Monthly Archives: February 2014

Steam release for GunZ 2 confirmed for February 17th

The waiting has finally come to an end as the Steam release of GunZ 2: The Second Duel has been confirmed by MAIET. It will be released for Early Access on February 17th at 5 PM PST (8 PM EST). Game features including auto-matching PvP modes, co-op PvE mode and premium items will be available.

GunZ 2 release

“I am very excited to introduce the sequel title right when GunZ the Duel is having its 10th anniversary.” said Venister, CEO for MAIET Entertainment. “Though we’re nervous and excited to release and operate online game service on our own for the first time, it meant a great deal to us to prepare game service on Steam, one of world’s biggest game publishing platform.”

The Steam release will service North America and Southeast Asia, and will later service South America and Asia. European users will be playing on their own servers hosted by P7S1, which is currently available now.

For more information, visit: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=133839622

The Mandate

The Mandate is a sci-fi RPG which also blends several RTS elements into the gameplay. You play as the captain of a ship, and your entire crew has names and personalities. Each action you take and each order you give have consequence, which can lead to glory, or devastation. The very galaxy you explore reacts to your actions and those of your allies, giving players a massive amount of options with how to see the massive game world.

Features:

Interactive Crew: Your crew are not just for show. Each has a name, a story to tell, and is eager to prove themselves. By managing them carefully, you will unlock new quests, lore, and storyline.

Epic Space Battles: Engage in massive ship-to-ship combat, using your fully customizable Mandate starship. Use your position well, and don’t forget to bring your allies to turn things to your side!

Board Enemy Ships: Fighting a particularly tough foe? Don’t just duke it out in space! Board their ship, and take them out with real-time strategy elements where tactics are king.

Responsive Gameplay: The systems in the galaxy don’t forget things very easily. Each action you and your crew take have ripples across the stars, with enemies and allies always coming from unexpected places.

DDO Update 21 – Legendary Halls Dev Preview

By W.B. Wemyss (Tagspeech)

 

DDO Update 21 Mimic

It’s not often at these press events that I learn something new and interesting, but the recent Dungeons and Dragons Online demo of their upcoming content revealed something to me: this year is the 40th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons.  All hail Gygax.  May the nerdocracy forever reign supreme, amen.  As someone who grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons, someone with an imagination so hyperactive it’s often a handicap, I see this as an auspicious occasion.  The developers of DDO think so, too, and their upcoming adventure module for the game reflects that.

 

The module in question is a remake of a classic module, and they’ve been working with some of the formative minds in the D&D universe to make it happen.  This is a classic Forgotten Realms adventure, harkening back to the days of 2nd edition D&D, when rules were like accounting software, and THAC0 reigned supreme – don’t worry, they’re not bringing back those old rules, just some of the stories, characters, and themes.  Zhentarim, for example!  Remember those guys?  Who doesn’t love evil cultists.

DDo UPdate 21 Haunted Halls

In one of the dungeons, a place called the ‘Haunted Halls,’ there is the usual smattering of DDO content.  We have traps, we have jumping puzzles, we have bosses, and we have dialogue.  One boss in particular, called ‘Whisper,’ actually tries to make a deal with players.  Players can accept it, or choose to fight the boss right then and there, triggering a very difficult battle that involves clones, delusions, and all sorts of challenging content one associates with high-level play.  Teleporting magi are always a treat to pin down.

DDO Update 21 Puzzle

Another one of the dungeons is called Thunderholme, a ruined Dwarven city (classic) that’s been abandoned for over a century.  In a twist on the age-old Mines of Moria trope, the Dwarves here did indeed dig too greedily and too deep, awakening something in the dark; but what they awoke was a shadow-dragon, a Dracolich, a beast that did not immediately rampage and roar and slaughter everyone.  Instead, it remained at rest, slipped into the minds of the high priest and regent of the Dwarf city, drove them insane, force them to create a massive congregation to revere the God of Draclichdom, and then appear suddenly to butcher the Dwarves en masse.  Fun story.

DDO Update 21 Dracolich 1

Of course, this dungeon is more than a dungeon.  It’s actually two raids and what DDO calls a “landscape,” which is a vast dungeon network inside of a mountain with seven whole layers to explore and decipher.  It’s full of traps, enemies, puzzles, and more jumping content, for those acrobatic characters heavily invested in the fine skill of jumping.  When asked if the developers hate the players, as they make so many challenging jumping puzzles, their response was that they have what they consider a “… normal amount of contempt for the players.”  This is good.  A dungeon master should always nurse a healthy contempt for his or her players.  It keeps things interesting and dangerous.

DDO Update 21 Dracolich 2

The raid of interest for Deepholme is fighting the dracolich herself.  It’s a complex encounter, in which you cannot simply kill the dragon.  You have to kill the dragon, while desperately searching for her phylactery so it can be destroyed; for those not familiar with Lichdom, a phylactery is the retainer in which a lich’s soul is stored, so that they can reform later in the event of bodily destruction.  Unfortunately for the players in this encounter, multiple decoy phylacteries exist.  So have fun deciphering which one is real while the giant skeletal dragon smacks you around and crushes your friends and drives you all to ravenous insanity.

