DC Universe is set to get a makeover with the introduction of UI 2.0, and you can get a sneak peek with the following nine minute video. The new interface is designed around a PDA theme and is looking much sleeker, with various menus consolidated and much easier to navigate. Information is more organized and user friendly, and you can even change the tint of the UI to match your character theme.
Look for the new UI when it goes live.
Sony Online Entertainment took some time to speak about Planetside 2 at this year’s SOE Live. While they can’t promise anything, the goal is to have a beta version of Planetside 2’s Playstation 4 version available to players by the end of the year. The PC version is still on track for its regular updates, with this month bringing in new mentoring systems as well as new vehicles and battle islands which will introduce smaller scale combat areas and new objectives other than simply capturing territory.
PC and PS4 players will not play against one another when the latter comes out later this year.
(Source: Shacknews)
Sony Online Entertainment has revealed new details on Everquest Next at SOE Live. Development on Everquest Next continues alongside Landmark, with feedback from the community in Landmark fueling development of the full MMO. The Dark Elves were the latest race to be revealed today, showing off gothic-themed architecture and dark landscapes. Alongside the new race, SOE also revealed three new classes: The cleric, the elementalist, and the tempest.
The cleric is a support class, capable of fighting and boosting his allies at the same time. The elementalist is a mage who, expectedly, uses elemental-based magic attacks with the added bonus of being able to damage the terrain easily. The tempest is a speed-based class that bases its attacks on lightning.
SOE has also given some detail on the Rallying Call, the overarching story. Each player will have a book called the Rohsong which tracks personal and server progression. Since the server bases story events off of the results of previous events and other algorithms, the stories of individual servers can go in completely different directions. One event detailed described players finding enough loot in an area to attract brigands in search of wealth. The players were then tasked with fighting back the brigands or risk them making off with the gold.
More SOE news is sure to come.
Gamers in Southeast Asia have been waiting patiently to get their hands on the superhero MMO known only as DC Universe Online, and their wait is finally over. Sony Online Entertainment partnered with Asiasoft to bring the MMO brawler to Southeast Asia, where players were able to take part in a closed beta period from the 26th to the 30th of June this year. Following the closed beta, servers will open for the full launch today, in just a couple of hours from this writing.
Players participating in the closed beta were able to keep their characters for the full launch. To sweeten the deal, Asiasoft has revealed that players who level at least two characters to 30 during the launch period will be entered into a contest to win a pair of round trip tickets and accommodation to attend SOE Live in August.
(Source: Sony Online Entertainment press release)
With all of the hubbub about H1Z1 and the prospects of free to play and pay to win, John Smedley took to the game’s official subreddit to explain just how the game’s cash shop will work. Players will be able to buy wearables which can be looted by others upon death, in a manner of speaking.
We’ve also come up with a pretty awesome idea to let players who kill other players loot stuff. So if a player has a black ski mask and gets killed by another player, that player can wear the ski mask for a few deaths (we have durability in the game. Station Cash wearables won’t degrade at all but when you loot something.. it will degrade. Please note the original player always keeps their SC purchased wearables.
Smedley also confirmed that the shop will not sell guns, ammo, food, water, “etc,” nor will they sell boosts. Emote packs will be available for sale as well as character slots and crates ala Valve’s monetization system.
(Source: Reddit)
Surprise! We’ve known this is coming since Sony Online Entertainment first registered a trademark for H1Z1, but the cat is finally out of the bag. SOE officially announced H1Z1, a zombie sandbox MMO set to release its first public-playable version within the next four to six weeks. The game will see players scavenging stores and building up a defense in a persistent world, fighting both zombies and humans.
It will be our own version of America. We’ll have urban cities and desolate wide open places. All connected seamlessly. Our focus is building a sandbox style of gameplay where players can build shelters out of resources in the world. They can even work together to make amazing fortresses complete with weaponry to help defend against both the Infected and other players.
Check out the long Reddit thread below for the full reveal.
(Source: Reddit)
Sony Online Entertainment has released an infographic detailing just how technology and the internet has progressed since Everquest launched in 1999, not to mention detailing a decade and a half of the franchise’s achievements. Do you remember when hard drives cost $25 per gigabyte? I do.
Gamers looking forward to seeing Everquest Next Landmark on 32-bit operating systems can officially put their dreams to rest. Dave Georgeson posted on Twitter today to announce that there will be no 32-bit version of the game.
Another News Flash: Landmark is going to have to be a 64-bit OS game *only*. We are going to be unable to support 32-bit OS as we had hoped.
Unfortunate indeed, but unavoidable due to unforeseen technical issues. For those who already purchased Landmark, SOE is offering refunds with no questions asked.
(Source: Twitter)
John Smedley is a man after my own heart, because what would be better for the company heavily invested in everything that SOE is doing other than to announce yet another MMO? We know from Smedley’s Twitter that there is definitely an MMO in the works, one that is dedicated to Star Wars Galaxies fans, presumably those who have been disgruntled with the developer ever since the New Game Enhancements way back when. Since then, Smedley posted two pictures on Twitter of in-game houses that were confirmed to be related to this upcoming MMO. So what is it?
Super sleuth Ste2000 over at the MMORPG.com forums found that Sony Online Entertainment filed a trademark last month for H1Z1, which sounds suspiciously like an MMO:
Computer game software and video game software; downloadable multiplayer, role playing, real time computer and video game software via an online website for entertainment purposes
H1Z1 is the name of a hoax zombie virus that spread around the internet claiming to be a strain of the H1N1. This isn’t a guarantee that Sony will do anything with the trademark, as developers are often known to file trademarks for products that die in concept/development.
(Source: MMORPG.com)
The Everquest Next Landmark alpha has been up for less than 24 hours, and John Smedley has taken to Twitter to announce that the nondisclosure agreement has officially been lifted. Players are allowed to talk about what they want, stream what they want, and post screenshots as they want.
The NDA is officially lifted for EQNL. Have fun. It will be Monday before we can yank it from the game
As far as people getting the wrong impression from the state of the alpha, “that’s life,” says Smedley.
(Source: Twitter)
MMO Fallout 