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Marvel Heroes patch 1.11 breaks game, reverts back
Marvel Heroes was proud to roll out patch 1.11 last night, and the playerbase was proud to receive it. There was only one problem: It didn't work. Gazillion couldn't get the game up and running for everyone, and after several hours of outages, the team decided to create a new patch to revert the game back to a pre-1.11 state. CM Stephen Reid explained the studio's response: "After an evening of working to see if there was a quick solution to the issues we encountered when we brought up game update 1.11 tonight, we've decided to go with 'Plan B:' deploying a patch that essentially 'reverts' the live game to its pre-game update 1.11 state. This is safer and will allow the game to be up and for you to play in the live environment while we diagnose, fix, text, and redeploy game update 1.11." Patch 1.11 contained the Human Torch playable character as well as the new eternity shards system. Gazillion assures players that if they managed to log in last night and purchase the Human Torch, it will be safe and sound when 1.11 returns.
BioWare responds to SWTOR's Ilum exploits
The Star Wars: The Old Republic open-world PvP zone of Ilum is intended to be an area where high-level players duke it out for planetary control. However, many players spend their time just standing around and not actually engaging each other. Some even go so far as to use their low-level alts of the opposite faction to cap nodes and help their mains gain PvP currency. Recently, some of these players were surprised to find their accounts temporarily suspended. Normally, we do not contact gaming companies because of bans, but there was some confusion in the community regarding a section in the rules of conduct that states: "You may not engage in any conduct or practice that results in an Account containing items, objects, currency, character attributes, rank, or status that are inappropriate for the level or rank of the character contained in the Account, i.e., 'item loading.'" Community Manager Stephen Reid pointed us to a forum post he created after we contacted him, in which he comments about the suspended accounts: It's important to remember that our Terms of Service team is extremely careful and thorough in their investigation of any potential exploit or unusual activity in-game. Working closely with the development team and using extensive metrics based on player activity, they are able to determine what is normal player activity, what is unusual and what is exploiting. Our goal is always to ensure a fair game experience for all players while also protecting the rights of individuals, and if people are disrupting the play experience for others action will be taken. In the post, Reid clarifies that only accounts suspected of gold farming were actually banned. Only a small number of accounts were temporarily suspended for the Ilum exploit, and also any action taken against an account may be appealed.
SWTOR's Reid hosting Reddit AMA tomorrow
Got a few burning questions for BioWare on the heels of Star Wars: The Old Republic's blockbuster launch? Get them ready, because community manager Stephen Reid is throwing himself to the wolves preparing a Reddit-based AMA event for this Wednesday. What's AMA? It stands for ask me anything, and it'll be interesting to see if Reid is able to answer the slew of questions sure to be forthcoming. The tomfoolery starts at 3:00 p.m. Eastern on December 28th, and the Reddit posting features a few preliminary notes. "The format is simple: ask Mr. Reid a question and he will do his best to respond to as many as possible within his area of expertise; he is not a game designer but still has many interesting things to share about the game," it explains.
Star Wars: The Old Republic approaching the final phase of testing
It's hard to believe that after all this time, Star Wars: The Old Republic is launching in less than a month. As you would expect, the game is making its final testing pushes for players. According to Stephen "Rockjaw" Reid's Twitter feed, players selected for the final testing weekend will be seeing schedules sent out over the next 12 hours, with players allowed to start testing either Friday or Saturday, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST. Existing testers and visitors to the site will also have to contend with some degree of maintenance trouble, as the site is experiencing an understandable groundswell of traffic. The final push also means that the deadline is approaching for players to get in on the Pre-Launch Guild Program, which ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on December 2nd. This means that players who fulfill all the requirements will be able to transfer their guilds straight into the live game -- but they'll have to finalize everything before the deadline. So if you're a guild leader with a few things left to finish up before launch, the holiday weekend might be an ideal time.
Post-NCsoft Rockjaw speaks out
No, of course he didn't drag his former employer through the muck or curse their good name. Stephen "Rockjaw" Reid is better than that. But the former Creative Concepts Manager for NCsoft Europe does talk a good bit with John and Matt (former hosts of Tabula Rasa's TabulaCast) on the Limited Edition Podcast about all things comic-related. Despite the bad news of his recent departure from NCsoft, Reid has just announced a new gig as Expo Community and Gaming Manager for the Eurogamer Expo. This is certainly good news, as Reid has always been loved by the gaming community. Reid's only comments on the podcast regarding his departure from NCsoft were, "It ultimately comes down to business, nothing more." He also discusses the reaction of his City of Heroes colleagues to the DC Universe Online development, and chats a good bit about his views of Champions Online. If you're into comic books and the popularity that comic books are gaining in the MMO space, this podcast may interest you.
Official NCsoft Europe podcast: Games Convention edition released
Who better to talk about the Leipzig Games Convention and the gaming industry in general than the people who develop the games. In NCsoft Europe's most recent official podcast, the community team discusses the convention itself, answers live questions from fans and lets us know about the state of new projects such as the highly-anticipated Aion.The interesting thing about this audio is it's recorded live at the convention in German and English. Each question is answered in both languages, so if you're wondering what Guild Wars is in German, it's Guild Wars. Also, be sure to follow along with the latest Games Convention happenings over at Stephen "Rockjaw" Reid's blog for updates, videos, photos and more!
