Rubi Bayer
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Guild Wars updates Halloween quest, bringing permanant changes
by Rubi Bayer 
Nov 22nd 2009 (4 minutes ago)
GW
We can all stop making "Waiting for Godot" (Godhuum?) jokes. Thursday evening ArenaNet quietly updated "The Waiting Game", the Guild Wars quest we all picked up back around Halloween. Dhuum is awake, he's not happy, and the Shadow Form debate rages on.The update to The Waiting Game revealed that Dhuum will appear once all of the Underworld quests have been completed, and defeating him is now required to "complete" the Underworld. With a skill set including things like "Judgement of Dhuum", this new addition to the Underworld is most likely the challenge that bored Guild Wars players have been looking for.
Shadow Form continues to be a hot topic, however. Many players expected this to be the thing that put an end to Shadow Form Underworld farming, but one of the earliest reported successes proved that wrong very quickly. Players responded quickly with one commenter summing up many people's thoughts: "It's...disappointing that even a God of Unholy Death can't bypass shadowform...". (Community Manager Regina Buenaobra stepped in to mention that the goal was new content, not a nerf of SF farming.)
In the meantime, Dhuum seems to be the biggest challenge around in Guild Wars -- kudos to ArenaNet for the new content!
Ride in style with the Star Wars Galaxies Premium Adventure Pack
by Rubi Bayer Nov 22nd 2009 (8 hours ago)
Each account includes a free AT-RT to give to one of your characters. Even better, you will also get the sleek Queen Amidala transport ship. That one is one per character, so no need to choose -- even the alts can enjoy some new toys. We saved the coolest for last, though: you may well be parking the transport ship for a while in favor of the General Grevious wheel bike. That one is also one per character, and even better, it's a two seater with room for a friend.
SOE put together a fun little video of the wheel bike in action, so take a look. More information on the Premium Adventure Pack can be found here.
Turbine releases DDO screenshots of Drow race
by Rubi Bayer Nov 21st 2009 (1 day ago)
Turbine
The official site has a history of the Drow as well, if you are hoping for a bit more background: Most drow choose a life of adventure out of necessity, given the dangers of their homeland. Still, they greatly desire personal power, and many drow take up the mantle of adventurer seeking to satisfy their ambitions. Most drow follow the evil scorpion-god Vulkoor, though exposure to the cultures of Stormreach has brought a few of them to less malevolent deities.
If these screenshots are enough to get you interested in checking out the Drow race further you can explore more of their story and the prerequisites for unlocking them as a playable race, as well as inherent abilities and enhancements on the DDO site.
Win a free year of Age of Conan
by Rubi Bayer Nov 21st 2009 (1 day ago)
AoC
Word of mouth is a powerful advertising tool, and most companies realize this. Quite a few are even willing to hand over some freebies or other incentives in exchange for a good word from their current customers.Giveaway Gamer, a site dedicated to...well, giveaways, is the latest site to jump on this bandwagon, and the carrot on the stick is a year of free Age of Conan playtime. All they ask is that you spread the word about their contest in whatever way you choose: Twitter, Facebook, interpretive dance, mention it on your blog or podcast; it's entirely up to you. Send Giveaway Gamer an email telling how you passed the word along -- links, screenshots, photos, and videos are even better -- and you're entered in the contest.
The contest runs through December 18th, and the winner will receive a year of free AoC playtime and pile of in-game goodies as well, such as the mammoth, rhino and horse mounts. All of the entry information can be found here at the Giveaway Gamer site. While this doesn't count as an entry for Massively, we wish you guys the best of luck!
Betawatch: November 20th - 27th, 2009
by Rubi Bayer Nov 20th 2009 (1 day ago)
Several changes on Betawatch this week: Alganon made the leap to the open beta list, Dragon's Call and Allods Online (EU) began their closed beta, and Star Trek Online announced their open beta dates. (January 12th through the 26th)
Market research company explores MMO gaming
by Rubi Bayer Nov 20th 2009 (2 days ago)
Worlds in Motion reports that a recent poll from market research specialists TNS and Gamesindustry.com talked to over 13,000 gamers in North America and Europe about their favorite subject: gaming, what kind they do, and how much time they spend on it.The survey addressed players as young as 8, and found that the largest group of players in the U.S. is comprised of 8-12 year olds. That may come as a surprise to many players whose idea of a console or PC game isn't really geared toward children, but makes sense when you consider games and virtual worlds such as Virtual Family Kingdom, Free Realms, and any console game with Mario in the title.
