newsletter posts

Warhammer Online releases November newsletter

by Rubi Bayer Nov 27th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Game mechanics, Warhammer Online, News items

Mythic seems to be having a tough go of it lately what with layoffs, server merges, and ominous producer letters. They're continuing their hard work in Warhammer Online, however, and the most recent newsletter shows it.

The first order of business was patch 1.3.3. It's expected shortly after the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is over, and will implement some exciting changes for new and veteran players. This patch will implement the War Report, which is pretty much what it sounds like. Every 8 hours, a "snapshot" of events going on around the world will be made available, with the opportunity to teleport instantly to the closest area of interest. The other big change is the Underdog System. Underdogs will be granted what amounts to a handicap that makes it easier for underpopulated realms to take objectives and cap zones.

WAR will also be bringing a few graphical improvements with this patch, including post-processing effects and HDR Lighting, and the team is preparing for an event all seasoned players look forward to: Keg End. If you aren't already receiving the Warhammer Online newsletter, you can subscribe at their official site.

Tags: Game-Mechanics, mythic, Mythic-Entertainment, news-items, newsletter, patch, war, war-patch-1.3.3, Warhammer-Online

Black Prophecy newsletter updates fans on the game

by James Egan Oct 31st 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Black Prophecy

The sci-fi MMO Black Prophecy from developer Reakktor Media still has a few significant hurdles to clear before release, but it's looking to be an interesting title from the gameplay footage we've seen thus far. As they continue to develop Black Prophecy and seek a publisher to help them expand their reach into multiple markets, Reakktor Media has been updating the community on the game's status.

They've just released their eighth Black Prophecy newsletter that hits on the media coverage they've received in the last month (along with the latest art assets), a look into the game's art direction, and the "Pimp My Ship!" that's happening on the official forums. Also, if you're curious about what will differentiate this game from other sci-fi MMOs currently on the market, be sure to have a look through Massively's Black Prophecy coverage.

Gallery: Black Prophecy Gallery

Gallery: Black Prophecy Concept Art

Tags: black-prophecy, germany, new-titles, newsletter, publishers, reakktor, reakktor-media, sci-fi

Mythic removes time limit on WAR free trial

by Brooke Pilley Oct 30th 2009 at 4:30PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items

Warhammer Online's October newsletter just arrived in our mailboxes and its full of frothy WAAAGH!. Predominantly featured are the 1.3.2 updates, which most of us already know about including the removal of fortresses, a new keep difficulty system, client performance improvements, and of course, the New User Journey. Check out the video podcast with producers Jeff Skalski and Josh Drescher for a full run down.

A couple interesting bits stuck out for us. First, as Werit points out, Mythic has removed the 10-day time limitation on their free trial. Players can now experience all of what tier one has to offer without worrying about a looming deadline. This should work out quite nicely with the New User Journey. We also noticed the release of a new Warhammer-themed living card game by Fantasy Flight Games called Warhammer Invasion. This should be of interest to those who just can't get enough order or destruction in their day.

Finally, you should come back in one hour for our exclusive GameX interview with Matt Shaw and James Casey as they discuss the free trial and explain their decisions behind the 1.3.2 changes.

Tags: jeff-skalski, josh-drescher, lcg, living-card-game, mythic-entertainment, new-user-journey, newsletter, war, war-newsletter, warhammer-invasion, warhammer-online, werit

Age of Conan devs release their August newsletter

by Lesley Smith Aug 31st 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, New titles, Patches, News items

The devs over at Age of Conan have just posted their August newsletter on the game's official website. In it they look back over the last month and the announcement of the new AoC expansion, Rise of the Godslayer, as well as clarifying some titbits about the new expansion. This includes thanking players for their feedback and explaining why they chose to venture to Khitai (the Conan-version of China) over other lands featured in the original books. The devs also touch on the fascinating subject of world design and how player feedback has shaped the new armor they are working on.

