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TiVo announces plans to merge with entertainment tech firm Xperi
TiVo is scrapping plans to split its product and licensing divisions. Instead, it's merging with the entertainment tech firm Xperi. The new, $3 billion company will take on the Xperi name, but it will continue to sell TiVo-branded products.
CBS and Viacom agree to sign $30 billion merger deal
CBS and Viacom have reached a long-rumored merger agreement. The two companies announced today that they will reunite as ViacomCBS. According to The Wall Street Journal, CBS and Viacom hope that, together, they'll be better positioned to fight against cable TV competition and streaming services.
Is Apple merging iOS and macOS?
MacBooks and iPhones. Together. On the same operating system. No.
Merge is the closest thing we have to an AR Nerf gun
The folks at Merge picked a fitting name for their augmented-reality company, considering that their latest product combines the fun of Nerf guns with the fantasy of first-person shooters. The 6DoF Blaster is a lightweight plastic gun with four clickable buttons, including the trigger, and a space for a smartphone to rest horizontally across its top. The game plays out on the screen, with players ducking, walking and shooting as if the action were taking place in the real world.
The Think Tank: The MMO server merge stigma
Last week, Turbine announced that it plans to address Lord of the Rings Online's ongoing population problems. New executive producer Athena "Vyvyanne" Peters wrote, "We're taking measures to get everyone onto the more populous servers" and "working on [...] improved server transfer tools." And later, she clarified, "We are still working through the details, but part of our efforts here are to make the transition as seamless as possible for Kinship leaders to keep the players together. The idea is to bring you together, not spread further apart." In our post, we called this process "server merges of a sort," but some loyal LotRO fans went ballistic at the idea that mass server transfers to, you know, merge players onto populous servers might be called "server merges." The term has such negative connotations and implications for a game's health that neither studios nor fans will dare use it even when it's a reasonable term to use and when it heralds good things for an aging game. The stigma might even make some studios leery of doing merges at all. What do you think -- is there a better term for these sorts of faux-merges? Have you been through a merge and found it a worthwhile experience? Can we be done with the merge stigma already? We're talking server merges in today's Think Tank.
Age of Wushu previews new school abilities after server merge
The fifth inner skills for each of the eight schools are arriving in the next Age of Wushu update, and if you're a player, you'd probably like to know what they do, wouldn't you? I mean, one of them might instantly kill everything in a seven-meter radius, and the other might summon a moderate quantity of breadsticks and marinara sauce. That seems unlikely, though, as the preview of these new abilities mentions neither sort of talent. They do include attack buffs, HP drains, and major defensive buffs, though, so that's good. You'll be able to show these skills off to a wider range of players after the game's server merges from yesterday. The Golden Kirin and White Tiger servers have been merged into the Blue Dragon server; players whose names will need to change should receive name changing scrolls within the next few days. If you weren't able to log in yesterday and aren't sure about how the merge went down, you can double-check the quick guide to the process.
The Daily Grind: Do server merges make you more or less worried about an MMO?
Server merges, megaservers, connected realms, server consolidations -- call them whatever you want; a server merge is a merge, and it means a game's population has shrunk and servers need to be shed. Usually, MMO gamers take that as a herald of doom and race to the forums and blogs to argue over the technicalities of who's going where, what stuff will be lost in the transfer, and who predicted something patently inevitable a year ago. Onlookers pronounce the game a failure. But maybe that's the wrong atittude altogether. By the time most games merge servers, I'm usually heaving a sigh of relief. RIFT, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Star Wars Galaxies, EverQuest, even World of Warcraft -- all of these MMOs benefited enormously from their merges or faux-merges, in spite of the way merges look to people obsessed with schadenfreude. For players playing a game whose devs recognize a population problem and fix it while they still have the resources to do so, it's practically a game-saver, not a game-killer. When you're stuck on a dead server in a game that has just enough resources to keep going but not enough to merge, then the game is screwed. What do you think: Do server merges make you more or less worried about an MMO? 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!
PlanetSide 2 players are invited to fight over new server name
Usually a server merge is a somber affair, but the team at PlanetSide 2 views the upcoming consolidation between Waterson and Mattherson as an opportunity for a cage match to the death. The prize? The right to retain the winning side's server name following the merge. SOE is planning a "ServerSmash" battle for Friday, June 20th, between the inhabitants of Waterson and Mattherson. Outfits can sign up to represent their server during the event. The studio acknowledged that this event might be a siren's call to griefers and asked for good sportsmanship: "We implore both the participating servers, as well as the community at large, to take the high ground and help us make this a fun, amazing event that we can all appreciate." [Thanks to OdinsPride for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: What would you pay to leave a dying server?
