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Perfect World International boasts 2M active accounts, gives gift pack for anniversary
Perfect World International turns six years old this month, and even if you haven't given it a second thought, apparently the fantasy MMO is quite popular worldwide. PWE released an infographic that stated, among other tidbits, that the game currently enjoys over two million active accounts. Other interesting statistics from the infographic include a population of 51% female players and 39,787 in-game marriages performed. We've got the infographic for you after the break with a code that's good for a Jade Gift Pack in-game. [Source: Perfect World press release]
Star Trek Online's artist explains Tier 6 ship designs
The new Federation ship designs in Star Trek Online's upcoming expansion are a pretty big departure from the norm. Sure, the shape of the ships is familiar, but instead of the usual bright Federation white and sweeping curves, they're all hard angles, dark shades, glowing lines, and so forth. They don't look much like the Federation. Concept artist Hector Ortiz took to Reddit recently to explain why the ships look as they do and how the design of the new ships ties into their point of origin despite the departure. Ortiz explains that with the heavy emphasis on intelligence operations in this expansion, it was only appropriate to design ships that resembled nothing so much as spy planes: angular, stealthy, and dark. That led to the inclusion of the blue lines to help the ship silhouettes stand out against the blackness of space, with the unique nacelle designs also part of an effort to minimize the ship profile. There's no assurance that you'll like the new designs after reading his comments on the rationale, but at least you'll understand why they look the way they do.
Neverwinter auctioning off five Sergeant Knox companions
The famous Sergeant Knox, Neverwinter NPC questgiver extraordinaire, will be available as a special companion. For a short time, players can bid on one of these purple-quality companions through the auction house. The catch is that there will only be five such Sergeant Knox companions put up for auction during this event, which means that only five (or fewer) players in the game will own one, at least for the time being. As a gold sink, this will undoubtedly be quite effective to suck some of the excess money out of the economy. This special auction will take place from September 11th through the 14th.
Star Trek Online launches the Delta Rising: Operations pack
When you head out into the Delta Quadrant in Star Trek Online: Delta Rising, you're going to want to be prepared. You'll want the best possible ship, one capable of making use of everything the quadrant has to offer. That's what the Delta Rising: Operations pack is meant to do. It's the equivalent of the Legacy of Romulus pack from the last expansion, a collection of ships, titles, officers, and bonuses to get you going in the expansion when it goes live. Eight ships are included in the pack: four Federation ships, two KDF ships, and two Romulan Republic ships. Some of these ships also come equipped with Intelligence Officer bridge stations, the new type of officer being added with the expansion, allowing you to scan for weaknesses in enemy craft and exploit those flaws. It also contains exclusive titles and officers, three ship upgrade modules, and special Talaxian uniforms. The pack is priced at $125 and is available for purchase now if you'd like to be kitted out and ready to go for launch.
Star Trek Online announces more Voyager cast members in Delta Rising
When you're out exploring the Delta Quadrant, you want people around you who have been there before. It's a big, unfriendly place, after all. Star Trek Online players will have a bit more help than they had previously expected, though. In addition to Tim Russ (Tuvok) and Garret Wang (Harry Kim) reprising their roles from Star Trek: Voyager, Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine), and Robert Picardo (The Doctor) will be making appearances in the game. No details on these appearances have yet been revealed, although Neelix is likely still in his role as ambassador, and the game's backstory has Seven of Nine working with the Daystrom Institute. It's likely that more lore will be uncovered as the expansion approaches its release this fall. [Source: Cryptic Studios press release]
Captain's Log: Star Trek Online's expansion and communication
So we finally know what the next expansion is going to be for Star Trek Online, and my speculation regarding the Xindi and points related turned out to be way off. Nope, we're heading into the Delta Quadrant, which is less interesting to me than the Gamma Quadrant, but I suspect the powers that be are exploring all the angles of existing content first. It's coming with a level cap increase, a new tier of ships, a bunch of new tricks, and apparently some bonus communication misses. Delta Rising is really on track to be a pretty divisive expansion anyway. It was inevitable, really; raising the level cap now was going to lead to problems no matter how it was handled. Unfortunately, Cryptic Studios hasn't done a great job communicating what's in the works for players, nor have the first few things that we've heard exactly countered some early suspicions. It was a minefield that's thus far been navigated largely with a push and a blindfold.
Star Trek Online celebrates the end of summer with giveaways [Updated]
The days get shorter, the heat diminishes, and students collectively go back to actually studying things. Yes, summer is coming to a close, and the team behind Star Trek Online is pretty happy with how this past summer went. Sure, seasons are kind of a meaningless concept when you're talking about a setting that spans multiple planets with their own annual cycles, but the players are still here on Earth, and they can celebrate the end of the season with free stuff. An as-of-yet undisclosed ship will be going live in the game's cash shop tomorrow, but that's not the really free part. From August 29th to September 1st, around 1:00 p.m. EDT, a new promotional item will be flagged in the store as free. These items are all account-wide unlocks so long as an eligible character is available to claim the item. Who wouldn't like some free stuff for the end of summer? [Update: The team has also today released more information about upgrading tier 5 ships.]
