Tag: Expansion

Maplestory 2 Receives Biggest Update Yet


Maplestory 2 has revealed the first phase of the Skybound Expansion, introducing a new class, new events, and special rewards.

The update promises to be the game’s biggest yet, bringing with it the new Soul Binder class. The Soul Binder is a hybrid magic damage dealer and healer. Players will continue their Epic Quests with new missions assigned by each faction leader and travel to the Sky Fortress, a new staging ground warship that flies high above the world. Additionally, Skybound sees the release of the Maple Arena, a 1-on-1, best of three matchup where players can show off their skills and obtain new PvP gear. New chaos raids are being added with hard adventure dungeons adjusted to help players gear up for them.

For the first month of the update, players over level 10 will receive a care package including 30 elixers, 30 master potions, and a level up booster ticket. Once players hit level 60, they can claim additional items including a level-up potion to instantly boost an alt to level 50.

For more information, check out the official website.

Lost City of Omu Update Hits Neverwinter In February


Perfect World Entertainment has announced that the next Neverwinter expansion will drop on February 27 on PC. Lost City of Omu continues the story where Tomb of Annihilation left off, pitting adventurers against the evil lich Acererak (are there any other kind of liches?)

The expansion introduces new adventure zones, an endgame trial, expands the Tomb of Annihilation campaign, and even features a giant undead T-Rex. Players of all stripes will be happy to hear that the leveling curve from 60 to 70 has been smoothed out for a more fluid progression, with more information on additional tweaks coming in the next few weeks.

Lost City of Omu hits PC on February 27 with Xbox and Playstation coming at a later date.

(Source: Perfect World Press Release)

Bungie Admits Mistake, Reverses Content Lockout


Not a stranger to controversy, Destiny 2 came under the spotlight yet again this past week during the launch of the Curse of Osiris expansion. While introducing new raids and quests, players quickly became angry over the news that players who did not own the expansion would be locked out of existing content, namely prestige raids, Trials of the Nine, and more.

In a post on the Bungie Blog, the team has confirmed the changes as an “unacceptable lapse,” and confirmed that prestige raids for the base game would be brought down to their original power level requirement, allowing all players to obtain the prestige raid trophy as well as complete the Legend of Acrius exotic shotgun. In the future, the team hopes to add a third prestige difficulty that will scale with the new power available in each expansion.

We’ve heard from the community that both of these plans aren’t working. The Prestige Raid was a novel experience that players value, even if they don’t own Curse of Osiris, and it was a mistake to move that experience out of reach. Throughout the lifetime of the Destiny Franchise, Trials has always required that players owned the latest Expansion. However, for Destiny 2, Trials of The Nine launched as part of the main game, so it’s not right for us to remove access to it.

The full Bungie Blog contains details on how each activity will be handled going forward.

(Source: Bungie)

Destiny 2 Costs The Same, Now With Less Content


Destiny 2’s Curse of Osiris released this week on consoles and PC, and if anything could test the waning resolve of the Destiny fanbase after the recent revelation of secret experience throttling, it’s the notion that the game, which still costs $60, now offers less content in its base game.

As of this week, prestige raids in Destiny 2 now require a minimum power level of 330 in order to access, a bit of an issue if you’re still on the base game with its level cap of 305. For some players, this move is not surprising. After all, Bungie did the exact same thing when launching The Dark Below for the original Destiny. For others, such as PC players who haven’t had access to the game for two months before getting locked out of content, or for those new to the series, it looks like Bungie is locking away already purchased content behind further walls.

About 11.8% of players have beaten a prestige difficulty raid on Playstation as of this writing. Without the ability to complete a prestige raid, players will be locked out of Destiny 2’s platinum achievement.

Neverwinter: Swords of Chult Hits PC


Perfect World Entertainment today launched the latest update for Neverwinter, the Swords of Chult.

This update, which is set to come to consoles at a later date, introduces the Merchant Prince’s Folly skirmish, a dynamic, 5-player skirmish available at end game. In addition, quality of life updates hope to make inventory management much simpler and straightforward, with the ability to sort, identify, and sell treasures.

And last but not least, in order to make the game more alt-friendly, players with multiple characters will be able to create a Signet of Patronage to help their alternate characters through the game’s campaigns. More information can be found here, or you can watch the handy video below.

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Diaries From Guild Wars 2 Part 1: Path of Fire


(Disclosure: I received a copy of Path of Fire for the purpose of writing about. As always, this has no bearing on my opinion on the game)

Guild Wars 2 has been my on-again off-again MMO for the past few years (five, it’s been five years since Guild Wars 2 launched. Crazy, right?) The past year or two, it’s been more off again as I found my interest waning as Arenanet seemed to be confused as to where they wanted the game to go. Still, Guild Wars 2 has gone down in my books as one of the most polished MMOs on the market.