The most interesting nugget in the newsletter is a sneak peak at what the immediate future holds for AoC in the form of the 1.06 update. This includes the possibility of splitting the update into parts rather than deluging players with a giant patch. They also look at the new level 80 dungeon, the House of Crom, the Veterans System and Tier Three Raiding. So if you're an AoC player excited about the new expansion and the next big update, you might want to head over to the official site and check out the newsletter for yourself.

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, aoc-patch-1.06, funcom, funcom-age-of-conan, house-of-crom, khitai, newsletter, newsletters, rise-of-the-godslayer

Earthrise newsletter Issue X updates players on game's state of development

by James Egan Jun 18th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Crafting, Earthrise

Newsletter X for the post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise is here, after these community updates from Masthead Studios went on hiatus since March. This tenth newsletter mentions how their current development focus is on the game's crafting system, which they've said will allow for a high degree of customization, allowing skilled players to become well-known among their peers for their particular creations. There's also a fair amount of coverage of some of the various Earthrise community efforts, ranging from fansites to player-created art, as well as a media coverage recap. There's definitely a few things in there worth checking out if you're interested in keeping up with Earthrise.

While Masthead Studios may not feel quite this way about the game, this writer feels that Earthrise has some of the makings of a terrestrial EVE Online: a sandbox setting; guild-level world and resource control in what are now called 'Concession grounds'; and hopefully with that, player politics. If they can develop Earthrise along these lines, we suspect it could prove to be popular with fans of both sci-fi and post-apocalyptic games.

Gallery: Earthrise gallery

Tags: bulgaria, community, crafting, customization, earthrise, masthead-studios, newsletter, post-apocalyptic, resource-control, sandbox, sofia, territorial-control, world-control

Latest Earthrise newsletter updates on game's progress

by James Egan Mar 4th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, News items, Earthrise

Sofia-based Masthead Studios has released the March `09 newsletter for their upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO Earthrise. As with their previous newsletters, Issue IX points out where Earthrise has been discussed in the gaming press over the past few weeks, and shows off some of the game's concept art. This month, Masthead Studios is showing off concepts for the mutated Nathura zone.

In addition, the developers write about what they love about Earthrise and working on the title -- ranging from the game's epic scale to the extensive combat system. Issue IX also expands upon the game's lore, with the struggle between the factions of Noir and Continoma, a clash between utopian idealism and anarchy. Have a look through the latest Earthrise newsletter and see how their vision of a post-apocalyptic future is turning out.

Tags: anarchy, bulgaria, continoma, dystopia, earthrise, factions, lore, masthead-studios, nathura-zone, newsletter, newsletters, noir, post-apocalyptic, quests, sci-fi, sofia, utopia

Clan of Conan previews Update 4 and Xibaluku

by William Dobson Dec 21st 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Previews, PvP, Grouping, PvE

We've already had a look inside the latest Clan of Conan newsletter, finding that there were shiny Kosalan talismans for everyone these holidays. Free jewelery aside, the newsletter also contains a great deal of information about what's coming in Age of Conan's Update 4, and a video of the new dungeon Xibaluku to boot. Xibaluku is intended for a full group of max-level players, and will be situated in the Thunder River area. After reading about it in the newsletter, you can click the "read more" link for an in-depth writeup of the dungeon.

Players won't just be free to walk into Xibaluku. They'll first need to complete a new solo dungeon called The Slaughterhouse Cellar, also located in Thunder River and to be released in Update 4. Those that venture deep enough into Xibaluku might find one of two new Undead social pets that are being introduced to the game, which are good for "spreading gloom and dreadfulness", and probably scaring newbies in town.

Expect the PvP system to receive some tweaking in Update 4 too, with the "PvP resources" system set to debut. If you're holding PvP resources to bring to an architect and get player-killed, you have a chance of them being looted by your assassin. Architects will need the resources to build and repair battlekeeps, and the hope is that epic battles will take place over the humble gathering nodes.

