Author: Admin

PSA: Get the Old Republic Expansions Free With This Code (Limited Time)


If you’ve been holding off on the Star Wars: The Old Republic expansions for a while now, your patience has officially paid out. To celebrate the launch of Knights of the Old Republic on Xbox One, Bioware is giving away both Old Republic expansions to anyone who uses a simple code by the time the promotion ends. The code is REVANRETURNS and can be redeemed at this link, and if you’re into things like free mounts, you can also get your hands on a free speeder with the code KOTORSPEEDER.

Codes expire Monday, November 6, 2017 at 11:59PM PST / Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 7:59PM GMT. The promotional code includes Rise of the Hutt Cartel and Shadow of Revan

(Source: The Old Republic)

[Community] The Internet Dances on the Grave of Neogaf


Let’s be clear on one thing: The death of Neogaf was guaranteed a long time before this last week’s revelation, thanks to a closed door policy and a sycophantic owner/moderation team whose policy can essentially be summed up as “no dissenting opinions.”

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t spend a lot of time on Neogaf, a website that has repeatedly and personally turned me down for membership in part precisely because of my ownership and affiliation with this website. While the website maintained a reputation of an insulated hugbox where disagreeing with the higher ups was a quick way to a permanent ban, it’s hard to deny the sleuthing skills of many of the members within. A lot of leaks and early information was disseminated through Neogaf, and it honestly made for a good place to find lead stories. As hard as it is, you have to separate the overall community from its more well known and immature voices.

But we’re not here to praise Neogaf, this week’s Community is all about how a person who seems to enjoy exerting control and dominance, an individual with years of rumored sexual malfeasance, could surprisingly turn out to be a sexual predator. The latest allegation was posted over the past few days of Tyler Malka, AKA Evilore, prompting a number of moderators of the website to step down in protest and in solidarity of the alleged victim. The forums, as you might expect, burst into flames from users demanding an answer to said allegations or for Malka to step down. Attempts by moderators to lock and delete threads only fanned the flames further, and eventually the forums were shut down completely.

The internet, unsurprisingly, is taking this opportunity to dance on the grave of Neogaf, given Malka’s alleged predatory behavior towards women seems in stark opposition to his very public support for progressive causes including supporting victims of sexual abuse.

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Support apparently not extending to women interacting with Malka who, in 2012, posted a story on Neogaf involving him grabbing a woman’s backside at a bar after she asked him to buy her a drink, just to show that she wasn’t in control of the interaction. The latest allegation comes from a woman claiming that Malka made an unwanted entrance into her shower while she was both sick and intoxicated, posted as part of the growing #metoo campaign that has seen countless women speak out about sexual harassment.

The individual went on to have a relationship with Malka in the following months.

“At one point in a bar a girl who didn’t speak any English came up to me and started flirting heavily, then went straight into asking me to buy her a drink. . . I laughed because drinks here were all of two Euros, but consented and then grabbed her ass hard to show that I wasn’t being taken advantage of, and she thought better of treating me as a mark and left without taking her drink.”

The news of Malka’s misconduct comes just a few months after a Neogaf moderator was arrested. Christopher John Goldberg, posting under the name Amir0x, was arrested and charged with 63 counts of possession of child porn. According to various accounts, there was supposed to be a statement released by Neogaf on the situation this weekend, and as of Monday morning nothing has been released. When a statement is made, it will be added to this article front and center.

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PSA: Get Steam Link For $1 (Plus A Cheap Game)


The Steam Link is a device that allows you to stream your Steam games to another television in the house via wifi or ethernet. If you’ve been holding out on buying the Link thanks to its bank-breaking $50 price tag, you are in luck (but only if you act fast).

Valve has placed the Steam Link on sale with the game Icey for the sum total of $8.69 USD. The divides out to $7.69 for Icey and $1 for Steam. You do have to pay shipping and handling, but that’s something that would have been added on while buying the link at its regular price regardless. You’ll need to decide fast, as this bundle ends on October 21 at 9am PST.

