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Star Trek Online fan video ushers in third anniversary
It's not just the developers at Cryptic who are throwing their effort behind the third anniversary of Star Trek Online. Fan and player STOLilyGarrett put together the latest in her series of STO anniversary videos and it's a doozy. Over the span of two minutes, this video sweeps and swooshes past many of the incredible landmarks, starships, and interstellar vistas that came into being during the past year. It's a really neat fan effort that's received the thumbs-up from the Cryptic team, so we wanted to pass it along to you. You can check it out after the jump.
Star Trek Online posts third anniversary details
As you may have heard on our latest Massively Speaking podcast, Star Trek Online is on the verge of celebrating its third anniversary -- and the developers want to make sure that it's one that players won't soon forget. Cryptic Content Designer Charles Gray has the skinny on what Starfleet and KDF captains can expect in the coming days. The ever-popular Q will show up to throw parties in Spacedock and Qo'noS from January 31st through February 14th. If you're willing to help Q out with a little assignment, he's supposed to reward you handsomely in return. The big news is of the new featured episode that will be rewarding a souped-up version of the Ambassador Class or Kamarag Class starship if it's completed during the event. The episode centers around a strange anomaly that has connections with Tholian experiments and the 24th century. Time travel in Star Trek? Whoduthunk it! Cryptic says that it will deliver specs on the new ships soon.
Star Trek Online celebrates two million 'captains'
On the verge of its third anniversary, Star Trek Online has good reason to celebrate. In a state of the game post, Executive Producer Dan Stahl says that the title is growing by leaps and bounds: "You may have noticed that more than two million captains are continuing their voyages in Star Trek Online. With sustained increases in daily participation, the game is richer and more alive than ever before." Stahl looked back over the accomplishments and milestones of 2012, including Star Trek Online's transition to a free-to-play format. For the game's third anniversary, the team is releasing a featured episode on Thursday that will have a special reward for those who play it between January 31st and February 14th. The reward will be an Ambassador Class (the Enterprise-C model) for Federation players and the Kamarag Class for Klingon fans. Stay tuned for an on-air interview with Dan Stahl about STO in tomorrow's episode of Massively Speaking!
Wings Over Atreia: Aion anniversary -- third one's the charm!
Yup, it's that time of year again: Pass out the party hats and douse the crowd in confetti 'cause Aion has grown another year older. And what a year it has been! Known universally as the terrible twos, this past year has been anything but for the fantasy game. Much has happened in the world of Atreia since the last annual roundup. With two major content updates and an expansion, Aion has significantly increased the available content in-game. Not only that, but the move to free-to-play significantly increased the game's availability. If you haven't been in-game recently, now is a good time to stretch your wings and return to Atreia. And if you head back within the next month, you can join in the anniversary celebration.
Champions Online Exclusive: Rock out with Sapphire!
With Champions Online reaching its third anniversary this month, the team at Cryptic Studios is pulling out all the stops to make it one for the scrapbooks (because superheroes totally scrapbook and don't let anyone tell you differently). Starting next week, players can enjoy rewards such as legacy gear and vanity pets as well as an upcoming concert starring Sapphire. Don't get too complacent with the festivities, however, as rampaging robots will be trying to crash the party. These machines are part of Dr. Destroyer's army from 1992 and are building up to a full-on invasion of Millennium City later this month. Get a jump on the party with an exclusive listen to Sapphire's anniversary song and a sneak peek at a trio of new comic book-style loading screens that are coming soon to the title! %Gallery-164837%
Champions Online celebrates its third anniversary
Has it already been three years since Cryptic Studios launched its second superhero MMO? It must be because Champions Online is riding high on the smell of birthday cake and fun events. Cryptic has several anniversary activities planned for the next couple of weeks, including a leveling contest that's running from now until September 6th. Every character that you level up to 40 during this period will give you a shot at several prizes, including a $250 Amazon gift card and custom art. The studio's also collecting Champions fan art in exchange for special unlocks and Facebook publicity. Further anniversary events in September will be announced at a later date, but Cryptic did hint that there will be giveaways, community hang-outs, and big sales.
