Author: Admin

APB: Reloaded Cars Drive Like Cars!


You know, I’d forgotten how good All Points Bulletin looked, not to mention Realtime World’s plans to overhaul driving and shooting before the shooter went defunct last year. The latest video from K2 Networks showcases driving like you’ve never seen in the game: functional. Although the driving isn’t perfect, the system is leaps and bounds ahead of what RTW presented when the game went live last year. Back when the original APB was still being patched, the developers laid forward plans to overhaul driving and shooting, and it looks like K2 Networks has fully implemented both.

By the way: If you watch the video, pay attention to how many deceased civilians are laying strewn about the sidewalk, that weren’t hit by either the criminal or the cop. Also note the improvements to the ragdolls and AI. The less civilians that run in front of my cop car, the better.

More on APB: Reloaded as it appears.

Warhammer: All We Need Is Five Thousand Fans…


Mythic Edition!

The folks at Warhammer Online have a simple task for their fans. Get five thousand “likes” on Facebook, and the company will reduce the RvR Booster Double Pack down to $9.99 from its original $14.99 price. To my knowledge, there is no time limit on this promotion, although I have to express my doubts that Mythic will just sit around waiting for the Facebook page to someday hit five thousand likes.

This is very simple, like us and $ave. Help us get to 5,000 likes on Facebook, and we will drop the price of the RvR booster double pack from $14.99 to $9.99. Just click here http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Official-Warhammer-Online-Age-of-Reckoning/320074732226 and like us. Don’t forget to tell your friends!

As it stands, the push behind this advertising jingle goes to question how many people are still playing Warhammer Online, and whether or not Mythic is running this promotion because they know the votes are going to be there, or because five thousand people hitting “like” on Facebook would be considered a challenge compared to how many play the game.

Still, five thousand likes seems a little low. By comparison, Crimecraft has 6,000 likes.

Darkfall Anniversary Sale: $9


Welcome Committee!

Darkfall is one of those games that comes around and defies all authority by, yes, having one of the worst launches in recent history (with the game being unbuyable for a good while post-launch), but taking those startup issues, beating them over the head with a brick, and throwing the dead bodies into a lake. That was two years ago, and Darkfall continues to defy the predictions of trolls by pushing out regular content updates, including an upcoming reshaping of the world.

In celebration of the game’s second anniversary, Aventurine is putting Darkfall on sale for $9 USD and Euro, until April 1st. In addition, the three month subscription is now on sale for $24.95 (Three for the price of one and two thirds). Topping off this sale is the addition of 25,000 meditation points for those who resubscribe in March or create new accounts. The points may be lost if you have too many saved up, so Aventurine is recommending that players use up some of their existing points:

Note: Don’t claim the points if you don’t have room for them, for example, if you already have more than 75 thousand points in your account. If you do, then you should work some off to make room for your free points. Meditation points are non-refundable.

More on Darkfall as it appears. This sale runs through to the end of the month.

 

Vivox Voice Chat Coming To Cryptic Studios Titles


Cryptic Studios

Vivox is a company you may be familiar with, even if you don’t fully recognize the name. The company provides voice chat to a wide range of MMOs and services, from Sony Online Entertainment (Everquest/Star Wars Galaxies), Fallen Earth, Eve Online, and even All Points…moving on. Vivox also hosts for titles like IMVU, D&D Insider, NCsoft, and more.

The company has taken the MMO industry by storm, and if your MMO has voice chat (Combat Arms, Global Agenda, RoM, I could go on), the chat is likely provided via partnership with Vivox. So, unsurprisingly, in addition to Vivox’s continued Skynet-esque approach to inserting itself into every MMO on the market, Cryptic announced on the Champions Online and Star Trek Online websites that the two will be receiving voice chat.

Vivox, Inc., the number one integrated voice platform for the Social Web, and Cryptic Studios, a leading developer of massively-multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG) and a subsidiary of Atari, Inc., today announced a platform agreement that will integrate Vivox Voice services into all Cryptic titles.

The announcement does note that the chat function is coming to “all Cryptic titles,” and given the reliance on teamwork in Neverwinter Online, it is safe to assume that Vivox will also be providing support for that game as well.

Mortal Online: Revolutionizing Mounts In MMOs!


Seeing Henrik Nystrom post on the Mortal Online always reminds me of watching a kid describing his favorite super hero, just because I can’t read Henrik’s description of an impending update and not think “and then Superman flies and, and everyone is like ‘whoa,’ and then he grabs a car with his super strength and he smashes the bad guy like POW, BAM, POW!”

