All Posts by Stradden

Some DS highlights include:

• Over 1000 new items to wield wear and use.
• Many new and exciting creatures, quests and areas.
• 5 new inventory slots for boots, rings, capes and necklaces.
• Support for 2-handed weapons.
• New starting area for new players. New players can also play in this area for FREE!
• New Boss Creatures.
• Enhanced creature AI.
• New spell casting system with over 80 new spells!
• A complete one-time 'Orb Reset' is available for existing users.

Absolutely jaw dropping visual and acoustical journey of EVE Online. If you liked the last ZOND3 trailer then get ready to be blown away in this mammoth. The fresh soundtrack is by JunkieXL. So we hope you like the trailer. As always, ALL SCENES were captured from actual gameplay.

Often in the Central Wastelands the best way to obtain necessities is to acquire them by force. Because resources are so scarce, drivers must exploit whatever they can find – salvaged materials, people, even garbage. These resources can be the goal of a dangerous mission, the remains of a destroyed opponent, or even a stolen item. Once acquired, this “loot” can be safely stored in storage lockers or sold in cities through a variety of vendors – and those trained in the crafting process can choose to refine them into better materials, as well as use them to build unique pieces of equipment. Many enemies in the wastelands also happen to carry hard currency or an equivalent, making their demise all the more profitable.

Unfortunately, most of the enemies and contaminated creatures that populate the Central Wastelands are understandably reluctant to give up their property without a serious fight. This is why many vehicles cruising down the highways bristle with both offensive weapons and a variety of defensive measures. Opposing vehicles usually carry more interesting items than standard currency, but destruction of these vehicles is required before acquiring anything of value. Vehicles aren't the only place to look for loot - various types of infantry must carry their items and currency, and are valid targets of opportunity at any time (although the large groups of advanced infantry can be extremely dangerous).

Of course, there are plenty of other ways to acquire items without attacking something that happens to be speeding toward (or away) from you. The various materials that make up the many buildings and structures in the wastelands can also provide value and help pad one's pocketbook. Once destroyed, scanning the remains for retrieval will be easy for an expert driver. In a similar vein, drivers may refine their targeting skills on semi-intelligent animals and plant life in the area, immediately harvest the remains and other salvageable items – and then decide whether to keep the spoils, or exchange them for currency. Certain classes are also able to use their skills to mine otherwise useless rubble for valuable resources.

LucasArts and SOE Provide More Details on the Release of Star Wars Galaxies:Trials of Obi-Wan

LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment today announced pricing and other details for Star Wars Galaxies: Trials of Obi-Wan, their digital download only expansion due out on November 1. Set on the Episode III planet of Mustafar and including missions delivered by the spirit of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Trials of Obi-Wan will be available for pre-order beginning September 26th for $29.99. All who pre-order will get access to Trials of Obi-Wan on October 25 (a full week before its official release!), as well as an exclusive Transport skiff never before seen in Star Wars Galaxies – the first eight-person vehicle ever featured in the game!

With the Episode 2 in the hands of Test, the team is progressively shifting its attention to the development of the Outposts (Chapter III). So it's time to unleash details on the Outposts battle concept, which is a bit different from what you have been used to see in other MMOs - it's turn based!

Headlines

• The Desert of Flames expansion pack is here!
• The long-awaited combat changes are upon us!
• View your faction standing and character details with the improved Persona window!
• Guilds no longer rely on patrons, so all members can contribute!
• Is your wood elf ready to tie the knot, or are you just tired of your surname? Now you can change your last name!
• Aquatic creatures have been banished from the land!
• Group experience debt has been removed!
• Encounter locking restrictions have been relaxed.
• You can now resurrect players that are outside of your group!
• Roleplayers rejoice! You can now use a ` or ' in your last name!
• Sort your Knowledge book by name, level, or category!
• Challenge other players with the new dueling system!
• Share items with guildmates using the new guild vault!

In the last few days following last week's patch, we have been made aware of problems affecting the siege mechanics and the times that they can be set to go Live at.

After thoroughly investigating the issue, with the help of Shadowbane players and the feedback you have provided, it has been decided that until this issue is corrected, sieging will be put on hiatus.

In other words, starting today and until these problems are fully resolved, the Shadowbane Customer Care Representative (CCR) team will be removing every bane circle found on all three production game servers; Redemption, Wrath and Mourning.

Any siege assets found near the bane circle and belonging to the same nation that placed the bane circle will also be removed, each structure and hireling, reimbursed to its owner in the form of deeds and contracts. As for the bane circle itself, please have your guild leader send a petition requesting the bane circle scroll back regardless of who in the guild (guild leader or not) placed it. Every removed bane circle will be thoroughly documented so please include the following information in your petition when requesting a bane circle reimbursement to allow us to more easily link your request with a bane circle we removed and documented:

1. The name of your guild
2. The name of your guild's leader
3. The Nation you are attached to (if any)
4. The name of the guild owning the previously baned city (defending guild)
5. The rank of the bane circle scroll at the time of placement

We ask that you do not place a bane circle on any city until the problem is patched and this procedure is no longer in effect. In order to spread the word to all the players and specifically those that do not frequently read patch notes and/or visit the website and forums, please inform your guild of these temporary measures to avoid purchasing and placing a bane circle in vain.

We hope to have this issue resolved within a reasonable time frame. While this temporary solution is less than ideal, we feel that it needs to be implemented to ensure a fair environment for our player base.

Once more, we appreciate your continued patience and understanding.

Generally speaking, the teaching side of Underlight is going very well. There are always trouble areas, but that's the nature of this very "human" system. Fortunately the system itself is dynamic enough to address various concerns for various times. Roughly two months ago we identified some current concerns players were having, researched the details, and began to act on these concerns. We decided to do this in game as much as possible.

