april-fools
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Neverwinter's Rise of Tiamat gameplay trailer is here
Perfect World Entertainment and Cryptic have been pimping the heck out of the upcoming Rise of Tiamat module for Neverwinter, the fifth episode in the season of dragons storyline. While the module itself doesn't land on official servers until November 18th, the gameplay trailer is here right now. Spoiler: Thar be dragons! Don't forget that Neverwinter's April Fools' Day event returns this Thursday for a reprise lasting until the Rise of Tiamat launch. Check out the trailer below.
Neverwinter resurrects its April Fools' Day event next week
Nope, it's not April Fools' Day, but it's going to look like it next week in Neverwinter. Cryptic is reintroducing Respen's Marvelous Game, its 2014 April 1st event, from November 13th to November 17th. The minigame turns your character into a tabletop miniature that slides around the tabletop skirmish map as you collect special dice currency and other rewards. Massively's Justin Olivetti included the event in his roundup of the top 10 MMO pranks of all time. The event's reprise leads into the launch of Neverwinter: Rise of Tiamat, which launches on November 18th. We've included pics of the event below![Source: Neverwinter press release]
Chaos Theory: Funcom flubbed it with The Secret World's mankinigate
I'd rather be focused on the four new investigation missions that just launched in The Secret World, even though I need much more time to complete them all, or yammering on about Tokyo coming next month (did you catch that in the director's letter?). But as the fates would have it, Funcom did something else this past week that has nabbed attention and necessitates a little scrutiny. Mankinigate. Last week during the notable first of April shenanigans, The Secret World poked fun at the fact that female outfits in games (including TSW) are stereotypically skimpy while males get adventuring gear. The item store offered the "Gender Equality" clothing pack: full scuba gear for females and a mankini for males. As hideous as I think the mankini is, I appreciated this obvious jab at stereotypes, not to mention the fact that Funcom listened to players who've requested revealing attire for their male avatars. But then with no real explanation given at the time, the makinis were yanked not only from the store but from players' inventories as well.
Funcom yanks mankini costume from The Secret World
Players who logged in this week to The Secret World might have noticed that there was a new male costume option in the game store: a neon green mankini that covered very, very little. However, those who purchased said mankini discovered the costume gone today, as Funcom pulled the April Fools' Day outfits from characters' dressing rooms, refunded the points spent on them, and gave each previous owner a free mystery box. While there was no explanation as to why the outfit was removed, Funcom apologized for the handling of the joke on the forums: "You may or may not be aware, but the mankini was removed. Anyone that purchased the item has been refunded points and has received a mystery box for the inconvenience. However, if you had purchased points in order to buy the mankini, you can contact customer service for a refund of those points. We're terribly sorry for the trouble, folks. Our CS staff will be happy to help."
The Daily Grind: What was your favorite April Fools' Day prank?
You might not have noticed, but yesterday was April Fools' Day, and in the MMO industry that means a lot of studios blowing off steam by being abnormally silly and trying to trick players with weird promises. Some people like the goofs, some don't, but I'm willing to bet that there was at least one that got your nod of approval. So what was your favorite April Fools this year? Did you get genuinely tricked by anything or find yourself laughing in delight at the cleverness of developers? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
April Fools' Day around the virtual world
I was in Guild Wars 2 last night at 10 p.m. PDT when my Asura's head... grew. And wobbled. And bobbled. As did the heads of the not-so-scary-anymore Nightmare Court villains I had been murdering in pursuit of my dailies. Ah, I remembered. It's April Fools' somewhere! Here are some of the MMOs that tried to prank us today: Blizzard showed off a hideous new model for World of Warcraft's Draenei women and announced a new fighting game full of rejected characters. Neverwinter introduces a brand-new playable race -- the Dragon! EverQuest Next wants you to choose the next class: Duct Tapomancer, Rubberbandian, Origami Assassin, or Martinizer. Star Wars: The Old Republic introduced asteroid starships. Final Fantasy XIV teased the worst NPC companions ever. TERA has been overrun by beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees! Lord of the Rings Online announced plans for a major sports league. DC Universe Online brought to life the Unicorn Trinket. EverQuest II celebrated Bristlebane Day. Path of Exile gave up and went pay-to-win. Destiny unveiled the "Get Your Ass To Mars" collectors edition. World of Warplanes promised playable UFOs. The Repopulation posted patch notes including The Adventures of Ding Veisel. World of Tanks introduced World of Tanks: The Crayfish. League of Legends turned its meta upside down with a goofy Ultra Rapid Fire mode. Finally, rather than add to the pranks, we sent you on an April Fools' Day quest. The first person to complete it was reader Nathan6! The words in order were waffle, platypus, macguyver, shazbot, and doge, and here is the "prize" page. Thanks for playing, everyone! ;)
World of Warcraft shows off the 'redesigned' female Draenei
For far too long, Draenei have existed as bastions of unassailable beauty and elegance in World of Warcraft. We're told the race has fallen to the depths of the Broken and the Lost Ones, but you don't really see that in the game. Fortunately for fans, the new redesign to the female Draenei shows a closer connection between the various subtypes of the races, while simultaneously emphasizing the roots of the game's resident space goats. (Those roots would be "space" and "goat," incidentally. Truly.) Among the major changes Blizzard threatens to make to the model are the addition of fur, a slimming of the lower legs and hooves, and the removal of the ridiculously long tail from the model. The eye design also speaks to the ways in which this ancient and mystical race sees things in a way that most of Azeroth's residents can only imagine. It's a bit more of a departure from the existing model than the other redesigns, but take a look at the full diary for a closer look. And then remember what day it is. You don't need to reroll your Shaman as a Dwarf. We promise.
April Fools: Patch 6.0 notes revealed
In what can only be a completely serious and legitimate forum post, Community Manager Bashiok has shared the first set of patch notes for Warlords of Draenor. As ever with patch notes, we've pulled some of the most notable ones here, and the full list is after the break. Warlock -- All spells and abilities have been significantly revamped. Again. You'll figure it out. Warriors have been nerfed because reasons. Due to recent acquisitions, The Oculus is temporarily inaccessible. Despite concerns over workers' rights violations due to unreasonable weather conditions, Arthas has stated that people should let it go, and that he will indeed remain the final boss of Icecrown Citadel. The cold never bothered him anyway. We give up. Shaman is now spelled "Shawmun." Monk -- The amount healed by Healing Sphere has been increased by 1000%, because RUN OVER THE HEALING SPHERES.
Sega launches 'Rappy Bird' [April Fools!]
There's an element of cruelty to some of the most memorable April Fool's jokes, and Sega's prank this year is among the cruelest. Responding to years of Phantasy Star Online 2 localization requests from diehard fans, Sega has released Rappy Bird, an online clone of the mobile hit Flappy Bird starring Phantasy Star's iconic Rag Rappy character. Surely you remember Rappies -- they're those little bird guys that you slayed by the thousands in Phantasy Star Online. Rappy Bird itself is unremarkable, since it was obviously put together quickly and is too difficult to enjoy, but at least there's a 3D mode. Fans still hoping for a localized release of Phantasy Star Online 2 may want to keep an eye out for an upcoming English-language version hitting southeast Asian territories this year. The fact that Sega of America is acknowledging Phantasy Star after letting the series lie fallow for several years could be seen as a promising development, however. [Image: Sega]
Guild Wars 2 inflates your character's head
So everyone thought that Guild Wars 2 was just going to do Super Adventure Box again. But no, this year is going a different route. After all, you're super important in the game, aren't you? So why not let all of that importance go straight to your cranium? The designers have turned on the game's big head mode, and it's probably going to significantly improve your experience within the game as a whole. Maybe. Who knows, it could happen. The point is that the super adventure is now in your skull, which is greatly engorged, and you can log into the game right now to start playing with the biggest head your character has ever had in Tyria. Bigger even than Trahearne's head! Check out the full infographic on the update just past the break (click for a larger version) and enjoy the new visuals as you head into battle. [Source: ArenaNet press release]
New female draenei model?
