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The Feast of Winter Veil begins tomorrow, December 16th
Every year, Greatfather Winter brings treats to all the good boys and girls of Azeroth, and this year is no exception. From December 16th until January 2nd, the Feast of Winter Veil teaches us all the true meaning of Winter Veil with a cavalcade of gifts and other fun things like toys. A variety of seasonal pets, achievements, and hats are yours for the taking, including the brand new Rotten Little Helper. For the complete skinny on what you can get and what you can do, Wowhead has this helpful guide. If you're looking for one of those toys for your toybox, a rare pet, or a hat from one of the bosses (with several new Draenor bosses as well) then you have until January 2nd to get started. May Greatfather Winter watch over you.
Shroud of the Avatar enters Steam early access today
There's a certain feeling that you get when you walk around in a game with a new hat, as if you're making a statement: "Hello, world, I have a new hat." And you can get a new hat by logging into Shroud of the Avatar and doing the Grand Tour quests added in the game's most recent release. The new pilgrim hat will be available only during Release 12's testing schedule, so you'll want to get the hat soon if you want that new hat. Release 12 does offer more than just a new hat, though; the update offers a comprehensive new user experience, 15 new skills, 50 new weapon and armor recipes, 40 new songs, new maps, guilds, and other improvements. Studio boss Richard Garriott has also weighed in on the state of the game and updates for the solo play version of the game. Check out the full update on the official site for more details and community news. SOTA officially enters early access on Steam today.
Elder Scrolls Online is getting some scary monster face hats
When Massively newswriters are looking for news to write, they generally look first to the Massively newsroom. The Massively newsroom is a place where editors dump links that can be turned into stories, and more often than not said links are labeled with funny/sarcastic/bitterly angry temporary titles. The temporary title for the news post you're currently reading was "ESO Hats... you'd think a game this big could manage more than hat teasers on Twitter, but you'd be wrong!" It's quite a long temporary title as temporary titles go, but that's fine because it really captures the essence of this particular news post. The Elder Scrolls Online is in fact coming out with some new hats. OK, they're actually monster helms and they look pretty badass. You can expect them in Update 5!
Pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order, earn Team Fortress 2 hats
Alternate history Nazi shooter Wolfenstein: The New Order is now available for pre-order via Steam, and Valve has opted to sweeten the deal by offering free Team Fortress 2 hats to anyone who plunks down early cash for the PC game. Though Valve's announcement makes no mention of what exactly these hats will look like, it does describe them as both "exclusive" and patterned after some element of Wolfenstein: The New Order. Whether that means historically inaccurate pickelhaubes or the combination helmet and gas mask worn by the grunts in this trailer remains to be seen, but, again, these are free bonuses so try not to look this gift horse in the mouth. Alongside the newly-revealed gratis chapeaus, a pre-order of Wolfenstein: The New Order also grants players access to a beta of id Software's next entry in the hallowed DOOM franchise. However, as we mentioned earlier this month, that beta will only be available to those who pre-order Wolfenstein: The New Order on PC, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. [Image: Zenimax Media]
Pirate101 celebrates a birthday with headwear
It's been a year on the high seas for Pirate101, and the development team is in a celebratory mood. it's understandable considering how many games don't make it to a year or even out of beta. So from now until October 31st it's time to revel in all the birthday celebrations you want, starting with an entire game decked out in birthday regalia. Which will look a little odd next to the usual pumpkins, but whatever. The game is also offering two bits of accoutrement for players, veterans and novices alike. All players are eligible to receive a free birthday hat, and the game will also sell a birthday cake eyepatch in the cash shop for a limited time. (The eyepatch looks exactly like you would expect something with that name to look, if it was unclear.) So kick back and enjoy some piratical birthday bliss with a new hat.
New WoW tees, hats, and belts from J!NX
If you're looking to gear up for your IRL challenges -- and show some WoW pride in the process -- J!NX has released new swag for purchase. On offer are four new tees (in men's and women's styles), three leather belts, and two cadet caps. There's alliance and horde variations of each to show your faction pride as well as designs sporting Shen-z in Su and a pandaren monk. We particularly like the caps (check out the alliance and horde versions), which feature faction logos in a hand-painted style -- though if you aren't into hats, the same is available on a tee for alliance and horde. If any of this sounds like a must-buy, it's available on J!NX now -- though the caps are only available for pre-order and will ship in mid-July.
Team Fortress 2's '2nd Annual Manniversary' sale begins
Today marks the second anniversary of Valve's introduction of the Team Fortress 2 Mann Co. Store into the hearts and minds of Steam users everywhere. To celebrate the occasion, Valve is doing what it does best: hold a massive sale.While not all encompassing, the sale does drop discount bombs on a large portion of Team Fortress 2's microtransaction-based hat/weapon/sundry shop ecosystem, reducing prices on fan-designed fedoras and other miscellany by 25 to 75 percent. Let's be honest, this is probably the best deal you're going to see on pretend hats for a while. Also, we know a guy that can get you an incredible deal on a bridge, if you'd be interested.