We knew there was a concern that the teachers in-game had become rather inactive as far as taking care of the needs of their students. So we set about, through tasking, discussions, and guidance, to get teachers active again. Right now there are at least 4 of the older more experienced teachers holding classes that relate to various aspect of teaching. These meetings are well attended and are going great.

Also, we encouraged the teachers to work together helping newlies or low sphered players. There are at least two different groups of teachers that have agreed to task any that come to them. They honor tasks given by each other. For example, if one of them receives a task request that they can't do (i.e. wrong focus, art level too low etc). then they know that one of their group members can honor the task. They proceed to give the student a task telling them that X-teacher will honor it once they have reported it or they send the student to the teacher within their group that can task them. 

Another group formed as a result of Dynae's encouragement to target the Gatekeepers that need teaching/tasking. This is group not only includes GKs but other foci. It's going well.

Overall, the player teachers are very active now and taking care of the needs of the students in the City. The teaching Elders are available and for the most part the requests that we get are for high level art plats and high level sphere tasks. The player teachers are taking care of the rest. This particular spread is for the most part an optimal situation, and makes the best of the resources we have. We have noticed that these steps are working. Kudos to all of the teachers out there! To all dreamers, don't forget to give props to a teacher every once in a while, because karma can good, and it can sure be a bitch.

Inspired by the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, each member of the Dynasty Warriors guild bears a name from this classic saga. Formed over two years ago, this online gaming community adheres to a code of honor emphasizing respect toward their fellow gamers and good sportsmanship. Though unified by their theme of Chinese history, the Dynasty Warriors guild plays host to a variety of players, predominantly from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

The Dynasty Warriors first discovered Guild Wars during the E3 for Everyone event held in May of 2004. After the initial positive reaction, more of the guild’s members came into the game during the World Preview Event, after which it was decided that the guild would host a competitive division for Guild Wars.

Unlike many guilds, DW caters both to those who enjoy the cooperative aspect of gaming and those who favor competitive play. When participating in cooperative play, the guild primarily focuses on ensuring that its members have fun—sometimes intentionally accruing the maximum Death Penalty before attempting difficult explorable areas in order to make them more challenging. DW’s competitive players also enjoy a good challenge, and during the final BWE in April, the Dynasty Warriors finished in a top-ranking ladder position, and received an in-game PvP template character bearing their name.

The Shadowbane Team is proud to announce that on Monday, September 19th, 2005, the first Shadowbane Loreplay Server will be launched! Shadowbane, a massively multiplayer online game known for its intense player-vs.-player conflict and real-time strategy elements, is one of the few massively multiplayer online games that let players actually change the world. Vindication, the name of the first server to use the loreplay ruleset, will be the first server to regulate players' strategic options, limiting the types of characters that can join the various Faction-based Guilds, who may cast beneficial and peaceful powers on each other, and who may even group together. These may seem like harsh restrictions, but these game elements have been requested by a large segment of Shadowbane’s community for some time. For the first time, individual guilds will face limits in their power and abilities, and be forced to make strategic decisions to maximize their effectiveness on the battlefield. Shadowbane has long been acclaimed for its rich backstory and in-game history, and the Loreplay Ruleset will create a rich play environment that better mirrors the factionalized fiction. Many players will finally experience Shadowbane as they originally imagined the game would be. Combined with the Realm and kingship system introduced in Shadowbane’s last expansion, Throne of Oblivion, players can now for the first time ever wage war to see which of which of Shadowbane’s myriad factions is truly the greatest! Who will be able to forge an empire and crush their enemies: the Temple of Cleansing Flame? The High Court of the Elves? The Centaur Cohort? Or will the conquerors be one of more than a dozen other factions? Only time, and the players, can tell!

"Salutations! I, Bokkle, humble tinker and Gnomeregan exile, have come to you with wondrous news! My fellow lovers of lore and spinners of stories, we need wait no longer to find a new home; the path is open to a grand new experience not yet seen in Azeroth! Come, my friends, and rejoice! Let us celebr-eeeeerk!" The troll set his spear aside and looked down upon the tiny, prone body. "Heh. Dat gnome be chattin' so loud, he not see us comin'." "Heh." A cold smirk came to the Orc's scarred face. "The little chatterbox forgot to watch his back. No magic protects the foolish in these lands. Be on your guard -- enemies could be anywhere!"

The RP-PvP realms are live and available for play! Are you a loremonger seeking gameplay with a little more bite? Look no further! Join Emerald Dream or Maelstrom and defend the realm against your enemies!

If you're not a role player and are still looking for a good home for PvP action, we suggest Gurubashi and Smolderthorn. Charge into the fray and battle; make your mark on Azeroth!

MYTHIC RELEASES NEW EPIC ARMOR QUESTS FOR
DARK AGE OF CAMELOT

FAIRFAX, VA - September 13, 2005 - Mythic Entertainment, developer and publisher of massively-multiplayer online games, today released patch 1.79 for Dark Age of Camelot and introduced all-new Epic Quests that reward players with redesigned Epic Armor.

Players will be able to obtain these new Epic Quests at regular intervals, beginning at level five, as they are called upon to regain long lost treasures and defend their Realms from dire threat. Initially these are individual, class-specific quests but they become more cooperative in nature at higher levels with all players within a Realm sharing a common final quest.

The patch introduces new dungeons created specifically for these Epic Quests and makes extensive use of Mythic's instancing technology to allow players to complete higher level quests without having to wait for monster spawns. The quests encourage players to work together to accomplish their common goals and offers them an opportunity to learn more about the history and lore of their Realm.

For full patch details, please visit the Camelot Herald.

Server will be down between 09/1