Filed under: Fallen Earth

Fallen Earth screenshot contest winners announced

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 20th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, Contests, Culture, Events, real-world

It's a beautiful day in the badlands, with the sun shining down on you unprotected in the wilderness, surrounded by horrible creatures and with only a few dozen bullets left before you are completely defenseless. What's not to be thankful for? Fallen Earth might not seem like the most appropriate setting for a Thanksgiving celebration, but the game recently held a screenshot contest for either what the player's character is thankful for or a "traditional" celebration in the wasteland. Yesterday, the winners were announced, with the top entries all receiving special in-game food that offers buffs and the essential proper nutrition for surviving the hostile environment. The first-place winner also receives a Fallen Earth t-shirt.

A small gallery is also available, with the three winners and the honorable mention available for viewing. It's not every game where appropriate holiday celebration includes heavily-armed men standing on a farm surrounded by corpses, but it works for Fallen Earth and should provide the game's players with some appropriate chuckles. Or, given the context, perhaps "inappropriate" is more apt.

One Shots: Happy scavenging!

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 20th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, One Shots

Wake up, grab a quick bite of something that isn't too tainted, clean up a bit, toss on your gear and ride. It's another day in the post-apocalyptic world of Fallen Earth, where players have to work hard to survive. You can scavenge and find items to create things you need or want, trade others for things you've made, fight for whatever cause your character feels is right, or so much more. Today's great Fallen Earth screenshot comes to us from Shrike Song of The Older Gamers clan (or TOG as they're known) who writes in: My junkyard scavenger Shrike Song looking for the scrap lottery in every junk pile and scrapped car she can find. With the ruins of freeway overpasses in the background and a rusted T bird as a resting and scouting perch, no wonder that scavengers like her love their trusty horses so much. Hopefully that car netted you a bunch of fasteners!

Are you playing a niche game that you love and want to show off to the world? If so, why not take a moment and send us your image and thoughts! We'll be glad to post them. Email it to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit for sending it in.

Gallery: One Shots

Fallen Earth puts a feather in your hat for purchasing

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 17th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Business models, News items

It's always nice to get a little something extra for what you were planning on doing anyway. It's even nicer when the "little something extra" is something you would want on its own merits, at that. Fallen Earth has decided to give its new players exactly that variety of something extra: if you buy now through the official site, you will receive the lovely and (dare we say it) eminently pimptacular hat displayed to the right.

The hat isn't enough reason for you? Well, clearly you aren't looking closely enough at the hat itself. You also might not know that the hat provides your character with Scavenging, Nature, Geology, and Social skill points just by donning it. It's a really nice hat. Lest we get carried away by gushing about the hat, however, it should be duly noted that the hat is also a limited-time offer for purchasers of the game, and is only being distributed by purchasing the game from the official site. So if you've been on the fence, this might be the time to get off the fence and get yourself a truly excellent hat for your troubles.

Fallen Earth car show today!

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 15th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Events, in-game, PvE, Roleplaying

Are your poor feet sore from running around Fallen Earth's enormous post-apocalyptic Grand Canyon? Sick of getting chomped on by mutated chickens? Just want to check out the latest and greatest when it comes to kludged-together vehicles -- or perhaps show off your own? Then get your convoy rolling for Spider Hill in the northern part of Sector 1 at 3 PM Eastern today! That's the site of the huge Car Show, being put on by Saints Incorporated and The Shop.

Aside from seeing all the latest in Fallen Earth automotive awesomeness, players who stop by will be treated to giveaways, a wasteland drag show, and heavens knows what else. Post Apoc Radio will also be on the scene to play some rockin' music and provide colorful RP commentary (as always). So gather up the whole clan and come by the Car show -- make valuable crafting friends, or pick up some excellent prizes!

Fallen Earth brings a bit of the apocalypse to the iPhone

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 6th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, New titles, Crafting, PvE

Today Fallen Earth has announced a new iPhone app in the works that might well make all but the most hardcore earth-loving Vista reconsider their wary stance on technology. This new Fallen Earth app will offer players the ability to access their stored and equipped items, check out their character's stats and maps of the different sectors. What's most interesting to us is the addition of real-time chat, email, auctions and crafting to the mix. The ability to interact with the auction house and crafting queue is going to be huge to many crafters and travelers, thereby making sure that one never gets stuck with dead time when a project could be rolling.

While currently underway for the iPhone, the eventual plans are to branch it out to other smartphone platforms from there as we're given to understand. The Fallen Earth app is slated to release sometime in the first of next year, and no price has currently been mentioned that we're aware of. There's no doubt it will be wildly popular with many in the wastes. Stuck at work? You'll be able to let your clan know you'll be a bit late for that PvP scavenging trip. Or you could in-game mail some Red Rooster Chicken Beer off to one of those crazy Post Apoc Radio DJs. We hear they like drunken parties.

