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SWTOR's Spoils of War update offers casinos, tweaks group finder
In Star Wars: The Old Republic's most recent dev blog, designers Chris Schmidt, Alex Modny, and George Smith discuss the major game systems headed to servers with the 2.8 Spoils of War update -- specifically, the Nar Shaddaa Nightlife event, PvP tweaks, and the story mode ops group finder. Nar Shaddaa casinos will feature slot machines that award special buffs, weapons, armor, cosmetic abilities, and mounts -- like a ridable Rancor -- to lucky gamblers. Participants in Galactic Starfighter matches and Warzones will begin receiving double rewards, and two new ship variants, the Assault Bomber and Skirmisher Gunship, will become available. In an effort to reduce queue time, the group finder will utilize the 16-man story mode difficulty for operations and bolster gear rating for all players. Rewards will also be increased. Read the full dev blog at the official site.
Hyperspace Beacon: Beating the system in the new SWTOR event
I'm not a huge fan of gambling in general. "The house always wins" isn't a motto, it's the truth. But if you have fun while you're doing it, then it's fine that the house wins. However, I don't have fun playing most gambling games, especially the overly simplistic ones like slot machines. Some gambling establishments will claim to have the loosest slots in the business, but I can tell you that the slot machines in Club Vertigo and the Star Cluster Casino are not that loose. But there is a best way to play the game. On June 10th, Star Wars: The Old Republic launches Update 2.8: Spoils of War, and the casino event called the Festival of Splendor along with most of the patch already resides on the public test server. Over the last week or so, Voidmynx (a.k.a Laura Williams from Gamebreaker's The Republic and HSB Sci-Fi MMO Show) and I have tried multiple methods to beat the slots. And I believe we've found a decent one.
New RIFT promo trailer sounds a call to arms
Trion Worlds has released a new RIFT promo trailer appealing to players to join the horde. No, not that Horde. The horde of Ascended in Telara, of course. Now that RIFT's Ascend-a-Friend promotion is in full-swing -- along with the advent of RIFT's patch 1.2, Spoils of War, which brought a new group-finder feature, new rifts, and better rewards for those with a PvP bent -- Trion wants everyone to recruit his friends to come join the battle against the threat of planar invasion. If you've been on the fence trying to decide whether or not to jump into Telara, perhaps this video can sway you. It's short, sweet, and to the point but packed to the brim with spectacular footage of raids, rifts, and more. Will the trailer inspire you to heroism? Will you heed the call to arms? Click on through the cut to have a look and find out.
RIFT's Spoils of War update deploys
It's a heady day for RIFTers as Trion Worlds has released the game's second major update. Titled Spoils of War, patch 1.2 includes several exciting additions to the game, most notably a Looking for Group tool, a cosmetic appearance system, and 10-man raid Slivers. The LFG interface will also offer daily dungeon quests with increased rewards as incentives to boost instance runs. The full patch notes are up over on the RIFT forums, and they're a doozy to read (but one has to have some way to pass the time while the game updates, right?). In addition to the headlining features, there is a metric ton of changes, tweaks and sparkling gems to absorb. Spoils of War will make the game's expert dungeons more attractive to run, and players who love tinkering with RIFT's soul system should rejoice at the addition of a fifth role. Trion's also added a lot more love for social media with increased integration between the game and Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr. There's really too much to cover in a few brief paragraphs, so after you read the patch notes, make sure to check out our larger coverage of this impressive update from a couple of weeks ago! If you haven't had a chance to get your hands on RIFT, Trion's also launched its seven-day free trial and Ascend-a-Friend programs for one and all.
The MMO Report: Bears and UFOs and explosions, oh my!
This week on The MMO report, Casey's lead story is about the absurdly adorable Cenarion Hatchling pet now for sale on the Blizzard Store. The wee bird-deer-thing costs $10 with 100% of the proceeds benefiting the Red Cross efforts in Japan, therefore making it, as Casey puts it, "good for something other than your own surreally twisted ego." Next up is RIFT's patch 1.2, The Spoils of War. Introducing myriad new features and content, the patch is one of RIFT's largest yet. He also gives Massively a shout-out for delivering information on the newly confirmed Marvel Universe Online. Details so far include the ability to play as iconic Marvel characters to face off against Doctor Doom with a story penned by none other than Brian Michael Bendis. Last up is BioWare's Sith Warrior progression trailer for Star Wars: The Old Republic, which compares the Sith Marauder -- described by Casey as "quick, agile, and a real bastard of a Rogue" -- and the Juggernaut, the Sith Warrior's tanking option. Hit the jump below for all this plus Uncle Casey's Mailbag and a decidedly awesome picture involving Casey, a bear, and flying saucers on The MMO Report.
RIFT invites you to test the Spoils of War
Many a RIFT fan has been looking forward to the changes coming to the fantasy MMO in the Update 1.2: Spoils of War. Thankfully, the witch Alsbeth has been defeated, but trouble continues on the planes of Telara. Regulos is still bent on destroying the world. So what's next? The developers of RIFT would like to give you an opportunity to see for yourself. On the RIFT Facebook page, Community Manager Erick "Zann" Adams has invited players to join the devs in a Spoils of War PTS event. Join us tonight, May 5th, starting at 3:00PM PDT (11:00PM BST) for a final round of testing. We'll have a battle royale around to word, check out the LFG system, and just have a good time playing together and discussing your feedback. For those living on the east coast of the U.S., the event starts at 6 p.m. EDT this evening. For all the information on how to join the RIFT public test server, jump to the forums to get started.
RIFT 'Spoils of War' mini-event kicks off today
To help tide players over until RIFT's 1.2 patch is released, Trion Worlds has set into motion a mini-event from May 4th through the 9th. Titled "Spoils of War," the event serves as an epilogue for last month's River of Souls. After thwarting Alsbeth and her motley crew, players find that tainted treasure is literally raining from the skies in Telara and earth and fire rifts are appearing everywhere with disturbing frequency. Players will be asked to go on four daily quests -- available in their respective capital cities -- to investigate the "too good to be true" free loot. The quests task players to gather up golden coins in the capitals and special dragon eggshells around the world. RIFT players who participate can turn these coins and eggshells in for for containers that can hold a variety of goodies. These rewards include rare artifacts, achievements and a new "Gritty Kitty" companion pet. Currently, RIFT's 1.2 update is tentatively scheduled for May 10th.
First WoW Minis expansion: Spoils of War
Upper Deck has released the first expansion to the WoW minis game, called Spoils of War. The new set of figures introduces legendary lore figures like Jaina and Kael'thas into the mix, and they can now jump onto the gameboard with player characters and duke it out in the streamlined Arena-style turn-based battles. The new set also contains Action Bar cards, which can modify your characters and party's abilities before a battle (like casting a Wrath of Air totem to modify all of your team's die rolls). And finally, the new expansion also brings items into the mix, so there's one more medium in which you can wield Sulfuras, the Hand of Ragnaros. (And no, unfortunately, real life isn't one... yet.)The new set is available in booster packs at a hobby and collectible store near you -- the MSRP is about $14.99, but they'll probably be around for cheaper than that eventually, if they're not already. If you're a regular player of the minis game, it sounds like it'll be a must-have addition, and if you've never picked it up before, maybe the prospect of playing some of the more famous lore figures will get you interested.
