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Elder Scrolls Online begins testing Update 2
Elder Scrolls Online's Update 2 is currently on the public test server, and any interested subscriber can now check it out. ZeniMax announced today that its test server is now open to all active account holders and gave details for the game's second update. Update 2, which is scheduled for June 23rd, will contain a new veteran dungeon (Crypt of Hearts), a field of view slider, more object interactions, and plenty of bug fixes and balance tweaks. In the team's "Road Ahead" letter, ZeniMax informed the community that it's working to carefully balance the classes, get the EU megaserver online, create additional player customization systems, rework quests, and improve the veteran system.
Massively Exclusive: Neverwinter pre-launch interview, part two
We're back with Cryptic Lead Producer Andy Velasquez to continue our discussion of Neverwinter's beta lessons, launch preparations, and post-launch plans. We also touch on some of the comments and concerns that players had for the title and how Cryptic is addressing them. If you missed the first part of this interview, make sure you check it out before continuing!
Massively Exclusive: Neverwinter pre-launch interview, part one
Andy Velasquez has seen his fair share of MMO launches, but that doesn't make a new one any less exhilarating or terrifying. As lead producer, he's the captain of the Neverwinter ship and must make sure it's seaworthy before slipping out of drydock and heading into the unknown waters of release. Metaphor or no, it's a daunting job with little downtime, especially in this final week leading up to the soft launch of open beta. Velasquez took a half-hour out of his busy schedule to sit with us and talk about the preparations being made for Neverwinter's big moment. Read on for his candid insights into beta stories, launch day, and making tough calls when tough calls had to be made.
The Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players
Coming back to an MMO that you used to play is a whole different ball of wax than getting into it for the first time. While you have less to do and absorb than beginners, it can be just as overwhelming in its own way. What are all these skills again? Why do I owe some Hobbit mortgage company a zillion gold to unlock my house? Why is the screen throwing a fit with a non-stop parade of deed announcements? Recently, I returned to another MMO after a half-year or so absence (it's RIFT, if you must know), and I was almost frozen with apprehension over all the changes. Because the world I used to know had changed in so many ways, I didn't know how much to rely on my memories and where to go to figure out what these changes were. Fortunately, an enterprising member of the dev team created a wonderfully handy post that quickly outlined all of the changes over the past year so that returners could get caught up quickly. I like this idea so much that I decided to do the same for Lord of the Rings Online. Ever since free-to-play hit, it's become so much easier to drift in and out of this game, and as Turbine's been ramping up the changes, it's possible to feel the same apprehension upon reentry that I did with RIFT. Freak not, fair friend, for I am here to guide the way.
Dual-booting ViewSonic ViewPad 10 gets Android 2.2 upgrade, patient owners join 2010
Good things come to those who wait. If you bought the dual-booting ViewSonic ViewPad 10, Android 1.6 be damned, we have some good news -- the tablet's getting an upgrade to Android 2.2. Just to refresh your memories, that leap from Donut to Froyo means ViewPad 10 owners will now get updated Gmail, Calendar, Google Maps, Gallery, and YouTube apps, a refined onscreen keyboard, compatabilty with newer applications, and a healthy dose of sorely needed eye candy. New customers can choose one that also runs Windows 7 Home Premium and has 16GB of flash storage ($599) or one with Win 7 Professional and 32GB of space ($679). As for those of you champing at the bit to upgrade, ViewSonic is keeping things interesting by compelling you to download Froyo onto a thumb drive, and then plug both it and a USB keyboard into the ViewPad to install the update. Then again, something tells us the kind of person who would opt for the ViewPad 10 over other ViewSonic tablets might actually enjoy the challenge.
Through Turbine's palantír: Developers outline LotRO's future
In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, characters would use magical orbs known as palantírs to see and communicate with far away places. While Massively's own palantír is at the shop, we had access to the next best thing -- a one-on-two chat about Lord of the Rings Online's future with Turbine's Aaron Campbell and Adam Mersky. A lot's been happening since LotRO's free-to-play version went online last fall -- the closest thing to a relaunch that this game is likely to ever see -- and both Campbell and Mersky have one important message for fans: We're just getting started. Even as the Turbine team gears up for LotRO's third expansion, Rise of Isengard, the devs want you to know that they're also dedicated to bringing a good amount of content between now and then. Everything was on the table during this discussion, from this weekend's anniversary celebration to next month's update to the new expansion. Join us after the jump for a look through the palantír to see what information we can pry from the future!
