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EverQuest II prepares for The Children of War game update
Sony Online Entertainment's premier franchise EverQuest II has continued grow year after year. Following on the heels of EQII's latest expansion Destiny of Velious, the developers have announced a new update. Set to release on May 17th, the new addition to the EverQuest II storyline, The Children of War, will be the 60th update for the fantasy MMORPG. What's in store for fans? Well, are three new dungeons, a new battleground, new pvp armor, new daily missions, and three new raids enough to whet your appetite? The Children of War update tells us the story of Rallos Zek and the Fortress of Drunder. This ruthless general plans to lead his war parties up the cliffs leading to the Western Waste to pillage the power of Roehn Theer. Only the bravest warriors and adventurers will be able to circumvent his massive crusade. Check out the four new screenshots added to the gallery below, then for all the new content information, fly over to the EverQuest II official web site. Also, SOE is inviting former players to come back to the game and experience Norrath again. From April 14th to April 21st, eligible account-holders will be able to log in for seven days to claim their winged mounts, hang out with old friends, and fight some new enemies. %Gallery-116188%
RuneScape March update schedule revealed
Lest you think this week is all about exclusive GDC news and the launch day of a little fantasy title that you might've heard of, Jagex has given us a heads up regarding its planned update schedule for RuneScape. The month of March will see several game tweaks, and first up is the Elemental Workshop IV quest and the Artisan's Workshop (which will bring an update to the game's smithing skill). Bonus XP is coming as well, with an entire weekend devoted to leveling up twice as fast (or half as long, however you'd like to look at it). Either way, mark your calendars for March 11th through March 13th. Finally, Jagex will be updating the Ring of Wealth, trolls and Trollheim visuals, and adding a new Clockwork Syringe quest that features "home insurance claims, a hazing interrogation, long drops, vengeful seagulls, Barrel Busters, and a boatload of zombio-mechanical madness," according to a Jagex press release. Head to the official RuneScape website for further details.
Chris Cao spreads the love for the next DCUO update
DC Universe Online has become the fastest-selling game for Sony Online Entertainment. Playstation 3 and PC players alike enjoy diving deep into the world of DC comics. Developers of this highly successful MMO promised monthly content, and they are delivering in spades -- or should we say hearts? This month's update from SOE promises to be full of hearts, love, and cats. What? Cats? Yes, cats. In addition to adopting the usual MMO February/Valentine's Day theme, DCUO is featuring everyone's purrfect cat burglar: Catwoman. Game Director Chris Cao spoke with us yesterday about the new content coming out later this month. He was not shy about answering our questions about the update or about the issues players are having with the game. So follow us after the break as we visit SOE's secret Batcave to talk to Chris Cao about the past, present, and future love of DC Universe Online. %Gallery-115488%
Zentia offers lots of goodies in upcoming patch 1.2
When it comes to irreverent, fun, free-to-play games that some of the crew here at Massively are fond of, Zentia has managed to earn a spot on that listing. Sure, the brightly-colored landscape may not be in everyone's style, but games that don't take themselves seriously definitely should be! Along with the promise of everyday shrimp versus crab battles, Zentia's upcoming 1.2 patch will add in a lot of things that players have been looking forward to. Aside from a new zone, new mounts, pets, items and more things of a normal nature that players expect in large updates, patch 1.2 will also offer up many other changes. Among the plans are a new Marriage system, a way to earn even more experience, and a Consignment system that will allow players to sell their items to other players server-wide. For now, while we wait for more details, we have a teaser trailer after the jump, offering a first look into this upcoming Zentia expansion, as well as a few new screenshots tucked into the gallery below. But really, epic shrimp versus crab battles... Do we need to say more? %Gallery-98306%
LotRO's (re)writs of the Rune-keeper
Considering how effective the Rune-keeper class is, the developers at Turbine have made a lot of changes to its skills. This class' strength lies in damage and healing -- a nuker/healer, if you will. This fit the plans for Lord of the Rings Online quite well, but there were some things missing in the flavor of the advanced classes. As Designer Brian Aloisio explains in the November Developer Diary, "The Rune-keeper currently sits at top tier in both damage and healing output. Because of this, the goals we have set for this update did not focus on increasing or decreasing net effectiveness, but on adding variety, customization and more dynamic skill interaction to achieve these results." He adds that the changes are adding more "advanced" to the advanced class. Aloisio also confesses that the Trait Set bonuses were bugged, and instead of fixing bonuses, team has reinvented the Trait Sets. To give you an example, the Words of Grace-traited Rune-keepers were capable of healing in any instance, but they lacked non-healing options. So the advanced class' skills were extremely flat. To spice things up, heal-based RKs will now have a slightly different power rotation and have a couple of non-healing abilities, yet they are still an efficient healing class. Be sure to catch the full Developer Diary to see the specifics about your favorite advanced class changes.
