EverQuest finally going free-to-play in March
Thirteen years ago, EverQuest opened a door that would influence online gaming forever. It taught us how to camp world bosses, how painful dying can be, and most importantly, how to make a ham sandwich and take a shower in under five minutes so you can get back to the game ASAP. It isn’t the flashiest or the most beginner-friendly of MMOs, but it was certainly the foundation for games like World of Warcraft and Star Wars: The Old Republic. And finally, more than a decade and nearly 20 expansions later, it’s going free-to-play.
Rift’s mobile app adds guild chat, mini-games, and invasion alarms
High school reunions, terrible plays, and the trunk of a murderer’s car all have one thing in common: they’re places we’d rather be playing Rift. The new free mobile app from Trion Worlds brings these and other on-the-go moments a little more Rift from the convenience of your phone, with some pretty novel features.
The Old Republic beginner’s guide
The launch of an MMO is a confusing time. The world is fresh and new, and everyone is still learning how to play it. Which is why, now that The Old Republic has launched, we’ve put together a list of our top 50 tips, learned from hours of beta play to help you get to grips with the new game. For MMO newcomers and veterans alike, we’ve created a definitive guide to classes, companions, conversations, crafting and every other aspect of the game.
Check inside for the full list of our fifty things you need to know about The Old Republic.
Ultimate Christmas Giveaway: Win one of 150 copies of Rift
Welcome to the PC Gamer Ultimate Christmas Giveaway! This is the biggest competition we’ve ever done: packed with peripherals, games, and exclusive items signed by some very important people. Why are we doing this? Because it’s Christmas! And we love you.
The Ultimate Christmas giveaway will run until Christmas Eve. Every day we’ll be posting about a new prize that’s up for grabs, and you’ll have 24 hours after the time of publishing to enter. Sadly, we’re only able to open this competition to UK residents.
Our stockings are stuffed full of prizes today readers, because we have an astonishing 150 copies of Rift to give away. No, that is not a typo, one hundred and fifty lucky readers will win a boxed copy of Rift, complete with 30 days playtime. We gave Rift 86% back in PC Gamer UK 226, and you can read the US team’s Rift review online. If you’re planning to join in, why not check out the PC Gamer Rift Guild to find someone to play with?
Check inside for details of how to enter.
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?
Skyrim Online adds multiplayer: not quite ready for primetime
Skyrim Online has achieved what many thought impossible. It’s giving Skyrim players the chance to play online. Previous attempts to do the same with Oblivion and Fallout 3 ended in failure, but modder awpsoleet has managed to get a rudimentary alpha version of a Skyrim MMO up and running even before mod tools have been released.
The mod is currently extremely basic. Players can chat with eachother and see a representation of other players. The mod’s description claims other players are represented by a ‘spectral horse’, which sounds hilarious, but the version I tested instead had unclothed player models in a standard animation pose, gliding around. You can attack and cast spells on other players, but they don’t currently display any effects.
Despite all this simplicity however, the mod represents an impressive first step on the road to a true Skyrim MMO mod. We’ll definitely be adding it to our Skyrim Mods list, and keeping a close eye on it.
Get Crimecraft gold, a deluxe membership, and some Gamer Gear armour for free!
We’ve got 1,000 codes full of digital goodies for free to play MMO/third person shooter hybrid Crimecraft to give away. Crimecraft is split into a persistent city based lobby, in which players can socialise and form gangs before heading into combat instances to shoot the hell out of each other.
If that sounds like your sort of thing, you’ll want one of our codes to try it out. Check inside to see what you get and how to get it.
DC Universe Online Lightning Strikes DLC released, trailered
Massively multiplayer spandex puncher DC Universe Online has released it’s second DLC pack, Lightning Strikes. The update is themed after super speed hero The Flash and will take players on a time travelling adventure back to his origins as a superhero, adding a new electricity powers into the bargain. Some of those sparkly new powers are on show in the trailer above, plus some clips of The Flash running on his cosmic treadmill. Yes, that’s how he travels in time. Yes, we know it’s ridiculous, just roll with it.
