C9 Reveals Second Major Expansion, The Awakening

WEBZEN Inc. announced the second expansion of Continent of the Ninth Seal ‘The Awakening’. On December 27th, the new continent ‘Sarad – The Blooming Desert’ will be unveiled. Players will face the challenge in the blooming desert against ‘Molleck – the King of Necros’ to break the seal of ‘Bradiel – the Fire God’. Also, the character’s level cap will be increased from 57 to 63. Furthermore, new contents of ‘Skill Book’ system will be updated to enhance players’ characters further.

Additionally, highly anticipated Witchblade’s 3rd advanced class ‘Bladedancer – The Blossom of The Desert Flower’ will be released. She uses deadly dual blade to make the splendid swiftest attack moves and gracefully glides around the enemies.

Meanwhile, to celebrate the new expansion ‘The Awakening’, C9 will be hosting various events for players. For the returning players, 5th Continent’s exclusive unique items ‘Black Santa Gear’ and ‘Action Skill Book’ will be rewarded. The active players will be given the newly updated ‘Legend’ as well. Moreover, new C9 players who play ‘Bladedancer’ will be rewarded with unique items.

Jihun Lee, Head of Global Publishing, said, “We have contributed effort to offer new challenges for the players with the new expansion.” He also said, “We hope players gain as much pleasure from the various events that we have prepared together with the updates.”

The Secret World Launches End of Days ARG

As the world heads for its inevitable doom on December 21st, tens of thousands of conspiracy theorists are working around the clock to unlock the mysteries of Funcom’s latest alternate reality game (ARG) set in and around ‘The Secret World’ universe. Since pre-registration began on December 3rd, participants have spent over 30.000 hours working side-by-side solving riddles, cracking puzzles and unlocking rewards in the deep, complex ARG experience which focuses on the imminent end of days and how we can prepare ourselves for what is to come.

The ARG takes place online (and outside the actual ‘The Secret World’ MMO) in the Situation Room, a main hub where participants can live chat with each other, see updated video briefings and access several intricate puzzles that are being made available over the course of the ARGs lifespan. Among some of the tasks participants encounter are situations where they must ‘hack’ (obviously not the illegal kind) computer terminals to access information, investigate strange websites, and go through other challenges and mini-games that will put their mental capacity to the test. Players accumulate points, and they have access to a special profile page where they can track their progress.

The ARG builds on one of the core pillars of ‘The Secret World’ – the investigation missions – and fans of this unique gameplay will find much to enjoy in the alternate reality game. The ARG will continue until the end of days on December 21st and after that, well, nobody really knows.

It should come as no surprise that the end of days is heavily influencing everything that is happening in and around ‘The Secret World’ this month. In addition to the ARG, this week the developers are also introducing a special ‘end of days’ event in-game which include the rise of undead Mayans all over the world as well as the sudden arrival of giant monsters – known as harbingers – which players must battle.

Also worth mentioning is Game Director Joel Bylos’ descent into madness. Convinced the world is about to end, Joel is currently chronicling his final days on earth in a YouTube video log.

If the end really is coming – are you prepared?

LOTRO Launches New Update to Riders of Rohan Saga

Today marks the beginning of the next epic saga in The Lord of the Rings Online’s Rohan storyline. Follow in the footsteps of Middle-earth’s most famous hobbit as you experience these three brand new three-man instances:

Webs of the Scuttledells

Many years have passed since the hobbit Bilbo Baggins passed through Mirkwood and the forests’ spiders first felt the bite of Sting. Recently, elven scouts have begun to go missing and Gandalf asks for brave adventurers to investigate these grim tidings. Take care as you tread into the forest for one can never be sure what lurks beneath the dark boughs.

Seat of the Great Goblin

Descend beneath the Misty Mountains to the heart of Goblin-town where reports indicate that a new leader may be rising to power. In the years since the death of the Great Goblin, the goblins have been disorganized and consumed by infighting but a new leader would make them a threat once again. Seek out this leader and slay him before the goblins can strike at the Free Peoples!

Iorbar’s Peak

Answer a call for aid from the Great Eagles who have been robbed of a precious egg by the stone giants of the Misty Mountains. Time is of the essence, for the delicate egg must be recovered before it becomes the main course for a hungry giant. Gather your two strongest allies for the stone giants are as dangerous and unpredictable as the frigid mountains they dwell in.

In addition to these new instances comes a revamp to some you may already be familiar with.

Dol Guldur Scaling

Return to the classic instance cluster, Dol Guldur, the Enemy’s shadowy stronghold deep in the heart of Mirkwood. In Update 9 all five instances will scale up to level 85 and offer tier 2 challenges for the most fearless adventurers. In addition, the Dungeons of Dol Guldur instance has been re-tuned for a full fellowship.

Moria Revamp Part 2

Delve into four newly-updated, underground zones as the LOTRO development team finishes their revamp of Moria, begun with Update 7. The Redhorn Lodes, Zelem-Melek, Nud-Melek, and the Flaming Deeps have all received visual updates as well as new and restructured quests to improve the leveling experience. Experience the dread and wonder that lie deep beneath the earth like never before!

Outspark Announces Holiday Event Calendar

Today Outspark has gone live with plans for holiday festivities across their line of games including Fiesta Online, Luvinia Online, and Dark Blood.

Fiesta Online offers an Ice Wedding and Lock-in event coinciding with the launch of two awesome new mounts that make perfect stocking stuffers.

Luvinia Online will be entering into snowblown chaos as players compete in the Showball Wars Event. Players will also be able to count down to the new year with a wicked Monster Spawn. There will be an abundance of bonus XP given away and supercool new items to enjoy including Personal Shops that look like Gingerbread Houses and Toy-Filled Sleighs.

Dark Blood players will have to keep their eyes peeled for Moonlight and Starlight Balls that can be exchanged for valuable prizes. Enjoy time with friends exploring all the fun new content in Dark Blood including the Thief Class, Fishing System, and Battle Pets.