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RuneScape's Lost City of the Elves expands further
RuneScape's been going gaga over the unveiling of its Lost City of the Elves since it opened its doors for business back in September. However, that release was only part of the Lost City, since Jagex "found" more of it to put out the door today. After much anticipation, the second half of Prifddinas is now live in RuneScape. The city was "designed for and by the high-level community" and now includes four new clans with specialized offerings. Jagex said that there are eight additional skills for players to learn and plenty of secrets tucked away in nooks and crannies. We've got a video of the Lost City that you can check out after the break!
Halloween goes live in Anarchy Online
Halloween is officially a "go!" for Anarchy Online, which brings back the seasonal festivities as well as the sinister Uncle Pumpkin Head. In an October development update posted today, Gameplay Designer Henry Senger confirmed the start of the holiday. Senger said that there will be many varieties of returning Pumpkin Heads in the game, as well as an assault by the Entvined on Enigma Grove. Players can get cool loot not only by defeating these mobs but by merely logging in to claim several free items including a pumpkin helmet. Anarchy Online recently installed a quality of life patch and confirms that testing is ongoing for the 18.7 update. "Once the Inferno Missions have been patched to Live, the majority of focus will shift back to 18.7, which includes, but is not limited to, the NPE and profession rebalance," Senger said.
Ultima Online dares you to seek the Treasures of Doom
Ultima Online's publish 87 arrives on all shards today, bringing with it Halloween gifts as well as a fresh round of 17th anniversary gifts meant as an apology for their tardiness. The patch introduces a new Halloween event, Treasures of Doom, which funnels players into the dungeon Doom. Artifacts collected inside the dungeon can be traded to new NPC researchers stationed outside in return for brand-new titles and loot items, including named lanterns, unique slayer bonus buffs, and several pieces of high-end gear. The update also installs bug fixes for the vice vs. virtue PvP system, trade quests, and enhanced client. The game's standard trick-or-treating events run until November 19th, while the Treasures of Doom promotion continues until December 1st and won't resume again until Halloween next year.
RuneScape customer service helps 500K players in a year
To coincide with National Customer Service Week in the United Kingdom, RuneScape is preparing a series of posts and meetups about and with the customer service team. To kick it off, the team put together an infographic about its previous year's efforts with players. Probably the most stunning figure is that the 28-member team assisted 500,000 players over the course of a year. A majority of those service requests were for account issues. Response time was decent but not astounding, with 25% of calls answered within an hour and a "vast majority" addressed within 24 hours. The team was happy that 75% of those helped rated the help as eight or above out of 10. You can view the full infographic after the break.
Dark Age of Camelot grants accounts free playtime for its birthday
Like its sibling Ultima Online, Dark Age of Camelot is currently welcoming old players back with free account time just in time for its October anniversary. Unlike UO, though, DAOC's Come Back to Camelot promotion extends to the most ancient of accounts and runs for two weeks only: All accounts that were inactive on or before September 24th, 2014 are eligible for 13 free days! Simply login to the account center, re-subscribe, and the 13 free days will be applied to your account automatically! This campaign will run until October 31st. Broadsword Online also touted a hot fix that permits a dozen previously unrollable race/class pairings. If you've ever wanted a Troll Warlock or Sylvan Champion, now is the time.
Return to Britannia campaign starts tomorrow in Ultima Online [Updated]
For the entire month of October, Ultima Online will be running another Return to Britannia campaign in the hopes of luring both the old guard and the new generation for the game's 17th anniversary. From October 1st through the 30th, former players will be able to return to the game for free, mirroring previous Return to Britannia events. There's a lot to celebrate in UO these days above and beyond its birthday. The game recently implemented its Publish 86 with the vice vs. virtue system, added more sea adventures, and is working on a new UI for the enhanced client. You can check out video of the 17th anniversary festivities after the break. [Update: Players are reporting that the Return to Britannia campaign is not resurrecting very old accounts.]
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.
Anarchy Online steels itself for inferno missions
A new type of mission is coming to Anarchy Online, and if its name is any indication, inferno missions will be hot in more ways than one. Funcom Gameplay Designer Henry Senger wrote a monthly development update in which he focused on the upcoming inferno missions for players levels 170 and over: "These missions will involve protecting NPCs from waves of assaulting creatures. The difficulty of the mission will determine how many waves will appear, level of the assaulting monsters, as well as the mission reward. The assaults will end early if all the targets that need to be protected are killed." Other fun things coming with the 18.6.15 patch are the return of battlestation daily missions, quality of life improvements, bug fixes, and convenient mission exits.
