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Defiance will flip the F2P switch this summer
Trion Worlds has just announced that the PC version of its transmedia-synergistic wonder Defiance will go free-to-play on June 4th of this year, with the PlayStation 3 version to follow around July 15th and the Xbox 360 edition expected to switch over at an unannounced date. The game had been running a free unlimited trial since last December. The studio says that new players will have access to the Bay Area storyline, the original endgame content, and future missions for free. Gamers who pick up a new copy of the game earn 1,000 Arkforge (currency), four character slots, five loadouts, up to 75 Ark Keycodes, and a minimum of 70 inventory slots, as well as a month of "Paradise Patron" status come the F2P conversion. Existing players, fear not; Trion says that "these bonuses are also granted to all existing Defiance box or digital copy owners." Paradise Patron status grants character boosts (to skill, XP, scrip, salvage, and reputation gain rates), store discounts, and grab bags that include lock boxes and more boosts. Trion also hinted that we'll see new crossover storylines "in the coming weeks": The world of Defiance is rocked when the hope of Tranquility, the first Earthling-Votan hybrid on record, lies dying in Eren's emergency facility. As players track down the half-human and half-Irathient crossbreed's medical history, they'll quickly discover other forces are working to cover them up for a dark purpose. [Source: Trion press release]
Microtransactions march toward PvZ: Garden Warfare
Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare's in-game currency is earned through regular play and can be spent on upgrade packs, which unlock extra content for players populating the game's warzones. However, those that have tired from the grind will soon have the option many mobile games offer: spend real-world money to save some time on earning coins. EA's recent post revealed plans to implement the microtransaction format into Garden Warfare "starting next week." The post only mentions being able to purchase coins however, so it seems you still won't be able to directly spend on specific pieces of content. There's no mention of rewards for microtransaction enthusiasts though, so players that ignore the option won't miss out on any game-changing unlocks. The option to buy pretend money with real money follows February's confirmation from PopCap's Brian Lindley that microtransactions wouldn't be in Garden Warfare at launch. At the time, Lindley added that PopCap would be using in-game metrics to decide where to take Garden Warfare after its initial weeks on the battlefield. [Image: EA]
The Daily Grind: Who's your favorite Marvel Heroes hero?
I'm having a hard time picking a main character in Marvel Heroes. I started out with Storm, then F2P guilt intervened so I ponied up for Nightcrawler. Then I got a free Spider-man as a result of Gazillion's 10-month anniversary promotional shindig which only added to my indecision. It's a good problem to have, though, and I guess for now I'll go with Nightcrawler because, well, teleporting. What about you, Marvel Heroes players? Who's your favorite and why? 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!
John Smedley discusses H1Z1 monetization
Player characters in H1Z1 won't be concerned with money, seeing as how they'll be busy trying to fortify themselves against hordes of shambling zombies. Sony Online Entertainment, however, does indeed want to make money off of the game. President John Smedley took to Reddit to share the details of the team's first monetization meeting, and while it's not a decisive list of how the game will make money, it serves as a preview. The early list contains character slots, wearable items, crates with random selections of wearable items, and emotes. The team also intends to allow players to loot wearables from other players, but looted cash items will degrade over time rather than being perpetual acquisitions. Smedley makes it clear that resources like food, water, and ammunition will not be sold, nor will any boosts to those resources, since acquiring these assets makes up the core of the gameplay. Take a look at the post for the details and the community response.
Villagers and Heroes announces April 17th Steam launch and new expansion
Free Realms refugees, if you're looking for a new home with cute graphics and quests and housing and crafting, then indie F2P MMO Villagers and Heroes might just be it. The game itself isn't new, but with its new expansion, Fury of the Stone Lord, it's receiving a major graphical upgrade and content patch revolving around gargoyles. Expect 30 new adventure maps (bringing the count to 110), new quests and monsters, new spells and heroic feats, and 15 extra skill levels to boot. Developer Mad Otter Games says the sandbox MMO will launch on Steam on April 17th. We previewed the upgrades and new client back in February. Check out the trailer below! [Source: Mad Otter Games press release]
Final Fantasy XIV offers more retainers for a price
A new patch for Final Fantasy XIV is out and playable today. It's full of stuff to do, things to craft, and of course, items to acquire. This might not be a welcome bit of news to players already struggling to fit items into their burgeoning banks. But help is here, after a fashion. If you truly can't reduce your items any other way, you can now buy more retainers to take care of the many things you've still got kicking around in your inventory. The downside? It'll cost you real money. Players are allowed to purchase up to two additional retainers for their characters at the price of $2 per month for each. The extra retainers are available to all characters on your account and will not be deleted if you discontinue the extra monthly fee but won't be accessible until you pay again. For more details on signing up and interacting with your normal retainers, check out the full update.
Meet Civilization Online's four civs
XLGAMES announced its four civilizations from Civilization Online today, although sadly the Mole People were absent from this list. The four civilizations are China (led by Qin Shi Huang), Rome (led by Julius Caesar), Egypt (led by Hatshepsut), and Azteca (let by Montezuma). Civilization Online will be going into closed beta testing within the next few months and is slated to launch in Asia in 2014.
