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PAX South 2015: Massively's Larry Everett to guest on MMO community panel
For MMO fans headed to Penny Arcade's inaugural PAX South in San Antonio, Texas, this weekend, there's one panel not to miss: Where Did Multiplayer in MMOs Go?. Massively's Larry Everett will guest on the community-oriented panel, which runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. local time on Friday in the Bobcat Theater. You can probably figure out the topic from the title, but here's the official blurb: In early MMORPGs, interacting with other community members in places like taverns and main cities were a necessity for advancement and survival. Today, interacting with random players has become a rare event instead of the tools for survival. Is this what we all wanted to happen? Join Alex Albrecht alongside Larry Everett and Patrick Mulhern to discuss the future of communities in MMORPGs. Larry will join Zerg ID Co-Founder Alex Albrecht, Lorehound Editor-in-Chief Patrick Mulhern, YouTube Gaming Strategic Partner Manager Meg Campbell, and Camelot Unchained Community Manager Jenesee Grey for the panel. Massively's big sister Joystiq will also be represented at the show; Joystiq Editor in Chief Ludwig Kietzmann and Community Manager Anthony John Agnello will host the In(s)ane Joystiq Quiz on Saturday evening at 8 p.m. local time in the Falcon Theater.
Here's a PvP event schedule for Guild Wars 2
ArenaNet has given us a heads-up relative to Guild Wars 2's near-future PvP events. Global events go down every Sunday, whereas North America gets a weekly 2v2 shindig each Tuesday. If neither of those days work for you, hit up the full announcement post because there's basically something PvP-related happening in GW2 all week long.
War Thunder invites you to fight historical battles
War Thunder's WW2 Chronicles event series is now in its fourth week, according to a news blurb on the game's official website. Chronicles "invites players to participate in events that will involve all modes of difficulty," Gaijin explains. "Historical lineups, new scenarios, and a description of each event will enable you to fully explore the possibility of a virtual reconstruction of a real battle in the sky and on the ground in War Thunder." Today's event takes place in Eastern Europe, with the Mediterranean and Pacific theaters scheduled to see some action later this week. Don't forget to watch the associated video after the break.
ArcheAge tosses its end-of-holiday update on the test server
Testing out an update that's mostly meant to just turn off the holiday event might seem to be overkill, but ArcheAge has seen such problems with bugs that the team behind the game is apparently taking no chances. A small patch is currently available on the test server and will go live later this week; it contains the shut-off for all of the holiday events (so players with gifts or stockings should use them before the deadline). This build also contains adjustments to the MTX Pet Healing Potion; the potion will now heal pets for 100% of their health, and a future build will add a resurrection effect. A Marketplace addition is also slated to go live on the test servers within the next few days. If you want to make sure that everything's working fine after the event gets turned off, you can hop on the test server today.
Exclusive: Elsword's Ara becomes the Dark Fox
KOG Games is on the verge of launching new content for the North American edition of F2P sidescrolly MMO Elsword in the form of updates for character Ara. Ara is a speardancer with insane jumping skills, and starting tomorrow, she can follow a brand-new job path that ushers in the Masters of Darkness theme destined for the game. As the appropriately brooding Dark Fox, Ara can advance to Little Specter at level 15 and Asura at level 35, both of which roles feature phantom claws. "Explore the eerie side of Ara's mystical connection with Eun, the spirit of the legendary nine tail fox sealed in the ancient hairpin for centuries," hints the website. We've got an exclusive trailer below that shows off Ara's new path -- enjoy!
Final Fantasy XIV rolls out the Starlight Celebration
You could be forgiven for not remembering the imminent Starlight Celebration in Final Fantasy XIV. After all, there are weddings to worry about now. But it's back again, and like most holidays in the game, it brings with it a new outfit and a new minion for players to procure. Even better, it also brings a variety of housing decorations to help turn your room, house, or guild hall into a festive wonderland. A stuffed qiqirn is appropriate for any house all year round, after all. The celebration starts on December 18th and runs until December 31st, with a main questline as well as daily quests for event rewards. Another batch of goods will also be made available to players starting on December 24th, so you'll want to be ready for more as the event rolls on. So take a little time away from wedding planning and relic weapon upgrades to celebrate the reason for the season. Also to unlock fake moustaches; that's pretty great.