The Tattered Notebook: GU58 reactions and a happy ratonga
So the yin/yang monster has caught up with me this week, and it's taken the form of EverQuest II's latest game update. A few weeks ago, my Ratonga alter-ego was positively crushed under the weight of the awful spell effect changes wrought by EQII's Game Update 57. He was so upset, in fact, that he called me during a meeting and insisted I write a rather ranty column about it, complete with sidebar pictures depicting the gruesome before-and-after details. Happily, GU58 has arrived to right that horrible wrong (as well as add some other cool stuff). Turn the page to see what else the folks at SOE have stirred into the pot for the denizens of Norrath.
Atlantica adds Empress Himiko, teleportation
Free-to-play fantasy MMORPG maker Ndoors has just announced a new patch for Atlantica Online. The update brings a wide range of new features including a new Mercenary (Himiko), new Mercenary-only fashion accessories, and the ability to trade in unwanted mounts, decor, and clothing in exchange for AT Points. Ndoors has also added the Decoration Book, in addition to the pre-existing Mount and Clothing Books, which will allow players to store their decorations as well as earn further Collection Points. Also, players can now earn new magic skill books by trading their elements to the Jules de Goncourt NPC. Equipment repair has also been streamlined in the new update via changes to the Atlas Ore system. Atlas Ore fragments are now all that is necessary to repair equipment, and they can now be obtained by dismantling full Ores. Finally, the folks at Ndoors have given players a map save location, enabling teleports anywhere on the map. Check out the patch notes for full details.
Brenlo talks EverQuest II's future
Alan 'Brenlo' Crosby, Sony Online Entertainment's Senior Producer for EverQuest II, has dropped an epic forum post on the official boards detailing the future of the long-running MMORPG. For starters, he talks about the game's technical issues, specifically the recent server performance concerns. "Some servers are struggling a bit with the new load created by returning players, Battlegrounds, more items in the database, etc and are not reacting well. This is our engineering team's number one priority<," he said. He also touches on the much anticipated New Halas zone, indicating that it will finally see the light of day in the next patch and will be well worth the wait in terms of extended content, housing, and art design. Tweaks to the traveling system and itemization will also be made, and, though no specifics were given, feedback was solicited on both accounts. Battleground updates and tweaking are also in the pipeline, as is a new Storyteller UI system that promises to tie together Norrath's many quests in service of a larger, more meaningful story. Finally, Brenlo hinted at alternate rule set servers, mentioning PvP, permadeath, and progression as possibilities. He also dropped a few hints at the upcoming development cycle for this fiscal year. <"You should see at least one raid each update, of which there are four major updates planned for the next fiscal year. Details of those to follow but I can say they will be a mix of reworked content e.g. Lavastorm revamp, and all new content. Through the next year, we plan to bolster our events as well, eventually having one event each calendar month, providing more entertainment for you,"he said.
Mabinogi's Alchemy update brings in new boss
With the most recent patch to the American Mabinogi servers, Nexon introduced the Alchemist to the world. Since then, players have been pitting their skills in special Shadow Missions against the evil denizens of the Shadow Realm. But now there's a new threat looming on the horizon, bringing with it all new challenges. Added to the game with the update is a special boss monster available to players towards the end of the Alchemist storyline, Claimh Solas, who is described as the "fiercest and most terrifying" of the newly added monsters. Claimh Solas will spawn once a week, on Saturdays, for players to band together into groups and take down in a special arena dedicated to the fight. While he starts out as a dangerous monster, players will have to battle together to weaken him and summon the golden dragon from the Mabinogi: Dragon update to assist them in taking him down. However, he will then respawn in a different form, his demonic wings replaced by swords to be used against his attackers. So if you're one of the many folks hanging out while Mabinogi goes through extended downtime, it's a good time to plan out leveling through the Alchemy story -- or seeing which friends will be around on Saturday, if you're already there. With that said, if you're one of the people who hasn't checked out Mabinogi but this sounds interesting to you, we've included the trailer for the recent Alchemy update behind the break.
