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City of Heroes Issue 16 now in open beta
We've been writing about the new level of customization coming to City of Heroes with Issue 16, but the time has come to jump in and check out the next content update for yourself. NCsoft announced that Issue 16 "Power Spectrum" is now in open beta. If you're interested in checking out the ways you'll be able to extend that signature City of Heroes depth of avatar customization to your powers as well, see NCsoft's instructions on how to get into The Training Room (the City of Heroes test server) and you'll be tweaking the look of your Electric Armor and Psionic Assaults in no time.
Can it be? New in game web browser arriving for EVE Online
The developers at CCP Games just dropped some good news about the new in-game web browser (IGB) for EVE Online they've been working on, codenamed "Moondoggie", one that will deliver a "tenfold performance boost" over what exists today. We've checked CNN and BBC, and even Fox News, but hell is not freezing over... pigs are not in flight. The long-awaited new browser is on the way. EVE Online players have been screaming about wanting a revamped in-game browser since well before Massively was even born, particularly as so many useful third-party sites function as in-game utilities for players to use without the need to alt-tab out. Of course, despite the frustrations players have felt with the IGB, delivering a better one is no simple matter. CCP Games has periodically stated that it's something they're looking into or working on, but today's dev blog written by CCP Pleognost, "The Second Coming of Moondoggie", confirms the details of the project. And that it's close to being ready.
Norse themed expansion coming to Wizard 101
Summer is a time for expansions in Wizard101 as the game will be seeing the addition of Grizzleheim, a Norse themed area adding all sorts of new content. The biggest feature being added is probably the crafting, followed by a bazaar. However, players will also get the chance to meet three new tribal races: Viking Bears, Wolves, and Ravens.Yeah, you heard us, bears that are also vikings.KingsIsle Entertainment has also said they're adding plenty of new social feautres, although didn't elaborate much beyond that. So if you like snow, mountains, plenty of fir trees and vikings, we're sure you'll be happy exploring Grizzleheim -- which you can do right now on the game's test server! Thought you'd have to wait to check it out, didn't you? Well, as it turns out, you won't.
City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary open beta begins
NCsoft has announced that City of Heroes Issue 15: Anniversary has entered open beta. They write, "We are pleased to announce that City of Heroes content Update Issue 15: Anniversary has gone straight into Open Beta phase. Now is your change to celebrate the return of The 5th Column by playing and giving feedback on the new Task Force and Strike Force."But what will Issue 15: Anniversary introduce to City of Heroes? They've put together an overview of the update that gives more info on the Villain Strikeforce and the Hero Taskforce (both Levels 45-50), new costumes and costume change emotes (colorful transitions between costumes on a given character), as well as greater character customization options. If you're interested in checking out the Issue 15: Anniversary open beta, they've got a forum thread that will walk you through getting set up to play on the Training Room test server.%Gallery-64392%
LotRO's test server to get max level advancement today [UPDATED]
According to a recent post on the official forums by Meghan "Patience" Rodberg, the Eyes and Guard Inn should be implemented on LotRO's test server today during the patch. The game's Community Manager said in the post, "We have news! Assuming the new build passes QA, we'll be updating Bullroarer tomorrow, and will be opening the Eyes & Guard Tavern as well. So, while not 100% guaranteed that we won't run into a delay, that's the current plan."For those not familiar with the importance of the Eyes and Guard Inn, be sure to check out this guide created by us for the previous test server, Roheryn. The guide still applies on the new Bullroarer server, as it's basically a way to get a newly-created character to max level for testing purposes. Plus, if you'd like more information on the test server and when/if your server and your characters may be copied over, check out this FAQ.[UPDATE] Patience gives a bit of an addendum to the test server guide with how to get from level 50 to 60.
EVE Online extending reach into Russia and Japan
The sci-fi massively multiplayer online title EVE Online is very much a game of galactic conquest. In that spirit of world domination, CCP Games has been working on establishing the title's presence in both Russia and Japan. EVE developer CCP Caedmon is part of the company's localization team, and has written a dev blog titled "Machine Translation's Bad, M'kay?", dealing with CCP's efforts to reach out to Russian and Japanese gamers. Both Japanese and Russian localizations of the EVE client are now up on the Singularity test server. By all indications, the Russian client's localization is further along, as CCP Games opened up the client for public testing in 2008. However, they're interested in pushing ahead with Japanese localization as well. CCP Caedmon writes, "We know there is a highly dedicated community of Japanese players out there who have been with EVE since the early days and we are excited to hear your feedback." For more on the status of EVE Online as it applies to other markets, see CCP Caedmon's "Machine Translation's Bad, M'kay?".
