Valley’., which is a Battle for attacking the enemy’s key points effectively and defending our key points.
Players can enjoy this system during specific time as below.
Battle Progressing Time (Korean Local time)
- Time for Registering Guild : Every SUN/TUE/THU 0:00 ~ 23:59
- Announcing the Selected Guilds : Every MON/WED/FRI 0:00 ~ 1:00
- Applying the Member of Participation : Every MON/WED/FRI 1:00 ~ 19:00
- Time of Battle : Every MON/WED/FRI 20:00 ~ 21:00
MapleSea Game Server Check
MapleSea Currently non-compatible with WinDow Vista
MapleStory is currently non-compatible with Windows Vista. However, due to the influx of Windows Vista users whom have feedback to us about non-compliance issues with regards to the MapleStory game client. With regards to this, Vista compatibility patch will be included on the 24th January 2007. The patch will be intensively beta-tested during this period of time until it has been deemed operational for public release.
MapleSea would like to take this opportunity to apologize for any inconvenience caused throughout the entire beta test period of the new patch.
2006 MMOWTF Awards
Welcome back to the 2006 MMOWTF Awards. Despite threats and plummeting approval ratings, I’m still your host for this weekly jaunt into forbidden territory. This week, we tally up all the votes that you placed and give out some punk cards to the losers in each category. I painstakingly counted each and every post/ballot and finished a mere couple of hours before the forums were the victim of a database failure. Each of the categories will show the game you voted for followed by my choice. Now without further ado, let’s see how you voted:
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes : So You Want to be an MMO Developer
Sigil Entertainment’s Nick Parkinson returns today with part two of his four part series that answers the question: “So You Want to be an MMO Developer”. This week, he looks aat that question from the Programmer’s point of view.
Most development studios work with C++ and maybe some C#. Fortunately, more and more schools (high schools included) are offering beginner courses in various forms of computer programming, C++ included. Take those, see if you like it - it’ll be challenging but if you enjoy it keep going. If you find yourself not liking it at all, it’s probably best to focus on some other area of development as it’s only going to get more intense. advertisement
Getting a well rounded view of programming as a whole though is a good idea too. Look into taking a few beginning computer science courses, maybe even a class or book on Visual Basic or JavaScript. You won’t necessarily be using either of those to develop games but the knowledge base that comes with them will help.
Lord Of the Ring New Screen Shots!
Linkage!
New interview out.
Talking to Gaute Godager ActionTrip got this tid bit:
With Age of Conan, we had all the experience a development studio can gain when making its first MMO, and I think it’s evident when you look at how the game has come along in development. We’re able to experiment a lot more and we’re able to stretch the limits to a much greater degree. That’s what we’re doing with Age of Conan. We’re really setting out to stretch the limits - and even create new ones - of the MMO genre. Much of the reason why we’re able to do this is because of Anarchy Online.
To read the rest of this interview go to the Linkage
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
MAN BELIEVES SONY SHOOTING PEOPLE IS PART OF COMPANY PUBLICITY
several years, he was a top executive at IBM and was the man responsible for
creating the OS/2 operating system. At one time, it was believed that OS/2 would
be the definitive operating system but due to some devious machinations from
Microsoft, Fentweller saw his dreams dashed.
Read More ?
Wii Forecast Channel Now Live
Read More ?
Phil Harrison: “Nobody will ever use 100% of PS3’s capability”
Read More
No MS videos in MS Marketplace?
Read more ?
New Year’s flOw
New Year’s flOw
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Check Out !!
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http://eSeong.Ath.Cx
Saturday, December 09, 2006
GRAW 2 Trailer
View Trailer >>
First images of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
GRAW2 will be released on Xbox 360 , PLAYSTATION 3 , PSP and PC next year. Little else is known about the game, but we do know that the graphics will be better then the previous game and this time it will feature a real time weather system.
View Screenshots >>
Impressions: MotorStorm
Thus far, The game looks gorgeous. The vehicles animate extremely well and tear apart gorgeously in the slow-motion car wrecks. The details around the track are purely next-gen, whether players speed around a sloping ridge to avoid sliding off or burst through temporary walls to access a new shortcut. The camera system borrows a page from Project Gotham Racing 3, allowing the user to see all angles of the race with the right analog stick. Rock music blares in the background, with Nirvana's "Breed" leading the pack. The final soundtrack for the game will include this song and several other fast-paced alternative songs.
