expansions
Latest
RIFT unveils Return to Telara promotion
It's time once again for the Ascended of Telara to answer the call-to-arms with yet another Return to RIFT promotion to celebrate the imminent launch of the game's first expansion, Storm Legion. From now until Sunday, November 11th, Trion Worlds is inviting new and returning players to jump into the game for five days of free gameplay leading up to Storm Legion's launch. During this free play time, players will be able to "go hands-on with sweeping Soul changes and dive into a pivotal World Event that shatters the peace on one continent... and opens the gates to two more." It certainly sounds as if Trion has an exciting experience in store for players, whether they're returning veterans or green recruits, so if you want to get in on the excitement, just head on over to the RIFT official site for all the details.
RIFT's Storm Legion beta open to all Trion account holders
The time for RIFT's Storm Legion expansion is almost upon us. The expansion goes live for keeps on the 13th of November, but if that's too long to wait, you're in luck! The latest and greatest beta test is open to all Trion account holders. We're guessing you're probably one of those if you're interested in the RIFT expansion. The open beta test runs from 1:00 p.m. EDT on Friday the 2nd until 11:00 a.m. EST on Wednesday the 7th. All of the expansion's seven dungeons are available for testing, as are all the leveling zones and a battle with Crucia herself. Full details (and a link to download the beta client) can be found on the official beta page. What are you waiting for, hero?
RIFT's Storm Legion open beta begins November 2nd
Want an early look at RIFT's Storm Legion expansion? First you should read our hands-on preview. After that, you might want to consider jumping on board for the open beta test that begins November 2nd and ends on November 7th. Trion has issued a press release noting the time frame and procedure for taking part in the expansion's final test phase. You'll need to create a beta account and download the client. You can either create a new character or transfer your live server avatars to the beta environment. The testing concludes on November 5th, and Storm Legion releases on November 13th. [Source: Trion press release]
The Daily Grind: What game do you feel has changed too much for you to return?
We've all got games that we like, but sometimes even the games you want to play have to be placed on the back burner for a while. In the old days, it could be a matter of not being able to pay a subscription fee for a couple of months. That's less of an issue with free-to-play becoming ubiquitous, but there are still times when other projects, heavy workloads, or simple burnout necessitate putting a game down for a while with the intention of returning later. Unfortunately, sometimes later comes around and you don't recognize the game any longer. Obviously, no game will freeze in place as we take care of other issues; updates will happen and the game will change. But sometimes you turn to go back to an old favorite and find out that the game's entire progression method has been redesigned, stats have been altered, and your favorite classes or skills are nearly unrecognizable. You no longer see the game you want to return to, and you don't want to start the game all over. So what game do you feel has changed too much for you to ever go back, even if you might be tempted? 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!
The Daily Grind: Are you sick of gear resets?
Earlier this week, Massively RIFT columnist Karen Bryan expressed frustration over the seemingly inevitable MMO expansion problem: gear resets. We expect new gear along with our new content, but a complete gear reset, she argued, "renders all previous raid content irrelevant." Everything you earned before an expansion may as well never have happened because you can top that gear with a new crop of easymode quests. And the realization that a gear-grind is mostly for naught can have a ripple effect on a game as disillusioned players give up on acquiring it (or bail out of the game completely). The Daily Grind crew has discussed gear resets in relation to raid progression before, but even games without raiding face this problem. If a game has any kind of scaling gear or levels, then the addition of new content, like an expansion, is bound to generate growing pains. So where do you stand? Are you sick of gear resets, of having to effectively start over at the dawn of every expansion? Or do you see gear resets as a good thing, as a way to bridge the gear divide between players and re-experience what you loved about the game originally? And since you're going to tell us anyway, here's a bonus question: Which MMOs have successfully avoided this problem and how? 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!
