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Denmark's ambitious wind power plans include giant 'energy islands'
Denmark's new wind power project could boost Europe's offshore wine capacity by 54 percent.
Largest offshore wind farm opens off England's coast
The largest offshore wind farm to date has officially opened off of the Cumbrian coast in the Irish Sea and it has the ability to power 590,000 homes. The 659-megawatt Walney Extension takes up an area roughly the size of 20,000 soccer pitches and is made of 87 wind turbines. "The UK is the global leader in offshore wind and Walney Extension showcases the industry's incredible success story," said Matthew Wright, the UK managing director at Ørsted, the Danish company that developed the wind farm. "The project, completed on time and within budget, also marks another important step towards Ørsted's vision of a world that runs entirely on green energy."
Online RPG 'Asheron's Call' to shut down after 17 years
Well-done online role-playing games tend to have a long shelf life, but the Asheron's Call series has lasted longer than most. It got started way back in 1999, and has lasted through three publisher changes, a shift to a buy-once model and even a full-on resurrection, among other tribulations. However, even classics have to call it quits at some point. Turbine has announced that it's ending support for both the original Asheron's Call and Asheron's Call 2 on January 31st, 2017. The series will be completely free to play for any account holder until then, but you won't get to create a new account to see what the fuss is about.
ICYMI: Harnessing mother nature's fury for energy
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A Japanese engineer created a wind turbine that can harness energy from both typhoons and hurricanes, watch the video of it here. Meanwhile, researchers at Northwestern University developed a 3D printed bone made of ceramic and polymer materials that can encourage bone to regrow itself once it's implanted. Scripps Institution for Oceanography had bad news for humanity this week after the group said the world's carbon levels went over 400 parts per million. There are three RIP items in the news this week, so get acquainted with the Rosetta Probe's storied history, Blackberry's decision to stop making its own handsets, and camera wearable company Narrative deciding to call it a day. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
A totally new energy source in slow moving rivers
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: University of Michigan researchers spent years creating a water-harnessing river turbine to create electricity, called the VIVACE. It's the first time electricity appears to be effectively generated in slower rivers rather than oceans, but that's because the developers used physics to get turning turbines to agitate the water enough to create more energy for their neighboring cylinders. It's an as-yet prototype but a promising new development in the realm of water-powered electricity. If you're interested in the giant balloon video from China, that's here, and the JibJab app can be downloaded from an app store. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Scientists dream up a power station staffed by bacteria
If The Matrix is to be taken as a serious manifesto for the future of technology, then living organisms are a great source of potential energy. Now, a team at Oxford University has given some weight to the idea after successfully simulating a biological power station. Researchers used computers to model the behavior of bacteria as it swam around a liquid suspension. When they subsequently added a network of donkey wheel-like structures, the bacteria began moving in predictable patterns around the wheels. The motion was sufficient to generate tiny amounts of energy that could be used to power microscopic gadgets.
Jukebox Heroes: The quieter side of LotRO's soundtrack
Yes, I'm kind of nuts about the Lord of the Rings Online soundtrack. It could be because I've played this MMO more than most any other at this point, but I like to think that it's also due to a really well-done score that does more for world-building than most soundtracks. Even though I've talked about the soundtrack as a whole, interviewed Composer Chance Thomas, discussed my favorite housing themes, and reviewed both the Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep scores, there's still more that I wanted to cover. Today, I want to share with you exactly why I love this soundtrack: for the quiet moments. There are a select few tracks that are nearly ambient but are also perfectly immersive. I can't help but get kicked in the feels every time one of these comes on, and I know that for years to come I'll have fond memories of LotRO whenever I play them. Let's get a little mellow and hear the whispers of Middle-earth today.
DDO trumpets the start of its Winter Games
Just because we're in the heart of winter in the northern hemisphere doesn't mean that we can't enjoy snow-themed festivities! That's the attitude of Dungeons and Dragons Online, which has started a slew of activities under its Winter Games umbrella. For starters, there's the Midwinter Festival in the Forgotten Realms which includes speed skating, snowflake collecting, and vole smashing. Meanwhile in Eberron, the ever-popular Risia Ice Games are back with more ice sliding action. Then there's an ice skating rink in the harbor, an ice jump off a cliff, and a frozen half-pipe in the Bogwater Tavern. Participation in all of these activities will not only result in embarassing fun, but rewards from the various tokens won.
