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Wings Over Atreia: Aion's anniversary marks four years
Hmmm? What's that you say -- another year has passed? Well I'll be... you're right! If you are anything like me, a large chunk of Aion's fourth year crawled by at an agonizingly slow pace as you waited through all the newsbytes and teasing for the big 4.0 expansion and its new classes. Then, once Dark Betrayal finally arrived, the last quarter of the year just zipped by with hardly a notice. And quite frankly, it doesn't really feel as if four years have passed since Atreia first opened up and welcomed eager Daevas, but it really has. So happy fourth birthday, Aion! As is customary here at Massively, on this auspicious anniversary day I'm going to dedicate this Wings Over Atreia to a reflection on the past year, looking at what has changed since our last stroll down memory lane and what has stayed the same. And you are cordially invited to join me for plenty of reminiscing... and of course, CAKE!
Aion's anniversary events include cakes, pirates, and an aethertech design contest
Remember when we teased a bit about the upcoming anniversary events in Aion? Well now we can share all the details! When the Alchemy Event wraps upon the 18th, the Daeva's Day Events will take over. These events feature the famous cake buffs as well as quests to obtain wings and challenges to earn golden feathers (to buy even more rewards!). There's even a hide-and-seek game: Mini cakes are hidden throughout Atreia for players to find. This event runs September 18th to October 2nd. But that's not all! GMs will host various mini-games and activities throughout the anniversary celebrations, rewarding players for participating. And on September 19th, players can celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with various pirate-themed activities and gear that's exclusive to NA. And finally, NCsoft is holding another Leave your Legacy contest -- this time for Aethertechs. Interested participants need to submit their original Aethertech Key and Mecha design by September 25th, and the winning one will be released alongside the Aethertechs when 4.5 comes to NA. Full contest rules can be found on the official site. [Source: NCsoft press release]
Second Embers of Caerus feature week video introduces Dynamic Events Team
Who doesn't love unique live events guided by real people interacting directly with the participants? If you don't, then there is no need to read further. But if you do, have we got some news for you -- a sandbox promising just that! As Embers of Caerus' feature week for Kickstarter continues, Forsaken Studios released the second video blog, this time highlighting the Dynamic Events team. After a few minutes of answering viewer-submitted questions brought on by the first video feature about death, Technical Director Dave Belcher introduces the star of the clip. What exactly is the Dynamic Events Team? Dave likens this group to pen-and-paper Dungeon Masters; they will have tools to run dynamic stories in-game on both a small, local scale and world-wide. They will also work around the clock to monitor the health of the world, using events for such things as encouraging players to disperse from overly populated areas or to replenish resource-depleted areas. This whole system is meant to really bring the game world to life. To illustrate an example, Dave reads through a sample event. Catch his remarks after the break. [Thanks to Flintwick for the tip!]
The Game Archaeologist moves into Lucasfilm's Habitat: Part 2
Last week on the exciting cosmic adventures of the Game Archaeologist, we uncovered the ancient civilization of Lucasfilm's Habitat, one of the early predecessors to graphical MMOs. While we talked about how it came to be and pondered just how much money we'd waste if game companies were still charging by the minute, we didn't have the time or space to cover the community and events that formed around this experimental project. That day has come. Prepare your bladder for imminent release! Giving a bunch of players tools to do every which thing in the game and turning them loose without strict regulation might seem like a recipe for an instant sewage pit of a game today, but our cultured, classy behaviors weren't quite trained into us in 1986. When players first set eyes on Habitat, they weren't thinking of min-maxing, kill-stealing, or raid progression; they were trying to make sense of a virtual world using the only frame of reference they had to date: their own lives. Out of a melting pot of ideas and objects came fascinating stories from one of the earliest MMO proto-ancestors of the modern era. Get your '80s on as we head back... to the future!
Massively Exclusive: WindSlayer 2 dev diary talks in-game events
Hello 2-D sidescrolling fans, and welcome to another exclusive Windslayer 2 developer diary. We've partnered with Ignited Games to bring you a series of first looks at the title as it moves through beta and toward its official release. So far we've covered a basic introduction, ranged class mechanics, and PvP. Today we're shifting gears a bit to focus on in-game events. Ignited is currently focusing on both scripted events and GM-driven events, and both are designed to add a bit of flavor and give players an interesting diversion from everyday gameplay. See what's in store after the break.
Tales of Pirates II preparing in-game PvP event
Professionally game-mastered events have gotten somewhat rarer as the MMORPG genre has matured, so we're always happy to highlight them. Today we've received word that IGG GMs will be holding court in Tales of Pirates II on April 28th, and players can expect a bit of action and mayhem as the event pits friend and foe against one another in a competition for numerous in-game rewards. The GM will appear next to the PvP map entrance at 10:00 p.m. EDT and will sell Lucky Cards that mark players as friends or foes. The opposing teams will do battle, with the respective objectives revolving around protecting or killing the GM. At the event's conclusion, winning Lucky Cards may be redeemed accordingly. Tales of Pirates II is a free-to-play fantasy MMO in which players navigate a large game world that spans both land and sea. The game features four playable characters as well as a customizable job system and real-time land and sea battles. Head to the official website to learn more and download the client.