Quest for Games Convention: NCsoft EU's own video series
The Leipzig Games Convention is a major event for gamers, not only in Europe, but globally. It's often called one of the largest and most prestigious gaming conventions in the world. So it should be no surprise that the NCsoft Europe team is gearing up for this event in true NCsoft style. Their new mini "web-isode" video series entitled Quest for GC follows the NCsoft Europe staff as they prepare for this gigantic event. Each episode is highly entertaining and stars some of your favorites from the community team, such as Tia "Avatea" Paraurahi and Stephen "Rockjaw" Reid. Be sure to start from the beginning and watch all four current episodes, plus stay tuned to their iTunes RSS feed to catch upcoming videos.
The third NCsoft Europe podcast focuses on Tabula Rasa
The third episode of the Official NCsoft Europe Podcast has just been released, and in it, we get treated to a bit of a pace change. Avatea, NCsoft Europe's Community Team Lead for Tabula Rasa hosts this show while interviewing three of the main developers for the game: Producer Starr Long, Lead Designer Tom Potter and Art Director Victor Meinert. Luckily for those of us Rockjaw fans out there, he is not completely left out of this one!This 40-minute show gets into the minds of these developers, and lets us know a bit more about what it's like to work at Destination Games, their visions for the future of Tabula Rasa, the importance of player feedback and much more. We even get a glimpse into the crazy practical jokes the team has played on each other! So give it a listen and don't forget to follow along with the complete episode transcription.
Win a hand-painted PC from City of Heroes and the Daily Mirror
In line with many amazing competitions from NCsoft Europe and their Draw the World Together children's charity, the most recent contest involves the UK's Daily Mirror. To celebrate the latest expansion to City of Heroes: Issue 12: Midnight Hour, NCsoft is offering one lucky Mirror reader a chance to win their very own Intel Core 2 Duo PC complete with 20" monitor encased in a uniquely-crafted case hand-painted by Andrew Wildman, one of the Draw the World Together artists.Wildman is best known for his amazing work on the ThunderCats and The Real Ghostbusters comics during the 80's. One of his crowning achievements during this era was his work on the final issues of the Transformers comics for Marvel. To own a PC case hand-painted by him would be an honor for any comic book or gaming fan. Entering the contest is easy, and even if you don't win the grand prize, four runners-up will each receive a copy of the game.
UK Games Expo 2008 announces new artist for charity event
If you've been following NCsoft Europe around lately, you'll notice they've been attending a ton of conferences and keeping fairly busy with charitable events as well. This coming weekend is no exception, as they'll be participating in the UK Games Expo 2008 event in Birmingham, after just returning from Bristol's Comicexpo. Also, with them once again are the artists from Draw the World Together, a charity formed to help children in developing third-world countries.During this coming event, NCsoft will be joined by Games Workshop artist Karl Kopinski. You may have seen Karl's amazing work if you're a Warhammer fan, or if you've checked out his personal site itself. He will be appearing at the UK Games Expo 2008 on Saturday only, so if you'd like to have your character drawn by him, you better get there early!
New official NCSoft Europe podcast online
Stephen 'Rockjaw' Reid, Creative Concepts manager at NCSoft Europe, has put episode 2.5 of the NCSE podcast up for our perusal. This new episode follows up on the wildly successful MiniCon, focusing on the aftermath of the mammoth City of Heroes playing event, Task Force Omega. Who were the contestants, how did they survive, and who ultimately emerged triumphant? NCSoft Europe have been highly active in the events field lately, with their appearance at the Comics Expo in Bristol, UK bringing in major bucks for charity. The next major event in the NCSoft Europe calendar will be the UK Games Expo on May 31st and June 1st. Once again, you'll be able to get a favorite character sketched courtesy of the artists from the Draw the World Together project. For the first time, they'll also be selling copies of the DTWT sketchbook, filled with images of the CoX heroes and villains!Listen to the podcast online, or if you prefer, download it and save it for later.
NCsoft Europe's 2nd podcast, featuring War Witch
The second episode of the Official NCsoft Europe podcast (called that because no one's been able to come up with a better name, apparently) is up, and concerns itself mostly with a revisiting of the Ultimate Heroic Weekend. From all accounts, it was quite the bash, and next year's event is not to be missed!Additionally, there is an interview with Melissa 'War Witch' Bianco, one of the more famous developers from City of Heroes and City of Villains, recorded during the final days of the event. Hosted by Stephen 'Rockjaw' Reid, the podcast is a worthwhile listen, especially if you're a fan of CoX. Listen to it on their site. And as an aside, man, is there anyone who doesn't play Rock Band?[Thanks, Aero!]
NCsoft Europe launches first podcast
NCsoft Europe launched its first official podcast today, and it's full of City of Heroes goodness. Why should us Yanks bother?Sure, in the inaugural episode Stephen Reid ("Rockjaw" from the CoH EU forums) talks about an upcoming European community event (happening in Birmingham, UK, March 2st-24th), but he also chats with Matt "Positron" Miller (Lead Designer of City of Heroes), and gets the scoop on Manticore and Sister Psyche's wedding from none other then the real life couple behind the heroes themselves, Sean and Jen Dornan-Fish. Sean is the Lead Content Designer on several unannounced NCsoft projects, and works on CoH and Exteel. Jen is a freelance CoH writer (and anthropology professor). There's even some Guild Wars love thrown in for good measure as they speak to Martin Kerstein (European Community Team Lead for GW) about the Bonus Mission Pack.Click on over to the NCsoft EU site where you can download the podcast and the transcript.
