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Choose My Adventure: Extreme DIY makeover edition
Life may be like a box of chocolates, but gaming is like a Do-It-Yourself project. It may not be as mouth-watering an analogy, but it is certainly fitting: MMOs are a giant construction zone where players build their own experiences in a virtual world using tools from the game and their own imagination. Each project is a unique undertaking, bearing the personal touches of the builder, whether the builder is an individual or a group like a guild. Some players prefer to build a single residence and settle in, while others enjoy moving from project to project, exploring new territory and testing new tools. Me? I tend toward the former; I'm the kind who tinkers around in one place over a long period of time. But all that's about to change. Again. That's right, folks; it's my turn to break ground on yet another Choose My Adventure! For the next six weeks I am leaving the comfy confines of my familiar surroundings and allowing you to direct my next MMO project. Yes, my dear Massively friends, you will be the foreman of this endeavor, determining every step of the construction, from where I'll build my newest experience to what tools I'll get to use.
GDC 2013: The MMO impact of the Webzen and Gala-Net merge
Acquisition. Though it sounds pretty benign on its own, when used in reference to one developer taking over another, the word can inspire fear in the hearts of gamers. Questions quickly arise about the future of titles that fall on the acquired side of the equation. How will the games and players be affected by the change? Will there even still be a game? I sat down with Claas Wolter (European PR Manager) and Deanna Peter (Marketing/PR Associate) to discuss just this topic regarding the recent purchase of Gala-Net (the parent company of gPotato) by Webzen and how that acquisition will affect Allods Online, Age of Wulin, Terras Militaris, and the company's other MMORPGs.
Rise and Shiny: Allods Online's Pearl Ring, selling power, and the Astral
Allods Online has long been a game that immediately conjures up some form of controversy any time it is mentioned. Whether it's because of cash-shop policies, changes to game mechanics, or the alleged mishandling of player issues, the game just can't seem to catch a break. Since the very beginning, I knew that the players who were complaining the loudest also loved the game the most -- a standard for the industry -- and that, meanwhile, thousands of players have enjoyed the game since being introduced. I have always loved it, but from the point of view of someone who is a constant newb and explorer. I have never understood the raider mentality or at least never wanted to; if I wanted to work at a game, I would get a job playing games. Oh, wait. This week I sat down to go through the newest bit of content, The Pearl Ring, to see just how fun the game could be on a character fitted with good gear and attached to a super-friendly yet hardcore raiding guild. I also wanted to explore the more general gameplay and pay another visit to the shining light of the Allods universe: the Astral. What I found surprised me and made me remember just how incredible this game is. %Gallery-183634%
Allods Online dev blog details the Dominion Wars
For some time now, gPotato has been detailing the features of Allods Online's upcoming content update, Lords of Destiny. Today, the final Lords of Destiny devblog discusses one last major feature: the Dominion Wars. The Dominion Wars are described as "battles that will allow guilds to become true leaders of the Astral and gain precious resources, and from them players can gain glyphs that will enhance their equipment even further. In order to join in the battle, players must be level 55 and have the necessary keys for access to the Dominion Wars. Each skirmish in the Dominion Wars consists of two rounds, each lasting 10 minutes. In the first round, one team will play on defense and the other on offense with the roles being reversed in the second round. Attacking players will be tasked with capturing enemy checkpoints, and each checkpoint captured will increase the time of the round by two minutes (though the second round can be no longer than the first). At the end of both rounds, whichever team captured the most checkpoints is declared the victor. For the full details on this complex new system, check out the entire post at the Allods official site.
Allods Online upgrades gear with glyphs
Allods Online's Lords of Destiny expansion is already shaping up to be one of the bigger additions to the game. Now the team has announced a major new system called glyphs that will be included as well. Glyphs are a new type of loot that can upgrade gear to add more stats and special properties. The gear in question has to be level 51 or higher and match the type of stats that the glyph is offering. Each piece of gear can be expanded to include three types of glyph: offensive, defensive, and special. Glyphs themselves can be improved with a component that drops only in the new Dominion battleground. There looks to be several different ways to get your grubby mitts on glyphs. They can drop, you can do a quest to buy a glyph box, you can buy them from an NPC if your reputation is high enough, and some crafters are able to make them.
Allods posts a preview of the upcoming Pyramid dungeon
Pyramids aren't just for ancient pharaohs or Mayans. In Allods Online, a pyramid is the site of one of the game's newest dungeons coming out with the upcoming Lords of Destiny expansion. Of course, this pyramid is also covered in magical runes and filled with the sort of enemies that require a strong level 55 raid to defeat, but isn't that always the way? Pyramids never wind up being summer bungalows for retirees. All joking aside, the Pyramid is a construction of the ancient Tep, a necromancer who studied the essence of life itself and tried to capture it inside of his stronghold. His work led to the origin of the Arisen, but he still waits within his stronghold as a vengeful shade intent on harvesting more life. Allods Online players can find more information on the dungeon layout and bosses in the full rundown on the official site.
