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The Renaissance comes to Sword 2
Sword 2 is a game that's still unique in many ways, from the game's overall aesthetics to the multi-character control system which serves as one of its hallmarks. But the game hasn't stood still despite that, with the latest expansion launching just recently. Dubbed Renaissance, the newest free addition offers players a take on the nigh-ubiquitous achievement system, letting players track and record their more memorable deeds for others to see. It also features expansions to PvP and a number of new UPCs. The new region of Castilla has also been added to the game, giving characters a chance to explore the Castilla Mines Raid and Castilla Temple among other regions. Along with the content updates, the game is rolling out a new and improved UI to give easier access to important information and controls. Sword 2 isn't everyone's cup of tea, but the newest update certainly might inspire a few people to take a look at its unusual setting and gameplay.
Wizard101 celebrates its second anniversary
It's easy to dismiss Wizard101 as nothing more than a cute MMO for kids, but the game has proven that it has quite a bit of depth and staying power. And September is the milestone to mark it by, since the game launched in September of 2008. With the arrival of the two-year anniversary for the game, the production staff for KingsIsle Entertainment has posted a short letter to commemorate the achievement and discuss the game's future in brief. Obviously, one of the big points of the future is the release of Celestia, which is currently slated for early fall. The new area and concurrent free expansion will raise the level cap and offer players a variety of new abilities, in addition to the eponymous underwater zone. To help kick off the pending launch, the development team is promising a quest later this month featuring "one of the hottest teen icons on the planet." It's been a busy two years for Wizard101, and it looks like the team is looking forward to many more.
New details revealed for upcoming Darkfall expansion
If you're not a regular Darkfall player, it's easy to have a one-sided view of the game as a nonstop PvP gank-factory. And while the team at Aventurine make no secret about their feelings on how casual gamers intersect with their genre, there's a lot more to the game than simply hunting other players. The upcoming free expansion is a case in point, focusing on the PvE aspects of play to make them more engaging. It's a far-reaching set of changes to the PvE side of things, at that. New monsters are being added along with new behaviors and tactics, meaning that players will have to think before engaging their enemies. Dungeons will be similarly improved, with monsters and quests added across the board to improve the experience of dungeon crawling. The full list of planned updates can be read here on the official forums, where we also find a preliminary launch date for the expansion of July 18th. Darkfall players should look forward to the upcoming expansion, as it promises to add many more play aspects to the already multi-faceted game. [Thanks to Bartillo for the tip!]
Ashes of Betrayal goes live for Aika
After having run previews quite steadily, the first Aika expansion, Ashes of Betrayal, has been released today. As could be expected with a free-to-play game, the expansion itself is free, and it contains a large amount of new content to keep players engaged. Whether you look forward to pushing to level 60, expanding your PvP gameplay, or exploring the story of the Kynari civil war, players will get their hands on all the improvements today. If the simple addition of the expansion isn't enough to get you excited about playing Aika, the community team is running a number of events to get people involved with the expansion, ranging from a race to the new level cap to an actual footrace. Really. A naked level 1 character footrace to one of the new areas. We've also been gifted with a few more screenshots of the expansion in action, so take a look at the gallery and go enjoy the new content. %Gallery-95585%
Champions Online expansion is now free
A lot of upset has been swirling around the Champions Online community lately. Much of it has been due to the announcement of a paid zone expansion and implementation of a "Kitchen Sink" patch that was pushed out too soon. In an effort to heal wounds and correct mistakes, Cryptic has released a new State of the Game targeted at addressing player concerns. There are a couple big things to take away from this news. For one, the expansion is now completely free. It's also now known as Champions Online - Revelation and is due out in mid-March 2010. New play areas, new powers, new rewards, and greater challenges are all promised by Cryptic. Expect a tidal wave of screenshots, videos, interviews and sweet juicy information in the coming weeks. The other big change is the way in which the Champions Online team is interacting with the community. They're adding a bevy of new features and community events -- like a Cryptic Studios Supergroup in-game -- that should help open up the lines of communication and hopefully add some much needed transparency to the game.%Gallery-85070%
Going "Beyond the Horizon" with Bounty Bay Online's next expansion
Arrrrrr matey! The pirates of Bounty Bay Online be going over the edge of the ocean in their new free expansion, "Beyond the Horizon!" Pirate captains will be happy to see the addition of a new area of the world and brand new character classes to the game.If you were interested in checking out South America and perhaps circling past Cape Horn, then you can now rejoice as these new lands are available to you with the coming expansion. Further more, you can also now check out the Western US and visit the ports of San Diego and San Francisco. Players will also supposedly get to check out the "legendary lands" which will include parts of Europe.Most importantly, five new character classes will be added to the game, including the military officer, imperial guardian, caribbean pirate, treasure hunter, and armed-businessman. But we won't hit you with all of the details here on this post. Set your sails for the Beyond the Horizon mini-site to claim all of the spoils and plunder!