Golf MMO Pangya United celebrates three years with item giveaway
SG Interactive is celebrating the third anniversary of popular golf MMO Pangya United today with giveaways galore, including daily prizes, a scavenger hunt, a golf tournament, store discounts, and double XP bonus weekends. Players who do nothing more than log in to the game from now until April 25th will receive daily chances to win special gear and outfits that are exclusive to this third anniversary. The double XP weekends will take place from April 14th to 15th and from April 21st to 22nd from 11 a.m. EDT until 5 p.m. EDT each day. In addition, we've been given a few item codes of our own for 25 interested readers. These codes will unlock a special golf ball in game called the Comet. We have redemption instructions and 10 codes included after the cut, but we'll be giving out the other 15 throughout the rest of the week on our Twitter and Facebook pages, so stay tuned!
Webzen pops the cork on its third anniversary celebration
Good things come in threes, they say, and nobody knows this better than Webzen. In 2009, Webzen came on the scene as a free-to-play publisher and set up an online portal to serve as a nexus for all of its games. Since then, the company has released three MMOs through its service and recently crossed the three-year mark. With all those threes, it's time to celebrate! To celebrate its third anniversary, Webzen is throwing events in Archlord, MU Online, and Soul of the Ultimate Nation. By participating in these in-game events, players can win an assortment of prizes ranging from an Xbox 360 to in-game currency and items. The third anniversary events will start tomorrow and run through April 18th. Webzen's Head of Global Publishing, Jihun Lee, reflected on the company's achievements: "With the start of MU Online, Webzen.com has received much support from our users. As a result, in three years we have been able to become one of the leading global game portals. With the service experience of free-to-play online games, we are making all efforts to meet the users' needs and provide better services." [Source: Webzen press release]
Runes of Magic on its third anniversary
Runes of Magic's third anniversary is finally upon us. Frogster has been gearing up for the event by holding diamond sales and cash-shop specials. Each anniversary, you can also take part in multiple frog-related quests and events. Frog-bashing, frog disguises, and more frog-bashing have long been a staple. Frog-racing and frog etiquette have been added to the roster. What's frog etiquette? Why, it's either insulting or complimenting frogs, silly. During the festivities, various freebies are usually handed out to players who log in, as well. The real question is what's new in the land of Taborea, but if you wanted to know about new lands or dungeons, you'll have to wait a little bit longer. There's no official word, but given the time that's passed and the unofficial images and information that are floating around the Internet, we know Chapter 5 can't be too far off. There are still players out there who are far from making their way through the Chapter 4 content, but many guilds on the cutting edge are starting to trample Tomb of the Seven Heroes into a well-worn path. During this intermediary period, Runewaker added the random attribute extractor and the costume interface. This isn't a replacement to aggregating; it's more like an extension. Most recently, the team introduced a patch containing bug fixes and a sprinkling of changes to the user interface, guilds, pets, vendor NPCs, quests, crafting, and skills. Some of the most exciting information is sketchy but does point to two possible new classes. And what class (or race?) could possibly have skills with names like "forge" and "runecraft" in them? Hmm...