Penetrate the secret of Allods Online's Crystal Palace
Allods Online's Lords of Destiny update is almost upon us, and the team has released the final preview of its content so that we can prepare. This time around, it's a look at the Crystal Palace dungeon, which will join the new skills, zones, and allods of the update in expanding this virtual world. While gaming specifics of the Crystal Palace are scarce in this article, it is long on lore and flavor. The palace is patrolled by Crystal Guards, who will do everything in their power to keep you away from the secrets of the so-called Immortals. The developers are mum on the big reveal of the dungeon, other than saying, "You will look at the stunning Pearl Ring with different eyes!" Lords of Destiny has concluded its testing phase and should deploy shortly.
Choose My Adventure: Quartet edition
It's that time again, ladies and gentlemen. After three rounds of letting my fate be chosen by the whims of my readers, I have chosen to do the exact same thing all over again. I'm getting back in the big seat and running through Choose My Adventure with a new list of games, a new set of bonus polls, and a new set of whatever else people expect when I do these columns. Plus, while the third installment usually has a lot of pressure, the fourth installment is rarely assumed to be anything special. So I feel as if I'm off the hook. This time around, I'm putting in some old favorites, some candidates that are often voted for but never make the prime time, and some games that might just raise some eyebrows. So let's meet our contestants past the break, and get your votes in here by Friday, March 1st!
Valentine's Day around the virtual world
Do you hear the chirping of songbirds in love? Do you see the flirtacious glance that cute Orc is giving you from across the battlefiend? Do you smell the flowers of romance in bloom all around you? If so, man, you've got it bad. Fortunately for those suffering from VDAS -- Valentine's Day Addiction Syndrome -- plenty of MMOs are on hand to provide you with a temporary fix until you get proper medication and are carted away to a professional love care facility. It may not be the biggest of holidays in the virtual world, but when love arrives in February, it cannot be denied. And who knows for you single folk? The man, woman, or one-eyed Gnome of your dreams might just stumble over you on this fine day! Read on as we sum up some of the larger Valentine's events in MMOs today.
Allods Online reveals new spells
Allods Online is drawing ever-nearer to a new expansion, Lords of Destiny. We've already been shown some of the new zones for the expansion; now it's time to take a look at some of the new spells. Characters who have reached at least level 52 will be able to unlock two powerful skills, which will be useful both in monster battles and in facing off against enemy players. Each class will have two new skills available. These skills require the consumption of dragon tears, which will be available for purchase from Servants of the Light or as rewards from daily tasks. Dragon tears come in different quality levels, which will affect the effectiveness of the skills they're used to power.
Allods Online shows off the zones of its upcoming expansion
Allods Online is gearing up for another new expansion, Lords of Destiny. Of course, a new expansion means new areas to explore, filled with exciting new animals to kill for loot. So it's not surprising that the first official preview shows off the allod of Irdrih. Players will be sent there on a top-secret mission from their faction leaders, but when they arrive, they'll be walking right into a war between two native factions that will force them to pick a side. So what else will you find? A jungle, lots of smaller islands, and a lot of lush tropical scenery. You'll also wind up meeting the Tequani, small furry humanoids that are distant relatives of the Gibberlings (one of the player races). The new region is hardly the only feature of the expansion, but if you want to take a look at the scenery and read up on the local lore, you can check out the full reveal.
Allods Online's 'biggest endgame expansion' to launch in March
Gala Networks Europe has announced the largest endgame expansion for Allods Online coming March 12th to all American and European servers, including German, French, and Polish servers. Titled Lords of Destiny, this expansion will bring eight all-new astral allods with new six-man dungeons for each. The public test server will open later this month, giving interested players the chance to try the content out beforehand. Check out our gallery below showing off 11 new screenshots for the expansion. [Source: Gala Networks Europe press release]%Gallery-91331%
Allods Online Russia opens up subscription-based server
The Russian branch of Allods Online made an interesting move and opened up a subscription server for an otherwise free-to-play MMO. The catch and selling point of the server is that its players won't be able to access the cash shop at all. Every character will be on an even playing field in terms of perks and boosts. Certain quality of life items will be available for gold or as quest rewards, but no one will be able to just buy perks outright. You can read the full FAQ here. (If you don't read Russian, we suggest a translator.) [We don't speak Russian, so thanks to intrepid tipster Tandarighttanon for bringing this to our attention.]
