Issue 86: Hello Again, Gamers! I hope the RNG has been awarding you phat lootz this week, and if not then curse that damn RNG and the algorithm it rolled in on! Be that as it may, the news hasn’t been too bad this week. Granted we are still a week away from Gamescom but there are some expansion and patch updates for several of your favorite games (I hope, though not much FFXIV news this issue, sorry Josh).
Some of the games with expansion news include WoW and Age of Wushu. An exciting announcement for any Civilization fans out there. More info about the Elder Scrolls Online MMO and an interesting new mechanic for RIFT players. I hope these headlines meet to all of your satisfaction and if you find a headline that I may have missed then please post it in the comments.
Keep up the good Pwning!!
New 5.4 Feature: Connected Realms
Posted 8.5.13 – Blizzard just announced, via a blue post so you know its legit, a new feature coming to Patch 5.4. They are calling it “Connected Realms” and it suppose to help with all the low-pop servers. Basically it combines several servers that have a low population into one main server where players and group and join guilds with players on different servers. It’s kind of a spin off of the technology they use for their Cross Realm Zones. It will be interesting to see how they handle character and guild names. Here is the blue post to read more of the details.
WoWHead post
Comparing ESO to Skyrim
Posted 8.5.13 – I know it sounds strange to compare an MMO to a first person model, and I know that Skyrim is part of the ES universe, but this article suggests that Elder Scrolls Online is almost like a Skyrim MMO. I know how wildly popular Skyrim has become which is actually what drew my attention to this article. The other thing that I found interesting in this article is the change to zooming in to character perspective. In previous iterations, and most other MMOs, when you zoom all the way in you only see spell effects. The recent build allows you to see your character’s hands and/or weapons. This is a long article, but really interesting.
Polygon article
SWTOR Titan’s of Industry Live!
Posted 8.6.13 – Game Update 2.3 for SWTOR went live this week. This patch expands more on the Czerka Corporation story line, a new daily quest hub, more flashpoints, the new Ewok companion and other new goodies. The best thing of all, though, is the taming of your own tauntaun! Yes, now you can go claim your own tauntaun mount on Hoth (the logical place to pick one up). I am very excited! As usual, Darth Hater has a comprehensive list of patch notes for you to check out.
Darth Hater post
Siege of Orgrimmar Have Heirloom Drops
Posted 8.7.13 – I think its is a pretty interesting loot change Blizzard is making in the final raid in Mists of Pandaria. The new Hellscream weapons that will drop in the Seige of Orgrimmar raid will be Heirloom weapons that are valid for levels 90 – 100. Obviously this alludes to the fact that the next max level cap will be 100 (which is really hard to believe level 100). I don’t know what the drop rate will be but you won’t be able to get them in LFR; they will only be available in Heroic, Normal and Flex raids. I wonder how long before Blizzard changes their mind on that limitation after all the LFR-only “raiders” start crying relentlessly. Personally I think its a great idea to reward the dedicated raiders of the game.
WoW Insider post
There Will Be A Civilization MMO
Posted 8.8.13 – If you are a fan of the Civilization games then perhaps this will excite you. XL Games announced recently that Civilization Online will be an MMO style game. It doesn’t seem to be PvP oriented, which many were expecting based on the games play model. You will be a citizen that will build reputation with other citizens to rise to power (achieving such titles as commander, diplomat, or world leader). The article I found is actually pretty interesting also from a games mechanic perspective so even if you are not a Civ fan, you might want to check it out anyway.
Warcry article
Sell Trophies to Your RIFT Alts
Posted 8.8.13 – I’m not sure I completely understand the mechanic that this post is talking about. I’ve never played RIFT so perhaps that might be part of the reason for my lack of comprehension. So I guess there will be a “store section” added to the game where you can “sell” your achievements only to your alts. I’m not sure what one would gain by buying achievements for your alts but maybe this is a good thing? Feel free to enlighten me.
Massively post
Age of Wushu Expansion Launches
Posted 8.8.13 – I know I have talked previously about the Age of Wushu expansion, Legends of Mount Hua. Regardless, the expansion is officially live. The expansion includes the new Youyun Sixteen Area Prefectures Battle Arena (that’s a mouth full), which is a 40 man PvP battleground and the new 18-man instance (and more). The posts has the trailer as well as a gallery of images showing some of the features of the expansion.
Massively post
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