The next major update for Atlantica Online is almost here and with it comes the long awaited Valkyrie class.  Names Morrighan, she is a female Valkyrie defended by the heavens and who wields a godly sword and shield that deals devastating damage to foes while sealing her enemies’ physical attacks. The Valkyrie also uses heavenly power granted to her by the gods to imbue her sword with holy energy, increasing allies’ attack speeds, which provides players with a keen competitive edge in battle.

Aside from the new Valkyrie class, the Atlantic Online June update is pretty massive.

Brand new interface changes will also be featured, including an item history system which will allow players to see everything about their gear, from when it was created to everyone who owned it.

Colosseum League has been completely revamped, giving exceptionally skilled lower level players a chance to attain glory against Atlantica veterans. Even players who want to take a quick break can now gain experience just by sitting down.

Full details to the Atlantica Online content update can be viewed on the official site.

Today Perfect World Entertainment announced that closed beta testing for its upcoming MMORPG Rusty Hearts would begin on July 27th.  Rusty Hearts is a hack n’ slash cell-shaded gothic MMORPG who’s main focus is on fast combat.

For those of you interested in joining the closed beta, we still have well over 4000 closed beta keys which can be obtained here.  We also have a new gameplay trailer showing of some off the fast paced combat that players can expect with Rusty Hearts.

Yesterday SEO made the announcement that on Dec 15, 2011 Star Wars Galaxies would be shutting down permanently.  President of SOE, John Smedley, talked with Massively about the shutdown and when asked why, he had this to say.

The decision to shut down SWG is first and foremost a business decision mutually agreed upon between SOE and LucasArts. LucasArts has a new game coming out, and the contract would be running out in 2012 anyway, so we feel like it’s the right time for the game to end.

So it seems that Star Wars: The Old Republic definitely came into play when the decision was made to not renew the contract.  However I think many SWG players already assumed the game would close its doors before SWROR was released, even though it was previously stated that SWTOR would not have any effect on SWG.

Those players that choose to stay until the end, they’ll be able to participate in the galaxy-ending event which will take place one week before shutdown.  However if you want to stay you will need an active subscriber account in good standing before Sept15th, as no new or reactivated accounts will be accepted afterwards.  After Sept 15th, those players with active accounts will be able to play for free for the final months.

Below is the full schedule for the shutdown and for full details about events and memberships, check out the official SWG site.

June 24

• 12, 6 and 3-month subscription packs turned off
• TCG store closes

Sept 15

• SWG MMO and Trading Card Game no longer available for sale or subscription
• No new or reactivated accounts accepted after this date

Oct 15

• Billing turned off
• Free game trials begin

Dec 15

• Star Wars Galaxies service ends

Dec 31

• Free game trials end

Yesterday an internal CCP newsletter called “Fearless” was leaked onto the internet that rocked the Eve Online universe.  Within the newsletter it stated information about the new Noble Exchange virtual store, which CCP had stated up until this point would only be for cosmetic or vanity items. However the newsletter stated ”Not all virtual purchases [in EVE Online] will focus on customization: some will simply be new items, ammunition, ships, etc. that can be purchased outright.” It also listed some outrageous prices for some of these vanity items.

CCP has now responded to players concerns, however avoided the big question of whether or not non-vanity items would be introduced to the store.  The response has simply stated that the leaked newsletter was indeed called Fearless and meant to bring about discussion, and some general information about the price points of the items that will be available in the Noble Exchange.

Fearless is one of our company values. It‘s also the name of an internal newsletter that has been designed and developed specifically to catalyze discussions on controversial topics.

We will gradually introduce items at other price points, definitely lower and probably higher than what‘s in the store today.

CCP made no mention of whether or not they will eventually introduce non-vanity items to the store.  The fact that no mention was made only suggests that they do intent to introduce such items and are trying give it some time before making it official. After all there are currently players protesting in both the Eve Online forums and in-game.

We’ll keep you posted as new information is announced.

With World of Warcraft PvP season 9 coming to an end soon, Blizzard has released preview images for season 10 armor sets.  Currently season 9 is scheduled to end sometime next week, as early as June 28th.

My favorite for season 10 is the Hunter and Paladin armor sets and the worst, by far is the Warrior set. It looks like their head is stuck in a furnace.

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Today we have some new information as to how dungeons in Guild Wars 2 work and what players can expect.  In short all dungeons will instanced and will require a group of players to complete. Sorry solo’ers.

These dungeons are also not for beginner’s, with the lowest dungeon level requirement being level 35.  Currently ArenaNet has created eight dungeons in Tyria, although there could be more by the time GW2 is released.

There are two versions of each dungeon, a story version and an explorable version.  The first time a player runs through the dungeon they will be forced to complete the story version, then once that has been completed they will open up the explorable version.   Going further with that, each explorable version has 3 versions of it, each with different challenges and goals.  So really each dungeon can be played 4 times, making the dungeon count 32 instead of 8.  The story version can only be played once, however the explorable versions can be played as many times as the player wants.

