Help Oceanic Blade & Soul fans by signing this petition
Some folks from fan site Blade & Soul Dojo have started a petition that asks NCsoft to consider an Oceanic server for its upcoming Blade & Soul MMORPG. Given that B&S is action-oriented and given "the way the game's net code was designed," petitioners are hoping for a local server in order to reduce latency and ping problems that "severely...
Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward site updates with new lore
Ready for Final Fantasy XIV's first expansion? You're going to have to wait just a little while longer, since early access starts on June 19th. But you can take a bit of the pressure off the wait by checking out the latest lore reveals on the official expansion site, which dive into the stories behind several prominent figures, the...
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns testing begins today
Are you ready to enter the Heart of Thorns? Because Guild Wars 2 is opening the testing doors today, allowing players to step in and experience a small amount of the expansion's leveling content with a Revenant or the eight extant professions. There are three play windows open today: 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. EDT, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30...
The Daily Grind: How can MMOs design for both vets and newbies?
This morning's Daily Grind question comes to us from Kickstarter donor Specus, who asks,
I've seen many games where new players have trouble joining a game that's been out for a while because the noob zones are almost completely empty. How can we keep the veteran players engaged with the new players?
This is one of the core problems of the...
Not So Massively: Diablo III thieves sentenced; LoL begins automatic bans
League of Legends launched a new system to hand out immediate automatic bans for chat infractions this week, leading to many claims of unfair bans and false positives. The LoL player who stalked and harassed female gamers pled guilty to a string of serious offenses this week in court. Dota 2 finalised the teams for the qualifiers of its...
Roll a Warlock in Dungeons and Dragons Online next month
Time to roll up a new character in Dungeons and Dragons Online! In a new producer's letter, Robert Ciccolini said that the team will be introducing the Warlock class to the game next month. The Warlock is a more sinister class than others with the ability to forge pacts with fiends and other forces in exchange for power.
Ciccolini said...
Sword and Bored: Ninja Loot
Mo downs his first miniboss, only to see one of his "friends" abscond with the loot.
Survival sandbox Novus Inceptio is now on Greenlight
Post-apocalyptic sci-fantasy MMO Novus Inceptio is now on Steam Greenlight. The indie title aims to diverge from current MMO norms and create an "integrated living world" featuring "hardcore suvival action, tactics, and strategy."
The Greenlight description mentions character aging and permadeath, attributes that increase with use and decrease with neglect, and effects such as illnesses, injuries, and exhaustion. All of...
EverQuesting: Learning about Landmark’s dungeons
I thought I saw a dev dungeon reference. I did! I did see a dev dungeon reference! And it's about time.
I have to admit that as much as I have been looking forward to Landmark's future features, dungeons totally slipped my mind. I'd like to think it was because the anticipation of utilizing gamemaster tools to control AI on...
Das Tal continues Kickstarter push with a megaton of new info
Have you been keeping up with Das Tal's Kickstarter updates? The game's crowdfunding drive has hit its midpoint, and Fairytale Distillery has posted everything from an overview of player buildings to "constantly changing worlds." The indie PvP sandbox allows its developers to "create new and diverse servers with unique rule sets all the time," and it allows for player input as well.
There's also...