Category: News

Atlas Reactor Now Free Until July 17th


Atlas Reactor, Trion Worlds’ turn-based battle arena PC game currently in Closed Beta, is hosting a free event for all players from now until Sunday, July 17.  The event will see the introduction of two new freelancers as well as the preliminary implementation of Ranked Mode! During the free event, anyone can jump into Atlas Reactor and get a taste for the game’s fast-paced, simultaneous turn-based action.

To help new and current players get the most out of Atlas Reactor’s unique, turn-based team PvP mechanic, Trion has just published a gloriously illustrated, annoyingly thorough User Guide!

Trion has also released “Atlas’ Most Wanted,” a 15-second clip from its upcoming cinematic CG trailer produced by Blur Studio.

A brand new freelancer, Celeste, has also been unveiled and will be available throughout the free event. Celeste is a roguish firepower freelancer who will steal your heart – or at least, any valuables you may have. Players looking to try their hand at mastering Celeste can use the “Three Tips for Playing Celeste” below, compiled by the Atlas Reactor team to give players a better understanding of the new Freelancer and her play style.

  • Be mindful of where enemies are in relation to Celeste’s Smoke Bombs, good placement means that you can see your enemies while they can’t see you.
  • Celeste’s ultimate ability, Safecracker, can do immense damage but requires good positioning for maximum effect; try to catch enemies by surprise by using Smoke Bombs.
  • Celeste’s dash ability, “On The Run,” can be useful for getting around corners and positioning yourself onto power-ups appearing next turn.

Another new Freelancer will join the lineup of Atlas’ Most Wanted during the Free Event. This mechanised hero for hire will be revealed on Trion’s weekly Atlas Reactor livestream at 10:30 PM BST today, and will be available to players on July 12.

Evolve Re-Releases As Free To Play Title


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Turtle Rock Studios officially announced today that Evolve will re-launch with a free to play model. The announcement comes after the title was mysteriously removed from sale on Steam last night. In addition to removing the entrance fee, players will be able to unlock everything simply by playing the game.

Evolve has been completely overhauled on PC with new game design, gameplay mechanics, and improved gameplay balance and system performance. All of the content in Evolve, including all the content released following its launch, is unlockable in Evolve Stage 2 completely free simply by playing the game.

Evolve Stage 2, as it has been named, will release today in beta mode and likely stay there for a while. While Evolve was critically praised upon release, both the game and Turtle Rock Studios have been heavily criticized over the game’s monetization strategy. Evolve was advertised as being “built from the ground up” for DLC, launching with more than $100 in microtransactions.

Player traffic on PC has plummeted in the year since launch, down to an average of 100 concurrent players. The question of whether the game would go free to play has been in speculation since shortly after launch.

(Source: Steam)

Overwatch Teases Healing Sniper Rifle


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If a recent tweet by the official Overwatch account is anything to go by, the ability to headshot your teamates back to health may soon be on its way. Posted on the @PlayOverwatch Twitter account, the image shows blueprints for a sniper rifle with healing abilities.

Commentary from Overwatch heroes in the image adds a bit to the lore, showing Mercy’s opposition to what she sees as a slippery slope toward a weaponized gun. Torbjorn, meanwhile, insists that it will only be used as a healing item.

The Prototype Biotic Rifle may or may not be related to Sombra, a possible hero whose teasers can be found in multiple locations within Overwatch.

(Source: Overwatch)

PSA: Paragon Starter Pack Free For PS+ Members


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Paragon is a fantastic MOBA, and I say this as someone who otherwise personally finds no love for the genre, but the launch has been a topic of confusion for gamers. While Paragon hasn’t technically launched yet, boxed copies of the game have been in stores for the past couple of months at the cost of $50, without really pointing out that the game is in early access.

Gamers with Playstation Plus can pick up the starter pack for Paragon for free this month. The pack includes instant access, master challenges for three heroes, and a reputation boost for three wins. Master challenges are normally available for a purchase price and offer various rewards for leveling up a character, including master challenger skins. All heroes are unlocked from the start.

Paragon is available in early access on PS4 and PC and supports cross-play between the two systems as well as keyboard and mouse support on console.

(Source: Playstation)

[Column] Valve’s Constantly Changing Position On DigiHom


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[Update: we have received notice from Digital Homicide that the issue below is due to an error in the Steam API, and not part of any deliberate decision by Valve. We apologize for the error.]

The game above is Daisy’s Sweet Time Cupcake Mania, one of numerous clone games up on Greenlight by esteemed developer Digital Homicide. This title, along with nearly a dozen others, were submitted on June 2nd to Greenlight only to be marked as incompatible on June 3rd.

Very quickly after, someone at Valve marked the game as compatible on June 6th. Evidently, the Valve employee who allowed the title is at odds with another, because the game was marked as incompatible again on the 9th, only to be marked compatible again the same day, to be marked and then unmarked again on the exact same day. The same thing happened on the 10th, the 15th, the 21st, the 27th, and again today on the 5th of July this cupcake game has been marked incompatible with Greenlight.

And, as always happens to be the case, the story gets stranger. This back and forth marking/demarking is present on virtually every single one of Digital Homicide’s current Greenlight games. In fact, in the time it has taken me to write this, someone at Valve has already re-marked the games as compatible.

Who are these two employees, locked in an endless struggle over the fate of Digital Homicide’s Greenlight titles? Are there people arguing over the Valve office coffee machine about the artistic merits of Not In My Crapper?

Just take a gander at the history of Daisy’s Sweet Time: Cupcake Mania and recognize that this is pretty standard for DigiHom’s games. I looked through a massive amount of other, random titles on Greenlight and the only other games with this history of back and forth have been removed.

