Hellgate Global: Are You Chosen?


If you’re like me, you already have a T3fun account thanks to Aika Online going global this past February and not wanting to deal with Gala-Net. If you do not have a T3fun account, now is a good time to get one. Registering your account (or logging in) and heading over to Hellgate Global’s website will net you a relatively easy access to the Hellgate closed beta. Clicking on the “Do you have what it takes button” and then applying for the beta nets you about a 50-5o chance of getting in instantly, otherwise T3 notes a list of websites that will be offering keys in the coming weeks.

There is no download link yet, the beta doesn’t start for another two weeks (June 3rd). Just enough time to forget you’ve been accepted into the beta.

Eat Yourself In Mortal Online: Gain Weight


Mortal Online launches the Dawn expansion at some unknown point in the near future, and among the new features is a cooking system that allows players to cook pretty much anything they want (although cooking rocks won’t result in a healthy meal), and with the cooking system comes a weight system. Gorge yourself on food, and you will gain weight, and naturally your stats will change with your increased/decreased girth. Another feature being presented is cannibalism, the ability to not only kill a player and loot them, but eat their corpse to regain health.

Luckily, Henrik confirmed a question I’ve been wondering for a good while now: Is it possible to eat yourself? The answer? Yes.

“Cooking gives new interesting surprices everyday…
Today Sebastian and me was playing, I killed sebastian, when he came back he took his own corpse which had a certain weight.. he couldnt resist to taste him self…. and started to eat, he filled is stomach with the carcass which wasnt to good for his health. After that I just had to kill him again, he came back once again and looted his new carcass, now he found something interesting, his new carcass had an increased weight.. thats because he stuffed him self with his previous carcass. so you see we now have weight as well and it works just like it should in real life, pretty cool.. Then I took his head and logged out with it haha. Funny little moments we have at the office, just wanted to share it with you as well.”

If you ate your own carcass that was stuffed with the consumed carcass of yourself that your previous self had eaten, would you become twice as fat, or would the resultant paradox simply shut down the Mortal Online servers and give you a massive nosebleed?

Mortal Online’s Dawn expansion comes out sometime either late this month or early next month, while Star Vault works out last minute issues.

This Is The First Part: Secret World 360 Delayed Forever


Before the discussion begins, let me just put something out in the open: I would love to see an MMO on the Xbox 360. Final Fantasy XI has somewhat of a monopoly, and Phantasy Star isn’t an MMO in the traditional open world sense, so that leaves Final Fantasy with the reigns. I don’t own a 360 (used to), but I know plenty of people who would love to see DC Universe, Everquest Next, Planetside Next, or even DUST 514 or The Old Republic moved over to Microsoft’s console. That being said, after the number of cancelled MMOs for the console in just the past two years, I have no faith that Microsoft will ever allow another MMO on the system (remember, Final Fantasy XI was allowed because Live was in its infancy, according to Square).

I hold the same true to Undead Labs’ MMO, but my statement over The Secret World on the 360 is only affirmed by today’s announcement that the console version is on hold. Indefinitely. How do I know? Funcom commented this:

“We are focusing on the PC version right now.  That is our primary market and we want that version to be as good as possible.”

Sounds like the MMO edition of “it’s not me, it’s you.” Actually, now that I think about it, this sounds like something Cryptic said regarding Champions Online. I could use a flashback right about now…

“It has always been, and still remains our intent to release on consoles, and as soon as we’re able to share more information about it, we will.”
-Daeke, Community Manager, Cryptic Studios, on Champions Online on consoles.

That would be it. Now bring it home with what Cryptic said about Star Trek Online on the consoles.

“It’s something we can readily do in terms of technology. We’ve had it up and running on certain consoles, and had plans and designs in order to take advantage of those platforms. But as it stands right now it’s a little difficult to make that final leap on the business side of things. So, currently, just like Champions, the console version of Star Trek Online is on the back burner.”

That’s the important figure. It’s not the technological side, it’s the business side. Let’s not also forget Funcom’s intent on releasing Age of Conan on the Xbox360 and what came of that venture (read: nothing).

I’ll say the same as I said with Undead Labs’ MMO. If it does release on the 360, it will play in a form that isn’t really an MMO, but rather closer to Call of Duty in that it features a persistent leveling system but takes place in stagnant, lobby based, locally hosted match making servers.