Star Trek Online drops a Delta Rising trailer, new ship tier [Updated]
The Delta Quadrant in Star Trek Online isn't a pleasant place. It's filled with many threats, some familiar to players already (the Borg and the Voth spring to mind) and others heretofore unseen. Delta Rising is going to bring players into contact with this violent region of space, and the newest trailer for the expansion shows that players will find no shortage of enemies -- including many races that had faced off against the USS Voyager years earlier. Players who watch the trailer can catch several familiar locations and enemies from Star Trek Voyager, including some minor enemies such as the Vaadwaur. Click on past the break to view the trailer in all its glory. It doesn't have a whole lot of story provided just yet, but it serves as a clear indication that the quadrant hasn't gotten any friendlier since the last time Starfleet visited.
Neverwinter's summer festival starts tomorrow
If it's Neverwinter, it must be summer, right? Now that you've stopped groaning, you might be interested to hear that the D&D MMO is kicking off its summer festival tomorrow. Cryptic is building on the previous year's festival by adding more content to the event. There will be a new summer-themed zone with daily quests, a water battle, new profession tasks, and a new dungeon for the web game Sword Coast Adventures. Players can try to grab a reward that they missed from last year or strive for one of the new prizes, such as the piñata or the Sunite Steed. The summer festival will run from Thursday, August 21st, through Thursday, September 11th.
Star Trek Online lays out the path to level 60 with stellar rewards
One of the selling points (so to speak) of Star Trek Online: Delta Rising is the game's first-ever level cap increase. Ever since player captains heard that they'll be able to level up to 60, they've wondered what that might entail. Fortunately, today Cryptic posted a dev blog that gives a good idea of what to expect as players progress to become Fleet Admiral or Dahar Master. "The level cap increase is meant to be a simple solution to rank progression and yet the resulting change to the endgame play will be very noticeable," the team said. The big change with these new levels is that skill points will be used for specialization trees, the details of which are still forthcoming. Players can keep earning specialization points after hitting 60 until they max out these trees. Cryptic also has several rewards planned along the way, including a duty officer pack, upgrades to abilities, and a new bridge officer.
Neverwinter expands artifact system
Cryptic is clearly in love with the artifact system in Neverwinter, having expanded it to include weapons and belts in the recent Tyranny of Dragons update. In a dev diary today, the team delivers additional details behind the new types of gear that will grow in power over time. Leveling up artifact equipment will take a lot of refinement, apparently: "These artifacts will use the familiar item refinement interface; however the primary difference being that other equipment is used to refine these artifacts rather than enchantments. Basically anything that can be equipped in the 12 slots on your character sheet can be used to empower these artifact." With Module 4 are six new level 60 artifact belts and 21 artifact weapons. The belts have a base attribute (such as strength) that can be increased from +1 all the way to +4, while artifact weapons have the potential for "the highest base damage numbers in the game." The studio said that it might expand the artifact system further if players show support for it.
Perfect World Entertainment continues to rake in money
Perfect World Entertainment continues its hot streak of revenue generation, posting gains both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. The company released its Q2 2014 financials this past week, and reported revenues of $149.6 million, of which $138.8 million come from PWE's online games. Gross profit was $109.4 million during the same quarter. PWE CEO Robert Xiao attributed the company's financial success to Swordsman's release, Dota2's launch in China, and several new mobile titles. Xiao said that the company was looking forward to releasing Legend of the Condor Heroes, as well as pushing Neverwinter into the Chinese market.
Star Trek Online sells costumes at a discount this weekend
They say that clothes make the man. Is that true? Who knows. But clothes certainly do make your Star Trek Online captains stand out, and wouldn't you like to look particularly pretty with a new expansion coming up? Of course you would. So pick up some costumes this weekend and do so at a steep discount. All costumes for sale in the game's microtransaction store are priced 20% off until Monday, August 18th, at 1 p.m. EDT. Whether you want to grab Seven of Nine's bodysuit for the upcoming Delta Rising content or just have your eye on a racing uniform, you can nab it now for less. Who wouldn't like that?
Star Trek Online giving away purple-quality duty officers during event
They may be below decks, but those hard-working virtual duty officers are near and dear to many a player captain's heart. Star Trek Online knows this, which is why the game is hosting a Junior Officer Appreciation Weekend that starts today and goes through Monday morning. During the event, players will enjoy a 50% boost to commendation XP, additional officers in C-Store purchased packs, and the ability to earn a new duty officer through the Academy partical scanning event. STO is also giving all players who log in during the weekend a free purple-quality duty officer if they didn't claim one from a previous duty officer event.
