Blizzard – Page 13 – MMO Fallout

Support Ebola Relief With World of Warcraft

It’s charity time, folks. Between December 3rd and the 31st, Blizzard will donate 100% of the proceeds from sales of the Argi pet in World of Warcraft. Donations are in support of the Red Cross and go towards Ebola relief efforts in Africa. Argi can also be purchased in a $30 bundle with the Grinning Reaver mount, with $10 of that bundle donated.

*For every Argi pet and Grinning Reaver mount bundle purchased between December 3 and December 31, Blizzard will donate $10 ($10 in the US; pricing varies by region) in support of the American Red Cross to assist in Ebola relief efforts in Africa.

(Source: Blizzard)

Snail Games Legal Double Feature

Snail Games is the subject of legal action on two fronts, so for the sake of brevity let’s talk about both of them in one article, shall we?

The first, former executive of Snail Games David Runyan is seeking damages from his employer alleging unlawful dismissal and racial discrimination. Runyan’s lawsuit specifically targets Snail Games founder Mr. Shi Hai, alleging racial discrimination against non-Chinese employees of the company. Shi Hai, according to the lawsuit, preferred Chinese employees to non-Chinese and would make disparaging comments about American customs and culture. Runyan was terminated following a back injury, and is alleging that his termination is due to his race, nationality, and necessity for disability leave.

(Source: Gamesindustry.biz)

Second, Blizzard is hot off the heels of their recent successful lawsuit against a copycat Hearthstone game, and the behemoth has set its sights on Snail Games. The latter recently launched a mobile game Taichi Panda in China and the main character is a panda. Unhappy with the similarities in character design and naming, Blizzard’s Chinese publisher Netease sent a letter to Apple requesting that the app be removed from the app store. Snail Games has denied the claims, releasing a helpful comparison chart (even more helpful if you speak Chinese) explaining the origins of the panda’s character design.

(Source: MMO Culture)

World of Warcraft is Dying: Subscriptions Increase

As World of Warcraft continues its descent to an early death, Blizzard has revealed that World of Warcraft has seen a bump in subscribers. The MMO behemoth is currently sitting at 7.4 million, six hundred thousand more subscribers, as of October 14th. The imminent release of Warlords of Draenor expansion is no doubt bringing players back, as the game receives a bump with each expansion’s release.

Warlords of Draenor launches in November.

(Source: WoW Insider)

MMOrning Shots: Listen Close, Children

Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from World of Warcraft. The guy with the purple staff is giving a history lesson on the days before WoW had a streamlined auto-patching tool, and the process of installing the game from start to finish was often a ten hour job.

Laboriously install MMOrning Shots every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Blizzard Cancels Project Titan

Blizzard has confirmed in an interview with Polygon that the company’s ambitious next-gen MMO Titan has been cancelled. Mike Morhaime, co-founder and CEO of Blizzard, commented that the team just “didn’t find the fun,” adding that after seven years in development the team had to take a step back and evaluate whether Titan was the game that they wanted to be making. “The answer is no.”

“We took a step back and realized that it had some cool hooks. It definitely had some merit as a big, broad idea, but it didn’t come together. It did not distill. The music did not flow. For all our good intentions and our experience and the pure craftsmanship that we brought together, we had to make that call.”

Titan’s days have been numbered ever since Blizzard announced last year that the game (which was never officially announced) would be revamped from the ground up alongside layoffs to the development team. As I said then, you can’t miss what you never knew you had.

(Source: Polygon)

MMOrning Shots: 99 Percent

Today’s MMOrning Shot comes to us from Diablo III, which I finally decided to reinstall and complete the story mode on. ARPGs like Diablo are all about loot: getting better loot to kill more creatures to get better loot to kill more creatures. If you haven’t played Diablo III since before loot 2.0 and the other changes, check it out. The game is a lot better and it is much easier to equip your character properly.

Level up with MMOrning Shots every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Blizzard Announces Warlords of Draenor Launch Date Announcement Date

You are too kind, Blizzard. World of Warcraft’s next expansion Warlords of Draenor is ready to bust through your door and kick your productivity to the curb. In an announcement put out, Blizzard has revealed that on August 15th we will…find out when Warlord of Draenor will be released. Yes, the hype train goes so deep that we now have announcements to tell us when something will be announced.

Next up on MMO Fallout: Trion Worlds announces upcoming press event to discuss the details of a viral marketing campaign that will hint towards when we can expect a full announcement on the release date of ArcheAge. Maybe.

World of Warcraft Discontinues Resurrection Scrolls

The Scroll of Resurrection is being discontinued in World of Warcraft. Previously, scrolls of resurrection could be used to bring a player whose subscription had lapsed back into the game, not to mention gifting a spectral rider to the person offering the invitation. Players on the receiving end of the scroll could insta-boost one of their characters to level 80, in addition to the 7 days of free game time. The last day to send an invitation will be February 18th, with a 30 day time limit for recipients to accept.

Warcraft’s upcoming expansion, Warlords of Draenor, includes an insta-boost to 90 with the possibility that level boosts may become available on the in-game cash shop.

(Source: Blizzard)

Blizzard Gives Parents More Control

Blizzard has announced that accounts with parental controls turned on will soon have the ability to make in-game purchases turned off by default. The decision likely comes from last year’s list of companies dealing with children racking up massive bills on their parent’s card using cash shops and mobile app stores, including Apple paying out $100 million for unauthorized purchases. With the threat of class action lawsuits and suggestions of litigation to deal with a lack of self-regulation, Blizzard is joining a group of companies implementing their own policies.

(Source: Blizzard)

World of Warcraft's Cash Shop Launches

World of Warcraft’s in-game store has arrived in the form of the Battle.net shop. Right now the cash shop is rather limited, offering access to the standard fluff players have come to know and either love or hate from Blizzard’s web client. Vanity pets run about $10, with mounts at $25, although most items from both sets are 50% off for the time being to celebrate the launch. Grab them before they go back to regular price on January 1st.

(Source: Joystiq)

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It:

Spread It: