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Halloween Massive Gaming News

Posted by Zonk on from the roleplay-a-character-roleplaying-a-character dept.

Holidays are always interesting times in the Massive Gaming market and this weekend is no exception. Spooks, trick or treating, interviews, anniversaries, and conferences are just some of the Halloween weekend news to share. Read on for the details.

City of Heroes is running a Trick or Treat and Zombie invasion event this weekend. Folks in Europe looking to get their cape on can look forward to participating sometime next year.

Anarchy Online is celebrating the season with a holiday ball and costume contest, as well as nanotech transformations and monster sightings.

Final Fantasy Online players and developers have a lot to be happy about this weekend. Today is the one-year anniversary of the North American launch, and they're throwing a party to celebrate. In-game, the annual trick or treating, costuming, and spookery is going on. This year they're also throwing around some glamours to let players take the part of monsters for a while. Square-Enix revised upwards it's earning estimates this week, giving even executives reason to smile.

In non-holiday news, Richard Garriot was interviewed by HomeLAN about the upcoming Tabula Rasa game, and MMORPG.com has some new info on Dungeons and Dragons Online from the lead designer.

Finally, the Second Annual State of Play conference is this weekend, drawing Virtual World academics from all over to celebrate Halloween by lecturing. Nerd on, guys.

Update: 10/28 18:50 GMT by Z : There's a press release going around stating that City of Villians playtesters will be drawn from the ranks of veteran CoH players.

131 comments

  1. Halloween spooks ... by YetAnotherName · · Score: 4, Funny

    Read on for the details.

    OK, clicking "Read more..."

    Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

    OK ... um ... eek?

    1. Re:Halloween spooks ... by slars · · Score: 1

      The real scary stuff is in the NEXT room.

    2. Re:Halloween spooks ... by mattOzan · · Score: 0

      "I'm sorry, Mario- your story is in a different castle."

    3. Re:Halloween spooks ... by Kehvarl · · Score: 2, Funny

      What does NeXT have to do with anything?

  2. heh by sakura+the+mc · · Score: 0, Informative

    they even put halloween items and stuff on the T4C server i play on

    1. Re:heh by davesplace1 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Now if they would just sent a sack full of candy for a new high score :)

      --
      roamingfeet
  3. A shame there aren't better player tools for event by thesandtiger · · Score: 4, Interesting
    In CoH, at least, there have been several player-run events that were very interesting, if only because players interested in hosting them took the time to RP things pretty well.

    I would love to see a game that has a system in place for players to do some things that would enhance the events they can do - drop clues and so on.

    I bring this up in this topic because CoH has had a few "invasion" type events that lacked any real flavor beyond "oh, look! A thingy spawned!" and maybe a forum post saying "be on the look out for strangeness."

    Players, however, would take the ability to make mini events and would likely spend more time on them than Cryptic employees who need to focus on other stuff.

    --
    Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
  4. Guild Wars by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Don't forget about the Guild Wars (http://guildwar.com/) World Preview Event also happening this weekend.

  5. Oh hell... by grub · · Score: 4, Funny


    I forgot it was Halloween this weekend. Have to run out to buy apples and razor blades tonight...

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Oh hell... by eegad · · Score: 5, Funny

      Well, OK.... but you don't HAVE to shave your legs to dress up as the evil witch from Snow White.

    2. Re:Oh hell... by bareman · · Score: 1

      to date, none of those razorblades in trick-or-treat apples events have occurred. I'm thinking it would have something to do with it being rather difficult to insert a razorblade all the way into an apple, much less to do so in a way that it would not be glaringly obvious.

      Check this title out for other things that you needn't necessarily be afraid of anymore...

      http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/04 65 014909/104-7528517-6259133?v=glance

    3. Re:Oh hell... by sokoban · · Score: 1

      That is very thoughtful of you. Apples are a wholesome and tasty treat, but their sugar content makes them inedible for the ever-increasing population of obese youths that are undertaking "carb conscious" dieting plans. Razor blades are not only low in carbs. but are also an excellent source of iron. I applaud you for your efforts in helping win the war against fatness. Hopefully your example will lead many other /.'ers to do the same.

      --
      09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0 is the magic number.
    4. Re:Oh hell... by EvilAlien · · Score: 1
      Well, after watching CSI:New York last night, I've learned I need to be scared of nibbling on any part of girls when I eat sushi off them...

      ... dammit.

      I'd trade that in for remaining afraid of apples, poisoned wagon wheels, any all the other "be careful, kids!" FUD that used to keep us alive Back in tha Day.

      --
      perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5, (41*2), sqrt(7056), (unpack(c,H)-2), oct(115), 10)'
  6. More layers of separation by happyemoticon · · Score: 5, Interesting
    In-game, the annual trick or treating, costuming, and spookery is going on. This year they're also throwing around some glamours to let players take the part of monsters for a while.

    The practice of going into a game and assuming a different persona only to have that persona assume yet another persona is kind of mind-boggling especially if you're a humanities student. I mean, it was bad enough last year when I dressed up as a vampirate.

