Rift’s free-to-play model marks a change of heart at Trion. Currently, Rift allows players to play Rift Lite for free; the first 20 levels of the game. Up until late last year, that was still the plan going forward: when we spoke to Scott Hartsman, the former executive producer of Rift, he felt the way forward was to retain the subscription while extending the Lite program. “What’s developed in the time since,” says Trion Creative Director Bill Fisher, “is a much wider acceptance of well designed free to play models.”

There will be no price for entry: players will not need to buy a box like rivals The Secret World and Guild Wars 2. The same goes for updates and expansions: “It is our goal to keep the content in Rift free – even as we move into large expansion territory,” says Bill. Free access, he says, “is the most requested feature since the game launched.” As Bill puts it, Trion want to create a free-to-play game that “truly provides value and entertainment when you choose to chip in, instead of simply adding a toll to remove pain. We want to be in the fun for good value business, not the ‘make the hurting stop’ business.”

The upcoming item store will stock experience and notoriety boosts (anyone who has grinded his or her way to the max notoriety level with Dragonslayer Covenant or Order of Mathos might file that under “make the hurting stop!”), tokens, currency and other convenience items. There will be a roster of vanity items for your characters and dimensions and mounts (and presumably pets). The item shop will also offer services that include gender, faction and race changes. Souls (Rift’s answer to talent trees) made available in the Storm Legion expansion will also be available for purchase.

Gear will be available to buy, too.

There’s always a question in free-to-play games on whether it turns into a pay-to-win experience, and Trion acknowledge that buying gear may be controversial. “However, the best gear in the game must be earned,” explains Fisher, “and high level items on the store must also be available to be earned in the game if they have a high credit price.”

When the free-to-play switch is flicked, current players can continue their subscription, which will grant them a “patron” status. This comes with convenience and gain rate benefits, alongside a stipend of in-game currency. Although new players will have to pay for bigger bags, bank slots and additional role slots, those who previously subscribed will not lose anything from their characters. For them, Trion claims that Rift will play exactly the same as it did before: just without a subscription fee.

The switchover takes place on June 12th; in the meantime, Rift’s patch 2.3: the Empyreal Assault will be on the servers soon, unlocking the new Dendrome zone.

Check out Free to Play FAQ and the announcement trailer below:

Credit: pcgamesn

Helsinki, Finland, May 13th 2013 – Today Sulake, the developer of Habbo Hotel, one of the world’s largest social games and online communities for teenagers, announced that they have resolved an internet piracy case with Mr. Aaron Marshall, an emulator software developer. The emulator software in question was used to run look-alike Habbo Hotels that were using Sulake’s IPs and game client software without Sulake’s permission.

Since 2006, Mr. Marshall has developed and sold over 1000 licenses to this software, the only purpose of which was to enable setting up illegal, pirated versions of Habbo Hotel. Mr. Marshall also maintained a discussion forum where instructions were given on how to run a pirate site and in the past ran some of the biggest pirated Habbo sites.

“It was important to be able to close a case that Sulake has been working on for some time already.” says Sulake General Counsel Taina Roth and continues, “After all our first and foremost job at Sulake is to serve our customers and the Habbo community and we want to focus our efforts in providing a fun and safe service to teens all around the world. However to be able to continuously invest into improving the service we have to be able to protect our assets, the graphics, software and other IP’s and will continue to do so when necessary.”

After becoming aware of the lawsuit filed against him in the Court of Helsinki, Mr. Marshall has ceased the violations of Sulake intellectual property rights e.g. by closing down the license server and stopping making and distributing the emulation software. Sulake and Mr. Marshall were also able to resolve the case with an undisclosed amount for damages.

“I’m pleased that Sulake was willing to resolve the case even though I had violated their intellectual property rights.” Mr. Marshall says and continues “I have stopped developing and distributing the emulator software and based on my recent experience strongly encourage others to stop working with pirated sites immediately. “

Taina Roth concludes “Millions of teenagers love the Habbo characters and graphics and we do license our intellectual property, when we see it benefit the community, for example in the case of the fan sites. However using our graphics and intellectual property without our permission to build competing look-alike services isn’t right.”

About Habbo Hotel and Sulake
Habbo Hotel is one the world’s largest social games and communities for teens. Users join by creating a fully customized online character called a Habbo. From there, they can explore wide variety of spaces and millions of rooms created by other users in the community, play a variety of games, connect with friends, decorate their own rooms, and have fun through creativity and self expression. Currently Habbo Hotel has customers in over 150 countries and the service is available in 12 language versions. To date, almost 300 million characters have been created and over 3 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo Hotel each month.

Habbo Hotel is operated by Finnish company Sulake. With offices in 3 countries and headquarters in Helsinki, Finland, the company currently employs some 70 people worldwide

Source

Just an update guys – Sulake are demanding at least 3,000,000 Euros and a further 100,000 Euros in legal costs. This morning my home was raided by the Bulgarian Police, my computer was seized along with additional hard drives that I had disconnected in an attempt to hide data from them – If you bought a Phoenix Licence and operate a retro I seriously advise you to shut down and hide – they will no doubt be able to gain access to the data on my drives which include IP logging from licence verification, even some cracked copies of Phoenix connected to to these servers and no doubt they’ll be pursuing everyone they can. I assume they’ll also access my Paypal account as my login details are saved on the computer, from that they’ll have all of your contact details, whether you paid with your own or worse, your parents accounts – it really looks like they’re out for everyone now

What the future holds for the Retro scene remains a mystery. Whilst server emulators is 100% legal the up-coming months shall be an interesting time for the young generation of developers.

The God of Fire, Bardiel, has escaped from his fiery prison with the help of the evil Nefer.
Players must raid the dungeon and capture Bardiel, while fighting off three merciless raid
monsters – Molleck, Creios and The Rebecca Twins.

In order to conquer THE EXTREME DUNGEON: BARDIEL SEAL, players are encouraged to join
forces. A full party of 4 players is highly recommended to destroy the game’s raid bosses.
Those who are powerful enough to defeat the dungeon’s monsters will be rewarded with
the highest level grade Extreme armor pieces. Plus, all characters classes will have a chance
to obtain the highest level skillbooks.

THE EXTREME DUNGEON: BARDIEL SEAL is located on the 5th Continent, Sarad. The
dungeon can only be accessed by characters that are above level 62, which is currently the
highest level in CONTINENT OF THE NINTH SEAL (Level cap is 63). Returning players will
receive a free package of special rewards for re-visiting the game (including the new Soul:
Truthful Wing, Class Changer, Beachwear gear and other items).