Icey, for those interested in this bundle for more than just the Link, is a 2D side scrolling shooter/platformer. More information can be found at the link below.

(Source: Steam)

TERA Joins the Fight Against Breast Cancer


En Masse Entertainment has unveiled the Pink Power Bundle, a limited promotion in TERA to help spread breast cancer awareness. The bundle is only available until November 1, and contains a small handful of goods to show off your charitable ways.

TERA’s Pink Power Bundle sells for $14.95, with 100% net proceeds going toward the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

  • Pink Pinions —A pair of rare, translucent-pink wings that emit hearts to show off your caring spirit.
  • Pink Wreath —A crown of pink flowers.
  • Pink Brow Glasses—High-end eyewear for the caring soul.

“According to Breast Cancer.Org, there are more than 3.1 million survivors with breast cancer history, and 40,000 women are expected to die in 2017 from breast cancer,” said Matt Denomme, Senior Product Manager at En Masse Entertainment. “We’ve got a chance to help bring those numbers down by spreading awareness through our TERA community, as well as contributing proceeds from our Pink Power Bundle to one of the many charities in need. We hope our small part will help these statistics change for the better and fight this awful disease.”

Loki Joins Marvel Heroes Omega, Plus 25% Gs Sale


The number of playable characters hits 44 as Loki joins the cast in Marvel Heroes Omega on PS4 and Xbox One. Loki is currently available exclusively through a $20 pack, and will be available to purchase with Gs or with eternity splinters in one month (the website says Black Bolt).

With an ensemble of spells ranging from arcane magic and illusionary tactics to powers of ice and fire, Thor’s half-brother has the goods to cause plenty of damage in battle. Loki’s default costume echoes his classic comic book look, and players who purchase him also have access to a much younger look for the character from his LOKI: AGENT OF ASGARD series.

In addition, G packs are on sale at 25% off for console.

(Source: Marvel Heroes)

Blood Moon Returns To Champions Online


We are knee deep in October, and that means it is that time of year again: Time to go kill some spooky monsters and get your hands on some ghastly goodies. Champions Online is just another one of those games handing out tricks and treats this holiday season.

Head on in to get your hands on the living sword, spiked collar, lunar wing vehicle, or shadow sickle vehicle. Defeat enough enemies to obtain the rank 3 defeat perk and you’ll be rewarded with a Thriller-themed dance emote.

(Source: Champions Online)

Activision Patents Using Matchmaking To Encourage Microtransactions


Can you imagine playing a game where you’re never quite sure whether or not the game is intentionally pitting you against more skilled enemies to better advertise spending real money on more powerful weaponry? Activision can, they patented it.

Discovered by Rolling Stone, the patent relates to matchmaking systems and driving microtransactions in said games. There is no concrete proof that this system has been used in any existing Activision title. The patent offers way to use matchmaking in order to drive microtransaction purposes, by specifically pairing players who own DLC items with those who do not, with the goal of exposing said items to potential new customers.

One example of this implementation involves matching a low skill player with a high skill player who happens to own a cash shop weapon in order to encourage the lower skill player to buy said item. Say for instance if the system determines that a player is trying to become an expert sniper, as the patent describes. He could be placed in the match with a higher skilled sniper who also owns some sniper DLC weapons and maybe that player will buy some weapons of their own.

“The system may include a microtransaction arrange matches to influence game-related purchases. For instance, the system may match a more expert/marquee player with a junior player to encourage the junior player to make game-related purchases of items possessed/used by the marquee player. A junior player may wish to emulate the marquee player by obtaining weapons or other items used by the marquee player.”

Another implementation would have players with a microtransaction item that is currently on sale be paired with players who do not own such item, in order to promote said sale.

