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Elder Scrolls Online begins testing Update 2
Elder Scrolls Online's Update 2 is currently on the public test server, and any interested subscriber can now check it out. ZeniMax announced today that its test server is now open to all active account holders and gave details for the game's second update. Update 2, which is scheduled for June 23rd, will contain a new veteran dungeon (Crypt of Hearts), a field of view slider, more object interactions, and plenty of bug fixes and balance tweaks. In the team's "Road Ahead" letter, ZeniMax informed the community that it's working to carefully balance the classes, get the EU megaserver online, create additional player customization systems, rework quests, and improve the veteran system.
Blade & Soul introduces the Lyn Blade Master
The wait is still on for Blade & Soul to make it across the Pacific, but at least we can drink in news and updates from those already enjoying the title. Steparu.com has a big preview of the Lyn Blade Master class as well as the game's October update. As one might infer from the title, Lyn Blade Masters are quite skilled in slicing and dicing. Players using the class can employ stuns, flying swords, and AoE attacks. The Lyn Blade Master has use as a tank too, with strong grabbing skills to keep the enemy rooted and focused on him or her. October's update to Blade & Soul has a slew of changes and tweaks. NCsoft is revamping the Summoner class, creating a new endgame dungeon from an old one, adding a solo dungeon called the Tower of Mushin, implementing a cross-server party matching system, throwing in a tournament system, and more. Check out the Lyn Blade Master reveal video after the jump and let us know if you'll be playing one!
The Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players
Coming back to an MMO that you used to play is a whole different ball of wax than getting into it for the first time. While you have less to do and absorb than beginners, it can be just as overwhelming in its own way. What are all these skills again? Why do I owe some Hobbit mortgage company a zillion gold to unlock my house? Why is the screen throwing a fit with a non-stop parade of deed announcements? Recently, I returned to another MMO after a half-year or so absence (it's RIFT, if you must know), and I was almost frozen with apprehension over all the changes. Because the world I used to know had changed in so many ways, I didn't know how much to rely on my memories and where to go to figure out what these changes were. Fortunately, an enterprising member of the dev team created a wonderfully handy post that quickly outlined all of the changes over the past year so that returners could get caught up quickly. I like this idea so much that I decided to do the same for Lord of the Rings Online. Ever since free-to-play hit, it's become so much easier to drift in and out of this game, and as Turbine's been ramping up the changes, it's possible to feel the same apprehension upon reentry that I did with RIFT. Freak not, fair friend, for I am here to guide the way.
The Road to Mordor: Not all who wander are lost
These are exciting times for Lord of the Rings Online, for sure. The Fellowship -- and hundreds of thousands of groupies following in its wake -- has moved south, and we are growing ever closer to Mordor and Mt. Doom. In a month, Middle-earth will grow significantly with the addition of Rise of Isengard, and level-capped players will suddenly have a whole new buffet of content to devour. It's also a good era for exposure for the game, as plenty of people will get to see the expansion at Gamescom and PAX, not to mention those already in the beta proper. While we haven't heard anything about the game's finances or player numbers lately, there's no reason to believe that it's not still going strong. That said, I want to take a step back today, as I sometimes do, and look at the larger picture. How is LotRO positioned against the current competition and the heavy-hitters yet to come? What does Turbine need to be working on over the next year or two? Are we just wandering aimlessly, or is the path laid out for journey for a long time to come?
Alter-Ego: Spring has sprung
It's been a heck of a week for DC Universe Online. Not only did the team show off the sweet new trailer for Update 4, cool new screenshots, and the drop of the StationPass subscription price, but we've also gotten a surprise late-week patch with Update 3 going live on Thursday rather than on Tuesday like other releases. The patch notes are incredibly long and well-detailed, offering a variety of things from new content to a heaping helping of bug fixes for existing content, powers, and more. With the good in DC Universe Online, of course, comes the bad. Certain powers seem to be having issues, a PvP-flag bug allowing players to drop their PvP flags on PvP servers cropped up (as of this writing, this is reportedly fixed), and chat appears to once again be a cornucopia of frustrating issues. However, rather than dwell on the things that are starting to crop up (and because we're not going to have a solid picture of just what's shaken out of this patch just yet), I thought instead I'd offer an overview of the new spring-themed event for those who are curious as to just what's going on and why this one might well be the best holiday event yet.