This morning Blizzard "released" the new female draenei model to the world. The new model is a near complete revamp of the old one -- Blizzard essentially started from the lore and went from there. The female draenei now has fur, more defined edges, and has a deeper connection to the lost ones. This model will also introduce several unique animations for the female draenei: /twerk, /ew, /chewgum, and /whatever. Check out more images of the new model after the break. Is this an April Fools joke? Our money is on that it is. We'll let you decide though.
The Massively April Fools' Day Quest [We have a winner!]
As a citizen of the internet, you know what to expect on April Fools' Day: lots of sites trying to trick you into believing outrageous lies or attempting to make you laugh. As Massively is a paragon of both truth and humorlessness in journalism, we promise to do neither today. Instead, we challenge you to a quest: a Massively April Fools' Day Quest. We have created a super-secret page here on the site that can be discovered only by finding five special words. So your task is to play scavenger hunt with our posts today -- specifically, to look at the tags at the bottom of each post that goes out during the day and find five separate tags (total) that clearly do not belong with the rest. All posts published today are eligible! Once you find these five words, you'll use them to assemble the url, starting with "massively.joystiq.com/" and then adding the five words separated by hyphens. For example, if the five words were apple, banana, pear, mango, kiwi, you could try "massively.joystiq.com/apple-banana-pear-mango-kiwi" to see if that worked. Yes, part of the challenge of the quest is to experiment with the order of the words because there is only one path to the solution. If you complete the quest, please be a good sport and keep the answer to yourself. The first person to figure out the solution and leave us a tip with the correct answer in it will have his or her name added to this post and will forevermore be internet famous. Good luck! [Update: We have a winner! Reader Nathan was the very first person to submit the correct URL, followed by Greaterdivinity just a few minutes later. Congrats to both of you! Here's the "prize page" with the words in order -- don't look if you're still working on the puzzle.]
Final Fantasy XIV teases human-NPC relationship system
Well it's April 1st already, at least in Japan, and Final Fantasy XIV has something to contribute to this off-beat day: a Favour system for the game. Allegedly, this system will help players curry favor with NPCs and develop relationships with them because that's not creepy at all. To build an NPC's affection, players will have to perform certain tasks, hand out gifts, and even sport a particular look because that's not demeaning at all. As a player rises in affection, he or she will move to later "phases" and have access to new features (such as minigames) and interactions with the NPC. So if you've ever wanted to start a relationship with a cute NPC that will result in an over-possessive, jealous lover who will deny you the ability to group with members of the opposite sex, here you go. Because that's not bizarre at all.
Neverwinter spoofs game-within-a-game
Neverwinter has jumped the gun on April Fools' Day with its "preview" of Respen's Marvelous Game. The idea is that Neverwinter will add a game-within-a-game, allowing characters in the MMO to sit down and engage in some good ol' fashion tabletop D&D: "Respen's Marvelous Game takes place atop a table, with your character being transformed into a miniature statuette. This new event will challenge you on a whole new level. Now you will know what it is like to be on the other side of a tabletop game!" Of course, this is just a joke. Or is it? Cryptic teased the possibility of earning a green slime companion and said that it will be revealing more details tomorrow.
Google partners with Pikachu in Google Maps: Pokemon Challenge [April Fools!]
Google wants to hire the very best. Like no one ever was. If you're a Pokémon master and can meet some extreme physical fitness requirements, you might have what it takes to survive the Pokémon Challenge, a fictional Google Maps-based job application that employs an augmented reality interface. The latest version of Google Maps for smartphones now includes a built-in Pokedex, so even those who aren't seeking employment with Google can capture nearby critters. Google is fond of video game-themed April Fools' jokes, having previously launched a faux 8-bit version of Google Maps in 2012. This year's prank is such a simple and engaging concept that you have to wonder why Nintendo hasn't attempted something similar -- and no, the stripped-down Pokémon Dream Radar doesn't count. Forcing players to scale real-world cliffs in order to capture rare Pokémon dovetails nicely with Nintendo's recently announced shift into the health sector, too. Get on it, Nintendo! [Video: Google]
Final Fantasy XI easing up on world transfer costs
Skipping around Final Fantasy XI's worlds will soon be for the filthy commoner as well as the richest king, as Square Enix is preparing to lower costs and reduce the cooldown associated with transfers. Starting on April 1st, the price to transfer a character between worlds in the game will go from $25 down to $18. Even better, players will no longer have to wait 90 days before utilizing this service again, as the time between transfers will be reduced to a mere three days. Go ahead and put your April Fools' quip in the comments section. You know you want to do it.
