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Facebook adds real-time 'ticker' to overhauled news feed, donates old layout to science (video)
Facebook is about to turn your social life into an online newspaper. That's the takeaway from a new slate of changes the company unveiled yesterday, ahead of its annual f8 developer conference in San Francisco. From now on, if you log in to Facebook after a lengthy hiatus, your news feed -- much like the front page of a daily paper -- will consist of a list of "top stories," photos and updates that were posted while you were away, with each high-priority item tagged with a blue earmark. More frequent users, on the other hand, will find a list of most recent stories presented in chronological order, along with larger photos embedded directly within their news feed. The company has also introduced a new "ticker" feature that provides users with real-time updates on their friends' activity, displayed along the right-hand side of the home page. Here, you'll find the exact same updates you'd see on a real-time news feed, with the crucial difference being that you'll be able to interact with each development without missing a beat. If you see that a friend comments on a cat video, for example, you'll be able to click that item in the ticker and add your two cents, without having to navigate away from the home screen. Facebook will likely provide more details on these new features at its f8 tomorrow, but you can find more information in the demo video, after the break.
Anarchy Online shows a glimpse of its future makeover
News of the much-anticipated Anarchy Online graphics revamp has been sparse, to say the least, so to see six brand-new screens of the updated engine is like a cold drink of water after an endless trek through IKEA. Seriously, it takes like two hours just to navigate through that store! Director/Producer Colin Cragg posted the six updated screenshots showing off the city of Tir on the Anarchy Online forums today. The screenies don't just have fans of the long-running MMO pumped, but the Anarchy Online team as well. "I have to keep shooing the rest of the team away from Parsed's desk...this is probably a good sign," Cragg writes. AO players have been waiting for the promised new graphic engine at least since 2009, so this is a good sign that Funcom is on track to update its oldest MMO with a 2011 veneer. You can check out all six screens in the gallery below. [Thanks to Kane Hart for the tip!] %Gallery-102015%
Rusty Hearts' closed beta swings into phase 2
It's an exciting time for the hyper-kinetic Rusty Hearts, as the title is not only moving into its second closed beta phase today but ramping up for a blockbuster appearance at this week's PAX. Perfect World is upping the ante for potential testers, offering a free costume item for those who log into the game in the first 12 hours. This costume piece will persist through open beta, so there's no worry it's going away anytime soon. Rusty Hearts' closed beta phase 2 is also increasing the amount of content available in the game, including a complete town restructure, a fine-tuning of the PvP system, the ability to compare yourself to other players, a side quest system, a revamp of the skill tree, advanced crafting, and unique cosmetic looks for crafted weapons. If you don't have the pleasure of attending PAX, the Rusty Hearts dev team has a present for you anyway: the full PAX walkthrough video that will be on display at the convention. You can check it out after the jump!
Sony reinventing PlayStation Home to be more like an MMO
PlayStation Home was a hugely anticipated feature for console fans, one that ultimately garnered mixed reviews and apathetic affection. Due to the reception, Sony has decided to reinvent the game lobby-slash-virtual-world to incorporate the best of themeparks, MMOs, and social networks. When it relaunches this fall, PlayStation Home will look radically different, resembling a sleek mall with plenty to do and faster functionality for those who want to get right to their games. But between playing commercial titles, gamers are encouraged to hang out for a while, which is where MMO elements come into play. The new Home has a number of districts, as an amusement park would, and in them players can pick up quests, go on treasure hunts, and explore these video game-themed zones to find hidden mysteries. Sony also promises that it will incorporate persistent, ongoing stories, similar to those you'd find in MMOs, such as an alien invasion that affects all of the areas. Sony is hoping that the 23 million Home users will embrace this new experience and form stronger social connections through it.
Jade Dynasty unveiling the Path of Glory
Whether you're an old hand in Jade Dynasty or you've been playing for as long as the game has been around, Perfect World Entertainment wants you to start back from the beginning. But not out of malice -- no, it's because the game's new expansion, Path of Glory, is just around the corner. And when one of the centerpieces of the expansion is a completely revamped main storyline, wouldn't you want to give that revamp all of your attention? Maybe not? Well, there are going to be more features in the expansion, too -- features such as gems to socket into equipment for improved stats and a new clan instance to fight for glory. But maybe all you need to see is an impressive trailer for the update -- and look, we've got just that right past the cut here. So jump on past that break and take a look at some of the images associated with the upcoming expansion.
