Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Cryptic has just announced new costume pieces for Champions Online! These new costume pieces are free and will be available next Tuesday (11/24/09) in the upcoming patch. From being able to sling an electric guitar on your back (or a giant axe!), new capes, new helmets, and many more, these new pieces will just add even more choices to CO's costume creator. For a look at the new costume pieces, click here.

A new Bosstiary is up and reveals a lot of info behind the bosses. To me it doesn't give a lot of "new" info or anything more than the maps/boss locations, but it's still pretty cool.

They say that knowledge can be a greater boon than even the most powerful spells, or armor, or weapons. The battles that lie ahead beyond the gates of Icecrown will test your mettle like none before, and you will need all the help you can get. So arm yourself with knowledge, and discover the truth about the dangers that await you within the Frozen Halls in our new Icecrown Dungeon Bosstiary.

The Bosstiary awaits over at the official site.

Pilgram's Bounty is coming up soon. Are you ready to stuff your face with food? I hope so!

Come celebrate Pilgrim's Bounty with us! It's a time for reflecting on your journeys and good fortune, sharing plentiful food and stories with friends. This holiday is also great for leveling up your cooking skills with daily quests to improve your craft. Pilgrim’s Bounty runs from November 22-28th -- be sure to check your in-game calendar for exact times. To learn more about the holiday, go to our new Pilgrim's Bounty page.

The WoW Site Pilgram's Bounty page gives a basic overview.

Looks like Blizzard has posted up their thoughts on the design decisions when it comes to Icecrown. The lengthy interview posted today goes over some interesting bits about Icecrown, items, and encounters. There isn't a lot new in it, but it's still worth a read.

What sorts of new loot and item abilities will we see in Icecrown?

Greg: There are three main sources of loot for Icecrown: the bosses themselves, the Emblem of Frost badge vendors, and a new faction, the Ashen Verdict, that will provide suitable rewards as well, particularly at the Exalted level.

As far as the items themselves go, we want them to feel epic. In addition to having favorable optimization, we also want to try a lot of experiments to make the items feel cool and unique. We are going to try to do a lot of weapon procs, for instance, which is something we haven't done much since the original World of Warcraft.

Read more at the Icecrown Interview page at the official site.

Star Trek Online has released the second video of Starship Tactics over at IGN. The new video is a continuation of the first Starship Tactics video. Senior game designer Zeke Sparkes and producer Daniel Stahl explain player control with power distribution and combat. Boarding parties are in and this video will tell you how they work.

• Check out the new video here.

BioWare has released the 20th issue of its Star Wars: The Old Republic webcomic, Threat of Peace. In the latest comic, Lord Angral discovers some new information about Lord Baras and turns back to face him. On Nar Shaddaa, Jedi Master Orgus Din faces the Bounty Hunter Braden. Find out more in this week's Threat of Peace.

Bounty Bay Online will be launching its newest add-on November 25th, 2009. With the latest content addition comes the new high level Mayan group instance. Located deep within the South American rainforest, the capital Mayan city is home to many precious relics, bloody rituals, and a multitude of dangers for players to overcome.

On 25th November the latest and up to now the most comprehensive ever add-on for Bounty Bay Online will be available on the servers. With the release of the add-on, 'Beyond the Horizon' next Wednesday, high level players will enter the demanding Maya group instance for the first time.

Hidden deep in the South American rainforest lies Salinas, the capital city of the Mayan civilisation. In the hinterland beyond this mysterious city, in the middle of the both beautiful and treacherous tropical landscape, impressive pyramids rise up to meet the sky. They are ancient silent witnesses to long-forgotten knowledge, unspeakable riches, but also bloody rituals. A few Mayan warriors still roam this territory today, guarding over precious relics and monuments of their culture, shrouded in legend. Players battle through this danger-ridden jungle full of viperous creatures until they finally reach the entrance to the Maya instance, right in the heart of the hinterland. This is where a daunting tropical territory awaits, in which aggressive ghost beings, predatory animals and yet more Mayan warriors lie in wait, guarding a mysterious treasure.