Lineage II launches a teaser site for Glory Days [Updated]
Another update for Lineage II is approaching, and this one promises to be full of glory. Days of it, even. But if you weren't sure about what the Glory Days update will offer for players, you can now stop at a handy teaser site that contains all of the upcoming features and expansions to Lineage II's existing gameplay. And there's a lot in there. High-level players can venture to the Isle of Souls for solo or small-party play, take on Pagan's Temple for solo or group play, make a small team to infiltrate Nornil's Cave, or take part in the daily instanced raid of Nornil's Garden. Meanwhile, all players can enjoy the revised Mentoring and Reputation system, while players with a Subclass can enjoy special dual-class abilities as well as a free subclass level reset. And there's a whole revamped system of Clan Wars coming, complete with contestable halls. Really, if you're an avid Lineage II player, you might want to just look at the site. [Update]: Glory Days will launch on October 24th.
Enter at Your Own Rift: Expansion anxiety
I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting a big kick out of the little ad banner videos that RIFT is using to promote the Storm Legion expansion. The sight of a mini Scott and Russ flipping signs with promises to generic forum posts is a neat little marketing ploy. Even though I never click ad banners, and even though I'm getting the expansion, I still clicked on them just to see the video and the gameplay. It's like RIFT's version of Dumbledore smiling back through the Daily Prophet. There's a lot I'm looking forward to in Storm Legion, but at the same time, I'm apprehensive about the changes that tend to come with the launch of any expansion. The world of Telara is changing, and Crucia is only part of that. In this week's Enter at Your Own Rift we'll look at some of the changes that MMO expansions normally bring and see how they might affect RIFT.
CCP unveils EVE Online: Retribution, coming this winter
Earlier this evening at the VETO EVE fan gathering in London, CCP announced EVE Online's 18th expansion: EVE Online: Retribution. Due in December, this latest content overhaul promises to bring some of the biggest changes yet to the space-themed sandbox MMO, which is steadily ramping up for its 10th anniversary next May. We sat down with Jon Lander and Kristoffer Touborg, EVE's executive producer and lead designer respectively, to get a first-hand look at some of Retribution's key features as well as the enormous pile of tweaks, updates, and adjustments players might expect with any CCP-helmed update. One thing is certain: After Retribution, the world of internet spaceships will never again be the same.
The Guild Counsel: Dealing with returning members at the dawn of a new expansion
The launch of an expansion is always an exciting time. There's new content to explore, new features to check out, and for guilds, a sudden influx of new and returning players. Some of those fresh faces were once on your roster, and it's not that surprising that they're suddenly showing up on your doorstep again, ready and willing to get back into things. On the surface, the sudden roster boost might seem like a welcome scenario, especially for raiding guilds. But in reality, it can turn into a disruption that has the potential to add drama and headaches for the guild leader. In this week's Guild Counsel, we'll look at a few things to be mindful of when you're faced with a sudden influx of returning members.
Anarchy Online offers subscription bonuses
Anarchy Online wants your business,- and it's prepared to undertake a fair bit of bribery to make that happen. Funcom is offering a pair of promotions for new and existing players who choose to subscribe any time between now and November 12th. For new players, AO will dish out more bonus items the longer you stay subscribed. These bonuses include Funcom points, a luxury apartment, fancy armor, and even all of the Anarchy Online expansions. Existing players who sign on for a 12-month subscription will get over $100 of bonuses including Funcom points, all expansions, armor, and consumables.
Do we need a World of Warcraft II?
I read the forums. I do so because it's part of my job, because I like seeing what people are saying, and because sometimes a thread actually makes me think. This thread, asking people what they'd like to see in a sequel to World of Warcraft, did that and then some for me. First, the response from Vaneras that got me the most interested in talking about it. Vaneras - WoWII? I really hope they will do it some day, but if they do it, they won't do it sooner than 5 years, at least. The idea is basically the same game, but with way better graphics, new features, new NPCs/Items etc etc. It would be cool, because the skeleton would be the same, but the rest would be new. But that doesn't sound like something that would require an entirely new game though, but of course that is just my personal opinion. As I see it, these things could just as well be upgrades to the current game through patches and expansions, much like what we have seen already in the game's evolution from its release until today. I think something more would be required in order to rationalise the end of WoW in favour of WoW II :-) source When EverQuest II came out in 2004, its predecessor was the largest MMO in the world. One of the charges leveled at EQII was that it looked and felt so different from EverQuest itself that it split the player base and, since this happened just around the time that World of Warcraft was launching, left the door open for the upstart game to get a serious footing. It's possible that if it weren't for EQII, we'd have ended up with a smaller MMO scene where a game with a million subscribers was considered a rousing success. Now, I'm not arguing that it's always a bad thing to have a sequel to an MMO. There are MMO's out right now which run concurrently with a sequel and seem to be doing fine. The question becomes, does World of Warcraft need one?