Neverwinter: Elemental Evil bringing the Paladin, higher level cap
Elements are the "in" thing for 2015, especially in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. First we found out that DDO will be implementing the Temple of Elemental Evil this year, and now we've gotten word that Neverwinter's newest module will be called Elemental Evil (it's no coincidence; both titles have a relationship with Wizards of the Coast, who likes to do these tie-ins). This module will be a significant one when it comes early this year. Elemental Evil will add a new class to the game, the Paladin, and increase the level cap from 60 to 70. The increased level cap means more skills and quests for all eight classes. Cryptic also announced that future updates in 2015 for Neverwinter will include the player guild housing Strongholds system, the Xbox One launch, and the arrival of popular D&D characters. [Source: Cryptic press release]
LotRO players host Winterstock II music festival
Lord of the Rings Online is well-known for its player bands that take advantage of the in-game instruments, and this weekend you can hear a lot of musical acts with the return of the Winterstock player festival. Hosted by the Lonely Mountain Band kinship, Winterstock II will feature 31 bands playing over the course of four days from January 16th through the 19th. All shows will be set near Thorin's Gate on the Landroval server. There's a schedule posted on the forums, and if you really want to get into the swing of things, you can listen to the official Winterstock II theme song.
New York City's first commercial wind turbine proves its worth
Sunset Park in Brooklyn is home to New York City's first commercial-scale wind turbine, and it's already flexing its green muscle. In under a month, the 160-foot-tall power source produced enough juice to power two homes for more than 12 months. It's not being used to supplement regular energy use, though, as it feeds a recycling plant at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal -- a facility that already gets 16 percent of its power from solar panels. NYC seems like the last place a massive wind turbine would make a difference, but the height of this installation, coupled with the open landscape on the shore of Sunset Park, makes for an effective combo that's capable of generating up to 100 kilowatts. Attempts to harvest the wind in New York City are nothing new, but they're typically used to power much smaller buildings, so their size and output are a fraction of this one at Sims Metal Management. Construction costs tallied $750,000, and the project is expected to pay for itself in five years. [Photo credit: AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews]
The Think Tank: The MMO server merge stigma
Last week, Turbine announced that it plans to address Lord of the Rings Online's ongoing population problems. New executive producer Athena "Vyvyanne" Peters wrote, "We're taking measures to get everyone onto the more populous servers" and "working on [...] improved server transfer tools." And later, she clarified, "We are still working through the details, but part of our efforts here are to make the transition as seamless as possible for Kinship leaders to keep the players together. The idea is to bring you together, not spread further apart." In our post, we called this process "server merges of a sort," but some loyal LotRO fans went ballistic at the idea that mass server transfers to, you know, merge players onto populous servers might be called "server merges." The term has such negative connotations and implications for a game's health that neither studios nor fans will dare use it even when it's a reasonable term to use and when it heralds good things for an aging game. The stigma might even make some studios leery of doing merges at all. What do you think -- is there a better term for these sorts of faux-merges? Have you been through a merge and found it a worthwhile experience? Can we be done with the merge stigma already? We're talking server merges in today's Think Tank.
Hawkgirl is coming to Infinite Crisis on January 21
Turbine continues to release new champions for its Infinite Crisis MOBA. The latest such is Hawkgirl, who is scheduled to debut on January 21st. A new preview video characterizes Hawkgirl as "an aggressive bruiser who excels at isolating and disrupting her opponents." You can get all the specifics on her skills and abilities by watch the clip embedded after the cut.
The Road to Mordor: Ten thoughts on LotRO's 2015 plans
This year I'm breaking my long-running tradition of posting a "wish list" for Lord of the Rings Online at the beginning of the new year. This is partially because I'll be in danger of repeating the same old items that I've been yammering on about for quite some time now, and partially because Turbine was on the ball and released a producer's letter this past week that lays out some of the year's plans (by contrast, last year the studio waited until the end of February to do the same). Tradition be hanged! Let's adapt with the events and spend some time evaluating the information we've been given! There's a lot going on in and around this producer's letter, so here are 10 thoughts that I'm taking away from all of this in regard to LotRO's future.