Dungeons will be an optional part of Guild Wars 2, for those seeking a bigger challenge and will not effect the ability to complete the personal story line.  However those not willing to enter the dungeons will miss out on its treasures as each dungeon has its own unique armor and weapons that cannot be found anywhere else.

For more detailed information about dungeons in GW2, head over the the official site.

Game designer, Jonathan “Chaplan” Sharp, for ArenaNet today released some juicy information as to how swimming and diving would work in Guild Wars 2.

To start off, all players will automatically have a default underwater breathing apparatus to help them swim around while exploring the depths of lakes, rivers and other bodies of water.  There are of course upgrades that can be obtained, which presume will help you breath for longer periods of time.

For players unfortunate enough to drown or are near drowning there are a few ways they can be revived.

• You kill an opponent, which will cause you to rally.
• An ally can revive you, just as they can above water.
• You reach the surface of the water, where you will stop drowning and regain health. When your health bar fills all the way you’ll be revived.

There is also a big difference between swimming and diving.  Mainly you cannot attack while swimming, however creatures underwater will be able to attack you.  Thankfully the switch from swimming to diving is quite easy, simply tilt your camera down and keep moving forward, which will make your character dive below the waves. When this happens, you will automagically switch to your underwater weapon set, your underwater skill setup, and your breathing device.  Jumping off a cliff into water will also automatically put you in diving mode.

Continued…

During this years E3, Bioware showed off one of the missions players can expect when they reach the planet Alderaan in Star Wars: The Old Republic.

It’s a group mission where the players must confront a Republic war hero-turned-power hungry King who has seized control of the throne in a misguided bid to protect his people from an impending Sith invasion. The gameplay showed during E3 has been edited into a highlights reel and since this was not one of the videos official released on the SWtoR website during E3, we decided to post it here incase you missed it.  Enjoy.

The next major content update, Episode 6: Legacy of Darkness, is set for release sometime this summer in Cabal Online.  The dark lords of the Metal Clan are rising and the citizens of Nevareth will have to face their greatest challenge yet.

Legacy of Darkness will introduce new bosses, a dungeon point system, a revamped upgrading system and a brand new instance called Maquinas Outpost.  The new instance will feature a unique-time extension system where players will need to defeat a boss under a certain amount of time to extend the timer.  Rewards such as the powerful Drei Frame armour await those brave and strong enough to fight their way through the gruelling encounters.

Players completing Maquinas Outpost as well as other major dungeons will, for the first time, earn Dungeon Points through the brand new DP system. These points will be earned in all of the games major dungeons and will be exchangeable at a brand new NPC for some incredible rewards.

Below we have a list of some of the major changes coming to Cabal Online with Episode 6: Legacy of Darkness:

• Revamped upgrading system, giving the player greater control over the process.
• New Pets
• New Class-binding Armour
• New upgrading system for Astral Bikes
• New Astral Bike customisation items
• Improved Boss droprate
• Improved dungeon droprate
• Increased success rate for crafting Blended Runes
• New Damage Amplifiers for the Mission War
• New SP-dice when completing a dungeon
• Added ability to rejoin a solo-dungeon even after a disconnect
• Renamed Epic Items

The second large scale PvP tournament, the Epic Sea Feud, for Uncharted Waters Online was announced today.  The Feud pits six nations against each other for three days of glorious, sea fairing combat.  Spain, England, Venice, Netherlands, Portugal and France will all square off in battle that will rage for 3 days straight, with 3 hours of daily battle time allotted to time zones around the world.

Winning nations will earn fame while gaining strategic control of allied ports and their nearby oceans. As an added incentive, key players who lead their team to victory will be rewarded with Court Rank. All participants, regardless of outcome, will complete the Epic Sea Feud Quest and receive both Ducat currency and Battle Fame.

The Epic Sea Feud also lines up with a double XP promotion, so players can not only rack up big prizes for participating in the Sea Feud, but they’ll rack up the XP as well.

Below are the details and times for when the Epic Sea Feud will begin. Good luck.

Epic Sea Feud details:

Location:
Allied Port: Tunis Port
Offensive: France with England and Portugal as her ally
Defensive: Venice with Netherlands and Spain as her ally

Time:

• 1st Round: June 23th 7:00pm – 10:00pm [PST]
• 2nd Round: June 24th 7:00pm – 10:00pm [PST]
• 3rd Round: June 25th 7:00pm – 10:00pm [PST]

Epic Sea Feud rewards:
All weekend long, log on for the following bonuses and buffs.

• Double Experience: level up twice as fast!
• Sailing consumes 50% less water and food
• +1 to all battle skills
• 100% success rate for Body Language skill