Category: News

Ultima Forever Shutting Down August 29th


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With Mythic Entertainment dead and buried, the last remnants of the company are beginning to fall. Ultima Forever is the latest domino to fall, with Electronic Arts announcing that the servers will come down on August 29th.

While the past year has certainly been quite the adventure – in Britannia and beyond! – that adventure is now drawing to a close, as the time has come for us to say goodbye.  As of Aug 29th 2014 (11:00 AM EDT), Ultima Forever will be shutting down its online services, and will no longer be available to play.

Ultima Forever launched in 2013, where the initial excitement over another Ultima game quickly made way for disappointment. What might have been a promising title was bogged down thanks to a greedy and overbearing cash shop. In honor of the last month, players will receive boosts to rewards and have armor degradation disabled.

(Source: Ultima Forever)

Path of Exile Releases Digital Comic Issue #1


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Grinding Gear Games has released issue #1 in the Path of Exile comic book. The Karui Way is the first of four comic books scheduled for release over the next few months, with a physical collection coming early next year. Each issue can be purchased for $4 apiece, or $20 for the whole collection. You don’t save anything by buying the collection, but it does come with two exclusive masks.

Check out the promotion at the link below.

(Source: Path of Exile)

Neverwinter Coming To Xbox One


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Perfect World Entertainment has announced that Neverwinter will be coming to Xbox One, set for launch in early 2015. The console version, according to PWE, will lose little in translation and players will be able to enjoy all of the same races, classes, and maps. According to the lead producer in a talk with IGN, module releases that are currently live on PC will be rolled out individually in a staggered schedule. The announcement does not specify exactly what is being lost in translation from PC to console, other than the obvious lack of keyboard and mouse. The Xbox One will use separate servers than those on PC, with the friend list derived from Xbox Live.

Last December, Perfect World Entertainment announced the opening of a new division focused on bringing their games to home consoles. Chinese gamers will be happy to know that Neverwinter launches on the Xbox One in China late this fall.

(Source: Neverwinter)

CCP Shutting Down DUST 514 Oceania Servers


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CCP has announced that the Oceania servers for DUST 514 will be shut down following regularly scheduled maintenance on Monday, July 28th. In a post on the forums, CCP Frame stated that a low population on the server led to players from other regions using it to set up rigged battles against one another.

Following the shutdown, players on the Oceania servers will be redirected toward either the Asia or North American servers, depending on their location and ISP.

(Source: DUST 514)

Dungeon Fighter Online Thieves Sent To The Pokey


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There is an interesting shift in cultures when it comes to video games and police. While I hate to make such a broad sweeping statement, I highly doubt that I would be taken seriously if I went to the police to report that my Dungeon Fighter account had been broken into and the thieves had made off with my virtual goods. In fact, I’d probably be laughed out of the building.

Such is not the case in China, where two gamers are about to find themselves in the slammer for just such an offense. Two men in China’s Sichuan province have been sentenced to jail terms plus fines after they stole six grand from another gamer’s account. Since Chinese prisoners are apparently used for gold farming, odds are these two will be back in Dungeon Fighter Online long before they ever get out of prison.

(Source: Kotaku)

Anarchy Online Introduces PLEX, But Not For Free Players


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Funcom is jumping on board the PLEX train with the introduction of GRACE to Anarchy Online. GRACE, or Grid Access Credit Extension, costs $14.95 USD, and adds 30 days of game time to an account. GRACE can only be traded through the in-game market, does not count towards your market inventory limit, and cannot be withdrawn or traded through mail. Free players cannot use GRACE to upgrade their accounts without subscribing, as free accounts do not have access to the market and that is the only way to obtain the item from other players.

Free players will need to buy a subscription before they are able to purchase and use GRACE.

(Source: Anarchy Online)

The Old Republic: Largest Story Expansion Since Hutt Cartel


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The latest blog post for Star Wars: The Old Republic is all about future content. Now that the Hutt Cartel has been stopped on Makeb, the Dread Masters taken down a notch, what will the Republic and Sith have to do other than continue beating the tar out of each other? The answer is a three part story arc coming called Forged Alliances. Part 1 is currently available in the form of two new Flashpoint missions that will introduce players to new allies and set the stage for future content.

Forged Alliances leads up to the next content expansion for The Old Republic, which Lead Writer Charles Boyd promises will be the largest story expansion since Rise of the Hutt Cartel.

(Source: The Old Republic)

APB Reloaded Names and Shames Cheaters


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I’ve always taken the stance of wondering how you shame someone who is shameless, but that’s just me. In a new blog post by Reloaded Productions, the number of cheaters in All Points Bulletin has stayed relatively consistent, around 1% of the total game’s population. Thanks to the FairFight anti-cheat engine employed in the game, over two hundred of these players have been banned but not before spending a copious amount of real money on in-game swag. Even more surprising, cheaters are excellent customers. 60% of the cheaters were paid characters, and boy did they pay well.

Another startling fact; paid players who were banned had on average 260 hours of play time in the game, had played for over 1 year, and had on average spent $180 on virtual goods.

The team at Reloaded Productions is tossing around the idea of a purgatory area where cheaters are thrown in where they can continue playing and, preferably, spending more money.

The idea is that cheaters don’t get banned right away (which of course doesn’t happen since the system runs on various delays), and instead freshly detected cheaters get kicked into special cheaters-only districts, where they can continue playing against other cheaters without initially realizing they have been tagged (or whole groups get thrown in there as long as they have a cheater on their team).

As long as the cheaters keep paying real money, they can spend as much time in purgatory as they want.

(Source: APB List)

Eldevin Patch 1.17 Introduces Mounts


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Hunted Cow Studios has released the latest patch for Eldevin, introducing player-ridden mounts. Patch 1.17 deployed today and includes twelve new mounts for players to collect through crafting, gold, Eldevin points, drops, and as achievement rewards.

Update 1.17 features 12 new mounts that can be obtained in a variety of ways. Players can start collecting mounts by visiting the Riding Trainer near the Eldevin Fountain. Other mounts can be obtained via crafting, purchased for Eldevin Points or Valor Points and found as drops from certain powerful monsters. One mount is obtainable only as an achievement reward.

Patch 1.17 also implements a number of other changes to Eldevin, which you can find in the game’s patch notes.

(Source: Hunted Cow Studios press release)

Elder Scrolls Online Now On Steam


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Zenimax Studios has announced via Twitter that Elder Scrolls Online will be launching on Steam today (July 7th). Zenimax Online Studios will be at QuakeCon where they will give a presentation titled “The Future of The Elder Scrolls Online,” this Friday at 6pm EST.