Issue 9
I am now back on track and trying to remain on time. Here is the latest info on whats going on in MMOs. Lots of new stuff is starting to pour out from GamesCom so there might be an immediate issue of MMO Times coming again soon, in a similar fashion to the Comic-Con issue.
Jedi Advanced Classes Confirmed
I am not ashamed to admit, when I see new information released about Star Wars The Old Republic, I become giddy as a school girl. Bioware announced there will be advanced classes for Jedi Knights; Sentinels and Guardians. The link has a short video of, what appears to be, in-game footage of the Jedi Knight class. The music just gets my heart racing. Check it out at Massively.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/13/bioware-confirms-jedi-advanced-classes/
PWE Working on Battle of the Immortals Expansion
Its peculiar to hear that Perfect World Entertainment is already talking about an expansion for Battle of the Immortals when I’m pretty sure this game just came out. I think I beta tested this game briefly until I upgraded my OS and just never got around to installing it again. The article says that they are talking expansion to respond to player suggestions and concerns about the game to improve the player experience.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/13/first-expansion-coming-to-battle-of-the-immortals/
Jedi Knights Get Companions
Where would Luke Skywalker be without R2-D2? Escaping from Cloud City or the plan to rescue Han, Leia and Chewie from Jabba’s Sail Barge certainly would not have been possible without his trusty astromech droid. It seems to me that an astromech droid is a Jedi’s swiss army knife and apparently the dev’s at Bioware agree as it was announced that Jedi Knights will receive Astromech Driods as companion pets in The Old Republic.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/15/swtor-finds-a-companion-for-the-jedi-knight/
Warhammer Patch Introduces Appearance System
I thought this was a pretty cool game mechanic. In the next patch for Warhammer Online, players will be able to further personalize their gear and equipment in the new appearance system. There is a link in the article to a developer diary that provides further explanations and describes several nuances about this new system. Check it out.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/14/the-details-on-playing-dress-up-in-warhammer-onlines-upcoming-p/
EverQuest II Expansion to have Flying Mounts
If EQ fans didn’t have enough to celebrate with the EQNext and EQII Extended announcements, now they will be reeling over EQII getting flying mounts. I have not played either of these games but if you are at all familiar with the MMO genre, then you have no doubt heard of EverQuest. While I’m sure EQNext and EQII Extended are just project names and not the offical names of the expansions, additional details about what will be available in these expansion will continue to be unveiled. The article at Massively is kinda long, but has more information.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/16/the-tattered-notebook-flying-mounts-and-whats-next/
Age of Empires Online
This is not a joke. Microsoft announced at GamesCom that they will be producing an Age of Empires Online, because Microsoft can’t help themselves but stick their nose into everyone’s business. They should have learned from the Zune that not everything they make is as good or better then the original. What’s next, World of Flight Simulator (hmm, maybe I should patent that before Micro$oft does). I am going to provide the link to the Massively article before I go on my soapbox about how pathetic I think Microsoft is sometimes.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/17/microsoft-announces-age-of-empires-online/
Cataclysm Collector’s Edition Announced
Blizzard has just announced the Cataclysm Collector’s Edition that will be available for puchase for $79.99 at retail stores only. There is still no release date but we are still being told that the expansion will be released before the end of the year. The link below to wow.com has the press release as well as the contents of the collector’s edition.
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/17/cataclysm-collectors-edition-contents-announced/
New SWTOR Space Combat Video
Bioware has released a new space combat video to tease us with. This video looks much better then the previous video and it looks awesome! The graphics quality looks incredible. Check it out.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/17/bioware-teases-tor-space-combat-video/
Guild Wars 2 Gameplay Video
Guild Wars fans everywhere are pounding the website that is streaming the latest video released showing gameplay footage of Guild Wars 2. There is a video imbedded in the Massively article but I don’t know how good the stream will be considering how hard the site is getting hit. Check it out.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/17/first-video-of-guild-wars-2-gameplay-released/
Going Live! – Read below to see what games/patches/expansions have recently gone live.
City of Heroes: Going Rogue
August 16th – The City of Heroes expansion, Going Rogue, has gone live and apparently a day early. Players that have pre-ordered the expansion were reporting that they have full access to the new content. The expansion was originally intended to go live on the 17th.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/16/an-early-release-for-city-of-heroes-going-rogue/
Warhammer Patch 1.3.6
August 17th – In this issue I was talking about the new Appearance System that has been implemented into the newest patch for Warhammer online and just a day after reading about that the patch goes live.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/17/warhammer-online-drops-1-3-6-today/
LOTRO F2P Launch Date
September 10th – Turbine announced early in the morning the official launch date for Lord of the Rings Online Free-2-Play launch date, September 10th. Since its been announced in June that LOTRO would be going F2P, people have been chomping at the bit to know when this will happen.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/18/lord-of-the-rings-online-f2p-launch-date-announced/
Beta News
Iris Online Opens Beta Registration
A new F2P game from Gala-Net, Iris Online, has been opened for beta registration. There is no news yet regarding the day that the beta will begin, just an unspecified time in the future. According to the article this game uses a “tarot-based set of mechanics” and allows players to change into monsters “via a card system”. Apparently I’m not completely up to speed on the nomenclature to know what any of that means. Here is the article and the site link.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/17/iris-online-opens-registration-for-beta-testing/
http://iris.gpotato.com/
I also provide the MMO Times as part of an e-mail mailing list (manually maintained for the time being). If you are interested in receiving the e-mail please let me know.
Issue 133: Welcome to the start of the fourth quarter of the year. Just think, in 3 months time it will be 2016 (and we will all be regaling about The Force Awakens and how awesome Kylo Ren is). First, before we are fully immersed in the extraordinary Star Wars universe, we must first have BlizzCon. Unfortunately that also is still a few weeks away, but the road to BlizzCon has begun. Don’t forget to get your tickets and pick up your goodie bag!
Issue 53: Greetings Gamers! As you will see after the break, this has been a pretty busy week because it feels like everything (except the kitchen sink) is getting an update and, finally, the launch of the SWTOR Free-2-Play option and Update 1.5. I am surprised that the 5.1 update for Mists of Pandaria has not been released yet. It seems like it has been on the PTR forever!