World of Warcraft's Warlords of Draenor is launching by December 20th
Just yesterday, World of Warcraft gave everyone a look at just how important reaching the level cap could be. Today, the game is opening up independent level 90 boosts for everyone via the in-game store, and they're still priced at $60 a pop. It's bad news if you have an army of alts you want to speed along to the level cap, but it's good news if you have that army of alts and more money than you know what to do with. A tutorial video is embedded just past the break to show you how to make use of this feature. Even if you're not up for buying one of the boosts, you might be looking forward to getting one along with your purchase of Warlords of Draenor. So when's that expansion actually coming out? According to the official site, it will be releasing on or before December 20th of this year, which means it's definitely coming out this year but leaves the field wide open in terms of when. Keep your eyes peeled for rollbacks on that date, as it's more likely that the expansion will be out long before the end of the year.
Entropia Universe adds Arabian planet
According to scientists, Entropia Universe continues to expand, not contract. The MMO had added a new planet to its galaxy, Toulan. Planet Toulan draws from Arabian mythology and culture for its makeup, boasting deserts, swamps, mountains, and a post-apocalyptic setting. Players can land on Toulan (which means "extremely mystical and captivating" in Arabic) to colonize and rebuild the ravage landscape. Toulan was designed by Jordan's Beladcom in cooperation with Entropia Unvierse AB. Beldacom's General Manager Talal Asfoura lauded the virtual planet's launch: "Created by a Jordanian team, Planet Toulan marks a milestone of achievement in the emerging Arabic gaming industry. We've taken the mythology we grew up, mixed in new ideas from science fiction, and can now share it with the world." [Source: Entropia Universe AB press release]
Aura Kingdom hacked and emails stolen... or maybe not [Updated]
Recent hacking of Aura Kingdom apparently resulted in stolen email addresses that are being used to pester users players are reporting that they're getting invitations sent to their Aeria Games email address from an individual asking them to join an Aura Kingdom private server. Fortunately Aeria Games does not store credit card information, so it seems as though that information is safe. An Aeria Games GM responded to the claims by saying that the company is investigating the issue: "Thanks for reporting this. We'll look closely into this reports. We will let you know if we need more information. Also note, we do not process any payments, this is done through the service you utilize to buy AP. So this is not something we store." [Thanks to Thomas for the tip!] [Update: Aeria has contacted us to update us about the situation and provide an official statement: "We have investigated this issue and would like to confirm that we have found no evidence of our servers or players' account information being compromised. This includes the email addresses that were reported to have been affected in this article. We have, however, found potential security vulnerabilities through third parties unaffiliated with Aeria Games. We caution against providing contact information to these unaffiliated entities and encourage all players to change their passwords on a regular basis to maintain account security."]
World of Warcraft instant level 90 boost price revealed at $60 US
There's a new addition to World of Warcraft's in-game shop today, and it happens to be the much-discussed boost that instantly takes a single character to level 90. The $60 US price tag, discovered by our sleuthy sister site WoW Insider, may come as good news or bad news to you, depending on your outlook. On the one hand, if you view the journey from 1 to 90 as a sacred rite of passage that should be held valuable, it appears that Blizzard values it at about the price of a brand-new video game. Not exactly chump change. On the other hand, if you were hoping to assemble a legion of 90s overnight, you're going to need some deep pockets. As WoW Insider notes, it's likely that the boost isn't intended to be available in the shop just yet since the Warlords of Draenor pre-order (which will grant the same instant-level-90 to those who purchase it) isn't available yet, and the WoW Insider staff member who discovered it only managed to do so between server restarts during today's maintenance. I suppose we'll find out whether or not it was intentional when the servers come back up later today. At any rate, there's no reason to think the price will be changed regardless of whether or not it's already available for purchase, so if you're in the market for some instant level 90 characters, start saving up now. [Thanks to WoW Insider for the image!]
The Soapbox: My hypersexualization conundrum
Every now and then here at Massively, we receive an email that isn't super nice. I know this may come as a shock to many of you -- the internet is, after all, a place of tolerance and constructive debate -- but sometimes the Massively inbox is no place any sane person would want to be. One reader recently took the opportunity to offer some choice thoughts on Massively staffers. And amidst the jumble of insults and generalizations, the reader levied the ever-powerful "hypocrisy" charge at us for claiming to care about hypersexualized designs of female characters in MMOs while simultaneously playing as those very hypersexualized characters. How could we possibly purport to care about the presentation of women in games if we're all running around in chainmail bikinis? Generally speaking, I prefer to not have my habits and behavior challenged via ad hominem attacks and false comparisons. But I have to admit that this one particular charge piqued my curiosity. Why is it that the majority of my characters are female? Am I, as a person who looks down on hypersexualized designs in games, committing an act of hypocrisy every time I create a female character? Let's sort it out. And before we begin, remember that the Soapbox, like most of our editorials, is just one person's opinion and doesn't represent the thoughts of Massively as a whole.