Today’s post comes from the Mortal Online forums, where Henrik has an announcement about an upcoming mount update:

Revolutionize mounts in MMOs you say? Why, that would be even better than an update that was just like Mortal Online 2, or as one deleted post put it:

Technically, MasterCrafter (if that is your real username), you left out the part where Henrik blames Epic Games. Although, if the update is as revolutionary to Mortal Online as Henrik says it is, the mounts may have the power to keep the server running online for more than ten concurrent hours without crashing.

More on Mortal Online, and what is and is not the fault of Epic China, as it appears.

Age of Empires Online: Your Mom’s Video Blog


Ya ever had a corn sandwich? The wounds from Ensemble Studios’ closure may still be fresh, but the guys over at Gas Powered Games want you to know that they are putting their full attention into Age of Empires Online. Hopefully this studio, known for their Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander games, will be able to make the transition to MMORTS.

Age of Empires Online is currently in beta.

Age of Empires Online: Your Mom's Video Blog


Ya ever had a corn sandwich? The wounds from Ensemble Studios’ closure may still be fresh, but the guys over at Gas Powered Games want you to know that they are putting their full attention into Age of Empires Online. Hopefully this studio, known for their Dungeon Siege and Supreme Commander games, will be able to make the transition to MMORTS.

Age of Empires Online is currently in beta.

Ryzom Going Freemium


Ryzom is one of those titles that may have slipped under your radar. Originally launched in 2004 by Nevrax, Ryzom is a science-fantasy MMO. The game aims to create a living breathing world, offering features such as animals that hunt one another, resources that become unavailable at certain seasons, and more. The game operates on a skill-based system. After Nevrax was acquired, and the game went bankrupt, Ryzom was picked up by Winch Gate, who currently publishes and develops the game.

Starting March 9th, Ryzom is opening up the trial to include the first 125 levels (out of a maximum 250), with no time or area limitations. There are other limitations on inventory, apartment, and guilds that apply.

And as Yumeroh put it:

Despite the freedom of this new system, we would like to remind you that Ryzom can only live on through your paid subscriptions. Thank you for the confidence you have in us.

Holy Charm! Charms Are Free in Allods Online


Why So battered?

Previously on MMO Fallout:

In the July 7th patch, Fear of Death is going to be removed and replaced with item curses. When a player dies now, there is the chance that a curse will land on a slot in their inventory. If the item is rare (Rare, epic, or legendary only) the curse will invert the stats of the item. More importantly, bosses now have a chance of dropping rare items in an already cursed form. So, as one Allod Online’er put it, Astrum Nival essentially took a temporary grievance that can be waited out, and turned it into a permanent grievance that must, without exception, be fixed with a cash shop item or heavy gold in the auction house.

It’s been eight months since I talked about Allods Online, and the update that added in item curses. After my post, gPotato implemented a cash shop item called the Holy Charm, which is the cash shop item described above. Also in that eight months, I believe that the holy charm has far outweighed its presence, because gPotato appears to be gearing up to remove the item, and possibly the curse mechanic altogether.

In a news post on the Allods Online website, PioPico has announced that Holy Charms are now completely free! There are no limits to how many you can buy (aside from how many you can hold), and the post does not specify if this sale is permanent or only temporary. If you do play Allods Online, there isn’t much of a reason not to stockpile these. Otherwise, if gPotato does keep the mechanic in and the sale ends, at least the prices should come down heavily in the game’s auction house (albeit, doing that they may as well rename Allods Online to Zimbabwe Online, with how high inflation would be).

More on Allods Online as it appears.

Thirty More Rift Servers Today


Just enough time to watch the Lord of the Rings Extended Director's Cut Trilogy

Less than a week ago, I mentioned that Trion was opening up over twenty new servers for Rift’s head start, after population built up into fifteen hour long lines just to log in. Of course it is worth pointing out that, with any MMO launch, a few of these servers will be going the way of the Dodo a few months out when the game has settled down to its base population.

Not content with adding twenty three new servers, Trion is looking to throw even more realms onto the pile, with the announcement of another 31 servers that will be added in March 1st (today) for launch. The official list contains 19 US servers, with 12 in Europe divided into 9 EN, 2 DE, and 1 French. The resulting count leaves server figures at 58 North American servers and 41 European servers.

When the time does come to it, hopefully Trion will be able to merge servers quickly and efficiently. You can check out the full server list here, or by ordering Rift from one of the many MMO Fallout-trusted retailers, and then log in.