Microtransaction engine 128 may analyze various items used by marquee players and, if at least one of the items is currently being offered for sale (with or without a promotion), match the marquee player with another player (e.g., a junior player) that does not use or own the item. Similarly, microtransaction engine 128 may identify items offered for sale, identify marquee players that use or possess those items, and match the marquee players with other players who do not use or possess those items. In this manner, microtransaction engine 128 may leverage the matchmaking abilities described herein to influence purchase decisions for game-related purchases.

The system isn’t all about making more money, though. Other implementations of the patent involve matchmaking in regards to matching players up with friends/clans, placing emphasis on players who spend a long time in matchmaking, and matching performance based on skill in a more accurate way. In another example, the system can determine a player’s preferred game mode and steer them toward those servers in matchmaking.

Activision has denied in a statement that this patent has been put to use in any of its games, claiming that it “was an exploratory patent filed in 2015 by an R&D team working independently from our game studios.”

You can read the entire patent here,

(Our thoughts: Let’s go on a limb here and take Activision’s statement as fact that this has never been implemented. They’ve painted a target on their backs of a company willing, and now capable, of secretly putting such a system in their games.)

The Mad King Returns To Guild Wars 2


It’s Halloween time again in Guild Wars 2! Return to the lair of the Mad King, now equipped with both your Path of Fire mounts and Heart of Thorns gliders, and take on the denizens while navigating the twisting passages of this labyrinth. Race against time in the Clock Tower jumping puzzle or take on other players in the Lunatic Inquisition PvP game.

The Halloween event runs from today until November 2.

(Source: Guild Wars 2)

Marvel Heroes Omega Will Overhaul Its Omega Prestige System


The unveiling of Omega prestige for Marvel Heroes Omega wasn’t entirely positive, with many players taking umbrage with the newly introduced seventy Omega prestige levels. As each prestige level offers more power, in order to fully kit out your character, that means reaching Omega prestige and then going through the increasingly arduous leveling process seventy times, going back to level one each time, losing your powers, and having to re-gear.

As a result, Gazillion has laid out plans for omega prestige going forward, including adding the benefits of Omega up front rather than requiring players to level up over and over again to become more powerful:

Instead of removing power entirely, we are instead frontloading some of the bonuses onto Omega Prestige 1 (final values still being determined). This means that the Omega Traits will have much more potency as soon as they are acquired, and will not require any further leveling to get more powerful. All of the power gained from Omega Prestige will be given immediately, up-front.

To make omega prestige levels attractive, Gazillion will begin rewarding currency for each prestige level gained that can be redeemed for prestigious loot boxes containing boosts and other rewards. Characters who prestige will also receive scaling gear that should mitigate the grind to re-roll gear. The prestige gear will grow with the player and inevitably be replaced by higher tier gear closer to end-game.

(Source: Marvel Heroes)

RuneScape Launches Dimensions of the Damned: Competitive Survival


Today’s RuneScape update marks the introduction of Dimensions of the Damned, a 10 day competitive mode where players race to survive in a world overrun by zombies. As a purely player vs monster mode, Dimensions kits players out with capped stats and throws them into a post apocalyptic Gielinor, complete with the walking dead.

The goal here is to complete sessions which gave an hour to rack up points by killing zombies. Cosmetic rewards can be won by completing tasks (killing more zombies) but the ultimate goal is placement on the leaderboards. At the end of the event, the top 1,000 players will gain access to the finale, a last man standing mode with real world prizes (lifetime membership, collectibles, etc)

“We’ve played with the idea of survival modes in RuneScape in the past, most notably with our DarkScape experiment a couple of years ago, and they’ve proved popular. However, as a purely PvE survival game mode, Dimension of the Damned is quite unlike anything we’ve released before,” said Matt Casey, Senior Product Manager, RuneScape. “We’re really looking forward to seeing how tactics develop over the coming days as players try to reach the finale and compete to win an incredible set of prizes, but with only 1,000 places available in the endgame expect the competition to be stiff and full of rigor (mortis).”

Check out more on Dimensions of the Damned at the link below.

(Source: RuneScape)