Firefall's hosting another Chosen Offensive on Dec. 7
Firefall fans, it's time for another Chosen Offensive event. It's all happening on Sunday, December 7th from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. EST. "For the duration of the event, Chosen encounters will spawn throughout Coral Forest and Sertao including Chosen Incursions, Chosen Thumpers, Chosen Death Squads, and more," Red 5 explains via its website. "In Devil's Tusk, Chosen Encounter spawns will be ramped up above their regular rates, and Darkslips will appear and lay siege to the area's POIs. In addition, Firefall developers will be taking the form of powerful Chosen bosses to spread terror and destruction through the world."
Hear the Glitch soundtrack in concert
How many of you like to talk about Glitch? Wow, that many? That's great, but please quiet down for right now; there's time to talk in the comments. It's not a question you need to answer out loud. Besides, if you're super enthusiastic about the memory of the game, you have an opportunity to experience a slice of it for yourself in concert. To celebrate the release of Glitch's soundtrack, a concert is being held on January 24th, 2015, in Toronto. Tickets are $20, and all proceeds go directly to the musicians taking part in the concert. As of this writing, the planned attendance isn't high, but we're pretty sure that will change as more people get wind of the concert. Can't make it to Canada in the middle of January? The Glitch website still offers free downloads for many of its music tracks.
Defiance gets new Aftermath content, Thanksgiving event
Defiance has received a free update called Aftermath that builds "off of the climactic season two TV finale," according to a Trion press release. There's new content that will "carry players across various locales from Silicon Valley to Paradise as the world teeters on the verge of all-out war between the Earth Republic and Votanis Collective," and it includes new events, contracts, pursuits, and enemies. Don't forget about the Thanksgiving-themed New Frontier Harvest, which runs from November 26th through December 10th. As well, don't forget about the Aftermath trailer that's waiting for you behind the break. [Source: Trion press release]
RIFT brings back Unicornalia
As the holiday season swiftly approaches, RIFT reminds us all of an important issue that doesn't get much discussion over the year: Unicorns. Oh, sure, the plight of these noble creatures can easily be dismissed with a waved hand and a claim that "these are fictional animals that do not actually exist," but RIFT's Unicornalia returning is a chance for everyone to adopt a unicorn in peril. During the event, which runs until November 26th, you can provide a home for an Onyx Unicorn or an Opal Unicorn. Both can potentially be received from the limited edition Sparkle Troves in the RIFT store. You can also obtain the Onyx Unicorn as a rare drop from an event in Moonshade Highlands or by completing the "A Rainbow in the Dark" achievement, while the Opal Unicorn can be received via Unicornalia dailies. Please, take time out of your day to consider the unicorns. They're not just for virgins any more.
Aces Conference coming next year
Former TUAW contributor Justin Esgar is launching Aces Conference in New Orleans next year, and it's designed to help you build your consulting business. Justin is an ace when it comes to building businesses, particularly consulting, and has been a Mac IT guy for many years. He branched out with SignMyPad, an app for signing PDF documents, and has since launched several other apps, given talks at MacTech and launched an emergency backup email service for Kerio Connect users. More on the debut of the conference is below. The Aces Conference is the first of it's kind. Apple consultants teaching Apple consultants not only tips and tricks of tech, but of business too. Learn how to be a better consultant, a better technician, a better everything at Aces Conf. Aces Conference 2015 is going to focus on two things. You and Your Business. For our inaugural year, we want you to learn how to make your consulting business better. Maybe you need to automate your processes. Maybe you need to use Managed Services with your clients. Maybe you just need to learn how to breathe (we have a meditation expert on hand!). In any case, Aces Conference 2015 is your way to learn to be a better consultant, and help make your business an Ace. I'll be there giving a talk about delighting users of apps and building "magic" into your services, and I hope to see you there!