Witness Ra's al Ghul's revenge in the new DCUO trailer
In you haven't heard, Ra's Al Ghul, a nemesis of the Caped Crusader, has dug his talons into DC Universe Online, and it's up to you to stop him from killing millions of innocent people by joining other heroes in this 4-man alert and defeat Ra's and his lethal minions deep in his mountain stronghold. Jens Andersen, the creative director for DCUO, shares the latest visuals in a walkthrough video released by IGN and presents a guided tour of the inner sanctum of Ra's al Ghul's League of Assassins. Each member of the league has his or her own mystic power you must overcome before you face off against Ra's al Ghul himself. This 4-man alert is just part of the new additions to DC Universe Online in Update 3. Get the whole scoop from Krystalle Voecks, who recently sat down with the developers to discuss the patch, then check out the video after the break.
Alter-Ego: Update 3 and more in store
Good things are on the horizon in DC Universe Online, heroes, and villains! After having the chance to sit in on a roundtable discussion with Jens Andersen, Mark Anderson, and Lorin Jameson on Thursday, I am confident that the team in charge of the game's development is taking a good hard look at all the feedback it's been receiving from players. Aside from getting a chance to hear more about the soon-to-be-released Update 3, we were able to get a handful of answers for some burning questions that players have been asking about recently -- and some screenshots in the gallery below to give you a sneak peek! Additionally, we managed to get a hint of things to come, as we're certain anyone who was watching Thursday night's DC Universe Online stickam chat noticed. For those who didn't make it, don't worry -- I'll be running down several interesting points from that event too since it meshes well with the roundtable discussion. All you have to do to get the super-scoop is join me behind the break! %Gallery-50201%
Lord of the Rings Online Update 3 goes live
Middle-Earth just got a little bit bigger with the release of Lord of the Rings Online's Update 3: Lost Legends of Eriador. The latest addition to LotRO -- which our own Justin got some hands-on time with a couple of weeks ago -- brings with it two new three-player instances and two new skirmishes to challenge the denizens of Middle-Earth. The new instances are Halls of Night, and Inn of the Forsaken. The former is for players level 40 to 65 and sees the players trapped in in a dangerous dream realm by the devious Barrow-wight Nightmare. The players must battle their way through this living nightmare to defeat the evil that inhabits it in order to earn their freedom. The latter is for players from level 20 to 65 and has players investigating rumors of strange occurrences at the aptly named Forsaken Inn. The new skirmishes, Attack at Dawn and Icy Crevasse, are for levels 30 to 65 and 40 to 65, respectively, and pit the players against a variety of threats in the defense of Esteldin, Evendim, and ultimately, the whole of Middle-Earth. If you want to get in and help defend (or destroy) the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth, you can sign up at the official site. %Gallery-9579%
Alter-Ego: Only doom in the hall
Just after my column went live last week, we saw the Sony Online Entertainment servers start to come back online. Those of us who consider DC Universe Online our MMO home were able to once again get our hero or villain on and meet up with friends we'd been relegated to catching up with on Facebook. (Don't get me wrong, Facebook is fine for what it is, but it can't compare with getting to bash virtual superhero or supervillain heads in alongside your league-mates!) As I mentioned last week, the restoration also came with a nice variety of goodies. With the added outage time tacked onto the 30 days, everyone was awarded 45 days of free play time, which isn't too shabby. I'd also note that the 45 days free applies to all Sony Online Entertainment game accounts you might have -- whether or not they were active at the time of the outage. This offers DC Universe Online players who may have opted to cancel after the first month the perfect chance to log in and check out the content updates that have gone live since launch, without having to spend a dime. The real question is this: What type of future might we see for DCUO in the aftermath of the outages, especially with so many players screaming that they were leaving? Join me behind the break as I look at our first week back on the mean streets.
