Issue 8
Life got busy and I got lazy and fell behind in sending out the MMO Times, although after scanning the headlines from the past week and a half there doesn’t seem to be alot going one (everyone is too busy playing StarCraft II). Be that as it may, I did find enough to provide somewhat of a lengthy issue:
Diablo III Secret to be Revealed at GameCom 2010
It is exciting to provide some Diablo III news because, after StarCraft II, this is the next most anticipated Blizzard release. Director Jay Wilson will hold a press conference at GameCom to reveal “a secret feature of Diablo III”. While I found the link on wow.com, Blizzplanet has the article.
http://www.blizzplanet.com/blog/comments/blizzard_to_reveal_diablo_iii_feature_at_gamescom_2010/
For the WoW Lore-nerds: Cataclysm Faction Traitors
I should warn you, this article does contain audio that unveils lore details that are considered spoilers. There will be two traitors (one from each faction) that will be revealed in Cataclysm. I will let you see the wow.com article to find out to avoid spoiling anything here.
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/09/cataclysm-faction-traitors-revealed/
Cataclysm Still Scheduled for 2010
During an earnings report at Activision-Blizzard, Mike Morheim (Blizzard CEO) still confirms that Cataclysm will still be released before the end of the year. He was quoted as saying that this will be “our best expansion yet”. You can read the whole article at wow.com.
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/06/world-of-warcraft-cataclysm-still-on-track-for-a-2010-release-d/
Mini Deathwing: Possible Collector’s Edition Pet?
I know there is a lot of WoW articles in this issue, I will try to move on to other games very soon but I couldn’t pass up this data-mined item. Its a mini deathwing that is rumored to be the pet for the Collector’s Edition of Cataclysm. The link to the wow.com article has a video of this little guy.
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/06/cataclysm-beta-mini-deathwing-discovered/
Global Agenda Sandstorm Patch
There will be a new patch for Global Agenda (Sandstorm Version 1.36) hitting the live servers soon. There seems to be quite a few changes in this patch including changes to the Agency-vs-Agency system. I’m sure if you are a GA player you probably know what that means. More at Massively.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/12/global-agendas-latest-sandstorm-patch-hits-today/
Aion Pets Revealed!
Big news for Aion players, in their upcoming 2.0 patch (Assault on Balaura) there will be pets. This is quite a lengthy article but it includes several pictures of the new pets and a gallery for quick viewing.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/12/how-much-is-that-drakie-in-the-window-aion-pets-revealed/
NDA for Final Fantasy XIV Beta Testing Lifted
Those people who were fortunate enough to receive beta invites for Final Fantasy XIV are now free to talk about their experiences. This article contains a link to a list of changes made to the recent beta update so if you want to know more you probably want to check it out at Massively.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/12/how-much-is-that-drakie-in-the-window-aion-pets-revealed/
Alganon Goes Free-2-Play
I don’t know why I always find these headlines so interesting, probably just as interesting as finding out about the latest game going into Open Beta. Another MMO makes the paradigm shift to F2P.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/10/alganon-making-the-switch-to-the-full-free-to-play-model/
Beta News
Sad SWTOR Beta News
As some of you may have been aware, last Friday I received an e-mail from Bioware informing me that I had been selected to participate in the testing of Ord Mantell and the trooper and smuggler classes for SWTOR. On Tuesday morning, 4 hours before my test group could begin, we were informed that “due to unforseen circumstances” the testing for my test group had been canceled. I was hoping to be able to provide vague details (because I was obligated under an NDA) about SWTOR. Alas, I have been returned to the queue with everyone else, hoping to be selected again.
Soul Master Begins Open Beta
Soul Master is a free-to-play MMORTS (that is Real Time Strategy) game produced by GamesCampus that has entered into Open Beta today. I can’t imagine anyone that likes to play RTS games doing anything else other then playing StarCraft II right now, but who knows, maybe this will be entertaining too. The link to the massively article is below as well as a link to the Soul Master website if you want a beta key.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/12/soul-master-begins-open-beta/
http://soulmaster.gamescampus.com/
Vindictus Enters Closed Beta
On August 10th, the game Vindictus entered into Closed Beta. I’m not that familiar with this game but apparently there has been screenshots, trailers, gameplay and … “an awesome hat?” You can read more at Massively or check out the website for more details on this beta.
http://www.massively.com/2010/08/11/vindictus-begins-closed-beta/
http://vindictus.nexon.net/
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