About BARDIEL SEAL

The story of the Bardiel Seal continues from the Holy City of Basilus, the last stage in the
Fifth Continent. During the Genesis War, the Goddess Akene defeated the God of Fire Bardiel
and banished him to the depths of Sarad. To secure his imprisonment, the Earth Dragon
Molk bestowed his Fang and Claw to the Harcs and ordered them to protect the dungeon
(Bardiel Seal). Thousands of years later, the Fang was destroyed, leaving only a tiny shard,
which ended up in the hands of the evil Nefer. With the help of his minions, Nefer was able
to use the Chipped Fang to release Bardiel from his prison. It is now up to Sarad’s might
reinforcements (otherwise known as C9 players) to re-seal the dungeon and stop Nefer,
before it’s too late.

While invading Bardiel Seal, players will have to defeat three extremely difficult raid bosses:

. Molleck , The Revenger from the Holy City of Basilus
. Creios, The Loyal Servant of Nefer
. The Rebecca Twins, The Evil Tribe

The Second Raid to defeat Bardiel, the final boss for this dungeon, will be launched in May.

For an exclusive look at THE EXTREME DUNGEON: BARDIEL SEAL in C9, check out the trailer

As a primer, players can learn about the six Special Forces units that are playable in the game, all modeled off of real-world combat specialists such as Delta Force, Spetsnaz, and GAFE. In addition, a detailed account of the dozens of unique weapons available in the game provides statistics and descriptions for players to begin identifying their weapons of choice.

Players can also view a comprehensive list of the many different maps that will be available at launch, and which game modes each map is available for. Those modes include Soldier Front 2’s highly unique and exhilarating offerings: battle in a tightly confined space with fragile glass floors over a pit of spikes in Shatter, hold out as long as possible against ravenous alien invaders in Survival, or push your army to victory in the MOBA-inspired Hero mode. Of course, more traditional FPS standbys like Team Deathmatch, Seizure, and Sabotage are included as well.

Soldier Front 2 will be free to download, and like all Aeria Games titles, will be free-to-play. Players can sign up for recruitment to closed beta now at soldierfront2.aeriagames.com. Stay on target with news, events, and updates at Soldier Front 2’s Facebook page.

HeroesGo is a high-velocity fusion of classic dungeon-crawling adventure paired with unrelenting action-packed combat set in a detailed and diverse world featuring exotic locations, vibrant characters, and an overarching storyline filled to the brim with mystery and intrigue. This exciting experience is served to players in the form of a gameplay-focused 3D MORPG with all of the expansive social and customization features players have come to expect from ESTsoft, and it is entirely free-to-play.

Four classes are initially available in HeroesGo –Blader, Breaker, Gunslinger, and Mage—each featuring a unique variety of skills and abilities. Players can further customize their combat experience by allocating skill points, unlocking new abilities, and even evolving into a variety of advanced sub-classes as they progress through the game. Whether the player prefers fierce melee combat, calculated ranged attacks, explosive spellcasting, or a combination of the aforementioned elements, they will be able to fine-tune the experience to fit their preference.

“We’re bridging the gap between hardcore and casual gamers in a seamless fashion,” said Ajmal Popal, assistant product manager of HeroesGo for ESTsoft Inc. “Scalable dungeon difficulty allows hardcore players to seek out the toughest challenges for the most prestigious rewards while still allowing casual players to progress and experience all of the game’s content. Players will be able to experience HeroesGo in their own way. There’s something here for everyone.”

Registration for the limited-access closed beta began on April 19 ^th. The closed beta is scheduled to open for play at 12pm PST on April 26 ^th.

Sign up for closed beta access here: http://www.estgames.com/heroesgo

I’d like to thank everyone who helped and supported Otaku Studios over the years, it’s been a fun learning experience for me and it’s a real shame it had to end this way. I don’t want to say anything more specific at this point as the case is open and I’m not really sure what happens next as the documents I was served with aren’t even in English – it took me a few days just to work out that I had to turn off my websites and the papers themselves are.. lengthy.

What the future holds for the Habbo Hotel development scene remains a mystery but one thing is for certain, Sulake is out for blood.

The companies infected by the malware primarily market so-called massively multiplayer online role-playing games. They’re mostly located in South East Asia, but are also in the US, Germany, Japan, China, Russia, Brazil, Peru, and Belarus, according to a release published Thursday by researchers from antivirus provider Kaspersky Lab. The attackers work from computers with Chinese and Korean language configurations. They used their unauthorized access to obtain digital certificates that were later exploited in malware campaigns targeting other industries and political activists.

So far, there’s no evidence that customers of the infected game companies were targeted, although in at least one case, malicious code was accidentally installed on gamers’ computers by one of the infected victim companies. Kaspersky said there was another case of end users being infected by the malware, which is known as “Winnti.” The company didn’t rule out the possibility that players could be hit in the future, potentially as a result of collateral damage.

“Having infected gaming companies that do business in MMORPG, the attackers potentially get access to millions of users,” the researchers wrote. “So far we don’t have data that the attackers stole from common users but we do have at least two incidents when Winnti malware had been planted on an online game update server and [this] malicious executable was spread among large number of the game fans. The samples we have observed seemed not to be malware targeted for the game fans but a malware module which accidentally got into [the] wrong place. But a potential of attackers to misuse such access to infect hundreds of millions of Internet users creates a great risk.”

Digital certificates stolen in some of the heists have been used to sign malware that targeted Tibetan and Uyghur activists. The cryptographic certificates have also been exploited in attacks that have hit companies in the aerospace industry. Attackers frequently abuse stolen certificates to prevent the malware they’re spreading from being detected by various security protections.

In addition to stealing digital certificates, the Winnti gang’s campaign appears to be motivated by the desire to manipulate in-game currency, such as “runes” or “gold,” that can in many cases be converted into real currency. The attackers may also want to use source code stolen from the game companies so it can be deployed in rogue servers offering pirated versions of the games.

Kaspersky has more here.

Source: http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/04/more-then-30-mmorpg-companies-targeted-in-ongoing-malware-attack/

• Vividly rendered and animated 3D battles in a dieselpunk influenced 1940s world
• Six unique factions, each with their own agenda and distinct strategies
• Players create history – ultimately everything comes down to player choices
• Epic turn-based battles with a tough, adaptive AI
• Battle with or against friends in fierce PvP and co-op game modes
• Enjoy a large-scale social gaming experience, or just pick your own fights
• Fight with others seamlessly across multiple devices: PC / Mac / iOS / Android

The new mode for ARCTIC COMBAT features 15 species of aliens, including a terrifying mid-boss and extremely challenging final boss. Throughout the game, aliens will charge players in waves, utilizing different attack patterns. The update also features varying levels of difficulty (Easy, Normal and Hard), a new map, weapons (including a Shot Gun), skill upgrades and an enhanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) system.

The epic new Alien Defense Mode marks the first major content update for ARCTIC COMBAT, since its official launch in December 2012. The highly-anticipated addition of aliens to the game is exciting news for new users, as well as long-time ARCTIC COMBAT players.