League of Angels introduces two new angels for official full release
Forget cupids, League of Angels has added two other heavenly beings to its angelic arsenal. Amora and Nyssa join the list of angels players can select to take on their adventures. R2Games also announced that the game is now officially official, noting that all previous releases of the game were still beta. This full release also includes a marriage system and new ranking tables. R2Games also revealed the four cosplayers who will be representing some of the free-to-play game's angels in a live action shots: Maridah, Ginny McQueen, HezaChan, and Riki LeCotey, who plays Riddle in Heroes of Cosplay. Fans who sign up for the official LoA newsletter will see these exclusive shots as well as get further game news and updates. [Source: R2Games press release]
European Warfare commences as Stronghold Kingdoms hits 200,000 monthly users
With the newly launched European Warfare update, Stronghold Kingdoms players can now make war not love across the entire European continent. Firefly Studios also revealed that Georgia has been added to this world's map, bringing the total of countries to conquer to 33; that means that instead of a single king ruling over a map, there will be 33 (with a whole slew of sheriffs and governors besides!). And just how many players will be storming across all these countries vying for control? The studio has announced that the MMORTS has more than 200,000 monthly active users and nearly 3 million registered players total from over 100 different countries. [Source: Firefly Studios press release]
SOE teases Landmark development plan, polls build contests
Sony Online Entertainment director of development Dave Georgeson has posted a new update over on the official EverQuest Next Landmark forum outlining the team's plans for moving forward and asking players for opinions on possible upcoming build contests. In the post, Georgeson notes that SOE's first order of business with Landmark is focusing on communications, rating systems, and ways for players to better cooperate with one another. Teams will also be working on systems like combat, AI, and water. Additionally, Georgeson revealed that SOE is going to start running Landmark building contests. The first contest revolves around designing a landmark for island hubs, but future contests are left up to a poll in the post. Choices include homages to buildings in previous EverQuest games, new architecture for Norrath, and genre-specific contests that center on modern, sci-fi, or fantasy designs. You can vote for your preference on Georgeson's forum post.
Lord of Ultima shutting down in May
The land of Caledonia will soon be swallowed up by the sea of game closures. On Monday, May 12th at 2:00 a.m. EST, Lord of Ultima services will be stopped permanently. Announcing the closure, the developers of Lord of Ultima thanked players for their continued support over the years. Starting now, the ability to buy Play4Free Funds is disabled, but players who currently have the in-game currency are encouraged to spend it before the shutdown. New account creation has also been disabled; those who are already in the game, however, can continue their quest to be one of the final lords ruling over the land. [Thanks to all who sent in tips!]
World of Speed aims to satisfy racing itch
If putting the pedal to the metal is second nature to you, you might be interested in World of Speed, a new racing MMO announced for the PC. Developed by Slightly Mad Studios, this free-to-play game includes a vast array of cars from city runners to historic racing models and a variety of venues from true-to-life tracks to conglomerate concoctions carved from roadways across cities like London and San Francisco. Besides team and club competitions, World of Speed also sports unique missions and objectives in every race, live events, players challenges, and the Airfield social hub. As an MMO, the game will receive new content regularly in the form of new tracks, cars, and gameplay modes. Interested drivers can sign up for beta on the official site. [Source: Slightly Mad Studios press release]
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]
SOE opens 2014 G.I.R.L. scholarship submissions
SOE has begun its 7th Gamers in Real Life Game Design Competition, inviting aspiring game developers to apply for a possible $10,000 college scholarship and a 10-week job as a paid intern at the studio. To apply, you'll need to be enrolled in an undergraduate program that has something to do with video games, have a 3.00 GPA or higher, be 18 or older, and be a legal resident of one of the 50 United States or District of Columbia. The application includes concept artwork, captions, and an essay. Interested participants need to submit their application by March 19th. We interviewed the 2013 winner, Esther Wu, last October about her experience with the competition, which is worth a read if you're interested in participating.
SOE outlines upcoming content plan for EverQuest II
Dave Georgeson, who must be the busiest man on Earth right now, has penned a director's letter for fans of EverQuest II explaining how Sony Online Entertainment plans to change the way in which it delivers new content to the nine-year-old game. According to Georgeson, the fan response to SOE's current method of content delivery (three big updates, one expansion, and a bunch of smaller stuff in between) was a resounding "meh," so the studio is looking to shake things up. Future content for EverQuest II will now work like this: Feature refinements, short adventures, holiday events, and other small content will launch every week. Every month, a bigger addition will be made, such as an overhaul an existing dungeon, the addition of a series of quests, or the creation of a new world event. All other resources will be invested into developing full expansions for the game, which are still slotted for annual releases. Georgeson promises that SOE is locked into the new schedule, saying, "Yes, we mean it. We're going to work hard to make it happen regularly and dependably."