    1. Re:More layers of separation by kcornia · · Score: 4, Funny

      This year they're also throwing around some glamours to let players take the part of monsters for a while.

      IIRC, EQ tried this a couple years back and had to quickly shelve it because toons were getting owned by monsters that were manned by actual players with skill and strategery. Strafing, concentrating on spellcasters/healers. Hilarity ensued, and the idea was quickly shelved so as not to alienate the unskilled masses..

      Good luck to whatever game is trying this now.

    2. Re:More layers of separation by kfg · · Score: 4, Funny

      Ah, but what if your persona assumes the additional persona of yet another persona?

      And what if that persona is a professional mimic assuming yet a fourth level persona?

      I smell the burgeoning field of persona therapist to deal with all the personal identity angst.

      KFG

    3. Re:More layers of separation by ThomaMelas · · Score: 1

      The FFXI event doesn't work that way. While you're in that form you can't do anything that requires targeting. But it was funny as heck to see players freaking out. People were screaming about an invasion.

    4. Re:More layers of separation by iCEBaLM · · Score: 2, Informative

      Ahh, but this isn't exactly whats happening in FFXI. Basically a few NPCs in the three major towns (San D'Oria, Bastok and Windurst) are "dressed up" as monsters, you give them sweet treats (like chocolate, pies or fruit) and they will either give you a halloweenish item or turn you into a monster.

      The monster costumes they give you are enhancements which can be "clicked off" or wear off when you go to another zone, say, outside of town. Since no battles can be had in town then there's no user controlled fighting monsters.

    5. Re:More layers of separation by Kehvarl · · Score: 1

      It's like running a virtual machine on a virtual machine.. only with people. The concept isn't that strange really.

    6. Re:More layers of separation by _xeno_ · · Score: 1
      Yeah, on that subject... Some of the NPCs that give you a costume are in stores. The way the costumes work is that it's a kind of "buff," that takes place immediately after giving the costumed NPC a "treat."

      These stores have a door which you must open to enter them. In FFXI, doors open by targetting them and "acting" on them. They then open for five seconds or so and then automatically close.

      Since they automatically close, you must therefore also open them to leave. Except openning doors is a targetted action, and players in costumes can't do targetted actions.

      After the fifth time I got stuck in a store with a costume on, I could only find myself wondering WTF the developers were thinking...

      (To be fair, though, there are a ton of wandering costumed NPCs outside the stores so it's not like you can only get a costume inside the store and then be stuck in a little house. Plus I'm still working on getting a Trick Staff... C'mon, you stupid NPCs, stop giving me ??????? Jack'o'lanterns!)

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
    7. Re:More layers of separation by ssand · · Score: 1

      well at least it's in a videogame. Im going as a ninja turtle dressed up as a supermodel IRL.

    8. Re:More layers of separation by Skjie · · Score: 0

      I just asked passersby to open the door for me. But, I also didn't stay in the costumes for long. I wanted to get all the items they were giving out.

    9. Re:More layers of separation by Palidase · · Score: 3, Interesting
      EQ tried this a couple years back and had to quickly shelve it because toons were getting owned by monsters that were manned by actual players with skill and strategery.
      EQ did do this for a very short time several years ago. It was not publicized widely at all, and was only available on the test server for a very short period of time. By clicking a special button on the character select, the player was spawned as a randomly selected monster, with a max level of 13.

      It was initially intended as a short term concept on Test. Due to the levels involved, the risk wasn't getting wiped by monsters with strong tactics. In fact, it was the opposite. The random monsters still qualified as experience, when killed.

      Player_01 loads 2 accounts. One goes in as a toon able to talk to other players. The second account would go in as a monster. The player would then tell friends, through the toon account, where he/she is located. The strategies from this point split into 2 methods.

      The first method, was that the friends would kill the "player monster" for easy xp, who then cycled through monsters quickly to get another in the same zone.

      My personal favorite tactic was the second. In each zone, some mobs are a significant bit harder than others in the zone. The player would log in and out until getting one of these monsters, and hunt WITH their friends. As none of these mobs are KoS, they were free to roam all over without agroing other monsters, making pulling even easier.

      Personally, I leveled many friends' alts, by tanking as a basilisk in Lavastorm.

      Interesting concept? Yeah. Unbalancing? Absolutely.

    10. Re:More layers of separation by achacha · · Score: 1

      If memory serves me right... this was done on a PvP server and was called Project M.

      You could play a monster and would randomly spawn as one on some random map. You could kill other monsters and gain experience. You started as a low level monster (level 1-5) and some people actually got to level 12 I think. Since dying will just reset you back to another monster.

      The problems were that you would have people playing monsters play like players do (which tends to be annoying). For example: you run up to someone kick and punch them, then run away and hide amoung your monster "friends". With some you got a bow and arrow and you could shoot people and run away. Essentially this is how players play but monsters comply and act dumb (you pull one from their friend and others look around and think, hey where did Bob go? Oh well, let's just stand around here. Oh wait where did Fred go? Hmm, ok I will just stand here and wait, nothing to see... and so forth, not very realistic).