Earth Eternal pushes the do-over button as it goes into open beta
Clinging to the last vestiges of life, Earth Eternal has been brought back from the brink of destruction for another try at glory, as Outblaze announced that the game has gone into open beta mode as of today. Players interested in seeing what the new and revised version of Earth Eternal looks like are encouraged to sign up for the beta on the website and jump into the game post-haste. Testers will not only get to see the newest features in the game, but will receive a nice in-game goody bag with a banner, helmet and XP boost. There's also a special reward for those who hit level 30 or higher during the beta period. This unique MMO combines a hodge-podge of seemingly contradicting flavors -- including a post-apocalyptic setting, sentient animals, and magic across Europe -- and melded it together into a delightful concoction. If you're interested in what we think about Earth Eternal, you'd do well to check out Beau's Rise and Shiny impressions of the title!
Legend of Edda going dark until 2012 due to revamp
Legend of Edda, the free-to-play title from GamesCampus, is temporarily closing its doors to the gaming public on August 26th until early next year. This isn't because of a dying population or financial difficulty, but rather to overhaul and relaunch the game with a much-improved version. According to a letter left on the website, EU's EYASoft developed a superior version of the game that went into open beta in Europe. Apparently this version was both so good and so incompatible with the North American version that GamesCampus decided to halt progress on the current edition of Legend of Edda in favor for the new and improved one. "Unfortunately," the letter says, "because of the extreme differences between the US version and the new version, it is impossible to update the US servers to the new game." To compensate Legend of Edda fans, GamesCampus is creating compensation packages to refund in-game currency and encourage players to try out on of the studio's other titles. We covered Legend of Edda earlier this year in our Rise and Shiny column.
The Tattered Notebook: Exec. Producer Dave Georgeson on EverQuest II and EverQuest Next
If there's one thing that came out of Fan Faire about EQ Next, it's that no one will talk about EQ Next. No matter who you talked to, any time the subject came up, the answer was always, "I can't talk about that." However, Executive Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson sat down with Massively during Fan Faire to talk more about EverQuest II, and during that interview, he did give a tiny glimpse into what that game would be like. In this week's Tattered Notebook, Massively gets the scoop on Beastlords, the dungeon builder, Freeport's revamp, and much more.
Darkfall dev update beats around the free-to-play bush
It's Friday and that usually means an update of some sort from the folks at Aventurine. True to form, Tasos Flambouras has checked in with his weekly Darkfall blog post. This time around we're treated to a round of Q&A with a couple of Aventurine devs, and reader-submitted questions are the order of the day. The discussion meanders from Darkfall 2.0's crafting changes, which are described as "a complete overhaul," to mechanical concerns like AoE melee damage as well as surges and fizzles. Flambouras also drops an interesting comment regarding Darkfall free-to-play rumors. "We also read around the internet about Darkfall going free-to-play. Rumor has it that if you start a sentence with 'rumor has it' you can say pretty much anything you want. Not true," he writes. Whether the "not true" was a reference to Darkfall's alleged F2P conversion or a reference to the latter portion of the sentence isn't completely clear, and we'll be interested to hear a definitive answer as it relates to business models.
Upcoming Darkfall relaunch is 'a new game'
How does a fresh start in the world of Agon grab you? The devs at Aventurine have been making noises about relaunching Darkfall for a while now, but in a new dev blog released earlier today, producer Tasos Flambouras gives us a hint at just how significant the changes are going to be. "This relaunch is not an expansion. It's a new game we've been developing in parallel with the current version of Darkfall. The scope is massive, and it has been difficult to stay on schedule after several unexpected issues," Flambouras writes. So, yeah. Whoa. In our best Keanu Reeves voice. The blog features some further discussion about a new siege system and a political map for the current version of Darkfall, but frankly we're still recovering from the previous paragraph and unsure as to how it all fits together. Is this Darkfall II? Is the current version going away when the relaunch hits? Inquiring minds want to know, and we'll bring you the latest on this story as we learn more.