Darkfall gets a free expansion, adds new weapons, weather, and player housing
Exciting news comes out of the Darkfall camp today as they unveil a brand new set of enhancements to the game, bundled together to form Darkfall's first free expansion. The update unleashes some massive changes, including the addition of weather, character specialization, new fancy weapons, PvE changes, and the big kahuna of additions, player housing.Of course when Darkfall adds player housing it's not your average, cuddly player housing. Houses, in addition to being able to be built on all sorts of land outsides of cities, can be formed into small villages that can be owned by clans. Villages will generate taxes for the owning clan, making them quite lucrative. Every six hours these villages go into a free-for-all status, allowing enemy clans to come in and take ownership with requisite bloodshed.You want to know more? Of course you do! Check out the full patch notes over at Darkfall's main website.
American server and free expansion coming to Darkfall early July
Tasos Flambouras of Darkfall has posted details on the game's forums of some big events that are just around the corner. The US server launch has been scheduled for the 7th of July, but as we learned previously, players from the European server won't be able to transfer their characters over straight away: "Characters from the European server can be cloned and moved without their possessions 3 months after the American launch. Certain restrictions and charges will apply, to be announced at a later date." The only way to play on the US server from launch is to buy the American Darkfall client. Tasos later added that American players currently on the European server would not need to buy the new client in order to transfer over when the time comes, to help the US early adopters -- any others jumping ship will need to purchase the US version of the game.In addition to this, during the first week of July players can expect a free expansion to roll out, which will include new content and updates to PvE and PvP. A new website is also in the works, with forums that the public will be able to read, but only Darkfall subscribers will be able to post to.[Via MMORPG]
Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria
Mabinogi's latest expansion, Pioneers of Iria, has recently gone live on the servers after much anticipation by the fans. Now players are able to not only explore the brand new continent of Iria, but also able to take advantage of new races in character creation, such as the giant and the elf, and the brand new exploration system.We here at Massively recently had a chance to catch up with Nexon's Matthew McCullough, the associate producer on the North American version of Mabinogi, to ask him some questions about their brand new release. Is all of this new content truly real? Is it really free? Can elves and giants live together with one another in harmony?Hit the continue reading link below, if you want the answers to these burning questions! Also, if you're a Mabinogi fan, look forward to our hands on with the Pioneers of Iria expansion later on in the week!
The "real" story behind CoX's powerset proliferation
Dr. Brainstorm is at it again.If you're a tight wearing do-gooder or vile evildoer within the City of... universe then you can't miss this exclusive broadcast (from an undisclosed location of course) made by Dr. Brainstorm. During yet another crazy experiment (this time involving Rikti technology, Hypothetical Frameworks and invisible, mystical networks) the good Doctor has made a startling find regarding one of the most anticipated features of the upcoming free expansion Issue 12: Midnight Hour - Powerset Proliferation.With the help of his newly built Resonance Manipulator, Brainstorm can now alter the energy strands connecting every Hero and Villain to their powers. New characters (both sides) will be able to access additional primary and secondary powersets they didn't have access to before.[Via GameZone]
