in-game-mail
Latest
Icarus offers Fallen Earth Companion app full-featured trial
Fallen Earth's rubble-strewn wasteland may be a junkyard full of rusty old tech and rotting civilization, but the forthcoming mobile phone app update is the epitome of new and shiny. The team at Icarus is offering a full-featured trial of the extended app to all current users, meaning you can check out the full auction house functionality, the ability to craft an item from scratch, and the in-game mail attachment services for free. The trial period runs from September 3rd to September 13th, and naturally requires that you have the original Fallen Earth companion app installed on your iPhone, Droid, or Blackberry. You can grab it from iTunes, the Android App Store, or Blackberry App World, and get a sneak peak of the new and improved version prior to its official release in a few weeks. You can also view complete details via the press release on the official website.
Mail access being considered for mobile app
In a recent forums thread, European CM Vaneras confirmed that in-game mail access is being considered for the armory mobile app. It is of course far from being confirmed -- but still, in theory, if it were implemented, it could be handy, allowing people on the go to transfer items between bank alts, manage consumable distribution between characters and more. Vaneras also said that Blizzard is always researching new potential additions to their web and mobile services as well, which actually piques my interest even more. I'd personally love to see guild chat and in-game chat channels added to the mobile and web services. If I could use a messenger program to stay hooked in to my guild and my friends list even when I'm not playing, I'd be willing to throw a few extra bucks a month Blizzard's way.
Storyboard: Getting into the scene
So, I lied. While I had originally been planning on something different for this week's column, I had a new topic more or less thrown to my doorstep from Bio Break. It's all well and good to talk about roleplaying as if everyone has been doing it since small times, but there are plenty of players with a vague curiosity who have never tried it out. For them, roleplaying is like heroin, vaguely promising a good time while always seeming dangerous, with the failures so publicly visible that... You know, I'm dropping that analogy right now before it starts looking terrifyingly appropriate. The point is that people are interested who aren't sure quite where to start. Thus, we're taking this week to put together a few things that help make it just a little easier to get into the joy of roleplay without getting bored, unintentionally stepping on toes, or winding up as the butt of everyone's in-character jokes. We can be a catty bunch. But you can get started without drama or too many issues, and it's not as bad as you might think.
Fallen Earth mobile app goes live
Those hard-working wasteland crafters over at Icarus Studios are taking the wraps off their latest creation, as today not only brings the new Patch 1.5, but also marks the launch of the Fallen Earth Companion App for Android and iPhone mobile units. Developed in a partnership with AFK Interactive, the app allows real-time access to the Fallen Earth game server and gives players the ability to perform a number of in-game functions on the go. While life for your post-apocalyptic clone characters couldn't be much tougher, the Companion App makes your out-of-game life a breeze by allowing you to: View the world map Examine character pages and gear Check active crafting recipes Browse auction house bids Chat with clan members and online friends Check in-game mail View Achievements (iPhone version only) "The degree of mobile interactivity is unparalleled. Players now have the ability to interact with the live game server in ways that, until now, weren't possible without a PC," said Icarus CEO Phil Hall. In addition to the launch day functionality, Icarus and AFK are already planning future upgrades, including the ability to buy and sell from the auction house, send in-game mail and attachments and craft new items. You can pick up the Companion App via iTunes or the Android App Store for $1.99 (USD). The Blackberry version will be available in the coming weeks for $2.99. Want to see it for yourself before buying? Check out our exclusive video presentation of the app on the iPhone, Android and Blackberry platforms right after the jump.
Realms up after extended maintenance
Realms are back up after a bit of extended maintenance this afternoon. There has been no communication from the blues or other Blizzard sources as to why the downtime was extended.But with that said, all the realms are working and things appear to be going smoothly. And by smooth I mean I still have the mail in my in-box from when the servers went down this morning.So that's a good thing, right?
Four year anniversary pet and feat of strength achievement
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/World_of_Warcraft_Celebrates_4_Years_Online'; Those of us waking up today and tomorrow will log into Azeroth and find in our mailboxes a little Baby Blizzard Bear non-combat pet. This pet will also give you a feat of strength achievement celebrating World of Warcraft's four years online.This is a nice little way for Blizzard to thank all of us for spending years in the game. With over 11 million people playing WoW, and Wrath becoming a hit overnight, there's definitely a lot of celebrating to do over at Blizzard HQ.The little bear that you get looks a like a small version of the BlizzCon Polar Bear Mount those of us lucky enough to attend BlizzCon this year got. It's a perfect traveling companion for you as you adventure around Northrend.Edit: The pet is active on US, EU, and Oceanic servers.Thanks to Mangowire for sending us the pics you see below. %Gallery-37708%
Blizzard gives out a day of compensation for the downtime
Blizzard's been on shaky footing this week with all the downtime, from their forum issues to in-game mail problems, and even their main site has had trouble. But there's good news for those affected by the outages (everybody?): we're all getting an extra day of playtime. Tyren says that they believe the problems are now fixed, and that players will recieve a free day of gameplay sometime within the next two weeks.Personally, I wasn't affected much, but free gametime is free gametime. The real test will be this evening and this weekend -- if Blizzard can keep their realms up even under the pressure of so many people checking out the expansion, it'll be a feat. But odds are that, considering how many players are likely to try checking out Northrend in the next few days, the shakiness is not quite over.
