Sentinel’s Fate Beta

Are you playing EQ2? Want to try out the new Sentinel’s Fate expansion?

We’d like to take the opportunity to invite everyone to register to participate in the beta program for the EverQuest II expansion: Sentinel’s Fate.

Please remember that registering for the beta program does not guarantee admittance. It only puts you into the pool from which we will randomly select participants. Also, in order to participate, you must agree to our Non-Disclosure Agreement (we send ninja monkeys after you if you leak info before the NDA is lifted) and have an account in good standing.

Click here to go to the registration page and accept the terms of the NDA.

We will send you an email letting you know if you’ve been selected with all the information you need to get set up and ready to go. There will also be a link to the beta forums for you to give us your feedback.

Via EverQuest II Players – News – Article 3364

Popularity: 6% [?]

Resorting To Danger!

Download a free trial of the upcoming Nancy Drew Dossier game, Resorting To Danger! The full game comes out in shops and online on August 25th. (I’ll have a Resorting To Danger! game review on my blog then)

Edit:

Just saw this video of Resorting To Danger!

Popularity: 28% [?]

Indie Game Mag, Issue 5

The newest Indie Game Mag comes out today. Issue 5 promises to have some great games and interviews, including my piece on Wonderland Adventures: Fire Island.

The July/August Issue of the Indie Game Magazine hits news stands everywhere today. In Issue 5: We have a brand new roundtable feature where 4 reviewers rate 10 of the latest indie game demos. This issue is chock full of indie goodness with over 20 indie games featured. We have an extensive interview with Edmund McMillen, Fling around bodies in Ragdoll Cannon, Solve some family friendly puzzles in Wonderland Adventures, Build an empire in Romopolis, and take a look at the IGF student finalist City Rain.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Free Realms Prizes

Free Realms has just hit 2 million players, and to celebrate, those first 2 million players get a package of treats, including Cotton Wool Candy, Silver Surf n’ Turf and special boosters. So, if you’ve already made a Free Realms character, go get your special early-adopter pack! (Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone you play a pixie online.)

Popularity: 27% [?]

Florensia Battles

From VerticalWire:

Burda:ic, a leading publisher of online games worldwide, have announced that war is about to break out between the Royal Army and the Pirates of popular free-to-play MMORPG Florensia! Two existing in-game maps will be converted from standard adventuring areas into new player vs. player (PvP) War Zones for level 40 and above: the Hidden Port in the Pirates of the Black Dragon Base and the Rainbow Highland on Chester Island. Additionally, an all-new War Zone map, the Lava Plateau, will be added on Magnel Island.

Buccaneers beware, you’ll need a keen eye and fast fingers upon arrival to these new areas, as players are free to attack anything that moves… even if that happens to be a fellow adventurer. It’s every man, soldier, and pirate for himself on these battlegrounds, and it’s up to each player to decide his or her own fate. Help the Royal Army clear the areas of monsters and earn a boost in the ranks. Kill other players, and the Pirates are sure to take notice.

A war is brewing on the high seas of Florensia, and these new PvP War Zones are just a taste of the seafaring adventure and mayhem on the horizon!

For more information about the War Zones, scheduled to be added early next week, visit http://www.florensia-online.com/.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Magic World Online Official Launch

Magic World Online, a new free-to-play MMORPG will officially launch on April 18th.

After months of open beta, MWO finally comes to a new era. On April 18th, 2009 the official launch will begin.

In the past few months, we have fixed a lot of bugs in the game and also we have improved this game in a lot of aspects upon the opinions of players. Thanks to all the MWO players! It is you who help us to make this game a great one!

Via Magic World Online.

Popularity: 21% [?]

Special FusionFall Helmet

If you’re playing FusionFall, you can use code ffcforestphantom to get a special limited-time in-game helmet!

Popularity: 14% [?]

Golemizer: Free Steampunk MMO!

New content for Golemizer, a browser-based steampunk MMO:

Blainville, Canada – March 30, 2009 — Dave Toulouse, an independent game developer, announced the first free content expansion, Diluculo Island, for the free web MMORPG Golemizer. A free 2D steampunk MMORPG, Golemizer requires no download or plug-in to play and features a rich sandbox environment.

Following the path of a mysterious scientist named Dr. Grant, players will discover an island where strange creatures, the bymizins, are living. Are they friendly? Are they hostile? Players will have to find out for themselves while facing the many dangers of the island like giant spiders, zombie velociraptors and the terrifying X-Rex (a steam powered dinosaur).