Wasteland Diaries: Coming soon
Due to the new partnership between Fallen Earth and GamersFirst, there are some huge changes coming in the very near future and massive changes headed our way before the end of the year. Sector 4 is going to be released soon along with a major re-write of the skills and abilities system. There are still a great many questions that remain unanswered, but the developers on both sides have dropped some subtle and not-so-subtle hints here and there. There are still many players asking questions in global chat and on the forums that have been answered already. A few of the answers given have left me scratching my head, but I'm still optimistic at this point. But there's still a lot of confusion within the community about what is coming and when. I've dug up many of the responses to the toughest questions by Marie Croall of Fallen Earth and Joe Willmon of GamersFirst, who are holding their cards close to their chests but have nevertheless given up some good info. After the cut, I'll try to clarify what's going on in the short and long term, but it may result in some speculation on both our parts.
Through Turbine's palantír: Developers outline LotRO's future
In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, characters would use magical orbs known as palantírs to see and communicate with far away places. While Massively's own palantír is at the shop, we had access to the next best thing -- a one-on-two chat about Lord of the Rings Online's future with Turbine's Aaron Campbell and Adam Mersky. A lot's been happening since LotRO's free-to-play version went online last fall -- the closest thing to a relaunch that this game is likely to ever see -- and both Campbell and Mersky have one important message for fans: We're just getting started. Even as the Turbine team gears up for LotRO's third expansion, Rise of Isengard, the devs want you to know that they're also dedicated to bringing a good amount of content between now and then. Everything was on the table during this discussion, from this weekend's anniversary celebration to next month's update to the new expansion. Join us after the jump for a look through the palantír to see what information we can pry from the future!
Ether Saga Odyssey relaunching on April 27th
Big changes are coming to the world of Ether Saga Online -- so big, in fact, that Perfect World Entertainment is relaunching the title as Ether Saga Odyssey. The free-to-play MMO will re-open its doors on April 27th sporting a new graphics engine, a new UI, additional races and starting locales, and new pets. Ether Saga's pet system is one of the more complex in the massive genre, and the revamp looks to add to the fun with hundreds of tamable creatures that may be combined to create stronger breeds with new abilities. ESO provides "an atmosphere to enjoy free-form wrestle and play; players get to create different looking pets that even transform into the monster that they defeat," says Perfect World's Aaron Potter. Head to the game's official website for more, and be sure to have a look at the new trailer after the cut.
Darkfall activity report highlights game-changing revamps, recent patch
The March 31st patch was a big step for Darkfall, with everything from skill gain rates to the meditation system to the alignment and crafting systems on the receiving end of some developer love. Aventurine is just warming up, though, and the latest activity report illustrates what's next for sandbox PvP fans all over the world. Work continues on racial area revamps; the Mirdain and Alfar sections of Agon are nearly complete. Aventurine's Tasos Flambouras also hints at some exciting PvE updates, including trap doors and various gameplay physics tweaks designed to delight Agonian dungeoneers. There's also a good bit of info on NPC and monster AI revamps and re-population, new player character and armor models, and a mention of new sound, lighting, and GUI systems, all of which are building toward the game-changing revamp that Aventurine has mentioned previously. Check out all the details on the Darkfall epic blog.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Linger
So I was originally going to dive into the matter of the next archetype on the list when it hit me that there were two big issues I didn't talk about in my last column, issues that were brought up on or around the PAX panel but weren't directly addressed. And if there's one thing that I'd like to think I'm known for in the City of Heroes community, it's darting off like a hyperactive badger whenever something catches my eye, regardless of what that means for the overall flow or pacing of a column. Being known as a good writer would be nice, too, but I like to keep a broader perspective. So we're going to take a second to talk about two matters that have stuck with us as an overall community -- the low-level game revamp and the mysterious Issue 20 NDA. The latter is especially mysterious because we now know what's in Issue 20, and it's certainly nothing that will rock City of Heroes to its foundations. Far from it -- the issue, while shaping up nicely, is pretty much standard stuff. Why the obfuscation?
Reshaping a zone: LotRO dev diary covers Evendim revamp
Ask any Lord of the Rings Online player about Evendim and you'll get back one of two responses: "Evendim? More like EVERswim!" and "Nice place but too spread out for my tastes." LotRO's lakefront-themed zone was identified as one of the sticking spots in the leveling track, which is why the dev team went back to overhaul Evendim and bring it up to code. In a new dev diary, Joe Barry explains the purpose and execution of this revamp. Previously, Evendim attempted to cover too much territory as a level 29-50 zone, and as a result it was more of a hindrance than a help to players looking to get over the 30s hump. With next week's Echoes of the Dead update, Evendim will be transformed to a lean, mean leveling machine, tightened up to serve levels 30-40 exclusively. The team added over 100 quests and two new quest hubs in its attempt to streamline the experience. Additionally, Turbine's experimenting with different ways to deliver quests to you, such as having a journal unfold new quests as you complete previous ones. Finally, quest rewards are designed in a way to deliver class-specific gear, which can be augmented by a bartering system put in for this patch. You can read the full dev diary over at Lord of the Rings Online!
