update-notes
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Vanguard soft launches free-to-play a week early
If you've had your calendars marked for Vanguard's F2P launch on August 14th, you might want to get out your eraser. As of today, SOE has soft launched the title's free-to-play version for any and all to enjoy. Along with the soft launch comes a shiny new website to mark the occasion. The good news is in today's update notes: "The free-to-play matrix is now in effect. Anyone should be able to download the game for free from our new site." Vanguard's latest update also marks the beginning of the in-game marketplace, freedom from race and class restrictions, and a massive sweep of re-itemization. [Thanks to MikeyMoo for the tip!]
EVE Online Inferno 1.1 opens for business
Patches are serious business. Just ask CCP, which has deployed its first major post-Inferno update to EVE Online's space cowboys and their cute toy ships. Inferno 1.1 is nothing to sneeze at, with its expanded loyalty point stores, increased visuals, and a cargo hold full of fixes and tweaks. Players sucking up to one of the four militias in the game now have more merchandise to drool over. The loyalty point stores now include factional uniforms that come in both male and female varieties. Alternatively, you can drop real-world money for other uniform variants that have been added to the NeX store. The Minmatar ships finally receive a dose of graphical love in 1.1, with V3 shader upgrades for their hardware. Due to popular demand, players are now able to watch a target area for a while after the target's been blown to kingdom come. As always, there are too many changes to summarize in a few short paragraphs, so check out the patch notes to get the down low on Inferno 1.1!
Lord of the Rings Online releases Update 7: Shades of the Past
Lord of the Rings Online's Update 7 is upon us, and it's established itself as taking a step forward... and a step back into the past. Featuring a new skirmish, a revamp of both Moria and the old Fornost instance, and an interesting addition to the legendary item system, Update 7 has a smattering of both endgame and mid-game content for most players to enjoy. As always, it's worth combing through the notes for the smaller changes. Some of these include new and updated maps, friendlier Elves in Lothlorien who won't shoot you on sight, and Audacity lowering power costs in PvMP. The official patch notes are up and the game will have the servers patched up by mid-morning. In the meantime, make sure to read up on what we think of the update's big selling points in our recent Road to Mordor column.
Vanguard update brings new loyalty rewards for subscribers
As Vanguard straddles the line between its old subscriber-only business model and this summer's free-to-play transition, the team is still plugging away at minor updates to the game. Today's patch brings a smattering of updates and fixes as well as the May loyalty rewards for current subscribers. Active players will get to haul away five goodies from SOE, including a brown sloop ship, unique tack and barding, and a "Kamelott Overland Onslaught Life-Sustaining Exo-Skeleton" mount. Players can also pick up free supply crates and veteran's caches (the latter are available only for level 50+ characters) every 44 hours. The update also fixed a few small issues with quests, retweaked some skills for Rogues and Bards, and changed a couple of items to make them work properly. SOE will continue to dish out loyalty rewards until Vanguard goes F2P.
The Repopulation's end-of-April update includes genetic engineering, bug fixes, and lore updates
Last month, we got our first look at the gameplay of Above and Beyond Technologies' upcoming sandbox title, The Repopulation. Today, the studio released its end-of-April 2012 update notes for the game, giving players a look at the ongoing tweaks and changes being made as Above and Beyond slowly ramps up to the beta stage. For the most part, the notes are your standard patch note fare: bug fixes, quality-of-life improvements, some UI tweaks, and so forth. But there are a couple of gems that stand out among the rest. For instance, players with the Genetic Engineering skill can do some gene-splicing to create their own unique pets. Currently there are 40 different hybrid and pure-species pets that can be genetically engineered, so the mad scientists in the crowd should have many options when it comes to playing God. The site's lore and bestiary sections have also been updated for the lore junkies out there. The full, rather expansive April update notes can be found on The Repopulation's official site, so if you're interested in all of the minutiae, just head on over there and check it out. [Thanks to Halldorr for the tip!]