Along a storyline of 100 new quests, the Diluculo Island expansion features:

- Over 200 new zones to explore
- 3 new golems that players can create (zombie velociraptor, mecha repair-o-tron and even the X-Rex)
- 10 new skills available to all characters
- New island themed items that players can buy to customize their cities and dungeons
- The first vehicle in Golemizer, a blimp that can be built by players!

To meet the requirements of the constantly growing number of players and NPCs (over 10 000), Golemizer has recently been moved to a new server to provide the best gaming experience possible.

Since its release in September 2008, more than 19 000 players have roamed the creative world of Golemizer. In their journey, they have created 1 200 quests using the player quests creation system, crafted over 800 000 items and created more than 5 000 new zones using the player dungeon system.

I know I already have a long list of games to play… but the combination of crafting and steampunk makes me want to check this one out.

Popularity: 42% [?]

Runes Of Magic Cinematic Trailer

The new free-to-play MMO RunesofMagic has their first cinematic trailer up! It’s called Rise of the Demon Lord! I know “free-to-play MMORPG” and “cinematic trailor” don’t usually go together, but as guest auther Lex said in our recent review of the Runes Of Magic beta, RoM offers more than the usual free MMO

Don’t forget, Runes of Magic officially launched on March 19th. If you’re playing the beta, rumor has it that all servers are going offline on March 18th to get everything ready for the official launch.

Via Runes Of Magic Official Cinematic Trailer Released! WATCH IT! – Runes of Magic – Curse.

Popularity: 25% [?]

Lego Universe Delayed

I saw this over on Virtual Worlds News: Lego Universe Delayed Until After 2009

Lego Universe, first announced and teased back in 2007, was initially set for a release in Q4 2008. When we spoke to Mark Hansen, Director of Business Development, Lego Universe, last fall, he said that the world would definitely see the light in 2009. Today Lego Universe told MTV, though, that the project would be delayed until after 2009 to make room for other products launching this year.

If you haven’t seen the Lego Universe trailer already, here it is:

Via Virtual Worlds News: Lego Universe Delayed Until After 2009.

Popularity: 22% [?]

Talking Smack Tutorial

Angry Gamers has a tutorial on talking smack in online games, just in case the Barrens Chatters of the world need help.

Insult indirectly – Use similes and metaphors to get your point across. For example, if your opponent sounds like he is 7, don’t say “What are you, 7 years old or something?” use an indirect approach to say the same thing, like asking him if he likes apple juice before nap time.

See? It’s not all calling people a n00b and then running away! You can be clever in your insults!

I’d like to add my own rule, for those without Vent or other voice chat: No all-caps sentences, because looking like a spammer isn’t clever on any level.

Via Talking Sh!t: The Tutorial – Angry Gamers.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Disney To Launch Online World This Summer

Looks like Disney will be following Cartoon Network’s lead with Fusionfall and creating a kid-friendly MMO world. Disney’s new virtual world will be based on the cute movie Cars. From their press release, as quoted on Casual Gamer Chick:

This summer, Disney Online will launch World of Cars Online, a 3D online world based on the hit movie CARS. Players will be able to take an amazing ride into a wacky world full of fun and adventure by designing their own car, becoming a racing legend, making new friends, and playing mini-games with Lightning McQueen and the rest of the cast.

Read the full press release, and more commentary, over on Disney to Launch an MMO/Virtual World | Casual Gamer Chick.

Popularity: 12% [?]

New BusyBee Game Coming to GardenPartyWorld

The team at Garden Party World just introduced a new minigame. I’ve already talked about how cute and kid-friendly GardenPartyWorld is, so I’ll just pass along the news about the new game.

For those accustomed to GardenParty and its features, they will be fully aware of the bee suit and its uses. For those not so familiar, it allows Gardeners to fly both for fun and to collect items high up in the sky. What was lacking, was an activity, beyond those mentioned, which would allow the bee suit to play an integral part in a game… that was until now! From 30^th January 2009, GardenParty is pleased to announce the latest addition to the fun, safe virtual world for kids, a new multi-player bee game – BusyBee.

The much loved bee suit now has an even greater purpose within the world. The new game involves buzzing bees working together to collect the nectar for their sleeping Queen Bee, if they satisfy her need for honey, they will be rewarded, however, disappoint the Queen Bee, the quest must continue! All-in-all, this new multiplayer game encompasses fun, community and team work altogether and will have any Gardener laughing with excitement.