The Daily Grind: Are you still playing a September MMO?

by Brooke Pilley Nov 6th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Aion, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Fallen Earth, New titles, The Daily Grind, Champions Online

September 2009 saw the release of Champions Online, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited (an older MMO going F2P), Fallen Earth, and Aion. This was easily the busiest month for MMOs in recent memory and we're sure many of you at least picked up one of them to try out. We're curious to know if you're still playing a September MMO just over a month later. If so or if not, why?

No MMO in the history of MMOs has experienced a perfectly smooth launch and these September titles were no exception. Did the action-packed combat of CO pull you in or did the lack of content push you away? Were you awed by DDO-EU's polished suite of tools or annoyed by the limitations put on free accounts? Was Fallen Earth's post-apocalyptic setting a breath of fresh air or did you choke on a mouthful of radioactive bugs? Did the beauty and smoothness of Aion make your heart beat faster or did its grind and bot infestation crush your soul? Just how impressed were you with September's crop of new MMOs?

Fallen Earth wants to know what your clone is thankful for

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 5th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Contests

A cache of weak petroleum; cool Interceptors; sweet ammo drops; and having friends to face it all with. These are just some of the many things in Fallen Earth that clones might well be thankful for. Of course, if you think you can capture what you're thankful for in the wastes of the Grand Canyon, then the Fallen Earth team wants to hear from you. They're holding a screenshot contest in an attempt to find out what passes as an "authentic" Thanksgiving now that society has been mutated, fractured, and factionalized.

The idea is simple. You and up to four of your friends get together and hold your own Fallen Earth post-apocalyptic style Thanksgiving: killing, looting, maiming, working together, talking about the day's events over a nice warm Unicorn Whiz Beer -- whatever you think fits best. Then e-mail your entry off to fecontest [AT] fallenearth [DOT] com by Friday, November 13, and cross your fingers. Three winners will be picked for the contest. The first-prize image submitters get a sweet Fallen Earth t-shirt and a choice of some special in-game holiday noms for up to 5 people. More details and those pesky rule things can be found over on the Fallen Earth site for those interested. In the meantime, we're off to the wastes to figure out our own Thanksgiving entries!

One Shots: No telling what the future holds

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 2nd 2009 at 2:05PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, One Shots

It is a world twisted by the Shiva virus, where countries turned on one another until only a small pocket of humanity is now left. But even facing the adversity of radiation, mutations, sand worms, and enormous cockroaches, the people of Fallen Earth soldier on, moving towards a better future. You know, one involving crafting and rebuilding society and a bunch of butt-kicking. Today's great One Shots comes to us from Dethgar who was traveling through the wastes and sends this postcard back: This is me along the road from Oilville to Embry Crossroads. My computer barely runs the game, but I've been pleasantly surprised by this game since beta. To the future!

Can you believe it's been 2 years since we started One Shots? It has! We'd like to take this moment to thank you all for the great images you've sent in over the last two years, which has helped us amass an enormous gallery. If you'd like to be a part of the upcoming year, send in your MMO screenshots to us here at Oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. Excelsior!

Gallery: One Shots

Massively wishes you a happy Halloween

by Alex Ziebart Oct 31st 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Age of Conan, Aion, City of Heroes, EverQuest, EverQuest II, Fallen Earth, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lineage, Lineage 2, Warhammer Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Exteel, Free Realms, Champions Online, Runes of Magic, Legends of Norrath

Halloween is probably second only to Christmas in terms of holiday popularity. Ask just about anybody what their favorite holiday is, and they'll probably list one of those two (if it fits the culture). Naturally, as MMO players, we have fun celebrating it in our virtual worlds just like we do in the real world. And boy, this year, do we ever celebrate. Just about every active MMO out there had (or has) something going on. The 2009 lineup included:

Most of these events last a few days into November, so if there's any one in particular you're dying to experience, you might still have a chance if you have a subscription laying around. If you're not able to visit any of these in person, we have screenshots from many of these events in the gallery below. Enjoy!

Gallery: Halloween 2009

Subscribe to Fallen Earth by tonight and get an exclusive Trooper gas mask

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 30th 2009 at 2:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, New titles, News items

If you picked up a Fallen Earth trial key in the recent batch and found yourself falling in love with the barren wastelands of the post-apocalyptic Grand Canyon, then you'll want to listen up. For those of you who decide to make the jump and subscribe to the game by tonight (10/30) at midnight Eastern, you can land yourself a swanky, special-edition Trooper gas mask, as seen to the right. (For those of you who are already subscribed, you'll get this in the mail tomorrow!)

Why is this so cool, you ask? Well dustbowlers, this is the absolute must-have fashion accessory of the season - especially when you live in an irradiated, disease-ridden desert. This mask will give you a plethora of bonuses to armor against everything from acid to sonic attacks. In addition to that, it also adds +5 to your Charisma with its rubbery good looks and +6 to a body save since it's such a pain in the arse to hack through this thing and splatter your brains everywhere. So if you've been thinking about subscribing, now is a great time to join those of us who call the barren wastes of Fallen Earth home!

