In the lead up to tonight’s move over to Game Update 1.7, BioWare have release a preview video for the Relics of the Gree content. Enjoy:
Jump into comments below to give us your thoughts!
Flash Point 51: The Return Of The Boxes
February 10, 2013 by
We revert back to a more standard format podcast, with Simon, Kristy and David making up for a fairly quite MMO news period with some distinctly non-punchy conjecture on a range of issues.
Points of discussion:
SWTOR
– Game Update 1.7
– Star Wars spin-off movies
TSW
– DLC content changes
– Veterans reward system
– Why David is sucking slightly less in TSW
Other
– Marvel Heroes
– Iron Man 3 trailer
– Spamful plug for our sister site – The Comics Herald
– Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm (Melbourne launch details here)
– Defiance MMO
– Shout outs for our forums, Facebook page, Twitter account, Simon’s Twitter account and Kristy’s Twitter account.
Please review or rate the podcast on iTunes if you can – it makes a huge difference!
Listen via iTunes or right here:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 40:05 — 18.3MB)
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Server Downtime for SWTOR Game Update 1.7: 12th February
February 10, 2013 by
It’s time for the next SWTOR content update: Return of the Gree. This means a slightly longer than usual server downtime of 5.5 hours.
Time conversions:
AEDT: 8.30pm – 2am
AWST: 5.30pm-11pm
NZDT: 10.30pm-4am
The full explanatory blurb from BioWare:
Hello everyone, we wanted to let you know that we will be performing scheduled maintenance for five and a half hours on Tuesday, February 12th, 2013 from 3:30AM CST (1:30AM PST/4:30AM EST/9:30AM GMT/10:30AM CET/8:30PM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/10AM EST/3PM GMT/3PM CET/2AM AEDT). All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than five and a half hours, but could be extended.
Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree unveils a new in-game event, Relics of the Gree. Travel to Ilum to investigate the appearance of an ancient Gree starships, called “the Gray Secant.” The Reputation System is also introduced in this game update, which allows you to earn Reputation points by completing missions for organizations such as the Gree or the Voss, or for military divisions within the Republic and the Empire for great rewards.
After this maintenance is over, restart the game launcher to patch to Game Update 1.7: Return of the Gree.
Events are available to Free-to-Play Players and Subscribers at no additional cost. Visit the Free-to-Play Features Chart for more information.
Scheduled Maintenance
Date: Tuesday, February 12th, 2013
Time: 3:30AM CST (1:30AM PST/4:30AM EST/9:30AM GMT/10:30AM CET/8:30PM AEDT) until 9AM CST (7AM PST/10AM EST/3PM GMT/3PM CET/2AM AEDT)
All game servers, SWTOR.com, and the launcher will be offline during this period. This maintenance is expected to take no more than five and a half hours.
Thank you for your patience as we maintain service for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™.
SC2: Heart Of The Swarm – Ways To Play Vid
February 8, 2013 by
You can tell it’s getting close to a Blizzard game launch, as the videos start coming in thick and fast. In this case it’s StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm, and the latest release is a 6-minute plus overview of the changes to the types of gameplay on offer in the expansion.
And the changes are pretty significant, with some of them, like the introduction of levelling, are causing a huge amount of debate already. Have a look at the vid:
We’d love to hear your thoughts on the changes coming with Heart Of The Swarm, so sound off in comments.
Also don’t forget there’s a local launch event for HOTS.
Latest Crysis 3 Trailer
February 8, 2013 by
Just for something a little different, here’s the latest trailer for Crysis 3, which is due for release in just under two weeks on the 21st February on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Check it out:
Have you played the previous Crysis games and if so, are you excited about this one?
The Secret World DLC Content Pricing Clarified
February 7, 2013 by
The TSW dev team have posted an update on how the pricing of future downloadable content will work.
For what it’s worth, I quite like the approach and if you’re a Member or Grandmaster you’ll want to read about how to set up an auto upgrade to the new content.
Read on:
The current price of the Issue #5 DLC (The Vanishing of Tyler Freeborn) has been adjusted to 750 points for non-members, 675 for members (after 10% member discount), and will remain at 600 (after 20% Grandmaster discount) for Grandmasters. This pricing change was meant to further reward Members and Grandmasters because the 10% Member and 20% Grandmaster discounts for shop purchases are now also applied to DLC.
Note that it is now possible for Members and Grandmasters to select to automatically upgrade to the DLC once it is available! This option is called “Set up DLC Autobuy“ and is available from your account page (http://register.thesecretworld.com). Note that this setting is set to “off” by default, so you must actively change it if you want this functionality.
We are also instating a cap on the DLC price for Grandmasters and Members. Regardless of the base (non-member) cost of a DLC, even if it starts at above 1200 points, the price for Grandmasters and Members will not be above 1200 points. This is also an additional bonus for Grandmaster and Member accounts, since it means they will always get enough points in a given month to purchase the newest DLC package.
For future DLCs Members and Grandmasters get access to the content 48 hours before non-members. This will be live with DLC #6.
Prices in the shop are always subject to change (up or down); prices for future DLC will vary based on the amount of content included and may be more expensive than this first DLC.
We hope this announcement sheds some light on recent DLC pricing changes and we thank you for your patience as we continue to adjust and improve the Grandmaster and Member experience.
What’s your take – do you like how things are now set up?
