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No Soup For You!

Tarib, a Senior Community Manager on the AoC Forums posted this morning with some unfortunate news for those still hoping to get into the early access program.

Hello everyone. We here at Funcom are extremely happy with the demand that has been for our Early Access program. That demand has been so immense, that we are now sold out! We know that several people will be unhappy to not receive their Early Access time, but please bear with us in the remaining days. So:

* All English Early Access has sold out
* Some Early Access still available in Germany and France
* All Virtual items work will work on valid pre-order keys
* Pre-orders on accounts that was later cancelled will have their keys/account disabled

Thank you and look forward to seeing you all in Hyboria very shortly!

For more, please visit AoC Forums.

My guess radar predicts January 2009.

In a press release from Vivendi they state that a 2nd half of 2008 release for the 2nd expansion to World of Warcraft is anticipated. Let's define that. Anticipated = Expected to arrive. So by that definition, Blizzard is expected to deliver the goods within the next 6 months or so. I wouldn't be surprised to see a Blizzard press release soon that goes something like: The 2nd expansion to World of Warcraft is anticipated to be released. (dramatic pause) When it's released.

Very good operating achievements were offset by non recurring or calendar impacts: the first quarter of 2007 included notably the successful launch of the first expansion set World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (the second expansion set is anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008) and the favorable settlement of a tax litigation.

Full press release at Vivendi.

Kill more rats but with a purpose. I like that!

The guys at Gamespy got a chance to experience some WAR content yesterday and are nice enough to let us all in on the fun.

Last night's demo afforded us the opportunity to check out the first few quests from two dramatically differing perspectives: as a newly-minted Dark Elf Disciple of Khaine and as a Dwarf Gadgeteer. Both fulfill similar roles in the abstract assembly line that is the modern MMO: damage-dealing, one (primarily) from a distance, the other at close range. The Gadgeteer at level one is able to "pull" enemies with a rifle blast, then proceed to whack them up close with a spanner once they're within range. Disciples shoot evil magic to bring monsters up close, before laying on them with debuffs and proceeding to mince them.

To read more, please visit GameSpy.

Big Changes Hit the Open Sea

Testbed has gone live with the latest 1.4 Build.

This is a milestone upgrade and, as such, is a large download and contains several changes with broad impact.

Read the release notes at PotBS.

China Earthquake felt by online communities

Game players show support for the tradegdy that struck China this week.

A 7.8 magnitude on the Richter's scale earthquake hit South East China in Sichuan province on Monday, May 12. The earthquake was felt as far away as Beijing and Shanghai, where office buildings swayed with the tremor, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It killed more than 12,000 people and more are reported missing. This news shocked not only us Chinese but also people throughout the world.

A post was created in the forum of Phoenix Dynasty Online and to it tells about the sad news, which infected lots of players. They all replied the post with white flowers to express their deep sorrow and kind wish over this disaster. Soon this post was forwarded to other game forum like Legend of Golden Plume and get strong response as well.

In game players also express their condolences. The whole server of Phoenix Dynasty Online observed one minute of silence to mourn over the deaths. The blessings overseas bring us to the understanding that we are not alone in this devastating disaster.

Now troops have arrived in Wenchuan County at the epicenter, which was largely cut off by the quake. And heavy rain, which has hampered rescue operations for two days, come to an end. The massive search and rescue operation is under way. We thank all of the players who participated this and hope everything will be fine soon.

To read player posts, please visit the forums at PDO.

And also LoGP.

Time to shine!

3 Lives Left receives money to help their new project (The Ark) get up and running.

3 Lives Left has been granted 600,000 Danish Crowns (app. $125,000) to create a demo of our game concept The Ark by New Danish Screen.

"We are extremely pleased with the faith that New Danish Screen has shown our team and our game concept," says technical director and co-founder Gorm Lai.

3 Lives Left is an indie game company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and founded in the fall of 2007

All the grant-winners were revealed at the Nordic Game Conference 2008 in Malmö, Sweden.

"This capital is extremely important to us. It ensures that we can get this project off the ground, and it will serve as foundation for further development, " says Gorm Lai.

The grant comes from a pool of capital, which has been earmarked for innovative game concepts for children. The money is intended to fuel the growth of the Danish game development community and is administrated by New Danish Screen, a sub-division of the Danish Film Institute.

The Ark is a multi-player online game concept, which takes place in an immense underground city. The city was created to ensure the survival of life on earth during World War III. Now humanity uses absurd genetic modifications to survive and fight a bitter internal battle to return to the surface of the earth, and emerge as the genetic forefathers of human kind.