Atlantica Online celebrates three years with in-game events
Atlantica Online, Nexon's quirky tactical MMORPG, has been running for three whole years now. You know what that means, right? Anniversary celebration time! From now until November 16th, players can celebrate Atlantica's third anniversary by participating in a variety of in-game events. For starters, there's the Hunt for the Warlord's Poem. Players have to hunt down monsters that have stolen fragments of Khun Phaen's poetry. Completing this task will net players "Khun Phaen's Carrier Pigeon, a Title: People's Champion, Khun Phaen Skill Books, and other essentials." If you'd rather put your combative skills to the test, you can take part in the third anniversary Grand Championship Battle Royale, which will take place on October 31st at 6:00 a.m. EDT and again at 6:00 p.m. EDT. The top four players will receive a prize of precious NX Credit. Lastly, Nexon is asking players to take a picture of either themselves or their avatars with a sign reading "Happy Anniversary Atlantica!" Players who submit such a picture will be entered into a drawing for 20,000 NX. For the full details, head on over to Atlantica Online's official site.celebrates three years with in-game events
Warhammer Online: Three years later
To this day, I don't know what quite came over me when I decided to throw my chips into the blogging scene to cover Warhammer Online, eight months before the game launched. Like many of you, I had been a long-time reader of MMO blogs, but I was intimidated at trying my hand at joining in, perhaps elevating these writers to the status of legendary wordsmiths who penned unequaled prose in our lifetimes. Or I just didn't want to be one of a thousand World of Warcraft bloggers who dominated the scene. Just a thought. In any case, it was a terrific decision to do so on my part. I found that I had a passion not only for MMOs but for talking about them, and I loved connecting with other writers and readers and players, which happens with blogging. I've been asked from time to time if I regret picking Warhammer Online as the game that I latched onto for a couple of years, and I always say no -- no regrets. The game was fun, but the coverage was an unparalleled rollercoaster of anticipation, hype, fun, speculation, promise, disappointment, and above all, ideas. Wonderful, flawed, captivating ideas. I haven't touched WAR since 2010, so perhaps I'm not the best source for the latest and greatest in the game. But what I do have to offer is a humble blogger's perspective on what went right, what went wrong, and why I'm ultimately happy that WAR came into being and is chugging along on today, its third anniversary.
Perfect World International invites you to attend its 3rd anniversary
In our opinion, the best birthday parties are the ones where the visitors get presents too. Hey, we're going out of our way to spend an afternoon putting up with a half-rate clown and a rapidly deflating bouncy castle -- we've earned it! Perfect World International subscribes to this theory (well, not the clown, thank goodness), and so is handing out lots of free gifts for its third anniversary starting today. The anniversary celebration kicks off with several in-game events, veteran rewards based on how long since you first registered for PWI, and 24 days of double XP, spirit and drops that starts today. Players who log in from the 2nd through the 4th will automatically be entered for the giveaway pack, which includes a cool giveaway package with a Barbarian Tiger Statue and a Logitech keyboard. An anniversary is a great time to renew vows -- or make new ones -- which is why Perfect World International also has added a Chinese-themed Phoenix Nest Wedding Chapel into the game. Product Manager Derick Chan took time out of throwing confetti and blowing a birthday horn to praise the community: "We owe all of the game's success to the fans that have helped it grow and plan to reward every single player regardless of how long they have been with us."
The Anvil of Crom Extra: Silirrion on Age of Conan's past, present, and future
Welcome, barbarian friends, to a special edition of The Anvil of Crom. Age of Conan's third anniversary is here, and the sheer amount of things to talk about has necessitated two columns this week -- and driven me to consume a celebratory pint (or six) of Cimmerian ale. First up is a recent sit-down with Funcom's Craig "Silirrion" Morrison wherein the game director chats about the fantasy title's past, present, and future. Hyboria has changed dramatically since AoC's May 2008 release, and even bigger changes are coming, including new content, a new server ruleset, and a big announcement that Morrison's been hinting at via Twitter in recent weeks. Join us after the cut as we discuss PvP, PvE, forthcoming appearance slots, and more!
Funcom inviting former Age of Conan players back for free, giving away bonus XP
By Crom (or is that Mitra?), Age of Conan is having a birthday! Yep, Funcom's version of Hyboria turns three this week, and active subscribers are invited to claim a number of free potions that boost PvE, PvP, and alternate advancement experience. Each character on an active account is entitled to a single claim of all three potions through the end of May. Former Age of Conan players haven't been left out in the Cimmerian cold, either. Funcom has turned on all inactive accounts, also through the end of May, so patch up and come back to Hyboria on the house. Finally, Funcom is running a third-anniversary sweepstakes with prize packs that include free game time plus the original AoC client and the Rise of the Godslayer expansion. Check in with Massively all weekend for more Age of Conan anniversary coverage including an interview with Craig Morrison and more!
