Three weeks ago I shared with you my impressions of the Warlords of Draenor alpha for World of Warcraft's upcoming expansion - focusing on the only new zone available at that time: Frostfire Ridge. Since then the game has moved into beta and Shadowmoon Valley has opened up, and so it is that I write to you now of this amazing location on Draenor.
Tempest of Strife, the fourth expansion for Age of Wushu, is now available for free download. Snail Games has also launched the new Silver Viper server today and will be hosting several in-game events. We recently got to check out the new content and features coming out with the expansion!
MMORPGs are games that thrive on giving players memorable adventures and content that they can experience with their friends and share with their guildmates over and over again. In its upcoming MMORPG WildStar, Carbine Studios is taking this term quite literally and adding an actual gameplay type into the game referred to as Adventures!
If you’ve seen Carbine’s latest WildStar Flick, then you might have a good sense of what these dangerous trials may entail--other than knowing your life will be on the line every step of the way. Following the latest Flick, a few press members, including myself, got a chance to hangout with Carbine’s Senior Content Designer, Matt Tobiason, as we ran through one of these Adventures and got to experience first-hand what they were all about. So without further delay, let me jump right in and discuss exactly what these Adventures have in store for all of you would-be heroes coming to planet Nexus!
There are now less than two months to go before the official release date for Zenimax Online's newest edition to the Elder Scrolls franchise, The Elder Scrolls Online. After five single-player only games, TESO is the series' first game to not only include multiplayer (without a third-party mod), but also the studio's first entry into the MMO market. Many of us here at ZAM, myself included, are big fans of the Elder Scrolls series, with hours upon hours put into Skyrim alone. The question that remains is whether Zenimax can carry over the appeal of the single-player games and put it into an MMO that appeals to both fans of the Elder Scrolls series and veteran MMO players?
Over the past few weeks I've had the chance to sit down with the game and see more than the stress test weekends would allow. While there is still much more to the game than I was able to experience, I've seen enough that I can give my early impressions of the game.
"Hate Rising" is an extension to the storylines introduced with the Call of the Forsaken expansion, and it is expected to go live on Wednesday, January 22.
So, then, what's coming with Hate Rising? Here is a rundown:
And here are few more visuals (below the jump):
With the Beta NDA now lifted, we take a closer look at two prominent features set to be added with the Call of the Forsaken expansion - Heroic Adventures and Mercenary Enhancements - as well as several screenshots of the zones being introduced at launch time (October 8, 2013).
Heroic Adventures 
Heroic adventures are customized shared tasks (1-6 players) that take place in instanced zones and scale in level, difficulty, and loot quality (based on the highest level player in the group) down to Level 95. They are designed for groups of 2-3 players and their mercenaries, and shouldn't take an average group any longer than 45-60 minutes to complete.
What do we mean by "customized"? Well, instead of a standard shared task with an unchanging set of steps to run through, heroic adventures have a randomized component to them whereby there are multiple options (or 'possible directives') for each step in the task. In other words, you can complete one of these heroic adventures, and then the next time you run through the same adventure, you could have a different set of task steps and encounter different NPCs.
Loot-dropping nameds (such as the Dreadmole of the Bixie Warfront or the Monstrous Minnow of the Dead Hills) can also appear in these adventures, and completion results in group currency that can be used to buy gear (both player and mercenary) and spells from vendors in the Ethernere.
It should be noted that there is plenty of content outside of heroic adventures as they are but one facet of Call of the Forsaken (there are also regular partisan and mercenary tasks, as well as regular group missions), and every zone has a static (non-instanced) version.
(Mercenary Enhancements and Zone Screenshots can be found below the jump!)
I’m staring down a metal tube, waiting for the launch signal. The brief respite gives me a chance to look around, and get a feel for the cockpit that surrounds me. I’ve sat in this seat before and, this time, I’m going to kick some ass. I might not know what lies outside the carrier’s launch bay, but I’m certain of one thing: there are noobs that need pwning, and I aim to deliver.
The klaxon sounds and, like a flash, I’m out there. Everything seems clearer, from the asteroids rushing past to the Caldari carrier spewing fighters of its own. I grin, punching the missile lock, and pivot my head to point at one of them. With the reticule switching yellow, I let loose a firestorm of missiles. Two more volleys and he’s toast. This is going to be easy.
As you read this, EverQuest Next is being unveiled to the world at large. Surprisingly, it’s not the only EverQuest game that fans are being introduced to.
Not only will EverQuest Next be a huge departure for SOE but EverQuest Next Landmark will be part of a completely new phase of MMO development that will make community input more important than in any other MMO.
More on EverQuest Next Landmark later; first, let’s take a look at EQ Next.
It’s time to pull out those thick coats and strong boots, as winter is heading to Auratia. Earlier this week, Dragon’s Prophet was hit with Game Update 0.2, bringing the new zone of Wintertide, raising the level cap to 70, and more besides.
To show off everything arriving in the latest patch, SoE senior producer Todd Carson took me on a whistle-stop tour of Wintertide and the new features it brings – quite literally, as we arrived there by train. Carson also revealed that he’ll be announcing a release date at SOE Live next month, although there’s more to come as open beta continues.
A few weeks ago Ubisoft decided to celebrate the start of Closed Beta for their new F2P dungeon crawler/manager, The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot. They held an Open House event - everyone who had signed up for the beta before a cutoff date was invited in for a few days to try out the game. There were even prizes given away - a shirt and 1000 keys to stay in the beta once the Open House ended. I tried out the game some during the event, but not really enough to base my opinion on the game. Now that I have a key to the actual beta and access to the locked third class, it's time to dig in a bit further and see what TMQEL has to offer.
