All Posts by GFulls

Lord of the Rings Online takes a look at Passive Racial Skills. Players will get some abilities based on the race of character they choose. The short write up on each skill mirrors some of the abilities seen in Middle Earth.

The following are the passive skills a player will begin with based on the race (Elf, Dwarf, Man, or Hobbit) they select.

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Microsoft's Herb Sutter to present the key note address at this year's Online Game Development Conference. The conference will take place in Seattle this upcoming May.

The 2007 Online Game Development Conference (OGDC) underscores its credentialed support for hardcore game developers with the inclusion of Herb Sutter, software architect for Microsoft Corp. Herb will be keynoting the OGDC conference which is focused on the game development community on the first day, May 10th. Mr. Sutter is one of the most well-respected and knowledgeable C++ language experts, with a unique insight into cutting-edge programming techniques.

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Kal Online opens a new scenario. Protecting Leader gets you into the battle area to make sure your leader gets the job done. In opposite to the defense side, you can also try to attack the enemy's leader and stop their progress.

We are so pleased to announce that Kal online opens new scenario "3-2 Protecting Leader", which is part of scenario 3. 'Protecting Leader', the second battle area of Scenario 3, is protecting your own leader so he/she can finish his/her mission and preventing enemy's leader to succeed his/her mission.

Read more here.

EvE Voice is now available to players. Check out the features of this new system that allows you to communicate with your fleet an not type frantically.

CCP is pleased to announce that the deployment of the Revelations 1.4 update was completed earlier this week and patch notes are available on the EVE Online website at http://myeve.eve-online.com/updates/patchnotes.asp?patchlogID=125. This latest installment in the ongoing Path to Kali expansion introduced a number of changes and features, including the highly anticipated integrated voice chat system, EVE Voice.

EVE Voice, developed through a special partnership between CCP and Vivox, enables players to communicate quickly and efficiently through the game itself. EVE Voice requires no additional download and is offered as an optional service in addition to the regular EVE subscription for a special promotional rate of $9.95 (reg. $14.95) for one year of unlimited use. Visit the EVE Voice web page at http://www.eve-online.com/voice/ to learn more and sign up for the free 30-day EVE Voice trial available now to EVE Online subscribers.

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Dungeons & Dragons Online has the Risia Preview Server online full-time.

Are you the type of person who enjoys adventuring in the unknown? Do you like trying out new things? When something is broken are you excited by the thought of fixing it? Are you always the first person to try out a new technology? If you answered yes to any of these questions, Risia might be the server for you! After several months of periodically opening the Risia Preview Server to showcase new updates, we've decided to bring Risia online for an extended run! Risia will now be a persistent world where you can try new pre-release content and features.

Read more here.

Guild Wars gives us the latest issue of The Scribe. This week talks about the upcoming features for the game.

Shing Jea Monastery's cruising correspondent shares a few observations with us via a fresh news scroll in which he talks about the upcoming FoW/UW Open Access weekend, meets up with a new miniature for the first time, and gives a call-out to noteworthy players. Find out all about it in Issue #37 of The Scribe.

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Lord of the Rings Online pre-order packs go live today in Europe. Codemasters is coordinating the program. Read the details below.

Codemasters Online Gaming has announced that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ (LOTRO) Pre-order packs go live today at all leading online retailers across Europe. These exceptional packs give game enthusiasts the opportunity to explore Middle-earth 10 days prior to the official European release date on April 24th. Accompanying the 10-day early access is an in-game item and the opportunity to become a Founder of The Lord of the Rings Online. The Lord of the Rings Online Founder Programme* presents players two different membership options including £99.99 (EUR 149.99) for a lifetime subscription or a 6-month subscription for £35.94 (EUR 53.94), equivalent to £5.99 (EUR 8.99) per month. This offer is only open to Founders who purchase the Pre-order pack of The Lord of the Rings Online.

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Managing Editor Jon Wood writes this article wrapping up our 2007 GDC coverage.

Today marks the end of our coverage from the 2007 Game Developers Conference. As a whole, the show was a great success for all of us here at MMORPG.com, and we hope that you enjoyed reading about all of the games and companies that we were able to cover this year.

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In the final hours of the Game Developers Conference, Garrett Fuller and Jon Wood had the opportunity to sit down with EA Mythic VP Mark Jacobs to talk about Warhammer Online and EA Mythic as a whole.

