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Massive Quickies

You want quickies, I want to tell you about MMOGs. The Star Trek Online MMOG is moving forward with a new site for the Paramount online world. So far it is light on the details, but they assure us they'll have more in the near future. I probably don't need to tell you, but World of Warcraft rolled out a new patch earlier this week, adding in a high level raid dungeon and making it easier to get into the Battlegrounds. My guildies were having trouble getting past the first room in Blackwing's Lair last night, so my assumption is that Blizz has really come up with something special here. Speaking of fantasy MMOGs, the Everquest II Desert of Flames expansion pack is fast approaching, and both IGN and Gamespot have news and movies from the sandy, hot, new area. City of Villains will be opening up into Beta later this year, and to whet your appetite Voodoo Extreme has a bevy of CoV screens. Finally, Final Fantasy XI is adding in some interesting new stuff in the next couple of patches. A title selector, a summonable buddy, and changes to experience acquisition are all in the pipeline for the popular MMOG.

14 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Please oh PLEASE by kniLnamiJ-neB · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't let Paramount screw up Star Trek Online! From what I have read so far, it's about the only MMOG that I would pay $15 a month to play. If they implement this thing the way they're talking about doing it, it could REALLY be a lot of fun. I especially like how it seems to promote the "lesser" assignments (as in, you don't have to be a command-track person if you don't want to). I just hope they manage to make the game "feel" like Star Trek...

    --
    Windows isn't the answer... it's the question. NO is the answer!
    1. Re:Please oh PLEASE by Frodo+Crockett · · Score: 4, Funny

      I concur. I mean, being a vulcan? What I always wanted.

      Okay. You can be the science officer, and I'll be the captain who gets laid by green-skinned alien chicks.

      --
      "The newly born animals are then whisked off for a quick run through a giant baking oven." --heard on Food Network
  2. Blackwing Lair by andy_fish · · Score: 4, Interesting
    My guildies were having trouble getting past the first room in Blackwing's Lair last night, so my assumption is that Blizz has really come up with something special here.

    Heh, is this suppossed to be sarcastic? The reason no one can get anywhere in BWL right now, is because there is a bugged door that isn't opening when it should.

    --
    & I wish I knew the password to your heart . . . &
    1. Re:Blackwing Lair by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative
      According to Blizzard Damage Control that door isn't supposed to open.
      We want to formally address player concerns regarding issues found in Blackwing Lair. Blackwing Lair is currently the highest tier raid dungeon in the game, designed to be a very challenging encounter for even the most powerful guilds to defeat. Since its launch, we have discovered some key issues which are making Blackwing encounters easier than intended. This applies to both Razorgore and Vaelastraz encounters. One related issue is also preventing the door to open after Vaelastrasz dies, not allowing players to advance beyond the Vaelastrasz the Corrupted encounter. While this is a bug, players currently should not be able to progress beyond the Vaelastraz encounter by any means, and anyone found in areas beyond the second door will be considered to be exploiting the game.
      Gotta love damage control! "Working as intended."
    2. Re:Blackwing Lair by Incoherent07 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Read that again. Two points are made. First, the door does not open, which is a bug. Second, if you find a way to get through the door (I'm aware of a guild that used the fear effect of Deviate Delights to run a couple people through the door), you're exploiting. (The ostensible reason is that it would at a later date allow you to completely skip the encounter.)

      --
      This is my sig. There are many others like it, but this one is mine.
    3. Re:Blackwing Lair by Pahalial · · Score: 2

      ...

      What?

      You *are* aware that these raid dungeons are specifically designed for a full raid of 40 players, level 60 of course, and that it's impossible to get more than 40 into a single instance of the dungeon? More players just means more instances.

      --
      Stuff.
  3. ST:MMOG by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 2, Insightful
    From TFFAQ: The game's starting point is set some time following the latest movie (i.e. Nemesis). However, there will be missions with storylines and characters from other parts of the Star Trek franchise.