Tags: age-of-conan, age-of-conan-update-4, aoc, aoc-update-4, architects, clan-of-conan, conan, funcom, newsletter, pvp-resources, slaughterhouse-cellar, social-pets, the-slaughterhouse-cellar, thunder-river, undead-pet, undead-social-pet, update-4, xibaluku

A holiday gift from Age of Conan

by James Egan Dec 19th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Events, in-game

Massively has mentioned that Age of Conan is giving away in-game items all month as part of a seasonal contest they're running. But the latest Age of Conan newsletter let us know that everyone's received a free gift automatically, as of December 18th.

Funcom's given all players a new virtual item -- the Kosalan talisman of clarity. It boosts stamina and mana for its wearer, with a faster rate of regeneration for those traits. While it's not as über as the items obtainable at higher levels, it's not bad for a freebie. Age of Conan players can claim the Kosalan talisman by simply typing "/claim" in-game.

Having fun in Conan's homeland? Make sure to check out all of our previous Age of Conan coverage, and stick with Massively for more news from the Hyborian Age!

Tags: age-of-conan, aoc, funcom, holiday, holiday-event, holiday-events, holidays, mana, newsletter, stamina, talisman, virtual-item

Earthrise beta signups begin late December

by James Egan Dec 15th 2008 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, New titles, Earthrise

Players of massively multiplayer online games who are starting to feel the fantasy genre might be a little stale will have some interesting things to look forward to in the coming years, with the surge of science fiction and post-apocalyptic MMOs coming to market. One such title is Earthrise, set in the final refuge of humanity following the rest of the planet's annihilation. Although the game is still in a pre-beta stage of development, the Earthrise developers, Masthead Studios, have been providing status updates to its growing community through monthly newsletters.

Issue VII of the Earthrise newsletter is up, and Masthead Studios has some good news for all of the beta hopefuls out there. There will be several stages of beta invites, and they'll begin accepting beta applications at the end of December. First up is a 'friends and family' stage, which will be followed by the first round of closed beta. The message stressed in the announcement is that Masthead Studios is really looking to the community to help them work out bugs and gameplay issues to make Earthrise into a solid title.

Tags: betas, community-manager, earthrise, friends-and-family, masthead-studios, moll, newsletter, sci-fi

Making/Money: EVE Economic Review Reviewed

by Alexis Kassan Nov 17th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: EVE Online, Economy, Making/Money

Each quarter, the economist over at EVE Online, Dr. Eyjolfur Gudmondsson (there are supposed to be accent marks in there but I can't figure out how to make them appear), writes up a review of the in-game economy. There has been a noticeable lag in times past between the schedule for these quarterly newsletters and when they were actually distributed. October saw the release of the Quarterly Economic Newsletter for Q1 of this year and the promise of QENs for quarters 2 and 3 to follow in November and December, respectively.

Today, we'll take a look through what Dr. Gundmondsson has to say about the economy from January to March. I do encourage you to look through the PDF of the QEN for yourself ... and just ignore that they talk about June 2008 in future tense.

Tags: economics, economy, eve-online, featured, joystiqfeatures, newsletter, quarterly reports, QuarterlyReports

All Points Bulletin newsletter updates fans on game features

by James Egan Nov 10th 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: News items, All Points Bulletin, Crime

Judging from the response we've seen from some our readers in the past, All Points Bulletin from Realtime Worlds is a hotly-anticipated MMO. And why wouldn't it be? APB may very well be a refreshing change from the tried-and-true marriage of fantasy and massively multiplayer games, and is one of the first urban crime MMOs we can see on the horizon.

The most recent All Points Bulletin newsletter addresses some of the input from APB's growing fan community on the types of weapons available, mini-games, and leisure activities they feel should be in the game. Realtime Worlds confirms that a few of the player-suggested features will, in fact, be present in the title.

Tags: all-points-bulletin, apb, chris-collins, crime, deum, dundee, mini-games, minigames, newsletter, realtime-worlds, scotland, urban-crime

Issue one of Jumpgate Evolution newsletter 'gates' into view

by Kyle Horner Nov 7th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, New titles, News items

The first Jumpgate Evolution community newsletter is out now and with it some new wallpapers, a few new screenshots and a peek at the Solrain Sector. While there's no big feature announcements or flashy "podcast production" videos, it's also the first newsletter, so we're being understanding. The Solrain Sector information is thin, but we do get this image of a blazing planet bursting at its seems.