StarCraft II: Heart Of The Swarm Melbourne Launch Event
February 5, 2013 by
To coincide with the 12th March launch of SC2’s first expansion, Heart of the Swarm, Blizzard Entertainment have announced a local launch event.
Melbourne scores the guernsey, with some fun planned for Federation Square on the evening of March 11th. The details:
MELBOURNE – FEDERATION SQUARE
MARCH 11TH – 8 PM TO MIDNIGHT (AEDT)Cnr. Swanston Street & Flinders Street
Melbourne VIC 3000View mapEVENT DETAILS
The Swarm’s global invasion begins in Australia! Join the Zerg rush to Federation Square in the heart of the city of Melbourne, Victoria. From 8 PM AEDT on Monday, March 11, you can be part of the excitement in person or via the live stream!
ACTIVITIES
- Heart of the Swarm matches featuring top pro-gamers
- Q&A with members of the StarCraft II development team
- Cosplay Competition
EVENT SCHEDULE
8:00 P.M.
- Event kicks off at Federation Square
MIDNIGHT
Stage activities end
StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm available for pick up (final EB Games sales receipt required)
Blizzard autograph table opensNOTE: One copy of StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm autographed per person
So there you have it: will you be going? If you are and would like to snap some pics or cover the event more fully, drop us a line. You can check out the official launch website here.
GW2: Dynamic Leveling Changes
February 3, 2013 by
Isaiah Cartwright from ArenaNet has posted an update detailing changes made in the last patch to dynamic leveling in the game:
We had a few issues with this system that we made adjustments to. When high-level characters played in lower level zones, they were a bit too powerful, so the content was not as challenging as it could be. As a result of this, we also scaled down the rewards a bit too much.
As of the January 28 build, we made some changes to the dynamic scaling system to address these issues:
1.) We changed the formula for how attributes are calculated when the dynamic leveling adjustment system scales you down. This makes returning to lower level zones more fun and better balanced.
2.) We changed the formula for how rewards are calculated when scaled down to make it more rewarding for high-level players to visit lower level areas.The goal is to more accurately reflect the attributes you should have at that level for a similarly geared character. While this will make some areas harder, our goal is to make all areas of Guild Wars 2 exciting and fun for players of any level. We also want players of all levels to feel like their time is well spent and rewarding in any map they go to.
You can read the full post here – is the change something you’ve already noticed, and/or is it something you think that will improve gameplay?
Warcraft Movie’s Director Announced
February 2, 2013 by
Rumours about a Warcraft movie have been around nearly as long as World of Warcraft, so it’s great to see a key piece of meat added to the bones of those rumours.
Duncan Jones, director of Source Code, has been signed, with filming set to start in the second half of this year and a release in 2015:
Legendary is keeping its script, written by Charles Leavitt, under wraps. The Warner Bros.-based production and finance outfit is eyeing a fall start and a 2015 release.
Jones’ producing partner, Stuart Fenegan, will executive produce, while Chris Metzen will co-produce for Blizzard.
Warcraft is a big jump up in terms of scope and scale for Jones, the filmmaker son of David Bowie known for his thoughtful sci-fi work.
Jones seems a good pick – if you’ve seen Source Code you’ll know Jones can build tension in a big way whilst delving into otherworldly concepts. That’s two ingredients a Warcraft movie needs for success so here’s hoping. And Hogger – the movie definitely needs Hogger.
[via Hollywood Reporter] and thanks to Luke Le Page for the heads-up!
SWTOR Heroic Space Missions: Schedule
February 1, 2013 by
For those who love a heroic space mission, BioWare have provided some clarification on when each mission unlocks so it can be re-played:
We have confirmed that the following is the current schedule for Heroic Space Combat missions:
- Tuesday – Far Cradle Strike (Imp) / Regnant Station (Rep)
- Wednesday – Kabal Station Defense (Imp) / Ardis Outpost Fortification (Rep)
- Thursday – Kanz Minefield (Imp) / New Covar Ice Field (Rep)
- Friday – Duma Strike (Imp) / Baros Ambush (Rep)
- Saturday – Lorta Escort (Imp) / Hypori Escort (Rep)
- Sunday – Cha Raaba Assault (Imp) / Thanium Disruption (Rep)
- Sunday – Operation Foe Smasher (Imp) / Operation Clean Sweep (Rep)
For balance, we have decided to move one of the Sunday unlocks to Monday in a future patch.
So there you have it – and note the plans for a shift to a Monday unlock for either Cha Raaba Assault / Thanium Disruption or Operation Foe Smasher / Clean Sweep in a future patch.
GW2 Achievements and Rewards System Update
January 29, 2013 by
Matt Wuerffel from ArenaNet has posted on the official blog and update about some revamping they are doing for rewards and achievements in GW2. If you’re not an achievement junkie like me, you may not find this stuff that relevant, but otherwise have a look at the details.
Aside from stuff occurring in the near term, Wuerffel has also hinted at what’s happening further down the track:
Down the road, we’ll also be adding a reward structure to total achievement points, and we’ll be looking at revamping portions of existing UI to help players understand all the different kinds of content they can play and the types of rewards available. Once we have that framework in place, we’ll be able to really expand on the content accessible through the achievements system and provide you with even more new and exciting ways to play the game.
Let’s hear from you: do achievements matter to you in GW2 and if so, do you like what’s planned?
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