DC Universe Online releases Game Update 12 [Updated]
It's super-patch day for the folks over at DC Universe Online, as SOE is bringing Game Update 12 to the live servers. The patch's biggest addition to the game is an overhaul of the bank UI. Now the bank will be easier to use, be clearer to understand, and have a separate area for shared inventory. Game Update 12 is definitely about convenience. SOE's adding the option to purchase additional character slots for those players whose altoholic nature has pushed the limits of the character select screen as far as it'll go. The update is also adding teleporters to give players an additional 15 seconds of leeway when trying to get into a Boss Alert after the door closes. As expected with any big update, this patch has plenty of bug and balance fixes as well. SOE is anticipating a four-hour downtime to deploy GU12 to the servers. [Update: SOE has revealed that it is postponing GU12 "due to a serious technical issue." The post states that the team hopes to release the patch tomorrow.']
LotRO launches its Fifth Anniversary Festival
Lord of the Rings Online's fifth anniversary is upon us, and Turbine is determined to make it a party to remember! Today the studio has released LotRO's Update 6.1, the centerpiece of which is the completely revamped and upgraded Anniversary Festival. While the anniversary was perceived as a haphazard affair in previous years, Turbine's devs have fleshed it out to rival the other four annual festivals. The focus of the Anniversary Festival is on fireworks and lots of them. There are several new quests to discover, a new fireworks-themed mount to obtain, and beer battles to win. Because reaching five years is a big deal for any MMO, Turbine's also showering players with free gifts if they log in during this period. The gifts range from fireworks to cloaks to a special mount that is reserved for five-year veterans of the game. During the anniversary, monsters will drop special tokens that can be redeemed for a wide variety of prizes. There's also a double-XP weekend coming up, which will run from April 24th through the 30th.
LotRO's Great River update flows today, patch notes released [Updated]
Strike the tents and put out the campfires, Middle-earth adventurers; it's time to move on... north? That's right, Lord of the Rings Online is taking players on a journey back to an old familiar location -- Lothlorien forest -- as it releases Update 6: Shores of the Great River today. It's an absolutely massive content update for the game meant to span the gap between the Rise of Isengard and Riders of Rohan expansions. While players patch up and wait for the servers to come back online, there are patch notes and then some to be read. If you lack the hour or so it might take to really get into the notes, just know that the update's highlights include a brand-new high-level zone (The Great River), the next book of the epic story, the addition of Landscape Soldiers and a fleshed-out barter wallet, several major class updates (such as the Warden and Rune-keeper), an improved Instance Finder tool, and plenty of PvP improvements. Massively recently sat down with the developers to tour through the new content in Update 6. [Update: Added the trailer for the update after the jump!] %Gallery-149032%
LotRO's Update 5: Armies of Isengard storms servers today
It's Big Honkin' Patch Day for Lord of the Rings Online as a platoon of content is double-timing it to a server near you. Update 5: Armies of Isengard is the game's first post-Rise of Isengard release, and it's been highly anticipated as it will finally add the long-awaited instance cluster to the endgame. This cluster contains five new dungeons: three three-person, one six-person, and one twelve-person. In addition to the cluster, Update 5 is including the next book in the epic storyline, The Prince of Rohan. Through it, players will gain a nifty set of Ranger cosmetic armor and participate in an epic battle at the gates of Orthanc. The update also will add an instance finder, unified currency, a LUA plugin manager, a reputation update, and far, far more. Oh, and there's finally coffee in the game. Mmm... coffee. Turbine has posted the official patch notes for Armies of Isengard on the site, so you can read up on all of the changes while you're patching the game!
