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Massively Exclusive: Battle of the Immortals Titan Throne instance dev blog
Ready for another exclusive Battle of the Immortals dev blog? If not, too bad, because we've got one and you're reading it! Like our last Perfect World Entertainment-powered exclusive, this one concerns BoI's Titan update. The patch contains a new instance called Titan's Throne, and players at level 115 or higher will be able to run through it once per day in order to challenge a fearsome gauntlet of monsters, elite bosses and finally Kronos himself. Head past the cut for more on the new content courtesy of the BoI dev team, as well as a few screenshots of the instance in action.
Win big in the Rusty Hearts beta giveaway
For some people, just getting to take part in a beta is reward enough. But not for you, right? No, you have higher standards than that -- you want to hit the jackpot as well! It's OK, ambition is an admirable trait, and apparently the folks at Perfect World think so too, since they're giving away an awesome prize pack during the Rusty Hearts beta. Three Rusty Hearts limited prize packs are up for grabs, each containing a Logitech G510 keyboard, a Logitech F710 gamepad and a limited edition Rusty Hearts bear. This prize pack is valued at around $170, and it can be yours by simply redeeming a beta key. Players who enter in their Rusty Hearts beta key by July 3rd have a shot at this package (specific rules are on the official forums). Don't have your key yet? We've got you covered -- head on over here to snag a key to this hack-and-slash title! Rusty Hearts' closed beta will begin on July 27th.
Massively Exclusive: Battle of the Immortals reveals two new instances
Sharpen your swords and fletch your arrows, because when the Titan update hits in Battle of the Immortals, it'll be time to dive into two of the fiercest dungeons known to mankind. While we've looked at some of the lore behind the Titan update last week, now it's time to get into the nitty-gritty details of what this patch will bring. Perfect World has created two new maps for players to explore -- and exploit -- in their efforts to become big, rich and powerful: Black Dragon Lair and Giants Kingdom. The update will also include the much-awaited Generation III pets, which can be bred with two Generation II pets of both genders. Generation IIIs feature faster attack speeds and higher damage output, so it's safe to say they'll be highly desired by players. Battle of the Immortals' Titan update is scheduled for a July release, but in the meanwhile you can read up on the new dungeons in an exclusive dev blog after the jump!
Rusty Hearts announces closed beta date
Rusty Hearts, the upcoming side-scrolling hack-and-slash MMO from Perfect World Entertainment, has finally been slated to enter closed beta. On July 27th, players will be able to jump into the cel-shaded dungeon crawler (with which our own Beau Hindman was able to go hands-on at E3) and start slicin' some baddies. According to the press release, players should expect "a thrilling gaming experience and epic dungeon crawling fights led by the unique heroes of Rusty Hearts, each with their own compelling backstory," a game in which they can smack their way through multiple dungeon difficulties in search of shiny loot. And finally, to commemorate the beta announcement, PWE has released a brand-new gameplay trailer for your consumption, which you can check out after the cut.
Massively Exclusive: Battle of the Immortals Titan update lore blog
Perfect World Entertainment's Battle of the Immortals -- which hit its one year anniversary just last month -- is gearing up for its upcoming Titan update. Precious little information about this upcoming addition to the game has been released (all we know right now is that two new instances will be introduced, along with updates to the game's existing features), but today PWE has treated us to an exclusive tidbit of lore to fill players in on the events leading up to the update. Unfortunately, that's about all we have in regard to this brand-new update, but be sure to check back with us from time to time because we'll be keeping you up to date on all the freshest information on Battle of the Immortals and its Titan update as the news drops. So without further ado, head on past the cut for the first lore blog post from Battle of the Immortals' Titan update.
June's engineering report available for Star Trek Online
Season 4 is approaching fast for Star Trek Online, with the newest patch's content available on the public test server for everyone to experiment with. But it's coming after a bit of a long dry spell for new content updates, something that the game's latest engineering report is seeking to assuage. While the patch isn't quite live, the report details just how massive the entire undertaking of Season 4 became and why the patch has been so long in coming. Duty Officer Rosters are one of the features that's been in development for quite some time, with most of the code in place but the system itself not currently active on the test server. The newest report also goes into details about future improvements, including expansions to the KDF areas of the game and more detailed plans for the Duty Officer system down the road. Star Trek Online players should take a look at the full report to get a sense of what's on the plate for the game in the immediate and more distant future.