Retro-inspired Super Adventure Box returns to Guild Wars 2
Super Adventure Box was created as an April Fools' Day joke, but thanks to fan support, the virtual "virtual reality simulator" has made a return to Guild Wars 2. Within the MMO, Super Adventure Box is described as a training simulation designed to educate young members of the industrious, diminutive Asuran race. Outside of Guild Wars 2 canon however, Super Adventure Box is best known as a joke that found unexpected success. Earlier this year, developer ArenaNet created a commercial for the then-fictional platformer as an April Fools' Day joke. The commercial was an instant hit with fans, so as part of the developer's commitment to launching new content for Guild Wars 2 every two weeks, ArenaNet developed Super Adventure Box in earnest, first releasing it as a browser-based 2D platformer, then as a full-fledged 3D addition to Guild Wars 2. For more information on Super Adventure Box and the rewards it offers, have a look at ArenaNet's handy study guide.
Why World of Warcraft passed on April Fools' Day this year
World of Warcraft usually puts together some pretty ornate pranks for the first of April. It's hard to forget about the console version of Molten Core, the Bard class, or the Tinfoil Hat. This year, fans were treated to... well, nothing. That's a pretty dramatic departure, and it prompted community manager Zarhym to take to the field and answer the obvious question about why no one got to have a laugh this year. Zarhym explains that there were two main causes, the first being that the team simply hadn't come up with a joke that really stuck despite several ideas being bandied about. Add to that the fact that the team members usually responsible for assembling these jokes were otherwise occupied, and they were left without a joke and without people to implement the gag. So this year will go down as being sadly bereft of foolery from Blizzard.
Zarhym on why Blizzard didn't do an April Fools joke
The observant among the WoW community will have noticed that, on the Warcraft side at least, Blizzard didn't put out an April Fool's joke this year. There was a little confusion surrounding this, as Crabby made a reappearance on the official forums, back for another year, and a really excellent piece of fan-created art depicting a Dark Ranger was doing the rounds. The Starcraft team documented the apparent return of the Warhound, and even implemented it in-game, re-skinning all your workers as Warhounds. And while some of the WoW community were happy to amuse themselves with ElvUI's Harlem Shake, or Wowhead's PTR patch notes, others grew increasingly angry that the WoW team hadn't put together a prank for this most foolish of days. Blizzard Senior Community Rep Jonathan "Zarhym" Brown took to Twitter, and to the official forums, to attempt to explain the absence of any seasonal folly. All his posts are after the break, but the long and short of it is that, firstly, while some ideas had been bandied about, nothing had really stuck, and secondly, the team who usually work on the April Fool's jokes had been rather busy with other things. What other things could possibly have taken priority? Maybe Hearthstone itself, the Hearthstone website, or the recent revamp of the shop page, given how Zarhym explains the teams' roles. It seems like Blizzard can't win: last year there were complaints that they wasted Developer time on April foolishness, this year, complaints that they didn't. What's your take on it? Did you wish they had done something? Or would you rather they spent time designing real content? Hit the break for Zarhym's posts.
The Queue: Vicarious adventures
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. If you're the sort of person that likes mobile games, pick up Dungeon Village. Build and maintain a village to attract adventurers, who will spend their hard-earned gold pieces on your fine wines and steaks! It's fascinatingly fun in the same way that Recettear turned out to be. Patrick asked: So...why did Blizzard not have an April Foolz prank this year? Was it just a matter of focusing on their work? I'm actually totally fine with that, but it made me sad.
