Category: News

Jagex Acquired By Chinese Investors


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Jagex, the Cambridge-headquartered creator of RuneScape and Chronicle: RuneScape Legends finally announced their acquisition by Chinese investors, with a new Board of Directors being constituted immediately upon their purchase. The acquisition was first hinted at months ago after news broke that the developer was considering offers from Chinese iron mining company Shandong Hongda.

CEO Rod Cousens praised the acquisition for its offer of “visibility in China, which is now the biggest gaming market in the world.”

“Jagex will continue to be operated by the existing management team, which has overseen an impressive trading performance in recent times and has driven its iconic franchise, RuneScape to continued to growth. It will be business as usual for the Company, its players, and its employees post-acquisition.”

The news of the acquisition comes on the heels of what Jagex refers to as “best ever performance.” In addition to RuneScape and its Old School spinoff, Jagex is currently working on card game Chronicle: RuneScape Legends and an idle game based on the same series.

(Source: Jagex press release)

Trion Worlds Loses Two, Not A Layoff


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Trion Worlds has confirmed that the recent loss of two employees is not related to rumors of a layoff, which did not happen. Instead, Defiance/Devilian community manager Sarah “Kiwibird” Walters and a presently unknown member of Trion Worlds left of their own volition.

In response, other community managers are stepping up their involvement with players, including the following from Eric Cleaver.

“We remain strongly committed to Defiance and I’ll be stepping back out from my role in the background of Defiance a bit more. You may see some of our other Community Team members around the place too like Brasse. That is probably more appropriate in another thread, to avoid distracting from this one.”

Trion Worlds is presently hiring a human resources generalist in its Austin studio.

IPE Update: Digital Homicide Needs A Lawyer


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(Update: This detail was pointed out by a reader. The document has been stamped as “not in proper form” and “subject to rejection by the court.)

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Small IPE update this week. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, but Digital Homicide is in severe need of a lawyer. Today’s update is just two pages consisting of two very short paragraphs, expanding upon the previous set of updates.

The document itself is a request for the court to accept the motion in response to Stanton’s motion to dismiss the case. Translated to English, the request says “please accept that last set of documents I submitted.” Romine has no idea if the document is required, but he filed it anyway and apologizes if it is a waste of the court’s time.

This is only submitted as the term “Opposition” was not specifically stated in those two documents. The Plaintiff was unaware if this was a required statement and felt it may need to be stated officially. Apologies if this is obvious and unnecessary.

The presence of a lawyer could have saved this lawsuit from several follies, such as the existence of this document or that “aforementioned” is one word and not two.

The Plaintiff files this Affidavit in Opposition with these two afore mentioned documents as Opposition and the undersigned requests the Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss be denied.

For those of you keeping score on the motion/response score count, we are now in Digital Homicide’s motion in response to the defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s opposition in response to the defendant’s motion to dismiss the plaintiff’s case.

It makes sense in legal circles, not much elsewhere.

Blizzard Silencing Abusive World of Warcraft Players


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Blizzard has unveiled new policies surrounding players using abusive language in World of Warcraft chat, primarily in how the game will deal with people who receive numerous reports.

Under Blizzard’s new system, players who are reported multiple times will receive an account-wide penalty. Silenced players will be unable to speak in most chat channels, cannot send mail, send party invitations, create calendar events, or send war game invitations and duel invitations.

Silenced players will still have access to whisper chat with friends/raids, create parties/raids, share quests, and talk in global chat when a moderator is present. Chat is restricted for 24 hours on first offense, with each subsequent action doubling that time with no maximum. The tenth silence on an account, for example, will last 12,288 hours or 512 days.

Silenced players are restricted on an account-wide basis.

(Source: World of Warcraft)

Sharing Your RuneScape Account May Be Criminal


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Sharing your RuneScape account is risky, but could it be criminal? Technically, probably. Is Jagex going to sue you for sharing your pure defense rush account with your friend on the other side of town? Well, they did once try to sue players for cheating. Who knows?

