Immediately after announcing that Global Agenda will remain subscription less forever, Hi-Rez Studios pulls out their latest trump card with the free to download major content update “Sandstorm”.

Phase two of Global Agenda’s Sandstorm patch released  on Thursday July, 22, 2010  featuring major updates such as a brand new open world PvE zone entitled the “Sonoran Desert” .  While traveling the new desert zone, players are capable of collecting NPC given quests which are tracked and able to be completed in a party.  The zone also holds home to many new enemy types and mobs that are ready to be farmed and looted for valuable items and experience.  Phase two of the sand storm update also features a new Base Defense mode that is selectable from within dome city.  This event may only be selected when a base outside of the city is under attack by the newly added Recursive Colony faction.  You and nine other players will work together to stop the base from being overrun by NPC enemies who work for this new faction. Continued…

With Guild Wars 2 looming somewhere on the horizon, players (myself included) are eager to learn as much about the game as possible. Lucky for us, Guild Wars 2 Lead Designer Eric Flannum dropped by the ArenaNet website to answer some questions about the Ranger class. So far, we’ve heard about the Elementalist and the Warrior, as well as five playable races. The Ranger is being introduced as a ranged support class of sorts, and will be proficient in both one- and two-handed weapons, as well as standard ranged weaponry. If Guild Wars 2 stays true to it’s predecessor, we will also be able to create dual classes (e.g. Warrior/Elementalist, Ranger/Warrior, etc.), which will open the door to unique gameplay styles and character builds.

The Ranger will have a sizable bag of tricks at his/her disposal, including traps, “spirits”, and of course, pets. Ever wanted to tame a shark? Do I even have to ask that question? A Ranger may have 3 active pet slots, of which one slot may be active at a time. Pet commands are fairly run-of-the-mill, but pet evolution – while not the first of it’s kind – looks to be an interesting mechanic.

I won’t delve too deeply into the class’s inner workings, though I will say that it looks like a lot of fun, and I’m certain that ArenaNet has left some details for us to discover ourselves! So, without further ado, here is Eric Flannum’s Q&A session on the Ranger.

In a recent press release Trion Worlds goes in depth, in fact, the deep and darkest depths of The Plane of Death for their upcoming MMORPG Rift: The Planes of Telara.

In a haunting description of this infested, barren and diseased plane, we learn more about Regulos, Devourer of Worlds and his constant pursuit of breaking back into Telara. Regulos rules over the desolate Plane of Death, promising his cultists peace through death and his lieutenants eternal power over his undead army, but will unmake anything to quench his hunger. To accurately describe just how much despair fills this plane, we are treated with an excerpt from the journal of a woman and her family who were unlucky enough to be sucked into a Death Rift.

“From the journal of Maura Reinhard,
We lived at the heart of where the Shade appeared, my husband, my two sons and I. We tried to flee, but the land was dead in every direction. The undead beasts of the rifts did not slaughter us, but watched with hollow eyes, as if they knew. As if they knew. My sons changed, skin tight over bones, and so pale I could see down to their dear hearts. Their father recoiled from them, but I could not. By night, they would tell me how alien everything seemed, how strange it was that father’s chest rose and fell as he slept, while ours did not. We decided to open him up and see why. My boys and I did not leave the shaded lands, but no matter how many people we open up, we can never remember how to breathe.”

Gee, I wonder if  they lived happily ever after? Who knows?

Continued…

This week, Cryptic Studios has provided us with more Season 2 material to get excited about. Star Trek Online‘s new season, entitled “Ancient Enemies”, will usher in new item sets and ships, as well as a host of “diplomatic” missions. These endeavors will entail anything from trade contracts to exploration quests, as well as the new “First Contact” missions. Eight new Klingon-based “episodes” are also planned, as well as a social media feature involving Facebook.

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In a recent update on Mytheon’s open beta forum, Jack “Solacer” Reed officially announced Mytheon’s new release timetable.

Mytheon’s release is now targeted for a “Q3/Q4 of 2010″ release. Jack also corrected the mistake where a recent Champions newsletter prematurely stated that Mytheon was to be released in September. The game’s delay is largely due to the high amount of beta player feedback that developers are now implementing into the game before release.

To keep up on all beta information visit Mytheon’s forum page, as that is where all notifications will be posted from now on.

Warhammer Online PQs – A good idea gone bad

An author’s note: Why am I writing about Warhammer, particularly about something that largely took place during its early days? Because I am truly passionate about the mechanics and systems within MMOs – How developers approach various aspects of their games and how different those mechanics turn out to be compared to another games. Where one fails (or succeeds) another will often pick it up and improve upon it. Hopefully this is a simple start; a review and critique of why one great idea turned into a major disappointment.

I was very excited for the release of Warhammer Online. First and foremost, because it was made by Mythic Entertainment, and it was only natural for me to think they might have learned from their mistakes and time with DAoC. Of course I was dead wrong, but Warhammer did launch with some new and exciting features largely unseen to the MMO world. I want to discuss one in particular that seemed to have so much potential, yet ended up so bad: Public Quests.

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If there are two things that deliver in this world, they are BioWare and Comic-Con. It was natural to expect, then, that when BioWare went to Comic-Con, something great might happen. It just did. If you’ve been following Star Wars: The Old Republic, chances are you’ve heard that players of SWTOR will all be getting their own ships. After this news, it was theorised that there was now the chance that there would be space combat in the Old Republic. However, an argument was put forward that such a major feature surely would have been announced by now, and that furthermore it would probably be far too great in scope to be implemented along with the already massive feature list upon launch. Both sound and logical points that thankfully turned out to be completely wrong.

BioWare has instead taken the opportunity of the SWTOR panel at Comic-Con to announce that the game will indeed include ship combat. This will apparently take the form of “an alternate gameplay experience” to that of the primary, traditional structure of questing planetside. Players will be able to fly to “hot spots” on the galactic map, using their personal spacecraft to zap everything from asteroids to enemy frigates, with the goal of the system being to “evoke memories of some of the great Star Wars space battles.” While this leaves the question of exactly how much depth will be present, and to what extent space combat will be linked to the story and character progression, I can’t help but be excited about the prospect of experiencing an even greater breadth of the Star Wars universe.

LEGO Universe has been having a field day at San Diego Comic-Con this week with an interactive booth, an on-stage presentation, and new videos, screenshots, and concept art. Included in the flood of new information is a video introducing the four player Factions in the game: Assembly, Sentinels, Paradox and Venture League. Each represents a different type of player, being builders, warriors, ninjas, and explorers.

The LEGO Universe team also released a new video featuring Pet Cove and the pet training skills, and another highlighting the LEGO Universe Partners (LUP) who have assisted with the development of the game.

On Sunday, July 25, LEGO Universe is holding an on-stage presentation at SDCC, promising attendees tales of unique creations and fan contributions from over the years. More videos and screenshots are under the cut…

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YNK Interactive is about to take their flagship title, R.O.H.A.N.: Blood Feud, to the next level with Hero: Dawn of the New Era. Hero will not be a conventional, one-time release, but rather will consist of a series of updates starting on August 3rd, 2010.

R.O.H.A.N. players can look forward to two new additions to the game world: Gratt Underground Waterway and Kallistia, both optimized for PvP and PvE. New player mounts are in the works, as well as “massively” upgraded armor and weapons. To start the new content off with a bang, YNK Interactive will be coordinating special events, contests, and promotions during the first month of the expansion’s release. One event in particular, entitled “Level Up to Win”, will give players the opportunity to win in-game items and currency.

R.O.H.A.N. is a free-to-play title; you can download the new client at the official website.