Together with the instance, 'Beyond the Horizon' will also render the existing dungeons, such as the Mallorca Cave and the Cretan Labyrinth, playable by groups for the first time. Besides that, all instances in Bounty Bay Online will offer daily, well-rewarded quests with the upcoming expansion.

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Now that patch 1.5.1 has gone live addressing some major concerns of the playerbase, it is time to look forward to future improvements What could those be? Aion CM Tamat tells the community to keep an eye out...

On November 24th, we will be showing a movie that demonstrates the future of Aion with actual gameplay

I'll certainly be glued to my screen on the 24th to find out what this could be! Any thoughts? Will it be new zones, maybe quest additions? Can we hope for new content to fill in some of the gaps that currently exist?

Share what you think the future has in store by clicking the "Post your comments" link below.

In what should come as no surprise, Daelo from Blizzard, announced that Icecrown Citadel is going to be gated in much the same way TotC was. What this means is that the whole raid will not open up when it is released. Instead a new wing will open up every few weeks, and heroic mode will not be available until you defeat the whole raid.

Icecrown Citadel testing has been progressing very well over the last few weeks, and this has been a huge help to the encounter design team. We want to thank everyone who has logged onto the PTR and tried the encounters there.

As we're now getting closer to the release of 3.3.0, we wanted to talk about our plans for access progression within Icecrown Citadel. Icecrown Citadel is going to be broken up into four distinct sections: The Lower Spire, Plagueworks, Crimson Hall, and Frostwing Halls. We plan on releasing these four sections of Icecrown Citadel over time and not all immediately when patch 3.3.0 goes live. At this point we can't give precise dates for these release dates as they are determined by when patch 3.3.0 goes live. Once dates are known with more certainty, I'll update the community so they can plan appropriately.

The first section that opens will include the Lord Marrowgar, Lady Deathwhisper, Icecrown Gunship Battle, and Deathbringer Saurfang encounters. Progress beyond that point will be prevented for several weeks. Then the Plagueworks will open with Rotface, Festergut, and Professor Putricide becoming available. After another period of time, the Crimson Hall will open and you can then fight the Blood Princes and Blood-Queen Lana'thel. The final Frostwing Halls unlock then occurs after that, making Valithria Dreamwalker, Sindragosa, and the Lich King available. We believe a staggered release of the content will allow players to experience Icecrown Citadel at a sustainable, measured, and ultimately more enjoyable pace.

There are other elements that gate access along the way. Players may not attempt any Heroic versions of 10 player encounters until they have defeated the Lich King in a 10 player raid. Similarly, players must defeat the Lich King in a 25 player raid before they can attempt a Heroic 25 player encounter. So players must master every normal difficulty encounter in Icecrown Citadel before attempting Heroic difficulty.

The Lich King may not be attempted until Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, and Sindragosa are defeated. Furthermore, the Heroic difficulty of The Lich King encounter may not be attempted in any week unless the three aforementioned encounters have been defeated in Heroic difficulty that week.

The Ashen Verdict provides reinforcements and material for players to assault Icecrown Citadel, but this support is not endless. Raids will have a limited number of attempts total each week to defeat the four most difficult encounters in Icecrown Citadel: Professor Putricide, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, Sindragosa, and the Lich King. As these boss encounters are unlocked, the number of attempts available per week will increase. The initial number of attempts provided for defeating Professor Putricide is only five. When Blood-Queen Lana'thel unlocks, the amount of total attempts remaining will increase to 10. Then when Sindragosa and the Lich King unlock, 15 total attempts will be available to defeat all four bosses. After a raid has exhausted their attempts for the week, the Ashen Verdict must withdraw their support and the four most difficult bosses all despawn and become unavailable for the week. The limited attempt system is a feature of both Normal and Heroic difficulty.

There will be no explicit rewards for defeating the Lich King with a specific number of attempts remaining as there was with Trial of the Grand Crusader. There will also not be an achievement to complete Icecrown Citadel without being defeated by a boss encounter, or letting a raid member die. (i.e. A Tribute to Insanity).