On the final day of the Game Developers Conference, Mark Jacobs sat down with us for a chat about EA Mythic, the MMO Industry, and of course Warhammer Online. Mark is definitely a veteran of the MMO design world. He has been through it all. Starting with MUDs and moving on into Dark Age of Camelot, Mark has had some great success with MMO games. In the past year Mythic has been turned into EA Mythic and the company continues to develop one of the most anticipated MMOs on the market, Warhammer Online.

My first question to Mark was about Warhammer and why EA Mythic decided to go with a two faction system as opposed to the three faction system that had worked so well in DAOC. Basically it came down to a sense of popularity and balance. Developers did not believe that the Greenskins would be as popular as some of the other races played and would suffer from a lack of population. This issue is a gamble with any game that takes the multiple faction route. So in the interest of balance and creating an even population the developers decided to go with the two faction system for Warhammer.

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Dungeons & Dragons Online's latest monster profile gives us a look at the Blue Dragon. This electrifying fellow can pack quite a punch for players. Read more about him below.

I have been in the company of dragon slayers. And while I might regale you with heroic tales of a grand victory over a malicious black wyrm, I honestly believe that a more sobering story will be more instructive. My first encounter with a dragon is something I will never forget.

My companions and I were exploring an old fortress that was being slowly swallowed by the desert. At one point, some of us began to feel unsettled. As we walked on down a dusty stone corridor, the hair on my head began spreading out in all directions and would not lie down. The muscles on the back of my right arm began twitching every couple of seconds and would not cease. Static electricity permeated the air around us, and a deep snort from deeper in the fortress brought these disconcerting feelings home. We rounded a bend and, gazing through a doorway at the end of the passage, I caught sight of brilliant blue scales. A massive head then dipped down and a pair of baleful gleaming eyes pierced through me. A fear gripped me so tightly that I was barely able to turn away. I pressed my forehead against the wall of the passage and slumped heavily into the stone. The dragon disappeared from view, and the hand of my paladin friend on my shoulder revived me a great deal, but when my head was clear, I knew the only thing to do was to turn back. Luckily, the dragon was only toying with us, knowing we would spread word of him and more potential victims and riches would be drawn to his new lair. As we turned and left, I swore I heard a deep rumbling laugh.

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Tales of Pirates announces a Bug finding contest in Beta. Also they will be hosting a screenshot contest, check out the details below.

After continuous closed beta testing of ToP, great help from enthusiastic players, we have found few bugs and thoroughly clear them away. We still need testers help to find out the slipped fish from ToP and create a peaceful game world.

The fact is same in Tales of Pirates. The worms in Tales of Pirates, formal named BUG, hide in this lovely 3D nautical online game Tales of Pirates, which has started its Closed Beta at Mar, 15. They will sometimes threat our happy experience in game, or sometimes affect the normal gaming.

Due to the sincere wish to bring a perfect and ideal game for players, TOP operation team strives to improve and specially hold this activity Wired Gifts for BUGs Finder. Players who detect the real BUGs and report it on TOP Forum, will have chance to win huge giveaway in-game.

TOP Team here thank you again for the support and help from all of you. Let's work together to establish a pure environment in TOP.

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Lineage II The Chaotic Throne gives us a look at Interlude. The next game update. Read some of the details below about the monsters that will be appearing in the game.

Interlude, the next game update for Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne, introduces a number of new monsters to challenge courageous players of all levels. From primitive animals to boss monsters across a wide level range, players will encounter many new creatures in Interlude.

Primeval Creatures

Primeval Isle is home to a number of creatures making their first appearance in Lineage II. In the lush jungle foliage of Primeval Isle, dinosaurs silently stalk their prey. This newly discovered isle is teeming with life, from Wild Striders to Pachycephalosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The formidable Tyrannosaurus Rex can go into a frenzy during battle. Players can make use of a new capturing skill to trap the Tyrannosaurus and increase their chances of defeating it.

Sailren, a level 87 raid boss, is the most dangerous beast lurking on the island. Players must complete a series of quests to enter this beast's lair. An enormous and vicious dinosaur, Sailren was sealed in its lair through the joint efforts of the goddess of the underworld and ancient Elroki warriors.

The Elroki, a tribe of alligator-like creatures, also call the Primeval Isle home. Some members of this mysterious tribe will help explorers on the island, offering to summon a player's body or start an adventurer on a new quest. One of the Elroki tribe, Uruka, is the younger brother of the chief. Ambitious and violent, Uruka is scheming against his brother and is leading a faction against him. Players will find this tough new level 86 raid boss in the middle of the island.