LotRO releases new PTS and preliminary Book 7 patch notes
Turbine has just announced a brand new public test server for Lord of the Rings Online called Bullroarer. This test server will allow plays to experience content before it is ready to go live, allowing the players to help test the content and give their feedback. You will need to download Bullroarer separately from the live game client, and you must have an active LotRO account.What's even more exciting about this announcement is the fact that the newest content update, Book 7, is live on Bullroarer right now for players to explore! Since this is a test server, it will incorporate a copy from a live server. Right now that first server is Elendilmir, but anyone is invited to create a character and experience the new content. Turbine says they will soon enable the Eyes and Guard Inn in-game to allow anyone to boost their characters up to max level and experience everything. Check out the current Book 7 patch notes (that are subject to change before going live) and count on Massively for much more coverage of Book 7 as it nears live release.
Video shows EVE Online's Sleeper NPC race in action
The ancient NPC race in EVE Online known as the Sleepers will soon come into conflict with EVE's capsuleers in the Apocrypha expansion, only a few weeks from now. Explorers willing to discover wormholes and take the risk of engaging the Sleepers within will be able to obtain some of their technology, provided they manage to survive the encounter. This could bring wealth by selling the tech outright, or reverse engineering it to create EVE's strategic "Tech III" cruisers -- modular ship designs based in part off of Sleeper technology. CCP Games has said that the Sleepers will be unlike any NPC type that pilots in the game have ever faced, and that was no exaggeration. Their AI makes fighting these particular NPCs more like fighting other players. That is to say, they react to immediate threats and change their tactics to counter what's thrown at them, to some degree. The video embedded below (captured on the Singularity test server) shows what the Sleepers are capable of against a mixed fleet of players -- with capital ships no less -- that had great difficulty withstanding the ancients. Check out the raw power of the Sleepers in fullscreen HD, with their sizzling blue beams and warheads absolutely melting battleships and any other threat that demands their attention:
Warhammer Online opens public test server
Massively multiplayer online games are continually changing, from the time a game launches to the day the servers shut down. Sure, patch notes spell out most of those changes, but it's always good when an MMO developer opens up a test server for the players. It allows you to check out new game mechanics firsthand, risk-free, and see what works for you and what doesn't. More importantly, it lets the developer know what they need to improve. This is what Mythic Entertainment is doing for Warhammer Online players as of today (Tuesday, February 17th), letting them preview the changes coming to Realm vs. Realm combat as well as Career balance changes on the public test server. Mythic will be conducting a large scale Tier 4 Open Field Realm vs. Realm test on Wednesday, February 18th at 8pm EST. The dev announcement states: "Bring your friends to the PTS and be amongst the first to experience the new Zone Domination system in a focused player test. Be sure to log on early to join the premade guilds (points of contact for invites will be announced in game) for the night." Detailed info on how to access the public test server is found in the Warhammer Herald announcement as are the patch notes for the public test of Game Update 1.2. Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
EVE dev blog explains new ship fitting screen, saveable configurations
Among the changes that will come to EVE Online with the March Apocrypha expansion is the user interface for fitting ships, and this is the topic of the latest dev blog from CCP Fendahl. Critics of the game's user interface might be surprised to learn that there is a team that focuses solely on UI, and it seems they've been quite busy with this radical layout change. Ship fitting in Apocrypha will be focused on an iPod-like ring where you array your modules and rigs, as well as subsystems for Tech III ships, while viewing your ship (and how it changes) in the center. This large fitting reticle is flanked by collapsible side panels which are used for item selection and displaying ship stats. Browsing the hundreds (in some cases thousands) of items in the various division hangars in a given station should be easier, with collapsible sections in the left side item panel. The stats panel to the right actually provides more info about your ship setup than before, by mousing over and bringing up a pop-up box. CCP Fendahl addresses the fact that this is more complex than the previous system: "While this increases the barrier to entry when learning how to fit a ship for the first time, we also think that the fitting screen is a critically important interface that needs to show all the relevant numbers."