One hundred and thirty-five bucks -- that's what Lord of the Rings Online charges for six character transfer tokens to move your fleet of alts from a dying server to one with a bright future. Nevermind that you weren't the one who turned the server into a ghost town and that it's entirely within a studio's power to make merges happen some way or another; you're the one who foots the bill to escape a dead server. And sometimes that bill is just not worth paying. I admit to shelling out a huge amount of money (a few hundred dollars) to consolidate and transfer my old Star Wars Galaxies accounts and characters, and it was worth every penny because it was my favorite MMO and I played it every single day and needed a vibrant server and economy to have a good time. But when it comes to an MMO I play as casually as Lord of the Rings Online, I have to draw the line. Especially as a crafter, I just won't pay that kind of money (or ask my guildies to do the same) to move my alts, which often means I don't go back at all and the game gets nothing from me. What about you -- what would you pay to leave a dying server? How much do you have to love the game before shelling out for transfers is worth it? 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!
Allods Online transfers operations back to Mail.Ru, merges population
Allods Online is on the cusp of reverting operations from Webzen back to the original owners, Mail.ru. The firm has a couple of posts up to answer questions about the transfer. The transfer will happen sometime this month and it will involve both European and North American accounts. The creators will be merging these populations due to popular demand: "One of these [suggestions] was the desire to join the European servers: New Frontier and Goblin Republic. So we thought, why not use this great opportunity to finally unite all of our European and North American players on the same server? There are no more technical issues or other obstacles in our way, so right after we merge Webzen EU and US communities on March 18th, we will organize a migration of our players from Italy and Turkey to the same servers (it will happen two weeks later)." Allods Online will be synchronizing client versions across the board (except in Russia, which will remain ahead of the pack) due to this change and will not be supporting Polish localization going forward. The game will transfer regional accounts separately to avoid any conflicts.
Salem prepares for full wipe
The end of the world is nigh for Salem and it's rankling more than a few players' sensibilities. Earlier this month, the developers announced that they will be conducting a full wipe of Salem in an upcoming patch. This will reset the map and delete all characters in order to condense the population onto a single server. Currently the game is running on multiple servers, which the devs deem as "overestablished." Players are upset that the sandbox MMO is being wiped in light of the team previously promising that it wouldn't do such a thing. Seatribe is sympathetic but resolute: "We did not arrive at this decision lightly. We have considered all our options and for various reasons found them wanting." The good news is that the patch will add in plenty of new features and tweaks, including a rework of the gluttony system, improvements to character proficiencies, and the implementation of a new map generator. Every item that characters purchased from the store beforehand will be restored to them once the patch goes live. [Thanks to Nine for the tip!]
Prime World dishing out $38M of in-game currency to players today
Prime World might only be in "beta," but it's getting the star treatment from publisher Nival today in the form of a massive giveway. Over $38 million in cash shop currency will be distributed among beta testers today at 4:00 p.m. EDT. When the giveaway happens this afternoon, each registered tester will get 3,000 gold worth around $100 that can be spent in the cash shop as well as a free exclusive skin. We're giving you a heads-up because you can get in on this too as long as you register before 4:00 p.m. on the site or through Steam. Nival is hosting the giveaway to show off the game's progress, including a reduction in matchmaking queue times and the merging of the Russian and English populations of the game. [Source: Nival press release]
The Daily Grind: Are single-server MMOs uncomfortably big?
If I had my way and technology were easy, every MMO would be a single-server experience akin to EVE Online's or Champions Online's. You might never come in contact with the majority of players or ever encounter a scenario when hundreds of players gathered together, but the unified economy would be a trader's paradise, and it'd be a boon for developers, too, being easier to balance and avoiding the late-game server-merge nightmares that most MMOs eventually suffer. Best of all, you'd never have to find out your new co-worker plays your favorite game too... on another server. But there is a considerable contingent of MMO players who still balk at the idea of an MMO melting pot and tools intended to bridge servers like LFG systems or World of Warcraft's connected realms and battlegroups. Sharded server structures create tight communities, the argument goes. People don't want to deal with folks from around the world who don't speak their language, and they don't want to fade into the background of a massive server with what they perceive as no personality and no community ties or loyalty. Do you agree with that sentiment -- are single-server MMOs just uncomfortably big? Do you prefer a classic, sharded experience? 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!