In the weeks and months after all twelve encounters are unlocked, additional attempts against the final four boss encounters become available. This represents the Ashen Verdict growing more powerful and gaining a stronger foothold in Icecrown Citadel. To further help raids, Varian Wrynn and Garrosh Hellscream will begin to provide assistance by inspiring the armies attacking Icecrown Citadel. This is represented as an additional zone wide spell effect applied to all players that will increase their hit points, damage dealt, and healing done. This effect will also increase in effectiveness over time. Players may opt out of the spell's effect if they so wish.Source

Cryptic has announced the open beta dates for its upcoming sci-fi-based MMOG, Star Trek Online. Open beta will begin on January 12 and run through January 26th, 2010. Keys for open beta will be first come first serve and available at startrekonline.com.

We're all very happy to be able to let you know that Star Trek Online will be in Open Beta from January 12 - January 26, 2010. Keys will be given out on a first come, first served basis, and can be acquired right here on startrekonline.com. We know you've all been eagerly anticipating your chance to experience the Star Trek Universe in a way that only Star Trek Online will allow, and we can't wait for you all to beam aboard this great adventure in January!

 

The Lord of the Rings Online will be getting a few skill upgrades with the new Siege of Mirkwood expansion. The latest developer diary outlines the changes to classes that will result in some getting new skills and others will receive a skill upgrade.

With the decision to place the main focus of the systems work for Siege of Mirkwood™ on our basic combat and item advancement systems, we had to re-evaluate what that would mean for class skills and how changing or adding to them would alter the balance we were looking for with the other changes. Turning too many dials at once can lead to unintended and, very often, unexpected consequences! We knew this overhaul would be necessary to complete the process we began in Moria that ensures the long-term advancement of characters in LOTRO. As a result the decision was made to scale back plans for the classes themselves. We appreciate how this may be disappointing to some of you, though we do hope the overall improvement to combat results in a new and rewarding gameplay experience.

Despite this, each class is getting either a new skill or skill upgrade at level 62. For the most part these new skills are focused on utility rather than combat. With all that said let’s look at the skill upgrades coming in Siege of Mirkwood!

• Read the full diary here.

Could we see a Call of Duty MMOG in the future? It's certainly a possibility according to a new L.A. Times article. The recent story details the successful launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but the end of the article is what might catch most MMOG gamers attention.

One person close to the company said it also was considering adapting Call of Duty as a massively multi-player online world. The genre, in which Activision's Blizzard Entertainment subsidiary is a leader, requires huge upfront investments but can be very profitable as players pay a monthly subscription fee.

While not showering NCsoft with praise for Aion, Gamespy provides a moderately favorable review of the game in their latest Consensus. I appreciate the fact that they waited two months after launch to complete the review and the author definitely spent a good chunk of time in the game. Overall the positives outweigh the negatives for the reviewer:

So why do I recommend Aion, despite its shortcomings? It's a well put-together package that only falters in that it sticks to the same formulas that I've seen in MMOs since their inception. It's a highly polished experience that will satisfy if you're looking for yet another MMO, albeit one with a few more bells and whistles.

Receiving a B-/C+ grade, Aion lands towards the lower end of the Gamespy scale versus other MMOGs. I may disagree when reviewing the scores provided to some of the other MMOGs in their list, but scores are very subjective. There is always room for improvement though, right? Read the rest of the Consensus Review and then weigh in with your thoughs. We can always discuss the fairness of the reviews too.

The flood of developer diaries on the changes coming to The Lord of the Rings Online with the Siege of Mirkwood expansion continues today with the newest diary detailing changes to the character panel. Character stats will be going through a few changes as well and Turbine detailed those in today's diary with stat adjustments, changes to stances, and a lot more.

We want to have a clear delineation between Offensive stances and Defensive stances. Given the increased importance of shields for defensive purposes, a change to the Guardian’s Overpower skill is required. Guardians will no longer be able to use Shields while in Overpower stance. As part of this change, Overpower-based legacies will no longer appear on one handed weapons. Players will find new Legacy Exchange scrolls in the Guardian Trainer shop inventory that will exchange Overpower-based legacies on existing Legendary Items for new legacies.