This latest news comes as a welcomed addition to the ever expanding world which has seen children from all over the world take part and “Grow their own fun” whilst thoroughly enjoying their experience.

To celebrate the new arrival, GardenParty will be hosting the launch of BusyBee with a buzzing party which will be at take place on the 30^th January from 4pm (UK time), 11am (EST) and 8am (PCT).

GardenParty is a free to play MMO for children. Don’t worry, you can tell everyone you’re just checking it out for your little niece or nephew.

Popularity: 15% [?]

Buying WoW Characters

Have you ever thought about buying a high-level World of Warcraft toon? I’ve definitely thought how cool it would be to instantly have a level 60… or level 70… or level 80, especially since max level is always just a few levels higher than I am!

Some people buy World of WarCraft accounts to keep up with high-level friends or just to try end-game toys without grinding their way there. There are a lot of reasons to buy a character for WoW or Warhammer Online or your MMO of choice. Or maybe you just need a little extra gold, and it’s quicker to pay for it than grind.

There’s also a large group looking to sell WoW accounts, but I get too attached to my characters. By the time I get to a decent level, I wouldn’t want to get rid of my toon! If you’re a powerleveler, it could be a good way to make a little extra money. Sell off your old character, or your extra in-game cash, and start over!

Whether you are buying or selling, just remember to be careful! And enjoy your new MMO toons!

Popularity: 25% [?]

11,000 Gamers Attend Virtual Wedding

Ah, gaming romance. I love stories like this, because they ruin the stereotype of anti-social gamers, and the stereotype that all gamers are men.

LAND O’ LAKES, FL– JANUARY 12, 2009– Artix Entertainment’s MMORPG AdventureQuest Worlds was the setting for the December 29th wedding of longtime Artix gamers Bello and Merca which was broadcast live starting on www.aqworlds.com with over 11,000 gamers in attendance.

The bride, who is a retailer, and the groom, who is a pre-school teacher, have been avid Artix gamers for three years. They live in southwestern Missouri and decided to share their union with fellow gamers worldwide.

“We thought this was a unique opportunity to do something memorable,” said Bello.“We decided to go with AdventureQuest Worlds because we’ve been playing Artix games for years now and almost feel like we’ve been a part of Artix Entertainment’s maturation as a gaming company.”

Read the rest at OVER 11,000 GAMERS ATTEND ADVENTUREQUEST WORLDS ONLINE WEDDING Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Popularity: 22% [?]

Press Release — DOMO Weddings!

Gametribe.com, the premier destination for Free-to-Play games starts 2009 with a great update to come on January 7th!

We are happy to introduce the Marriage system for all the lovers!
Declare you Love and get married to unlock extra bonuses with your
partner.

To prepare a great wedding ceremony, you can now get the two
beautiful Ring of Devotion (to give energy to the partner) and Partner
Pager (to summon the partner at any time).

Depending on the rings set you choose (Plain, Gold, Platinum or
Diamonds), you will have access to the different wedding costumes
(Chinese, Japanese and Fantasy) and wedding places (Chinese, Church and
Fairytale).

Invite all your friends, prepare a special banquet, it’s a unique moment!

If you want to get married, you can also try the Lover’s quests:

- Devoted Love in Darkdale lvl 20

- Mutually Love in Swan Lake Basin lvl 25

- Everlasting in Blakatoa lvl 30

- Loving Forever in Grassgreen Square lvl 35

- Never regretting Giantwood Forest lvl 40

These quests give wedding dresses and love titles!

Another big feature coming is the Potential Development Instructor
(meet him at the Eversun Dojo). He will give you several quests that
will let you reach the new cap, the level 62!

New items and goodie bags:

• Permanent Emperor’s New Hat and Bounty Hunter Costume available until January 21st

• Purple Butterfly Wings

• Devil’s Wings

• Wedding Venue Lease Contract: for couples to enter a wedding place another time

• Costume goodie bags available until February 4th:

o For girls: Bestial Girl costume, Wild Girl costume and Fairy Horn

o For boys: Red Ghostly Gown, Blue Ghostly Gown, and Demon Horn

• Special riding Pet goodie bag available until January 21st: you may get a permanent Lil’Dairy Pu or Pure White Pupu!

The new update will be available to players after the weekly Wednesday maintenance window.