Raid Monsters

Other new raid bosses will also be introduced in the Interlude update. Ranging from level 20 to level 86, these raid bosses will offer a fresh new experience for veteran players.

The Iron Giant Totem, a level 45 raid monster, is said to have been created by a legendary demon known as Beleth. Totem was designed to manage other Golems in the demon's services. On one of Beleth's whims, however, the Iron Giant was sealed and placed on standby near the Ivory Tower. Feral Orcs in the area began to worship Totem as an idol, and the Iron Giant Totem now believes that he has become a god of the Orcs.

A level 72 raid boss named Doom Blade Tanatos also makes his first appearance in the Border Outpost. Once the commander of the infamous Death Blade Army, Tanatos was eventually demoted at the request several prominent nobles. He was later killed in battle when his army was sacrificed as bait. Not even death could end his bloodlust, however. Calling upon the magic of darkness, he and his army were resurrected as undead soldiers. Now the Commander of the Undead, Tanatos roams old battlefields and threatens the Border Outpost with his gleaming blade.

Interlude continues the tradition of previous "Chronicle" updates, introducing new friends and foes alike for players in Lineage II. We hope you will enjoy taking on these fearsome creatures in the first chapter of Lineage II: The Chaotic Throne!

Read more here.

Bigfoot Networks Killer NIC introduces FN Torrent. This is a hardware offloaded peer-to-peer file sharing application. It allows users to download files without an impact on CPU. Check out the details below.

Bigfoot Networks, Inc., a research and development company, today introduced FN Torrent, a hardware offloaded peer-to-peer file sharing application that allows users to download files with zero impact to CPU utilization. With FN Torrent, gamers have the power to download the torrents they want without impacting their online game play.

"The introduction of FN Torrent allows gamers to benefit from the full potential of the Killer's Flexible Network Architecture (FNA)," said Harlan Beverly, co-founder and CEO of Bigfoot Networks. "While the Killer NIC makes online gaming faster and smoother, the FN Torrent enables a whole new experience for gamers who want the freedom to download unlimited files from the Internet without slowing down the other things they want to do on their PC."

While the Killer NIC makes online gaming faster and smoother, the FN Torrent enables a whole new experience for gamers who want the freedom to download unlimited files from the Internet without slowing down the other things they want to do on their PC. The FN Torrent is an easy to use Windows®-based application that coordinates the Torrent downloader built into the Killer NIC. The user simply clicks on the torrent they want to download, and Killer does all the processing and downloading work of getting the specific file. FN Torrent adds to the growing list of programs built using Killer's FNA™ Technology, an open source development environment. Last November, Bigfoot announced FN Firewall, also developed using FNA Technology, which allows gamers to turn off their CPU burdening firewall and continue gaming with security and optimal performance.

Read more here.

Eudemons Online announces Patch 1052 is now live. Read up on some of the updates and feature included.

We are happy to announce that patch 1052 has been released on March 21. With this patch, you can enjoy the news features and changes as below:

Family War

You can participate in a family war to win honor and amazing family fund.

Exchange Eudemon Training Exp

You can open your Eudemon Catalogue to exchange your eudemon training exp for character exp directly.

Read more here.

SOE Denver announces public Beta for Stargate Online Trading Card Game. Details are below on how you can get in and test this unique type of game play.

Public beta is now open for the STARGATE™ Online Trading Card (TCG) Game. Based on MGM's popular sci-fi television series, the game will be released in conjunction with a physical version of the card game from Comic Images on April 18. Available via digital download, digital starter decks of the STARGATE Online TCG will be $10.99 and digital booster packs will be $3.49. Once the game launches in April, players collecting full sets of digital cards can redeem them for physical cards via the game's "Through the Gate" redemption program.

The STARGATE Online TCG immerses players in the vibrant STARGATE universe as they assemble their favorite characters into teams and send them on missions throughout the galaxy. Breakthrough gameplay allows characters to "learn" from their successes and enhance their abilities as the game progresses. With three unique ways to win, and nearly 300 cards in the initial set, players have an endless supply of strategies available as they take on alternating roles of both heroes and villains of the STARGATE television series.

