Weekly News Roundup: 4th January – 11th January
By Joshua Temblett (Dontkillmydreams), OnRPG Journalist
Welcome to yet another Weekly News Roundup!!! This is actually the first proper weekly news roundup of 2010, isn’t that great? This week has been a bit slow with regards to news, however there have been some very interesting little pieces of information, especially with regards to Star Wars: The Old Republic. Read on for more information!
Wonderking Online: Open Beta
Ndoors, the publisher behind Atlantica Online, is pleased to announce the open beta for their next MMORPG, Wonderking Online! Here’s a post from Ndoors:
“Dear WonderKing Users, the servers are up! When you are done downloaded all the patches, please also manually select “File Check” to get the latest contents. Thank you for participating in open beta, all closed beta participants will be able to retrieve your special reward in your Gift Box. And remember to join us on the weekend to receive your [Black Panda Pet] too! Thank you for the continued support and enjoy WonderKing!
The WonderKing Team”
Star Wars: The Old Republic: Dromund Kaas
If you have no idea what Dromund Kaas is then I wouldn’t blame you. The amount of Star Wars lore that isn’t mentioned in the movies is unbelievable; in fact you’d have to be a major fan of the series to know even half of the planets/lands that appear in the new Star Wars MMORPG. Anyway back to the subject, Dromund Kaas is a jungle world which the Sith have spent a thousand years building. Here’s some more information:
“Colonized in ancient times by the Sith Empire, the hyperspace coordinates of the Dromund Kaas were lost to time, allowing the isolated planet to fade into distant memory. Following a crushing defeat in the Great Hyperspace War, the handful of surviving Sith desperately sought to escape annihilation at the hands of their Jedi foes. The desperate Sith, leaving their collective destiny to chance, chose to forgo all known hyperspace routes and attempt a series of dangerously random hyperspace jumps and blind scouting missions. For 20 years the Sith armada drifted aimlessly in the forgotten regions of space before finally rediscovering the Dromund system.”
If you want to read more about this new world then check out the official Star Wars: Old Republic website.
Lego Universe: Brand New Trailer
An incredibly awesome trailer for Lego Universe has recently been released. You can find the video right here.
There’s pirate zombies, what more could you want?
Dark Age of Camelot Europe: Taken over by Mythic
Mythic Entertainment has recently announced that GOA’s license to publish and maintain the Dark Age of Camelot will be terminated and that Mythic will be taking over the European servers. Here’s the official post:
“Today, it was announced that after eight years of operating Dark Age of Camelot in Europe, GOA’s license with Mythic Entertainment will soon expire and they will no longer publish or support the game. Over the years, GOA has fostered a vibrant and dedicated community that is passionate about the game. In the coming weeks, GOA will be entrusting Mythic with this community of players. We are currently working with GOA to take over operation of the game and its European community, and will soon be providing details about pressing player questions such as existing subscriptions, character transfers, game versions, localization, and more. We look forward to welcoming all players from the European servers and look forward to supporting them in the years to come. While this closes one chapter for DAoC in Europe, a new one begins with a bright future of RvR ahead. We’ll see you in the Frontiers!
Mythic Entertainment”
Eve Online: Hulkageddon II
“Hulkageddon is an irregularly re-occurring in-game event in the space MMO EVE-online. Organized by Helicity Boson of the Python Cartel the event takes the form of unprovoked terrorist suicide attacks on mining players. Prizes are sometimes given out for special achievements or to the pilots that claim the most victims”
Basically this is a PVP event in EVE Online whereby you have to hunt down HULK type mining ships and destroy them. The next Hulkageddon event is this week and will be from January 7th – January 14th. Prizes include billions of ISK, among other things.
You can find more information on the official Eve Online blog.
Call of Duty: MMOFPS?
Yet more information about a possible Call of Duty MMORPG appeared this month. Basically the rumour said that Infinity Ward has been trying to employ developers from SOE (Sony Online Entertainment). As it turns out, this isn’t the case. Infinity Ward already has some developers from SOE in it and is currently not actively seeking new game makers from the company.
Blizzard: MMORPG?
The French gaming site NoFrag has reported that Blizzard’s next game will include an FPS portion as well as a social portion where the player will be able to meet people, chat, and make friends. They will also be able to then launch into the FPS portion with their friends and battle over objectives. Could this be a Call of Duty MMORPG?
Fallen Earth: Mega Graphical Update!
“Fallen Earth, LLC today announced the inclusion of several wilderness graphics enhancements, specifically to the elements of scrub — including grass and shrubs — terrain and fog. Sharpening and blending textures, colors and lighting, the new and improved details enhance the look and feel of the Fallen Earth post-apocalyptic environment and heighten player immersion.
“The environment in Fallen Earth adds so much to the players’ experience,” said Chris Deavellar, art director for Fallen Earth. “We want to capture the mood of the post-apocalyptic world and the improvements certainly enhance the appearance and atmosphere of the game.”
The new, full scrub enhances several environmental aspects, sharpening textures and adding more detail with improvements to the resolution and quality of the previous scrub. With the new enhancements, players who view the landscape in first-person character mode will notice more volume within the brush and grass than before. Additionally, players will see improvements on terrain as detail textures have been blended to enhance the appearance of the landscape and color maps have also been re-worked in order to provide a smoother blend between shades and augment color variation.
Leaving no environmental element untouched, developers have also incorporated distinctive cloud movement and have further taken a look at fog effects. Improvements on the existing fog equation now enable fog to build up more gradually, distance-wise, to players, creating a more realistic and layered appearance.
“Our team did a wonderful job on the enhancements and we’re sure players will notice the improvements,” said Deavellar.”
Non MMORPG News
Splinter Cell: Conviction: Split Screen Co-op!
Split Screen co-op is coming to Splinter Cell once again! Need proof? Well bam! Here are the Battlefield: Bad Company 2: PC BETA details:
Beta Begins/Ends: Jan 28th/Feb 25th
Map Name: Port Valdez
Players: 32
Game Mode: Rush
Environment: Snow
Theme: Vehicle and Infantry
Back Story: The battle for Port Valdez is fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains. Using basically everything they’ve got the Russian forces are launching an airborne assault to knock out the oil industries in the area. In their arsenal there are Main Battle Tanks as well as fast-moving Quad Bikes and mobile armored AA. It’s a vehicle focused battle, but with plenty of infantry combat.
How to Download: Check back to the Battlefield Bad Company 2 for a new Beta Page closer to beta launch date for download instructions.
How To Get Access: Reserve Battlefield Bad Company 2 is the most sure fire way, but we are still working with Retailers & e-Tailers that wish to participate (it’s up to them). If you’re eager to ensure you get in the two confirmed distributors to Pre-Order are the EA Store and at GameStop.com. We’ll have another Blog at a later date with an update on the retailers & e-Tailers that have teamed up with us as well as alternate channels to obtain a Closed Beta Key.
There’s more information on the official blog post.
That concludes yet another Weekly News Roundup! I hope to see you next Tuesday! Hopefully there’ll be some bigger and better news, like maybe something about Final Fantasy XIV’s beta test? Well I guess we’ll have to wait and see. Join me next time as we once again look at the biggest news stories of the week! I also hope you’re having a fantastic New Year!