EVE Evolved: Has EVE Online boxed itself in?
When I was first introduced to EVE Online in 2004, it was an empty shell of a game. There were only three classes of ship, no alliances or starbases, and neither exploration complexes nor level 4 missions existed yet. EVE consisted of 5,000 systems of almost completely empty space populated by less than 50,000 players. The user interface was an order of magnitude worse than it is today (if you can imagine that), and the tutorial just dropped you in the middle of space with the ship equivalent of a pea shooter and a less-than-enthusiastic "good luck!" Though much of the game was empty, it sat before players like a blank galactic canvas. Not only could players paint their own stories into the game world, but EVE's highly active development team was updating the game at lightning speed. Players instinctively filled the voids in the game with their hopes and dreams, projecting all the things that EVE could be into the gaps. People shared ideas on the forum directly with the developers, and practically anything was possible. Things aren't quite the same today, as new ideas have to be compatible with over nine years' worth of updates, and developer CCP Games really can't afford to rock the boat and potentially lose subscriptions. In this week's EVE Evolved, I consider whether the past nine years of development has boxed EVE in, forcing the gameplay down an ever-narrowing branch of choices.
PAX Prime 2012: RIFT's Storm Legion approaches
The Storm Legion is coming. Even now, those touched by Crucia are preparing to unleash her will. But RIFT's Storm Legion expansion is bringing more than just dragon minion foes. A new soul for each calling, player housing instances, new continents, new dungeons, and new raids are all part of the bundle. We caught up with the Trion team at PAX to catch a glimpse of what the oncoming storm will bring.%Gallery-161264%
SOE to stop offering expansions for Station Cash, offers 50% off this weekend
In the wake of the initial removal of subscriptions from the Station Cash store, Sony Online Entertainment is giving players a heads-up about the impending removal of expansions and DLC packs. Starting on Monday the 27th, players will no longer be able to purchase any expansions for EverQuest or EverQuest II or DLC packs for DC Universe Online using Station Cash. The company explains that the change is due to the substantial cost of the content development, the need to protect revenue, and the competing desire to continue running player-loved Station Cash promotions. Along with the notification, SOE is offering a 50% off sale on expansions and DLC packs from now through 2:59 a.m. EDT on Monday, August 13th. Players can take advantage of this offer with either cash or their saved SC, but only for this limited time. After that, all purchases will be cash-only. [Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
The Road to Mordor: LotRO's next four expansions
With under a month to go until Riders of Rohan hits the digital starting gate and gallops past the horse metaphor, expansions are weighing heavily upon my mind. I'm excited about horse combat and a break from traditional questing (to a point), but I'm also hoping that Lord of the Rings Online's fourth expansion will prove far more compelling than its previous one turned out to be. LotRO may be coasting into its middle-age years (in MMOs, every year in real life is like nine for the game), but it still has quite a bit of life -- and journey -- ahead of it. Unlike every other MMO out there, this title has a specific story it's following from beginning to end. Maybe we get off the beaten path of Tolkien's works now and then, but our fate as players is intertwined with the fates of Frodo and the One Ring. It gives us the advantage of knowing more about our future in the game than we would have otherwise. So today I'm putting on my prognostication cap and giving you all the skinny on Lord of the Rings Online's next four expansions past Riders of Rohan. I have no insider knowledge, just a gut feeling and a time-traveling buddy named Soren from the year 2020.