To celebrate the long-awaited launch of ARCTIC COMBAT’s new Alien Defense Mode, WEBZEN is hosting a week-long gaming gear giveaway for AC’s top point earners and spenders. Prizes include an iPod Shuffle, Razer gaming mouse and a coveted Alienware gaming laptop. This promotion starts April 18 and ends Wednesday, April 24, 2013. For details about this giveaway and otherARCTIC COMBAT events, visit the game’s official Web site (http://ac.webzen.com/) & Facebook page (Facebook.com/ArcticCombat).

Set amidst the chaos of World War III, ARCTIC COMBAT is a multiplayer online first-person shooter (MOFPS) featuring realistic gameplay experience and a tactical skill development system. The game revolves around the story of a national conflict between two groups; the Allied Forces (AF), led by the United States, and the Red Star Alliance (RSA), led by Russia. What begins as a dispute over natural resources in the arctic territory leads to a violent clash between the AF and RSA, dividing the world into two opposing forces and signaling the beginning of World War III.

“Games as Art” is the latest addition to this year’s series of expert-led panels at Fanfest, and will be available via live stream for those unable to attend the sold-out event. Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, will serve as the moderator of a panel discussion examining the evolution of video games as an artistic medium. Antonelli will be joined by representatives of three of the thirteen video games recently added to the museum’s permanent collection.

Title:     Games as Art: EVE and Other Games at the NY MoMA

Speakers:   Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator, New York Museum of Modern Art

Torfi Frans Olafsson, Creative Director, CCP Games

Adam Saltsman, Designer, Canabalt

Tarn Adams, Co-Creator, Dwarf Fortress

Summary:   EVE Online, along with twelve other video games, was recently added to the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Paola Antonelli, Senior Curator at MoMA, will be joined by CCP’s Torfi Frans Olafsson, Canabalt’s Adam Saltsman, and Tarn Adams of Dwarf Fortress, to discuss what it means to be included in the museum’s permanent collection and share their thoughts on how video games have evolved as an artistic medium.

The full schedule for Fanfest is now available at http:///fanfest.eveonline.com

The schedule of the more than 30 hours of Fanfest sessions that will be streamed live can be found at http://twitch.tv/ccp. CCP will be live steaming EVE Fanfest in standard definition for free and in HD for a one-time fee of $19.95 USD or one PLEX (which cna be obtained on theEVE Online in-game market).

More information about purchasing the HD stream can be found at: http://fanfest.eveonline.com/HDstream

In addition to the series of expert panels, CCP Games also announced the musical lineup for the annual “Party at the Top of the World” celebration on the final night of Fanfest. Headlining the show is Z-Trip, an award winning DJ and musical pioneer revered for putting on some of the world’s best live performances. Among those also performing at the “Party at the Top of the World” are Iceland’s #1 metal band, Skálmöld, and popular Icelandic dance band Retro Stefson.

This year CCP will be celebrating the 10^th anniversary of EVE Online with a “Second Decade” theme, focusing on the wealth of stories and successes of the first ten years of EVEand its year-on-year subscriber growth. CCP will also look forward to the next ten years of EVE and DUST with reveals, announcements, demonstrations, and parties.

A game massive by design as well as concept, Darkfall Unholy Wars comes with a host of features, options and game-styles for you to choose and discover as you travel through the rich, beautiful and deadly lands of Agon. Darkfall Unholy Wars combines real-time action and strategy in a fantasy setting and pushes the envelope of Massive Multiplayer Games by featuring the largest seamless and zone-less world of its kind, able to host upwards of ten thousand concurrent users per world. Without instances or other designed roadblocks to player interaction, Darkfall Unholy Wars is set to redefine the MMORPG genre.

In the bloodthirsty world of Agon you will form clans and battle for dominance. You will recruit your friends and allies, engage in epic land and naval battles to conquer fortresses and clan cities, interacting with thousands of concurrent players while you carve an everlasting legend!

“We are very excited to see Darkfall Unholy Wars launching today. We hope that our players will enjoy the game for months and years to come and become the driving force in the game’s evolution.” – Zad Mehdawi – CEO, Aventurine

“After five months of beta we are happy to launch Darkfall Unholy Wars. We are grateful to our playtesters for their contribution to the game and we’re happy to have them with us as players today. Darkfall Unholy Wars is the best combat MMORPG experience and our pledge is that it will continue evolving and pushing the PvP envelope.”  – Tasos Flambouras, General Manager, Aventurine

Darkfall Unholy Wars is available through the game’s website (www.darkfallonline.com) for the price of 39,95. This price includes the client and 30 days of unlimited game access. Darkfall Unholy Wars will also become available on other distribution platforms, in the days and weeks to come.

One of the key benefits of the release of the source code is the ability to customize and create maps and extensions. Players from all around the world have been showcasing their latest map creations in an attempt to resurrect the once banned Steam title. Players and developers have noted that the source code dated from November 2012 also includes vehicles which was considered a selling point of the game but was not actually included in the release. Many players of the game are now flocking to the official RaGEZONE beta testing thread in order to try out the new private servers.

Below are a few videos featuring the source code in action.

Want to create your own The War Z server? then head over to our The War Z development forums.

Update (13/04/13).

DNC has kindly put together a video showing a fully functional server of The War Z.

Update 2.

It would appear that The War Z is also quite capable of producing quite visually appealing graphics. For more information about this then visit the following thread.

The new expansion to Paradox Development Studios’ classic 19th century grand strategy game is coming to PC on April 16, 2013 and will be available on major digital delivery platforms for $19.99.

As a bonus to those who pre-order Heart of Darkness, select retailers will be offering a Victoria I Complete—a gold edition of the original title that started it all—for free. Other retailers will offer 75% off Victoria titles, including Victoria II and Victoria II: A House Divided, with any pre-order of Heart of Darkness. To see a list of retailers and pre-order Heart of Darkness, please visit http://www.victoria2.com/game-info/buy-the-game

To show just how smooth the creation process can be, Larian Studios tried its hand at one of the most famous RPG encounters; The Butcher. See for yourself:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin/posts

But, there’s more…

Backers of Divinity: Original Sin now have the option to customize their rewards. Starting from the digital download or physical product tiers, backers are able to add funds to purchase rewards such as a digital artbook, beta access, and additional copies.

Divinity: Original Sin has now raised over $160,000 on Kickstarter in only two days.

“We are grateful and your contributions are very encouraging to our team. We’d also like to thank you for all the feedback you’ve given us so far in helping us make our campaign better and offering ideas for stretch goals,” said Larian Studios founder, Swen Vincke.

This original Blitzkrieg became the foundation for more than twenty commercial games from other developers, many diving even deeper into the greatest battles of WW2.  From the sprawling and bloody turning point of Stalingrad to the exhausting and frozen Talvisota on the Finnish front, developers and fans have used the Blitzkrieg games as the starting point for vivid game-based portrayals of history’s greatest conflict. Even today, countless user mods are being developed and improved – a decade long community project that is a point of pride for Nival and the Blitzkrieg team.