PotBS devs share some cake with Massively
How did you celebrate your third birthday party? We imagine that the Pirates of the Burning Sea developers celebrated it a lot like you might have: with pirates, talking birds and the occasional PvP fight. Of course, you probably didn't choose to participate in an interview with the best MMO website in existence, mainly because it more than likely didn't exist back then. Our trusty eyepatches in place, we waylaid Russell "Rusty" Williams (Flying Lab's CEO) and Jason "Mr Nutty" Gettel (Lead Designer), who answered some of our "burning" questions. So sit back, put your bib on, blow out your candles, and click past the cut to see what they had to say on this special anniversary!
The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth
What a difference a year makes, eh? One year ago, and you didn't have to put up with me yammering at you every Friday like a hyperactive badger with a personality disorder. One year ago, and we weren't free-to-play-anything, Turbine was its own company, the festivals were nowhere near as cool as they are today, and shrews freely roamed the land without fear of reprisal. So in my last Road to Mordor (of the year, stop rejoicing over there!), I thought it'd be great to look back at the wild rollercoaster that was 2010 in Lord of the Rings Online. I also thought I'd get an easy column out of all this, but that was before I had to read through 1,337 posts and my eyeballs began to lose pressure. January Stuff happened. Let's move on.
LotRO parties down with 3rd anniversary goodies
It may be the waning days of the Third Age in Lord of the Rings Online, but the third anniversary is waxing strong. In honor of three years of the road going ever on, Turbine has invited players back to LotRO to celebrate in style. As part of the party, all players logging in between April 21 and June 30 will receive a spiffy Writ of Virtue: The Writ of Virtue: This special scroll will show the Bards that you know the value of revelry and celebration! The Writ grants a passive skill that gives you a 20 percent discount with Bards all across Middle-earth. In addition to the Writ, all monsters across Middle-earth will drop special tokens, which can be exchanged for anniversary gift boxes in the major cities. Turbine is also enticing players with their ever-popular $9.99/month subscription plan, which can be locked down by signing up for 3, 6 or 12 month tours of duty. You can read the full announcement over at the LotRO site!
Vanguard celebrates three years of Telon
It's been over three years since Vanguard: Saga of Heroes launched to a very rocky start. Many didn't think the game would last far beyond one, but here we are, celebrating the third anniversary of Telon! The last three years have seen many improvements to Vanguard, from new dungeons, to performance enhancements, to even letting the players choose which bugs the developers should fix. Sure, the game's future may be a little cloudy, but let's live in the here and now! Enjoy the things we have while we have them! The game has survived for a third year, which is three more years than most gamers gave it credit for. So, to celebrate the third anniversary, current players can jump into the game to visit the Historian of Telon in New Targonor, Ahgram, or Tawar Galan for a special anniversary gift package. If you're stuck at work, then swing by the Vanguard Players website and take a look at some of the fond memories of the game's player base. If you want to get a deeper perspective, however, check out Beau Turkey's look back at his time in Vanguard on Spouse Aggro.
Celebrate Maple Story's 3rd anniversary with Big Puff Daddy
Nexon's super-popular MMO Maple Story is celebrating its third anniversary with a slew of new content. Among the new items and events players can look forward to are the ability to temporarily become a monster, a series of special Maple weapon drops, Boss Clones combat, the new Yakuza-themed region called Showa, and a unique Maple Story Anniversary Hat.But perhaps best of all, a rampaging attack by the cake-based monster called Big Puff Daddy! No longer will his people be oppressed, devoured at will simply because they're delicious! (Note: while we do not have a photo of BPD, chances are good that it will look nothing like the photo to the right) If you're a member, enjoy the new content. If not, now would be a great time to join![Thanks, Robert!]
