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Sphero makes its 'RVR' programmable tank robot available to all
Sphero, which you probably know for its spherical robots like the BB-8, launched a Kickstarter project for a customizable tank-style robot earlier this year. Now that robot called the RVR (pronounced "rover") is available for purchase. The company expects all backers to have received their units today, but you can now buy one from Sphero's website or Amazon if you weren't able to back the project a few months ago.
RVR is a Sphero robot for budding tinkerers
Sphero's been amusing us with its collection of robotic balls, like its adorable BB-8, for eight years. But lately the company has been getting away from the toy aspect of its products and embracing its educational potential. It's had an app that can be used to program many of its current bots for a while now, but that's only for budding coders — what do kids interested in hardware have to tinker with? Indeed, Sphero is about to release its first robot specifically made to be physically modded, called the RVR.
Camelot Unchained offers a status update for the end of January
So, is Camelot Unchained going to have those alpha servers ready in February? That's a great question! No, really, it is; the most recent official development update makes it clear that even the staff is unsure whether they'll be ready to go, as the team is currently a bit short on programmers and is trying to make do. A lot of bugs have been fixed up and several of the items on the game's update checklist have been crossed off, though, and the team is confident that any delays will be for less than six months. The update post also contains new concept art for camouflaged archers as well as a mission statement regarding some of the systems that should be coming to the test version soon. If you can't wait to see the latest news on the game's progress, head along and check out the full update now.
Sail to Tyrant's Throne with RIFT 3.1
RIFT's Patch 3.1: Storm at Sea came out yesterday, building upon the water-based madness that came with last fall's Nightmare Tide expansion. The biggest addition to the Plane of Water is the Tyrant's Throne zone (which is so very fun to say six times fast), which includes five new story quests that cover the tale of Crucia's horrible experiments. The patch also adds three zone events, more planar attunement levels, a new nightmare rift type, a new chronicle, and improvements to the minion, dimension, and crafting UI systems.
PAX South 2015: Camelot Unchained's proactive approach to community management
In the crowdfunded independent industry, we are starting to see some ups and downs. Backers have seen some games fail and other games soar. One of those games that seems to be doing very well, at least if you ask its Community Manager Jenesee Grey and its legions of fans, is Camelot Unchained. At this weekend's PAX South, I spoke to Grey about her experience as a CM for a crowdfunded game.
RIFT's 3.1 Storm at Sea arrives next week -- with capes
There's a preview of RIFT's new Tyrant's Throne content on the game's official website. On January 28th, Trion says, players will see some "titanic zone events" as well as a new 20-player raid, a 2-player chronicle, and more. The journey into RIFT 3.1 Storm at Sea is nearly at hand. On January 28, players will make landfall at the harbor of Tyrant's Throne – just in time for titanic zone events that bring ancient akvan lumbering out of the abyss! Ascended will have one week to wipe them from the island before the opening of Tyrant's Forge, a new 20-player raid pitting the strongest Guardians and Defiant against the Dragon Queen of Air. The most important bit, of course, is capes. Yes, capes. "New capes debut for all," says the studio.
Hungry? Elder Scrolls Online is revamping provisioning
When The Elder Scrolls Online's Update 6 launches later this month, characters with the provisioning skill should go make us a sammich. Just kidding. But if you do decide to make us a sammich, you'll find the process much more streamlined and effective, as ZeniMax is plotting a major overhaul of the profession. In a dev blog posted last night, the studio explained that it will be reducing the overall number of ingredients in the game, adding new recipes, updating the cooking UI, and giving food additives some oomph. Roleplayers will be happy to learn that lootable food-related objects will soon yield appropriate ingredients (apples from apple baskets, for example), and food buffs will make a bit more sense, like "meat dishes [that] increase your health and fruit dishes [that] increase your magicka." If you're not actually a cook yourself, all you really need to know is that you should start skinning fish, cows, and chickens for meat and that drink buffs won't suck anymore. Hooray!