Alter-Ego: Looking at the state of the game
One of the most common questions I get every week in the comments for Alter-Ego is whether or not I think people should come play DC Universe Online. Obviously, I personally like the game, else I wouldn't still be playing and writing a column about it. I freely and openly admit my bias there. I'm a comic geek, so I've played every superhero MMO that's come out to date. While I love aspects of all of them, I currently prefer DC Universe Online for the fact that I get to run around with some of my favorite heroes and take down villains that I've known all my life. So with my bias openly stated, I'd like to counterbalance it with this: As a veteran MMO player, I also won't put up with things I think are absolute crap for very long. Much like everyone else, I have a life to attend to outside of MMOs, I had to shell out for a copy of the game, and I pay my own subscription each month. I get just as irked when I feel as if I'm not getting value for that dollar as anyone else does. With that in mind, let's take a look at DC Universe Online from launch to current day, and I'll toss out my thoughts on picking up the game afterward.
Alter-Ego: A closer look at Update 2's troublesome trio
One of the best things about playing DC Universe Online, in my opinion, is the great deal of rich history there is for all the characters. There is also the fact that the iconic DC characters aren't just relegated to the shelves of your local comic book store. Even if you're not the biggest comic nerd on the face of the planet, you've undoubtedly seen at least a few of the iconic characters from the DC universe like Superman or Batman in cartoons on television or at the movies. With Update 2 now live in DC Universe Online, three more names have joined the ever-growing list of in-game characters who have crossed from popular culture into the online world. The Penguin and Two-Face are busy scheming over the future of Gotham, while Mister Mxyzptlk has taken to the streets of Metropolis to play his strange tricks. This week, I thought it would be fun to look a little deeper into the origin stories of the troublesome trio, as the same popular culture that makes these three characters recognizable may also cause some confusion when you run up against the in-game versions -- and their current motives. I should also note, lest the continuity fiends jump on me for it, that these origins are sourced directly from the DC Universe site.
Take a chance on DC Universe Online's Update 2
Are you ready to stand up to the diabolical plans of the Penguin and take your chances with Two-Face? For the heroes and villains of DC Universe Online, today is the day to do just that, as Update 2 is out on the live servers, ready to offer all manner of new challenges to those willing to heed the call. Aside from all the great new endgame, Legends, and holiday content we heard about in talking with Chris Cao a couple of weeks ago, there's a whole slew of bug fixes and improvements in this wide-reaching update. Among the many things that have been fixed are several animation bugs, feat issues, and oh-heavens-yes, those incredibly annoying bugs that stopped players from being able to complete quite a few instances. Add in the ability to bring back friends into instance groups if they get dropped, several new UI changes and more, and you have a great patch that's chock-full of things that DC Universe Online players have been clamoring for. Be sure to pop over to the DC Universe Online forums and check out the enormous patch notes for Update 2. Also, check out our gallery below for lots of Update 2 art goodies! %Gallery-50201%
DC Universe Online Update 2 is on its way!
We know you've been anxiously awaiting new content from DC Universe Online -- so have we. A couple of weeks ago, Creative Director Chris Cao talked with us about the "chance" content of the latest update. The Penguin and Two-Face are the villains of choice this time around, and we'll even see a special appearance from Mister Mxyzptlk. Naturally, we're are all excited about the new update -- now when is it coming out? We finally have the answer. On the official forums, Community Manager Tony "RadarX" Jones told DCUO fans that the update will be coming next week! He also took some time to explain that multiple exploits have been fixed, many mission bugs have been squashed, and the social UI has been overhauled. For more information about the update, don your cape and cowl, then head over to Krystalle's interview with Chris Cao. If SOE keeps to its normal update schedule, we will see the new content on Tuesday (if not Thursday). To the Batcave!
LotRO March Producer's letter offers glimpse of fun to come
It's been a busy month for Lord of the Rings Online, with Update 2: Echoes of the Dead going live, tons of players checking out all the improvements and new content available to them, and the popular Spring Festival already underway. However, Turbine isn't resting on its laurels. According to the March Producer's letter by Kate Paiz, Executive Producer for Lord of the Rings Online, there are even more cool things planned for the not-too-distant future. Not only does Paiz touch on all the great content just introduced to the game in Update 2, but she notes that LotRO's fourth anniversary is coming up in April, that will see the addition of a new in-game Anniversary Festival celebration. Along with that, players can look forward to an unnamed treasure-hunting event, which will "likely be open for play periodically over the year." There are also some more tasty tidbits on Update 3, with a note that we'll hear more details about Isengard a little later down the road. In all, if you call Middle-earth your MMO home, you'll want to pop by the Lord of the Rings Online site and check out all the details the newest Producer's Letter has to offer.