      So after a lot of people complained that players controlling monsters got them killed and generally annoyed them, the project was scrapped. This was a few years ago, my memory is a bit cloudy since I quit EQ a while ago.

    11. Re:More layers of separation by Strenoth · · Score: 1

      sewe, that's one of the things that I liek about FFXI (even if it has gotten me killed a few times). All intelligent monsters 'link', meanign that if they see another mob of their general type(goblin, orc, etc) moving to attack some one, they follow, even if they can't see the target of their friend. several non-sentient mobs do the same thing, such as bats and beetles. Mobs that Link are trikier to pull bakc to the party. what reallu sucks is when you are ont he way back, and one or two spawn rigth behind you, so you don't even know there are two fo them chasing you now.

      --

      "It takes a very long time to count to 2 in binary." ~'Fourlegged'

    12. Re:More layers of separation by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mother of all that's holy ... tell me he's typing in another language?

    13. Re:More layers of separation by Palidase · · Score: 1
      If memory serves me right... this was done on a PvP server and was called Project M. You could play a monster and would randomly spawn as one on some random map. You could kill other monsters and gain experience. You started as a low level monster (level 1-5) and some people actually got to level 12 I think. Since dying will just reset you back to another monster.
      You are partly correct, and partly incorrect. The project was called Project M, however it took place on the Test Server (as did most experiments). A player chose to play a monster in the character selection screen, by pressing a small [M]. This spawned the player as a randomly selected monster, in a random low level zone. Some monsters did have one spell available, and all monsters were able to gain experience. However, they were NOT allowed to increase in level. The people who reached level 12 did so by spawning at level 12. Dying would send you back to the character selection screen, where you could again choose to be a randomly spawned monster.
  7. Guild Wars for Halloween by Gnasty · · Score: 5, Informative

    Guild Wars is having a free preview event this weekend starting tomorrow, thru Sunday... Hopefully it will be more of a treat than a trick. And hey, just think of all those free costume ideas! :-)

    http://www.guildwars.com/press/pr06-10-27-04.html

    1. Re:Guild Wars for Halloween by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it works now (!) -- so get in there and play!

  8. SWG event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny


    You are assaulted by hordes of undead wookies at the starport, which have the power to Force choke and Force lightning you from across the map.

    IF you manage to kill one, you will loot a pair of equippable pink hotpants or a locked container.

    1. Re:SWG event by goodhell · · Score: 3, Funny

      If you are killed by an undead wookie you will respawn in the Cantina on Tatooine forced to watch over and over as GREEDO SHOOTS FIRST until you finally succumb to George Lucas's 'vision' of Star Wars.

      Then you will be forced to watch Jar Jar strip tease a Naboo audience. Oh the horror!!!

    2. Re:SWG event by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I always thought the alien dancer in Jabba's palace who danced to Lapti Nek was kind of cute. But Jar Jar I can do without.

  9. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  10. Lineage II by rpillala · · Score: 2, Interesting

    There are rumors of an undead army appearing someplace in Lineage II's world of Aden. For the past couple of weeks there's been a repeating systemwide announcement saying "A great evil is approaching..." and then more recently "The evil moves deeper into Aden." Then just 2 days ago, an announcement came that an undead army had arisen around one of the northern towns. Lots of people flocked there but as far as I know, the announcement was premature.

    --
    When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
    1. Re:Lineage II by dfiguero · · Score: 3, Informative

      I've been in Dion twice when those announcements came. In one of those times I had a store set up in one of the town's entrances and 1 or 2 mins after the announcement a couple of skeletons came and started hitting me.

      The other time I also had a store but this time I had learned my lesson and set the store away from the entrances. I saw 3 or 4 mobs running into town targeting the guy with the shop closest to the entrance.

      Not sure if it has to do with Halloween or C2 coming out.

      --
      My penguin ate my sig
    2. Re:Lineage II by grouchyman · · Score: 1

      In Gludio last night there were 3 or 4 large monsters that were spawning in town. About 20-30 players were attacking them at once. I forget the name of the monsters but they looked like larger versions of the Bugbears, I recall their name had some possessive in it... like so-and-so's something or other. The rumor I heard about the undead army was that they were going to destroy areas to make room for C2.

    3. Re:Lineage II by rpillala · · Score: 1
      The rumor I heard about the undead army was that they were going to destroy areas to make room for C2.
      OMG I wish they would destroy some of these areas. The early game in Lineage II is pretty tired now. Depending on your level, this can include almost everything in the game at this point. I would certainly like to see chaos other than random PK.
      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
    4. Re:Lineage II by rpillala · · Score: 1

      On Lionna where I play, someone says there were 2 soul scavengers up at once the other day. I hope C2 has more stuff like this in it. People I know who played Lineage I are disappointed that the GMs don't seem to do anything new for ppl.

