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Patch 1.0.3 released for Diablo III complete with an interesting new bug
The pseudo-MMO nature of Diablo III makes it unsurprising that the development team is still hard at work with polishing patches. The newest patch, 1.0.3, has just been released, bringing with it several adjustments to classes and individual boss battles. It also expands the range for potential high-level item drops, allowing players a better chance at seeing top-end items without reaching Inferno Act IV. Along with the usual bug fixes, it should be all good news, right? Unfortunately, it looks like the patch has brought an odd glitch along for some players -- namely, a glitch preventing them from gaining any experience. Player testing seems to reveal that changing your password fixes the issue and allows you to gain experience once again, and the issue is only affecting players with a digital version instead of the game discs. While no official word has come down from Blizzard as of yet, it wouldn't be surprising to see the issue hotfixed in the near future.
Ultima Online rolling out a new installment of the Awakening
Ultima Online is preparing a continuation of the game's latest global arc with tomorrow's patch. Act VI of The Awakening asks players to assist in crafting a number of alchemical preparations, with a number of rewards available for players who actively try to crack the puzzle of the correct ingredients. More information will be available from the official site as well as an in-game NPC. If you need more time to prepare, don't worry -- the quest is going active in July and lasting until mid-August. If you're not willing to wait, the new patch also sees a revamp of the Covetous Dungeon. The first floor remains largely unchanged, but levels two and three both feature a new system for the game in which players accumulate points for defeating monsters that can later be turned in for new rewards. Last but not least, vanilla plants have been added to the game's gardening system, giving players another new thing to explore when not fighting monsters or preparing for the next part of The Awakening.
New Dawntide patch due October 17th, release date announcement to follow
Hey kids, it's a Dawntide update! Yes, really. The fantasy sandbox from Working As Intended has been quiet since delaying its planned October 1st release date, but today the devs have issued a brief blurb on the game's official website that suggests a bit of hope for the future. As it turns out, the delayed release was the result of a funding shortage, but now WAI has secured a new source and the team has "reassembled to resume development." A new patch is due October 17th, and a new release date announcement should roll in before the end of the month. WAI also takes a moment to tip its collective cap to Dawntide's hearty faithful. "Thanks for sticking with us through the rough times, and we still intend to release the best sandbox MMO out there," the site says. [Thanks to Halldorr for the tip!]
Addon Spotlight: Errormonster and a mailbag
Each week, WoW Insider's Mathew McCurley brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. Something peculiar is happening to my addon interface folder -- it is becoming more streamlined. Whether this is a product of Blizzard's own default UI's becoming more capable or addon developers' just fusing options together, it feels like fewer addons are doing more things, and I cautiously approve. My UI has remained relatively unchanged since the end of Wrath of the Lich King, so little tweaks and changes these days are big deals. My inbox was overflowing with questions again this week, so I figured we could answer some more of them and see what kinds of recommendations we can get out there to readers who need a little guidance and help. People do, however, still like an addon recommendation as well as questions, so you'll get a shorter recommendation this week, since there isn't much to say, and a lengthy mailbag. Sound good? Wonderful.
Issue 19 goes live in City of Heroes
While World of Warcraft goes through its own world-shattering events, City of Heroes is getting hit hard as well. Issue 19 has just gone live, allowing players to experience the first step of the Praetorian invasion. Luckily, the patch also brings with it the Alpha Slot, empowering players with the first tier of the Incarnate system and allowing characters to stand against the invasion at a heretofore unseen level of power. There's also a surfeit of assorted quality-of-life improvements, not the least of which is the movement of Fitness to a baseline set of powers. Issue 19's features have been getting talked up for some time, so players will likely find many familiar entries among the official patch notes. Most noteworthy is the free respec token that's being given out to all characters, with a second free token being awarded on December 8th for characters who have used the first free token. It's the perfect time for City of Heroes players to log in, get playing, and start fighting back against the Praetorian invaders with all the might they can muster -- and with the new systems, that's quite a lot of might indeed.
Demonflame now available for Champions Online
It was promised for this month, and Champions Online players can rejoice that the promise was true. Demonflame, the second adventure pack for the game, has just moved from the test servers to live. Following in the footsteps of the previous adventure pack, Serpent Lantern, the adventure can be undertaken by any size group from level 11 onward, scaling in both difficulty and complexity according to the number and level of participants. Not to mention that it includes new rewards for players of all levels, including new costume parts of an equally violet hue. In addition to the new adventure, the newest patch also included the pet revision, which might be even more interesting for you depending on your level and power build in the game. While there's no official list of patch notes, our resident columnist did a good job summarizing both the pet changes and the new adventure pack in the weeks leading up to their release. So if you've been holding off on logging in to Champions Online in anticipation of the new patch, now is the time.
Revelations of Gipat goes live for Allods Online
It was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." While it would be more than three-quarters of a century after that when Allods Online was released, he certainly could have been referring to the Fear of Death penalty that caused quite a bit of fear and rage among players. But that tortured analogy no longer applies, as today sees the release of the newest patch for the game, Revelations of Gipat, which removes Fear of Death for good and puts a new death penalty into place. For many of the game's players, removing the unnecessarily cash-shop-based penalty would be enough to make the patch laudable. But as was revealed when the team released the patch notes last week, the update also sees the addition of a new zone, a raise in level cap, and new content for everyone to enjoy. After the marathon maintenance session, Allods Online is live again and ready for play -- it's worth checking out, even if the size of the patch might scare you off. You can also check out our gallery, showing off some of the new content players can expect as well as mounts. %Gallery-97106%
Global Agenda rolls out the next phase of Sandstorm to the test servers
To call the huge 1.3 patch to Global Agenda ambitious would almost be an understatement, considering how much of the game's basic structure was rewritten. It was so ambitious, in fact, that there were several features that wound up being slightly delayed from the initial release. And while the focus of late has been on the game's shift in subscription model (namely to the complete absence of one), several of the remaining features have just been deployed to the game's test servers in time for the holiday weekend. One of the bigger additions is the persistent PvE zone being added, the Sonoran Desert, aimed at players between level 5 and 15. On top of that, the team is adding in the option to Salvage unwanted equipment for parts, a persistent defense raid for players past level 30, and the addition of consumable items. While the holiday weekend is set to be the first testing weekend of several, it's the ideal time to get a feel for the next major addition to the game. Global Agenda players are encouraged to check the changes out, and new players would be well-served to remember that the game is on sale right through July 4th on Steam.
Breakfast Topic: Does the Background Downloader get you fired up?
So as you may have seen if you follow WRUP, I've been trying on and off for months to summon up the energy to get through the tournament on my Death Knight. It's not that I don't want it, but the Argent Tournament dailies just aren't my favorite. The quests are lacking life and excitement, and the lore is sort of tepid. When it comes time to solo, I find myself retreating to a leveling alt rather than doing the same old boring dailies over and over again. I'm pretty sure it's not even the repetition of dailies that's doing it either. I used to do the Shattered Sun dailies over and over all the time without a care, just because they were so much fun.But with the announcement of new dailies to be opened to people with enough faction in Patch 3.2, I've felt like I need to make that final push. However, it wasn't until a few days ago that I finally kicked myself into gear, and I'm now at a week and counting of doing my tournament dailies every day without fail. The reason? The background downloader went up.
