MMO

It's one of the longest running MMOs in history and this week Turbine announced that their first game, the fantasy MMO Asheron's Call, just had its 100th free content update released to its subscribers. For those who need details, this update adds the beginnings of the much requested (by the game's players) an Elder Games system along with two new PvP controllable towns.

Turbine first released Asheron's Call in November 1999 via publisher Microsoft and made a point to have the game feel like a ongoing storyline was taking place with monthly events and content released. Two commerical expansion packs for the game have been released since the launch and the free content updates have also continued. Turbine took over full control of the game from Microsoft in 2003. The game has even outlasted its graphically improved sequel Asheron's Call 2 which launched in 2002 but shut down completely just three years later.

Last month we first reported on plans by Sony Online to launch an online collectible trading card game based on their long running MMO Star Wars Galaxies. This week the game has officially launched. This is not quite a stand alone game like the Everquest based Legends of Norrath; you must be an active subscriber to the Star Wars Galaxies MMO or a former player in good standing (i.e. you don't owe Sony Online money) to play the trading card game.

The official title for the game is Star Wars Galaxies: Champions of the Force and there are over 250 cards to collect and current and former subscribers will get access to five Booster Packs for free every month. There's a 14 day free trial to the game that you can download at the title's official web site.
[Via Massively]

NCsoft's super hero MMO City of Heroes has had a number of free expansions released for its subscribers and today the publisher has now revealed the first details on "Issue 13", the latest content released that will be available later this fall. This update, titled Architect, will include the much requested player mission creator which will allow people to make their own missions using an interface that's as simple to use as the game's famed character creator.

The Mission Architech will allow players to make their own missions and story arcs with details like enemies, enviroments and mission objectives with the ability to put in written fiction and character dialogue. If certain folks make good enough missions it could lead to unlocking new rewards for them.

Other new content additions in Issue 13 include Day Jobs which means that locations in the game when players log out determine their secret identity (log out of City Hall and your offline character becomes a city official, for example). Each job can unlock new rewards once you spent enough time at it. The update will also include new power sets (including shields) new missions, costume additions and more.

Nvidia has been pushing out the press releases lately promoting the use of its recently acquired PhysX game physics tech by other game developers. Now PhysX's leading rival Havok (owned by Intel) has announced a deal of their own with MMO game developer Turbine.

As reported by Game Daily, Turbine has signed a deal to access the Havok Physics, Animation, and Behavior 6.0. middleware technology. The developed, best known for their MMO work on Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online, will use the Havok tech in future unnamed games. Turbine recently raised $40 million in venture capital money to help fund those upcoming titles.

Blizzard is in the middle of beta testing for their long awaited second expansion pack for their fantasy MMO World of Warcraft but before the expansion. Wrath of the Lich King, ships to stores (hopefully before the end of the year) Blizzard has plans to give the game's subscribers some more free content.

As reported by our sister site WoWinsider.com, Bllizzard will release this new update "in the coming weeks" and that update will have quite a bit of new features and content, including two new Arenas, a new profession (inscription), new class spells and talents and a host of other additions as well as UI improvements. They will even have barbershops. How cool is that? We need a haircut by a Death Knight.

It's not a massive shock considering all of the previous announcements (release date, open beta release date, etc) but today the official word came in from Mythic Entertainment and Electronic Arts. Their long awaited fantasy MMO Warhammer Online has "gone gold" meaning that the game's software is being duplicated into disks and being prepared to ship to stores.

It's been a long hard road for the game's release to this point. A lot of people don't remember that this MMO adaptation of Games Workshop's war game was actually being developed by the UK company Climax before they pulled the plug in 2004. In 2005, Mythic Entertainment won the rights to develop the MMO game license and a year later EA came in and bought Mythic as a quick way to get the rights to a MMO. The title suffered many development delays before today's announcement. Warhammer Online is now due for release on September 18.

Gold farming. It's a phrase that MMO gamers know well and one that most MMO publishers hate. People who don't play games but just gather virtual loot in games to sell to other (lazy) MMO players is publicly denounced but there's no doubt that there's a market for such a service.

Now the BBC web site reports that a new study claims that gold farming worldwide is worth $500 million. The study, from Professor Richard Heeks of UK based Manchester University, claims that nearly 500,000 people are employed in the gold farming business with the vast majority in China. The story doesn't state how the professor came by his figures and even he seems to doubt his numbers, stating that it could be twice as large as his study says.

As you may know, Ultima creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott left day-to-day game design chores (after completing the sci-fi MMO Tabula Rasa in 2007 for NCsoft) to start training to go on a mission to the International Space Station. Wired's web site has now reprinted a recent print magazine article about Garriott's training for the mission that's scheduled to take place this fall.

Garriott paid $30 million for the chance to head into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket via private firm Space Adventures but he still has to spend months of training at Russia's cosmonaut facility Star City. The article goes into detail about what Garriott had to go through to head into space but Garriott claims he's ready to go again, even if the price for space has now gone up to $45 million. Garriott claims, "I'm already strategizing how I can earn the required funds."

Big Download's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute.

