Issue 34

Hello Again, Gamers! As the excitement of Diablo III finally quells, the MMO world suffered some disturbing news this past week. All of the employees at 38 Studios have officially been laid off as more drama continues to emerge from Curt Schillings disastrous foray into MMO development. Bioware also announced that they had to layoff several developers and will be performing server merges, however this does not spell doom for SWTOR. There are still 1.3 million active players and obviously layoffs are just part of the business (Blizzard did the same thing a few months ago).

Despite these unfortunate events, there is still something to be excited about for World of Warcraft and SWTOR players. More interesting changes are coming out from the recent beta build for MoP and the SWTOR devs (that are still employed) have more details of what to expect in the 1.3 update. There is also some more exciting news for RIFT fans and anyone excited about the upcoming Marvel Heroes MMO.

Also, next week is E3 (June 5 – 7) so hopefully we will get some more exciting news about our favorite games (current and future)! Enjoy!

SOE Puts Your Expressions/Voice on Your EQ2 Avatar

Posted 6/1/12 – This is probably the coolest thing to happen to MMOs since Star Wars: The Old Republic (yes, that is a bias remark, so what, wanna fight about it). Anyhow, Sony Online Entertainment has raised the bar for future MMO features. Using a webcam, you can now implant your facial expressions, movements and voice onto your EQ2 avatar. This is the future of MMOs. I agree with the dev in the interview, any game that considers itself an MMO should have this feature. Follow the links below to read more (the PCGamer link has a video). I don’t even play EQ2 and I am totally geeked out about this!
Massively post | PCGamer Interview

MoP Reputation Changes: Head Enchants Gone!

Posted 5/30/12 – In Mists of Pandaria you will no longer be required to enchant head gear. Blizzard has decided to remove the need to grind a reputation to get a specific head enchant and has thus removed them. Shoulder enchants will now be obtained from Inscription which finally makes Inscription more useful beyond glyphs. Check out the following link to read more about it.
WoW Insider post

SWTOR Devs Talk Update 1.3

Posted 5/30/12 – Despite the release of Diablo III, I am still playing SWTOR and I hope you are too, if not … Come Back! The next update will contain several things many have been waiting on. I’m sure, from a development stand point, there was a reason these kinds of things weren’t available at release; so be that as it may … Group Finder Is Coming!!! Follow the link to find out what other goodies to expect in this next big game update.
Massively post

Trion Trademarks Alludes to RIFT Expansion

Posted 5/30/12 – There was already talk brewing about a possible expansion coming to RIFT and now legal documents have surfaced of Trion purchasing a trademark on the phrase “Storm Legion”. Many speculate that this will be the name of the mysterious new expansion. Considering Blizzard took similar actions for Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria, I’d say this is a pretty sure thing. Follow the link to read more about it. [UPDATED]: I found the link to the official webpage for the expansion – See Second Link below.
Massively post | CONFIRMED

Shameless Plug: Diablo III Revisited

Posted 5/30/12 – Time for another shameless plug for one of my own posts. I have played Diablo III for a couple of weeks now (off and on) and I feel that my time spent playing the game has been sufficient to succinctly state my impression. Please follow the link to read my thoughts though keep in my it is merely just my opinion and its probably in the minority.
Biggs’ Zone post

Marvel Heroes Will Be Diablo-like

Posted 5/28/12 – There are many that are excited about the new superhero MMO on the horizon and recently Gazillion announced that their newest MMO, Marvel Heroes, will have a Diablo-like appearance. The link has a first look video but Gazillion will not be presenting Marvel Heroes at E3. Follow the link to read the article, its very interesting.
Tom’s Hardware article

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