Path of Exile developer Grinding Gear Games has announced that the MMOARPG will now accept payment in the form of Karma Koins. Interested customers can find Karma Koin cards in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Mexico. The cards are available in denominations of $10, $25, and $50.
For now, your first redemption in Path of Exile will net you a free Voidgate Portal Effect.
(Source: Path of Exile)
Adventurers will have the opportunity to continue the fight against the dragons in Neverwinter next month, with the launch of the latest module Rise of Tiamat. The new module follows the ongoing story played out in Tyranny of the Dragons and the Siege of Neverwinter event, bringing players together to fight back the cult of the dragon and prevent them from summoning draconic goddess Tiamat. Can players stop Tiamat from returning? Spoiler: No, but you will have the opportunity to slay the five headed dragon, one decapitation at a time, and send her back to the hell she climbed out of.
Rise of Tiamat goes live November 18th.
(Source: Neverwinter)
Hi-Rez Studios has announced new SMITE servers for the Oceanic region. Players who opt into the new servers will be able to keep all of their progress, and can even still play with North American and European players if they so wish.
“As SMITE grows, we continue to expand servers into key regions so that we can provide the best service and performance for our international players” said Todd Harris, Chief Operating Officer of Hi-Rez Studios. “The Australian community has always been very vocal and supportive, and we are excited to improve the game experience for the community in this region.”
SMITE will be on display at PAX Australia, where attendees will receive a free Sydney Shredder skin for He Bo.
(Source: Hi-Rez Press Release)
Well, they did seven days ago, but cut me some slack. Aventurine has laid out a seven-step plan for improving Darkfall: Unholy Wars. The entire post can be found on the forum (link below) and covers seven topics based on communication with the community, on how to improve the game of Darkfall.
The post goes into a number of ideas, including an enchanting system, alignment systems for criminals, expanded PvE experience, and more. Aventurine’s ideas range in their completion stage from early concept to ready for launch within the next few patch cycles. If you have a few minutes to spare, take a look at the ideas presented in the link below.
(Source: Darkfall)
Spanish speaking RuneScape players will log in today to discover some disappointing news about their game: Jagex is sunsetting the Spanish servers. In a post on the Spanish RuneScape website, Mod Pips announced that the Spanish server will no longer be supported as of today, and will shut down on November 3rd. The reason provided is that the service never grasped the level of income needed to justify the expense of translation.
In other words, we find it more expensive to produce and provide support in this version that the gain we get from it, so that as a business, we can not justify their maintenance.
Members coming from Axeso5 will receive an additional 30 days of game time and are encouraged to come over to the English, German, French, or Brazilian Portugese servers (characters can freely log between them). While future Jagex products may be translated into Spanish, with considerations to market prospects, there are no more plans to translate RuneScape any further.
(Source: RuneScape)
Prospective pilots looking to plunge into Eve Online will find that their trial experience is becoming a little more free. In an upcoming update, Eve Online trial accounts will be able to send and receive ISK, post in trade chat, participate in incursions, and have five corporation applications pending.
A number of skills are seeing their restrictions lifted while others that were not restricted are being pulled away. You can find more details at the link below.
(Source: Eve Online)
Halloween is upon us, and that means spooky events filled with ghosts, goblins, witches, zombies, and even some old string. Beginning October 30th and running for five days, Aventurine wants you to celebrate Halloween in the traditional way: Beating the crap out of monsters. Over the holiday event, certain creatures will spawn with candies for the taking, as well as limited holiday feats that can be completed for their own rewards. Beginning today, you can find Darkfall subscriptions on sale for 50% off.
The sale only runs until the 29th, so don’t be too spooked.
(Source: Aventurine press release)
Hopefully today’s MMOrning Shot didn’t spoil anything for you. En Masse Entertainment announced the first expansion to TERA, dubbed Fate of Arun. The expansion will task players with exploring the mysterious northern continent of Arun, taking on a new evil power and perhaps saving the native Khirians in the process. The expansion also raises the level cap to 65 and introduces new gear, zones, skills, and dungeons for high level players.
“It’s been an incredible two years since TERA first launched in North America,” said En Masse Entertainment Producer Patrick “Treeshark” Sun. “Fate of Arun will be, without a doubt, the biggest addition to the world of TERA new and returning players have ever seen – and we’re excited to reveal more details in the upcoming weeks.”
(Source: En Masse Entertainent Press Release)
NCSoft has confirmed a round of layoffs at its western operations, affecting all of its studios outside of ArenaNet. The layoffs come as a result of “restructuring of key operations within NC West,” as the developer pushes towards mobile and tablet gaming, as well as emerging technologies. Polygon has cited an unnamed source stating that over sixty members of the Carbine Studios team were laid off.
The statement by NCSoft:
Today we announced a restructuring of key operations within NC West. As a result of this restructuring, we are implementing staff reductions across our Western operations with the exclusion of ArenaNet. While decisions like this are always hard, they are necessary as we begin the implementation of a new strategy designed to strengthen our footing as a leader in global entertainment.
Moving forward, we will continue to focus on our core development capabilities and the intellectual properties (WildStar, Aion, Lineage, and Guild Wars franchises) that have made NCSOFT what it is today. However, we are looking to move into new business segments like mobile and tablet games as well as explore emerging technologies.
Again, the decision to reduce staff was not an easy one, and we sincerely wish everyone well in their next endeavors.
(Source: Polygon)
Social media has brought many great things to the gaming community, chief among which being a much closer and more personal connection with the people who make our games. Unfortunately, it has also had the effect of giving faces to the otherwise faceless, a voice to those who for the sake of the company’s public image, perhaps shouldn’t be given an open microphone.
Paranautical Activity has been removed from Steam and Valve has terminated its contract with the developer after Mike Maulbeck posted a profanity-laced rant on Twitter. In his tweets, Maulbeck called Valve “incompetent,” lamented the company’s monopoly, and expressed his hopes that the platform would no longer be a monopoly by the time his next game released. Maulbeck posted another tweet that has since been deleted, stating “I am going to kill gabe newell. He is going to die.”
Whether or not the “threat” was genuine is irrelevant to what transpired. At the end of the day, video games are a business and companies like Valve expect a certain amount of professional conduct from their partners. Business issues should be dealt with professionally via email, not through vitriolic rants on Twitter.
MMO Fallout 