Lord of the Rings Online prepping Update 3: Lost Legends of Eriador
There's a new content update just over the horizon for Lord of the Rings Online. While the new locations aren't exactly a far green country under a swift sunrise, they do look to be fairly spiffy in their own right. First up are two new three-player instances. The Halls of Night boasts content for levels 40 to 65 and takes a cue from Frodo and company's nightmarish trek through the Barrow Downs. The Inn of the Forsaken naturally takes place in the Lone Lands' well-worn stopover and is a proper dungeon-crawl intended for players from levels 20 through 65. New skirmishes are also on the way, including an Esteldin-based romp intended for levels 30 to 65 called Attack at Dawn. Finally, the frozen wastes of Forochel will also be sporting a new instance, and the Icy Crevasse content sees players from levels 40 to 65 tasked with thwarting the evil plans of a nefarious sorcerer. All of these new goodies make up the bulk of LotRO's Update 3: Lost Legends of Eriador and are currently scheduled to go live on May 23rd. Check out our gallery below for three new images from the Halls of Night instance, or take a peek at the dungeons themselves in Justin's hands-on from last week. %Gallery-9579%
The Road to Mordor: Dungeon-running with Turbine
As we talked about last month, Turbine's toting around a double-barreled shotgun full of content that it's preparing to unload. While the biggest blast will undoubtedly be Lord of the Rings Online's third expansion, Rise of Isengard, the team is working hard to provide us with plenty to do between now and then. Part of that effort is directed at Update 3, which is currently scheduled to go live on May 23rd in North America and after June 1st for Europe when the LotRO Global Service takes effect and all of the accounts are moved under Turbine's purview. I eagerly sat down with Turbine's Aaron Campbell and Joe Barry for a play-through of Update 3's two new three-player instances, Halls of Night and Inn of the Forsaken. Both of these scalable instances will be available to a wide swath of players, and they feature mechanics and sights never before seen in the game. Also, they're wicked cool. So join me today as I take you on a brief tour of horrors and adventures beyond imagination. Has everyone used the restroom before we go? Are you sure? It's a long article; I don't want you leaving in the middle of it. OK, let's ride!
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!
LotRO March Producer's letter offers glimpse of fun to come
It's been a busy month for Lord of the Rings Online, with Update 2: Echoes of the Dead going live, tons of players checking out all the improvements and new content available to them, and the popular Spring Festival already underway. However, Turbine isn't resting on its laurels. According to the March Producer's letter by Kate Paiz, Executive Producer for Lord of the Rings Online, there are even more cool things planned for the not-too-distant future. Not only does Paiz touch on all the great content just introduced to the game in Update 2, but she notes that LotRO's fourth anniversary is coming up in April, that will see the addition of a new in-game Anniversary Festival celebration. Along with that, players can look forward to an unnamed treasure-hunting event, which will "likely be open for play periodically over the year." There are also some more tasty tidbits on Update 3, with a note that we'll hear more details about Isengard a little later down the road. In all, if you call Middle-earth your MMO home, you'll want to pop by the Lord of the Rings Online site and check out all the details the newest Producer's Letter has to offer.