Massively Exclusive: Elsword offers Eve a birthday trailer
Being the queen of a long-dead society that tried to destroy everyone isn't an easy task, especially when you're only filled in on that fact after you awake from a prolonged stasis. So it makes a certain amount of sense that Elsword is celebrating Eve's birthday. The Nasod queen hasn't had an easy time in the game, so now she gets an entire event all to herself, one that celebrates the fact that she's another year older. And she's offering most of the presents to players because that's how these things work. A new trailer just past the cut shows off the highlights of playing Eve in her multiple class specializations, including her specialized servants and her combat-ready drone attacks. In-game, players can take part in a variety of quests designed to celebrate the event, including a different daily quest for those playing as Eve and those playing as other characters. Dead society or no, everyone likes a bright birthday celebration. [Source: Kog Games press release]
Liveblogging the opening ceremonies of BlizzCon 2014
Dear readers, I am going to be wholly honest with you. When I was asked if I could do this liveblog for BlizzCon, I thought I was being asked if I was capable. Like asking "can you ride your bike with no handlebars" or "can you sing to a cat until it leaves the room in disgust." But here I am now, so apparently the question was significantly less rhetorical than I had originally assumed and now I need to actually do this. You can watch the standard definition feed of the convention's opening ceremonies on the official site for free. I'll be liveblogging the important announcements in the comments if you're in a place where you can't watch along (at work, misplaced your headphones, hiding in an Amish barn and fearing discovery should your phone give away even the slightest beep); highlights will be collected past the break. There will probably be announcements about Blizzard games! Like World of Warcraft and Hearthstone and maybe, if it's very lucky, StarCraft II.
The BlizzCon line has already been started by one dedicated player
BlizzCon 2014 starts tomorrow, and if you're already in California for the event, you've got a whole day of ambling about ahead of you. You might think there's no reason to even think about the lines or the waiting that will come around tomorrow. But you'd be wrong: There is already a line to get into the convention that starts tomorrow, a line started by one dedicated fan waiting patiently at the front gate. Massively's sister site WoW Insider reports that the fan is Brendan "Tibs" Thibodeau, a Navy veteran who has been playing World of Warcraft since 2005 and has racked up 29 level-capped characters with five legendary cloaks among them. Tibs has attended six BlizzCons and been at the front of the line for four of those, due in no small part to the dedication necessary to get in line a day before most people even think about queueing up. At last update, however, the second spot in line is still available. BlizzCon returns to Anaheim during the weekend of November 7th and 8th, 2014! Whether you're anticipating World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor expansion or the latest news from Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm, we aim to have it covered!
WoW Archivist: The zombie plague event
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? We have one more week of the Iron Horde invasion event before we can take the fight through the portal to Draenor. Most players seem to think this event is serviceable, if unexciting. Like all such events, it lives in the shadow of the most memorable pre-expansion event in WoW's long history: the zombie plague. It debuted almost exactly six years ago, and Blizzard has never topped it. If you need evidence, just look at the comments on the previous WoW Archivist about patch 3.0. I only mentioned the event in passing as a topic for a future column. Even so, readers posted more about the plague event than about any of the other 3.0 features like achievements, glyphs, or pally nerfs. Shaking the foundations Although the players knew some kind of Scourge-based event awaited us, no one knew the details or the scope. At midnight on October 22, 2008, it began. Argent Dawn members appeared in capital cities to warn us. "The Lich King is attempting to make his presence known," they said. "We must not let this occur." At the event's inception, WoW Insider posted an article speculating on what we might soon face, and our hopes turned out to be prophetic: Will it be a simple replay of the Scourge Invasion that brought Naxxramas to our shores for the first time? Or will it be something even more sinister, a world event that shakes the very foundations of the World of Warcraft as we know it? Call us destructive, but we're kind of hoping for the second.
BlizzCon kicks off on Friday, virtual tickets still available
If you've been waiting patiently for the next big convention focused entirely around Blizzard's game catalogue, your wait is almost over. BlizzCon 2014 kicks off on Friday, November 7th, with the opening ceremonies starting at 2:00 p.m. EST. There's no chance of attending in person if you don't already have a ticket, but you can still pick up a virtual ticket, and DirecTV customers can also grab a pay-per-view stream that includes a virtual ticket and the associated benefits. The convention will host a variety of tournaments, including the Hearthstone championships, the StarCraft II championships, and the World of Warcraft Arena championship. There will also be the usual assortment of lore panels, development previews, and reveals for the various games under the Blizzard banner, included the much-anticipated Warlords of Draenor expansion. If you've been on the fence about getting a stream, take a look at the list of festivities and get ready to see what's coming from the studio this weekend.
