Category: News

Arenanet Talks: Guild Wars 2 Friend/Ship Campaign


Last month Arenanet held a Guild Wars 2 campaign called Friend/Ships, asking players to send in their stories of forming friendly relationships in the popular MMO. The campaign brought in tons of stories from gamers who made new friends and even some who went on to tie the knot.

This week I managed to get in touch with Elisabeth Cardy from Arenanet for a quick Q&A regarding the Friend/Ships campaign. Let’s see how it went.

Q. How did the name “Friend/Ships” for the campaign come about?

Elisabeth Cardy: When we first started brainstorming around this campaign, it was based on stories we’d heard of people who had met their significant other in game, but we really wanted to recognize that it’s not just romantic relationships that can have a deep impact on our lives. To that end, we were looking for a title that encompassed relationships of all sorts. Especially in English, the word “relationship” can have some hefty connotations of romance, so it didn’t feel right on its own. “Shipping” is a fandom term that has to do with primarily romantic relationships (“ships”), so when we were taking some early notes, we started using “Friend/Ships” as a shorthand to kind of indicate both platonic and romantic relationships, and the whole team liked it so much that when it came time to think of the final title for the campaign, we all decided that we wanted to keep this one around.

Q. What was the inspiration for this campaign? There are countless stories of people forming friendships in MMOs but developers are often hesitant to acknowledge them.

Elisabeth Cardy: We built Guild Wars 2 with the idea in mind that it should be good to see other players. We regularly see the success of that in the stories that we hear from guilds, couples, and BFFs about their in-game and out of game adventures. Hearing stories like these is incredible rewarding and heartwarming and we wanted to share some of that joy with the world!

Q. Guild Wars 2 centers a lot of its content on drop-in cooperative group play with strangers. Do you think that forms stronger bonds between players than those that are primarily competitive?

Elisabeth Cardy: Certainly the casual grouping and reinforcement that seeing other players in Guild Wars 2 is a good thing helps people meet others that they might not have normally. But, I think people can bond a lot of ways! Some of my fondest memories are of cooperative content, like running into people repeatedly at open-world boss fights, but I know plenty of folks who have stories of their own of friendships forged in the fires of a particularly fierce rivalry, or facing off together against a common enemy.

Q. What kind of response did you receive from the community compared to what was expected?

Elisabeth Cardy: We got absolutely flooded with stories from players from all over! It was a real delight to see so many people sharing their memories of people and moments that are special to them and how Guild Wars 2 has had a positive impact on their lives.

Q. Is this a one-off event or will it come around again next year?

Elisabeth Cardy: The in-game Friendship Tonic will be available to players in February in future years, and we certainly aren’t done celebrating and appreciating the Guild Wars 2 community.

Q. And finally, do you refer to friends met online as “online friends” to more local, in-person friends?

Elisabeth Cardy: Personally, I don’t tend to draw much distinction, and if I do bring it up, it’s normally as a way of giving context to how I know a person. Just like I’d say “a buddy I met in college,” as a lead-in to a story, I might say “a friend I met in Guild Wars 2.”

No Man’s Sky Hits Xbox One This Year


Hello Games has officially announced the launch of No Man’s Sky on Xbox One as well as a massive update coming to PC and PS4 this year. Dubbed No Man’s Sky Next, the update will be free, however we do not have any information on what will be included with it in terms of new content. Hello Games has called it “an important next step on a longer journey for us and the community.”

“We are calling this No Man’s Sky NEXT because it is an important next step in a journey for No Man’s Sky, for Hello Games and for our devoted community,” said Sean Murray, founder at Hello Games. “Each update for No Man’s Sky has been more successful than the last; this was especially true of our last update Atlas Rises. It emboldens the team to push ourselves further. This journey is far from over, and it’s exciting to be working again on something you know will surprise people.”

The Xbox version of No Man’s Sky will be distributed by 505 Games who you may recognize from their publisher roles for games like the Sniper Elite series, Portal Knights, and Rocket League. A firm launch date has not been set.

(Source: Press Release)

In Plain English: Lohan Loses GTA Lawsuit Appeal


Lindsay Lohan has lost her appeal in New York State Court today in a privacy lawsuit against Take Two.

Lohan sued Take Two Interactive in regards to allegations that the company illegally used her likeness in Grand Theft Auto V. In the game, players assist a celebrity by the name of Lacey Jonas escape the paparazzi. Lohan’s lawyers argued that the Jonas character was a likeness of Lohan’s image and personality and thus constituted an invasion of privacy.

The appeals court ruled that the image of Lacey Jonas constituted an “indistinct, satirical representations of the style, look, and persona of a modern, beach-going young woman” and thus were not recognizable as Lohan. In the ruling, it was also noted that a character in a video game would fall under the laws governing using the likeness of a living person for purposes of selling a product, however the character used in Grand Theft Auto V was not close enough to Lohan to constitute a likeness of her.