A new look at the DDO Risia Ice Games
The Risia Ice Games -- Turbine's homage to the Olympic Winter Games -- continue in Dungeons and Dragons Online, but all good things must come to an end. Stormreach Harbor will enjoy its chilly new appearance for only two more weekends, and then it's time to say goodbye to the skating rink, ski jump, and Jack Frostbite. While you're waiting for the next round of Ice Games to begin, Turbine has provided a fresh round of screenshots from Update 3 to enjoy. Take a look at the gallery for the newest shots of the denizens of Stormreach enjoying the party, then head into Dungeons and Dragons Online to join them in the quest for the elusive purple ice coin. The Risia Ice Games are every Thursday through Sunday for the remainder of February, and all the information can be found on the official site. %Gallery-84604%
DDO Update 3 goes live, Turbine releases new screenshots
Dungeons and Dragons Online released Update 3 earlier today, something we at Massively have been anxiously awaiting since our tour last week. Fans of the game have been anxious too, reading through the patch notes and checking out the buzz on the Lamannia forums while they waited for update day to arrive. Well, that day is here, and Stormreach Harbor is frozen over and crowded with players sliding and falling on the ice, while others farm Ice Tokens, check out casual mode, and gather groups for the new quests. If you haven't patched yet, Turbine has given us a little something to pass the time while you wait for your game to update: a series of new screenshots from the Delirium quest. Take a look at the gallery, and check out our developer tour for some insider hints while you wait. Have fun, and have a drink at the Sleeping Spell in on us! %Gallery-84604%
Vanguard's much-anticipated Game Update 3 is live
The new phase of Vanguard's one-step-at-a-time Game Update 3 has gone live just in time for the holidays. The update adds a major new raiding dungeon called the Ancient Port Warehouse, two outdoor raids, and full raid functionality so players can take advantage of all this new content.Additionally, the Vanguard team has overhauled the city of Khal to paradoxically look and perform better on all PCs. There are a few other more general performance optimizations in the update as well. Finally, six new housing areas have been added, and all the holiday content (flying reindeer!) is now in the game.It's an enormous and highly anticipated update, and hopefully it's a significant step towards recovery from the game's very disappointing launch.[Thanks, Ricky!]
Where Vanguard's Vision is headed
There's that infamous word again. Thinking about all the different "Visions" for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes cleaves my skull with a splitting headache. Thankfully, Thom Terrazas, recent inductee to the Vanguard helm, lays out some specifics on what the newly cut chopped, diced and spliced Vanguard development team has in store for the different phases in Update 3. Some highlights with my commentary include: Update 3 Phases Phase 1 had its up and downs: Performance gains are noticeable in many different game areas. Chat server hiccups fix took awhile, water wasn't working. It happens. Not enough polish and that's something the team will work on. (Dev_01 "It's not shiny enough, shine harder!" "Dev_02 "Man, that's the third lens flare I used on that tree!") Phase II what's coming: Overland raid encounters and Khal optimizations. Lots of new art is getting added to make it easy-on-the-eyes and help to keep your computer from melting. Phase III is in the not so distant future: Ancient Port Warehouse is being combed over, battered, and prodded to iron out all the bugs and to make it suitable for playing. Expect this to go live one or two weeks after Phase II. Check your local patch listing for Revenge of the Vanguard Phases show times. Fine, I'm putting the popcorn away. Vanguard isn't dead, it's there, it's alive, it's still being updated and played. This is great news considering the troubling layoffs (a rumored 18 devs) it remains to be seen if they can get the rest of these updates out so soon but at least the man in charge is communicating with the players, and that's always a good thing. Phase II is planned to go live in less than two weeks.
Game Update 3 for Vanguard
The dev team at Vanguard: Saga of Heroes have released notes on what is coming in Update 3. Although the list is small, it is certainly significant. This is just phase one, of course, so I am sure there is more to come. First up are the additions to Ksarvi Gulch, an area for adventurers in the low to high teens, where players will have access to three new quest lines which will add 20 solo quests into the game. Group quests are added to, but they aren't nearly as exciting as the news that players will get to fight astride black wyverns. Expect new rewards to go with your new quests, of course. What is epic questage without epic loot?Next up is the news that guild and player housing are getting some love. Guild trophies are now available for placement in your housing. Player housing will now be located close to a crafting center, with vendors and trainers galore. I think it's important to note that the items for said crafting will also be easier to obtain. As a lover of crafting in any game, anything that streamlines the trade skill process is a good thing.Last but not least is the addition of a spam filter into Vanguard. This comes after the constant, and sometimes overly exhuberent requests of the players that they be shielded from the barrage of messages they were receiving. If you are familiar with other SOE games, the spam filter is supposed to be pretty much identical, with a flagging feature that alerts Customer Service of the issue while the game happily removes spam messages before you even get them.Read the rest of Update 3 phase 1.
