MMO Fallout

APB: Reloaded Coming To Consoles

Console players should get ready to enforce (or break) the law, as Reloaded Entertainment has announced that APB: Reloaded will release on Xbox One and Playstation 4. The console port is currently under development by The Workshop Entertainment, APB is expected to launch on current gen consoles in Q2 2015. Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Deep Silver Media, stated:

“APB Reloaded has become a phenomenon on the PC with a very passionate and faithful community. We are really thrilled to help Reloaded Games and The Workshop bring this fantastic world to life on the new generation consoles.”

The game will still be free to play on both consoles, however Xbox players will need Xbox Live Gold in order to play. Playstation Plus was not mentioned as a requirement for PS4.

(Source: Deep Silver Press Release)

Elder Scrolls Online Heading Buy To Play

ZeniMax Online Studios has announced that not only will The Elder Scrolls Online be launching on consoles this June, but that the title will be available free of subscription. Tamriel Unlimited contains the entire Elder Scrolls Online game plus all of its updates and content additions including the justice and champion systems, all for a one time purchase.

The cash shop will provide convenience and customization items, as well as an optional subscription that will provide bonuses including cash shop currency. You can read the entire announcement at the link below.

(Source: Elder Scrolls Online)

Neverwinter Raises The Level Cap This Year

Perfect World Entertainment has officially announced the next module for Neverwinter, Elemental Evil. Elemental Evil will introduce the new Paladin class as well as increasing the level cap from 60 to 70.

Over the past year, the citizens of Neverwinter have faced a menagerie of terrifying foes from Thayan Liches to the Dragon Goddess Tiamat. Now, however, the very forces of nature conspire to bring the city to its knees! Fear not, as a new hero blessed by the gods, the Oathbound Paladin, has emerged to fight the impending threat. These righteous fighters will be able embody both the healing and tanking paradigms that have made them so popular with Dungeons & Dragons players everywhere.

Runelabs Officially Opens

Jagex has officially opened Runelabs for suggestions. Runelabs was announced last year at Runefest and will act as an evolution of the game’s suggestion forums, allowing players to submit ideas which will be voted on by the community, with the best ideas used for updates in RuneScape.

Ideas have to follow a specific set of guidelines and not all popular ideas will be considered for implementation.

(Source: RuneScape)

Old School Community Approves Grand Exchange

The Old School community has officially approved the implementation of a grand exchange auction house. The poll, which received over seventy two thousand votes, was approved with 76% and will be tweaked in another upcoming poll to decide just how the feature will function.

Players also approved dragon daggers, an increase in bank slots, and other small tweaks. The only two options to not get approved were a fee for items dropped at Zulrah and the option for filtered chat to remove text above players heads.

As always, Old School RuneScape polls require 75% approval to be added into the game.

(Source: Old School)

Diaries From H1Z1: The Apocalypse Cometh

Generations from now, humanity’s survivors will look back and wonder how did we fail? What caused the virus that wiped out 90% of the world’s population? Was it a plague, disease, or wrath of god? No. The fall of society came when Taylor Swift announced that she was retiring from music and would only release further albums in the form of Kidz Bop covers. The fabric of reality tore, civilizations fell, and Nancy Grace’s show was cancelled. I suppose the news isn’t all bad.

I wake up in the middle of nowhere, nothing on my person but a flashlight and the clothes on my back. I don’t know how I got here. I head up to the house down the road to find some food or a weapon to defend myself with. Maybe I can salvage some AA batteries to get my Gameboy working again. All I need is a trustworthy person and I can trade my Kadabra so he’ll evolve into an Alakazam.

It starts raining, heavily. The house turns out empty, but the rain muffles the sound of my feet as I pass by a large congregation of Taylor Swift fans. I can hear them moaning, “whyyyy.” They cannot be saved, they are driven by an insatiable hunger for human flesh.

Further down the road I come across a small block of houses. In the first building I enter, I find a machete. The tool not the film. Otherwise this area is pretty much devoid of stuff. Either it was ransacked by other survivors or the townspeople were incredibly poor. They must have spent all of their money on the numerous sedans lining the street.

I realize that I’m becoming very thirsty. It doesn’t occur to me to look upward with my mouth open, given the rain is now in a full-fledged downpour. I could also suck on the sleeve of my shirt for nourishment, but I haven’t bathed in two weeks and the water is being repelled by the accumulated oils. I need to find something to eat.

Sjoberg’s Mandarin Oranges, my old nemesis. Sjoberg prided himself on being the first food manufacturer with “on-can DLC.” I don’t even know what that means, but there wasn’t much sympathy when old Sjoberg died at a Two Live Crew concert from a bad batch of hollandaise sauce.

In the next house over I find an AR15 on the toilet in the bathroom.

Finally, the house of a sane person. I always kept a loaded pistol sitting on the commode in case someone broke in while I was dropping an orphan off in the woods. The gun doesn’t have any bullets.

It’s about time for me to sign off for now. I’m hungry, thirsty, and loaded to the teeth with useless weaponry. Hopefully next time around I’ll be able to eat my shirt.

