pw
Latest
The Game Archaeologist: Tales from Neverwinter Nights' Arelith
Back in May, I touched on the fascinating field of Neverwinter Nights' persistent worlds (PWs). I never expected it to draw so much attention, least of all from the folks still running these communities. But it did, and I was contacted by one of the player developers of Arelith, Mark "Artos" Friebus. Artos and his colleagues wanted to share more about the history and makeup of this 12-year-old server and why, in 2014, they're still as crazy about doing it as ever. If you want an insider's point of view as to what goes on in a persistent world -- and perhaps are open to be tempted to roll a character on one of them -- then stay tuned for the fascinating tale of Arelith.
The Game Archaeologist: The persistent worlds of Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2
At the end of next month, dozens of online worlds will flicker and vanish with the flip of a switch. It's a online apocalypse the likes of which we have not seen in quite some time, although you might be forgiven for not having heard of it before now. When GameSpy Technology goes offline on May 31st, dozens of EA games that relied on the platform for multiplayer functionality will lose their online components by June 30th. Because of this, Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 will find that their persistent player-made and -run worlds are in danger. For over a decade now, players have poured creative energies and roleplaying enthusiasm into these micro-MMOs. Could an era be about to end? Fortunately, players are already swinging into action to work around the shutdown, keeping their worlds alive and detached from GameSpy's umbilical cord. I see this event as a wake-up call for people like yours truly who are acquainted primarily with BioWare and Obsidian's single-player offerings and are ignorant of the larger Neverwinter Nights community out there. Let's take a look at this engrossing online realm and how it came to be.
Star Trek Online's Season 5 content almost ready for prime time
Another day, another Path to F2P dev blog from Star Trek Online. The 24th entry in the series takes the wraps off the game's newest content update, and the Season 5: Call to Arms patch is almost ready to see the light of day on the holodeck server. Season 5 boasts the new Borg invasion of Defera ground combat map, reworked Borg strategic task force maps, new non-combat Federation and Klingon Academy maps, a patrol mission revamp, and more. Gameplay tweaks abound as well, with improvements to duty officers, space skills, and the leveling curve among the changes. Read the full list at the official STO website.
Perfect World introduces The Trials content update
Ready yourselves, Perfect World International players, because great trials are coming your way. The latest update to Perfect World Entertainment's trademark title brings players a new zone, known as Elysium Village, which will provide new quests and content for players level 100 or higher. But the main attractions of the new update are the new Faction Trials, which are "a set of nine teamwork-based missions that will challenge even the most powerful faction." Up to 100 players can take part in each trial, and the ultimate goal of said trials is to prevent the ominously named Grand Demon Lord from breaking through to the Perfect World. These aren't the only new features being introduced with the update, so head on over to the game's official site to see the full details, and don't forget to check past the cut for a new trailer.
The Soapbox: The Uncle Owen paradox
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. This week, the venerable Star Wars Galaxies celebrates its eighth year of existence. I was there in the beginning -- before the beginning, in fact. I did what a lot of you early SWG players probably did: I had a guild and a guild city, multiple accounts, a booming business as a chef, and a character who could entertain and fight. Even then, we realized how different SWG was from its immediate predecessors like EverQuest and Dark Age of Camelot. We'd returned to the earlier age of Ultima Online, of persistent worlds (as the term was used back then). It was more a world than a game, and in it we could roleplay whatever we liked, to a point. Nowadays, we'd call it a sandbox. Old-school MMO gamers know well that the sandbox is under attack. Some will blame it on EverQuest, some on World of Warcraft, some on the free-to-play phenomenon. Among the Massively commenters, there's a large contingent of gamers who consider SWG's own NGE to be the beginning of the end of the classic sandbox. I can't say they're wrong when it comes to the philosophy governing new MMOs, but the sandbox isn't dead yet.