DOMO is a Free-to-Play social MMORPG based on ancient Chinese
mythology. Join with thousands of other gamers in an amazing
anime-inspired world where you can socialize, form friendships, craft
and master a variety of jobs, all within the underlying quest of trying
to solve the riddles of the ancient myth of the Kunlun Mirror.

To download and play DOMO visit the game’s official website through www.gametribe.com.

Via DOMO: Love is all! Gaming Industry | Press Release by MCV

Kind of makes me wish WoW had special romantic quests!

Popularity: 18% [?]

New Videogame Gigs

The MMO Gamer and Gamasutra have a list of new game developer gigs, including one in Germany:

• Content Designer at Sparkplay Media. Located in San Francisco, CA. (USA)
• Lead Developer at InWorld Studios. Located in Los Angeles, CA. (USA)
• Lead 3D Character Artist – World of Warcraft at Blizzard Entertainment. Located in Irvine, CA. (USA)
• Lead 3D Character Artist – Next-Gen MMO at Blizzard Entertainment. Located in Irvine, CA. (USA)
• Lead 3D Environment Artist – Next-Gen MMO at Blizzard Entertainment. Located in Irvine, CA. (USA)
• Lead Game Designer at Sony Online Entertainment. Located in San Diego, CA. (USA)
• Game Designer at Travian Games. Located in Munich. (Germany)

These are NOT entry level openings, of course. But there are jobs out there for creative game developers.

Via MMOG Industry Job Openings Week 1 : The MMO Gamer

Popularity: 14% [?]

In-Game Honors

I saw this today on …on pampers, programming & pitching manure (Yes, I know it’s from a month ago… I’ve been busy!)

BoingBoing’s linking to a cool story
about how the makers of the Warhammer MMO are going to be erecting
statues of the top players in the game world to honor their
accomplishments.

Very cool indeed.

An in-game tribute to top MMO players would be really awesome. I could see applications of this in games like WoW. Of course, there would be the inevitable chat channel complaints about why Blizzard choose too many elves or not enough hunters or whatever, but in general it would be a great way to reward good players.

Via …on pampers, programming & pitching manure: Honoring the Legendary Customer

Popularity: 17% [?]

Spore’s Mini Billboard

From Kotaku:

Go tiny or go home. That’s the Spore marketing philosophy apparently, as the folks from EA have installed what is probably the world’s daintiest billboard in San Francisco’s Union Square. At just 14″ by 6″, the Spore billboard requires a telescope to see.

Fortunately, EA has installed said telescope and aimed it directly at the wee* Spore advertisement, giving passersby a chance to enjoy some smartly conceived marketing. If you happen to be in the Bay Area, specifically Union Square, you have a brief opportunity to check it out.

Brilliant marketing, or just weird? I’m leaning toward brilliant, because obviously it’s creative enough that I’m blogging about it! I wouldn’t bother to post about a regular billboard, unless it was really funny or clever… or awful!!!

And the actual billboard is clever.

Via Ea: Spore Gets World’s Tiniest Billboard, Requires Telescope To See

*wee is one of my favorite words!

Popularity: 20% [?]

World of WarCraft Font

A friend in the publishing world tipped me off to this article about Folkard: The World of Warcraft Font. Not being a typesetter myself, I’d never given the WoW font much thought, but it is pretty distinctive, you can even recognize Chinese WarCraft posters without being able to read Chinese because of the particular colors and font (even in Mandarin) on the logo.

Folkard is a great font choice for a fantasy game because it is the essence of classical fantasy. It is based on hand lettering done by Charles Folkard in the early 1900s for a collection of fairy stories from Scandinavia. It was developed into a font by Dave Nalle in 1993, some years before it was discovered and used in World of Warcraft. Charles Folkard is best known today for his classic illustrations for Pinnochio, but most of his work was in illustrating classic myths and legends from different cultures, with each book including unique hand lettering for the titles and picture captions. This particular style of lettering was also popular with other fantasy artists, but Folkard’s variation with the combination of celtic-style lowercase letters and swashed capital letters is particularly striking, which is why we made a font of it and why Blizzard chose it to use in World of Warcraft.

Via Folkard: The World of Warcraft Font | Fontcraft: Scriptorium Fonts, Art and Design

Popularity: 51% [?]

