Category: News

Mobile MMO RebirthM Launches In North America


Caret Games has announced the official launch of their mobile MMO RebirthM in North America for January 24.

RebirthM starts players off at level 100 and lets them loose to level up indefinitely through a new upgrade system. Exclusive elite dungeon challenges will open as players level, facing off against powerful bosses that will reward valuable items. The game also boasts as PvE environment with an endless world, as well as challenging PvP modes for more rewards including a battle royale system where players fight to the last person standing.

To celebrate its launch, RebirthM is holding a number of launch events for players to receive exclusive items. More information can be found on the official Facebook page. While the launch is exclusive to North America and Brazil, Caret Games has stated that the title is slowly expanding to more countries with a global server on its way.

Planetside Arena To Launch March 26


Planetside Arena will launch on March 26, Daybreak Game Company announced in a news post circulated today.

Initially set for launch in early 2019, Planetside Arena will now feature an exclusive Founders season to get the “most dedicated” fans in before launch. Before the full game goes live, however, Daybreak is still gearing up for the first closed beta starting on January 30 with specific server times coming later this week. The founder’s season meanwhile will begin on Febuary 20, 2019 and will feature exclusive items that can only be obtained during this season of the battle pass. Those who preorder will receive immediate access to the founder’s season and battle pass.

More information can be found at the official website.

Star Trek Online Resurrects Captain Killy


Perfect World Entertainment this week announced that Mirror of Discovery, the latest expansion, is now available on PC with Xbox and Playstation 4 coming later this year. Star Trek fans will have the opportunity to meet Captain Killy of the Terran Empire, voiced by Mary Wiseman. Leader of the I.S.S. Discovery, Killy is never shown on screen in Star Trek: Discovery, however her reputation as a ruthless leader is often mentioned.

Mirror of Discovery picks up on the story left off by the prior expansion, Age of Discovery. The update in full contains the following new features:

  • Two New Featured Episodes – Captains hailing from all of the game’s various factions can experience two new playable episodes featuring Captain Sylvia Tilly of the Terran Empire.
    • “Para Pacem” – Players will witness the I.S.S. Discovery’s fated confrontation with Klingon forces, in the middle of an ion storm above Pahvo.
    • “Illusion of Communication” – Captains must stop Captain Killy from using Terran Empire technology to manipulate Pahvo’s peaceful biosphere.
  • Anniversary Events – This month, Star Trek Online celebrates nine years of exploring the Star Trek universe from within. To kick off this milestone, the game is bringing back the popular Omega Molecule Stabilization event. Players who stabilize Q’s scattered Omega particles can earn free Omega Particle Tech Upgrades and prize vouchers, redeemable for the new T6 Vulcan Scout Ship featured in Star Trek: Discovery.
  • Personal Endeavor System – Players who enjoy the game’s Endeavor System can now complete unique daily challenges to earn account-wide performance boosts in a wide variety of combat mechanics.
  • Battle at the Binary Stars – By popular demand, the Battle at the Binary Stars Event is now available as a Task Force Operation, with the debut of Advanced and Elite modes that will challenge even the most experienced players.

Source: Perfect World Press Release

Jagex Polls Completion Cape Changes In RuneScape


RuneScape is well known for its constantly changing landscape and design philosophy, weekly content updates will do that to you. The completion capes involve a long list of achievements in-game. As a show of their difficulty, these caps also happen to be best in slot stats and utility, which has made them almost mandatory for player vs monster activities.

This week’s poll is asking if players want to change that. There are two versions of the poll, one for players who have achieved the completion cape and one for those who never have. The sample questions below are for those who have never owned a completion cape.

  • Should capes be cosmetic only or remain best in slot, but easier to maintain (or no change at all)
  • If the capes are no longer best in slot, should Jagex add more requirements (Yes immediately, yes but gradually, or no)
  • Jagex wants to make the requirements for completion/trimmed capes more consistent. Should unfitting requirements be removed (yes/no)
  • How should Jagex deal with new cape requirements (special ex-comp cape, grace period, nothing)
  • Should content inaccessible to some players remain on the cape (yes, no but separate cape, no)

The poll is accessible within RuneScape and will be live for another week. Jagex did note that this is not a guaranteed content poll, so the results are not guaranteed to lead to changes.