To celebrate Blitzkrieg’s ten year anniversary, both Blitzkrieg Anthology and Blitzkrieg 2: Anthology are being discounted 60% on GOG.com until March, 31st.

Ten year is a natural moment to celebrate a landmark in game history, but this is not simply living in the past. For the Blitzkrieg series, this is just a beginning…

About Nival
Headquartered in Moscow, Nival is a developer and publisher of cross-platform online strategy games founded by Russian games industry veteran Sergey Orlovskiy.

With offices in Miami, Florida; Kiev, Ukraine; Minsk, Belarus and St. Petersburg, Russia, Nival currently has more than 200 employees working at four development studios.

Since 1996, Nival has developed several popular games, including Heroes of Might and Magic V, Blitzkrieg, Silent Storm, and Etherlords. Nival’s internal development studios are focused on major cross-platform online and mobile projects, including the innovative and award-winning role-playing strategy game Prime World.

For more information about Nival, please visit http://nival.com

For the first time in 2013, fans are invited to experience what we’ve been talking about for months, WildStar’s active combat, path exploration, layered content and high touch comedic personality set in a Sci-Fi fantasy world. Holding nothing back, players are free to play and experience a new Zone (Deradune) while playing the recently revealed Dominion Faction’s three of four races (Mechari, Draken or Cassian) and new class (Stalker) in today’s online modern playground – play with what you want, how you want and with who you want.

Along with featuring the show floor build, we’re treating media to a first look at two new zones, Crimson Isle and Halon Ring (taking you to space for the first time), and what everyone’s been wondering about, our housing feature and how it integrates into the entire gaming experience. To help give you what you need, we’ve uploaded all of the press assets to the press SFTP site detailed below, including:

· Housing Dev Speak (a first detailed look inside out housing features and a start to our new series of detailed game feature videos – A MUST SEE AND SHARE)

· Concept art

· Screen Shots – New Zones, Housing

· Gameplay/Housing Broll

· Lore/Fact Sheets

· And plenty more

That’s right. gPotato has been sold to Webzen due to the noticeable loss in profits –  a 167,145 thousand JPY loss to be factual. Therefore, the operations in Northern America, Europe and Brazil are to be sold to Webzen on February 5th, 2013.

According to media sources, Gala Net was sold for just $17.5 million to Webzen who appear to be happy about the cheap pickup. What we are all worried about though is what will happen to our favourite MMO’s? Gala Net created and published Allods Online, Uncharted Waters and many more other great games that we all know and love.

Apparently the Maple Story boss Hard Magnus was impossible to kill for regular players, in order to beat the boss and gain it’s highly prized loot you would be forced to use cheats. GM’s would be able to sit invisible and watch for players who were obviously cheaters and then proceed to ban them.

source and links

The beta comes with a varity of new features and an increased level cap for players with a much improved translation in-game. Full details about the changes are listed below
CBT Information as follows.
Players when creating will be given a new pet named Flame Seed. The level cap has been increased from the original CBT to level 60. New world bosses have been introduced with daily instances. Two new systems Divinization and Treasure Plant are added. The ability to automatically switch automatic combat.

As with most CBT data will be wiped after the second beta ends how ever players who topped up during the initial CBT will gain 100% return when returning for the second CBT. However don’t think its pointless to play because when the open beta is launched players will see 110% return on there total top up during both beta tests.

Key Sites – FreeMMoStation BBGsite ONRpg

Zombie Mode gets a some what Twilight edition update with two new zombie types being introduced, Werewolfs and Vampires. How ever don’t think the evil undead can win easy now they have 2 new players on there team ow no. With the update will see new weapons specifically created to fend of the undead.

What about us who avoid the undead like the plague you ask? Well the future update will also see a new map released “Spring Festival” with new holiday event weapons also. However it does not stop there, NetDragon has also informed of deeper character and weapon customization and a new character development system. This will see new elements such as special titles, in-game achievements and the ability to upgrade weapons and equipment.

We hope to see this update hit soon and can only guess the full details until then.

The Oriental Assassin will be joining the battle this month and some information about their skills has already been announced. The new addition will bring four brand new skills, as well as a special XP skill, which will maximize the advantage of the Assassin’s long-range attack, making them a powerful force, especially in PvP battles.

Head on over to co.91.com to read more and play.

The update sees a new wedding system make its way onto the game’s Taiwan server with some very detailed mechanics. With a proposal, an engagement process, a dowry and even a wedding banquet a lot of detail has been placed into the update and it is clearly evident.

How ever I know what your thinking, I am a strapping young single Kung Fu fighter looking for love. Well do not worry for you singles out there there is even an NPC who will handle proposals and functions as the equivalent of a a dating website. The only thing missing is westerners with no word as to when this update will give live to other servers.

The cinemtatic footage is by no small release with the clip clocking in nearly 9 minutes long with 3 minutes of never seen before footage. The clip also shows some amazing new glimpses of the game’s races and vibrant fantasy landscapes we have come to expect from the final fantasy franchise.

Beta sign ups can be found here including full details.

The change will involve a solution as to where players are divided by IP and accounts will be automatically migrated with out choice by users on January 23rd . However forced migration has seen a number of players unsettled with the choice and publicly voicing there concerns inside the C9 community.

The final procedures are still unknown in full detail and only when the update goes live will we know if the concerns by players have been heard by webzen.

The full article can be found here

The game boasts exciting game play and challenging PvE action, sign up early for the beta for your chance to get an early look at the action on January 18th.

Check out their full interactive website and register at vonbachindustries.com

ArcheBlade is a 3rd person multiplayer fighting game with a range of champions, arenas and modes to fight it out with. It’s built with the Unreal engine 3 so looks nice amidst the fast paced chaos. A new character has been added since the 1st closed beta alongside game balancing and other character tweaks.

Enjoy the short trailer below and get yourself registered for the beta at beta.codebrush.net

Asiasoft Online 1st announced the beta restart in order to make sure the servers were playable for everyone on launch, as such they took the server down for maintenance and made for a clean start today. I think this is a wise choice as these are the type of things you need to get right during a beta testing period.

Asiasoft will give 5,000 free RO2Cash to every player who has at least one Level 10 character in the game by 6th January 2013 so get leveling! Additionally, anyone who participated in closed beta or any of the test sessions held from 28^th to 31^st December 2012 will receive a special “Thank You Pack”, which includes 5 Explorer’s Purple potion, 5 Remote Storage scroll, 1 Spinel and 2 Butterfly wings. Terms and conditions apply and players can read more about the tokens of appreciation and join the open beta at www.playro2.com.

All new players who register for Einherjar accounts will be treated to a gift package containing 300 Power, 1 Damascus Shield, 1 Mithril Spear and 1 Master Ring. I think you still have to grow your own beard though, you too ladies. If you have an existing account and have not logged in since December 1st 2012 you will get the following cheeky surprise: 500 Power, 1 Runic Ring and 1 Valhalla God Proof.