The Perfect Ten: Absolutely ridiculous cash shop selections
This past week, the Money Gnomes at Turbine tested the waters with the idea of selling a $50 horse in Lord of the Rings Online. Oh, not just any horse, mind you: It's a toy hobby horse. For $50. The representative who asked for feedback on the item and price-point probably caused herself internal hemorrhaging by stating, "This is not a joke." The fans responded, "Of course, and the sky is made out of blue cheese." At the very least, it allowed the more creative players to come up with humorous expressions of incredulity. The fun finally came to an end when the studio announced that the "experimental" price point was a failure. Of course, this is by far not the first time a game studio's attempted to sell a ridiculous item, an item with a ridiculous price point, or both combined. If you sell it, after all, the rubes will come. So in the spirit of a $50 hobby horse that costs something like $20 in real life to acquire, here are 10 completely ridiculous items that we've seen in MMO cash shops.
Allods Online releases its Autumn Wind update
Allods Online's 3.0.5 update is upon us, otherwise known as Autumn Wind. The newest patch to the game includes a wide variety of features, including a revamp of Goblinball, the Summerhold tank skirmish, crafting improvements, new emotes, and a makeover for one of the race's females. To celebrate Autumn Wind, gPotato is staging a giveaway for random players who are logged into the game from today through November 13th. Lucky winners will get hoodies, headsets, mice, or keyboards. For more on Autumn Wind, check out Beau's livestream this Thursday at 5:00 p.m. EDT, the official patch notes, and the following trailer.
Allods previews the vehicle-based skirmish of Summerhold
Allods Online has always laid claim to having a robust system of vehicle customization with its astral ships. The upcoming skirmish available in the next patch takes that vehicle affection to the next level with the battle of Summerhold. Players who take part in this conflict won't be fighting a PvP objective but will instead be piloting a variety of vehicles to take out a rampaging prototype weapon controlled by a goblin. The vehicles are each laid out with strengths and a few crucial weaknesses to force players to work as a team; the high-damage artillery unit can't open fire unless the nimble spotter gets up close to the prototype, but of course the spotters will be ripped apart without a defensive line, and so on. Based on how fast the prototype unit is taken down, players will be awarded a variety of medals which can be exchanged for prizes including minipets and vanity items. If you're looking forward to vehicle-based mayhem, take a look at the full rundown for all the details.
Allods Online crafting professions set to merge in Patch 3.05
Crafting professions in Allods Online are getting quite a revamp with Patch 3.05 at the end of this month. Following in the footsteps of the Alchemy changes, all professions will be merged with their appropriate gathering counterparts to make for a more self-sufficient process. According to the dev notes, "the skill of their new merged profession will be based on the highest of the two that are being combined." Other changes made to crafting with this patch include simplified profession leveling progression, an improved crafting interface, tool upgrades, crafted armor, and more. The point of the crafting changes revolves around the idea of making armor that is more easily obtained for those players who put time into crafting and adventuring. Patch 3.05 is set to release on October 30th.
PointMMO goes into open beta
Despite what the name may have you believe, PointMMO is not a game but a digital distribution service specializing in online RPGs. Today the site announced that it has transitioned into open beta for those looking to test out its system and features. Currently, PointMMO's library is rather anemic, with its most well-known titles being World of Tanks, Age of Conan, Anarchy Online, and Allods Online. Some of the game pages include mentions of special promotions for signing up through the service, such as an Anarchy Online leets giveaway. PointMMO claims to offer the fastest way to get into MMOs with its downloader and comes with several social options that are integrated with Twitter and Facebook. The service is currently available only in North America, although the company plans to expand into Europe in 2013.
Choose My Adventure: You decide the MMO and how I play it
It's finally time for my second round of Choose My Adventure. The last time I helmed CMA, Lineage II was top pick, and I had a lot of fun with it. I took tons of screenshots and video to keep you in the loop as to my progress, and you can expect the same, whichever game is chosen this time. MJ's turn with The Secret World was a lot of fun to read and follow. She even livestreamed some of her shenanigans... I mean, adventures. You can bet I'll be playing with one finger over the PrtScn button and livestreaming some of my adventures as well. I hope to make this a multimedia extravaganza of epic proportions. Take a look through your choices and vote, vote, vote. And make sure to get those votes in by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday the 21st!
Allods Online introduces a new skirmish in Autumn Wind update
Fall is a time of changes, and Allods Online is keeping in the spirit of the season with the Autumn Wind update. Set to launch October 30th, this newest update will not only bring new UI changes and more details to the female avatars, but will also introduce a new PvP skirmish -- Summerhold. The 3.05 patch will also continue to rework and balance crafting to benefit all professions, not just the alchemy and herbalism crafts that were merged into a single profession in the New Horizons expansion. In celebration of autumn, gPotato has released new screenshots that show off fall colors and the new female character models. Check them out, along with other Allods images, in the gallery below. [Source: gPotato press release]%Gallery-91331%
