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Final Fantasy XIV introduces two new jobs and new races for Heavensward
The last Final Fantasy XIV fan festival of the year is going on now in Japan, and the event's keynote speech has already contained big revelations for the game's first expansion, Heavensward. Players can look forward to the first new race for the game, the Au Ra, a race of dragon-esque people from Othard. It's been established that heretofore masked NPC Yugiri belongs to this race, and she will be revealing her face in patch 2.5. Fans were also treated to preview footage of the Dark Knight in-game as well as two new jobs, the Machinist and the Astrologian. Astrologians are a new style of healer, drawing cards from decks to aid party members while debilitating enemies. Machinists are ranged DPS with a single large handgun and a style of play based on laying down turrets and paying attention to positioning. The keynote also contained information on the next multi-part raid and the Collector's Edition for the game, currently scheduled for release in spring of 2015.
Final Fantasy XIV opens up HD fanfest streams for purchase
If you missed out on your chance to get a ticket for Final Fantasy XIV's fanfest in Las Vegas this weekend, you can still at least watch the events unfold in glorious high definition. Square-Enix has opened up the purchase option, allowing players to watch the event, pick up a moogle costume, and watch otherwise unviewable parts of the convention for $20. Players who opt for the HD stream will also have access to the archived footage until March 31st, 2015. Should you be short of the cash to drop on this stream, you still have options open, as a standard-definition stream is also available for free. This stream skips the opening keynote and closing ceremonies and does not award viewers a moogle costume, so it's up to you if $20 is worth the absence of those. Still, even if you can't make it out to the side of the convention, you'll be able to find out all of the information on the ground as it happens.
Gamescom 2014: Guild Wars 2 outlines convention plans
Are you ready for a week of gaming news from Germany? Of course you are. Were you worried that Guild Wars 2 might not be part of the festivities? Of course it is. Yes, ArenaNet has gone to Gamescom 2014, complete with chances for fans to win plushies, shirts, and Collector's Editions of the game. The Gamescom events will also include the All-Stars Tournament event. If you're not attending the convention in person, you can still watch the matches on Twitch and follow the developers on Twitter to get in on the giveaway action, assuming you're not too busy with the latest part of Living Story content to notice.
Final Fantasy XIV gearing up for its first anniversary
In one sense, Final Fantasy XIV is approaching its fourth anniversary, since its original incarnation launched in September of 2010. But in another, more immediate sense, the relaunch was just about one year ago. That's what the development team is celebrating now and through most of August, with plenty of in-game events including the Moonfire Festival and several new contests for players to show off their creativity and affection for the game. The anniversary page is now live, and while it's not displaying everything just yet, there's plenty to be excited about. Aside from another round of the Moonfire Festival, players can look forward to the return of all three major cross-promotional events as well as a special event called The Rising. There will also be a special 14-hour livestream event starting on August 22nd, a one-year anniversary login campaign, and real-life events at PAX Prime, Gamescom, and the Tokyo Game Show. Check the official anniversary site for more details, and get ready to celebrate a full year of a reborn Eorzea!
Riot Games promises to increase diversity in League of Legends
League of Legends features a lot of diversity among its male champions, but the female champions all feature a fairly uniform body type. That's something the developers at Riot Games are keen on changing. In response to a fan question at SDCC, producer Omar Kendall said that the company has been introducing new ways of looking at body types and shapes, with the end goal of making female champions who don't look like the others. Kendall went on to specify that the call for more diversity is one that players should see represented soon in a new character coming out. He also noted that diversity is being strongly considered with further character designs and any new champions. Game designer Brian Feeney noted that it would be a net boon to the game as a whole -- as Riot is very concerned with distinctive silhouettes, a more robust selection of body types makes it easier to tell champions apart.
SOE Live schedule has been posted
Today's the last day for SOE Live 2014 early bird registration. Still on the fence about attending? Not sure if there will be enough awesome events there to justify your presence? Good news, then; the official schedule has been posted, so you can figure out exactly what's going down and when. Fan site EQ2Wire has highlighted the general events as well as the material specific to EverQuest Next, EverQuest II, and Landmark. Landmark players will enjoy the largest number of events, including a special mega-build event on Thursday and a panel explaining how the game will interact with EverQuest Next. There will also be details about the next EverQuest II expansion, previews of combat for EQN and Landmark, and plenty of community Q&A sessions. Take a gander at the full schedule if you need a little more information to justify your attendance.
Experience EQ Next Landmark at Community Celebration event
If you live in the San Diego area (or are willing to spring for airfare), you can get your own hands-on experience of EverQuest Next Landmark during the EQNL Community Celebration on Friday, January 31st. From 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. PST (1:00 to 9:00 p.m. EST), fans can congregate at the SOE San Diego campus and check out a demo of the sandbox on a local server, mingle and interact with devs, share EQ memories, and win prizes. The only catch is you can't tell us about your experiences: All participants at the event will be required to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA).