      --
      When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
  11. I am...... by KenwoodTrueX · · Score: 2, Funny
    I am going to be trick or treating on Halloween not playing games. I am uh, a little old for it but I am planning on selling all the candy on eBay to make huge profits. Yeeeeeeep.

    Free Flat Screen HERE!

  12. Asheron's Call 1 by Etone · · Score: 2, Informative

    AC1, which used to be known for having holiday-themed items/quests in patches, this year has nothing holiday related.

    I think this marks the first year in its history that it hasn't.

    -E-

    1. Re:Asheron's Call 1 by Cqwense · · Score: 1

      never underestimate turbines sense of humor. AC1 will probably see some kind of "holloween prank" as they always have. Besides, if the AC1 crowd is still as I left it, there'll be plenty of player-run stuff going on.

      --
      One sig to rule them all, one sig to find them one sig to bring them all, and in ./ bind them.
    2. Re:Asheron's Call 1 by Tofino · · Score: 2, Informative

      AC's fall costume whackiness is happening with next month's prop. But yes, there will almost surely be an event of some sort on Oct. 31. Bit annoying that the costumes, scarecrows, pumpkins, and such are in for November though. I guess they're THANKSGIVING pumpkins!

  13. You forgot about Guildwars... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Guild Wars is holding a mini open beta this weekend...

    I expect it to be crowded.

  14. Scary HTML by scumbucket · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    It just took approximately 6 page reloads to get this story along with comments to finally render correctly in Firefox.

    Now that's a scary game to play! Especially if you are a subscriber........

    --
    CMDRTACO CHECK YOUR EMAIL!
    1. Re:Scary HTML by moonbender · · Score: 1

      Opera has a "Refresh display" option that just re-renders the page without reloading it. Maybe a plugin could add that functionality to Firefox. Of course, that kind of function really shouldn't be necessary in the first place.

      --
      Switch back to Slashdot's D1 system.
    2. Re:Scary HTML by wowbagger · · Score: 3, Informative

      Just use the CTRL+Mousewheel zoom - click up one, click down one.

      The resulting forced redraw will correct the page.

      --
      www.eFax.com are spammers
    3. Re:Scary HTML by Rich+Klein · · Score: 1

      Or, if you don't have a wheeled mouse, CTRL+'+' and CTRL+'-' will do the same thing.

      --
      -Rich
  15. Ragnarok by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ragnarok is doing a bit though they announced little to none of it and left it as a surprise.

    #1 NPC in town of a Boss type monster asks for pumpkins...when he gets enough he goes insane, comes to life, and kills the person who gave him pumpkins and killing all those in the general area. (the NPC is kept in a town area and there is no EXP penalty for any deaths by him)

    #2 Free random warps to all the various undead dungeons. One of the warps is a new Halloween PVP room filled with monsters and a boss type.

    #3 Free candy

    #4 a Quest to make a pair of evil wings.

  16. Planetside's Halloween tribute is kinda lame... by ptbarnett · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Normally, when someone is killed, a backpack replaces the corpse and can be looted by either enemies of friendlies.

    Currently, a pumpkin appears instead of a backpack.

    1. Re:Planetside's Halloween tribute is kinda lame... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They turned into a stack of presents during Christmas last year.

    2. Re:Planetside's Halloween tribute is kinda lame... by josteos · · Score: 1

      They also decorated the various pine-like trees with christmas lights.

      No xmas palm trees or cactus tho....

      --
      Save the Music; Save the World at http://www.TuneTriever.com (Our latest Android game)
    3. Re:Planetside's Halloween tribute is kinda lame... by ptbarnett · · Score: 2, Interesting
      They turned into a stack of presents during Christmas last year.

      I heard that players were also wearing Santa hats.

      I'm hoping they do it again this year. It's somewhat appropriate for my character name.

  17. Re:Get in the spirit! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    +3 Insightful, huh?

    Even the moderators are catching ``slashvertisement fever": not just for the editors any more!

  18. This halloween... by GillBates0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm adding a shortcut to ghostview on my desktop.

    --
    An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
  19. One more...Disney's ToonTown by Ggggeo · · Score: 2, Funny

    My uhm...son told me that Disney's MMO game, ToonTown will also be having a massive Bloodsucker Lawbot invasion sometime(s) this weekend. Yeah my son, that's it!

    --
    In God we trust...all others please have two forms of ID
  20. City of Heroes costume contest by greg_barton · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yowza!

    1. Re:City of Heroes costume contest by smooth+wombat · · Score: 2, Funny
      While they certainlyl do justice to the characters in question, you should see how far some folks in Japan go to be like various cartoon characters:

      2004 Tokyo Game Show
      2003 Tokyo Game Show

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    2. Re:City of Heroes costume contest by dhakbar · · Score: 1

      Damn, the Japanese are such a twisted people.

      Two parts sushi, one part delusion.

