exodus
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EVE Evolved: The making of EVE Online, part 2
With all tech 2 modules now released into the game and their blueprints handed out to players, the tech 2 blueprint lottery officially shut down during this expansion period and was replaced by the Invention mechanic. Invention allows players to create their own inefficient limited-run tech 2 blueprint copies, putting the supply of tech 2 ships and modules into the hands of the general EVE populace rather than those lucky enough to have won the original tech 2 blueprints. This patch also brought in the entirely new contracts system, which replaced the escrow system that was starting to show its age and was becoming a lot less useful for finding what you wanted.
Exodus gets US-first M'uru kill
Hot on the heels of SK-Gaming's world-first kill of M'uru, the penultimate Sunwell Plateau boss, the US guild Exodus has scored a place in the hall of records by being the first in the region to kick his Naaru butt, early this morning. Exodus live on Kel'thuzad, Horde-side, and apparently just got sponsored a few days ago, which endowed them with a brand-new website and plenty of bandwidth just in time. If you want to see one of their players' personal thoughts on the fight, you can check it out on their forum (NSFW language). Apparently it was a nine-hour attempt (!), and they used six healers, four tanks, and 15 DPS, in case you were wondering. Edit: looks like that entire thread was a parody of a Nihilum thread about their Eredar Twins kill. I shouldn't post before I've had my coffee. One of the items that dropped for them was something we figured M'uru had, and is in my gallery from yesterday (Sin'dorei Band of Dominance), but the rest of them were not on that list: Harness of Carnal Instinct, Garments of Serene Shores, and Robes of Faltered Light. Congrats to Exodus!
TR guilds say game over to the endgame
One of the biggest criticisms levied at NCsoft's sci-fi MMO Tabula Rasa is that it is, in many respects, an incomplete game. The Specialist tree has undergone months of retooling and tweaking to be made truly viable, the disparate amount of content in the mid to late levels has been the cause for considerable concern, and it's fairly well known that the game lacks a significant endgame. It's this latter point that has caused a crisis of sorts on the Pegasus server. Both Defiance and Tranquility, two of the larger endgame guilds on the server (or so we're told), have decided to call it quits because of the barren state of the end-game. All there is to do once you've hit the level gap is PvP. Problem is, the PvP in Tabula Rasa is pretty broken, and the development team hasn't shown much interest in fixing it in the near future. Or if they have, they haven't done a terribly good job of communicating that.
Gamespot exodus continues: Ryan Davis to leave
Update: Davis discusses his departure with Joystiq.Joystiq has confirmed with new Gamespot editor-in-chief Ricardo Torres that longtime staffer Ryan Davis has given notice that he intends to leave the site. While we haven't been able to get in touch with Davis directly, a source close to Davis inside Gamespot told us, on condition of anonymity, that the controversial firing of editorial director Jeff Gerstmann was the catalyst behind the decision. The planned departure follows similar decisions by freelancer Frank Provo and staffer Alex Navarro in the wake of the scandal.In a Dec. 1 blog post, Davis spoke of his close relationship with Gerstmann since before he started writing for Gamespot in 2000. "Jeff Gerstmann has been a significant figure in both my personal and professional life for a long, long time," he wrote. "By my recollection, we were fairly fast friends, though I was also kind of pushy about it." The pair played together as part of alternative rap group Suburban All-Stars.
Exodus to the Virtual World review from the other virtual world
As we've previously covered on Massively.com before, virtual worlds researcher Edward Castronova's new book is entitled Exodus to the Virtual World: How Online Fun is Changing Reality -- but if you want to know if it's actually worth reading, there's a review over at Rik Santos's personal blog.I'm almost tempted to pick up a copy, but to me, serious real world influence from virtual worlds feels a long way off. When governments can't even accept gaming, the idea of them trying to learn from MMOs doesn't seem likely any time soon.And yes, the author is the same man who recently demanded a female dwarf. Comments from that post show he isn't the only one!
Perrin Kaplan joins the NoA exodus
The move has claimed another victim: after fifteen years with Nintendo, Marketing VP Perrin Kaplan is calling it quits. At least, we assume Kaplan's decision is related to the move, considering there has been a great deal of speculation that she would follow in George Harrison's footsteps, but no official reason was stated.Kaplan will stay on with NoA until the end of the year.
Partial songlist revealed for Vice City Stories
Man, the 80s were great, and Rockstar's doing a great job of bringing back the classics (again) in Vice City Stories. 1UP has unearthed a partial songlist from the game, and it includes Phil Collins (of course), and a few other classics: Philip Bailey - Easy Lover Alan Parsons Project - Games People Play Pat Benatar - Love is a Battlefield Jonzun Crew - Pack Jam Run DMC - It's Like That Whodini - Freaks Come Out At Night Dio - Holy Diver Dokken - Breaking the Chains Ratt - Round and Round Exodus - Together Forever Class Action - Weekend Sister Sledge - Lost in Music Bobby Valentin - Mi Ritmo Es Bueno Hector Lavoe - Mi Gente Willie Colon - El Malo Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing Earth Wind & Fire - Fantasy Keni Burke - Keep Rising to the Top Foreigner - I Want to Know What Love Is The Assembly - Never Never Pat Benatar - We Belong Human League - Love Action Japan - Quiet Life Yaz - Don't Go Wow... this is quite a star-studded cast of artists. I can't wait to run over some prostitutes while having Sexual Healing blasting out of my radio. Hot.