	SOE announces the next EverQuest II expansion: The Shadow Odyssey The fourth expansion to reach the game will be entitled The Shadow Odyssey, and is slated for release to players on November 18th of this year. The expansion will seek to expand on themes begun with the best-selling Rise of Kunark expansion, returning a number of nostalgic elements to the shattered world of Norrath.
	What you need to know about The Shadow Odyssey The Shadow Odyssey, EverQuest II's fifth expansion, is not just the usual bump to the level cap, a couple of new raids, and a reset for all the armor you already got. It's none of those things. What SOE has done with this expansion is go through the level 50 to level 80 portion of the game and say, let's make an expansion that has something for pretty much everyone. Let's make an expansion where even if no upgrades drop, you can be working toward some awesome stuff just by playing.
	Exploring The Shadow Odyssey with EQII Senior Producer Bruce Ferguson SOE just announced the newest expansion to their EverQuest II title, and we've got plenty of answers for your burning questions. We had the chance to sit down with the game's Senior Producer, Bruce Ferguson, to talk about what makes this such an important product for Sony Online. Join us as we talk through some of the fantastic new content coming to the game.
	Age of Conan expansion concept art unveiled As we mentioned, Funcom's Hyborian MMORPG Age of Conan is set to expand. As of yesterday, the concept art first shown at Leipzig is now available to view, courtesy of GameSpy. The dragon banners, pagoda-like structures and mask style suggest that Khitai, Robert E. Howard's composite version of China, may be the setting. If so - and this is only speculation - it might be a promising choice, despite not receiving much attention in the original Howard tales.
	Massively's state of the game: Warhammer Online beta During Age of Conan's launch, we took a final look at the game as it existed in Beta, a 'state of the game' that took in everything we knew about the title at that point. Today this blogger has attempted to do the same for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the fantasy MMO slated for release by EA and Mythic Entertainment on the 18th of September. If anything, Warhammer Online is a title with a more tightly-wound, highly anticipatory audience than Conan was. The long history of the Warhammer IP, the evocative nature of the tabletop roleplaying game, and a legion of wargaming followers across the globe has made this a must-play game across numerous demographics.

Earlier today we reported that Funcom had announced plans for a commercial expansion pack for their fantasy MMO Age of Conan. The developer also announced plans for free content for current subscribers to the game and we now have some screenshots that show off what they have planned.

Along with the free content screenshots, Funcom also released some visuals from the upcoming DirectX10 graphics upgrade, along with some comparison screenshots from the DirectX9 version. Volumetic fog, HDR, specular reflections and other features will be added to the game with the DirectX10 version is released. So far there's no word on when the new content or the graphics upgrade will be available for download.

It's not really a surprise considering the game's high sales, but Funcom announced during a press briefling at Games Convention this week that they will indeed release a commercial expansion pack to their fantasy MMO Age of Conan. No details were revealed on the expansion, partly because Funcom wants fans to speculate on their own; Funcom might even take some of their ideas into consideration.

In the meantime, Funcom showed a piece of concept artwork for th expansio and Gamespy reports that it had "three warriors wearing facemasks encrusted with green stones, wielding curved swords and hooked axes. In the background are standards with dragons rendered on them, and buildings that look vaguely Chinese in design." Funcom does plan to expand the game in the coming months with free updates, including the promised DirectX10 graphical update.

Earlier this week we reported that an anonymous former member of Mythic Entertainment complained to Shacknews that their name would not appear on the final credits of the upcoming MMO Warhammer Online, despite this person's claims he worked on the game for three years (nearly the entire time the game was in development). We mentioned at the time that it was unknown if this person was fired from Mythic or not. Now the founder and vice-president of the developer, Mark Jacobs, is calling out this anonymous person.

MTV Multiplayer quotes Jacobs as saying, "If you really think that we're doing something wrong, at least have the balls to stand up and go 'Hi, my name is so-and-so,'". He added that perhaps leaving this person out of the credits for the game could be a mistake on his part but that he can't know for sure until he knows who is complaining about it. Jacobs basically wants this person to come clean, saying, "So come out, stop hiding behind the anonymity of the internet and the legal shield of 'I'm going to sue EA.'"

Later on in the article Jacobs states that in his opinion the people who are currently at Mythic Entertainment and worked on Warhammer Online when it was completed should be the only people credited with "some exceptions into the 'Special Thanks' for certain people who have left under difficult circumstances." He did say that if the industry ever does come together to agree on how credits should be given for games he would follow it.

It's comforting to know that amid trailers for fantasy-themed games like Wrath of the Lich King or Warhammer Online, that there's still room for Jumpgate Evolution, a sci-fi MMO focused on space exploration, trade and ship combat. So, if you're not interested in swords and sorcery, maybe hopping through a jumpgate may be more your style.

Download the Jumpgate Evolution HD Trailer (82 MB)

MMO players who love PvP are already anxiously awaiting Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and this new trailer keeps that hype going. If you like the Warhammer lore, want some more background on the Age of Reckoning world, or just want to see brutal swords and sorcery combat - this trailer has it all. Plus, there's a special reveal at the end. Hopefully, players will be able to smite their enemies with one of those things too.

Download the Warhammer Online HD Cinematic Trailer (175 MB)

Arguably the best part of waiting for any Blizzard game is getting to see the cinematic trailer, and Wrath of the Lich King does not disappoint. This opening for video for the upcoming expansion shows off high quality and style we expect from Blizzard. It also shows the extent in which Arthus the Lich King's power has grown. Dedicated World of Warcraft players are already beating at the doors to face this challenge.

Download the Wrath of the Lich King HD Cinematic Trailer (98 MB)