Guardians of Ember Returns Under Gameforge


Guardians of Ember is a title so popular, I’d be willing to bet that every person reading this article hasn’t quite gotten over its untimely removal from Steam following publisher Insel Games being caught attempting to manipulate review scores. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the population of Guardians of Ember hasn’t been doing so well after its removal from Steam, or that Insel Games is no longer in charge of publishing it. Like a phoenix, Guardians of Ember hopes to rise from the ashes and presumably save Harry Potter’s life at the end of Chamber of Secrets.

What does this mean? First, Guardians of Ember is back in closed beta, and that the game will become free to play as opposed to its plan of being buy to play under the previous regime.

Those of you who bought Guardians of Ember under Insel Games will immediately have access to it under Gameforge. Whether Valve will allow the game back on Steam following this publisher transfer is yet to be seen.

Source: Steam

Jagex Distances Itself From Streamer Bully


Jagex has given a statement on an incident that took place over the weekend in which RuneScape streamer Aus Swag was banned from both Twitch and RuneScape for conduct during a live stream. Aus Swag called an individual live on air, one that he knew to be suicidal, and told her “I think you should just kill yourself, honestly.”

RuneScape community manager Mod Shauny posted a statement distancing itself from Aus Swag, noting that they do not and never have had a business relationship with him.

This morning we became aware that over the weekend a RuneScape player had live streamed himself calling a vulnerable individual who had admitted they were having suicidal thoughts, telling that person to kill themselves. The RuneScape player is not someone with whom Jagex has – or ever had – a business relationship but given the incredibly serious nature of the incident we have taken measures that make it clear such behaviour will not be tolerated.

As a result, the individual has had their RuneScape account permanently banned with immediate effect. Jagex is incredibly passionate about mental health and wellbeing, and we will continue to do all we can to help those in our community – and beyond – receive the support they need to overcome the mental health challenges they face in their day-to-day lives.

Aus Swag posted an apology to Twitter in which he claimed that the microphone was muted during his comment and that he did not intend to put her at risk. He also donated $200 to a charity centered around suicide prevention.

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Blue Mage Joins Final Fantasy XIV With Patch 4.5


Following the release of patch 4.5, Square Enix earlier this week introduced a new job and unique way to experience the Final Fantasy XIV content. As the first limited job, the Blue Mage is available to players with a level 50 Disciple of War or Magic class/job and who have completed the main scenario quest “The Ultimate Weapon.”

The Blue Mage learns new abilities through combat and is capable of learning up to 49 unique monster abilities at release and leveling up to 50. The level cap and learnable abilities will increase in future patches.

A reveal trailer can be viewed below. More information on FFXIV available on the official website.

Jagex Issues Warning To Mobile Apps


With the launch of RuneScape on mobile devices, Jagex this week announced that they will be changing their policy in regards to how the company approaches mobile app developers using RuneScape’s IP to create unofficial companion programs. In a post published this week, the UK developer stated that they will be reaching out to app developers to discuss applying for a license to use the IP, and may seek removal of apps that do not meet their standards.

We are in the process of reviewing existing unofficial and unlicensed mobile apps and as a part of this process, we will be reaching out to the developers of existing mobile apps which utilise our IP, to explain our rights and we may give certain app owners the opportunity to discuss and apply for a licence to use our IP in relation to their existing app.

In cases where unofficial apps in our opinion do not meet our requirements or standards, or where license terms cannot be agreed we will seek their removal from mobile stores. We are constantly reviewing and updating the use of our IP and it is important to note that this current review only affects mobile apps.

Please note this is only for existing apps, and we will not be accepting any licence requests for new apps.  If you have a current live mobile app, we will contact you in the near future.