Head on over to ein-herjar.com to play for free.

The 2 new servers come alongside the savvy update which will now allow players to update their pets in different ways, your pets must be at least level 20 to increase their max savvy though so get leveling! A pet sigil system also allows you to transfer surplus pets into different sigils.

Go to yeepgame.com/games/tamersaga

This update enables Player vs Player gameplay, rewarding users for engaging in combat in specified arenas. As the world is 100% player-built, any player can create a PvP arena. You can mark your arena for simple PvP gameplay or for a more advanced ‘Bounty’ game mode in which players compete for the highest consecutive kill count. Alternatively, you can build your own Dungeon areas, which will allow for Player vs Environment game play if that’s what you would prefer. I love the retro style, check out a mini trailer below and visit 8bitmmo.net to play for free.

It has also been confirmed that there will be a full re-wipe for the new open beta release.

For all the latest updates go to their official facebook page; facebook.com/PlayRO2

Now with the open beta underway, more players can grab their decks and throw down in intense PvP and PvE action. Throughout the open beta and beyond, players will be able to participate in weekly 1 versus 1 and 2 versus 2 leader boards with valuable gold prizes for high rankings each week to continually develop and expand their character and their card decks. Additionally, there will be special 1v1 and 2v2 tournaments beginning today with the top 100 players in each category winning great prizes on the new open beta server, including rare and powerful cards.

I like the idea of constant competition giving people a chance to win bragging rights and in game items, I’m also looking forwards to seeing how well the PvE plays into the game. Check ut the trailer below and head over to kingsandlegends.com to join in with the open beta fun.

The Aurora World is a fantasy MMORPG for Windows PCs supporting Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. The story takes place after a cataclysmic war between the Gods in Heaven, leaving the world in chaos. Players are set to venture across the land to unite powers of good and vanquish evil, pretty standard.

The game features eight professions with their own unique specializations and mastery system, an extensive PvE experience with entertaining daily quests, events and crafting, a robust PvP system that includes large scale Nation Wars (up to 300 players on a field), clan wars, a PK system and a coliseum mode. The Aurora World also offers a unique hybrid pet/mount system known as Majinns that will aid players in their journey while being immersed into a world of lush environments and detailed character models, powered by Aurora Interactive’s self-developed graphics engine.

The open beta is coming February 2013 so to get you in the mood here’s the official trailer, enjoy.

What events do you have to look forwards to?

1. Santa will come the moment you log into Digimon Masters: Santa’s presence in the digital world is special, as he will bestow gifts upon players every hour. These presents include EXP boosters, Evoluters, and some of the most popular cash shop items.

2. Catch The Antylamon who stole Christmas gifts.

3. Christmas With Alphamon: players can tame this magnificent beast by combining two specific Digimon.

4. Special Christmas Moments With Digimon Masters: A screenshot competition.

5. Overflowing EXP Event: Double EXP on the weekdays and triple EXP on the weekends.

Beta players will be able to use their existing accounts and new players can sign up at their official website www.getamped2.eu

Here’s a quick rundown of how you make it on the “path to pro”.

• Hold one of the top 16 positions on EU West or EU Nordic & East in the Ranked Team 5v5 ladder on December 27 by 13:00 CEST to earn a spot in the online qualifier
• Finish as one of Europe’s top six teams in the online tournament to advance and compete against Season Two’s remaining European Regional competitors and new Challenger Circuit contenders at a live qualifier
• Place in the top five of the live qualifier for your invitation to go pro in Season Three

For more details check out this page.

To celebrate this occasion Mega Man and the Street Fighters will meet in this FREE PC download, coming to capcom-unity.com on December 17, 2012 – Head to capcom-unity.com/mega_man for all the details and enjoy the trailer below.

I really like where the development of this game is going, the fans are being kept in the loop and RSI are continuing to receive record breaking support from contributors. Yesterday they passed the $7,000,000 mark from around 100,000 contributors, not bad considering the initial target was $2,000,000!

Each of the following games will give out double the rewards  when played over the weekend:

• Castle Wars – Awards double the usual points at the end of a game.
• Soul Wars – Awards double the usual zeal at the end of a game
• Trawler – Awards double the usual numbers of fish, and thus double the XP that would normally be gained for catching these fish.
• Pest Control – Awards double the usual points at the end of a game.
• Big Chinchompa – Awards double the usual Competence Points.
• Evil Tree – Awards double the usual item rewards.
• Shooting Star – Awards double the usual item rewards.

Also throughout December any RuneScape members will get a +50% exp bonus for 30 minutes a day. Head on over to www.runescape.com to play for free.

The new arcade mode lets players of the serene MMO take a break from the mount-focused adventures, and instead focus their attention on winning battles and prizes.
Alongside the solo tournaments, every weekend from 21:00 – 21:30 CST, players can band together in teams and face off against each other for the right to be crowned the strongest guild in Cyber Monster. During the registration period (10:00 – 20:30 CST on weekends), adventurers decide whether they want to join an already existing team, or create their own using the team panel.

I’m sure a lot of fans will be happy with the new competition on the horizon, guilds love nothing more than to fight each other for titles!

“With this year being our 25^th anniversary”, said Tim Heaton, Studio Director at Creative Assembly, “it seems fitting for us to embark on such a dream project with such a well-established partner. The incredibly rich and detailed Warhammer world is something we grew up with, and has left an indelible imprint on us as both designers and gamers.”

“We’ll be doing the Warhammer universe justice in a way that has never been attempted before. We’re bringing those 25 years of experience and expertise in extremely high-scoring games to bear, delivering a Warhammer experience that videogamers will absolutely love.”

Of course they are yet to temp us with more juicy details, but go to www.creative-assembly.com for more information as it is released.

In a massive rebalancing effort, every frigate, destroyer and cruiser in EVE will be re-engineered to provide more gameplay options for new players and veterans alike, this should revitalize some of the less frequently used hulls. Each of EVE’s main factions will add a deadly new destroyer to the market with this latest expansion, alongside other new additions: a mining frigate, salvage drones and a micro-jump drive. Further, a situational music system will accompany dozens of revamped sounds in the game. There are also several major changes to the user interface geared to make EVE more intuitive without sacrificing any of its existing game play.

For more information go to www.eveonline.com/retribution and watch the trailer below to get you pumped over the new bounty system.

Check out the video below and go here for more patch notes.

Ranked matches not only intensify the competitive factor of the game but players will be rewarded handsomely for their wins!For more details and to play for free go to www.brawlbusters.com

Beta testers can look forward to around three-times as much game content. There are mercenaries and mutants to fight in far-off settlements which they have wrestled control of. In addition to this the number of dungeons has grown to 23. With the new version there’s been a comprehensive renewal of the interface, substantially more intelligent opponents, a reworked shooter feeling and improved graphic effects.

Check out the trailer below and the official website.