• Read the full diary here.

THQ*ICE has released details for a new Thanksgiving Feast even in Dragonica Online. The new harvest-themed event will feature new games and accomplishments for players to earn and enjoy. The event will also feature increased experience on November 17th and 18th and provide players a chance to earn their own turkey balloon.

Wheat fields are golden and lush with crop. Fisheries are stocked with the bounty of the sea. Teaming herds of cattle and flocks of chickens graze together on the changing landscape. The farmers of El Grego and the game hunters of Angrakka all know the meaning of these signs: The harvest season has come to the lands of Dragonica. 

• Read more here.

The latest developer diary for The Lord of the Rings Online outlines new combat changes that will be implemented with its coming expansion Siege of Mirkwood. Among one of the new changes is weapon speed, which has been standardized to make other weapons more desirable for use. Changes to the skill queue process will also be implemented with the goal of making combat more fluent.

We have updated skill queue processing to ensure that the execution of auto-attack skills is much more consistent. Previously, it was possible to starve out the auto-attacks or have auto-attacks delay the execution of your chosen skills, depending on your play style. Further prioritization and more aggressive management of combat animations makes it a lot more difficult to do either of these things so, overall, players should be a lot closer in terms of effectiveness.

• Read the full developer's diary here.

Turbine has dropped its Non-Disclosure Agreement for The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood and now information from the game's latest expansion is free to flow to the masses.Be sure to check out what Ten Ton Hammer's Medawky had to say about his experience.

We are pleased to announce the Non-Disclosure Agreement for the Siege of Mirkwood Beta has been lifted, and our beta players are free to talk about their experiences in the beta! We hope all of our players enjoy the Skirmish event tonight, and look forward to your feedback and discussion! (Beta participants, please see this post for important information before you begin posting and discussing!)

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Aion's Game Update 1.5.1 goes live later tonight bringing many changes, some welcomed wholly and other setting off apprehension.

Likely one of the biggest changes that has gotten cheers is the boost to drop rates in instanced dungeons, including a big increase to the final boss mobs. For players who have made repeated instance runs without any final reward, those days are over!

Another change that was prompted by the community outcry is the alteration to experience gain. Players will enjoy greater XP reward for their troubles in game in selected areas, giving a break to the mid-level player grind.

We are bringing the Aion servers down at 3:30 a.m. PST, November 18, 2009 for scheduled maintenance and the implementation of the 1.5.1 game update.

The maintenance is estimated to take no longer than 4 hours.

Get the scoop on the 1.5.1 update here and some of the last minute additions, including the aether gathering captcha update, here.

Sony Online Entertainment has unveiled the lore for Kernagir, The Shining City in EverQuest: Underfoot, the latest expansion to the world of Norrath. Inhabited mainly by the dwarves, Coldain, gnomes, goblins, and gnolls, Kernagir is considered a city where the chosen of Brell Serillis go to live out eternity.

While other races have occasionally been granted access, Kernagir is mainly inhabited by dwarves, Coldain, gnomes, goblins, gnolls and other craftsmen of several trades. The highest tier of denizens in the city are the designers and architects, those whose inspirations and ideas fill the worlds of Brell's creatures with incredible innovations. With unlimited natural resources at their disposal and unlimited time to work with them, these crafters are free for their creative pursuits.

• Read the full lore here.

Cryptic has been hard at work in preparation for the February launch of Star Trek Online. The Star Trek Online website recently got a face lift and the game's box art has been finalized. The new box art features a member of Starfleet and the famed Federation logo. Sorry Klingons, the box art only features the Federation, so you'll have to conquer the galaxy without cool art work.

• Check out the new website here.

 

WOW! Maybe it's just my age, but I remember the A-Team and Mr. T being one of the coolest things on TV while I was growing up. This makes this one of the coolest promos Blizzard has run. Find out how to claim your own "Mohawk Greanade"!