EVE Online developer explains major new feature: Tech III
The dev blog many EVE Online players have been waiting for was published today. Tech III ships have been the subject of a great deal of excitement and no small amount of trepidation from the game's players. EVE developer CCP Nozh introduces the playerbase to "the dark delights of Tech 3 ships" in his dev blog "Strategic Cruisers: A New Breed." This moniker "Strategic Cruisers" is a fitting one, as they certainly are a new breed of ship, and one that requires some explanation. Nozh writes, "The elation of happening upon a unique fit, some fresh and clever setup, has always been a very appealing aspect of EVE. One of our primary goals for the Tech 3 ships was to bring this customization to a whole new level. The new ships are a fundamental departure from the tried and tested, offering such unparalleled customization that discussing them on the same terms as previous ships belies their true extent -- we're talking full-fledged, independent systems within the system. A little bit scary, really."
Test server patch notes for Warhammer's "Bitter Rivals" event released
Patch days are like mini-holidays for MMO players. They're worth a beer, a cheer, and a heck of a lot of investigating. The upcoming Warhammer Online Patch 1.2 is worth a lot of cheering, as it ushers in the first of the proper Call to Arms expansion live events. What's more, at 55 pages, you'd cheer your throat raw before the improvements ran out. The biggest news, of course, is the addition of two brand-new character classes for the Greenskins and Stunties. The Choppa and Slayer will inject some much-needed enthusiasm into the game's playerbase. Here are some of the other highlights the devs have chosen to single out: A brand-new Tier 4 Scenario called the Twisting Tower. Much like the Reikland Factory during the Heavy Metal event, this is a limited-term engagement. Make sure you check it out while the event is up and running. All-new systems are being put into place for Open RvR! A "Rallying Cry" will draw players to conflicts in the first two tiers, while a new Zone Control Domination system will give players incentives to truly conquer those zones. Itemization has been revamped across the board, with dungeons, fortresses, and PQs all recieving tweaks and reconsideration. "Easy-mode" Public Quests are being added throughout the 2-4 tiers, allowing solo players and small groups to get that sweet PvE loot without having to grind Stage 1. Crafting is being given a significant overhaul. All the 'gathering' skills are now extraordinarily streamlined, and the 'creation' skills are now definitively associated with two gathering skills. Beyond the above there are numerous changes to classes, user interface improvements, brand new mounts, and an army's worth of bug fixes. The scope of this patch is daunting to contemplate, let alone read through, but if you want to give it a try the full and unadulterated list is available at the Warhammer Herald. Put on your helmed horn and go check it out.%Gallery-21882% Mythic has announced the first expansion to Warhammer Online! Check out the announcement itself, the two brand-new classes coming to the game, and the enormous new dungeon/zone slated for a few months away! Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
EVE Online's Tech III ships hit Singularity test server
When CCP Games first announced the new line of ships coming to EVE Online with the Apocrypha expansion, a modular design called Tech III, player opinions were rather divided. Some view the flexibility to create thousands of potential ship configurations as a positive thing for EVE. Still, others remain standoffish, citing either the potential for over-complexity or "Lego in space."Well now it's time for speculation to fizzle out, and for the players to see what Tech III is all about firsthand. An announcement today from EVE dev CCP Nozh let the players know that Tech III can be experimented with on the Singularity test server.
EverQuest II Producer's Letter lays out changes coming to the game
The latest producer's letter for EverQuest II, from Senior Producer Bruce A. Ferguson (aka "Froech"), is a bit of a look back at how The Shadow Odyssey expansion was received by the players. More than that, it's a look ahead to the changes SOE wants to make with the Fighter classes. Ferguson writes, "Last summer, at Fan Faire, we discussed making some changes to the Fighter classes, in order to bring them back in line with our original vision, where all fighters manage their own aggro, instead of relying on other group members to channel them some hate. Making some of these changes will broaden the desirability of all Fighter classes, and help increase their role in groups, without altering others." Those changes aren't something SOE is simply rolling out, and they've been releasing the Fighter revamp in stages following some lengthy testing. To that end, they're still hoping to get the feedback of players trying out these changes on the Test server. Beyond class balancing, Ferguson drops some info about what EverQuest II players can expect in the short term:
Significant aggro changes on the way for EQII
There's a fairly hefty set of changes to EverQuest II's hate/aggro system currently being ironed out on Test, and they aren't to everyone's liking. Due to the the complexity of the changes, developer Chris "Aeralik" Kozak has offered up a summary for players to wrap their heads around. We'll attempt to boil it down even more for you, at the cost of including some of the finer details.The problem with the aggro system begins with the fact that hate has scaled linearly as the game has progressed, and damage has scaled exponentially with gear and new skills, making it hard for designated aggro-holders to keep control of mobs. One of the changes on Test has given taunts the chance to hit critically, just like damage spells, and there will be a base and normalized amount of threat from taunt abilities.