Camelot Unchained posts new art, dev checklist items
If you missed Thursday night's Camelot Unchained update, CityState bossman Mark Jacobs recapped it prior to the close of business on Friday, and he also threw in some new art assets and a project checklist for good measure. The latter is interesting if you're following the sandbox PvP title's development closely, as it features both recently completed milestones and some new ones that the team will be tackling in the very near future.
RIFT spurns hoverboards and brings out hoverbikes for 2015
Do you all like your current MMOs? More than you like RIFT? That's fair. But do you like your current MMO more than you like... hover bikes? Faced with the choice, the team behind RIFT is hoping that when it comes down to the wire, your answer of what game you love the most will be answered with a resounding chorus of "hover bikes!" Hey, it's close enough. Yes, bikes that do not roll but instead hover slightly above the ground are being floated out to RIFT for a limited time. If you want to not-actually-roll through Telara with these stylish mounts, you'd best log on and grab them promptly; they're available for only a limited time. And who doesn't love hover bikes, after all? Especially when they have a video showing off just past the break.
Camelot Unchained funds sound engineer, looks to speed up world building
Dear Camelot Unchained: What's up with the duck? Is that your mascot? Does your artist love duck doodles? Or is it referring to a secret race in your game? Please let us know. Sincerely, Massively. Some good news for fans of this upcoming RvR title as City State Entertainment announced that it has crossed the $3,025,000 fundraising mark and thereby hit a stretch goal to hire a sound engineer for the game. Next up on the stretch goal docket is a "Hug the World" campaign at $3,225,000. If this target is hit, Camelot Unchained will hire more artists to "accelerate the building out of the game world" and improve the quality of other art assets.
Elder Scrolls' new Champion Point progression system detailed
Elder Scrolls Online's Update 6 will introduce the Champion System, which is a "new way to continue your character's growth and customization" at endgame. Once you reach Veteran Rank 1, the system unlocks across your account and allows you to gain Champion Points for participating in activities that normally grant experience. Only VR-level characters can earn the new points, but once earned the points are available to any of your avatars. There's also a new account-wide mechanic called Enlightenment that builds over time regardless of whether you're logged in or not and grants a bonus to Champion Point progression. More details on the new system are available on the official ESO website.
Elder Scrolls Online boxes continue to vacate store shelves
More Australian retailers have apparently lined up to pull boxed copies of The Elder Scrolls Online from store shelves. Aussie gaming site Games.On.net reports that both Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi have deleted copies of the game from their physical stores. The unnamed Games.On.net source, who said he/she had seen the paperwork confirming the recall, claims that "all game cards and copies were pulled out of Harvey Norman, and the ONLY reason that would happen is because it has become a free product [...] if it was being brought out in a different format, it'd have a price drop, not a recall." Last week, EB Games in the land down under began destocking ESO boxes, and Microsoft abruptly updated the game's scheduled release on Xbox One to February 24th, 2015. ZeniMax removed long-term subscriptions from the game back in December, claiming that players prefer shorter billing options and prompting widespread speculation about a possible impending business model change.
RIFT plans improvements to dimensions and minions
Two of RIFT's more popular systems, dimensions and minions, will be getting some major dev love when Patch 3.1 arrives. In a new dev diary that went out yesterday, the team lays out a list of improvements for these systems. Dimensions will be getting a free-fly camera to allow for even more building precision, permissions options for visitors, ban lists, and -- prepare for this to blow your mind -- a bigger +1 button. As for minions, players will have even more options in how they deploy these hard-working followers. The team is adding minion stamina potions, the ability to shuffle adventures, and the option to link to minions in the chat window.
Elder Scrolls Online tweaks champion points conversion rate
The new endgame champion system coming to Elder Scrolls Online in Update 6 is the talk of Tamriel, and ZeniMax is evaluating feedback carefully to make sure that it launches without a hitch. The studio announced on Friday that it will be making a change to how it will convert veteran ranks to champion points. Originally, the studio was going to give a blanket 30 champion points to any player who had at least one veteran rank on a character. Based on feedback, ZeniMax will now be converting veteran ranks to champion points at the rate of 200,000 XP per point at the moment of Update 6's release, for a maximum of 70 potential champion points for one's entire account. The studio made it clear that champion points will not cost 200,000 XP after Update 6; this conversion rate is specifically for veteran ranks pre-release.
