Tag: MMO

Get Games Cheap: Thanksgiving Digital Sales


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Thanksgiving is upon us and while this is traditionally an American holiday, there is no reason that everyone can’t get something out of it.

(Editor’s note: Prices shown in USD. Sales/Games may not be available in all regions.)

There is also a ton of DLC on sale for your games.

  • Trion Worlds is running a host of Black Friday sales, on ArcheAge, Defiance, and Trove.
  • Save 25% off on Daybreak cash purchases as well as in-game sales on several Daybreak games.
  • 20% off of mounts and companions in Neverwinter.
  • Turbine is offering 85% off of the price of expansions in Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online.

Borderlands Online Future In Question As 2K Shanghai Shuts Down


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If you were waiting out on that Borderlands MMO, you may want to hold on to your sick days for now. 2K Games reported this week that it will be shutting down not just its Singapore offices but also those in Shanghai, laying off around 150 employees and leaving behind little more than a simple QA office. While there has been no official confirmation that the Borderlands MMO is cancelled, it is unlikely that 2K would move development over to a studio in another country.

(Source: MMO Culture)

Archlord 2 Shutting Down


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Webzen has announced the impending sunsetting of Archlord 2. The servers for the PVP-centric MMO will shut down in approximately two months, on November 24th. Archlord 2 initially launched in 2014, giving it a much shorter run than its predecessor which ran from 2005 until 2014. The sequel was heavily criticized during beta for poor server performance, bugs, and a heavy emphasis on pay to win cash shop mechanics.

Players are not fully without recourse, however, as plans to reimburse Wcoin spent since April are under way.

Depending on the amount of Wcoin spent, players will be reimbursed up to 100% of the Wcoin they spent during the last 6 months of Archlord 2, going back to April 1st 2015. The Wcoin reimbursement is currently scheduled to be completed by October 7th 2015.

To send players off in style, Webzen will be running game-wide buffs as well as reducing the cost of the cash shop goods to 0. These changes take place after Tuesday’s maintenance.

(Source: Webzen)

Marvel Heroes Will Annualize Versions


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The shift from Marvel Heroes to Marvel Heroes 2015 took a rather mediocre game and transformed it into the critically acclaimed title it is today, but don’t expect that shiny 2015 tag to stay forever. In an interview with Game Sauce, David Brevik discusses that Marvel Heroes will see annualized versions, accompanied by major patches with a new year attached, similar to annual sports games except you’re not required to buy a new game.

It’s kind of a common practice for annualized products … so we took that, and said we’ll rebrand it as Marvel Heroes 2015 and get new reviews, and we were able to raise our Metacritic score from a 58 to an 81, which proved that all of our hard work and effort had really gone a long way, making the product much better.

You can read the entire email at the link below, it is rather content heavy.

(Source: Game Sauce)

Trove Introduces Patron Program


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Trove players looking to pay for a bit more will be able to sign up for Patron, the MMO’s recurring subscription program. Patron costs $14.99 per month and comes with all of the perks listed above, and can be purchased in recurring subscription form as well as single-month packages.

Multi-month packages are up in packages of three, six, and twelve months.

(Source: Trion Worlds)

Salem Enters Full Release


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Mortal Moments Inc has announced the launch of Salem, the perma-death historical sandbox. In 2013, Paradox Interactive announced that it was relinquishing its position as publisher for the sandbox MMO, leaving Seatribe to go at it alone. Last year, Mortal Moments took over management of Salem, merging the servers into one and resetting characters.

Yesterday’s relaunch also marked the introduction of a new expedition.

In honor of Salem’s release on June 19th, a new Expedition is launching!  Expeditions are separate, fresh servers where players find new content to bring back to the home server of Providence.  A lot has changed in the last year, and the path to greatness has never been more treacherous, exciting, or fun!

Check out the official website for more details.

Lego Universe Was Hindered By Dong Detection Software


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Lego Universe was an MMO that allowed players a free space to build anything their heart desired, and since the internet is well known as a mature and well behaved medium, it may surprise you to learn that some players were using the creator to build brick representations of male genitals. Former Lego Universe developer Megan Fox took to Twitter to discuss how Lego wanted a free build game with absolutely no dongs.

The moderation costs of Lego Universe were a big issue in general. They wanted a creative building MMO with a promise of zero penises seen. They actually had a huge moderation team that got a bunch of screenshots of every model, every property. Entirely whitelist-based building.

Obviously Lego Universe’s problems extend far beyond simple dong filtering, but a moderation team can get expensive very quickly, and most assuredly was a large factor.

(Source: Eurogamer)

Wildstar Confirms Free To Play This Autumn


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Carbine Studios has officially announced that Wildstar will be heading free to play this Autumn. Details are sparse at the moment, however players will be able to play through “everything the game has to offer without spending any money, so yes, we do mean free.”There are social and other limitations to free accounts however, mostly related to guilds, the auction house, etc. You can find the FAQ here, however Carbine promises that players will not be content locked behind a paywall.

Every zone, every dungeon, every raid, every battleground… they’re all available. All players will be able to create characters of every race, class, and path while choosing any tradeskills they like. Characters can achieve level 50 and path level 30, just as they can under the current system. There are some restrictions on services and social functions, however, as noted in the table below.

Wildstar transitioning to free to play has been a long time coming, with the game reporting a major loss in players and revenue over the past few quarters. With release in the fall, Carbine Studios will have to weather a few more quarters of poor performance before the game sees its influx of free players.

(Source: Massively)

TERA Declares Itself #1 MMO On Steam


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En Masse Entertainment has declared TERA to be the #1 MMO on Steam, based on peak concurrent players compared to other MMOs on the digital platform.

Since launching on Steam on May 5, 2015, TERA has seen explosive growth, with new and returning players pushing the total number of accounts to over 4.5 million in North America and 20 million worldwide! And those players have been busy—killing an average of 6 million BAMs (Big-Ass Monsters) and clearing 70,000 dungeons a day.

You can read more about TERA’s launch on Steam with this handy infographic.

(Source: En Masse Entertainment press release)

Jagex Is Working On Another MMO Again


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Hot off the heels of Transformers Universe closing down, it appears Jagex is back on the horse with another MMO. A job listing popped up on the Jagex website looking for a lead programmer for an “undisclosed MMO.”

Given the exciting recent developments in online game engine technology and our historical success with the record breaking ‘Runescape’, we offer an amazing opportunity for a Lead Programmer to define the technological path of an undisclosed MMO.

Jagex’s most recent product, Transformers Universe, shut down in January mid-beta. Previous known works include Stellar Dawn, a science fiction MMO that was halted but not cancelled for Transformers, as well as an unnamed “ThirdScape” referenced several years ago.

(Source: Jagex)