Issue 55: Greetings Gamers! If you are playing WoW then you already know that Patch 5.1 went live recently. If you want to know what was in that patch, MMO-Champion provides a pretty good synopsis. As the dust settles from the flurry of trying to get the best deal, take a moment to check out the latest gaming news or bid farewell to City of Heroes as NCSoft will be shutting down the servers at midnight (PST) on the 30th.

There is more news and rewards for preferred members of SWTOR, a new DCUO update, some new features for MechWarrior Online and more! So if you are done with the Amazon Lightning Deals or have finished your Christmas shopping, or maybe you are just taking a break from it all hopefully there is something you find interesting in this issue of The Times. Read on and game on friends!

(I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please click here to subscribe.)

Blizzard Registers New Domains

Posted 11/30/12 – WoW Insider pointed out some interesting Blizzard activity. They have just registered three new domains: projectblackstone.com, warcraftbattles.com and heroesofwarcraft.com. The last time Blizzard suddenly registered, or trademarked, something, it was “Mists of Pandaria”. Could these be an indication of what is coming for World of Warcraft and/or Project Titan?
WoW Insider post

Massively Bidding Farewell to City of Heroes

Posted 11/30/12 – November 30th is the day City of Heroes players have been dreading for three months. It is the day that NCSoft is shutting down all the servers for the popular MMO. It sucks to see such a well known game get the axe. I decided to provide the following link because I think its neat that Massively is helping to give CoH a proper send off. If you play City of Heroes, or if you’re just curious, check out this post for details of Massively’s CoH send off.
Massively Post

Age of Wushu Recreates 15th Century China

Posted 11/29/12 – As if I didn’t need another reason to check out this game when I can, the devs have given me another spiffy reason. As you will see in the blog post, they have gone to “painstaking” lengths to essentially recreate 15th century China to accommodate the story. The links below will take you to the Massively post but also to the official website which has some examples of their work.
Massively post | Official website

Amazing Screenshots For World of Warships

Posted 11/29/12 – I know there are a few of you out there that are into the Free-2-Play games by wargaming.net. World of Tanks is doing pretty well and seems to be among the more popular of the brands. I should check out World of Warplanes sometime. Now wargaming has decided to tease all of you some more with a new title, World of Warships. Follow the link to check out the amazing in-game images.
Massively post

Players Control Look Of Their Mech

Posted 11/27/12 – A new patch to MechWarrior Online will give players the ability to change the appearance of their mech. This patch, called the Cameo Spec patch, will add paint shop functionality which will allow players to change the external features and cockpit decorations. Another cool feature will be the return of the classic battle announcer from the beloved original MechWarrior games. Follow the link to read more about it.
Massively post

DCUO Game Update 21 Goes Live

Posted 11/27/12 – If you logged into DC Universe Online you may have noticed that there was a patch. SOE applied Game Update 21 to the live servers this week which includes a new PvP map and some small tweaks. The PvP map is only available, however, for those with the Hand of Fate DLC (which any subscriber/Legendary member will get for free). Follow the links below to see more about it.
Massively post | Patch notice

SWTOR Preferred Members Get Quickbars

Posted 11/26/12 – It seems that one of the most controversial decisions that Bioware made about what SWTOR features are locked are the additional quickbars. I admit that one of the reasons I have had a problem getting back into the game on the Free-2-Play option is I feel lost without my additional quickbars. In the next maintenance patch preferred members will receive two additional quickbars. See the link below to read more about this announcement including what will happen if you already used Cartel Coins to unlock the quickbars.
Massively post

I also provide The MMO Times in an e-mail. If you are interested in receiving the e-mail version please click here to subscribe.