New features in the update:

• Duel System: Battle one on one against other players and win impressive bragging rights in the new Duel System.
• Auto-Move: Never get lost on the trek to the next adventure with the Auto-Move button, now available for quests.
• Auto-Follow: Follow friends as they run across Lakia’s beautiful vistas! This fantastic feature will make it easy to hunt down the opposing nation as a dangerous horde.
• Player Inspection: Check out what the most powerful players are wearing with the new inspection tool.
• Color Coordinated Quest Markers: Easily identify a quest’s type – from important to daily– with different color quest markers on the map and above NPC heads.
• Visual Durability Icons: Know just how damaged gear is with new durability icons.

Fidn out more and play for free at their official website.

“HAWKEN is a game everyone is talking about and getting into the beta is definitely something to talk about,” said Kay Gruenwoldt, CEO of PointMMO. “We’re committed to working with publishers like Meteor Entertainment to get the best new games as early as we can onto our platform. Players will begin to see that we have great taste in games and we’re passionate about getting our community into the hottest beta tests.”

With an early Alpha test for backers due early next winter fans can still expect to be updated constantly on the progress of Star Citizen and you can guarantee any big news like this I will be posting up here. This will be a brilliant mmo, I just need a time machine to go play it now.

Here are updated stats from the Star Citizen crowd funding campaign as of 1 PM central time on November 19:

·         Kickstarter backers– 34,397
·         Kickstarter funds pledged – $2,134,374
·         Roberts Space Industries backers – 55,270
·         Roberts Space Industries funds raised – $4,104,189
·         Total backers – 89,667
·         Total funds raised and pledged – $6,238,563

“I am absolutely elated by the incredible outpouring of support for this project,” said Roberts. “It’s clear that space sim fans have just been waiting for a game like ours to come along and rekindle some of the excitement that’s been missing from PC games and the space sim genre. With the resources that our fans have provided, it means the team will be able to provide more features in Star Citizen and deliver an even better game.”

Source

Players will be treated to exciting battles against massive boss opponents, tons of quests, extensive PvP features and a sophisticated guild system. RaiderZ also allows you to create individual characters by imbuing them with over 350 talents and equipping them with a large catalogue of items.

Here’s what Rüdiger Mörsch, Product Director, had to say on the launch of RaiderZ: “I’m really excited that we’ve now reached release status after a thoroughly successful beta phase. I’d like to take this chance to thank our beta testers for the great feedback and ample constructive criticism. I’m certain that RaiderZ will be a lot of fun for the players and us.”

With a large update 1.1 already announced for early 2013 players really have a lot to look forwards to. Head on over to www.raiderz-europe.com/en/free-to-play to download the client and play for free.

How to redeem your key:

1. After getting your Beta key, head to the City of Steam website here .
2. Register an account (or sign in if you already have one), copy/paste your Beta Key, click the register/sign-in button, then click on the ‘Play Now’ button and test out City of Steam’s Closed Beta release (or if the test is not yet up, your key will be safely activated and ready for when the game goes live).
3. Enjoy!

The Closed Beta Test will run through 4 periods: Nov. 16-20, Nov. 30-Dec. 4, Dec. 14-18 and Dec. 23-28, starting on Fridays (except for the last test, which runs from Saturday to the following Friday) at 19:00 PST (22:00 EST) and lasting until Tuesdays at 00:00 PST (03:00 EST). Keep your key in a safe place if you’ve received one early. Beta starts soon! Each Beta season will be chock full of events and activities that will give players a chance to win cool swag and in-game extras. This is still a Closed Beta version, so be sure to help out the developers by reporting bugs on the forum and getting involved with the community. City of Steam strives on community-driven development from input from players like you! If you would like to support the development further and get some cool extras at the same time, head to the Support Us section of the website.

With only 4 days ’till the official PlanetSide 2 release, sit back and enjoy the action. Sign up for the last few days of beta at planetside2.com and experience the game free to play from the 20th this month,

You can download the source code from GitHub here

Astriarch is a single player turn based space strategy game. Check out their official site here and enjoy playing with the source available at GitHub.

“Players have been asking for some of the more unique and exotic Digimon that have been spotted only in movies or outside the traditional pool of Digimon players would normally encounter,” said the lead developer of Digimon Masters.  “So next week we’re launching the first of an exclusive Digimon line to fill that exact need.  Come, shake this new Digimon’s many hands!”

For more information on events and to play for free go to their official website.

The crime themed mmorpg is boating 11 shiny new dedicated servers, latency is expected to be a thing of the past, paving the way for a whole host of new features including;

• New and improved UI
• New attacking system
• New crimes and sub crimes
• Responsive design for mobile devices

New features due to launch soon include a fully interactive map of Torn City, complete with pan and zoom. The detailed map displays areas of the city to buy and trade weapons, the docks to buy & sell cars, army base, industrial areas, red light district, airport and much more. The map will become a key component of the game playing an integral part of faction warfare and missions.

Go to www.torn.com to play for free and check out their official facebook.

Starting with a goal of $2million usd they are now racing beyond $3.3million! This extra funding is allowing “stretch goals” to be met which translates into more content in the finishes universe, extra ships, extra modes of control, more customization and even extra star systems.

Enjoy the video below and go here to read the official RSI blog.

As part of a continuing effort to enhance the online interactive experience for fans, Gazillion is re-launching HeroUp.com, the Marvel Super Hero Squad Online website and game portal. The redesigned HeroUp.com will allow streamlined access to the game and will also serve as the home site for European players.

The authenticator is electronically tied to an account and regularly generates random numbers that must be typed in to play. Forcing players to use Battle.net and the authenticators is “deceptive and unfair”, alleges the lawsuit. Blizzard said it would “vigorously defend” itself against the legal claims. In 2009, Blizzard revamped Battle.net to make it the over-arching system people must use when playing any of the company’s games. It lets players manage payments and subscriptions for games such as Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 and World of Warcraft.

The class action lawsuit filed by Benjamin Bell said it was “unfair” of Blizzard to force people to use Battle.net to play its games. Mr Bell alleges that it has made millions of dollars in profit by selling authenticators to players after they have bought its games. In Europe, the authenticator costs £8.99 (9.99 euros). Instead of making gamers buy extras to improve security, he said Blizzard should do more to protect accounts itself. The court papers mention several incidents in which the personal details of players were stolen from Battle.net. Blizzard had not taken the “legally required steps” to tell players about these problems, the lawsuit alleges.

Mr Bell seeks damages from Blizzard, an injunction to stop the company charging extra for its security gadgets and wants it to drop the requirement to use Battle.net. The lawsuit was “without merit and filled with patently false information”, Blizzard said in a statement given to game news site IGN. It denied that it did not do enough to let players know about attacks on Battle.net. It said the allegation that an authenticator was mandatory to use Battle.net was “completely untrue” and stemmed from a misunderstanding about the gadget’s purpose.