"You gotta choice, Jack. You can watch Mr. T's new TV commercial???or you can HURT." Mr. T, outraged that any fools would doubt his hacking skills, has returned to World of Warcraft to show off his latest invention in a series of nationally televised ads. Watch them here first at Blizzard's YouTube channel or click to learn more about the mohawk grenade and how you can claim your own in-game.

You can find all the information Here, and the video here.

Fallen Earth, LLC, and Icarus Studios have announced the development of a new cross-platform application for the iPhone that will let players connect to servers for their MMOG, Fallen Earth. The new application will allow players to connect remotely and view their in-game character stats, trade skills, mutations, and more. The new application is scheduled to release in the first quarter of 2010.

FALLEN EARTH, LLC, and Icarus Studios Inc., developers of the self-titled massively multiplayer online game (MMO), announced today the development of a cross-platform iPhone application, which allows players to connect into the live game server and interact with the game remotely via their iPhone.

Through the new iPhone application, players will have constant access to Fallen Earth, which has been one of the most critically acclaimed releases this year. Through its interactive features, the application will allow Fallen Earth players to view their in-game character stats, mutations and trade skills as well as provide access to equipped and stored items. Players will also have the capacity to view maps for each of the three sectors in the 1,000 square kilometers of the game’s landscape.

"Fallen Earth fans will have the ability to interact with the game when away from their PCs in a way never before seen in an MMO," said Dave Haydysch, Project Manager of Fallen Earth. "With the Fallen Earth iPhone app, players will be able to play many aspects of the game in real-time while on-the-go."

Scheduled for release in Q1 of 2010, the application will feature extensive real-time management of several key in-game systems. Players will be able to manage their crafting queue, view recipes, craft items, buy and sell items at the Auction House as well as interact with friends, Clan members and other online players through multiple chat channels, mail and private messaging.

Keep up to date with all the Fallen Earth action on the Facebook and Twitter pages.

 

With the launch of The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood less than two weeks away, the developers over at Turbine have been busy pumping out developer diaries on a number of topics. The two latest developer diaries outline changes in the new main menu to help with launching things like skirmishes without cluttering up the UI too much. The new changes to the menu system will also allow more customization options.

As LOTRO grows and new UI features are developed, like the new Skirmish Join and Skirmish panels, we have found that we can't just keep adding buttons to the toolbar at the bottom of your screen (or the border of your Radar) to launch the new panels. With this in mind, we set out to create a way for you to launch the new (and existing) features, which will support current needs and allow for future expansion.

The second diary explores one of the key focus points of the new expansion with the fortress of Dol Guldur. Tsieng Liu, from the LotRO Dungeon Team, explains the lore behind the fortress of Sauron and what kind of various content it will offer player who brave the dark fortress.

Dol Guldur is the fortress where Sauron dwelt when he was known as “The Necromancer.” It’s an old fortress that is now full of the foul servants of the Enemy on the edge of Mirkwood forest. It is in this region that the elves of Lothlórien are mounting an offensive in order to keep the Enemy from penetrating their forests.

Lineage 2 will be getting its newest expansion Gracia Epilogue on Tuesday, November 17, 2009. With the release of the game's newest expansion comes a one-time offer for new and returning subscribers. Anyone who signs up for a six- or twelve-month subscription to Lineage II from November 10, 2009 until December 15, 2009 will be able to earn extra game time.

Lineage II is offering a one-time bonus to celebrate the launch of Gracia™ Epilogue. Anyone who signs up to for a six- or twelve-month subscription to Lineage II from November 10, 2009 until December 15, 2009 will get extra free game time! This game time can be stacked onto your current subscription plan, so everyone can take advantage of this great money-saving opportunity.

Log in to your NCsoft® Master Account, go to your Lineage II game account page, and take advantage of this limited-time offer while it lasts. The promotion ends on 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time, December 15, 2009.

