13th-anniversary
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Dark Age of Camelot builds statues of King's Tournament champions
Have you ever fancied the notion of having a giant in-game statue erected in your honor? This egotistical dream may come true for you in Dark Age of Camelot... if you are one of the winners of the October's King's Tournament. This brand-new event in DAoC kicks off tomorrow to commemorate the game's 13th anniversary. Each of the three realms will be tracking RvR stats for everyone in the game, and at the end of the month the top two players from each realm will be crowned champion. These six winners will have a statue of their character constructed in their realm's capital city. To track the progress of the tournament, players can check out an in-game leaderboard which will be updated on an hourly basis.
Dark Age of Camelot passes the torch to a new producer
It's a season of change over at Dark Age of Camelot, as the team is transitioning from former producer Talal Saad to the new one, John Thornhill. Saad said that he's not leaving the studio, but moving into a role that oversees more than just one game. "Rather than serving at the helm of one particular game, my responsibility will be to act as advocate and to use my time and energy to focus on how Broadsword can have a bigger impact, provide more investment, and achieve greater success for multiple products," he wrote. Thornhill introduced himself as the former lead designer for DAoC and outlined what the team would be focusing on for the future. He said that there are plans for the game's 13th anniversary (including new race and class pairings), the release of patch 1.116 around the end of November, the increase to champion level 15, an addition of a casual group finder, and more interaction with the community. "Our focus is going to be updating and modernizing the user experience of Dark Age of Camelot for the foreseeable future," Thornhill promised.
RuneScape ushers in 13th anniversary with player-led development
Saying that he was proud of Jagex's efforts in 2013 but admitting that the team fell short of accomplishing all of its goals, RuneScape Lead Developer Mod Mark promised that 2014 would give more power to the players. "This year, we want the focus on the things that make us special," he said in an annoucement video, "and to find new ways to use our best asset of all and the thing that we're most proud of: you, the community." As such, Mod Mark said that the community will be the guiding force behind the game's 2014 development with weekly in-game content polls addressing quests, suggestions, and high-level development. The first poll in January will be on whether the invention system or the Elf city should get priority development. Unfortunately a poll option to fire an orbital cannon at said Elf city once construction is completed will not exist. RuneScape turns 13 years old tomorrow, but you can get the advance scoop for the year's activities in the video after the break.
Asheron's Call turns 13 today
Asheron's Call has put childish things behind it and entered the elite realm of MMO teenagers. Turbine's oldest title is celebrating its 13th anniversary today. "A huge thanks to our community for sticking with us through the years. AC is older than children!" the Turbine feed said. Asheron's Call released on November 2nd, 1999. It was originally published by Microsoft until 2004, when Turbine (which developed the title) purchased the rights. According to the forums, the team is still chugging forward despite recent Turbine layoffs, and there's a February update in the making. You can read Massively's history of Asheron's Call in our Game Archaeologist column.
EverQuest's massive 13th anniversary and free-to-play celebration events revealed
In two days, EverQuest will not only be celebrating its 13th (!) anniversary and adding a sizable update to the game, but also will be making the jump to a free-to-play hybrid model. Since this is no small potatoes, SOE has planned a huge array of events to celebrate the occasion. The fun begins on the Plane of Knowledge, where players can enjoy 13 special quests that harken back to the greatest hits of EverQuest's history. There's also a new raid and the return of 40 events from previous anniversaries to keep everyone busy. The update has a new feature called the Hero's Journey, which is a guidebook that will lead players through a path in EverQuest. To make things even more user-friendly, EverQuest's map system will see a major overhaul that includes the ability to show you paths to your destination. Finally, SOE has an absolutely gigantic F2P conversion FAQ that covers nearly every conceivable question about the transition, including payment options and previous status in the game. EverQuest will go F2P starting at 3:01 am EDT on Friday, March 16th.
EverQuest sets sights on March 16th for free-to-play
On March 16th, 1999, Sony Online Entertainment launched one of the most monumental MMOs in history, and 13 years later, the studio is taking EverQuest to the next level with a free-to-play model. That's right, SOE's set the date for EQ's F2P conversion to be Friday, March 16 in order to coincide with the game's anniversary. SOE promises that this won't be the only highlight of the teenage game's big day, as anniversary events will arrive in the game on that date as well. In the meanwhile, the studio is asking for talented map-makers and artists to submit their own custom maps to be included in the game. There's no specific details yet on this process, but SOE says that it will be asking for these maps soon.