  21. Pumpkin Pie by hattig · · Score: 4, Informative

    Take 1 Pumpkin, hollow it out as you would normally because you want to make it into a scary face. Keep the seeds for roasting (wash them, roast on tray for 90 minutes, have with salt). Throw away the guts. Cut out lots of the flesh until the pumpkin is around 1cm thick all around, or less. Spoons are good for scraping. Most of you should have well developed wrists so you shouldn't get too tired by scraping repetitively.

    Boil the pumpkin flesh for half an hour, drain and mash.

    Heat oven to 200C/400F. Put shortcrust pastry into pie dish (9" or more, if you got lots of pumpkin flesh).

    Beat pumpkin with can of evaporated milk, 2 eggs, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Mix well.

    Pour mixture into pastry lined pie dish. Cook 40 minutes or until knife comes out of pie clean when inserted. Serve hot with cream.

    Alternatively search Google for Pumpkin Pie recipes. But don't waste that pumpkin flesh! You can also make pumpkin soup.

    1. Re:Pumpkin Pie by NardofDoom · · Score: 1
      Pumpkin, cous cous and lamb make an excellent Middle Eastern style soup. Nums.

      I'd give the recipe, but it's more of a feel thing for me.

      Which reminds me, I've got to get some lamb bones for stock...

      --
      You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
    2. Re:Pumpkin Pie by Umbro2 · · Score: 5, Funny
      Beat pumpkin with can of evaporated milk

      Ok, now my pumpkin is black and blue and the cops are after me for pumpkin abuse. What next?

    3. Re:Pumpkin Pie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Most of you should have well developed wrists

      Are you suggesting that the /. readership masturbates excessively?

    4. Re:Pumpkin Pie by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Jack-o-lantern pumpkins make mediocre pies. You should use the smaller and smoother pie pumpkins for baking. Also scraping and boiling is so 50s. Nowdays you just quarter the pumpkin, toss it in a casserole dish with enough water to steam it, put lid on and microwave it until tender.

      Michael

    5. Re:Pumpkin Pie by MP*Birdman · · Score: 1

      You can also bake pumpkin, like a normal squash, and eat it that way. Adding a bit of brown sugar to it can work well if you do this.

    6. Re:Pumpkin Pie by why-is-it · · Score: 1
      >>Most of you should have well developed wrists

      Are you suggesting that the /. readership masturbates excessively?

      Are you suggesting that they don't?

      --
      *** Where are we going? And what's with this handbasket?
    7. Re:Pumpkin Pie by FurryFeet · · Score: 1

      2 eggs, 3/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon each of ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Mix well.

      You're welcome.

  22. Re:A shame there aren't better player tools for ev by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Neverwinternights perhaps?

  23. More interesting *after* Halloween by Wind_Walker · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The most interesting things happening to the MMORPG world will happen in November. Everquest 2 is set to launch on November 8th, while a large majority of the Beta testers have said that it is not ready for release. Of course, that didn't stop SOE from releasing Star Wars: Galaxies well before it was stable, so why should it stop them for Everquest 2?

    Rumors are also going wild about World of Warcraft being launched on November 22nd (as told by a high-level staff member of Vivendi). That game is very good, and while it has a high degree of polish some are complaining that it's not quite up to the "Blizzard Standard". Personally I don't think so - I'm in the Beta and it's incredibly well done. The next patch (coming next week) will add in a ton of content, including the first Raid encounter.

    1. Re:More interesting *after* Halloween by HanShootsFirst · · Score: 2, Informative

      No way will WoW be released November 22nd. Many beta testers have their doubts about it being released in 2004, and knowing how Blizzard will not release a game before it's ready, that would not suprise me. If there's anything Halo 2 and Half-Life 2 have tought me, it's to not get excited until something official has been said.

    2. Re:More interesting *after* Halloween by sakshale · · Score: 3, Interesting
      The most interesting things happening to the MMORPG world will happen in November. Everquest 2 is set to launch on November 8th, while a large majority of the Beta testers have said that it is not ready for release. Of course, that didn't stop SOE from releasing Star Wars: Galaxies well before it was stable, so why should it stop them for Everquest 2?

      I beg to disagree. This is the third or fourth time I've participated in a MMORPG beta and EverQuest2 is better prepared than any of the others were, especially SWG and Horizons. Most of the beta testers are busy playing, while a small collection of whiners are busy complaining.

      Agreed, there are issues that still need to be addressed, but nothing like those still present in SQG. EQ2, based on character balance, zone construction, mob AI, the questing system and simply great playability, is game is definately ready for release.

      I want my, I want my, I want my EQ2!

      --
      For every problem there is a solution that is simple, obvious and wrong.
    3. Re:More interesting *after* Halloween by frkiii · · Score: 2, Informative

      I agree in EQ II, but SWG sucked out of the box and for many many many months after.

      Last time I checked (May 2004), there were still problems with pets auto-storing, zoning, etc. at or near server boundaries, etc.

      I played a solid three months from two days after release, the giant nerf bat started whacking, and I left.

      I had an account for a while after still, checked in a couple of times to see what improvements were made. Was not impressed, the game is a bomb, IMHO.