Allods Online gives a glimpse of new expansion areas
The Allods Online community is aflame with excitement over the upcoming New Horizons expansion, and gPotato seems determined to keep throwing fuel on that fire. Today the company posted a brief overview of all seven new allods (zones) coming with next month's update. These new allods range from the spooky, gloomy region of the Lost Expedition to the lush, untamed Jungles of Mboa-Mboa. There's also the demon-plagued Black Rampart, an all-female city called Fenia's Cloister, the murky depths of the Underwater Kingdom, the toasty Cinder Vale, laboratory-run-amok Zone 51, and Metal Municipality, a city undergoing civil war. All in all, it looks to be a diverse travel itinerary for any adventurer. GPotato recently posted the trailer for New Horizons.
Lord of the Rings Online dev diary discusses 'reincarnation' of PvMP
Today's Lord of the Rings Online dev diary begins by stating that "over the course of LotRO's lifetime, the Ettenmoors has been updated several times." It continues, "this is not one of those times. This is a new beginning; this is a reincarnation." Those are some bold words, so what about this new incarnation of the Ettenmoors is so revolutionary? Well, a number of things, according to the dev diary. The team is not looking for a "mystical silver bullet that magically makes everything better" but instead is looking at three primary areas to revamp. First, the team is taking a look at the many keeps, outposts, and the Delving. The current model rewards players for flipping control points to their faction's control, but there's no incentive to continue to hold them, so the studio aims to "shift the model to instead provide large benefits for having and keeping locations." Secondly, Turbine is analyzing Creep traits and skills for "usefulness, potency, and acquisition costs. Finally, all Creep classes will be receiving new skills and "an overall balance adjustment on... damage and healing" to ensure they are balanced with the Free Peoples. The full dev blog is far too in-depth to post the whole thing here, but if you're interested in the nitty-gritty of all the PvMP changes coming with Riders of Rohan, head on over to the full post.
Perfect World Entertainment's Mark Hill previews Rusty Hearts: Reborn
About a week ago, we got our first look at the first expansion to Perfect World Entertainment's side-scrolling hack-and-slash title, Rusty Hearts. On July 24th, Rusty Hearts: Reborn will be bringing a wealth of new content to the game, and I had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Mark Hill, senior product manager of Rusty Hearts, about the new update. What's particularly interesting about Rusty Hearts: Reborn is that many of the features coming with the expansion are a direct result of player feedback. According to Hill, the studio recognized that many players were quitting the game prematurely, sometimes as early as level 5, and as such, the expansion is focused on retooling the early- and mid-game to make it more welcoming to new players. That's not to say that there's nothing for established players, however, so if you're interested in what Rusty Hearts: Reborn is bringing to the table, head on past the cut, where I'll share all of the information gleaned from my talk with Mr. Hill.
gPotato releases Allods' New Horizons expansion trailer
Yesterday we told you about Allods Online's New Horizons expansion. Today gPotato has released a trailer that shows off a bit of what's coming when the content goes live on August 8th. You'll get new mercenary functionality, seven new astral allods (plus the ability to own one yourself), and a new PvP feature called the Smugglers' War. The clips runs for well over four minutes, so head past the break to see for yourself. [Source: gPotato press release]
Rule your own allod in Allods Online's new expansion
It's only been a few days since gPotato announced a new server for Allods Online, but today the firm has even more exciting news for fans of its free-to-play fantasy MMO. An expansion called New Horizons is coming on August 8th alongside the new server launch. Quite a bit of content is in the offing, including the ability for players to build, design, and rule their own allod (which is basically an island in the game's vast expanse of magical space known as The Astral). The expansion also brings ship-to-ship combat, territorial and trade wars, and mercenary characters to the table. These mercs can be called upon to join parties and take down tough content that's not normally tenable for solo players or small groups. The mercs will take a share of the loot spoils, though. That's not all there is to the new patch, but you'll need to head to the official Allods website to find out more. [Source: gPotato press release]