Source: RuneScape.com

Galactic Combat Game Master of Eternity Adds New Year Update


Master of Eternity (M.O.E, get it?), the turn-based mobile strategy game, this week launched its new year’s update delivering an overhaul of fresh content, including exclusive costumes and events. The Cheerleader Costume Event is now live for a limited time and the game is available for free on Android and iOS devices.

In Master of Eternity, players command PIxies armed with formidable mech suits. The Cheerleader Costume Event boasts several new features, including:

  •  Exclusive Costumes – Unlock two new cheerleader costumes through gems and a special mission event to customize M.O.E.’s Pixies;
  •  Festive Sales – Take advantage of rare sale prices of suits, generic seeds and parts for the limited-time New Year’s sale;
  •  Weekly Special Events – Play the Galactic Pension Expedition during weekdays and Ancient Relic Loot Battles during weekends to acquire modified materials and items;
  •  Premium Modification Package – For the duration of the event, the component quantity of existing sales products increases.

More information can be found at the official Facebook page. Master of Eternity was developed by Nexon Korea Corporation, subsidiary of Nexon Co.

IPE: Former Gearbox Counsel Accuses Randy Pitchford of Possessing Underage Pornography (Updates)


(Editor’s Note: It should be noted that any accusations made in this lawsuit are alleged and no presumption of guilt for accusations against either party should be presumed, either implied or otherwise. MMO Fallout makes no conclusion of guilt or innocence on either party.)

(Update Jan 11 6:40p.m.) Gearbox has released a statement to Kotaku that they will be filing a grievance with the STate Bar of Texas against Wade Callender for knowingly filing documents containing false accusations.

(Update Jan 11 6:25p.m.) Randy Pitchford has responded to the allegations in a series of messages on his Twitter account. Pitchford denies the allegations, classifying them as a “shake down” and part of a “greedy pursuit for money.” Randy is confident that he will prevail in the ongoing litigation between both parties.

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Ars Technica has found a podcast in which Randy Pitchford describes that the material left on the USB stick was not “underage” as claimed in the lawsuit. Viewers are only recommended to follow the above link if you really want to know what Randy Pitchford is into.

(Original Story) A former general counsel for Gearbox and Randy Pitchford are currently embroiled in a rather nasty string of lawsuits against one another for a multitude of charges, however a recent court filing has accused the Gearbox CEO of possessing underage pornography.

Both lawsuits detail a myriad of claims regarding breach of duty towards Gearbox as a developer, with Pitchford himself being accused of siphoning a $12 million bonus payment from the company into his personal account, as well as various claims of breach of contract revolving around the developer as well as a separate real estate company. Pitchford is suing, and being sued by, a man named Wade Callender. Callender is a former Navy Lieutenant Commander who worked as General Counsel to Gearbox from 2010 to 2018.

Callender is himself the target of a lawsuit by Gearbox, who accuse him in turn of owing money loaned for a home loan and tuition as well as abusing a company credit card for personal purchases.

 

But a part of this lawsuit comes in the form of a claim against Pitchford that the CEO in 2014 lost a USB drive at a Medieval Times restaurant containing sensitive Gearbox corporate material, which was found by a good samaritan who contacted Gearbox via email to return the device. Pitchford intervened before the data on the drive could be copied, however Callender is claiming that the device contained Pitchford’s personal collection of underage pornography.

“On information and belief, Randy Pitchford’s USB drive contained much more than the sensitive corporate documents of Gearbox and business partners like Take-Two Interactive, 2K Games, Sega, Microsoft, Sony, etc. Upon information and belief, Randy Pitchford’s USB drive also contained Randy Pitchford’s personal collection of “underage” pornography.”

Callender goes on to claim that Pitchford syphoned Gearbox profits to fund parties thrown by himself and his wife. The parties, termed “peacock parties,” in which adult men allegedly exposed themseves to minors, to the amusement of Pitchford himself. Links to both lawsuit filings are below.

Source: Scribd, Scribd