World of Warcraft sews together realms to solve population issues
Instead of simply merging some of its lower population servers, World of Warcraft is going a different way. Starting in patch 5.4, Blizzard will introduce connected realms: servers that are functionally joined together with other servers to share population and resources. While the affected realms will remain technically independent, the lines between the two connected realms will be blurred. These realms will be able to share population, have one linked auction house, and allow players of both servers to group, guild, and PvP together. So why not just merge? Blizzard's official answer reasons, "Other alternatives such as merging realms would require us to force character name changes if there were conflicts, and could lead to confusion for returning players who'd log in to find their realm missing from the realm list. Some players also feel strong ties to their realm's name or history, and we don't want to erase that." The list of what servers will be connected has yet to be released.
Archlord combines Zian and Gracia servers
The world of Chantra is about to get a lot cozier: Archlord will undergo a server consolidation on January 30th that will combine the Gracia and Zian servers. Gracia characters that have been accessed since July 1st, 2012, will be merged without any transfer requests, but players are encouraged to check the eligibility of their character transfers. Prior to the merge (and ensuing epic battles), players will be supported with free cash shop items and will be able to celebrate the combination with "various events." The first Archlord (and guild members) after the consolidation will be rewarded with unique items. [Source: Webzen press release]
Allods Online crafting professions set to merge in Patch 3.05
Crafting professions in Allods Online are getting quite a revamp with Patch 3.05 at the end of this month. Following in the footsteps of the Alchemy changes, all professions will be merged with their appropriate gathering counterparts to make for a more self-sufficient process. According to the dev notes, "the skill of their new merged profession will be based on the highest of the two that are being combined." Other changes made to crafting with this patch include simplified profession leveling progression, an improved crafting interface, tool upgrades, crafted armor, and more. The point of the crafting changes revolves around the idea of making armor that is more easily obtained for those players who put time into crafting and adventuring. Patch 3.05 is set to release on October 30th.
Exclusive Ryzom interview details player wipes and server merges
If you have been a Ryzom fan as long as I have, you know that the road to Atys has been long and bumpy. Unfortunately, the bumps haven't stopped. Winchgate has just announced that it's planning to merge existing servers and wipe existing characters. That means if you have built characters over these last several years, they will no longer be as they were Massively interviewed Vianney Lecroart, Ryzom's CTO, to ask about what this means for the game and community, so read on for first the official announcement and then Lecroart's comments.
SWTOR locks servers in preparation for merges
If step one was giving some players the opportunity to transfer servers for free and step two was incentivizing those moves, then step three in BioWare's plan to consolidate the community is closing the door on the source servers in preparation for an inevitable merge. The studio announced that as of today, several of Star Wars: The Old Republic servers have been locked. Locked servers are still playable, and inhabitants can create new toons; however, no new players can roll a character there. These source servers will eventually be merged with destination servers this summer. BioWare's move to merge SWTOR's numerous servers follows a post-launch drop in subscriber numbers. Players on source servers are encouraged to manually transfer to destination servers before the game does it for them. [Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
Hyperspace Beacon: Four reasons you should come back to TOR for 1.3
Currently in Star Wars: The Old Republic, I am leveling up a couple of alternate characters. My main is a Sith Marauder, but I felt like trying the other Sith class and at the same time try the Jedi Consular class that I didn't finish during beta, mostly to see for myself whether the story gets any better. (It doesn't.) The mechanics are extremely awesome, though, and that's enough to keep me playing the class. But that's not the only thing that keeps me playing it. In fact, I think I can safely say that I would not still play the class if it weren't for update 1.3, which is just one of the reasons I believe players should consider coming back to SWTOR. Whether you're an altoholic or not, update 1.3 has finally completed the game. If the game had launched with the features that now exist in game, I don't believe we would have seen such a sharp decline in subscriptions after launch. I'm urging you to try the game again, not because I'm being prompted to but because I think these quality-of-life additions really make this game what it should have been all along.
Nokia to acquire Scalado, build a better Lumia (Updated)
Scalado has more than a few tricks squirreled away in its mobile imaging bag, tricks that have served the likes of HTC and RIM well. Now, Espoo want those tricks all to itself. After working with the Swedish firm for years, Nokia has decided to take its partnership with Scalado to the next level: acquisition. The imaging outfit will be turning over its developers, intellectual property, technology and moniker over to Nokia in the third quarter of 2012 -- although the terms of the deal are confidential. Finland's favorite smartphone manufacturer plans to use Scalado's technology to enhance "imaging experiences for Nokia Lumia devices." Sounds good to us. Check out the official (and brief) press release after the break. Update: Nokia has contacted us to amend its original statement somewhat. While it's acquiring the imaging company's developers, technologies and IP portfolio, it's not buying the company outright. We suspect that this is more a quirk of company law -- since Scalado still has obligations with HTC and RIM, it can't leave them in the lurch. We've included the follow-up statement after the jump.