Rumor: The Elder Scrolls Online console version may be close
Let's just start with the disclaimers, for those who have forgotten: Online retailers do not necessarily know the date of releases any more than you do. They just enter a future date for preorders and go. Amazon's release date for the console launch of The Elder Scrolls Online is still December 31st, 2015, which isn't a prediction so much as a way of keeping it in the system for this year. But Microsoft's listing of the game for Xbox One on February 24th, 2015, does merit at least a little attention. Sure, it could just be a placeholder date, but it's awfully soon for a placeholder when the store could easily list December. It would also make a certain amount of sense, since the console version was originally slated for last month after its initial delay. So what do you think, readers? Is The Elder Scrolls Online just around the corner for console owners? Or is it just another placeholder date? While you're munching on that rumor, you can also speculate about the fact that Australian EB Games stores are recalling all boxed copies of the game and all time cards, supposedly as part of a normal post-holiday stock recall. Or as a prelude to free-to-play. You decide. [Thanks to squidgod2000 for the tip!]
One Shots: Shadow play
Welcome to a new year -- and the best year of One Shots you'll ever see. I know this because I've been to the future (December 31st, 2015) and spent those precious time-bending moments flipping through all of the One Shots column this year. Amazing stuff, people. Really well done. Well, we might as well get started with your glorious photo journeys! Our very first pic of the year is from reader Becca, who sends us this groovy bit of shadow play in Elder Scrolls Online: "While waiting for a boss to spawn in a public dungeon, my friend Arkslan and my character Rozyn had some fun with lighting." Great. Now I know what will be lurking under my bed tonight: a sing-songy bard. Terror knows no name, but it does sing harmony.
The Elder Scrolls Online quietly removes six-month subscriptions
Players are just a little bit leery of the fact that The Elder Scrolls Online has removed the six-month subscription option from the game. Oh, sure, it seems innocent enough; it's just a change in billing options. But it's also one of those changes that's happened in more than a few other games indicating that the game was removing the need for a subscription... or that the game was no longer going to be playable at all, in the case of Warhammer Online. The official ZeniMax response on the French forums is simply that players indicated they preferred the shorter billing options, so the six-month option was removed. General sentiment in the thread is that this answer is not entirely credible. If it really is a harbinger of something more to come... well, we'll find out about it in about six months. Maybe five. [Thanks to Siphaed for the tip!]
Camelot Unchained's latest newsletter tackles player-built structures
Camelot's Unchained's latest newsletter is hot off the virtual presses. It's a lengthy read, too, so grab yourself a snack and a beverage before perusing the community Q&A section, a state of the build update, an art update, and a design discussion on the RvR sandbox's building system. "The world of CU, while it will have some important pre-built structures, leaves the dynamic creation, capture, and destruction of keeps and castles firmly in the hands of our players," City State says.
Elder Scrolls Online definitely coming to consoles in 2015
ZeniMax has posted a holiday greeting to Elder Scrolls Online fans that also promises a console launch for the fantasy MMO in 2015. "We've released five major updates and tons of improvements and fixes," the blurb reads. "Next year promises to be just as exciting as we introduce the Champion and Justice systems, launch on the PS4 and Xbox One, and continue to release new adventures for you to experience."
Dark Age of Camelot takes aim at group finder and bug fixes
An end-of-the-year community Q&A at Dark Age of Camelot revealed that the team has a lot on the docket for Patch 1.117, including the long-awaited casual group finder and a heap of bug fixes. "We think that focusing our development resources on bug fixing for an entire patch cycle is something that hasn't been done in a long time and is something that will make everyone's gameplaying experience that much better!" Broadsword posted. Other topics discussed include freeing up space in quest logs, plans to update the patcher, and ideas to help out starter guilds. The Q&A even revealed that there will be "official Broadsword player reps" and "scheduled raids of all sorts" for trial accounts, although details on those will be coming later.
