News – Page 461 – MMO Fallout

Perfect World Arc Client Freebie: Khan Costume

Remember that Star Trek film where the guy shouts “Khan!” really loud? No I’m not talking about Into Darkness, I’m referring to the second film in the original series, The Wrath of Khan. Now you too can look like Khan, or at least dress the part. The Arc client is Perfect World’s central hub slash community portal through which you’ll be able to download and launch any of the games in their library.

To give a little incentive to use the program, Perfect World has put up free Khan costumes.

Claiming your exclusive uniforms is easy! Simply log into Star Trek Online via the Arc client and read the “thank you” message from the team that will be waiting for you in your in-game mailbox. After, make sure to stop by the tailor and outfit your captain in the incredible Khan uniforms pictured above.

If you’re not a Khan-man, don’t feel left out. Check out the link below for codes to Perfect World’s other games, including costumes, perks, and consumables in their respective games.

(Source: Perfect World press release)

EverEmber Beta V2 Releases Today

Here at MMO Fallout, we love games like EverEmber Online, so we were excited to see that the latest beta version will be releasing Monday, January 27th. The server is scheduled to come up at 5pm eastern, but you can download the client now and preload up to the latest release version. If you have never heard of the title, EverEmber Online aims to recreate the experience of 90’s MMOs driven more by experience than by holding you through a story. If you also hadn’t noticed, the game looks like retro 16-bit titles.

Check it out at the link below.

(Source: EverEmber Online)

SOE Shutting Down Four MMOs

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that four of their MMOs will be shut down later this year: Wizardry Online, Free Realms, Vanguard, and Clone Wars Adventures. Free Realms and Clone Wars are set to shut down March 31st with Wizardry and Vanguard following on July 31st. Sony attributes the sunsetting of Free Realms and Clone Wars as being due to its user base growing up and finding new games, while Wizardry Online was due to a mutual agreement with the publisher. In the case of Vanguard, SOE was unable to get past technical issues with the game’s outdated engine.

player population numbers have decreased making it difficult to justify the resources needed to support and update this game. This is an older game and we’re experiencing more and more technical challenges to continue running and updating it in a way you deserve. Simply put, these are issues that cannot be fixed in the long term and as a player, we would be doing you a disservice and going against our company commitment to provide the best gameplay experiences. So given this information, sunsetting the game later this year is the inevitable conclusion.

Vanguard is the oldest title to shut down, having launched in 2007, with Free Realms and Clone Wars going live in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Wizardry Online launched last January. Vanguard being shut down is especially saddening when you consider that (prior to being stopped by technical issues) the company seemed rather excited to start working on it. Still, the good news is that workers affected by the shutdowns were apparently absorbed into the SOE hive mind to work on other projects.

(Source: Vanguard Announcement, Clone Wars Announcement, Wizardry Announcement, Free Realms Announcement)

RuneScape Beta Introduces Combat Tweaks

A news post has appeared on the RuneScape website detailing large updates coming to the game’s Evolution of Combat system. Currently in beta testing, the updates include adding weapon-specific special attacks back into the game as abilities. Also on the table is a function to queue abilities, action bar setups, quickly change loadouts, as well as multiple smaller changes.

These are some of the larger features we’re working on, but there are plenty of smaller improvements coming up too. With these changes, we hope Evolution of Combat will be more appealing to all types of players, adding more depth for experts, while making it more accessible to those just starting out. But that’ll be for you to decide.

Players interested in testing out the upcoming changes and giving their feedback can log in to the RuneScape beta servers, which you can find on the main website. The combat beta does not affect your progress in the live game.

(Source: RuneScape)

Videos Now: Everquest Landmark Crafting

Everquest Next Landmark looks better with each passing video. Today the folks at Sony Online Entertainment dive into crafting, detailing how players will go about obtaining recipes and crafting items. Learn about altars and recipes and the secret meaning of life. Hint: It is corgis.