John Smedley Defends H1Z1 Airdrops

Airdrops are sort of like H1Z1’s answer to MMO lockboxes in that they can be purchased for real money and contain random loot, except they are public and dangerous. Calling in an airdrop attracts both players and zombies alike, both groups seeking to feast upon what they might find.

John Smedley took to Reddit to defend the airdrop mechanic, noting:

1) You cannot call in airdrops until the servers are 1/4 full. 2) You can’t call in airdrops without generating a ton of zombie heat. 3) the airdrops are random in what they deliver. 4) you are not guaranteed to get a single thing out of the airdrop you called in. You could die trying and you’re out the money. 5) We fly the plane in very slowly and loudly..

SOE is planning on updating airdrops to make them drop slower, with a wider drop radius, lowering the chances of weapon drops, and increasing the number of people in a server required to call in. For those who still think it’s pay to win, Smedley has a response:

So if you think it’s P2W don’t buy it. Don’t play it.

H1Z1 is currently availabe for purchase on Steam Early Access.

(Source: Reddit)

Less Massive: Five Years For Swatting

Swatting is a highly dangerous activity by which a person calls the police to a residence under the pretense of a dangerous situation (shooting, hostage, someone with a gun, suicidal, etc). It is a crime that carries stiff penalties, and several people are now finding that out the hard way.

In a report released by the FBI today, the members of a party line organizing swatting calls are either in jail, or on their way.

Jason Allen Neff, 33, pleaded guilty today to federal charges in a “swatting” case, announced U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas. Swatting refers to falsely reporting an emergency to a police department to cause a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) response to a physical address, or making a false report to elicit an emergency response by other first responders to a specific physical address.

Neff joins his previously charged and convicted co-conspirators Guadalupe Martinez, Stuart Rosoff, Jason Trowbridge, Chad Ward, Matthew Weigman, Angela Roberson and others, all of whom were sentenced to 30 or 60 months with Weigman receiving the harshest penalty of 135 months. Neff faces five years in prison, 60 months, plus he must pay nearly $80,000 in restitution.

The case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney C.S Heath.

(Source: US Department of Justice)

Wildstar Details 2015 Updates

Carbine Studios has posted a preview of updates to come in 2015. While Wildstar was recognized last year for its soundtrack and combat system, there is no denying that the game is in need of improvement. Product director Mike Donatelli has detailed plans for the first half of 2015, promising:

We will invest in, enhance, and grow this game.

Donatelli has promised that the team will listen to player feedback to reduce grind, revamp rewards, and introduce new solo and group content. You can find the entire list of updates planned for the first half of the year at the link below.

(Source: Wildstar)

[Column] Retro Gamer Stories

I blame my elementary school for shaping me into the nerd I am today. I am completely serious.

To add some context to this article, I was just recently tuned into this company Man Crates, a company that sells gifts for men packed in crates that must be opened with a crowbar, themed around all kinds of stuff like zombie survival, meat, whiskey, and retro gaming. They wanted to know what stuck out in my memory bank of gaming nostalgia, which took no effort because it’s a thought that comes up every so often while searching my pile of poorly bundled cords and floppy disks for an extra analog aux cable or cat5.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter know that I grew up in a very small town, the kind of place that has one main road and zero franchise presence. I was lucky (or unlucky) enough to be in second grade when my elementary school installed its first computer lab, by which I mean they took the foldout tables normally stored until the gymnasium was used for voting and put computers on them in the hallway.

The administration either bought the cheapest boxes they could find or didn’t understand computers (which was common in the mid-90’s), because they ended up buying an IBM rather than ones based on a GUI like Windows or Apple. I can only imagine how painful it was for a teacher, who probably didn’t use a computer or have much experience, trying to explain to a room full of children how to properly insert a 5 1/4 inch floppy, mount the drive, and boot a program. Talk about the blind leading the dumb.

But it was a learning experience for everyone, and after a couple of weeks we managed to get most of the class capable of booting and even running Oregon Trail, Math Blaster, and other educational games in some capacity. What’s important is that I took to the system very quickly, before anyone else in the class and even before the teacher. When you’re a kid younger than ten, there’s not much that boosts the self esteem quite like knowing something that an adult doesn’t, especially when they aren’t playing ignorant to make you feel smart.

So my earliest days of gaming involve sitting in the computer lab during recess with the carton of chocolate milk I’d smuggled out of the cafeteria, plugging away at a keyboard in a dusty, unused hallway behind the gymnasium. I’ve been asked to detail my personal retro gaming crate, which would include a handful of games on big floppy disks, chocolate milk, and an IBM. I don’t think I could bring myself to play it, better to keep the memories as they are, but it would be a nice shrine to show my nonexistent wife and children.

As for the image, the school bought Hero Quest not knowing that it was a Dungeons and Dragons game and subsequently gave it to me to save having to throw it out. I wish it hadn’t been destroyed when our basement flooded, it’s worth quite a bit of money today.

Man Crate offers a retro gaming pack for $99 that includes a bunch of candy, a Retro-Bit NES system, and a random pick of two NES cartridges.

(Disclosure: This is not a sponsored article)

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