DDO's Vaults of the Artificers goes live
For Dungeons and Dragons Online players, today is a special -- nay, hallowed day. It is Patch Day, and with it comes much leaping, dancing, spinning in circles, and singing at the top of one's lungs. Today Turbine has released Update 12: Vaults of the Artificers, a hefty patch that introduces a completely new system to the game: challenges. Challenges are repeatable quests that have unique objectives and time limits, and can be completed for shiny rewards. VIP players will get the challenge adventure pack for free, but free players aren't left out in the dark -- Turbine is giving everyone one free challenge every day. These can be picked up in House Cannith. DDO's Update 12 has plenty of other changes and fixes, including the introduction of store-purchasable rename tokens if you're dissatisfied with your hero's moniker and a shared platinum bank account. You can read up on Update 12 with the official patch notes or by checking out our hands-on impressions from last month! %Gallery-66255%
Lord of the Rings Online posts Echoes of the Dead patch notes
It's almost here: On Monday, March 21st, Lord of the Rings Online will release its next big content update, Echoes of the Dead. Containing a warehouse worth of fixes, features and new content, Echoes of the Dead is looking quite fine indeed. Although we have to wait for the weekend to pass to get our hands on this update, Turbine did go ahead and release the full patch notes for our consumption. Of course, if you've been following along with the many, many developer diaries that Turbine's released over the past few months, you're probably up to speed on all of the major points already. As usual, Turbine's snuck in a few funny notes amid all of the technical details, so it may be worth your while to hunt for comedic Easter eggs in this batch. Our favorite: "The Minstrel's 'Armour of the Silver Voice' set that is obtained in Mirkwood was renamed to 'Armour of the Hopeful Melody.' This sudden change was enacted when the creators of the Helegrod 'Silver Voice Armour' set sought to sue for copyright infringement. As far as we know all charges have been dropped, though Skirmish vendors everywhere intend to keep a very close eye on the Mirkwood barter vendors in the future."
Stinkweed and stars: Wizard101's latest update improves the quality of life
Budding magicians will find Wizard101 a friendlier and more colorful place following the recent February update to the game. Topping the list of additions are two new castles: a cash shop-only tropical island and a craftable Celestial Observatory. The Observatory represents a truly monumental undertaking for the crafting set, although some would argue that the result is well worth the time spent on it. The update's other major focus is on smoothing out some of the lumpy bits of in-game gardening, which now should be much more user-friendly for those with green thumbs. We can safely speak for everyone when we say, "Thank goodness that Stinkweed now grows faster!" Wizard101's also started a membership program for anyone who uses a credit card for their subscription during the previous 30 days. As a reward to players who use this form of payment, KingsIsle will refill their energy faster, increase the size of their backpacks, expand their friends list, and quicken their hatching and crafting timers. You can read the full update notes over at Wizard101.
The home stretch: Trion posts RIFT's beta 7 patch notes
Today marks the beginning of the end: the final beta event for RIFT, which also happens to be the first open beta as well. To kick off this six-day event, Trion Worlds posted another set of lengthy patch notes as the team feverishly works to refine the product before its February 24th head start. From new emotes to UI improvements, there's a little something for everyone here. Probably the largest change overall is with the souls; a good deal of the game's 32 PvE souls received tune-ups and adjustments. Guild features were given a few passes as the team added a few new perks and replaced a number of guild banners. Trion also implemented in-game Twitter functionality, allowing players to tweet their in-game statuses and screenshots to the world. And for the always-vain Dwarves, well, it looks as though RIFT finally got that latest shipment of Botox: "Male Dwarves no longer look so... weathered. Current male Dwarf characters will probably appear to have lost a few years off their face somewhere." You can read the full patch notes on the official forums.
The Road to Mordor: Just around the bend
It's been a few months since the November Update in Lord of the Rings Online, and the natives are restless -- as usual. Some folks are despairing the long wait until Rise of Isengard while others are itching for more challenges to their currently level-capped characters. Then there are the players who are hopelessly lost in Moria and would give their eye teeth for a flashlight. Happily, a new update is just around the bend, code-named Echoes of the Dead. The actual name is Echoes of the Dead too, so I guess that's not such a great code. Over the past couple of weeks, we've started to get a feel for just how large this update is, and after reading through the Bullroarer test notes on Wednesday, I think we're in for a tsunami of a patch. Of course, these patch notes come in the middle of Turbine's carefully spaced dev diaries dealing with each major change or addition, which means that we're a little in the dark as to the specifics of half of this update. That's not going to stop me -- or any of you -- from analyzing, speculating and gesturing excitedly to no one in particular. So let's dig in to this hearty meal of mushrooms and patch notes to see just how deep LotRO's rabbit hole goes!