    4. Re:More interesting *after* Halloween by GreatAjax · · Score: 0

      A large majority say its not ready for release, eh? What polling agency gave you that data? Oh wait ... it was whiners in the beta boards? I see...

  24. Achaea by pavo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The only mud that matters, Achaea.com, is having their annual "Logosween" events. Most are player organized and involve costumes, parties, contests and generally mischief making.

  25. Re:Get in the spirit! by kfg · · Score: 5, Funny

    What better way to do so by regressing back to your childhood. . .

    Ah yes, Halloween, or, as I generally refer to it, 'amateur night.'

    KFG

  26. Ultima Online by necro2607 · · Score: 2, Informative

    Um, you managed to not mention probably the most groundbreaking (and probably the first) MMORPG on the net, Ultima Online, which always has plenty of fun in-game stuff around each holiday! Then again their site doesn't say a thing about Halloween, so I can see why it wasn't mentioned. I guess they're too busy promoting their totally off-topic new expansion...

    I've only played for about a year but for example, the first Christmas when I started they gave out some house decorations like snowflakes, snowmen, poinsettia and some holiday wreaths. They also had a contest for the best Christmas-decorated house and stuff.

    1. Re:Ultima Online by Number+110 · · Score: 1
      Meridian 59 actually proceeded Ultima Online and before that you had Neverwinter Nights on America Online, and then of course before all of that you had MUDs.

      Not that Ultima Online isn't a great game and brought the online community up to a new level, but it was about as ground breaking as EQ.

  27. Hey that's cool... Here's my game... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm running a "get a life" compitition.

    It's very difficult, it requires you to take a shower, get dressed, turn off the computer (gasp!) and here's the real kicker: go OUTSIDE.

    I know I know, it's so difficult nobody will play.

    1. Re:Hey that's cool... Here's my game... by DMadCat · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I'll play it with you. Alright, you go first...

    2. Re:Hey that's cool... Here's my game... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right. Now I bet you feel better now don't you?

    3. Re:Hey that's cool... Here's my game... by ranolen · · Score: 2, Funny

      You actually have the balls to say this while you are surfing around on slashdot!?!?!?!?!

  28. Puzzle Pirates by diagonti · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Puzzle Pirates (puzzlepirates.com, clients for mac/linux/win) has changed all the hat designs to have very spooky masks and changed all the map graphics to have appropriate themed island maps.

    1. Re:Puzzle Pirates by Mercano · · Score: 1

      I perefered last years fun, where everyone was transformed into skeletons or zombies.

      --
      #include <signature.h>
    2. Re:Puzzle Pirates by Captain+Spam · · Score: 1

      Complete with a brand new booched bug for the brand new apothecary puzzle, too! Arr!

      --
      Demanding constant attention will only lead to attention.
    3. Re:Puzzle Pirates by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're just jealous because my mask is cooler.

  29. Re:A shame there aren't better player tools for ev by fleck_99_99 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Among all the weaknesses (and as a player since launch, trust me -- there are MANY) of SWG, this is probably what kept me hooked the longest. With a rich player-crafting environment, I've seen all sorts of creative uses of in-game vendors, well-named items, "actors" to roleplay key characters, and some out-of-game (typically Web) content to create mini "adventures." Of course, a lot of that was simply the minds behind them -- I've had the pleasure of working with some really creative folks (even professional game designers in their off time) to build these sorts of events.

    Then of course, there's Second Life -- nobody can say that lacks tools!

    --
    seven two six five
    seven four six one seven
    two six four two e
  30. Also This Halloween... by InfiniteVoid · · Score: 1

    Also worth noting is that Guild Wars will be having their second "World Preview Event", with an early version of their game available for free download and play Oct. 29 - 31.

    1. Re:Also This Halloween... by Myrmi · · Score: 1

      The Guild Wars preview event started early. As in, it's up now. Everyone go play!

      Actually, that might not be such a good idea. The game streams new content to you as you need it. Could their game servers take a /.ing?

      --
      "I think everyone is an agnostic but just doesn't know" - Frazz
    2. Re:Also This Halloween... by InfiniteVoid · · Score: 1

      Dammit. No sleep for me tonight!

      Thanks for the heads-up, though. :)

  31. can't do anything that fancy by immanis · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm just running some old time radio suspense shows, war of the worlds, and silence! the musical over the in-game radio station.

    --

    best web host ever

  32. Re:A shame there aren't better player tools for ev by Valegor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I tend to think that the previous events have just been tests for something big when they release City of Villians.

    I took part in the test of the halloween thing on the test Sever Tuesday, and it was certainly fun. You don't know when you click on a door if you are going to get a treat(insp, enhancement, temp power, etc) or a trick(Zombie, ghost, witch, etc attacking you). They said that it was only a small part of the event, but that alone was far more fun then I had anticipated. I for one can't wait until this weekend to see what they have cooked up.