Fallen Earth costume contest winners announced

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 29th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Contests, News items

The apocalypse: place of beat up armor and scavenged and repurposed items galore. While this means you're in great luck for making an outfit in-game, it makes things a bit more difficult when it comes to making a Fallen Earth costume in the real world. Do you stay true to the game and only use things that look the same as existing gear? Or do you get creative in your costume scavenging and let your imagination run wild? Well, this year it would appear that the entries for the second annual Fallen Earth costume contest did both.

The three categories awarded for this year's contest winners were Most Original Setting, Most Accurate Game Costume, and Best Inside Joke on Scavenging, which went to Sinoth, blackenedlegions, and spookdi respectively. There were also four honorable mentions (faust, Schipperke, Beorend, jac428) and a shout out to one of our staffers who sent in a costume too. Be sure to go check out the gallery of winners for some pretty cool post-apocalyptic costumes!

Checking up on Fallen Earth: One month later

by Shawn Schuster Oct 29th 2009 at 1:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Fallen Earth, Opinion

It's been a little over a month since Fallen Earth launched, and we think it's safe to say that quite a bit has changed since then -- but what, exactly? For those who may have found themselves unhappy with the game's state at launch, this article is for you. For those of you who may have tried the game during a beta stage or stress test event, and come across some technical issues that made the game completely unplayable, this article is for you, too.

We want to continue our tradition of revisiting games after launch, and this time it's Fallen Earth's turn. So we're going to spend the first half of the article discussing the facts, and what the community has to say about the last month's changes to the game, and the second half will be spent giving my own impressions of what I've experienced in the first month. Follow along, won't you?

GameX 2009: Massively talks with Lee Hammock on what's next for Fallen Earth

by Seraphina Brennan Oct 28th 2009 at 4:30PM

Filed under: Horror, Video, Fallen Earth, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Massively Interviews, Massively Event Coverage

Content, community, and epic beards ahead fair readers! When lead game designer Lee Hammock walked into the media room at GameX 2009, we immediately tackled him into a chair and demanded he answer our many questions on what's coming up for Fallen Earth. What we got (after he figured out that we wanted to interview him and not kidnap him) were answers on the upcoming "social" patch for Fallen Earth, a look at the brand new crafting skill, construction, and the camps that will be added to the game, what lies beyond Sector 3 (hint: it's Sector 4) and how much the team loves their community.

So if you're interested in Fallen Earth, or are looking for a reason to get into the game, look no further than the interview that lies beyond the break! Unfortunately though, we must make a slight correction to what Lee says in the interview. Fallen Earth did send us 2,000 trial keys, but thanks to an overwhelming response, we're out of keys! This makes us sad pandas, but you can still enjoy what Lee has to say about the game, and be amazed by the hypnotic beard.

Massively Exclusive: Fallen Earth dev event transcript (and another party!)

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 27th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Fallen Earth, Events, in-game, Interviews, New titles, Massively meta, Massively Interviews

This weekend we had the chance to hang out with a bunch of rough-and-tumble types in the wastelands of Fallen Earth. No, we weren't just doing our typical weekend gaming! We were lucky enough to get to spend some time in-game, hanging out with Marie "Arosei" Croall, Content Team Lead for Fallen Earth. During the evening, we asked her some of the great player submitted questions we solicited last week. She also tossed out a couple of interesting asides to the huge crowd that amassed to take part in the event - and to get some of the free goodies we were handing out!

For those of you who may not have been able to make it - or would just like to check it out without all the cross-chatter - we've transcribed the interview (and some interesting asides) behind the break. Also, remember that we have another Massively Fallen Earth event happening this Wednesday night at the Embry Satellite, starting at 9:00 PM Eastern. This time our very own Shawn Schuster will be dropping by to hold a Massively Reader Meet-up, with - you guessed it - more free stuff, and a special Halloween-themed show on Post Apoc Radio.

One Shots: Gates would be proud

by Krystalle Voecks Oct 26th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, One Shots

In the world of Fallen Earth, you really never know what you're going to run into next. Sure - you can count on infected during the current Days of the Dead promotion. If you wander too far into the wastes, it's likely some form of mutated pack poultry will take a chunk out of your backside - if not send you back to a spawn point. But sometimes it's the little things that just make us stop and remember - this is set in a world familiar to us. Today's funny One Shots comes to us from Ampersand, who is part of The Fourth Tribe clan. He writes in: It looks like the Blue Screen of Death has something in common with cockroaches: it can survive the apocalypse. This screenshot shows some of the humor in Fallen Earth. It was taken in the Kingman Prison instance.

If you're among the many trying out Fallen Earth - or playing any other MMO - feel free to send in any funny or interesting screenshots you run across on your travels. We love to see them. Just email them to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post them here and let the world share in the funny.

Gallery: One Shots