DDO Update 21 Lover Dragons

Another raid coming out with this anniversary pack of content is an encounter with a mated pair of red dragons at the top of a mountain.  There is a Dwarven artifact there that the dragons want for themselves, but you and your adventuring buddies are prepared to fight them over it.  The encounter revolves around not just defeating the dragons, but managing the number of ways in which they interact with and buff each other, in addition to the ways in which the players and dragons can interact with the artifact itself during the fight.  This is, once again, high-level raiding content intended for experienced players at or near level cap.

DDO Update 21 Lover Dragons 2

Another tidbit is a new “Divine Epic Destiny” being introduced for clerics, favored souls, and paladins.  It’s intended to give them more options for righteous smackdown, for players who want to move their focus away from solely healing.  Given the immense popularity of the “ret paladin” archetype in MMO gaming, I imagine this will be going over well with the playerbase.  All in all, this anniversary is shaping up to be quite the event for Dungeons and Dragons Online, a game which has proven its venerability and stability over time.  The new content will be free for VIP players, and an item available for purchase in the cash shop for premium and F2P players.

DDO Update 21 Legendary

Happy dungeoning.  And happy 40th birthday, D&D.  May your dice forever roll twenties, and your armor class remain high.  Or low.  Depending on which edition you’re playing.

 

For more screenshots on DDO Update 21, be sure to check out our sister site’s gallery at MMOHuts.

 

Tagspeech is the alias of author W.B. Wemyss, who was responsible for the bizarre cyberpunk fever dream called Children of Athena.

SMITE and Hi-Rez Studios to join top Video Content Creators at GameVid Expo

Smite GV Banner

 

GameVid Expo, the first industry and fan conference for gaming and online video, will be held at the W Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia between March 28 – March 30, 2014.

The reach of online video now rivals television, and gaming content is one of the fastest growing segments. According to Nielsen, YouTube reaches more US adults age 18-34 than any cable network and Games are the second most popular category on YouTube just behind Music. Live-streaming of video games on the internet is now viewed by over 45 million unique viewers every month according to streaming leader Twitch.TV.

Friday and Saturday of GameVid Expo will be geared toward professionals, businesses and fans of online video and gaming, including panel discussions, meet-ups, hands-on gaming, and networking opportunities.

The highlight of Sunday’s proceedings will be the Launch Tournament Grand Finals for the online game SMITE. Top teams from across North America and Europe will compete in the online game SMITE in front of a live audience for over $150,000 in prizing.

Some of the Special Guests already confirmed to appear at the conference include: CaptainSparklez, TotalBiscuit, Creatures Kootra, Creatures Sly Fox Hound, Creatures Sp00nerism, SMOSH Lasercorn, and SMOSH Sohinki.

Panel presentations include speakers from Twitch.TV, Nvidia, and others discussing video content creation, tools & technology, and monetization. For details and registration, go to http://www.GameVidExpo.com.

Doom Warrior

Doom Warrior is a free-to-play fantasy MMORPG developed by Creaky Corpse Ltd. for PC, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android where players can engage in brutal gladiatorial combat in arenas. Your objective in the game is simple, enter the Arena and defeat any other combatants that stand in your way to greatness. Choose mercy or decapitation for your defeated enemies and see what path you follow.

Features:

Endless Loot: Randomized loot and customizable crafted gear means there are millions of potential combinations to boost your strength in the arena.

Gargantuan Challenges: Massive, deadly bosses await you – can you slay them?

Savage PvP Combat: You’re not the only powerful one out there – prepare to face off against other players in intense close-combat.

Choose Your Path: As your opponent lays before you in defeat, choose to decapitate them – or spare them. The choices you make will affect the path you take.

World of Speed

Created by the development team behind Project CARS and former ‘Need for Speed’ developer, World of Speed is a F2P car racing game that takes arcade style racing into the new era by combining AAA graphics and visuals with massive multiplayer online competition.

Features:

Team Racing: World of Speed introduces a new level of connected competition allowing players to team up and compete in an ever-expanding number of gameplay modes where completing team-based objectives determines the victor.

Clubs: Players can team up with friends and other players to form clubs where they can customize their logos, earn access to a club garage social hub, compete against other clubs, show off in the Airfield Playground and battle in high-stakes races in Territory Wars.

Lots and lots of cars: Players can earn and collect a continuously growing roster of cars ranging from everyday city runners to the fastest super cars on the planet while housing them in their own costume garage.

Locations: Race across iconic licensed circuits and custom built tracks based off real-world locations, including Brands Hatch to London, Monaco and Moscow.

Rappelz – Public Test Server Goes Live

Webzen has just announced the opening of the Public Test Server for the Prelude, an upcoming expansion for Rappelz.

Rapplez PTS

Starting today, every Rappelz player will be able to access the global Public Test Server and try all of the features of the upcoming expansion. During the test, players will get a chance to help the Rappelz team to spot any possible problems with the game client and improve the final version of the upcoming expansion. In order to give participants a good chance to test all the aspects of the expansion all drop rates, XP and Rupee drops will be significantly increased. The Rappelz team will also introduce a new in-game NPC who will provide special boosts to the players.

For more information on the Rappelz PTS, visit their forums here at http://rappelz-forum.gpotato.com/viewforum.php?f=462&start=0