Neverwinter's Tyranny of Dragons expansion live today
Perfect World has officially launched Tyranny of Dragons, the latest expansion for Neverwinter. The update features a new class (the Scourge Warlock), new heroic encounters, a new dungeon, and a new skirmish. Don't forget to check out the gameplay clip after the cut! [Source: Perfect World press release]
Star Trek Online highlights the path of Voyager
Captain Kathryn Janeway led the crew of the USS Voyager across the Delta Quadrant, traveling 70,000 lightyears in seven years and encountering a variety of species and phenomena during the journey. Star Trek Online's next expansion, Delta Rising, is retracing her steps, bringing players back into the Delta Quadrant to explore both strange new worlds and ascertain the fate of the known ones. The most recent development blog takes a look at Voyager's journey through the region as well as where players will wind up relative to that lengthy trip. The expansion will cover a region of space starting at the Nekrit Expanse and extending toward the Alpha Quadrant, including encounters with races heretofore unseen in Star Trek Online such as the Kazon, the Ocampa, and the Talaxians. Players will also encounter the Borg Cooperative (a splinter group from the Collective) and the Benthan Guard, as well as a mysterious adversary that's harassing the entire region and giving every race pause. Whether you want to see the long-term effects of the Borg's failed Alpha Quadrant invasion or just pick up a Talaxian officer to handle your ship's mess hall, it seems you'll be getting the chance.
Champions Online brings the Steel Crusade on September 4th
If you've been sitting around in Champions Online and cooling your cape for a while, you'll be happy to know that a new update is dropping in September, and it's a big one. Partly because players will be facing off against Mechanon, and he's pretty large to begin with. But it's also an update that introduces several new areas, a new mission arc, and a new experience for players who have hit the level cap and want something new to do. Steel Crusade is a two-part update that starts with players finding people bursting into flames across Millennium City in an adventure that leads inside the bodies of the victims to identify the source of this affliction. Ultimately, the arc culminates in a direct attack on Mechanon's orbital station... followed by an anniversary event that pits players against Mechanon himself in a world boss encounter. It also introduces something that City of Heroes veterans will find familiar in the form of the Reawakened Automaton: a new archetype available to experienced players with unique perks.
Star Trek Online working on up to 10 new ships for expansion
If a friend tries to make a bet with you that Star Trek Online is out of new starship designs, don't take it. Executive Producer Stephen D'Angelo posted a dev diary today stating that the team is working on "between seven and 10 new Tier 6 ships" across all three factions for Delta Rising's launch. The new tier of starships won't necessarily make your old Tier 5s obsolete. D'Angelo promised that, if players desire, they can continue to fly and fight in their favorite ships: "We are dedicated to making sure that players can continue flying the ships they love and still have those ships be competitive at the new level 60 endgame. We do not want players to feel that their investment in the current ships is devalued by the expansion, and this is a very challenging thing to do for a game with four years of history since the last level cap increase." D'Angelo said that more details about Delta Rising will be forthcoming except for the storyline, and that the expansion should be launching in October.
Previewing Neverwinter's Tyranny of Dragons module
I'll give credit to the Neverwinter team for being straightforward and direct about its next module, Tyranny of Dragons: When the devs say "dragons," they aren't skimping on the premise whatsoever. Module 4 is dragons by the bucketful, shaping the tone and story of Neverwinter's present and future development. Earlier today, I sat down with Cryptic Art Director Matt Highison, who showed off Tyranny of Dragons' new content while talking about how dragons are just so, so cool. With other MMOs that I won't name creating expansions that are lacking in new races and classes, Neverwinter is bringing one of each to this update as well as a wealth of content for the players to explore. From randomized dungeons to the controversial pricing of the scaly Dragonborn, we hashed out the details behind August 14th's content release. Let's dive in!
Star Trek Online officially announces Delta Rising expansion
While we heard word of Star Trek Online's second expansion out of the recent Star Trek Las Vegas convention, today Cryptic has made it official. Star Trek Online: Delta Rising is on its way to the game, bringing with it exploration into the Delta Quadrant. The expansion will raise the level cap to 60, allow for captain specializations, and add new technology and new starships. Some of the Star Trek: Voyager cast will reprise their roles for the game, starting with Garrett Wang. "In Delta Rising, enterprising captains are sent to explore the Delta Quadrant, joining forces with and opposing the efforts of well-known species seen on Star Trek: Voyager, such as the Talaxians and Kazon, as well as lesser known species," Cryptic posted. "A lot has changed in these sectors in the 30 years since Kathryn Janeway captained the Voyager through this region of space. With a portal recently discovered within the Dyson sphere providing a quick path to the quadrant, many vessels are being sent to explore the region." You can watch the official STLV announcement video after the break!
