Category: News

Wintersday Returns To Guild Wars 2 On December 12


December is here and that can only mean one thing: Winter celebrations are back! From December 12 through January 2, players can take part in Wintersday, with a variety of rewards ready to be reaped by festive adventurers.

Among the returning activities are:

  • The Winter Wonderland jumping puzzle
  • Toypocalypse: Band together with other players to defend gift-bearing dolyaks against an onslaught of malfunctioning toys
  • Tixx’s Infinirarium: Enter and help the jolly Toymaker Tixx prepare to share the wonder of Wintersday with all of Tyria
  • Bell Choir: Take center stage and make beautiful music to celebrate the season
  • Snowball Mayhem: Gather as many gifts as possible in this PvP snowball fight

Wintersday is available to all in Guild Wars 2.

(Source: Arenanet Press Release)

Snapshots: Dance All Over Your Enemies


Today’s Snapshot comes to us from Guild Wars 2, where players can get their hands on the First Follower Desmina Outfit. The outfit joins the cash shop along with the Choya finisher, and the return of the Heroes Dye Pack, Snowflake Glider, and Mini Festive Aurene with more items returning throughout the week.

You can check out the recent additions at this link here.

Eve Online Improves Free to Play With Arms Race Update


Eve Online just got even more attractive for those looking to play around without dropping a wad of cash. In an update this week, CCP revealed that free accounts (dubbed alpha pilots) will have access to a wider array of ships and skills.

The update allows alpha pilots to train and pilot all sorts of new ships including the Battleship and Battlecruiser classes, among others. Daily alpha injectors can be used to grant pilots skill points on a daily basis rather than the current monthly.

“There has never been a better time to join the universe of EVE and begin your own unique space adventure, or re-join and continue your journey,” said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CCP’s CEO. “The increased flexibility and depth of the free Alpha Clone experience means that EVE is more accessible than ever. EVE players can return and fly their favorite ships for free, re-uniting with old corpmates or continue forging their own destiny to make their mark on the universe.”

To celebrate the update, CCP is running an even until December 12, offering free access to Battlecruisers and Battleships, with rewards themed around both classes. For more information on the update, check out https://updates.eveonline.com.

(Source: CCP Press Release)

Epic Games Settles First Lawsuit Against Fortnite Cheater


Epic Games is on a rampage against cheating in Fortnite, and the first lawsuit has officially ended with a settlement and injunction.

Defendant Charles Vraspir entered an agreement voluntarily with no ability to repeal, that permanently bars him from creating, promotion, distributing, or using any software or device that infringes on Epic’s copyright for any existing or future copyright. Vraspir is restrained from cheating in any game that Epic develops or publishes or even materially contributing or inducing others to cheat in a title that Epic develops or publishes. If Vraspir violates the terms of this agreement, he can be charged $5,000 plus other potential fines.

(Source: Torrent Freak)

Humble PSA Bundle: Get $847 Worth of Games For $35


The Humble Bundles seem to just keep getting better. This time around, Humble is partnering with Yogscast and a slew of developers to bring us the Jingle Jam, a massive collection of games for the low price of $35. All sales from this bundle will go to your choice of a number of charities including Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal, Cancer UK, The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Intersex Association, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation, among others.

Current list of games includes:

  • Rust (Early Access)
  • Dungeon of the Endless
  • Q.U.B.E Director’s Cut
  • Garry’s Mod
  • Defend Your Life TD
  • Golgotha Run, a Dark Future Novel
  • Gunpoint
  • Warhammer: Vermintide Dwarf Helmet DLC
  • Teslagrad
  • ReThink
  • Guardians of Ember: Iron Spine Costume DLC

With another game unlocking every day until December 25.

Throw in $35 for the whole package and even a bit more if you’re feeling generous. As of this publishing, nearly seventy seven thousand have donated. While the deal is listed for 27 more days, the website does state that supplies are limited.