If you’re not sure if you’re going to splash the cash for the DLC, check out ourDC Universe Online Lightning Strikes preview to see what you get.
Exploiting Miners – How I accidentally became a Runescape coal baron
This article first appeared in PC Gamer UK issue 233. Written by Matt Lees.
What are you doing, Matt?” asked my friend. It was March 2002 and he had spotted me through the window of our college computer room. Why wasn’t I in the pub with the rest of our friends? I explained that I was playing a free fantasy MMO called Runescape. Technically, that was true. It was certainly true enough to suffice as an answer for now.
“Oh. Right.” He was clearly unimpressed by the low-resolution 3D blobs trundling around the screen. “Is it to do with killing dragons and goblins?” “Yes,” I lied. “It’s just a bit of fun.” I wasn’t happy that my new friends at college thought I was spending all my free time killing waves of magical monsters, but it was better than the truth. The truth was that, driven by impatience and greed, I had found myself running a coal mining business fuelled by child labour.
Planetside 2′s Vanu Sovereignty armour, weapons and vehicles detailed
PlanetSide 2’s Vanu Sovereignty are the high-tech force of the game, embracing ancient alien technology to get about and shoot people. In this video their armour, weapons and vehicles are shown in minute detail. Knock yourself out if you care about the material their shoulderpads are made of (it’s Nanofullerite), or the what their kneepads are manufactured from (Nanofullerite again – maybe the Vanu Sovereignty got a bulk discount from the cash and carry).
It seems that developers Sony Online Entertainment have put a great amount of attention to detail into the design, though. It reminds me of those videos showing how much effort Crytek put into the paunchy, jumpy man’s suit for Crysis 2.
Dark Orbit rakes in $2.6 million selling super-powered Drones
You want me to toss in a couple bucks for a sweet mount in your F2P MMO? Sure thing. 10 bucks for a huge content pack? No biggie. Over a thousand dollars for one little drone– wait, what? It may sound crazy to normal folks like you and me, but Bigpoint’s Dark Orbit, a browser-based F2P spaceship MMO, recently sold 2,000 of their in-game drones in just four days, priced at 1,000 Euros each! The sales net Bigpoint around two and a half million dollars.
Four steps to recover from MMO account hacking
Everyone who has been hacked can tell you a nasty tale of stolen goods and naked characters. It’s not an experience you’d wish on your worst enemy. Well, maybe that one guy who ganked you for hours in your favorite MMO. Yet the process of recovery doesn’t have to be so frustrating and confusing. In our latest issue we walked you through four steps to help you get back in the game with a smile. Check inside for a full-sized printable page to prevent the “I’ve been hacked” blues.
Click the image below to see the full page.
Revisiting Star Trek Online: Klingons, combat and more
It’s been a rough ride for Star Trek Online. Many Trekkies lamented that the space combat lacked some punch, and ground combat felt more like watching paint dry than a space-faring sci-fi adventure. Previous updates have addressed the first problem, and the latest patch offers some exciting new enhancements to ground combat.
The “shooter” control scheme is simple to enable: either go into the menu and select it from a drop-down, or hit B on the keyboard. A targeting reticule will pop up on your screen, and the camera will switch to over your shoulder, similar to a third-person shooter. Going into shooter mode also changes the way you enable your abilities. The left and right mouse buttons are your main and alternate attack, and the middle button is your melee attack. Just point at your target and use an ability to activate it. No more Tab targeting for you!
Star Wars: The Old Republic beta key reminder
Update – Keys are out, go here to register.
Hey you! Yes you with the face, did you enter our Old Republic beta key giveaway? You did? Then I suggest you check your emails, because you and thousands of others should find a key there waiting for you. Remember, you have to register it on the Old Republic site before midnight tonight, or it’ll expire! With that finished, you’ll be able to join the beta weekend on the 25th of November.
If you didn’t enter, it’s too late now, the giveaway is over. Sorry.