Celebrate Jade Dynasty's second anniversary with a free mount from Massively!
Time flies when you're having fun. Today marks two years since Perfect World Entertainment opened the doors of Jade Dynasty. As game developers are wont to do, PWE is celebrating by giving a birthday present to its fans rather than the other way around. We've got 1,000 Auspicon mounts to give away to Massively readers. Simply visit our giveaway page to claim your code and you'll be riding in style in no time at all. Once you've picked up your code, visit the redemption page on your PWE account (or create one and install the game if you haven't yet done so). Enter your code, select your server and character name from the dropdown menu, click submit, then check your in-game mail to claim your new mount and enjoy!
Jade Dynasty celebrating its two-year anniversary
Jade Dynasty is hitting the two-year mark on Wednesday, and the staff at Perfect World Entertainment wants to celebrate in style. And it starts today, with a doubled experience gain turned on from now until June 22nd. But that's only the smallest portion of the various anniversary events and prizes players can expect, which include special in-game giveaways on the game's various servers along with special quest events that can award items found nowhere else in the game. While most of the special events will be running for the length of the doubled experience event, a special site has been set up for a giveaway that goes live as soon as the clock ticks over to June 15th. There's also a cosplay contest for players and a special audiocast slated for some point during the anniversary week. Jade Dynasty players should take a look at all the festivities planned, which should more than satisfy long-term veterans of the game.
E3 2011: Perfect World shows off three killer new titles
We recently learned that Perfect World Entertainment bought Cryptic Studios, the maker of Champions Online and Star Trek Online. While it was a surprise, it shouldn't have been. PWE has been successfully growing and publishing games for a long time. I caught up with PWE at E3 to take a look at three brand-new titles that will be coming out later this year. I approached the decked-out booth cautiously just in case the company had plans to buy me as well! I was ushered into a dark cave-like structure built just for showing off three new titles. I shook hands, made introductions, placed faces with names that I normally knew only through email or social media, and sat down in front of a screen with a glowing image of a man in a bear suit -- a bear suit with giant claws. It reminded me of Frank from Donnie Darko. The PR team started to give me the details of the new titles I was about to play, and then I turned around and logged in. Join me past the cut to hear what I thought!
Priority One podcast interviews Daniel Stahl
Daniel Stahl, Executive Producer of Star Trek Online, sat down with the guys at Priority One podcast to answer some community-submitted questions and drop some exclusive news about upcoming content. While he also shares a little bit about his leadership style and some inner-workings of his team, he was unable to comment on anything about the Perfect World acquisition of Cryptic. But he answered plenty of other questions! Are you interested in finding out when the new Enterprise-F will be making it into game? Have you dreamed of learning more about what happens with the Q Continuum? Are you wondering when more minigames are coming? Still upset you have so many Trianium rare samples that are not used for anything? You will definitely want to tune in get answers to these questions and many more! Priority One is hosted by The Quantum Cafe, a "facebook-like" social network dedicated to STO players. The show comes out weekly, so make sure to tune in to listen to guest developers and to share community-submitted ideas and feedback.
Behind the Mask: Perfect World and the future
If I were to describe the emotions of the Champions Online playerbase regarding the Perfect World buyout, I would have to say "mixed." Some players are happy that the days of Atari are behind them, and some are really skeptical about the future of the C-Store. CO is a fairly "pay-to-win" game in that Gold members have a lot of gameplay advantages over their non-subscribing counterparts. A lot of players are suggesting that the C-Store might become inundated with paid features and that we might possibly see the removal of certain free features (like global-purchased respecs). I am cautiously optimistic about the whole thing. Perfect World Entertainment holds controlling shares in Runic Games, and if the recent Mac and console ports of Torchlight are any indication of PWE's approach to management, I'd be more than happy to welcome our new alien overlords.