EVE Online kicks off Mac open beta for high-res graphics engine
The next EVE Online expansion, called Apocrypha, will launch on March 10 and promises to bring a long-missing feature to the Mac client: high res graphics. The Trinity graphics engine (aka Premium graphics) has been available to players using the Windows client since December of 2007. As of today, all active accounts using the Mac client can opt to download a second enhanced client to try out EVE's Premium graphic content on the Singularity test server.EVE's Community Manager CCP Wrangler says, "This is the culmination of over a year of effort on the part of development teams at both CCP Games and Transgaming and we are extremely happy to see EVE running in all its splendor on the Mac OS." That splendor, however, may not be coming for some EVE players running older Mac hardware.
Age of Conan's DX10 put to the test
It's been a long time coming, but Age of Conan's Testlive server is now running a version of the game that can output DirectX 10 graphics, a feature that many people missed at launch. The current implementation probably isn't indicative of what will end up on the Live servers, but if you just can't wait and want to see the work-in-progress, Age of Conan Vault has a number of DX9 to DX10 comparison screenshots on show right now. The test client as-is doesn't have some of the cooler features like volumetric fog or windy trees just yet, but these would be better seen in video form anyway.The most stand-out difference between the screenshot pairings that we can pick is the upped brightness and visibility in dark areas on the DX10 side. In some (but not all) of the shots, the textures look noticeably better too. The AoC Vault reviewer experienced a significant FPS drop, from roughly 50FPS down to 20FPS, when switching from DX9 to DX10, but this is apparently not that common among other testers -- most do get their share of graphical glitches and crashing though. Hopefully it's all ironed out when Funcom decides to push DX10 to the live servers at a later date.
EVE's call to arms: Thursday fleet battles on test server to help combat lag
EVE Online's latest expansion Quantum Rise brought some new features for the industry crowd, and a few enhancements aimed at PvP pilots as well. But some of the broad changes they've made to the game mechanics have triggered lag, and lots of it, which CCP Games is hoping to combat with the help of the players themselves. CCP Tanis says, "We take this issue very seriously and as a result, our engineering team has been in high-gear working on fixing the problem and we think we are close, but we need your help." The help CCP Games is looking for requires relatively little from players, aside from logging into the Singularity test server and entering the fray, blasting each other apart in battleships. The Wednesday tests were already underway when we got word of this, but they're looking to get a large group of pilots (200 or more) for the Thursday fleet engagements on Singularity. The test will take place on Thursday at 11:00 GMT, and another is tentatively slated for 15:00, dependent upon what CCP learns from the previous fights. CCP Tanis lays out how players can get involved:
Substantial changes to industrial ships in EVE's Quantum Rise
New additions to EVE Online through the Quantum Rise expansion are on the way, some of which are already on the Singularity test server. CCP Chronotis followed up his announcement of the Orca by outlining some big changes to ships that are some of the mainstays of industry in EVE. "Much has changed in EVE since many of the hauler of mining class ships were introduced. With Quantum Rise we felt the time was right to review these ships and make changes where necessary to refocus their roles and ensure they can still perform in the age of New Eden's Great War," he said. The changes outlined aren't finalized, and will go through testing on Singularity before any of this goes live. Chronotis addressed how CCP Games would like to change three categories of ships: blockade runners, deep space transports, and mining vessels.
EVE's new Weapon Grouping feature explained
Weapon Grouping is one of the new features coming to EVE Online, via the multi-staged release of the Quantum Rise expansion. Players spotted and have been giving updates on what they've seen on the Singularity test server, but now EVE dev CCP Ytterbium has posted a dev blog that explains this new feature in great detail, right down to screengrabs of Weapon Grouping in action. If you've been waiting to hear more about this, you'll want to check out CCP Ytterbium's dev blog, 'Weapon Grouping', for his visual explanation of how you'll soon be able to consolidate your weapons into a single icon, and reload all of them at once. He also lays out the scenarios when you wouldn't want to take advantage of this feature, like when attacking multiple targets (although there's a solution to that built into the feature). Additionally, he's written a lengthy FAQ that should help dispel some of the confusion surrounding Weapon Grouping.
