Category: News

RuneScape Shuttering Perpetually Busted Mini-Game


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Say goodbye to your underground cat-fighting ring because it is being removed from RuneScape this week. Rat Pits, a mini-game first introduced in 2005, is widely regarded as RuneScape’s worst mini-game and has been mostly abandoned for years. The premise is simple: Cats were the first pets introduced to RuneScape, so players could take them to rat pits and compete against other cat owners in whose pet could kill the most rats within a certain amount of time.

How do you make such a simple concept unappealing? Allow your cats to die. For what was a pretty significant time investment, your cat could die and unlike players would die permanently. That meant going back to Gertrude and starting all over from the kitten stage. The rewards were almost nonexistent, a paltry sum of coins, with the possible penalty for losing being grinding out another cat.

It also doesn’t help that Rat Pits has been the cause of several game-breaking bugs in the past, from allowing players to massacre the pets of others unimpeded, to duplicate items, and more.

Mod Kelpie posted on Twitter to tell players to get in before tomorrow’s update.

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(Source: Twitter)

Nosgoth Shutting Down Next Month


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Nosgoth will shut down its servers at the end of May, according to a post on the official website. Anyone who made a purchase after March 1st will be automatically refunded as soon as possible, likely within the next two weeks.

It is with a heavy heart and an immense sense of sadness that we must announce the end of Nosgoth’s development. Servers will continue to run until 31st May 2016, during which time you will be able to play the game as normal. After that date, Nosgoth will be taken offline for the last time.

Nosgoth is a team-based shooter based on the Legacy of Kain series, launched on Steam in 2015. Steam Charts shows an average of one thousand concurrent players over the past few months. The announcement doesn’t mention much about the future of the Legacy of Kain series, other than to say that it independent of Nosgoth’s performance.

(Source: Nosgoth)

Warframe Celebrates Three Years With Pharaoh Update


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Digital Extremes is celebrating three years of Warframe with events and giveaways. Playstation 4 and Xbox One users can log in today and enjoy the new Sands of Inaros content update, bringing with it new game modes, a new quest, a new Warframe, new weapons, and more. Console players who log in over the weekend will also find anniversary goodies in their account:

All console players that login to Warframe between April 8 at 2 p.m. ET and April 15 at 2 p.m. ET will automatically receive the Dex Sybaris, a Lotus-themed lever action rifle that’s equal parts elegance and executioner. Players will also receive the first and second anniversary gifts from previous years, the Dex Furis and Dex Dakra. Each is equipped with a Catalyst, includes a Weapon Slot and is ready for action.

More information can be found on the official website. Digital Extremes has also provided this gigantic infographic.

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Blizzard Threatens Private Server, Refuses Demands For Classic Server


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Blizzard Entertainment is in the news today over its legal threats against one of the most popular classic server emulators available (or at least that was available). The server group, known as Nostalrius, played host to over one hundred fifty thousand active players and nearly one million accounts, shut down its servers after receiving a letter from Blizzard’s legal department, warning them of real legal action should the server remain in operation. The owners of the server have also promised to release the server code to the public to create more private servers.

The news of the server shutting down has rekindled public demand for a classic World of Warcraft official server, one that can operate without the threat of being shut down by Blizzard’s legal force. In the past, Blizzard has refused to open a private server over their devotion to the live game and belief that such a project would not bring in much in terms of revenue. Considering the number of people playing on the Nostalrius’ service, a number of gamers might disagree with that sentiment.

(Source: Massively)

Neverwinter Still Addressing Level Grind


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Despite its advances over the past months, Perfect World Entertainment is still working on balancing the level 60-70 experience in Neverwinter to be less of a grind. Today’s update on the official blog focuses on the Elemental Evil campaign quests:

We’ve been analyzing the current state of content from 60-70 and we agreed with the sentiment that it felt too grindy compared to the 1-60 experience. We knew we had to do something to improve the experience, but the big question was, how? We had to be very careful how we changed the experience, because it’s a massive task and affects existing players.