Blizzard sends in-game mail explaining today's problems
Blizzard has sent an in-game mail to everyone explaining what went wrong with the mail system, and what will be happening to fix it.In other news, the world blew up from all the irony. The mice have quickly begun repairing the world, and hope to have a new one constructed shortly.Basically the mail is outlining what Zarhym told us all earlier: that they will be reimbursing the items and gold lost during today's in-game mail failure, or mailure as I've started to call it tonight.Full text of the in-game mail after the break, or you can just look at a large screenshot of the message.
In-game mail to be reimbursed
Zarhym announced a short time ago that all mail items lost today will be reimbursed. The reimbursement of the in-game mail will happen in two steps: All items in the mail system will be sent to characters in one or more mail messages. Gold from the AH or sent through the mail will be sent in a separate message. This applies to all mail sent within the last 15 days. We can infer that only mail sent in the last 15 days has been affected. Do not contact a game master (GM) about this, and do not call customer support. The reimbursement will happen automatically.Since the forums are down, you can read the full text of Zarhym's announcement after the break.Are you ready for the challenges that await you in Northrend? WoW Insider has you covered with our 8-day guide to Preparing for Wrath. Also, check out our feature on AddOns new, old and outdated and Essential AddOns for Wrath written especially with the expansion in mind.
Servers back down: Mailboxes empty [Updated x2]
The realms were briefly up this afternoon. Anyone who logged into them was greeted with everything working smoothly – except for their mailbox.Many people found that they did not have the mail that was previously stored in their mailbox prior to the reset.This is, of course, a big deal for bank alts and others who send tens of thousands of gold through the system. Blizzard has shut down the realms again, and is aware of the problem. Update at 3:35pm: Syndri tells us that they are actively looking for a fix, and that as of yet none has been found. See our realm status post for more information about the extended downtime.Update at 10:34pm: Mail will be reimbursed. More information.We here at WoW Insider would like to encourage Blizzard to just fix it!Stay tuned for more updates.
SOE provides handy guide to cross-game communication in EQ
Sony Online Entertainment is responsible for quite a number of MMOs, and they've got a useful system in place to allow communication with people across their game worlds. However, many people either don't know about this system, or simply don't know how to wrangle it into doing what they want. To help with this, SOE has written a guide illustrating how EverQuest players can chat to their friends in other games.The games that EQ players can send both private messages and in-game mail to are EverQuest II, Planetside, Vanguard, The Matrix Online, and Star Wars: Galaxies. It's also possible to communicate with players on different EQ servers, but many of the servers have abbreviations that must be used in the commands -- these can be found in the guide. Now don't go acting all surprised when you're hiding from a guild raid on another server and your guild master sends you a tell!
Free Trials: Wonderful, or source of annoyance?
Let me preface this by saying that I'm absolutely notorious for giving out free trial codes. You want to check out WoW and see if you like it? Sure! Let me get you a code -- and get myself 30 days free in the process if you sign up. You think your cousin might dig the game since he plays EverQuest, but you're not sure? Here, let me email you a code to forward to them. For you see, I am every inch the devoted WoW fangirl, and I say that without any shame. As such, it is my mission to share the fun! Now, with that said, I think I've easily managed to score four or five months of free time from people converting trial accounts to paid accounts. And as WoW gains even more ground, even hardcore devotees to other MMOs are starting to be curious about what all the noise is about. (Well, okay, maybe that's just my older brother who has been staunchly refusing all my free codes and continuing to play City of Heroes/Villains... But I sense his will starting to falter now that he's hit endgame there. Mwahaha!) Of course, if you listen to Terrorantula on the (European) WoW General forums, trial accounts are everything that is bad with the game. They bring in gold spam mails! They let those advertisers come on and harass us! Now personally, while I'm all for Blizzard writing in some kind of process that immediately bans any account who sends certain gold-selling domain names in chat or mail (and they know who they are) I don't know that I would back the total removal of all free trial accounts.