Delving further into the MMO side turned up some interesting information. Of the US players surveyed, 21% said that they play MMOs, and 45% of those players define themselves as paying customers -- presumably that includes both subscription models and gamers that take advantage of cash shops. In spite of the large percentage of paying players, a free-to-play model is one of the biggest factors for those considering a new game. The rising success of many games in the past year that use a free-to-play model seems to support this.
Worlds In Motion offers further number crunching, and if you're interested in seeing the full survey report, gamesindustry.com offers it for a fee.
OGPlanet announces the launch of Lunia Chronicles
by Rubi Bayer Nov 19th 2009 (3 days ago)
OGPlanet announced the launch of Lunia Chronicles on Tuesday. Lunia Chronicles is the story of the different races on the continent of Rodesia and their conflicts. Players can download the game and explore several different characters including Lime the Fighting Slime, friend and companion to Eir the Healing Princess. The official site carries a nice overview of the game's story and character histories, as well as tutorials on combat strategy and keyboard controls.
To get people playing and help celebrate the launch of their newest game, OGPlanet is offering up a nice incentive for those who check the game out. They're holding a 30-day launch event to celebrate. Players need to download the game and play to level 50 by December 16th (Yes, THIS December 16th), and they'll be entered in a drawing for a Dell XPS gaming laptop.
Siege of Mirkwood developer diary: character panel updates
by Rubi Bayer Nov 19th 2009 (3 days ago)
It's not just a cosmetic makeover, either -- gameplay has gotten a lot of work from the Mirkwood team. Three new Critical Defence statistics are added, Vulnerability has been revamped, and the differences between incoming and outgoing healing got some work too. Healing Rank and Tactical rank statistics are new as well, allowing players to increase their effectiveness by spending points.
The new character panels will reflect all of these changes and you can take a look at the diary entry for a full description as well as some screenshots detailing how it works.
LFG in Call of Duty?
by Rubi Bayer Nov 19th 2009 (3 days ago)
While this was all very nice for Activision Blizzard, it was the end of the article that really got MMO fans interested: "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."
The possibility of a Call of Duty MMO is an exciting one for a very large group of gamers, and Blizzard is certain to be aware of that. We will definitely be keeping an eye out at Massively for more news on this possibility.
[Thanks Abel!]
Turbine announces the winners of the Broctober contest
by Rubi Bayer Nov 18th 2009 (4 days ago)
Turbine
Back in October, DDO Unlimited announced a fun little contest looking for responses to their (in)famous Broccoli vs. Beholder video. First prize was 5,000 Turbine points and the coveted title "Gweater Dwagonmark of Fwiends". (No, seriously. That's a great title.) Second and third place winners received Turbine points and a "Dwagonmark of Fwiends"title as well.
The results are in, with the winning "Broccoli vs. Wraith" video keeping the Turbine staff in stitches with the expressions on Broccoli's face and the farcical chase through the corridor and doorways. Congratulations also to second place winner Korin Geholtz for showing us Broccoli's attack on Stormreach, and Zac C.B./Sioyin Chua for Broccoli vs. Ham with bonus points for great music.
Korin Geholz also gave us an additional treat by giving Tasty Ham his very own Facebook page. Congratulations to all of you from Massively, and thanks for the laughs!
The results are in, with the winning "Broccoli vs. Wraith" video keeping the Turbine staff in stitches with the expressions on Broccoli's face and the farcical chase through the corridor and doorways. Congratulations also to second place winner Korin Geholtz for showing us Broccoli's attack on Stormreach, and Zac C.B./Sioyin Chua for Broccoli vs. Ham with bonus points for great music.
Korin Geholz also gave us an additional treat by giving Tasty Ham his very own Facebook page. Congratulations to all of you from Massively, and thanks for the laughs!