The plan of action goes as such: Elemental Evil was introduced as a retroactive quest, one that players could start at level 60 and use as an alternate form of leveling. Rather than having the campaign use repeatable quests, players will run through the campaign once. In fact, vigilance quests are leaving entirely with the only repeatable quests in their respective areas unlocking once the player has completed all four zones.

Neverwinter will have a double experience weekend beginning April 7th and running through the 11th.

(Source: Neverwinter)

Elder Scrolls Online Is “Huge and Thriving”


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In celebration of Elder Scrolls Online’s second anniversary, game director Matt Firor has taken to the official website to reminisce on the past two years. In addition to showcasing his own character’s progress since the 2014 launch, Firor also noted that the community is ‘huge and thriving,’ a statement that will no doubt be questioned in the comment section below.

Over the last year, we have grown our family by leaps and bounds. We launched the console versions of ESO, which opened the game up to millions more new players. We added three DLCs’ worth of content, allowing players to explore the Imperial City, Wrothgar, and Hew’s Bane. And we will continue to make the game better every day. Our population is huge and thriving, and we are happy to share our enthusiasm and nostalgia with you.

Cue the demands for hard numbers in three, two, one…

(Source: Elder Scrolls Online)

Black Desert Online Community Votes In Pathing


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Daum has posed a simple question to its players: Would you like it to be possible to auto-path allowing players to level up stats while away from their keyboard?

We wanted to put up a simple poll to get an idea of how many people would like to see the Auto-Path Loop feature added to our version.  For those who have not seen this feature, it allows you to make a series of marks on the map that create a green pathing line, once laid out your character will follow this course repeatedly.  If you do this with a mount you are given the option to auto eat carrots to keep your horses stamina up.  Overall this mechanic allows you to level your breath, strength, and horse while AFK.

So far, 84% of the voters have replied yes, more than two thousand as of this article being published. The proposal has been applauded by many as an alternative to reduce the tedium of training the associated stats, as well as allowing merchants to train horses to higher levels to make them more available on the open market.

(Source: Black Desert Online)

In Plain English: Bassett V. Electronic Arts Dismissed


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It’s been over a year since we last checked in on the curious case of Justin Bassett and Electronic Arts, so a brief history may be in order:

Justin Bassett sued Electronic Arts over the company shutting down their game servers even though the games are still available in stores with online play advertised on the box. EA attempted to take the case into arbitration, citing their EULA, and Bassett argued that the arbitration clause was not valid as it was added later on. EA argued that Bassett agreed to the new EULA when he attempted to log into the online servers. Last year, the judge sided with Electronic Arts and threw the case into arbitration.

As I said back then, we will probably never know what the final ruling was as arbitration results are almost always sealed to the public. What we do know is that, as of last month, the case has been dismissed with prejudice.

Plaintiff Justin T. Bassett (“Plaintiff”) and defendant Electronic Arts Inc., the parties to the above-captioned action, stipulate and agree, pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41(a)(1)(A)(ii), that Plaintiff hereby does and shall voluntarily dismiss the above-captioned action, and all of the claims within it, with prejudice.

What does that mean? Dismissal with prejudice bars Bassett from bringing an action on the same claim in the future.

Defiance Piling On Events This Month


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Trion Worlds is celebrating three years of Defiance with events aplenty this month. Starting April 1st and going through the 25th, players will be able to engage with the Midsummer Mutiny, Hulker Hell, New Frontier Harvest, Solstice Strike, and Colony Courtship events. Players are also invited to share their memories of the game on social media.

As part of the event, previous elite lockboxes and synergy crates are returning to the game store.

(Source: Defiance)

Daybreak Game Company Already Making Another Game


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You might be under the impression that Daybreak Game Company is facing tough times, given the layoffs, shutting off a large section of its library, and recent cancellation of Everquest Next, but don’t let that fool you: Daybreak is hiring. According to their official website, Daybreak is hiring for an unannounced title and is seeking a senior producer and a creative director.

There aren’t a whole lot of details, but judging from the experience required the game will be action-oriented and launch on PC and consoles. Given their recent history, it is very likely that this title will wind up on sale as an early access title.

(Source: Daybreak Game Company)