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's Lost City of the Elves is open to players
It's been a decade of waiting, but RuneScape players are finally able to enter Prifddinas, the capital of the elves and the culmination of a storyline that's been going for a very long time. Players can jump into the zone right now and start exploring the districts of the long-locked city, taking on various clan challenges in an area designed to reward high-level play. Challenges include defeating 10 sequential bosses with stacking debuffs after each match, maximizing one's skills, or proving one's familiarity with trades like mining and farming. There's also more content throughout the city, with plans to roll out even more parts of the city before the year is out. Click past the jump for the trailer, and jump on into the game if you just can't wait to get your elvish exploration going. [Source: Jagex press release]
Richard Garriott becomes Lord British again for Ultima Online's 17th anniversary
On September 24th, 1997, Ultima Online opened its doors, forever changing the MMORPG landscape. That was 17 years ago today, and that means it's time for cake and ice cream! Just make sure to check that cake for deadly poison. Poisoning cake and giving it to unsuspecting passers-by is actually a thing you can do in this crazy sandbox. Wanna celebrate? UO Stratics reports that the Broadsword team is hosting an in-game party tomorrow evening with some notables from UO's history in attendance. Join me for a live, in-game event on TC1 September 25th 2014 at 7pm ET! Meet Richard "Lord British" Garriot and Starr "King Blackthorn" Long at Castle Blackthorn to celebrate Ultima Online's 17th Anniversary! The anniversary parties are always a blast (Thanks to the Dark Lady). This year will be very special as both Lord British and King Blackthorn will join us. If you can't attend, it will be shown on youtube . It will also be streamed live on http://www.twitch.tv/stratics. A post on the official site also welcomes the new patch we covered last week and a new player Advisor program similar to the old Counselor program made famous in the game's early days.
Vice vs Virtue PvP system arrives on Ultima Online's test center
In testing now on Ultima Online's test server is publish 86.3, better known as the Vice vs Virtue patch. You remember the virtues, those iconic and ambiguous philosophical principles guiding the Avatar? OK, now forget all that because peeveepee, guys. Yes, Vice vs Virtue is a a new system designed to bring a fresh version of Order and Chaos consensual PvP -- any PvP, really -- to landmasses that are currently PvE, including Trammel and most of the expansion territories launched in the last forever. The opt-in faction-based system brings the battle to the core cities of the game and rewards participants with a special currency that can be traded for everything from mounts and artifacts (gear) to murder pardons and hair dye. Look, UO players take their hair dye very seriously. The patch also introduces new trader quests to the game and revamps dungeon loot spawns to encourage ventures to the open-PvP Felucca facet. The devs have invited players to help stress test the systems this afternoon.
Jagex CEO resigning in December
Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard is leaving his post in December according to an open letter on the RuneScape website. Gerhard writes passionately about the game's community and his efforts to combat gold-farming during his five-year stint as CEO. Gerhard, who has been with Jagex a total of seven years, did not specify the reasons for his departure nor who will take his place.
How RMT is changing RuneScape's economy for the better
RMT has a bad reputation for promoting the seedy underbelly of online gaming, but some MMOs are trying to turn that effect around, like RuneScape. According to developer Jagex, a pair of RuneScape players recently took advantage of their game's Bond system (akin to PLEX or CREDD) to fund their trip to the RuneFest fan convention in October. The studio detailed other positive effects of the Bond system in a press release this morning, explaining that the system has improved the game's economy: Since their September 2013 debut, around 2.3 million Bonds have been purchased; more than 80 percent of those Bonds have been redeemed for membership, with 27.6 million membership days obtained to date. The introduction of Bonds also had a swift and dramatic effect on the levels of gold-farming in the game, which plummeted by 81 percent within weeks, and also helped bring a more stable in-game economy for players. Over the past year, more than 316.5 billion in-game gold pieces have been sunk into Bond trades by the community. RuneScape VP Phil Mansell said that over the last year, "nearly 20% of RuneScape players [paid] for their membership subscription through their in-game efforts and half of the premium RuneCoin currency comes from bond redemptions." [Source: Jagex press release]
New leadership steps up to fill Anarchy Online vacancy
Following the loss of two of Anarchy Online's developers late last month, Funcom has promoted Henry "Michizure" Senger to fill the role of gameplay designer. Senger was a former member of the AO team who is now thrilled to be back: "It is a great honor and privilege to be able to focus all of my effort on Anarchy Online once again, and I greatly look forward to what we will accomplish." Senger updated the playerbase on what's been going on with the upcoming patches. As previously announced, patch 18.7 was delayed due to feedback. The team will be focused on putting in the new Inferno mission in the meantime. Past 18.7, patch 18.8 will feature the new graphic engine. "The new engine beta is still active, and the resulting feedback has been very helpful in identifying all the growing pains this process has presented. I look forward to having more tangible news to present in an upcoming developer update," Senger said.