One Shots: The Hutt in the hat
Massively reader Leandra sent us a delicious batch of screenshots from new shiny The Secret World, but her "throwaway" entry from Star Wars: The Old Republic is the one I couldn't resist highlighting. She wrote in, I recently resubscribed to The Old Republic to check out the changes made in the last few patches. The devs have made a lot of much-needed improvements, and I'm having a lot of fun. This is my Jedi Consular character on Nar Shaddaa, one of my favorite areas in the game. The statue of the Hutt in the hat always cracks me up. Why is he wearing that hat?? He's wearing that hat because it provided me an awesome post title and a giggle, that's why! The color shot and a few more from around the MMOverse await your clickery!
The Daily Grind: Should MMOs recycle old rewards?
It's no shock to realize that as Guild Wars 2 approaches, the Guild Wars 1 devs are slowly getting the older game set for long-term stasis. The year's Dragon Festival was surely a sign of that: Instead of doling out brand-new festival hats as it has in previous years, ArenaNet awarded tokens that allow players to earn discontinued hats from old events. Hats are serious business. Some veteran players argue that handing old hats to new players devalues old players' loyalty. After all, why play (or pay) on day one if everyone can get the cool shiny thing eventually anyway? Guild Wars isn't alone in adopting this convention. World of Warcraft transforms previous expansions' endgame skins into the next edition's leveling gear; other games place pre-order bonus perks in a cash shop at some point down the road for people who missed the first time around. So today we're wondering what you think of this practice as it pertains to the wider MMO genre. Do you think loyalty perks like event rewards and pre-order trinkets should remain unique? Or is it fair for developers to reintroduce and recycle old gear, rewards, and rares for a new generation? 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!
Adult Swim and Valve teamed up to give us... yep, a hat
When Valve and Adult Swim announced a partnership involving the Team Fortress 2 universe, we winked at each other, throwing out the tired joke that it would probably just be a bunch of hats. Today, we're not sure if we should be laughing or weeping silently into our keyboards: Adult Swim has revealed a free, limited-edition Robot Chicken hat for any class in TF2, as the first iteration in a series of new stuff coming from Valve and Adult Swim.To get the Robot Chicken hat, just sign up for the Adult Swim newsletter by July 4.In related, not-completely-predictable news, the FAQ for redeeming the Robot Chicken hat asks and answers an intriguing question: Q. Are you making a Team Fortress cartoon? A. Go ask your mother.As long as it's not called "The Hatsure Brothers" or any variation thereof, an Adult Swim Team Fortress 2 cartoon sounds like something we could get behind.In still-related, by-now-old news, Valve launched the "Meet the Pyro" video and announced the Source Filmmaker movie-creating tool today.
Valve economist examines TF2's 'sophisticated' barter system
We're not sure why Valve's economist is concerned with the finances of prestigious Covenant Elites in Halo, but the first publication from Yanis Varoufakis on Valve Economics is about exactly that. Only he spelled "Arbiter" wrong like 20 times.Oh, he's talking about "Arbitrage," the practice of capitalizing on the price difference between two or more markets, and its place in the Team Fortress 2 economy. That makes more sense, barely, but between the specialized equations and graphs Varoufakis offers some plain insight into the world of digital economies.For example, Varoufakis calls the TF2 barter economy "peculiarly sophisticated," noting that Steam's support system allows players to side-step the introduction of currency, operating solely on a "double coincidence of wants." This is something that civilizations for centuries have not been able to support for any protracted period of time, and its complexity is the reason we now have money, rather than things to trade with.The isolated nature of digital economies lends itself to intriguing happenings such as that one, as Varoufakis explains in great detail, we assume because he's thrilled to be able to calculate the exchange rates of laser guns and hats rather than boring old dollars and cents.
The Daily Grind: Do you leave cloaks and hats toggled on or off?
I might just be thinking this because I recently watched Zoolander, but style is so very important to us gamers. We don't just want to kick butt; we want to kick butt and look incredible while we do it. And in my experience, style can be made and shattered depending on the accessories. Hats and cloaks are two visual options that many MMOs allow us to toggle on and off. Some folks like 'em; some detest them. For me, I almost never like cloaks (they hide the rest of the body and armor), and I'll wear a hat only if it completes an ensemble or doesn't fully cover up the hair. But that's just me, and I want to hear about you. Do you toggle your hats and cloaks on or off, and why? This is what we'll discuss over breakfast scones. Pass the jam, please. 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!
Valve gifts Notch his own head, on other people's heads
It's official -- Notch, the creator of Minecraft and all-around Swedish dude, has made it big. In his most recent blog post, Notch describes his intense love for Valve's TF2 and then shows off the custom-made fancy hat that Valve made for his characters exclusively, called Top Notch. It's basically a cardboard box with square-ish pasties resembling Notch's Minecraft avatar worn over a character's entire head, and it's the sweetest gift we've seen in a long time. Notch agrees, writing, "Hooooly cow. Thank you, Valve. You wouldn't believe the amount of medic I get now. Also, spies."