“Here, the Jonas character simply is not recognizable as plaintiff inasmuch as it merely is a generic artistic depiction of a “twenty something” woman without any particular identifying physical characteristics. The analysis with respect to the Beach Weather and Stop and Frisk illustrations is the same.”

The court did not address the advertising and trade elements of Lohan’s appeal. The court also struck down the appeal of Karen Gravano against Take Two, a similar case to Lohan’s, citing similarly that the game did not appropriate her likeness when creating the character Andrea Bottino.

(Source: NYS Court of Appeals)

Twitch Prime Members Get Sweet TERA Console Loot


TERA is live on Xbox and Playstation (provided you purchase a founder pack) an En Masse Entertainment has partnered with Twitch to offer a pack for Prime members. Log in to Twitch between March 27 and April 9 and pick up a code for a TERA pack usable on either console.

  • Violette, a pet dragonette with the ability to auto-loot
  • Purple plasma weapon skin unique to your chosen class
  • Crown of Gold hair slot accessory
  • Fifteen (15) Days of Elite Access enabling power leveling, fast travel, double dailies, and other beneficial rewards
  • Ten (10) Strongbox Keys that open any locked strongbox. Locked strongboxes contain valuable consumable items including XP boosts, crystals and enchanting materials that enhance your equipment, dyes, gems, and more.

(Source: TERA)

TERA Hits Consoles April 3


En Masse Entertainment announced today the official launch date for TERA on Playstation and Xbox: April 3. If you’re not willing to wait until April to get into the servers, you can pick up a founder’s pack and start as early as Tuesday, March 27. Founder’s packs include EMP, mounts, pets, titles, and elite status, depending on which package you buy. The founder’s packs won’t be available until March 27.

“There is a lot of excitement in gaming to finally see the action combat TERA is so famous for realized on console,” states Matt Denomme, Sr. Product Manager at En Masse Entertainment. “We had an amazing reception to our Open Beta test from TERA veterans and newcomers. We are pumped to finally bring the deep, challenging, definitive MMO experience gamers have been waiting for to Xbox One and PlayStation 4.”

(Source: TERA)

 

[Video] Guild Wars 2 Super Adventure Box Is Coming Back


We’re getting close to April Fool’s Day and that can only mean one thing: The Super Adventure Box is coming back to Tyria. Check out the update when it goes live and, in the meantime, enjoy this callback to the first Adventure Box release.

Xbox Live Gold Members Get Free Week Of Elder Scrolls Online


That headline is a mouthful.

Starting March 22, Xbox Live Gold members can download and play The Elder Scrolls Online for free for one week. The free week begins at 7a.m. UK time (about 3a.m. EST) and you may want to start the download before you go in to work/school, as the game rings in at a walloping 80 gigabytes. If you purchase the game during or after the free week ends, you’ll be able to keep your progress including any crown packs or store items purchased.

The week ends on March 27 at 3a.m. Players interested in purchasing the game can do so at a discounted rate during the week.

This promotion is already live on PC and Playstation 4.

(Source: Elder Scrolls Online)

Minecraft PvP Feud Results in 24,000 Bomb Threats Against 400 UK Schools


Sky News reports this week that hundreds of UK schools had to evacuate in response to 24,000 emails sent out carrying fake bomb threats, due to an apparent feud between Minecraft communities. As reported by Alexander Martin, Sky News was able to get in touch with one of the perpetrators who had deliberately falsified the emails so that they would appear to be from another community, VeltPvP, to schools demanding ransom payments of thousands of dollars with the threat that a bomb would be detonated inside the school if the ransom wasn’t paid. The intent, according to the participant, was to get the VeltPvP domain shut down.

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Another of the alleged perpetrators attempted to justify the bomb threats as a response to allegations that VeltPvP had been attacking other servers and when asked if he felt remorse, another responded “I’m not going to lose sleep over it.”

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(Source: PCGamer via Sky News)

Make Your Own Paragon: Epic Releases Paragon Assets


All of those internet-savvy armchair developers can finally have their day in the sun, as Epic Games announced that they will release all assets related to Paragon, for free. Assets include 20 characters with their skins, voice overs, animations, as well as over 1,500 environment components from the ill-fated Paragon MOBA. And that’s not all, as more Paragon asset packs are set to release during the Spring and Summer of this year.

The release offers some insight into just how much this game cost to make, and potentially lost, as the art assets themselves (according to the news release) cost Epic $12 million to create and that number will only rise by the millions as more assets are pushed out.

(Source: Unreal)

[Video] Funcom Reminisces On 25 Years


Funcom turns the big twenty five this year, and that means it’s about time for a montage. It’s hard to believe that Funcom got its start way back in 1993, but the developer that we all know from Anarchy Online actually got its start developing licensed and original titles for the Sega Mega Drive (Genesis for you Americans) with games like A Dinosaur’s Tale and Pocahontas.