Items tagged with MMORPG
Perhaps in an attempt to reinvigorate its slowly dwindling World of Warcraft user base, Activision Blizzard is considering adding in-game purchases to the online game. In a post on the Battle.net forums, Zarhym (aka Jonathan Brown, WoW Senior Community Rep) said: “We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game. As part of this process, elements related to this will be appearing on the PTR. We’ll provide additional updates on our plans as development progresses.” The comment pertained to the discovery of an in-game spell called the Enduring Elixir of Wisdom that would give the user a 100% increase...
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It's not all too often that an MMO developer is forced to issue a warning about hacked accounts - much less take certain services offline as a result - so if you play World of Warcraft, take note. Blizzard yesterday posted a statement to its Battle.net site stating that there's been an increase in unauthorized account login attempts via the official website and also the mobile armory app. According to WoW Insider, the issue lays entirely with the armory app, where compromised accounts are used to spend obscene amounts of gold on ridiculously-priced white items (in effect, transferring the gold without actually logging into the game client). As a result, Blizzard has gone ahead and disabled the...
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Activision Blizzard has been raking in the dough from its hugely successful subscription-based MMORPG game World of Warcraft for many years, but it appears as though the game is a just past it peak. According to the company’s Q1 2013 earnings report, the game lost 1.3 million subscribers in the last three months alone, dropping the game’s subscription numbers to 8.3 million subscribers. This follows the loss of about 1 million subscribers last summer. The current losses primarily came from the East, meaning that the West is still very much in love with the game, but Activision Blizzard CEO Robert A. Kotick seems to accept the fact that it’s only a matter of time until WoW fizzles...
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We're only a few weeks into the New Year and there's already an exciting gaming project in Kickstarter. It's Vendetta Online, an existing twich-based, sci-fi themed MMORPG that's available on a number of platforms. In fact, two years ago it was the first PC 3D MMO to make the leap to mobile and is now available for Android, in addition to Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows (including Windows 8/RT). Where's iOS support, you ask? That's what the Kickstarter campaign is for. The developers want to expand Vendetta Online over to the iPad (2nd Gen and newer). With your funds, Vendetta Online will be polished for the iPad with Retina Display support and voice over acting to early missions. "By funding this...
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Activision Blizzard's mega popular MMORPG isn't called World of Warcrack for no reason, folks. The correct title, of course, is World of Warcraft (WoW), and it's been the leading cause for neglected hygiene for going on eight years. At last count, WoW was home to 9.1 million subscribers, Activision Blizzard revealed in its second quarter financial report. That's a heck of a lot of subscribers -- enough to maintain the game's rank as the most popular subscription-based MMORPG around -- but it's also 1.1 million lower than the 10.2 million paying players that were roaming Azeroth back in February of this year. Is WoW's run coming to an end? Probably not anytime soon, even if the drop in subscribers...
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Here's a little something to brighten your day heading into the weekend. DC Universe Online announced a new free-to-play option will be available starting November 1, 2011 (that's next Tuesday). This was originally expected to happen sometime in October, but we're willing to forgive a slight slip into the first of November if it means we can don our virtual tights and get our super hero fix for free. The freebie version gives you access to two character slots, with the option to purchase more. It also gives you 28 inventory slots, a dozen bank slots, 1500 maximum in-game currency, six chat messages per day for 30 seconds, and text-only email. You'll also be able to join player leagues, but can't...
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The release date of the highly anticipated MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic has been made public. Bioware and LucasArts have confirmed the official release date for video game to be December 20 in North America and December 22 in Europe. The release date was revealed at the Eurogamer Expo in London. BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk confirmed the date, with Dr. Myzka saying "This is an incredible moment for everyone at BioWare and our partners at LucasArts who have dedicated their lives to build this extraordinary game. We appreciate the patience from the millions of fans who have been waiting for the game's release." The scheduled release puts Star Wars: The Old Republic...
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Steam has become an important launch point for all modern PC games but it's concentrated on titles that were sold as discrete products. As of this week, that's changed--the company has announced that it's adding support for multiple free-to-play games. F2P games offer free access to much of the game, but use microtransactions to fund the purchase of extras. Said extras can variously take the form of new areas to explore, weapon upgrades, power-ups / unique abilities, and in-game currency. The exact options depend on the title in question, but the system is designed to offer an immersive, enjoyable experience without charge while reserving certain features for gamers willing to pay for them. The...
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Perfect World is adding a new martial arts MMORPG known as Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber to its lineup. The game is adapted from Louis Cha's novel of the same name. Players will be immersed in a virtual realm of martial arts fighting where they can choose from three different factions and experience combat in five fighting modes. In addition, players will also be able to choose their own way to play. Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber runs on Perfect World's EPARCH engine, which is designed to deliver vivid graphics with fine details and an overall more sophisticated visual effect. The game also utilizes the Company's "AX" system which is a new server technology that enhances gamers' interaction between...
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Virtual goods are big business nowadays, in online worlds like Second Life and World of Warcraft, so much so there is discussion over taxing profits made from such goods. Real as the virtual reality is, someone in the online game EVE Online stole virtual money from the virtual bank he ran and exchanged it for real cash. Think of it as virtual embezzlement. Not only that, once word of the theft spread, a run was made on the bank, EBank, making things worse. The CEO of EBank, was a 27-year-old Australian tech worker with the handle Ricdic. Only his first name has been revealed (Richard); he embezzled about 200 billion interstellar kredits (ISK), the game's virtual currency. He exchanged the ISK...
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Noooooooo! Any chance of playing Wolverine is now "dust in the wind."Cryptic Studios has shut the lid on production for a massively multiplayer online game that would have pit Marvel comic characters together in a big melee."Marvel and we have agreed to end development on the MMO," said Microsoft Games Studios head Shane Kim in an interview with MTV's Multiplayer gaming blog.Marvel Universe Online was first announced in September 2006 and it was never given a firm release date. Rumors of the game's cancellation spiked late last year but no one at Microsoft or Cryptic was ready to confirm the decision. Now it's official. Dead, as dead as Phoenix. Oh, wait!...
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Online video games are serious business, with millions playing games around the world. Usually the pwning occurs in the virtual world, but sometimes as in this case, the line gets blurred and it crosses into the real world.It all started when two clans - the Coo-clocks, made up of mostly students, and the so-called Platanium with more experienced gamers of over thirty - started fighting to wipe out each other on screen. 33-year-old Albert used to spend hours in front of his computer. On the web he had his own clan and a dozen of warriors. Just days before the New Year in a virtual battle his clan killed a member of the hostile Coo-clocks. Days later the enemies agreed to meet...
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Ever wish you could help make a game based of you're own ideas? Well, Acclaim's new project, currently code-named "Top Secret", is a 20,000 strong studio made up of volunteers. They're making history not only as the largest studio ever, but also the first to enlist the aid of ordinary people just like you. The project's goal, according to Dave Perry, a developer, is to produce a professional MMO game created by thousands of individuals each contributing what they can. Thousands of people have signed up to help develop a community-built massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMO). Developer Dave Perry and publisher Acclaim are...
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