Alganon Expansion Hits January 28th

After a long time waiting, Alganon’s expansion Rise of the Ourobani will be releasing next week on January 28th. Developed by 3000AD, Rise of the Ourobani introduces a third faction to Alganon with the interesting twist that, rather than opposing both factions, the Ourobani will aid whichever side happens to be losing at the time in the ongoing war. As the tides turn, allies become enemies as quick as the drop of a hat. The expansion also introduces flying mounts, hired mercenaries, and a new class: The warden. The warden is a ranged class capable of taming pets and transforming into one of a few different animals with respective abilities making the class something of a cross between the hunter and druid from World of Warcraft.

The expansion will have a price, which has not been revealed at this time.

Lineage II Top Reward Costs $200k Within A Year

As I always start these types of articles: If you are the type of person who is willing to spend five or six figures in a video game, why not take a little bit of that money and invest it in something more sensible, like MMO Fallout? Everyone wins. You get to keep spending insane amounts of cash on virtual goods, and we have more capability to tell you where you can spend a lot of money. Lineage II has revealed the hero coin program, allowing players to earn rewards for the simple act of spending their cash. The way the system works is simple: For every 80 NCoin you spend in Lineage II, you receive one Hero Coin that can be saved up and spent on items in the reward store.

Here’s where the deal gets controversial. First, Hero Coins only accumulate on the character that the item was redeemed on. Secondly, Hero Coins expire on the following January 1st of every year. There are items on the cash shop that translate into well over $30 thousand being spent on the game in a single year, with the most expensive item going over three hundred grand. You can laugh and, when you come to the realization that at least one person will hit that transaction mark, slowly dissolve into tears.

(Source: Lineage II)

Archlord: Shutdowns and Mergers

As Archlord continues its shuttering, the sequel doesn’t seem to be faring any better. Last month, we reported that Archlord would be shutting down its global servers on January 1st, and MMO Culture is reporting that the Korean server will also be closing. Citing an inability to “provide players with a stable environment,” Webzen announced that Archlord’s final territory will be shutting down on February 13th. According to MMO Culture, Archlord II hasn’t been seeing a great response. Currently in open beta, Archlord II has been heavily criticized for latency issues, poor game design, and heavy pay to win features.

The MMO reportedly merged down to two servers, with players still having trouble finding parties. Archlord II is set to head westward at some point in 2014.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Lord of the Rings Safe Until 2017

When it comes to licensed MMOs, there is always the risk that the game will shut down not because of a lack of population, but due to issues over renewing the license. For Lord of the Rings Online, players are understandably concerned over Turbine’s license expiring at the end of the year. Luckily for all of us, Turbine has announced that the license has been renewed through 2017.

We have said as far back as July of 2013, we plan to support LOTRO for many years to come. I really want to be as clear as possible on this subject to avoid any further confusion or misunderstanding. The license was renewed. I think it’s rather clear and direct. I can’t think of a more direct way to say the license was renewed than to say the license was renewed. We have an agreement that runs through 2017.

Barring some sudden drop in population, players have little to be concerned over.

(Source: Contains Moderate Peril)

Less Than Massive: Simcity Does The Impossible!

SimCity turns ten months old soon, and what better way to celebrate the occasion than with more backpedaling? In an announcement detailing the upcoming Update 10, Maxis has revealed that SimCity will receive the heavily demanded offline mode allowing users to play without requiring a constant internet connection. The revelation is even more incredible if you remember that Maxis had previously made every excuse in the book to explain why SimCity did not have offline mode, with claims ranging from how online regions were integral to the game’s vision, to how the servers simulated too much for the game to work offline. Last October, the developer finally caved in and agreed to look into offline mode.

General Manager Patrick Buechner wrote the announcement blog post.

Yes, Offline is coming as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. When we launch it, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without the need for an internet connection. We are in the late phases of wrapping up its development and while we want to get it into your hands as soon as possible, our priority is to make sure that it’s as polished as possible before we release it.

Whether or not this announcement will be enough to bring back EA’s disgruntled fans will have to be seen. On the other hand, EA can now focus on more pressing issues, including investigations and multiple lawsuits from customers and investors regarding the botched launch of Battlefield 4.

(Source: Maxis Blog)

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