LotRO walks with the dead in Ost Dunhoth screenshots
The dead haunt the depths of Enedwaith in the new 12-player raid of Ost Dunhoth for Update 2: Echoes of the Dead, and we have the screenshots to prove it. As you should already know from the multitude of posts on the developer blogs, Echoes of the Dead is the latest and -- seriously -- greatest patch to hit the free-to-play Lord of the Rings Online. To help entice our readers to check out the new raid, Turbine sent us over some new screenshots shots depicting this epic battle with Wraiths and Gaunt-lords Travel beneath Middle-earth with us as you check out the exciting eye-candy in the gallery below. Then for more information on the Echos of the Dead, take a look at Justin Olivetti's Road to Mordor and the rest of the massive update coverage on this site. %Gallery-98013%
Echoes of the Dead update launches on Lord of the Rings Online's Euro shards
Better late than never, eh? Lord of the Rings Online's Update 2: Echoes of the Dead has been out for a couple of days in the States, and Turbine's European servers are finally joining the long-expected party today. Much like its American counterpart, the Euro version of Update 2 will be dropping the reviled radiance system and also spicing up Monster Play PvP with an initial round of tweaks. Minstrels, Burglars, and Hunters have also been given a bit of a facelift, and Legendary Items are on the receiving end of some developer love. Finally, Volume III: Book 3 continues LotRO's epic story quest line, and the Volume II epic arc has been revamped to make it more solo-friendly. These are just a few of the changes in store for denizens of Turbine's Middle-earth, and you can read the full release notes on the official Codemasters forums.
Chris Cao: DCUO's Update 2 is all about "chance"
We heard some tantalizing details of what Sony Online Entertainment has planned for DC Universe Online's March patch a few weeks ago when Game Director Chris Cao and Art Director and Mark Anderson sat down on the Stickam chat to offer a teaser of what players could expect. Following up, we had a chat with Cao to find out some more specific details on what exactly our superheroes can expect coming in March. According to Cao, the primary theme for this update is "chance," which is reflected both in our chance to face off against The Penguin as boss and in the addition of Two-Face/Harvey Dent in Legends PvP play and as an instance character. That fifth-dimensional trickster Mister Mxyzptlk is likewise being introduced to the game as part of a holiday event themed around St. Patrick's Day. We knew most of this from the Stickam chat; that's why we went digging deeper for the scoop on DC Universe Online's development. Check it out behind the break! %Gallery-50201%
Alter-Ego: A closer look at Update 2
Thanks to a webcast earlier this week from Game Director Chris Cao and Art Director Mark Anderson, we now have an idea of what's to come in the March DC Universe Online patch, also known as Update 2. As anyone who plays the game can tell you, there are certainly a number of fixes and updates that need to be made: PvP exploits, UI tweaks and fixes, grouping mechanic help, raids and more. As such, I thought it would be a good time to dive into some of the things that Cao and Anderson mentioned during their video chat and take a closer look at what we can expect and at how these changes may bring some good and potential bad into the game. So gather up your ideas and opinions on DC Universe Online's upcoming Update 2, caped crusaders, and let's get rolling!
SOE teases The Penguin's appearance in DCUO Update 2
Now that the first monthly patch is live in DC Universe Online, it's a good time for the development team to take a moment to reflect on what was good and not so hot in this first update -- as well as let us know what's planned for the next step. Game Director Chris Cao and Art Director Mark Anderson sat down to talk with fans about just that through SOE's Stickam account earlier today and did just that. In next month's update, which is being called Update 2, players will have the chance to face off against The Penguin as the DC Universe Online team continues the gang war storyline that is currently in game. Along with The Penguin are a series of penguin henchmen players will battle, including robot penguins! Two-Face will also show up in game to take part in the ongoing gang war and to become a new Legends character for players to unlock. Knowing SOE, we'll likely see a reveal of more information on Update 2 and The Penguin sometime in the coming weeks. We'll be certain to keep an eye out for any umbrellagrams and bring you news as it develops!