EverQuest II's Shards of Destiny game update goes live
EverQuest II's next game update Shards of Destiny is now live, and that means that players can take advantage of a number of new features. We've summed up the biggest ones just below: Chronomagic: Visit some new "mysterious erudites" that have moved into Freeport, Kelethin, Neriak, Qeynos and Gorothyn, to lower your adventuring level for a small cost. This allows for grouping with lower levels, and a lot of older content has been revamped with more frequent bosses and changed loot rarities to make this option more attractive. There are also 37 new missions related to going back and seeing dungeons of differing levels. Achievements: A new way to compete with other players. Most achievements will just give Achievement Points, but some will offer non-stat item rewards. Achievement categories include Exploring, Dungeons, Quests, Raids, Player versus Player, and Tradeskills. Miragul's Planar Shard: a x4 raid zone and the first in EverQuest II to have a scaled difficulty feature. The Shard of Love: Choose to help or hinder the Sisters of Erollisi, beginning by visiting either a Disciple of Love or a Disciple of Hate. Teleportation Spires Event: Rewards are up for grabs for those who can assist the Quellithulians with the reactivation of the Ulterian Teleportation Spires. Check out the full patch notes here, and before you head in-game, dip past the break to see the official Shards of Destiny trailer.
EverQuest's Ancient Heroes game update brings a "classic EQ" experience
There are a lot of players and former players of EverQuest that would love to see a server that is locked down to just the first few expansions, or maybe none at all. While the latest game update, Ancient Heroes (which goes live today) doesn't bring a new server, there will be a new "classic EQ" experience introduced to the game. An NPC in the Plane of Knowledge will transform your character into a level 50 (the level cap once upon a time) decked out in launch-era equipment, and send you off to fight the Kobolds in Nagafen's Lair or the Frogloks of Guk -- or even to raid the old dragons, Lady Vox (pictured above) and Lord Nagafen. There will be new rewards waiting for those that choose to take up arms in old-school fashion.This character morphing is the primary focus of the Ancient Heroes update, but in fact, there is more character morphing to be had with some new Marketplace items. A Potion of Amnesia will allow you to change your character's name, and a Potion of Disgenderment will flip their gender -- both changes are permanent, though you should just be able to buy another potion if need be. The Witness Protection Pack combines the two new potions, for those situations where you've really driven your reputation into the ground and need to start afresh.
EverQuest II producer's letter looks at "Shards of Destiny"
EverQuest II's senior producer Alan "Brenlo" Crosby has penned his latest letter to the community, mainly to talk about the next big Game Update Shards of Destiny and its arrival on the Test Server. While the patch isn't slated to go live until late September, players on Test can try out some of the new features already. One new system that is being introduced is Chronomagic, which allows players to reduce their level by speaking to an NPC in town, meaning they can play with lower level friends or simply revisit earlier content. Another Shards of Destiny addition is housing renovations, providing more space and room for items.If you're just after new content, the patch will have some of that too. There will be a new x4 dungeon called Miragul's Planar Shard, and Erollisi Marr's Shard of Love ought to bring some romance to Norrath. EverQuest II will also be jumping on the achievement bandwagon, adding their own Achievement System. All of the above isn't coming for another few weeks, but Brenlo did mention a small patch that just went in a few days ago too. It added a field to the "Welcome" screen that lists the current Daily Mission, as well as the current "Hot Zone". In the past, EQII's Hot Zones were temporary experience bonuses, but the term's meaning has been changed to indicate zones with an increased fabled item drop-rate. Not too shabby.
Vanguard's "Halls of the Pantheon" update goes live
Vanguard has been patched with its "Halls of the Pantheon" game update, which marks the first level cap increase for the game. The new level cap is 55, and we're already hearing from the community that getting through the five extra levels is going to take a bit of work. The titular Halls of the Pantheon will have players proving themselves to the gods of Telon in return for great rewards. The feature list for the patch is fairly long, but here are some of the highlights:Feature Details: 200 new quests 1000+ new items 2 new flying mounts Choose your alignment and reap the rewards Find out the truth behind the schemes of Kamelott Become a god warrior and unlock the way to the Halls of Shattered Souls Craft enhancements making them more powerful Craft god armor Craft a unique epic weapon for each class New item mods New resistances Level Increase: New level cap is 55 95 new abilities Spell crafting added Item levels increased New crafting related quest series The full feature list can be found at the Vanguard community site.