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[Video] Riders of Icarus Gold Spam


While my impressions of Riders of Icarus so far have been positive, it’s impossible to overlook the overwhelming and unhindered presence of gold spam, especially ridiculous when you consider that the only way to get in right now is through early access packages.

It is also impossible to ignore these messages, as the ignore function does not block global messages.

Blizzard Is Suing Bossland Cheat Maker…Again


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Blizzard has filed suit against World of Warcraft bot maker and Diablo gold farmer Bossland GmbH at a federal court in California. In addition to its antics in World of Warcraft and Diablo, German-based Bossland also sells cheats for other Blizzard titles including Heroes of the Storm.

The lawsuit is quite standard for companies going up against cheat developers, utilizing copyright infringement, unfair competition, and DMCA allegations of tampering with the game’s DRM. The lawsuit also alleges that the cheat makers are causing damage to Blizzard’s business by harming their goodwill and reputation with customers forced to deal with cheaters.

“Defendants not only know that their conduct is unlawful, but they engage in that conduct with the deliberate intent to harm Blizzard and its business. Blizzard is entitled to monetary damages, injunctive and other equitable relief, and punitive damages against Defendants.”

Blizzard is claiming jurisdiction in the United States as Bossland does business in the country. The game developer previously sued Bossland in German court over Diablo III gold farming and was forced to withdraw their case.

(Source: Complaint)

[NM] Sorry, ODD Games, Retroactive Defamation Isn’t Real


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Here at MMO Fallout, I have always taken the position that a developer’s previous work does not prohibit them from fixing what is broken or improving in future products. While we would like to see a world where games stop launching in a barely functional state, it stands to reason that any game can go from a failure to a success with a simple series of patches.

Nevertheless, it is a new day and that means another independent studio dead set on dragging their reputation through the mud by threatening a member of the games media. ODD Games has been making headlines with the news that the studio threatened Youtuber Nerd³ over his review of Monster Truck Destruction, a $5 mobile port currently sitting at a “mostly negative” rating on Steam with a peak of six users over the past month. Not a single person is playing it right now. The review video has been accused of making false statements about the game, at least in a manner of speaking.

Where the case gets interesting, and where the line gets drawn, is in timing. Factually speaking, nothing said in the original Youtube review was incorrect. Since the review was posted, however, ODD Games has patched Monster Truck Destruction and fixed several issues that were present in the build reviewed. In their threat, ODD Games demands that the video be taken down as the review “can be interpreted as defamatory.”

The letter goes on to give a 48 hour deadline before the issue is “escalated to the relevant authorities.”

Unfortunately for ODD Games, defamation doesn’t cover statements that were true at the time they were said but were later invalidated. It does, however, leave a mark on your company as being that one that uses threats and intimidation in order to get your way, and unsuccessfully at that. Just imagine how different these events might have played out had you simply sent an email asking for a fresher review? I can’t guarantee that your request would have been answered, but you can hardly do worse than this.

IPE Update: Judge Strikes Down Digital Homicide


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It’s been quite a while since the last In Plain English update on the Digital Homicide lawsuit, but earlier this week two new documents were presented to the court system that, as some of you have pointed out, I’ve ignored. I posted a short bit on Twitter essentially saying that nothing new was really presented, but for the sake of documentation, it’s best to just go over recent developments in a little more detail. For the sake of brevity, I’m going to assume you’re up to date on the case. If not, check out our previous coverage.

There are a few things at issue here. James Stanton has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds of jurisdiction, among other complaints, to which James Romine filed a response and a motion to amend as well as a motion to exceed the page limit. The court accepted the first motion to amend and motion to exceed the page limit.

However, Romine filed a motion to amend his response and Stanton objected on the grounds that the amendment didn’t do anything but repeat previous arguments. The court has upheld the defense, and denied the second motion to amend the response.

As a result, the court has approved a motion for leave to the plaintiff to amend his response to the defense’s motion to dismiss the case. In layman’s terms, Romine has more time to respond to Stanton’s attempt to have the case dismissed.

The second document is a 28 page rebuttal of Stanton’s defenses. It reiterates a lot of what Romine has said already, that Stanton does business in Arizona because people in the state can subscribe to his Patreon and buy items. He states that he can sue Stanton as an individual because the defense used his name specifically in coverage (calling him Romino).

Romine was also CISSP certified until 2014, and his sales have been destroyed by Stanton’s followers. I’m not sure what those two have to do with each other, but they’re noted in the same paragraph.

Our take: Once again, it’s interesting to see Digital Homicide, a company with seemingly little self-awareness of their public perception, using the Ventura v Kyle case in their list of precedent. If you’re not aware, Jesse Ventura sued former Navy Seal Chris Kyle over Kyle’s statement that he punched Ventura in the face at a bar after Ventura allegedly stated that the Seals could “lose a few” in reference to Kyle’s deceased fellow soldiers. When Kyle was murdered in 2013 at a shooting range in Texas, Ventura instead pursued damages against Kyle’s estate. He came out with $1.8 million, which he has since been accused of lying to the court and claiming said money would be paid by the book publisher’s insurance in order to ensure a verdict in his favor.

(Addendum: The verdict in Ventura’s favor has been thrown out and the case is set to go to retrial. This was accidentally deleted along with another comment.)

Romine is still representing himself as of this publishing and his Gofundme for a lawyer presently sits at $425.

Snapshots: Riders of Icarus


Riders of Icarus hits open beta July 6th, but for now Nexon has sent along a few new screenshots showcasing the mounts you can find in-game. Players with founders packs can get in early, while the rest of us will be able to log in next week.

(Source: Nexon)