Guild Wars is giving players another shot at hats
If you're up in New England, you may be one of the millions of people who got to experience an extra-spooky Halloween this year in light of the complete lack of power to your home. And among the many other problems you faced, you weren't able to take part in the finale of the holiday event for Guild Wars and couldn't obtain your free hat. While the developers behind the game won't replace all of your spoiled food, they are giving players a second shot at getting a hat. If you're wondering how you get hats, the post announcing the extension helpfully explains that they're obtained in exchange for Halloween items traded to a special hat vendor NPC being spawned in Lion's Arch and Kamadan. Said hat vendor will be in town most likely some time next week and will remain in place for about a week, giving everyone a chance at a special holiday hat -- albeit a little belated.
The Daily Grind: What are your thoughts on headgear?
In the real world, helms and hats are important bits of clothing, especially if you're talking about armor that includes a hefty chunk of metal complete with terrifying plume. So it makes perfect sense that pretty much every MMO set in a vaguely fantasy setting (i.e., nearly all of them) would feature a variety of important hats for characters to equip. But we also live in a society in which most men and women do not wear hats on a regular basis, and that's not even getting into the fact that most lower-level hats in MMOs look kind of dorky at best. Some people like having hats on their characters; hats are part of those characters' appearance. But for many other players, the hat detracts from a character's distinct look, unless it's a purely cosmetic addition without any kind of stats. So what are your thoughts on headgear? Do you like the way it looks? Do you think it should be more freely customizable? Or do you just walk around with the display of said headgear permanently off and never give it a spare thought beyond the stat boosts it provides? 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: Does a class' popularity influence your desire to play it?
There are a few constants that dog my adventures into every MMO. I will play a female character even though I am a man, I will go nuts over pet classes if they are available, I will probably create a legion of alts before ever hitting the level cap, and I will wear stylish hats even if the stats aren't the greatest. But above all of that, the biggest constant in my playing career is that I almost always refuse to pick MMO classes that are extremely popular. I think it's because I -- like probably most of you -- like to feel unique in games, even though it's usually difficult to achieve. Choosing a class that's in the minority helps with that feeling, and conversely, going with the FOTM or whatever the kids are calling it these days makes me feel like I've got my unique snowflake status revoked. So is this insane? Do you allow class popularity to influence your desire to play it, or do you just go with whatever sounds like the most fun? 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!
RuneScape introduces sagas and more in May
The team over at Jagex always has several irons in the fire when it comes to RuneScape's future. In a recent behind-the-scenes article, RuneScape's "Mod Mark" provides us with an advance look at some of the team's plans for the game this May. Several new capes will be added to the game, including a five-year veteran cape and one for players who have tried out RuneScape Classic at some point. Each of the capes is not only stylish but comes with special emotes as well. Continuing with the fashion theme, the devs will also make available PvP "death hats" that change in appearance as you rack up the kills. Several other quality-of-life improvements are on the table, such as the Dwarf Lava Flow Mine becoming an actual mine for players working on that particular skill. But by far the most exciting plan in the works is the introduction of a fresh type of content in the game: Fremennik Sagas. These are replayable stories by which you step into the shoes of famous characters to experience defining moments in their lives. There are three such Sagas being developed right now, including one in which you hunt for a bandit on the run. You can peruse all of the proposed additions to the game over at RuneScape.
Team Fortress 2 hats raise $430,000 for Japan
Valve has announced the total sum brought in during its two-week Team Fortress 2 charity drive, which sold three limited edition in-game hats to raise funds for the Japanese disaster relief fund. The amount is beyond incredible: In just 14 days, the TF2 community gave $430,543.65 to aid in recover efforts following the devastating earthquake which hit Japan on March 11. If you managed to miss out on this promotion, don't worry -- much like the charitable Team Fortress 2 hats pictured above, donating to the Red Cross' Japanese disaster relief efforts never goes out of style.
Team Fortress 2 in-game hats raise $300k for quake relief
We usually tint stories about in-game digital goods that people bought with out-of-game, for-real money with notes of disbelief -- but for this particular post, we've got nothing but heartwarming respect. The three hats recently added to Team Fortress 2, available for a charitable donation of $7.99, $19.99 or $99.99, have pulled in over $300,000 in just one week for disaster relief in Japan. You've got time to bump that total up even more. The Humanitarian's Hachimaki, Benefactor's Kanmuri and Magnanimous Monarch (pictured above) will be available until April 4. We guarantee that they're stylin', profilin' and remarkably altruistic.
Registration opens for Global Agenda's anniversary tournament
Are you a bad enough dude to take on all comers in a Global Agenda tournament? Do you want to have a totally sweet Tyrannosaurus on your head? The two are entirely linked -- the registration for the game's anniversary 4v4 tournament has just begun, and the prize for the winning team will be a new piece of flair in the style of the aforementioned dinosaur head. It's going to be a rough road to the top, but there's incentive to take part in the tourney even if you don't think you'll quite rock the top spot. Every team member who participates through the Group stage of the tournament will receive a Trike flair, and the top four teams in the event will all receive three Cyber Punk dyes as a consolation prize. Obviously you'll need a team of four people to take part, so now's the perfect time to round up three of your Global Agenda buddies and go for the gold. Or for the hat shaped like a multi-ton killing machine with possible tendencies toward scavenging, which is a bit more exciting than a gold medal anyway.