DDO looking at Warlock class, level cap bump in 2015
'Tis the season for Turbine producer letters and since we've already seen LotRO's, how about one for Dungeons and Dragons Online? Executive producer Robert "Severlin" Ciccolini does the honors, and he mentions the game's "next big update" which will include a large dungeon called the Temple of Elemental Evil. There's also a bit about an upcoming new class, which Ciccolini says could be a Warlock. New storylines and new festivals are coming in 2015, too, as is a level cap bump to 30.
LOTRO maps out 2015, vows to address server populations [Update]
Lord of the Rings Online has a new head honcho, as former Executive Producer Aaron Campbell has transferred to "a new project" at Turbine. Stepping into his shoes will be former DDO Franchise Director Athena Peters. Peters delivered her 2015 producer's letter today with six major initiatives for the first half of the year. These include improvements to legendary items, new fellowship challenges, a possible new PvMP map in Osgiliath, and quality of life fixes. She said that the team will also be delivering episodic content during the year: "We are currently in development on a new type of quest content that will roll out like an episodic TV show, a little at a time, as you follow a new friend across Middle-earth seeing familiar places in a new light." Server merges of a sort are also in the works: "We're taking measures to get everyone onto the more populous servers, so that finding parties is easier and festivals and live events are more fun. We are working on both improved server transfer tools and upgrades to our environments to improve playability. Also we will be moving our European servers back to the EU!" In other LotRO news, an exploit that allowed players to create an overpowered character in the game has been addressed and fixed in a patch that went out earlier today. The hotfix puts level restrictions on a slew of reputation items so that players cannot use them at a lower level and gain access to gated vendor items before the devs intended. Update: Peters penned a follow-up post to clarify certain items in the producer's letter.
One Shots: Pumpkin rider
What better way to usher in the new year than to take a look back at Halloween? OK, so I'm still catching up on all of the terrific player-submitted screenshots in our email, but we're getting closer than ever! In any case, I would not want to let this gourd-headed hero go unnoticed. Reader JohnD is the man behind the mask: "Here is Frani, my level 29 Hunter celebrating the Harvest Festival in Lord of the Rings Online. She got the mount, clothes, and pumpkin mask all this season. Fun time was had by all." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
LotRO cracks down on superman exploit
An exploit that is allowing Lord of the Rings Online players to super-charge their toons is on the end of a stern warning by Turbine today. The studio says that it has already banned and will continue to ban accounts seen using this deliberate loophole. "It has come to our attention that some players have been utilizing an exploit to change how powerful their characters are in the game world," the studio posted today. "Upon receiving reports of the issue we began an investigation. Due to the way our log system works we can definitively detect every account that is taking advantage of this exploit." Turbine is currently working on a fix for the problem. [Thanks to Superswim for the tip!]
Global Chat: Die, DPS meters, die!
Hey you! Yes, you! Are you sick of damage meters ruining your life? Do you rebel against the virtual man by questioning such long-established gaming tropes as levels? Then have we got the column for you! In our last community blog round-up of the year, we've collected some fine pieces of discussion, debate, and introspection -- not to mention a first impression or two to tide you over until 2015. We've also got an essay about the joy of healing, what it's like to play an MMO as a bear, going back to the Isle of Refuge, and more!
LotRO patch nerfs essences, adds group Pelargir epic battle
A small but significant patch hit the Lord of the Rings Online servers last week, bringing with it a new fellowship-size version of the Retaking Pelargir epic battle. This version comes with additional secondary missions and tougher elite mobs (naturally). Also, the team announced that, "Aragorn's voice can FINALLY be heard summoning the dead to fulfill their oaths." Update 15.1 also nerfed essences by only allowing one of each type to be equipped at a time, as multiple copies were deemed too powerful and an obvious threat to Sauron's dominance over Middle-earth. Also, Beornings got a bear-load of tweaks, as well as the permission to use the "-beorn" suffix with names.