  33. Dungeon Majesty? by Elyjah · · Score: 1

    "Dungeon Majesty is a game where we take four ladies and play Dungeons and Dragons." The clips are kinda goofy, as are the photos.

  34. Re:Two words: by Gil-galad55 · · Score: 1

    Fucking. Nerds. Brilliant. Commentary.

    --

    To follow knowledge like a sinking star, / Beyond the utmost bound of human thought. ("Ulysses", Tennyson)

  35. Re:Two words: by toriver · · Score: 2, Funny

    Sorry, no fucking, too busy playing. Now, if I just could get to next level, I'd...

  36. Yoo hoo by kittyanya · · Score: 1

    Not to mention Gunbound is having a competition Oct 26th to the 30th. Find the Administrator in a room, answer up to 3 questions. get 1 right and get 10,000 gold. Get 2 right and get a nifty pumpkin avatar plust the gold. I have yet to see an admin, so tell me if anyone wins. :P

  37. The poor little guys get omitted... by qor72 · · Score: 0, Redundant

    And GuildWars will be running its 2nd "Alpha" event, the WPE, across the weekend allowing players to try it out free of charge pre-release. http://www.guildwars.com/

  38. Re:Two words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    who's the one with david hasslehoff on his website?

    fucking nerd.

  39. Guildwars started today if anyone cares.. by LordJezo · · Score: 1

    Started a day early in case anyone out there cares..

    http://www.guildwars.com/

  40. Planetside is in the spirit too by Euphorea · · Score: 1

    The normal "backpack" left behind when you frag a player has been changed to Jack-o-lantern's for the event, just like they gave us Santa hats on our characters last Christmas and turned the backpacks into present boxes....

    http://www.planetside.com/

  41. Re:A shame there aren't better player tools for ev by kannibal_klown · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well, I was on the test server and got to experience their trial of halloween.

    You can click on each mission door (assuming it's not unlocking YOUR mission), and get either a trick or a treat.

    Tricks involve witches, werewolves, or pumpkin heads attacking you.

    Treats involve inspirations, some enhancements, and the almighty ROCK!

    It was interesting, but nothing to write home about.

    I wish they'd start doing more events. Supposedly the latest incursion of eye-balls was just sort of a "recon" thing, with speculation that a large scale invasion is down the pipe.

    I've stopped playing recently. It's going to take something massive (like the original Ritki invasion) to get me to fire up the game again.

  42. Re:Get in the spirit! by Tenebrious1 · · Score: 3, Funny

    What better way to do so by regressing back to your childhood...

    Because now I can be charged as an adult.

    --
    -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
  43. Horizons Halloween event by sstamps · · Score: 1

    Well, we don't know much about it yet.

    You can harvest pumpkins from a single pumpkin patch, carve them, and build jack o'lanterns with them, as well as scarecrows/skeletons on your plot.

    Jacques Allantyrn is supposed to make a reappearance (same one from beta) with something about a short-term portal to the Realm of Bounty, from whence the harvest supposedly comes. Oh, the moon is blood red with evil smilling skull visages in it.

    Also in the "Halloween" patch came a world-wide plague. Well, it wasn't SUPPOSED to be world-wide, but it ended up that way from lack of testing. Another patch and some downtime later, it was contained.

    Last year we had masks, and trick-or-treating, collecting candy to be traded for masks. Of course, Dragons were left out of the fun with the masks, but that's a common theme in HZ. After all, they can fly, what else could they want?

    --
    -SS "Teach the ignorant, care for the dumb, and punish the stupid."
  44. Toontown Online Changes by disneyfan1313 · · Score: 1

    I know it is not *as* popular as some of the others but Toontown Online http://www.toontown.com/ is doing quite a few things for halloween with special house decorations, special outfits to buy, halloween decorations throughout the enviroments, and special Skelle-Cogs to fight! Very cool.

    --
    -=SiGH=-
  45. FFXI by falcon5768 · · Score: 2, Informative
    The Final Fantasy halloween fest actually caused a little stir because for the first day or so while people knew you had to give the mobs treats, no one knew cheap fruit could be used, so there was a huge runup on sweets on the auction houses and bazaars (I made over 100k in game on cheaply made in game candy alone and I didnt take the market like others where) People where pissed they where spending anywhere from 1 - 100k just to get a item since it was so random and 9 times out of 10 you turned into a monster.

    The items are what people are after, they actually grant warp to those people who dont have mage jobs, and depending on which one you get you can have anywhere from 1 to unlimited warps which when you go to these areas people like to party in can be a lifesaver. the big fear is that this might change afterward since they did leave a clause in the info saying that they had the right to change this at any time.

    It was also quite interesting to see people scream in game, since they wherent your run of the mill mobs they put in town but with some of them (like the Dark Stalkers) some of the toughest mobs in the game.

    Infact yesterday the GMs on almost all of the worlds decided to dress up and half of them dressed up as the Shadow Lord himself... scaring the crap out of a lot of people who turned off the names function

    --

    "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    1. Re:FFXI by IKnwThePiecesFt · · Score: 1

      Tonight they were back handing out fireworks to everyone.