ArcheAge wins big at Korea Game Awards
If you don't know about the Korea Game Awards, you're... well, probably not from Korea. Which is kind of understandable seeing as how this site is published in English and focuses mostly on the western side of the pond. But as you can imagine from the name, these awards are a pretty big deal for a Korean game like ArcheAge... and to its credit, it managed to clean up at the most recent award ceremony. Not only did Jake Song's sandpark take home awards in two categories through the show (planning and scenario, graphics), it also took home the big prize of the night as the best game in show. It's good news to see for fans, especially in light of some rumbling that the game hasn't been doing as well in Korea as initially expected. Congratulations to XLGAMES, and here's hoping that the award-winning game comes over to these shores sooner rather than later. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
BlizzCon 2013: Warlords of Draenor panels dish out details on raiding, garrisons, and more
BlizzCon 2013 continued on Saturday, hosting more panels and Q&A sessions that offered players additional details about World of Warcraft's newly announced Warlords of Draenor expansion. Designers working on the expansion held a Q&A session for fansites that dished out morsels of news from garrisons to looting to buying high-level characters. The Systems Panel, on the other hand, laid out more details about raiding, dungeons, gear, and the leveling experience.
Hear the latest FFXIV news in next Producer's Letter Live
Sometimes words on a page (or screen, obviously) just can't convey the spirit and feeling behind a message. Even all caps or a series of !!1!1 can't adequately express some sentiments -- for that, you need visual cues and tone of voice. Final Fantasy XIV fans will be treated to those when Producer Naoki Yoshida livestreams the next Producer's Letter on August 8th at 8:00 a.m. EDT. The topic: beta and the official release. Questions for the show can be submitted to the designated thread before airing and via the game's official Twitter account during the stream; just be sure to attach #XIV to all tweeted inquiries. If you miss the stream live -- or don't understand Japanese -- you can still catch the answers to all the questions addressed in both real time on Twitter and a Q&A summary to be posted on the site shortly afterward.
RuneFest rents out London's Tobacco Dock
Get ready to party with the best of RuneScape's fans at RuneFest this fall! Jagex has announced that the fan convention will take place on November 2nd at the Tobacco Dock in London with a RuneScape gods theme. The team chose the Tobacco Dock for its unique look and central location. RuneFest is a one-day convention where fans will get to meet each other and the developers. Jagex has yet to announce the ticket price and schedule, although the studio said it is planning "some extra-special surprises" for the event. The official RuneFest page is back up and running.
Make your EVE Fanfest plans with the official program
EVE Fanfest is next week and the faithful are preparing to descend upon Reykjavik, Iceland, for the three-day convention. If you're one of the travelers who are heading there or are just looking to follow along on livestream, CCP has released the full program with the event's schedule. Fanfest will have three keynotes about the past, present, and future of CCP's titles, respectively. There will also be several panels, including one discussing EVE Online's inclusion in the New York Museum of Modern Art. EVE Online also released a new dev blog talking about the team's war on unauthorized client modification and violations of the EULA. Apparently CCP has taken additional steps to beef up detection and prevention, and the team wanted to be clear with players as to what is and is not allowed.
World of Tanks Veteran's Day tournaments will support veterans charities
Recently, we learned of Wargaming.net's support of historic preservation; now the maker of World of Tanks is offering a special e-sport event to support veterans in honor of Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day. In November, WoT will host Veteran's Challenge, a series of three separate tournaments -- one each for tiers four, six, and eight. Winners of the top two tiers will receive cash prizes. How much? That depends on all of the game's players! The cash prize will start at $30,000 and increase for each player over 30,000 that logs in. But folks logging into the game will do more than just fill the coffers of a few tournament winners, they will also directly influence the amount donated to five different veteran-focused charitable organizations. Wargaming.net will take the number of concurrent users at its peak and convert it to a cash donation, splitting the amount between the organizations. One note: All tournaments will be run concurrently, so teams can only sign up for one of the three. For full details or to sign up, visit the official Veteran's Challenge announcement. [Thanks to RMS_Gigantic for the tip!]
CCP launching EVE Online drop pod into the stratosphere tomorrow
EVE Online players are well-accustomed to flitting about the depths of space in internet spaceships, but tomorrow, CCP Games will be taking its first jaunt into real-life space with the launch of a high-altitude balloon from just north of CCP headquarters. The balloon will carry a replica EVE pod (pictured above) containing the names of EVE Online players high into Earth's stratosphere before landing (hopefully) in the middle of Kleifarvatn, a lake on the Rekhjanes peninsula in Iceland. Iceland Telecom will be providing a live video feed and GPS tracking of the balloon, and three HD cameras aboard the balloon will allow fans to view the entirety of the balloon's journey after the pod is recovered (by the Icelandic Coast Guard, no less). For the full details and links to the live video stream and GPS tracking, just head on over to the official announcement at EVE Insider.