Track your big events with Widget Countdown
There are big events in life. Some we can't wait for, others we dread. It's easy to put them on the calendar, but thats not as immediately clear as seeing just how many days or hours remain until something happens. Widget Countdown puts your big events front and center where it's easy to keep track of them. The app is US$0.99 and requires iOS 8.0 or later and is compatible with iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. This app is optimized for iPhone 5. When initially presented with Widget Countdown my first reaction was, "I don't need yet another calendar." I get by with the built in iOS and Mac OS Calendar, even though I'm not terribly excited with them. I do like and use Fantastical for fast access and creating events and reminders. But, Widget Countdown isn't a calendar. It's not even about counting widgets. This app about setting up and displaying future events. A most importantly, it can display these events within the Notification Center. The app itself is beautifully and thoughtfully designed. It's very easy to create new events directly from your existing calendar events or to manually create them within the app. You can give each event a name, specify a date and/or time, and select a background picture. The app lets you search online for pictures from 500px or Flickr with a keyword search. The result it very nice. It would make a great lock screen, if Apple permitted such a thing (it does not). I find that I don't often launch the app to review my upcoming events. Instead I pull the Notification Center down from the top of the screen and find them displayed there (after adding them by editing which apps to display there). That's the really useful feature of this app. It's just the text, that's enough and what makes this app terrific. I find that limiting the number of things that I include in the countdown to make it easier to think about upcoming events. Add 20 items and the list becomes unweildy. But limit yourself to just four or five events and it's much easier to deal with. When using the app itself you can flick up on the displayed days to reveal the hours remaining. You can also send the image of the event countdown via any of the system services, including Mail, Messages, social media apps, etc. Unfortunately the app adds a commercial message to your image as well, but you can delete that. I still find this practice annoying and tacky, especially for a paid app. Note to app developers and publishers: don't beg for positive reviews with popups in your apps and don't tack on advertisements in messages. If you want to keep track of the big upcoming events in your life, I do like Widget Countdown, especially for the Notification Center access. Don't let that next birthday or anniversary sneak up on you.
Chaos Theory: Exploring the Halloween that almost wasn't in The Secret World
Funcom just about blew it. I have cut The Secret World plenty of slack for hiccups and bumps over the years (and I am willing to do so in the future because it just doesn't have an equal in the MMOverse and it does what it does so well), but this last one can't be brushed off. This latest misstep could have cost TSW dearly in good will, patience, and even players. You don't take the holiday that the game is essentially based on and not celebrate it! Luckily, TSW's much-anticipated Halloween event did finally show up, albeit 10 days late -- barely in time for the holiday. I am betting that the delay has cost the company some cash. The build-up to this holiday is a huge part of the excitement; the weeks preceding All Hallows' Eve is the perfect time to get people who are in the Halloween mood to return to the game or dive in and try it for the first time> Not to mention it's the time when folks are more apt to buy costumes! Funcom squandered that. And why the delay, anyway? During my Issue #8 tour last year, Creative Director Joel Bylos teased, "Our Halloween next year is going to be amazing! I wrote it for this year, but we didn't get done in enough time." Wasn't 12 more months enough time? We've been waiting with bated breath! So after all that wait, and then even more, is the event worth it? My answer is...
What's up with Engadget Expand?
We're just two weeks away from our free Engadget Expand event, taking place at New York City's Javits Center on November 7th and 8th and there's still so much to tell you about. If you can't join us in person, don't worry -- we'll keep you updated throughout the weekend with dispatches from the show floor and our livestream here on Engadget.
LotRO's Fall Festival running through November 2
Lord of the Rings Online's Fall Festival starts today, and you've got until November 2nd to collect all the tokens, titles, outfits, mounts, and assorted other Middle-earth paraphernalia that shows up during Turbine's seasonal shindigs. As always, Goldenstar has put together a comprehensive guide detailing how and where to get all the various knick-knacks as well as the new-for-2014 items.
