The first expansion for Guild Wars 2 has been announced at PAX South and titled Heart of Thorns. While there’s no release date yet, they have listed a bunch of the new features that the expansion will add, such as: a new region (Maguuma Jungle), a new profession (Revenant), guild halls, a new PvP game mode titled Stronghold, and a new WvW map called Borderlands. It appears to be a pretty hefty chunk of new content, especially for hardcore fans of the game. If you want to jump into Guild Wars 2, they’re making it extra easy for you, as right now the game is on sale for $9.99. That’s a pretty nice price, especially with no monthly MMO fees! Check out the Heart of Thorns trailer below. Read more…
Those expecting the successor to Blizzard’s World of Warcraft to release anytime soon should probably stop waiting. Though it was never officially announced to begin with (despite numerous confirmations of its development), Blizzard’s next MMORPG, codenamed Titan, has been canceled. Blizzard co-founder and CEO Mike Morhaime spoke on the project, noting that after creating the gold standard MMO with WoW, Blizzard thought it knew MMOs well enough to try to create “the most ambitious thing you could possibly imagine.” But after things didn’t gel, the developer questioned whether they were even passionate about the project, not finding the game fun enough. That’s when Titan entered a reevaluation period. Read more…
A new MMO set in the same universe as the ever-popular Elder Scrolls series, with the subtitle of “Online.” Let’s put it like this – this new trailer shows that Bethesda has learned at least one very important lesson from Blizzard about MMOs: make amazing trailers that show all of the things you’ll never do in-game. Still, I can’t help but be interested in ESO, mainly because I’m curious if a new MMO can survive in an increasingly free-to-play world. Even a juggernaut like Star Wars The Old Republic fell flat on its face. Hmm! Watch the trailer below and sign up for the beta here. Read more…
After much of the hubbub surrounding the initial release of Final Fantasy XIV, it seems Square Enix has been trying to restart the messy MMO. Now we’ve gotten a new trailer and several screenshots featuring the new title “A Realm Reborn.” Dropping the “2.0” moniker is a good idea, I’d bet. They had released some screenshots at E3, but now, here comes the hype trailer. Will this bring players back and improve the situation? Let’s hope so, as visually, the new cinematic looks great – it’s even tempting me. Read more…
If you haven’t heard by now, Cryptic’s Star Trek Online will be making its transition from a traditional subscription-based format to a Free-to-Play platform by the end f the year. The massive multiplayer title launched in February of last year to less-than-favorable reviews. Tragically, everyone found the space combat to be fresh and entertaining, but were quick to dismiss every other aspect of the game. I can’t really blame, though. Away team missions often featured randomly generated worlds that just seemed dull to begin with. Many of the alien species barely resembled their television counterparts, and the scripted encounters seemed hastily written, and poorly executed. Despite its flaws, the game seems to have persevered. Since its launch, Star Trek Online has grown considerably, kept alive through a series of free updates that serve as episodic expansions. While this has managed to keep fans happy so far, the upcoming transition might have a few of you concerned. So, what changes should you expect?
It’s crazy. Just last week I wrote about the upcoming Dragon Quest Collection for the Nintendo Wii, noting that that it might come with a teaser for Dragon Quest X. All of a sudden, Square Enix has decided to launch the official Dragon Quest X website, and followed it up with a special press conference where they discussed some of the game’s upcoming features. While it appears that the game may feature several hours of offline play at the start of the adventure, the majority of the game will take place online and require an internet connection to play. A screenshot revealed what appeared a MMO-esque environment, featuring multiple characters on screen with their unique usernames above their avatars. Despite that, it seems the game can be completely on your own and won’t require you to socialize with others despite having the option to do so.
The animation isn’t exactly Pixar, but the humor in Warriors of the Unknown will bring a smile to any gamers face. This video (which is available on DVD) was created by the Cosmic Radicals, a team of online gamers who know their subject perhaps a bit too well. Watching the videos I loved the juxtaposition of romantic fantasy elements set against conversations about dog food: Read more…
This is a cool looking documentary on the upcoming MMORPG game Star Wars: The Old Republic which is being developed by BioWare. There’s still no release date on this title, but it looks like it will be worth the wait when it comes out.