TUAW's Daily App: Geo Walk
Geo Walk is an interesting title from Vito Technology, the folks behind the popular Star Walk and Solar Walk apps. They originally released Geo Walk a little less than a year ago, but the app wasn't quite as developed as their other titles (and presumably didn't do as well as those either). So Vito went back to the drawing board, revamped the app completely, and the new version is now available on the App Store, at 99 cents for the iPhone, or $2.99 for the iPad. The new app is still an educational title focusing on giving information about various places, people, and plants and animals from different areas all over the world, and rather than just a 3D globe, there are now a few different views, including a new card view to check out. There's also a new quiz mode, which asks questions based on the information on the cards, letting you quiz yourself or others about the various facts. It's an interesting app, and if nothing else, it's a good example of just how flexible the App Store can be -- if an app doesn't work the first time around, a developer can go back and try again. If you've already downloaded Geo Walk, the big update is free, and well worth checking out.
Top secret: Cryptic revamps website, hints at new project
Like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon of spun 1s and 0s, Cryptic Studios' website has transformed into a sleek animal. More than just a new look, Crypticstudios.com sports a few interesting surprises. It seems as though the company is deep into "a least one" additional project on top of Star Trek Online, Champions Online and Neverwinter. This unnamed "top secret" project for Atari sparks our imagination. The studio's In Development page has this to say: "We're very excited about what we're working on. Like Neverwinter, our Top Secret work represents our continued commitment to diversify and reach beyond the boundaries of traditional MMORPG gaming. We can't wait to show you more!" Continuing our tour of the site, Cryptic has posted a number of job openings on its Careers page. It looks as though the company is looking for several artists, a content game designer, a senior producer and several other positions. Head on over to the company's website to check out Cryptic's new digs.
Coming back for the Cataclysm
Tomorrow sees the launch of the third expansion to World of Warcraft... but odds are you already knew that. It's been hard to miss the lead-up, even if you weren't playing the game and thereby missed out on seeing the entire planet get blown apart. And it's probably been equally difficult to fight back the siren song of the game, taunting you to come back and play again... or play for the first time if you've never tried it. If you've been proud of yourself for resisting, you might want to look away, because there are many reasons to start playing again or start up for the first time. The expansion has brought with it a number of improvements and boosts to the game, some obvious and some not. If you've been considering coming back or trying the game out, there's never been a better occasion than right this moment -- whatever your reason for leaving might have been.
Guest Post: Azshara revamp ushers in new level range, epic stories
This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. I would hazard a guess that a vast majority of WoW players have never even been to Azshara. Honestly, since Molten Core is no longer a major raid zone and the Runes of Fire Lords just put themselves out, there really isn't much reason to. Those of us who raided in vanilla made weekly trips there to pick up our Aqual Quintessence, and I was also an herbalist, so I would spend another hour or so out there looking for Dreamfoil because of needing a bag full of mana pots to raid in those pre-potion sickness days. Clearly, the zone was unfinished. There was one quest hub, if you could call it that, because there were only a very small number of quests there. Blizzard tried to bring people to the unused zone later on by adding in the level 50 class quests that led up to Sunken Temple -- but really, in the process of leveling, you could basically ignore Azshara and move on. I hated the original Azshara because it was out in the middle of nowhere and fairly poorly designed. It was hard to get to places because of all the rocky cliffs, and passages up and down from the beach to the cliffs were too few and far between. It could even be dangerous at level 60 before The Burning Crusade's stamina inflation; lots of mobs feared and or put debuffs on you, and there were elites wandering around over huge portions of the zone. Sadly the few fond memories I have of old Azshara are gone, as well. When Azuregos was up in vanilla, the entire zone would become a raiding guild, PvP fight zone as the top Horde and Alliance raiding guilds fought over who could tag him, killing flagged members of the group who got him, hoping to wipe them and inflict them all with the debuff. It could get fun and entertaining -- and one time, it even caused our server to be shut down. Well, that has all changed come Cataclysm.