• Subscribe for six months and get one month free.
• Subscribe for twelve months and get two months free

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Things have been quiet at the Stargate Worlds bunkers over the last few months, but it looks like those days of silence may finally be over. The team looks to be back in the game and slaving away at their keyboards in attempt to still deliver a triple-A MMOG. Along with a note thanking the loyalty of their fans, they've also released some new screenshots highlighting the armor and weapons of the game's classes.

First of all a HUGE thank to our loyal and very patient fan base for hanging in there with us over this long period during which we did not have a lot to report or show. It’s great to be back and we’re excited to give you some fantastic never-before-seen screenshots of armor and weapons for the Goa’uld, Jaffa, Soldier, and Scientist

Read the notes, then check out the new screenshots here!

It's a different era, and the Borg have decided the Federation has been left alone long enough. Don't believe us? Take a look at this desperate shot released by the Cryptic Studios team and judge for yourself then. Space may be cold and uncaring, but it certainly isn't empty.

Check out the full screenshot here!

Some new Aion stuff is going live overseas. We're getting more ridiculous costumes to insult people in PvP with, more details on how Spiritmaster Pets will work in flying PvP, and some major fortress reworks. Perhaps the biggest news is 30 minute vulnerability, making stopping a siege a possibility. On top of that, the new graphical interface will greatly change how sprites are drawn and hopefully make those of us more prone to crashing in fortress warfare able to join in on the action. At least we're seeing some major problems addressed, and maybe now Spiritmasters won't be the jokes that they are now if ambushed from overhead.

You can check out of the full translated log here!

Finally the cries of Spiritmasters have been heard. NCsoft announced that Spiritmaster pets flying in Korea has worked so well they are ready to bring it to North America:

Spiritmasters should be delighted to know that the rumor is true! Contrary to some rumors, though, this enhancement will not be part of the 1.5.1 update that will be coming to the NA and EU servers in November. Spiritmaster pets will soon be able to fly and fight along your side while in the air, a feature that will obviously be quite beneficial within the Abyss. As before, you will still only be able to summon a pet while on the ground.

The development team in Korea has implemented the flying pet enhancement, and it’s working to bring the update to the NA and EU servers soon. We don’t have an estimate at this time as to when this update will be implemented in the West. However, we will be releasing more information in the coming weeks.

Read the official announcement at Eye on Community.

Aion alerts players when they've been sitting at the keyboard for an hour and then every hour thereafter. To help bring the message home, the team at Aion wants players to take to the streets and shoot some photos to prove it. In more detail:

We're looking for pictures of our players participating in exciting activities or showcasing Aion-themed merchandise, art, or cosplay. To give you an example of what we're looking for, Tamat, and Ayase took a moment to pose at the Pike Place Market in Seattle while Amboss did the same almost 5000 miles away at the famous pier in Brighton, UK.

The photo described is just up and to the right, but check in on Aion's official site for more details and the larger version of the photo described above.

Most of us look over the Aion server stats every now and again but rarely does someone actually take the stats and break them down. The folks at Massively did such a break down and it led to some interesting conclusions.

The results seem to show that the bulk of the population isn't moving along in level quite like they should in a progressing community.

The declining curve is quite dramatic after Aion's first month and a half. Over 64% of the population is between levels 1 to 20. It quickly plummets to 23% between levels 21-30. Across all servers, the average of players between levels 31 to 35 is 6.3%, levels 36 to 40 is 3.9%, levels 41 to 45 is 1.7%, and levels 46 to 50 is 0.8%.

As the game ages, one would expect this curve to eventually bubble in the middle and finally become a mirror image of the current curve (if these number represent active characters only). Then again, the slope could always look this way (if these numbers represent all characters ever created).

You can find the rest of the stats number crunch here.

So what does this mean? I suspect nothing. It would be a safe assumption that the stats include all characters on either active accounts or maybe even inactive accounts. I personally have a handful of characters under level 20 and only 1 over level 20 and I'm guessing that this is the norm for active players.

Can one possibly glean anything regarding game health based on these broad and officially undefined server stats? Share your thoughts by clicking the "Post your comments" link below.