The game is a tactical multi-player online role-playing game with a persistent interface, but where all the action takes place in instances. Players can battle the computer or each other. During combat, players can use bizarre genetic implants such as tentacle-arms or pogo-stick legs, giving entirely new dimensions to the tactical aspects.

"Our concept has potential, because we have chosen a radically different style of graphics and gameplay. We are not developing a multi-million dollar concept, and thus aren't competing on the number of polygons or stunning visual effects in our game. Our game simply won't look like anything else on the market. We have also chosen a robust business model, which we hope will ensure that we reach our goals as an independent," says Gorm Lai.

For more, please visit 3 Lives Left.

The Steam Age is Coming!

NeoSteam enters open beta next week and will play host with a variety of fun events to kick off the occasion.

Good news Steamers! Neosteam will start its OBT on May 20 at 10:00 (+9GMT).

Be reminded that all CBT characters will be wiped out but you can still use the same accounts in OBT.
Be also reminded that the date of OBT can still be moved to make sure that the OBT will run smoothly.
Expect more events coming your way in OBT!

See you all in OBT!

For more, please visit NeoSteam.

Live Gamer Exchange to Power RMT in The Agency and Free Realms

Sony Online Entertainment and Live Gamer announce a partnership to expand transaction-based game play to additional titles.

SEATTLE, WA – May 14, 2008 – Live Gamer, the premier operator of a publisher-supported marketplace for real money trading of virtual items, has announced it has entered into an agreement with Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) to offer real money trading (RMT) in the upcoming titles published by SOE -- The Agency™ and Free Realms™. The two companies are leading the evolution of the gaming industry into transaction-based business models that open emergent game play styles for gamers and opportunities for publishers.

Live Gamer's service, called Live Gamer Exchange™, will provide the SOE gaming community within these new games with a trusted way to conduct real-money transactions. Earlier this year, Live Gamer incorporated SOE's proven Station Exchange technology, the first publisher-developed and sanctioned RMT marketplace, into its own e-commerce platform. The Live Gamer Exchange is currently operating within EverQuest® II, SOE's popular MMORPG (www.livegamer.com)

The next genre of SOE MMOGs to incorporate the Live Gamer Exchange will include:
The Agency, a fast-paced online action shooter, will let players experience the life of an elite espionage agent with a "you are what you wear" level of customization. As they travel to exotic locales, infiltrate enemy organizations, and seek global domination for their own agency, gamers will be able to customize their characters through attire, weaponry, gadgets, vehicles, gear and aliases that tailor their game play.

Free Realms, a whimsical fantasy adventure game targeted toward families, will be free to play and offer a catalog of items made by and for players to customize their avatars as much as they wish. The Live Gamer Exchange will provide a new and efficient mechanism for trading these items within the game.

Said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, "We are actively exploring free-to-play and other revenue models, and always looking for new ways to engage and entertain gamers. Live Gamer is a proven partner that protects and supports our gamers who participate in RMT. We trust them to handle this area of the business for us so that we can focus on creating and growing our games."

"SOE pioneered the MMO genre and continues to evolve it by offering new game play experiences, revenue models and expanded demographic appeal. Live Gamer is proud to be a key part of the movement toward transaction-based game play," said Live Gamer co-founder and president, Andrew Schneider. "We're now building on the launch of the Live Gamer Exchange with EverQuest II, and expanding our relationship with SOE to power additional games including these two titles for which the idea of RMT has been built in from the very early stages of design."

For more information please visit, Live Gamer.

And you thought those folio skills were only good for movies!

The Austin American Statesman got an interview with Tracy Bush, audio director for NCSoft's North American headquarters. Ever wonder where some of the neat sounds in Tabula Rasa came from? Find out!

Tracy Bush strides into his cramped office with a frying pan in one hand and an electric razor in the other.

"Let me show you something," he says as he turns on the razor, scraping it against the bottom of a Teflon frying pan.

Zzzwwwaaa. It's a whining, metallic sound, like a cross between a mower and chainsaw. But Bush hears something else.

"If you take the same sound and pitch it down a couple of octaves, suddenly you've got this huge, great (alien space) ship exhaust sound," Bush said. "All from stuff you'd find around the house."

Read the rest of the interview here.

Hear it straight from ION2008!

The offical SOE Podcast number 35 is here! Yay!

Hear from Linda “Brasse” Carlson from thebrasse.com, we also would like to re-release our interview with Laralyn McWilliams from the Free Realms team. We chat about our ION Conference trip and EQII’s Update 45. Jason Ryan’s news gives us all of the info from many of the SOE titles unfortunately this Podcast some of the info is a tad out dated…! Ashlanne loses her gamer card stick to the forums to find out how you can help her get it back

To listen in, check out Station.com.