The premise of the lawsuit is such: David Nosal was accused in 2004 of using login information to gain access to the computer of his ex-employer in order to use the information for his current company. The court ruled that the company that issued the password must give authorization in order for the information to be shared, and that the password holder (in this case, Nosal’s ex-colleague) did not have the legal authority to do so.

As is often the case with these legal proceedings, not even the parties involved agree on what this ruling could mean in the greater picture. Judge Reinhardt has stated that it does not draw a line, and could put millions of users at risk because their activity is not in line with a company’s policy. The majority opinion writer Judge McKeown rebuffed, claiming that the specifics of the case made it irrelevant to a spouse sharing login information to print airline tickets (for example).

The wider implications of this case won’t truly be known until a company brings it up as precedent in a court trial.

(Source: BBC)

Neverwinter Hits Head Start On PS4


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Neverwinter hits Playstation 4 on July 19th, with head start beginning in just about an hour (10am PST) for those who have purchased the head start pack. Available on the Playstation Store for $19.99, the Onyx Head Start pack includes a week of early access as well as the items below:

  • Fragile Onyx Weapon pack
  • 20 Enchanted Keys
  • Adventurer’s Helper Pack
  • Graycloak’s Legacy weapon
  • Onyx Horse mount (Green)
  • “The Onyx Adorned” title

When Neverwinter goes live on July 19th, it will be free to play with no Playstation Plus requirement. Coverage from MMO Fallout will be coming this week.

ASTA Announces Myth 1: Wrath of the Berserkers


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WEBZEN, a global developer and publisher of free-to-play MMO games, today announced that its Asian fantasy MMORPG ASTA – The War of Tears and Winds will receive next week a content update for its first expansion “Myth I:Wrath of the Berserkers”.

Starting Tuesday, the 19th of July, players seeking an even tougher challenge will be able to take on the two raids of the Mountain of Trials in Hard mode. This means that enemies will be stronger and it will be impossible to resurrect, except with the help of a healer of course.

Players from both factions will also face a new enemy, Usata. This giant world boss wanders in the western part of the Wado region. Not only is Usata a fearsome enemy, he is also extremely powerful. Dealing with this giant, and at the same time the opposing players, will definitely make his loot very valuable: Artifact and Unique grade armor pieces!

Players that focus mainly on PvP will also be able to quench their thirst for blood. ASTA is opening a new Battleground map: Dreamworld. In this new area, 2 teams will face off in an epic battle. The objective is to break through the opponent’s defense and capture the Sword of Prophecy. Players will take turns being the attacker and the defender, either blocking the progression of their enemies or formulating their own strategies to rush to the Sword!

More information on the content update can be found on ASTA‘s official website at http://asta.webzen.com

Champions Online Lifetime Subscription 33% Off


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Champions Online lifetime subscriptions are on sale once again. From now until July 18th, you can get your hands on this deal for $200 from the regular price of $300. Lifetime subscription provides a lifetime (their life, not yours) of members benefits, including premium archetypes, travel powers, costume sets, and a 500 Zen monthly stipend.

With all your new found powers, you need a look that shows off your heroism. Gold Members get immediate access to loads of free costume sets, more than 400 parts in total, as an automatic unlock. Gear up for the fight with the Sakura Mecha Armor that comes free with your subscription. Your dueling gunslinger will be thankful for the bandolier and extra bullets that come free with the High Plains Drifter set. Finally, what type of Spartan doesn’t wear his signature cape and Spartan Armor before entering combat? These are just a few of the costumes you’ll get for free when you become a subscriber.

(Source: Champions Online)

Star Trek Online Content Being Streamlined


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When Star Trek Online hits consoles later this year, it brings with it six years of content and changes that have been changing the title on PC. In the latest post on the official website, Perfect World Entertainment recognizes that while the extra content puts the game above what players would normally expect from a new launch, it is not without problems.

Foremost, the additional content has made it difficult for new players to figure out what content to experience in which order. To address this, the mission journal is being updated with categories for adventure zones while separating mission progression from reputation in order to allow the content to be played in the proper order.

In addition, various missions have been removed after being deemed outdated and detracting to the overall story. Some daily missions have been removed with their rewards added to the base mission experience in order to reduce unnecessary questing.

(Source: Star Trek Online)

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.