(Source: Humble Bundle)

Square Enix Announces Charity Efforts For Hurricane Relief


Square Enix has partnered with Global Giving to host the Final Fantasy 30th anniversary event, an art exhibit that will see a number of original Final Fantasy works auctioned off for charity. A gallery of work will be available to view for free at Gallery Nucleus in Alhambra California, where the exhibit will be open to the public through January 7.

Those looking to spend a pretty penny can bid on said works of art through December 8. You’ll need to be willing to drop some serious cash, however, as virtually all art pieces up for bid are currently several hundred dollars and counting.

Global Giving is a charity that has raised more than $300 million since 2002 and provides nonprofits with access to tools needed in order to better serve the public. You can find out more about the organization at their official website.

(Source: Square Enix press release)

Jagex Will Evaluate Employee/Clan Relationships


Jagex late last week responded via Reddit to recent allegations against a member of the staff. According to posts on the Old School RuneScape Reddit forum, players have accused one of Jagex’s employees of leaking insider information and giving unfair assistance to members of a clan that they just happened to be a part of. The clan itself has also been accused of using underhanded tactics in Old School’s Deadman Mode tournaments.

The announcement states that Jagex going forward will evaluate whether or not employees will be allowed to have direct involvement in competitive clans.

What is clear is that there’s more we can do to convince you of the integrity of the team, and to ease any fears of dishonesty. Firstly, we will be assessing whether or not direct involvement in any competitive clan is the right thing for an employee of Jagex. You all want a development team who play and enjoy Old School as much as you do, and whilst clans are integral to RuneScape, our participation within them is something we’ll have to review. We are committed to ensuring that no one player (or clan) is given any treatment that could be seen as preferential in any way.

(Source: Reddit)

Sony Starts Automatic Refunds For Marvel Heroes Omega


MMO Fallout can confirm via Sony that purchases from Marvel Heroes Omega will be automatically refunded going back to August 17. Users affected by this should be receiving an automatic message similar to the one above soon if they haven’t already, confirming that their accounts will be credited. As stated in the above message, purchases between August and October 17 will be refunded to the wallet while purchases after October 17 will be refunded to the original payment source, except in cases where said source is unavailable.

Marvel Heroes Omega launched earlier this year on Playstation and Xbox, barely lasting six months into its life before the sudden announcement that Gazillion would be closing up shop and shutting down the servers. While Microsoft was quick to hand out refunds, Sony has up until now been reluctant to offer players compensation for their purchases.

PSA: Get The Bureau: XCOM Declassified Free On Humble Bundle


When it comes to video games, The Bureau: XCOM Declassified is certainly something that was released for money. Currently for sale at $20 on Steam, for a limited time only you can pick up a copy of the 2013 XCOM third person shooter from Humble Bundle at the link below and redeem it on Steam. While the game may be considered a disappointment by hardcore fans of the turn-based strategy series, The Bureau currently holds a 66% overall positive rating on Steam with a more generous 82% recent positive rating, albeit many of those reviews noting its free availability.

The promotion ends on December 2, so pick your key up now.

(Source: Humble Bundle)

Guild Wars 2 Launches Season 4 With Daybreak Episode


The latest Living World season has begun in Guild Wars 2. Taking place after the event of the Path of Fire expansion, Guild Wars 2 continues the world story as the player faces a new present threat, the elder dragon Kralkatorrick.

  • New Legendary Focus: A relic shrouded in mystery.
  • New Fractal – Twilight Oasis: Journey to the past and witness events that shaped Elona.
  • New Raid – Hall of Chains: An influx of murderous undead relentlessly hunt innocent worshipers of Grenth. Infiltrate the Underworld and join the struggle for control over the fates of the living and the dead.
  • A notable and much-asked-for quality of life improvement:  A new “keys” category has been added to the account wallet, which contains a currency version of several existing items which are used to unlock caches of treasure. These items can be consumed to convert them into the new currencies. Players can find a full list of the new currencies in the patch notes.

Living World episodes release every 2-3 months.

(Source: Arenanet Press Release)