Blizzard branded the lawsuit’s claims “frivolous” and said it would take appropriate legal action to defend itself.

 Source

Omusa Factory is the new mode and it is said to be one of the most challenging modes ever available in the game., I’m, sure some of you are ready to put that to the test.

The chance for guilds to prove their fighting abilities is here, the GetAmpedSEA Guild League 2012 is where the action will take place and the strongest guild crowned. Registration for this online tournament starts today so don’t delay and get yourselves signed up. Alongside the obvious bragging rights there are attractive prizes await the top guild to emerge on 18 November 2012, it’s 6 days away so get practicing!

You can also find limited edition offers within the in game shop with some permanent gears up for sale during the celebrations.

GetAmped is free to play, head on over to their website at www.GetAmpedSEA.com or their facebook fan page.

I still see a lot of talk about people having FPS problems, let me know what your experience of the PlanetSide2 beta has been like.

Beta signups are still being accepted, get on over to planetside2.com for more details.

Personally I love the sound of having everyone on 1 huge Megaserver, it’s how mmo’s used to be so I’m very excited to see how this develops. Check out the video below.

Go to elderscrollsonline.com for more details.

Dragon Nest is a free-to-play 3D action RPG developed by Eyedentity Games. Its dynamic action oriented game-play and stylised  graphics should make this game unique and fun to play. The European version in four languages is planned to be released by eFusion MMOG at the end of 2012.

To apply for the alpha and for more details go to this page on twowar.com.
Check out the official dragonnest.eu website where you can also apply for the alpha here.

“We are very excited about working with Valve to publish Dota 2 and build on the worldwide momentum of the highly successful franchise. We look forward to providing players in Japan and Korea the opportunity to experience this exciting new game,” said Min Seo, CEO of Nexon Korea Corporation.

Gabe Newell, President of Valve Corporation, said, “Nexon, a company with whom we have a long and strong relationship, was clearly the right choice as a publisher to successfully deliver Dota 2 into the Korean and Japanese market.  Partnering with Nexon will allow us to deliver Dota 2 to a massive audience of Asian gamers via a premium service.”

To me it sounds quite promising, I think our Korean and Japanese friends have a great time to look forwards to. Do you already play DOTA2, if so who is your favourite hero?

A total of 17 new armored vehicles will be added. The new Chinese tech tree will be composed of modifications on the Soviet, French, British, and American combat machines, and will also include a number of the Chinese-made tanks that never went into mass production. The Chinese were well known for adapting the best designs from other countries both friend and foe to create their own unique weapons of war.

Check out the trailer below and go to www.worldoftanks.com to play for free.

Additionally, a choice of 17 weapons and spells are available with each upgradeable by 10 levels. Some of the weapons at your fingertips include swords, chainsaws, shotguns, miniguns, rocket launchers and railguns. So you are sure to have plenty of options when it comes to disposing of your enemies.

Go to www.gunswords.com to get more information and to sign up for the upcoming beta. Check out the trailer below and maybe I will see you in game on the battlefield? The beta testing is due to start later this month, 27th November.

Fans are encouraged to send questions in via e-mail or through their official facebook page and every 2 weeks a themed blog will be posted with members of the ESO team answering your points. Themes will be announced in advance so you will know what sort of questions will have a better chance of being answered.

Find out about the 1st theme and more at elderscrollsonline.com. Questions can be answered in English, French and German.

“When we launched Battlefield 1942 ten years ago, we had lofty ambitions to create a first-person shooter that would push the boundaries of innovation, creativity and design. We evolved the FPS gameplay formula by introducing the world to all-out warfare via land, air and sea,” said Karl Magnus Troedsson, Vice President and General Manager of DICE.

They sure did have a huge impact on how people looked at FPS games, if you never played Battlefield 1942 this is a perfect opportunity to see where it all started. I spent countless hours playing this when it was 1st released, it wont hold a candle to newer games in terms of looks but game play, it’s got it by the bucket load.

Players will be able to play on online servers against others who have downloaded the anniversary edition from origin.

For more details go to the official website www.battlefield.com/battlefield-1942 or head directly to www.origin.com/demo

Taikodom: Living Universe was developed by Hoplon Infotainment in Brazil. Taikodom throws you into the cockpit of an advanced spacecraft, battling for Order or Liberty on the fringes of civilization in the 23rd century. It features what you might expect from a space mmo; real-time dogfighting action, crafting, full-loot PvP, and battleship fights. Territory conquest will also coming soon.

For more information and other games available from Reloaded Games for free go to www.gamersfirst.com.

Initially 5,000 players will be invited into the closed beta and when the Spicy Horse team is comfortable they will bring in another 5,000 to increase server load and continue testing. Additional waves of testers will be allowed in as needed to test the game, balance content, and ensure server stability, with the eventual launch of Open Beta to come in the future.

Personally I really enjoy the style of art in the game and I’ll always have a soft spot for Japanese feudal weaponry. Check out the look of the game with their trailer below.

For more information and to sign up for the beta go to their official site.

Get around the world in style with a 60% movement speed buff while mounted and with achievements to unlock you will surely start a collection of vehicles. Personally I don’t think I would enjoy much more than being carried round by an angry looking bear. Mounts all have their own animations and will be available temporarily from 7-90 days or as a permanent item.

Register for the closed beta at the bottom of their official page and watch the trailer below. Don’t be put off by the cutesy graphics as this game is very focused on the PvP side of the game and even includes realm vs realm combat to keep the competition going.

You can be extremely creative when making your own unique fighters by combining various styles and accessories with special powers and attacks. You can play with other players in matches of up to 16 people at a time, or contest various tournaments and challenges.

A really cool feature in GetAmped is the game’s extensive Skin Editor. You can use it to create original character designs, or make your favourite anime and manga characters to take them into battle.

Visit the official website and check out the trailer below.

The ESWC is the first major tournament featuring CS:GO, starting with France this weekend and next up is Sweden in November at DreamHack Winter with a prize pool over $45,000!

CS:GO will be available to download and play via the steam client.

A new Town Square has been erected for players to gather in.  Alongside socializing, the town square contains important NPCs like shops, golf masters, an auction house, and more.Guilds will now be able to level up their guild houses to level 9 and 10 with sought after benefits for achieving.

In response to players’ feedback with the 30-day cooldown between advancing to new titles, the cooldown has been reduced to 24 hours (1 day).  Alongside this change is a new streamlining of titles, which were previously spread between levels 54-72 – now titles can be acquired in order between levels 55-71; a full list of these changes is available on the Shot Online website.

Summerhold hurtles into Allods Online’s list of skirmishes with a thrilling new battle and rewards. Twelve players must use four vehicles in taking down a colossal golem. Meanwhile the golem has other ideas and tramples across the country side, destroying supply boxes along the way. Crafting continues to go through updates with more classes merging. The new updates keep goblin ball just as violent and just as hilarious.

The patch goes live today, get more details at their official website.