Each 60-card starter deck includes four team character cards based on the main heroes of the show, such as scientists Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson, Air Force officer Jack O'Neill, and the alien warrior Teal'c. Each 11-card booster pack contains additional characters, in-game obstacles, new adversaries, and gear for your squad.

Read more here.

PlanetSide gives us a look at the Advanced Engineering update. Read up on some new specs that are coming your way.

Advanced Engineering delivers two highly anticipated tactical additions to the Engineering profession. Engineers can now expand their armory with a multitude of new weapons and deployables! Soldiers who have completed their Combat Engineering certification can further advance their skills to include Fortification and/or Assault Engineering, with the ability to advance in both, as each one caters to an assortment of game play styles. Merits and awards will also be awarded for the new items! Specific additions to the two new Engineering certifications include:

Fortifications Engineering:

· Increased Deployable Units

· Shadow Turrets

· Cerberus Turrets

· Field Deployment Unit (FDU)

· Tactical Resonance Area Protection (TRAP)

· Upgrading Wall Turrets

· Upgrading Aegis Shield Generators

Assault Engineering:

· Deploy Spitfires in Enemy SOI

· Field Deployment Unit (FDU)

· Aegis Shield Generator

· Upgrade Shield Generator with Ammunition

· One-Manned Field Gun Turret

· Disrupter Mines

Read more here.

Guild Wars Guru has posted an article about the sequel to Guild Wars Beta coming in 2008. The story is expected to run in PC Gamer May Issue. Check out some of the details below.

They are abandoning the Campaign format because it required them to reinvent GW completely for every chapter, and it began to feel 'bloated' to them. It's also increased the tutorials and has created a barrier to new players entering the chapters. The Expansion increases the timeframe but allows them to do what they want to with the game, without worrying about new professions, or pre-lvl20 content. This is a new blueprint for a completely new game.

Expect a BETA for Guild Wars 2 in 2008.

Eye of the north is a HOLIDAY 2007 RELEASE and is catered to exisiting players. It will required that you own at least one of the previous campaigns and is not considered a standalone. This expansion will connect the Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2 storylines. The developers listened to the community that 2 campaigns a year isn't necessarily what people wanted, that many hadn't finished a chapter before the new one was released.

A team will be assigned to support the current games with live contet still expected.

Read more here.

Asheron's Call March event goes live. There are plenty of updates included in this release titled: Ancient Enemies.

The March event, Ancient Enemies is live. More information about the update is at the official website http://ac.turbine.com/?page_id=518. Highlights include:

New content and Functionality

With April 1st falling during the time of the March event, expect some fun and surprises this month

With the return of spring, we are seeing the return of the baby rabbits to landscape. Those little guys always like to get a head start on things.

Asheron has returned home and has once again made his island open to the people of Dereth, make sure that you stop by and pay him a visit.

Read more here.

SPILL GROUP and GEE sign promotion contract for MMOs in Europe. Read the details below as new gaming deals continue to shape the European market.

Game Entertainment Europe (GEE), the first pan-European publisher of Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) Games, and SPILL GROUP, the largest game traffic generator in the world, signed a promotion contract which states that SPILL GROUP promotes the MMO Games published by GEE on all of their European portals and in return SPILL GROUP receives a revenue share. The contract is already effective, GEE's latest MMORP Game "Martial Heroes" (www.martialheroes.eu) can now be played through SPILL GROUP's European portals (f.i. : www.agame.com, www.spelletjes.nl, www.jeux.fr ). The first results are excellent, after 4 weeks promotion in The Netherlands GEE's game Martial Heroes has 35.000 new registrations. Soon other online games will follow.

Richard van Barneveld, CEO of Game Entertainment Europe said: "SPILL GROUP is a perfect partner for GEE. Our MMO Games form a very good addition to the current product portfolio on the portals of SPILL GROUP. Both companies reach a large and important part of our target group; European gamers."

Read more here.

Ultima Online Kingdom Reborn Website launched with a look at the new graphics upgrade. After ten years on the market Ultima Online continues to grow and remain one of the classic MMOs.

EA Mythic today unveiled the official website for Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn, the expansion that ushers in a new decade of fantasy role-playing for the iconic MMORPG. Kingdom Reborn, scheduled for release this summer as a free download, provides players with an unprecedented graphics update, improved user interface, and renovated tutorial system aimed at imparting new players with a richer understanding of the world.

To learn more about Kingdom Reborn and see the transformation first-hand through before and after screenshots, visit: www.uo.com/kingdomreborn

Read more here.