What's really cool about MotorStorm is how the racing experience can change with each given vehicle. The first vehicle, a four-wheeled truck, vigorously tackles the road. It handles jumps quite efficiently, although it can easily fly off the handle on a turn if the driver goes too fast. Its physics are very true to form and it packs a great deal of power. This will come in handy when it comes to ramming other vehicles off the road or smashing through objects to discover new paths. The truck also uses a delicate turbo system. Using it properly will allow a driver to get ahead, but if it's used too much, the engine gets fried faster than KFC's chicken.
By the same token, the motorcycle also has its own plusses and minuses. It runs faster than most of the four-wheeled vehicles and can slip through narrow pathways that the larger vehicles cannot fit through. The motorcycle riders can also knock off competing bikers by swinging their fists, ala Electronic Arts' old school racer, Road Rash. However, this small ride has some faults. While fast, it lacks power, so any hope of going through a breakable wall should be quickly discarded. Likewise, the larger vehicles can easily knock a motorcycle off of the course, or come down hard on it after a mid-air jump. It's enough to make you want to get car insurance."
Read Full Preview >>
Our Mega Holiday Giveaway! @ MMorpg.Com
We have partnered up with just about every company we would find to bring you an impressive list of prizes! We have a couple Core 2 Duo processors, an iPod Nano, a speaker system, a nVidia 7900GTX used by CCP in a competition and hundreds of game related prizes!
In addition everyone who enters will receive a $50 mail in rebate offer from ibuypower.com !
This is one contest you will not want to miss out on! CLICK HERE TO ENTER TO WIN!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank our great community, staff and all the companies we work with for helping MMORPG.com to become one of the greatest MMO sites online! Here is to your happy holiday season and a great New Year!
The Matrix Online : MMORPG.com Re-Review
The name of the game is Matrix Online, world of amazing fights and true heroics. Where everyone can be a hero and leap from building to building in a single fluid leap, fight agents with one hand tied behind your back and look stunningly stylish while you do it. The possibilities seem limitless.Or so you would think.
From the movies, comics and animated series, the story of the Matrix world is rich and detailed. The Matrix Online is a continuation from the end of the last movie and finally gives us, the viewer, a chance to be part of the story.
The full review is here.
World of Warcraft : Editorial: Up and Down of End Game
Have you ever played a team sport? Baseball, Basketball? How about doubles tennis? If you have, you know that personal interaction is the most crucial element of teamwork. Communication is key to keeping the relationship between you and your teammates healthy and progressive. Good communication will lead to personal and team growth. Adversely, poor communication will lead to breakdowns of functionality and conflicts of the team's collective interest.
The full editorial is here.
Amnesty @ Tantra Online
All user accounts that have been banned due to Param before November 24, 2006 may submit an appeal for amnesty.
Notice: All applicants will have to top-up using a P350 Tantra Card but the Taney will be consumable, meaning you still have 350 Taney after you top-up. You only have to top-up the card in order to avail of this amnesty.
Applicants must send an e-mail to violations@tantra.com.ph and include the following details:
Username:
Server:
Date of last top-up:All accounts that have been banned AFTER November 24, 2006 are not covered by the Amnesty Program.
For more on Tantra Online click here.
Treasure Chest @ EverQuest II
For more on EQII click here.Sometimes it's hard to find the buried treasures contained within the EverQuest II forums. The Treasure Chest highlights useful, insightful, or entertaining posts that you may want to check out. Get your treasure maps and shovels ready--we're about to discover a Treasure Chest!
- EverQuest II has a bunch of talented artists. This week Akyashaa shares with us some fantastic Fan Art!
- The Norrathian Homeshow showcases the best homes in all of Norrath. This week we feature Alectra's home that's decorated for the Holidays!
- Kick off those old rusty boots, sit for a while by the fire, and listen to a Traveler's Tale. This weeks tale is by Astralmage who shares a tale titled "The Faydwer Chronicles".
The Scribe @ Guild Wars
In a report from the Domain of Anguish battlefront, The Scribe offers a few inside tips on surviving, perhaps even surmounting, this Elite area. In addition, he calls out this weekend's event and gives a nod to several kind players as well. Find it all in Issue Number 26.
For more on Guild Wars click here.
1.87 Notes @ Dark Age of Camelot
Read all of the noNEW THINGS AND BUG FIXES
- Each realm now has a unique bind animation. The animation being used currently is a placeholder which will be replaced later in the patch cycle.
NEW FRONTIERS NOTES
- The storms effect graphics have been optimized and the center part of the storm raised to prevent small races from hiding inside and becoming difficult to target.