City of Heroes player summit promises Water Blast power set, cyberpunk costumes
If you weren't in California over the past weekend, you sadly had to miss out on the City of Heroes player summit. That means no voice in the several panels during which the doors were thrown open for new suggestions. But you can at least read through the summary of the weekend's events to find out what nifty new elements will be coming to the game in the near future, including four new powersets and several new costumes. While there's not a firm launch schedule, players can look forward to Water Blast (exactly what it says on the tin), Natural Affinity (healing over time and debuffing), Symbiotic Armor (a new defensive set based around absorbing damage types), and Radiation Armor (again, what it says on the tin). Players can also look forward to another Super Pack as well as the upcoming Retro Sci-Fi costumes and a Cyberpunk set. There's a lot of interesting tidbits, so if you want to get excited about the future, best to read through the event summary at OnRPG.
Jagex announces Transformers Universe plans for BotCon 2012, includes sneak-peek and name reservations
Transformers fanatics everywhere are surely gearing up for the official Transformers fan convention, BotCon 2012, which will be taking place in Dallas, Texas, from April 26th until the 29th. Well, Jagex is giving fans of its upcoming MMO Transformers Universe a reason to be even more excited for the con: Attendees will have the opportunity to pledge their allegiances to the Autobots or Decepticons and reserve their in-game character names. On top of that, members of Jagex's Transformers Universe development team will be hanging out at Jagex's con booth, and fans will be able to "meet with members of the development team, attend a behind closed doors Transformers Universe panel discussion, and preview the latest game trailer ahead of its public release." So if you want to get a sneak-peek at Transformers Universe and reserve your favorite character name for the game's release, just set your sights on BotCon 2012 and transform and roll out. [Source: Jagex press release]
Massively's own Eliot Lefebvre will tell your site how not to suck at PAX East
Are you planning on heading to Boston, Massachusetts for PAX East 2012? If you are, then boy have we got a treat for you. On Sunday, April 8th, our very own Eliot Lefebvre will be joining members of Guild Wars Insider, Darth Hater, ArenaNet, and Vox Games on a panel informatively titled How To Make Gaming Sites That Don't Suck. It is what it says on the tin, folks. So if you've got a blog lying around and you're not sure what to do with it, let this panel of experts tell you how to turn it into the next big thing. Or at least let them tell you why Papyrus and Comic Sans are not legitimate font choices. Please? If nothing else, just show up, ask questions, and show our favorite cynical curmudgeon some love.
The Daily Grind: Are you still on the gaming train today?
If you're in the US, today is probably the one day of the year when pretty much everyone gets to take time off and have a holiday. December 25th is acknowledged as a day of rest and relaxation with friends and family. Of course, it wouldn't be much of a holiday if you didn't get to do things you enjoyed... but for some of us, this is also a day when we take a break even from our sometimes stressful hobby of online games. So what about you? Obviously you're still on the browsing train for the day, but are you still planning on logging in and grinding out a few quests today? Or is this a day off all 'round? And please, feel free to let us know what you'll be up to for the day either way because we'd like to hope that all of our readers are having a happy day doing what they love. It's the season for that, after all. 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!
Flyff World Championship offering prizes to players as the tournament continues
Think you're a pretty good Flyff player? We hate to be the bearers of bad news, but your opportunity to call yourself among the best is pretty well fading. The first Flyff world championship is currently ongoing, with the sixteen finalists now competing for the opportunity to be crowned the best team of players in the world. Two teams have already been eliminated, with livestreaming coverage of the events available on the official championship channel. But maybe you don't consider yourself one of the best in the world and don't usually care about these sorts of events. That's all right -- you've still got reason to enjoy it. Players will receive a special item every day just for logging in, as well as another item for every level they gain, from September 28th until October 31st. It's an all-around excellent opportunity for Flyff fans to enjoy the game, whether struggling for the top spot or just leveling for fun. [Source: Press release]
Guild Wars rolling out the annual Halloween contest
We're still a month away from the holiday that invariably fills every game with ghosts and ghouls, but that's no reason not to get started on your Halloween plans. Especially if your plans involve the annual Guild Wars contest, a chance for players to show off their creativity by designing some game-themed art. And this year, one of the prizes includes the small sensation that's sweeping the nation, the Charr plush doll pictured above. Running until October 13th, the contest calls for players to submit a photo of their work in .JPG format for ease of viewing. This year's prizes are split between the general art category and costumes, with both sides receiving the same lineup of offerings. Win the Grand Prize, First Prize, or Second Prize, and you'll be able to call one of the adorable fiery harbingers of destruction your own. Make sure to take a look at the official rules, and then you should probably buckle down and start working on that Dervish outfit.