Christmas In Garden Party World

I talked about the new kidsafe multiplayer Garden Party Game from Asylum Games a few months back on my own blog. They’re running Christmas events right now, so this is an awesome time to check out Garden Party World or log in again to see what’s different:

GardenParty, the safe and fun online world for kids aged 5-12 years old, is a world where they can not only take part in an array of collaborative and exciting activities, it has also bridged that gap to connect cousins, grandchildren, friends and many more together over the holiday season which can be an especially important time of year. GardenParty allows them to play, interact and work in teams together, along with the all important moderated chat feature.

To celebrate the holiday season, from the 9^th of December 2008, GardenParty was transformed into a magical winter wonderland. Of course, the usual array of surprises and rewards (with a festive theme) will be in store for the children along with holiday themed activities. Gardeners can expect many exciting updates at various points in the lead up to Christmas… but when they can be expected is to remain a mystery!

Children can sign up for free and join in the holiday fun of GardenParty at: www.gardenpartyworld.com

Popularity: 9% [?]

Communism and WarCraft

Simpson’s Paradox talks about culture clash and WoW. The subject starts out as red communist party insignia:

…receiving one is a prerequisite for joining the Party as an adult. Although my colleagues tell me that the best students get the first honglinjin, but virtually every student in the class gets one eventually.

“You know what that means?” Stick asked.

“Um, some of your kids are right on track to join the communist party?”

“No! It’s almost Children’s Day! We have to get on WarCraft to run the Children’s Day seasonal quests!”

Full article here.

Popularity: 37% [?]

HiPiHi: more than Chinese Second Life

A post on VGViews discusses HiPiHi, China’s answer to Second Life:

HiPiHi is pretty new, and so it’s struggling to get out of the shadow of Second Life. The similarities are pretty strong, but I think there’s enough interest in virtual worlds to keep both going. Also, China’s market share in MMORPGs is growing by the minute, so there are more and more online citizens, which are all potential HiPiHi-ers.

Chinese MMORPGs are collossal, with just huge numbers of subscribers. They’re also huge in another way, as the casual online gamer is pretty rare in China. (Which isn’t to say casual gamers are rare, just they they’re more likely to play a game on their cellphone or handheld.) Marathon gaming sessions are nothing new to Chinese high schoolers, who have been prepared for such long hours in front of the PC by marathon cramming sessions. So I don’t think HiPiHi will have any trouble getting subscribers!

Still, HiPiHi will need more than just bodies to distinguish themselves from Second Life.

Read the whole post on VGViews or check out HiPiHi’s English page.

Popularity: 41% [?]

Terraworld Online RPG

I found this mmorpg last year and I love it! It’s got a small download, only 10 megs and best of all, it’s FREE!

Terraworld runs good on low end computers and doesn’t eat up your memory like some mmorpgs I’ve played. Terraworld uses 2d graphics, which some might not like but it suits me fine. Terraworld has added more quests to the noob island (beginner’s island) and you have to complete them before you can go to the mainland. It takes longer with the new quests but I think it’s better this way. The quests help build up your stats before you get to the mainland, where the monsters are harder but the drops are better.

Terraworld has a great community with lots of helpful players. Chat is closely monitored by moderators. Spamming, shouting and cursing can get you muted and if there are repeat offendings then jail time or banning can happen.

To try out this great mmorpg just go here: www.terragaming.net

Popularity: 41% [?]

Losing Interest In WoW?

Game reviews tend to be love or hate. Either the reviewer thinks this game is better than anything else in the whole world, and you should play it RIGHT NOW! Or the reviewer hates the game, it sucks and it’s a waste of money. It’s hard to tell what’s worth playing. But here are some middle-of-the-road comments from a WoW gamer, thinking about changes in the game:
As I reach higher levels, the proportion of powergamers is increasing. Instead of occasionally finding myself in a party with one guy who’s a bit obsessed with his shiny new sword, higher levels seem to be all about the gear. Like high school from hell, only those wearing the right clothes are invited to the party… where the main subject of conversation is who has what, and where they got it. It looks like end game is entirely focused on gear.

And gold spamming has gotten out of control recently. Hawkers shout URLs in Ironforge and Goldshire like pushy sovenir vendors in Beijing. Hello! Best price! I don’t need WoW gold any more than I need a plastic doohicky embossed with the Olympics logo, and I resent the harassment. Is there that much of a market for broke WarCraft characters, who can’t follow the ads on Thotbot or google BUY WOW GOLD?

Via VGViews

Popularity: 38% [?]