Captain's Log: To boldly go where... Perfect World has never gone before?
Captain's Log, Stardate 64918.1... Hello, computer (and players)! Isn't it amazing how the MMO gaming world works? One week you might be ecstatic about the planned updates for your favorite game, and the next week you are wondering if that same game is even going to last another day. Like many other Star Trek Online players, I was in this boat just last week. When Atari announced that it was going to be divesting interest in Cryptic, many players initially went into panic mode. But as I stated in my entry last week, I strongly felt that things were going to turn out just fine, possibly for the better -- and they definitely have. Earlier this week, Perfect World Entertainment announced that it would acquire a 100% equity stake from Atari, with Cryptic Studios remaining as the sole shareholder. Made famous for its free-to-play games, including Perfect World International, Pocketpet Journey West, and Forsaken World, Perfect World has the potential to help STO continue to grow. While the new owners are very excited at the opportunity to utilize the engine Cryptic is famous for, they are also excited at the fact that Champions Online uses the free-to-play business model. Oh dear -- here we go again. Ensign, warp 10! Everything is going to be OK and here's why...
Perfect World Entertainment surpasses market expectations
Perhaps the belief that free-to-play games are bad and do not make money is unfounded. If you asked anyone with stock in Perfect World Entertainment, he would tell you that F2P is where it's at. The creator of the Perfect World International and Forsaken World has stunned the market as it reported a 15% revenue increase last quarter (January 2011 to March 2011) over last year (January 2010 to March 2010.) However, the biggest surprise is the amount of profit the company generated. The 110% growth over last year greatly surpassed the high-end expectations of the company itself. CEO Michael Chi attributed the stellar growth to the recent release of Forsaken World and Empire of the Immortals. But the profit is due to more than the entry of these two games into the market. "At the same time, we also experienced lower sales and marketing expenses as we did not have as many new launches as we did in the previous quarter. All of these factors contributed to our strong bottom-line growth in the first quarter," Chi explains in a Gamasutra article. Perfect World Entertainment hopes for continued growth as it continues to solidify its place in the F2P market with more games coming soon.
Prepare for Forsaken World: Gaze of Larex with a free in-game pet from Massively!
Forsaken World has a hefty content update on the way, as you may have heard last week. Today we've got a Gaze of Larex release date for you as well as a little gift! Perfect World Entertainment has let us know that Gaze of Larex will arrive in Forsaken World this Thursday, May 26th, and we've got just the thing to help you start the new content in style: a Zeke Warrior in-game pet. The Zeke Warrior is described as a "crazy little native" with a deadly poison-tipped spear -- he's cute and deadly! PWE has given us 1,000 of these little guys to share with you, so visit our giveaway page to pick up a code. Once you've done that, visit the redemption page on your PWE account (or create one and install the game if you haven't yet done so). Enter your code, select your server and character name from the dropdown menu, click submit, then check your in-game mail to claim your pet and enjoy! [Sorry, all codes have been claimed]
Get ready for Rusty Hearts with a closed beta key from Massively!
Perfect World Entertainment has been working on Rusty Hearts for a while now, and the company recently announced that it plans to debut the hack-'n'-slash title at this year's E3. That's good news by itself, but we've got even more for you: closed beta keys! Rusty Hearts will enter closed beta in July, so you have plenty of time to get a key from our giveaway page, check out the game's site, and prepare to jump in and deal as much damage as is humanly possible when the beta gates open. Once you've picked up your key, register for an account and redeem the key on the Rusty Hearts closed beta page, and then you're good to go when the closed beta arrives!
