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The Daily Grind: Do MMO crossovers break your immersions?
When I was a kid, I read a post-Vietnam fantasy novel called Doomfarers of Coramonde that should have ruined crossover fiction for me forever. I just couldn't take seriously an Army hero whisked away by magic and plunked into a world of dragons and castles and sorceresses. MMO crossovers can likewise break my immersions. I'm not talking about sequels, and I'm not even talking about the unholy marriage of EVE Online and DUST 514. I'm talking about Funcom putting leet pets from Anarchy Online into The Secret World's cash shop, which is a thing that did in fact happen yesterday. It joins the Ultima Online ankh necklace my character wore in Warhammer Online on the list of bizarre cross-MMO promotions that really don't make a whole lot of sense in-character. Why in the world would my character in TSW have an adorable leet pet from the the planet of Rubi-Ka? What's next -- cupid wings on Ewoks? Oh. Right. So what do you think, morning crew and minipet-hoarders? Does this sort of promotion satisfy some deep craving, or does it just break your immersions? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Secret World's first content update is coming July 31st
Back in the day, avid mystery fans relied on getting monthly doses of case-solving goodness from magazines such as Ellery Queen. Today, the same can be found in The Secret World. Delivering on its recent promise of monthly updates, Funcom has released the details for July's free content update in true mystery magazine style with Issue #1: Unleashed. On July 31st, TSW players will find a number of new missions featuring a best-selling author, a daredevil, and even a crazy cat lady. Another mission will explore a character who may be more than she pretends to be. Two current dungeons are also getting a new nightmare mode; if you thought Ankh and Hell Fallen were challenging before, just wait until you test yourself in this mode. Another upcoming feature is a cross-dimensional marketplace. Not only can players group and play together cross-dimensionally, but soon they will be able to buy, sell, and ship items across dimensions as well. Unleashed is just the first of many updates. Issue #2 for August's update is already in the works and will be revealed soon, so stay tuned! And keep an eye on the ongoing construction in London, Seoul, and New York as new tenants prepare to move in. [Source: Funcom press release]
A second look at The Secret World
Funcom recently held another special hands-on event for The Secret World at its Montreal, Canada offices, where we sent freelancer François Blondin to cover all the exciting details. Enjoy his latest preview of the game! Last weekend, I nabbed a second look at Funcom's upcoming MMO The Secret World, now scheduled for a June 19th release. I was going in with high expectations, having been blown away by my first playtest of this modern-world-based MMO, and I'll say that this second visit managed to convince me that this game is on the right track to impress gamers with fresh gameplay, vicious puzzles, an ability wheel full of synergies, and new elite abilities at the top tiers of weapon specializations. I spent wasted a lot of time during my first visit testing out different builds, but I missed out on some content while doing that, and I realized that abilities and builds are something you'll come to naturally as you progress through the game as you earn ability points, choose where you want to go, and decide how you want to specialize. This time around, I got to spend more time exploring the game world, trying out missions, and blowing things up.%Gallery-72395%
2.2 coming to the live realms tomorrow morning
By now, it's almost a certainty-- not only did the PTR shut down last week, but Neth has almost confirmed on the forums that patch 2.2 is coming tomorrow morning. That means, I guess, that Amanda was right on our podcast a few weeks ago-- she was the only one who predicted it would show up this week, so kudos to her. Of course, it also messes up my plans for the week, unfortunately. I was planning to snipe Brutes and capture flags at least through Thursday, but now I may have to punctuate that with some voice chatting.And besides voice chatting, what else are we seeing in this new patch we've waited so long for? The full patch notes are here for now (though they may be replaced with the 2.2.2 notes in the next day or so). Anti-AFK measures are showing up, as well as the Haste rebalancing. And most of the class stuff seems like bugfixes more or less. If you're a Druid, it'll be good to know that you can attack from further away while in Cat form, Shaman ankhs will now stack to ten (nice!) and Hunters with Raptor pets can now go out and learn Dash, but otherwise, it's all bugfixes-- some more harsh than others (the Six Demon Bag no longer benefits from spell damage, so bummer for that one).But the thing that will really pull me away from Halo 3 this week is probably the simplest. Finally, my Orc male shoulders are returned to full size. Finally, after more than two months, I can walk around Orgrimmar with my head held up proudly, trapped between two huge masses of metal. See you tomorrow, 2.2!
Ankh and Luminator coming to British DS
Xider Interactive, who we previously reported as not actually bringing Sam & Max to the DS, have announced their real DS releases for the UK. The titles, which are probably familiar to German PC gamers but definitely not familiar to us, are: Luminator DS (May) Ankh 1 (August) Ankh appears to be the first in a series of Egyptian-themed adventure games-- and there's no part of that description we don't like. Luminator (PC version shown above), from what we can tell, is ... let's say a faithful tribute to Lumines.We don't know if either of these games will be headed to the US. Have any of our European friends played either of these? We need to know about the quality of Ankh before we get too excited about OMG ADVENTURE GAME.[Via Cubed3]