Dark Age of Camelot patch spruces up keeps and relic raids
Patch 1.115c went live on Dark Age of Camelot's servers today, bringing with it a slew of changes to the game's relic raids, keep art, and New Frontiers system. Players will log in to discover that relics are back in the possession of relic temples, bringing back the old raid mechanics for a new age. To steal a relic, teams have to open up certain relic milegates first and then plunder the item from its respective keep. Keeps have also received a visual upgrade and can be captured and upgraded by the three factions. There are several new RvR quests as well as plenty of fixes for bugs that may vex ye, so check out the patch notes and give the updated classic MMO a whirl!
Funcom's revenues decrease in Q2
Funcom has released its second-quarter financial results for the year, and it's not a glowing success story. Revenue dropped roughly $600,000 compared to Q1, a drop attributed to weaker in-game item sales over the quarter. Despite this, the report indicates that the company remains on-track as a whole, with the overall pattern of expenses not significantly changed. All of the major MMOs in the studio's portfolio are stated to be cash-flow positive, which is good news for fans. While the company launched several marketing attempts to draw more players into its titles, The Secret World was the most successful at bringing in more players via its most recent major update. The company projects good results for LEGO Minifigures Online when it releases in October. Interested players can look at the full report, which is less overwhelmingly positive than might be ideal but hardly paints a picture of doom.
Anarchy Online's graphics engine upgrade suffers delays
Funcom has announced that two Anarchy Online developers, Genele and Macrosun, are leaving the studio and "relocating back to their homelands in Scandinavia." That's bad news for MMO gamers patiently awaiting the game's promised new graphics engine, as the devs' departures mean delays for both the upgrade and the next patch. Creative Director Joel "Nusquam" Bylos explained the situation to players on the official forum: [L]osing competent and knowledgeable people does have some impact on our development schedule, so we've had to rearrange some things and tune our schedules to make sure we can deliver on our vision for the game. Originally we were planning to patch 18.7 to live this month. We have now delayed it until we have had the chance to give it a thorough going over with the new designers. It is a large and complex patch and we want to be a hundred percent certain that we understand all of the intricacies of the patch before we make it live. Additionally, because Macrosun was the technical coordinator on the new engine, it causes some challenges on the code side. It will take our live coders some time to get themselves acquainted with the engine and all that it entails. The beta will remain up and running and we hope to get past beta status as soon as we can. Nusquam noted that Henry "Michizure" Senger will take over for Genele and that the existing live team was organized with "competence sharing" across the studio's games to minimize the impact of personnel shifts. Funcom earlier this week tweeted about new job openings in its Durham, North Carolina, location. [Thanks to tipster Divalicious Diva. Image credit: Azzura.]
RuneScape celebrates player creativity with Golden Gnome Awards
Nominations have opened for RuneScape's Golden Gnome Awards, the fourth such award ceremony devoted to celebrating player creativity and talent. "We want to continue to recognise all forms of talent, moving beyond just the video making awards given in the past," the team posted. "Whether you're an artist, video maker, cosplayer, or a role model for the community, there's a Golden Gnome out there waiting for you." This year the categories have expanded to award excellence in video and live streaming, art, cosplay, and being a community champion. The latter is an "unsung hero" whom players feel should be recognized for his or her contributions. The Golden Gnome Awards will be given out at the next RuneFest.
Old School RuneScape temporarily changes death penalty due to DDoS attacks
The brutal DDoS attacks that have hit RuneScape over the past week have caused the developers of the 2007-era edition to rework death mechanics until the threat has passed. This "temporary change" to death mechanics allow players a half-hour to see and retrieve their items outside of PvP combat; in PvP, the penalties stay as is. "Even with this change, we would strongly suggest that you do not partake in dangerous or high-risk content such as PvP or high level PvM, and as always, don't risk anything you're not prepared to lose whilst these network issues are ongoing," the devs cautioned.