    If you had a choice of time settings it would probably be good. Limiting it to TNG era and introducing time travel leads me to believe that they should name it BitchFest- 'cause that's all they're going to get.

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
  4. Guild Wars? by amarc · · Score: 4, Informative

    It has also been updated in the last few hours - http://guildwars.com/news/gameupdates.html

  5. QUICKIES!!!!! by Zugok · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Bring back QUICKIES!!!

    This is the first quickies I have seen for years.

    --
    "I just can't sit while people are saying nonsense in a meeting without saying it's nonsense" J Watson, Sci Am 288:(4)51
  6. Black Wing's Lair by Quadfreak0 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    " We want to formally address player concerns regarding issues found in Blackwing Lair. Blackwing Lair is currently the highest tier raid dungeon in the game, designed to be a very challenging encounter for even the most powerful guilds to defeat. Since its launch, we have discovered some key issues which are making Blackwing encounters easier than intended. This applies to both Razorgore and Vaelastraz encounters. One related issue is also preventing the door to open after Vaelastrasz dies, not allowing players to advance beyond the Vaelastrasz the Corrupted encounter. While this is a bug, players currently should not be able to progress beyond the Vaelastraz encounter by any means, and anyone found in areas beyond the second door will be considered to be exploiting the game." So the offical word from blizzard is. 1. we made a super hard high level end game area. 2. Its bugged, horridly bugged, and it some how got past Q/a, Playtesting, and we've ignored public play testing, until it went live. 3. If you get in and the gate bug doesnt block you out then you're exploiting. which leads me to think, that BWL was never finished to begin with. Oh and for some reason they're telling people not to use custom UI mods... very weird.

    1. Re:Black Wing's Lair by snuf23 · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Oh and for some reason they're telling people not to use custom UI mods... very weird."

      I installed the updated CTMOD before connecting yesterday and haven't run into problems. I have seen problems noted with using mods that haven't been updated. In particular the popular Atlas mod supposedly has problems.
      I don't really see any difference between this patch and any other when it comes to UI mods - disable them until your mod is updated or expect possible weirdness and crashiness.

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
  7. Sigh no-one ever talks about EVE by Pinkoir · · Score: 4, Informative

    For what it's worth EVE just put out a new content patch as well. Added a metric fuck-ton of new content including new ship classes, new styles of PvE story-line encounters and some new Player Manufactured stations which will give the already amazing PvP system even more strategic (and yes I mean strategic) depth. The game just flat out owns. And I'm not afraid to say that since it's almost 14-year-old proof. People tired of meaningless arcade PvP in other massives should try out EVE, where your actions actually make a difference.

    -Pinkoir

  8. Zonk on WOW.... by Hack+Jandy · · Score: 4, Funny

    My guildies were having trouble getting past the first room in Blackwing's Lair last night, so my assumption is that Blizz has really come up with something special here.

    Sure, either that or your guild just sucks?

    HJ

  9. CoV, sure, but Issue 5 also by MattW · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not only is City of Villains coming out (and I won a guaranteed beta slot in a contest! woot!), but so is City of Heroes Issue 5, the Forest of Dread.

    It adds:

    * 4 new villain groups
    * New zone
    * New task force
    * 2 new "events" (in one, hellions are setting fire to a building and you have to stop them, and the other has something to do with trolls and superadine)
    * 2 new power sets (Archery, and Sonic Blast)
    * New debt system, new badges

    Even cooler, a bunch of missions have been revamped with more complexity, like escort-the-NPC type missions and fighting off "waves of villains" (similar to the Terra Volta trial you go through to earn a respec).

    Also, no waiting, because this got patched in today, you can now "auto exemplar" into a task force or trial, which means 8 level 50s can decide they want to do the Positron task force, and it will auto-exemp (lower) their effective level to 16 (the max for that task force) and lock them in; no more needing half the party to be in the real range, and no more getting booted from the TF team if someone drops link. Yay!