New players will start with a free “Fighter” hero and starting deck. Further cards can be acquired in game or purchased from the store. A tutorial will introduce you to the game and allows the first new cards to be added to your deck.

Matches have been described as a cross between Poker and Rock-Paper-Scissors (Roshambo) with bluffing and anticipating your opponent’s next move forming a large part of the strategy. All turns are performed at the same time when each person has finished their move or the time limit is reached, this will keep a good pace even in large multiplayer games and form a large part of the strategy you must use.

You can play against human or ai opponents, upgrade, trade and customize your decks while working your way through the feats based advancement system.

No release date has been announced yet but there will be a closed beta soon, for more information check out their Alpha website here: www.herodex.net and the trailer below.

Deeds currently trade around $130usd so this may be a nice opportunity to get yourself some online real estate going.

Head on over to entropiauniverse.com to find out more and play for free.

Curious players can research collected zombie cells or maybe you would prefer to mow down several of the undead at once with the Decapitruck an aptly named vehicle you are sure to enjoy.

Get more details and play at their official site.

Now this initial target has been hit it means that everything that was being planned for the universe will be going ahead. People who are interested in still making or even upgrading an existing pledge are welcome to do so for a short while to help hit some of the “stretch” goals which basically means more to the game on release.

Check out the latest blog from Chris Roberts here: Star Citizen
Shortly after posting that blog they hit the $2m which has been announced on their official facebook.

“I believe it heralds the next phase and future of the gaming industry” said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment.

PlanetSide has always been well known for it’s unrelenting action gameplay and large-scale mixed infantry, air, and ground vehicle combat. The sequel should be no different in this regard; a massive online shooter with huge, player-driven combat warfare on thousand player battlefields.

Sign up for the reamining beta at the official site: www.planetside2.com

Here are some interesting stats from the external beta testing so far;

• 83.8 billion points of damage done to players
• 2.87 billion projectiles fired
• 32  million infantry kills
• 7.3 million vehicles destroyed
• 1.4 million facilities captured
• 16.7 million rockets launched
• 4.3 million grenades thrown
• Empire allegiance breakdown (by playtime):
  • New Conglomerate: 35.6%
  • Terran Republic:  32.8%
  • Vanu Sovereignty: 31.6%

“Home Turf is going to be our biggest dlc Pack to date, and add a completely new dimension to the game,” said Larry Liberty, executive producer of dcuo. “The level of depth that we’re adding to the new housing system will really let dcuo players live out their heroic or villainous fantasies like never before.”

As well as enjoying conveniences and amenities – like those found in the Hall of Doom or Watchtower players will be able to customize the look and feel of their new home with different themes and hundreds of furnishing items. Most importantly no-ones lair is safe from invasion by other players so they will also serve as interesting backdrops to super powered PvP.

Official website: www.dcuniverseonline.com

It is worth noting that there will be no wipe on the 24th so players will not lose any play time from tomorrow until the open beta launch on the 24th. I really like the look of this game and can’t wait to see what it’s like live.

Check out their official site.

Set in the world of Telon you have 19 races and 15 different classes to customize your play style however free players will have a choice of 6 races and 7 classes, there are a few other limitations but free players will be able to reach maximum level and join guilds but not create them. With PvP and non-PvP servers you can adventure, craft and trade your way through the game.

Explorer types will delight because like in a Morrowind game if you can see somewhere, with enough time and patience you can get there!

Go to vanguardthegame.com and the game is available directly through steam.

The new act and open beta are a few months of so to keep you satisfied the PvP arena will be introduced in the next major patch, making the wait more bearable but bloodier. The game’s gigantic skill tree and skill gem combo system means thousands of unique character builds will be able to challenge each other.

When fully released the game will always be free to play with micro transactions available but never “pay to win”. I have seen this done well in a number of games and servers so I’m sure it will work well here too.

Players wishing to get into the beta can do so for buying at least $10 of their “ethical micro-transactions”, beta access is also being given away to member of the community so be sure to check their website out.

Official website here:  http://www.pathofexile.com

There really isn’t much I can add to the official video so let me just say this game has me wetting my pants in uncontrollable anticipation. An open world space sim with an optional co-op / single player campaign in an ever changing universe that is directly influenced by everyone playing within. Brought to you by Chris Roberts the man legend behind the Wing Commander series that started over 20 years ago. This will be a true delight for any true pc gamer, after you watch the video consider joining me and make a pledge to make this a brilliant experience.

Go to the official website here: Robert Space Industries
Official facebook: Robert Space Industries FB

You aren’t alone in stepping up to the challenge, the Valor Wisp will help lead you through the night and ward off evil that lurks in the darkness! This handy blue guy will buff you, give you more exp and if that wasn’t enough he will fight back to help you too.

Item hunters get going! The Deus box is ready to be found, this rare box for October is a supreme item that contains a wide collection of selected monthly rares from January to June 2012! Players are now given another chance to redeem rares they had missed by giving the Deus Box a try. Just a few of the items you can find inside;

• Luminary Blessing
• Wild Boar Medal
• Silver Wing Doll Box
• Beach Cushion Gift Set

There’s a communal jack o lantern event where everyone must work together to bring in the necessary items, when completed the town chief has the honor of lighting it. Once the lantern is complete, let the Monster Roulette commence! You can then roam around Luminary disguised as a monster or with special Halloween capes.

There’s more too, you guys are really getting spoiled, weekend boss events and surprise item mall promo’s.

Play here for free at their official website.

Siege wars are weekly battles fought over an hour every Sunday to wrestle control of Tintagel castle for your guild. In king of the hill style points are awarded to competing guilds for staying in touch with the castle’s crystal and the winners are those with the most points at the end of the battle. Will you take the crystal right away or will your team take out the competition 1st before exposing yourself to get the points?

To the victors, the spoils of war! All guild members will have access to Tintagel castle while it is in their control and the leader assumes control of all taxes placed on players in the world of Knight Age. This will directly effect the in game economy and I can’t wait to see how it plays out long term.

Sign up and play for free at their official site.

A new and improved user interface for crafting will be added that will speed up your crafting, making your Calypso life that much easier. The new UI automatically scans the avatar inventory and storage for blueprints, resources and materials, allowing items to be constructed without the boring digging through your inventory.  Other features I like the sound of include the ability to sell crafted items directly to the trade terminal, along with a log of each crafting run. Handy, quick access to auction buy and sell orders are also included.

The loot system is seeing changes in the first phase of a comprehensive overhaul. This overhaul will result in much more interesting and balanced loots for creatures of every level including newly designed items waiting to be discovered. Mission balancing has also been affected with a new attribute token system giving partners the ability to award fractional attribute rewards for easier missions, and also allowing participants to decide when to apply earned attribute rewards to their avatar.

This update looks to be based all around improving game play, check out more details and play the game at their official site.

This is a method of honest business I think would work great with mmo’s, how would you make it work? Let me know