Forsaken World pits players against the Gaze of Larex
Perfect World Entertainment announced today that the newest addition coming to its free-to-play MMORPG Forsaken World will be titled Gaze of Larex. Larex -- some sort of ancient, eldritch monster -- has taken root in catacombs within the Sleeping Jungle, spreading corruption to the nearby inhabitants. Product Manager Clifton Chu explains, "Since launch, Forsaken World players have been busy reuniting the five races of Eyrda. With the emergence of Larex, players will be able to test their newly forged alliance against an enemy that not only threatens to take over the Sleeping Jungle, but also the entire world." Coinciding with this announcement is the release of a brand-new CG trailer for the game, which features many of the game's classes dramatically preparing for battle and even skirmishing amongst themselves before banding together to confront a greater threat. Click on past the cut to see the trailer, and if you feel compelled to join the fight to defeat Larex and secure the safety of Eyrda, then head over to the official site to join the fray.
The MMO Report: Lineage shutdown, Lion's Arch, and Sith Inquisitor trailer
Today's MMO Report, sadly, suffers from a distinct lack of Casey Schreiner. But all is well, as G4's Morgan Webb has stepped up to the plate to cover for Casey as he celebrates his 30th birthday. The first order of business is the announcement that NCSoft will be shutting down the North American Lineage servers on June 29th. All inactive accounts for the 13-year-old game have been reactivated, and the game will be free-to-play until the servers go dark. Secondly, we move on to the much-anticipated Guild Wars 2 and the confirmation that Lion's Arch, a social hub featured in the first game, would be making its return in Guild Wars 2. Be sure to check out our coverage of the unveiling of the fly-through video and some analytical commentary from our own Rubi Bayer. Next up is some screen-time for Minecraft. While the game is not strictly an MMO, there's no doubt that the indie title has gained immense popularity in the gaming community. Morgan reports that Minecraft creator Notch is contemplating holding a Las Vegas launch party... err, convention tentatively dated for November 11th. Star Wars: The Old Republic's Sith Inquisitor made its trailer debut earlier this week. Being described by Morgan as "the one player character you really don't want to meet in a dark alley," the class incorporates elements of both spellcasters and stealth classes into one mean, Force-fueled combination. Lastly, we have a fly-through video of the starting zones of Perfect World Entertainment's Ether Saga Odyssey. The free-to-play MMO launched late last month. For the full Casey-and-mailbag-deprived video, scuttle on past the cut.
Get your very own dragon pet in Ether Saga Odyssey from Massively!
Pets are a fun and important part of many MMOs, but they play an extra-large part in Ether Saga Odyssey. The game's site carries an overview and guide to getting the most from these little sidekicks, but we're going to go one step further by giving you a pet of your very own to use! Perfect World Entertainment has given us 500 codes for a Feisty Whelp dragon pet for your Ether Saga Odyssey character. Want one for your very own? It couldn't be simpler: Just head to our giveaway page and grab a code, then visit the redemption page on your PWE account (or create one and install the game if you haven't yet done so). Enter your code, select your server and character name from the dropdown menu, submit, then check your in-game mail to claim your pet. Enjoy your dragon! Many thanks to Perfect World Entertainment for the gift! [Sorry, all codes have been claimed]
Rusty Hearts announces E3 debut
Perfect World Entertainment announced in a press release today that its upcoming title Rusty Hearts will make its North American debut at this year's E3. Presented in a crisp, clean, cel-shaded style, the game is described as a hack 'n' slash dungeon-crawler and allows players to take control of one of many pre-made heroes for a fast, furious and combo-filled brawl through a number of dungeons. It will also include PvP in the form of arena battles, guild battles, and tournaments. And for those of you who prefer to let your thumbs do the work, the game will provide full support for PC gamepads. Keep an eye out for more information on Rusty Hearts from the upcoming E3, and feel free to hit the game's official site to sign up for the beta.
Battle of the Immortals turns one
We hope someone brought cake and presents, because Perfect World Entertainment's Battle of the Immortals hit the big one year mark today! The free-to-play game, which drops five classes into a variety of dungeons ranging from Mayan jungles to Egyptian temples, is celebrating its first anniversary by giving away prizes -- including epic Soul Gear equipment and the prestigious Flame Kirin pet -- to its loyal players. If you want a piece of the giveaway action or just want to try something new for a change, head over to Battle of the Immortals' official site. Register to claim your goodies, and help PWE celebrate one year of dungeon-crawling fun!