Warfronts star in the RIFT beta 4 patch notes
As you may or may not have heard, Trion Worlds is unleashing the fourth RIFT beta event today, an event that spans the entire weekend. And as Uncle Ben used to tell us, with great beta events come great patch notes -- so what do players have to look forward to with this update? The most significant change to RIFT's beta is the increase of the level cap -- to 27 -- and the unlocking of the Stonefield and Gloamwood zones. In the prior three events, players were limited to a maximum of level 20 and confined to the two starter areas. This round, players looking for more PvE dungeon goodness should enjoy the Darkening Deeps and Deepstrike Mines, while PvPers will rejoice at the inclusion of Warfronts (Black Garden for level 10 and above, The Codex for level 20 and above). Warfronts are like World of Warcraft's battlegrounds or Warhammer Online's scenarios -- instanced PvP areas where (hopefully) evenly matched teams can go at it under special conditions. There are several quality-of-life improvements rolled into this patch as well. The skill soft queue has been upgraded to a full next ability queue, more hotbars are available, and many of the souls are getting tweaked. You can read the full patch notes here.
C is for Neutral-Aligned Cookie: DDO Update 8 preview patch notes posted
December is right around the corner, and with it, Dungeons and Dragons Online's Update 8. Advance release notes are up for the Lamannia test server, and so far it's safe to say that this patch is the tastiest one yet. Why tasty? Because Turbine is incorporating cookie jars into the game as a way for players to store edible goodies from Festivault without clogging up their inventory. Best of all? This is one treasure chest that nobody can stick his grubby fingers in but you! What else is the studio baking up for the crowd? First up is a new four-mission adventure pack, "Siege of Stormreach," which will give mid-level players an opportunity to defend and ultimately repulse an attack upon the city itself. For players envious of Lord of the Rings Online's cosmetic outfit system, the upcoming armor appearance kits in DDO are sure to earn a few smiles. Like cosmetic hats, cosmetic armor will visually replace your current outfit without stripping you of the outfit's stats. This special armor can be found in chests, traded, and purchased through the DDO store. The lengthy patch notes also include the addition of Rogue hirelings, class racial enhancements for Half-Elves and the usual collection of tweaks and fixes. Hire a Rogue at your own risk, however, as Rogues have a notorious sweet tooth. Silly Rogue hirelings, cookies are for players!
Aion plans eight-hour downtime for 1.9 patch
Aion's 1.9 patch has gotten a lot of press recently, and rightfully so, given the game-changing updates it brings to the table. With the big day officially scheduled for tomorrow, June 2nd, the community team has updated the official site with word on the expected server downtime, which currently stands at eight hours. The servers will go dark at 4:30am PDT at the start of the process, which works out to an estimated 1.9 launch time of 12:30pm PDT tomorrow. Check out the announcement over at the official site, as well as the patch notes. While you're at it, have a gander at some of our 1.9 coverage to get up to speed on the forthcoming changes.
City of Heroes patch tweaks, refines, and fixes
NCsoft released a new patch for City of Heroes/City of Villains and published the update notes on its website yesterday. Like this post's title implies, most of the changes are tweaks, refinements, and fixes. For example, the patch fixed a rather annoying graphical glitch that occurred on the very popular GeForce 8 series video cards.It's not all about bugs, though; there are lots of balance changes to character abilities (like slight nerfs to Fire Control/Cinders and Plant Control/Roots), and a few tweaks to badges (for example, Ourobos missions "will now issue a gold star and the proper badge"). Also notably, you can no longer drag-and-drop items into an allied super-group's storage. This change was made to address an exploit which allowed folks to grief by completely cleaning out others' storage. Various class changes are buried in the notes as well, including further changes to Mastermind pets intended to improve their combat performance.So if you're a player, you'll want to read the notes to make sure you're up to speed. Maintenance is better than nothing, right? The complete notes are included after the jump.