Behind the Mask: Perfect World and the future
If I were to describe the emotions of the Champions Online playerbase regarding the Perfect World buyout, I would have to say "mixed." Some players are happy that the days of Atari are behind them, and some are really skeptical about the future of the C-Store. CO is a fairly "pay-to-win" game in that Gold members have a lot of gameplay advantages over their non-subscribing counterparts. A lot of players are suggesting that the C-Store might become inundated with paid features and that we might possibly see the removal of certain free features (like global-purchased respecs). I am cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. Perfect World Entertainment holds controlling shares in Runic Games, and if the recent Mac and console ports of Torchlight are any indication of PWE's approach to management, I'd be more than happy to welcome our new alien overlords.
E3 2009: Jade Dynasty at a glance
The third game in Perfect World's portfolio, Jade Dynasty, has been riding quietly in closed beta for a while. At this year's E3, however, the Jade Dynasty crew brought out their game and let us here at Massively take it for a test drive. They also hit us with an announcement as well -- Jade Dynasty will be jumping out of closed beta on June 15th, and a European server will be added in on that day as well.Overall, Jade Dynasty pulls much from Perfect World's other games: Perfect World and Ether Saga Online. The click on map to automatically move feature, cosmetic cash shop, and large amount of in-game quests returns, but a few new features have been added in that make this game a very interesting experience.Join us after the break as we break down Jade Dynasty's features, a few of which may be controversial for some gamers.
Phoenix Wright: Sales for All
Amazon has cut the price of Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, the sequel to everyone's favorite court-based adventure game, bringing it down to $19.99. We don't expect this deal to last for long, so race your shopping cart to the checkout lane as fast as your feet will allow.If for some reason, God forbid, you haven't played Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney yet and are hesitant to start the series midway through, don't forget that you can also pick up a used copy at GameStop or EB Games for as low as $21.99! We admit, that's still pretty expensive for a game as old as this one, but it's better than paying full price. All you'll need to take advantage of this sorta-bargain is the coupon we posted earlier this morning.
New Gyakuten Saiban 4 screens
We're having a pretty hard time coping with our Gyakuten Saiban withdrawals. Ever since we learned that we wouldn't be able to play the Japanese release in English, we've had to turn to alternate means to get our daily allowance of fake Japanese law. We refresh the GS4 website obsessively, play the translated demo until it hits question-mark land, and shout "OBJECTION" at every opportunity that is even a little appropriate.We found some screens on Famitsu to torture ourselves with. They show the intro to the second case, a witness in Chapter 1, and Chapter 2's defendant. If you want to make yourself feel bad about the lack of Ace Attorney in your life, then by all means, have a look. If you can't handle the wait, we suggest trying to put the whole thing out of your mind.
Metareview (the web) - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All
Now that we've seen what the magazines have to say, it's high time we checked in with the various sites of the world wide webtron. With mostly favorable reviews of the title (natch), we're glad we do not have to enter the tubes ourselves and personally kill any online entities responsible for bad-mouthing our favorite Ace Attorney.At the time of this post, we don't have all of the online reviews yet (1UP and IGN), but once they've posted them, we'll come back and update this post. Gamespot (77/100) says it's more of the same and doesn't innovate: "Justice for All is a good, lengthy adventure with great character-driven storylines, but it fails to build upon the promising groundwork laid by the first game." Games Radar (80/100) is quick to call it a great follow-up to the previous game: "The charm and clever logic puzzles are still here, and the cases deliver the same charge-back-from-the-edge-of-defeat rush that made the first game so cool. Whether you're a fan of the original or a newcomer to Wright's bizarre legal world, you won't be disappointed."
Yet another Phoenix Wright shirt we want
What a sweet shirt! We object to its sweetness on the grounds that our eyeballs cannot take it! The shirt is just too sweet for us, causing convulsions in our staff equal to that of an epileptic seizure. The person responsible for crafting such a kickass shirt (flickr user xlamex), also made a sweet Okami shirt as well. Kudos on a job well done!See also: DIY: make your own Phoenix Wright shirt