More on The Secret World as it appears.

Age Of Conan Wants You Back: Almost Two Weeks Free


Former player of Age of Conan? Promised yourself you’d never go back to Funcom after they [insert reason here]? Well, even if you don’t hold a grudge against the company, they are willing to have you back. In fact, starting today Funcom has taken the liberty of reactivating your account for you, until the end of May. While current players are receiving a handful of potions and experience boosts, former players can return for the next week and a half and see what they’ve been missing in the land of Hyboria.

Check out the announcement here.

Hellgate Global 12 Minute Trailer


Hellgate: London. It’s easy to forget that this game is still running in the east, and that T3Fun has been working to bring the title back at some point between now and the point where hell actually does take over earth. Over the past couple days, T3fun has been posting a ton of photos in preparation for what will be a June 3rd release date for the closed beta.

Hellgate: Global falls into the growing list of MMOs have that are being revived by new developers.

You can check out Hellgate Global’s Facebook page, or follow them on Twitter.

Premium Services Coming To World of Warcraft


Here’s an interesting story out of Blizzard. According to this post on the Blizzard forums, World of Warcraft will see the introduction of cross-realm dungeon finder, for players who have friends on different realms, but still want to go through dungeons and heroics together. A new system in development will allow players with RealID friendships to dungeon together, regardless of what realm they are on, as long as they’re on the same faction.

Of course for Blizzard this spells l-o-d-s of e-m-o-n-e, and what does that spell? Loadsa money! Probly…

 It’s important to note that as with some of the other convenience- and connectivity-oriented features we offer, certain elements of the cross-realm Real ID party system will be premium-based, though only the player sending the invitations will need to have access to the premium service.

The above is causing quite a bit of discussion on the thread about whether this violates Blizzard’s promise to not charge for services that offer an advantage, as well as questioning the necessity in charging for a service that is hardly a technological feat at this point in World of Warcraft’s lifespan (The game already supports cross-realm dungeons and realid invites).

So much for Bobby Kotick not having his greedy little fingers in Blizzard’s pie. Big thanks to Verterdegete on the MMORPG.com forums for pointing this out. I’m guessing the service will be just as successful as the $25 pet, although I know plenty of people who are hoping this is thrown out with the mandatory real-name forum update.

David Jones Is Back On All Points Bulletin!


Wait…What? If the combination of ex-employees and GamersFirst staff are to be believed, Realtime Worlds collapsed in on itself primarily due to the decisions (and lack thereof) of those who locked the doors at night and signed the paychecks every other Friday. So, naturally, when I learned that David Jones has been hired at GamersFirst as advisor in the APB department, I assumed his advisement would be retrieved via a careful combination of car batteries and clamps.

But yes, David Jones is advising GamersFirst on All Points Bulletin: Reloaded.

“After seeing what the team has done with the game thus far, I’m certain that APB Reloaded will become the title that truly breaks new ground for online game experiences, especially with transition to a free to play model,”

For those of you opposing David Jones being within restraining order range of Gamersfirst, you’ll be glad to hear that iTorches is having a 50% off sale on many products. Perfect if you need to get a flash mob going in a hurry.

Source: Eurogamer

Cryptic Studios Discontinued, Being Sold Off


But wait, Omali, you say. Wasn’t Cryptic Studios recording a one thousand percent increase in revenue from Champions Online? Why would Atari be writing the company off? Cryptic may be better of than they were in 2009 ($17.9 million loss) at a $7.5 million loss for 2010, but a loss is a loss, and it looks like Atari is jumping ship. Actually, according to the financial report, the company has been “discontinued” since March 31st. Atari plans on continuing support for Champions Online and Star Trek Online, until a buyer can be found.

“In line with the previously stated strategy of fewer but more profitable releases and further expansion into casual online and mobile games, the Company has determined that external development creates more flexibility in the changing marketplace,”

The development of Neverwinter is apparently not altered by this news, at least for the time being.

So the question remains: Who is the buyer? I have a feeling Atari already has a buyer, and rumors are floating around that Jack Emmert (Cryptic Studios co-founder) is looking to rebuy his company. On the other hand, GamersFirst could always buy up the studio and turn both games into cash shops with games attached, filled to the brim with cheaters and gold farmers.

Source: Gamasutra