Path of Fire ditches the jungle atmosphere of Heart of Thorns and heads straight into the desert, in a world that is just stunning to look at. Head off in any direction in the multiple zones and you’ll see that there is much more to the world than just sand and stone. In fact, your first real taste of the world sets the tone for what is ahead, as you come across massive, sprawling, crumbling pyramids.

Similarly, the main city of Anmoon is beautiful, a massive city with giant pyramid buildings and tons of activities going on. The first moment I set foot in Anmoon, I ignored the story quest and started to check out what the city had to offer. The major events takes place around the casino, with players collecting coins while also taking care of some seedier troublemakers. I found myself in a race around the desert on the game’s mounts, which was fun even though I was clearly outmatched by my fellow racers.

And speaking of mounts, it looks like Path of Fire is all about the mounts. Very early on in the story, you get your hands on a raptor mount that is capable of jumping farther distances, allowing you to get to previously inaccessible areas. The mounts are great not just because they add a new mechanic, but by how well built they are in terms of usefulness and animation.

As you travel throughout the lands and complete activities, you’ll gain mastery points to make your mount even more useful. They’ll jump higher, leap farther, and just generally do things better. Mounts have been a long time coming for Guild Wars 2, and it’s great to see that they serve more of a purpose than simply boosting your speed.

There is plenty more to do in Guild Wars 2, so I’ll be getting back to it. Expect more detailed coverage in Part 2.

Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire Is Live


Arenanet today launched the second expansion to Guild Wars 2, titled Path of Fire, now available in digital and retail stores. The expansion launches just in time for Guild Wars 2’s fifth anniversary. Players must unite against the god Balthazar as his Forged legion descends upon the kingdom in a hunt for the elder gods.

“We’re thrilled to be bringing players back to the Elonian desert region, the setting for the Guild Wars: Nightfall campaign, after 250 years and dispatch them on their most daring adventure yet,” said Mike O’Brien, co-founder and president of ArenaNet. “We have packed Path of Fire full of exciting features and immersive content that gives players alternative ways to experience Guild Wars 2, including new mounts and elite specializations for each of the classes.”

Path of Fire introduces mounts to Guild Wars 2 as well as nine new elite specializations, new zones, and more.

Guild Wars 2 Announces Next Expansion: Path of Fire


Arenanet has announced the next expansion pack coming to Guild Wars 2: Path of Fire. Set to launch later this September, Path of Fire introduces a new villain in the form of the god Balthazar, who comes to Tyria to destroy the world and kill the elder dragons. The expansion brings tons of new content, including mounts, elite specializations, and more.

Path of Fire is available for purchase now. A free weekend coming up will allow players to preview the expansion, anyone with an account in good standing will be able to participate. More news on Guild Wars 2 to come.

Menaphos Expansion Will Be RuneScape’s One and Only


Menaphos was meant to be the first RuneScape expansion, big content packages dropped on players every three months introducing new mechanics, new areas, and new quest lines. By estimations, the second expansion should be on its way for a September release, however recent news has revealed that Jagex is scrapping the development style after one go. While there will be larger content packs released in the future, there won’t be a release structure similar to the planned 3 month release window.

In a post on the official RuneScape website, Jagex revealed that while the idea was sound, the development of expansions had taken an unexpectedly high amount of focus away from other aspects of the game, which suffered as a result.

For the foreseeable future, content plans include bringing back polling to gauge player feedback for updates. Additionally, the content teams will be working on updates that have been in the works for quite some time, such as the bank rework, mining and smithing updates, and invention batch 2. The team is also taking a look at other community issues such as reducing the “dailyscape” daily task grind.

Finally, the big RuneScape 2018 poll is available for players. Jagex polls the community every year and uses that information to plan the next year’s content. Check it out at the link below.

(Source: RuneScape)

Villagers & Heroes Launches New Starfall Expansion


Villagers & Heroes has announced the launch of its next expansion for this fall. Dubbed Starfall, the new expansion is set to bring a ton of new content from an increased level cap, new loot system, talent trees, and more. You’ll be able to level up to 90 thanks to seven new content zones, as well as a fifth rebirth option. Starfall promises more powerful loot with more stat boost and weapon masteries specific to each class.

“We’re very excited to announce the expansion to our game”, Said Mad Otter Games C.E.O Damon Slye. “Starfall is our most ambitious expansion to date that not only adds plenty of new content such as new locations, but also reworks a large portion of the game such as crafting, loot, and the progression system. Oh, and did I mention we are removing repair costs for weapons and armor?”

The list of updates is gigantic, and you can read them all here. In the move up to launch, Mad Otter Games is also offering a challenge for players with rewards for the whole community. For more information, check out the official website.