  46. Neocron are having an event too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's called how can we piss off the community even more and drive what few are left away.

    1. Re:Neocron are having an event too! by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

      Yes, they ARE having problems at the moment.
      I joined Neocron 1 two months ago and really liked the FPS/Cyberpunk theme, but I'm hesitating to upgrade my account to NC2 because of the all bugs and the inept payment provider.
      I do, however, still hope for improvment. Maybe I'll re-join in a few months. If Reakktor isn't bankrupt by then.

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
  47. Re:Two words: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Fucking. Nerds.

    Hey! I've never fucked anything. So there!

  48. Re:Two words: by necro2607 · · Score: 1

    It gets better:

    "NOTE: I am looking for a David Hasselhoff inflatable doll complete with synthetic chest hair. If anyone has any information on this, please contact me."

  49. Re:A shame there aren't better player tools for ev by Elsebet · · Score: 1


    I sure had bad timing considering I just recently cancelled my ancient AO (circa 2001) and younger CoH accounts. Last year AO had mobs that dropped a variety of things but the best was a pumpkin shaped floating torch. I wanted one soooo bad but could never find a spawn. Also the entire planet was bathed in eerie darkness.

    For Christmas a few years ago they had Leets wearing Santa Hats that dropped Christmas gifts. When you opened them you got a goofy present like an arrow hat or monster sunglasses. It was great. :)

    Sad thing is it's back to ye olde grind after fun events like that 1-2 times a year for most games.

    --
    Sacré-bleu! Where is me mama?
  50. Re:Two words: by tommut · · Score: 1

    Touché.

  51. Re:Ultima Online & Realm Online by ssand · · Score: 1

    There's Also The Realm Online, which was a little before UO I believe, and they just had their halloween event involving parade, games, and pumpkin patches.

  52. Re:f*cking americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You are messed up.

  53. Re:f*cking americans by Quill_28 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    You what? Screw you and your thinking.

    Believe it or not but 99.9% of Americans couldn't give a crap about nl.

    Don't tell me we killed your customs and your individuality,
    you gave it up.
    No one here cares if the people in nl have valnetines day.

    You are a complete jerk.

  54. Re:f*cking americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You heathens brought your culture here. We don't want your turnips or boot-soup or whatever it is you eat. Soon enough we shall triumph over the nonbelievers and you too will sing our National Anthem while we rape and pillage your women and country.

    /give in to your hate, it only makes us stronger.

  55. With an ID like "grub" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    I'd be surprised if he didn't have to shave his back to fit into the dress.

  56. The Joint Ops Crowd by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Joint Ops squads will be enjoying the Halloween Squad Clash.

    Multiple large servers, meeting teams, and great gameplay.

  57. join the real world by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    why not join the real world on Halloween and go outside, walk around..throw eggs at kids, etc. take a dump in a balloon and throw it at Kerry supporters..something fun like that.

  58. Nothing new by TyrranzzX · · Score: 1

    I remember last year I got a Tribes 2 Construction mod scare-a-thon going. The idea was to build creepy things and on haloween, show them off on hosted servers. Did't get too many buildings, but I did get plenty of visitors to my 3v1l maze.

    Still, I would've liked to see more trigger treators(to my house, not the server). Kinda sad people get afraid of nothing. Man, and I loved scaring the shit outta children. Now though, we're lucky to get 5 or 6 people come around, from like packed streets 5 years ago. It was one of the last "get out n' see your neighbors" events.

    MMM...kinda makes me want to put the server up on haloween with the same maze. Now with half a T1 I can probably host close to 20 people...mmmm. It'd be fun to hear the bouncy room again, heh.

    --


    Candy-Coated Knowledge

  59. Ghost Stories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Personally I like ghost stories for Halloween more than multiplayer online gaming events. There are a few online sources of stories including:

    Even if one doesn't like ghost stories, there always seems to be quite a few interesting things going on around Halloween.

    Thanksgiving is a better holiday for the multiplayer online gaming events as there's less nerd-centric stuff going on in the real world than there is on Halloween.

  60. aboveGame the Gamer's Blog by randalx · · Score: 1

    If anybody is interested in blogging about their Halloween experiences please try aboveGame.com. I've just recently set it up so it's still pretty empty but I'm hoping to create a fun community of gamers. Just grab some screenshots and blog away!

  61. major problem with guildwars... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The fricking mouseview camera is the opposite of CoH and there is no way to change it. Since I play CoH so much, there is no way I am going to go through the week of headaches and dizzyness to get used to another system...

    Amazing what the lack of one option will do to your revenue stream.

  62. Re:f*cking americans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    No, you killed your own customs when you BY YOUR OWN FREE WILL started donning trick or treat masks. If you are going to complain about anybody, complain about your own countrymen who adopted those customs.

    You remind me of these hicks in the USA that say "When I was a kid, noone ate sushi; thats for Japs." Cry me a river bitch.