We're certainly looking forward to future newsletters and the information that they'll divulge onto the community at large. The past has taught us that people respond really well when newsletters are bristling with information of varying degrees, so hopefully this is just a warm-up for NetDevil. The earlier and more frequently they're able to communicate with potential players, the stronger Jumpgate Evolution's community is going to become.

Gallery: Jumpgate Evolution Gallery

Tags: codemasters, jge, jumpgate-evolution, netdevil, newsletter, newsletters, sci-fi, solrain, solrain-empire, space

Earthrise approaches closed beta

by Shawn Schuster Nov 3rd 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, Earthrise

If you've been following along with our coverage of Masthead Studios' Earthrise, you may be pleased to hear that the post-apocalyptic MMO will be entering "closed, limited beta" by the end of the year. That gives us a time frame of just under two months!

What do they still need to tweak before the beta launches? According to the most recent newsletter, they're integrating features and working on the RPG system, PhysX, improved character control and collision detection, implemented game UI with complete functionality, performance and hardware information gathering, logs and reports. Check out the entire Issue 6 of the Earthrise newsletter for even more information.

Tags: closed-beta, earthrise, masthead-studios, newsletter, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi

CCP Games highlights community efforts of EVE bloggers

by James Egan Oct 17th 2008 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, MMO industry, News items

It's been pretty eventful lately in terms of EVE Online news. As a recap: the Quantum Rise expansion was announced, new features are on the way, the backstory was advanced through a new video, controversy and even outright rage ensued over disabling ghost training, a Quarterly Economic Newsletter was released, and there have been concerns over the future of EVE given Iceland's economic woes.

While some of these news items are mentioned in the latest EVE Online newsletter (aside from the ghost training fiasco), CCP Games has also given some attention to the EVE community itself, something Massively has been been taking note of as well. It seems our friend and EVE community puppetmaster David Perry (aka CrazyKinux) has just gotten the nod from CCP for his latest effort.

Tags: blog-pack, bloggers, blogs, ccp, ccp-games, community, crazy-kinux, crazykinux, david-perry, eve, eve-blog-pack, eve-online, eve-online-newsletter, newsletter, sci-fi

Quarterly Economic Newsletter for EVE Online released

by James Egan Oct 16th 2008 at 3:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Forums, MMO industry, Crafting, Professions, PvP, News items, PvE

EVE Online is unique among MMOs in that its economy is so complex and dynamic that CCP Games hired an economist, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson, to keep track of how the market evolves. One would imagine this is no easy task, with an overall trade value of all EVE markets ranging between 2 and 2.5 trillion isk per day. Lead Economist CCP Dr. EyjoG released a Quarterly Economic Newsletter (QEN) for EVE Online today, which is 18 pages full of data which should keep EVE's market and industry-oriented players happy (and hopefully make up for the delayed QEN, which Dr. EyjoG addresses in his announcement).

The Q1 2008 QEN kicks off with an editorial, and here are some brief highlights of what follows:

Demographics (number of accounts, most and least populated regions)

Price Level Changes (Mineral prices, Primary Producer Price Index, Secondary Producer Price Index, and Consumer Price Index)

Mining ship production and losses (with the venerable "Hulk" exhumer losses accounting for a staggering 6 trillion isk in destroyed property in Q1 2008)

Market Snapshots

Five years of EVE Market history

If you're interested in reading the Q1 2008 economic newsletter, you'll find the download link to the PDF in Dr. EyjoG's dev blog. A discussion of his findings is already underway on the EVE forums.

Tags: ccp, ccp-dr-eyjog, ccp-games, dev, dev-blog, dr-eyjog, economist, economy, eve, eve-online, eyjolfur-gudmundsson, forums, hulk, industry, isk, market, minerals, mining, newsletter, qen, quarterly-economic-newsletter, trade, trading