Dragon Nest in-game goodies giveaway [US only]
You put in your time with the family. You ate the cookies, you sat by the fire, you pretended that you could hear whatever grandma was mumbling just fine. But now it’s you time. With skill-shot combat and an adorable anime-esque visual style, Nexon’s action-MMO Dragon Nest is the perfect way to enjoy the rest of your holiday break. Battles aren’t just passive skill rotations—you’ll need to dodge attacks and string together combos if you want a chance at surviving. Yeah, cake-induced blood sugar spikes might set your reflexes back a bit, but you can give yourself an edge with a free digital bundle of Dragon Nest loot from Nexon itself.
Seize power with TERA’s intriguing political system
Do you fancy yourself a born leader? What if you could prove it, without the fake photo smiles, baby-kissing, or mud-slinging of real world politics? With TERA’s upcoming political system, you can set out on a campaign for control from the comfort of your butt-contoured chair. In this exclusive video, hear from TERA producer Chris Hager as he explains the ins-and-outs of taking office in an MMO. Whether you attain leadership through brute force or popularity, you’ll have a heck of a time working to please the people and get the server population on your side. But hey—isn’t that what politics are all about?
Exclusive Core Blaze interview reveals MMO platforming and secret boss encounters
Nobody likes a mindless grind in their MMOs, following in the footsteps of the countless players who have already optimized all the content. One upcoming MMO hoping to shatter the mold is Core Blaze, the Unreal 3-powered hack-’n'-slash from Gamania. We asked Jacky Chu, chief operating officer at developer RedGate Studios, how Core Blaze will differentiate itself from the pack. Check out his responses, translated into English.
How one WoW fan is memorializing the big bad bosses of yesteryear
Cataclysm might’ve saved Azeroth, but Andrew Kuhar believes that the old world deserved a proper send off. We talked with the longtime World of Warcraft player and PCG reader about the vintage posters themed after old school bosses he’s making, and what the heck that really abstract one is all about. Best of all, you can download these gorgeous posters with the click of your mouse—just click which ones you want (we recommend all of them) and you’ll be downloading the 50MB original file in no time. We wouldn’t be offended if you took ‘em to the printers to be made into actual posters; there’s no doubt that your end-game experience will be enhanced as you reflect on bosses past, staring at your from your wall, while you raid the newest content.
WoW patch 4.3 Dragon Soul interview, part three: Void storage and Darkmoon Faire revamp
With World of Warcraft’s Patch 4.3 set for release with tomorrow’s update, we’re more excited to jump back into Azeroth than we’ve been since Cataclysm’s released. Today, we conclude our interview with WoW’s lead designer Tom Chilton, who gave us the 411 on the battle against Deathwing and the new Transmogrification system. He’s got more info to share on the new-and-improved Darkmoon Faire, the Void Storage system (that’s overflowing with slots), and what needs to happen for WoW’s design in order to keep players happy.
WoW patch 4.3 Dragon Soul interview, part one: Downing Deathwing
Yesterday, we gave you a look at Dragon Soul, the upcoming Patch 4.3 for World of Warcraft that’ll finally let you face off against Catacylsm’s biggest baddie: Deathwing. We had the pleasure of speaking to WoW’s Lead Designer, Tom “Kalgan” Chilton, and picked his brain about what’s coming up in the lore-riffic patch and just how crazy the big boss of this expansion will be. Be warned: if you want to encounter Deathwing entirely spoiler-free, you’ll need to cover your eyes for some bits. But if you want a leg up on how to take down the colossal black dragon, read on.
Check out Core Blaze, an action MMO complete with blue ice panthers
Call me crazy, but an MMO’s aesthetics can go a long way towards making it stick out from the rest of the pack. That’s how I first noticed Core Blaze, an action MMO in the same vein as Vindictus, being made by Taiwanese developer Gamania. This hack-’n'-slash RPG is quite the looker, using an appealing Chinese art style built in the Unreal Engine 3 to give your monster-slaying an extra coat of polish. Read on to see gameplay footage and a grip of sweet screenshots that’ll put the fear of Liang Qu in you.
Rift gets 7 day free trial
Rift’s been making a bit of a fuss since it launched a few months ago. You can find our why in our Rift review. Its innovative class system lets you blend three different souls together, and level up skills in each of them, opening up an immense number of class combinations and character builds. Add to this the dynamic rift system that sees the forces of evil invading from the sky through otherworldly portals, and you’ve got yourself a very promising MMO indeed.
If you’ve been waiting for a chance to dive into the game, you’re in luck. Seven day free trials are now available from the Rift site. If you’re playing already, there are also a number of recruitment rewards for getting friends to sign up, including loyal canine pets and a flaming steed.
WoW player reaches level 85 without killing a single mob
If you’ve ever played World of Warcraft, it’s likely that you thought some stretches were too grind-heavy. (Granted, the WoW grind is minuscule compared to traditional/Korean MMOs.) Now, take that boredom and impatience you felt during that grind, and multiply it times a billion. That’s what us lesser beings would feel when leveling an alt strictly through Herbalism and Mining—but Everbloom is so much more. Come delve into the mind of the Night Elf druid that’s a patience demigod.
Eve Online: “We are trapped by the reality that users can take down the system”
Speaking at GDC, Eve Online’s Distributed Systems Architect, Jacky Mallett, has discussed the difficulties CCP have encountered while maintaining their space MMO. Turns out most of them are down to the players having ludicrous-sized space battles.
World of Warcraft patch 4.1 details released
Blizzard have detailed the changes that patch 4.1 will bring to World of Warcraft. A huge number of balance changes, ability tweaks and quest fixes are incoming.
You can read the full list of patch notes on Blizzard’s official blog.
Do you embrace patches or fear change? Let us know in the comments.
Rift open beta kicks off today
The slick inter-dimensional MMO Rift is about to throw open its gates anyone wants to give the game a go. A six day beta is about to launch. Read on for details of how to get in, and to see a spectacular new trailer showing one of the game’s dynamic portal attacks in action.
DC Universe Online beta key giveaway
Are the two weeks between now and January 11th just too long of a time to wait to get your superhero action on? Jump into the DCUO beta right now as a hero prancing about Metropolis or a villain scheming in the dark recesses of Gotham’s Ace Chemical plant! Details inside.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm free trial now available
Blizzard have launched a ten day free trial of Cataclysm. If you have World of Warcraft, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King then you’ll be able to upgrade your account and get a free look at the new content. You’ll need a level 78 character to start enjoying the new zones and quests the expansion offers. For more information, have a look at the FAQ site, or just head over to Battle.Net to activate your free trial. For a few reasons why you’ll want to check out World of Warcraft’s huge expansion, check out our World of Warcraft: Cataclysm review.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Review
It’s big. Oh god, it’s big.
World of Warcraft is the world’s most successful subscription MMO. Orcs and humans, fighting dragons. It’s four games welded into one vast whole: a multiplayer cooperative RPG in which you quest. A competitive fantasy team battleground game. A three-versus-three arena competitive ladder. And a 10- or 25-man dragon bashing cooperative raiding thing.
Together, those elements make for a deep and terrifyingly compulsive mix. The trouble was that to get anywhere in the latter three games, you had to go through the former.
80 levels of questing in WoW translates to around a month of fairly solid play. And pre-Cataclysm, that was a month of trawling through some of PC gaming’s most mindnumbingly boring tasks. Ferrying packages across continents. Crawling through shit to find excreted seeds. Massacring leopards en route to killing more leopards.
