World of Warcraft

Is it just me, or did E3 actually have a decent amount of MMO news?  This week we’ve seen a few updates, in both patching and in news, and as always some awesome videos.  The thing I’m most excited for is Warhammer 40k: Dark Millennium.  For serious, I’ve been waiting for this MMO since high school, I’m not even kidding.  Even still, I’m not sure how I’m going to choose that over The Old Republic.  I’ve been waiting for THAT game since I was a small child.  I’m pretty certain my high school self could beat up my child self, but I wonder who’d be the most determined, especially since in high school I was playing Everquest.  There were no MMORPGs when I was watching Star Wars for the first time, so maybe TOR will win.  It’s not important, onto the n

This week we take a look more at the Star Warsy side of things, as well as dashing hopes, Going Rogue, and some other fun stuff.  A little light on the news this week, but that's to be expected with E3 right around the corner.  I hope what I have is adequate and be ready for what I'm sure will be a little bit more next week.

Apparently, Mondays aren’t the best time to do this, so I’m going to start doing this on Wednesday and see where it takes me.  I really enjoy seeing the state of MMOs because it’s so much more important than on other games.  Whereas a game can be produced and patched for a time, if it’s not being constantly monitored, an MMO becomes lost or not even really a game anymore.  So let’s see how long I can keep this up.

This week we hit APB, Aion, Champions Online, City of Heroes, Everquest 1 and 2, FFXI, Fallen Earth, Global Agenda, Warhammer Online and World of Warcraft.

It seems like everything that the Blizzard store recently just posted has been successful, but has also caused a lot of heated discussion and controversy.  First, there was the news about the first mount that was officially on sale for the price of $25.  Now, Lil' XT is getting it's fair share of news (and complaints).  Hit the break for more.

[Source: MMO Champion]

This week has been filled with news and controversy behind the World of Warcraft's new Celestial Steed. Some are more than excited to dish out $25 for the star pony, while others see it as Blizzard compromising values for corporatism and profits similar to the behavior of their fellow merged company. Opinions aside, Blizzard has made statements regarding the mount and their decision to sell it.  Hit the break for more.

Yesterday, Blizzard posted two new items to the Blizzard store, one of which was the first functioning mount that was officially on sale: The Celestial Steed.  Today, gamers, journalists and businessmen are astounded by just how much Blizzard profited from their digital stallion.  Hit the break for more.

Blizzard's online store has always had plenty of treats to supply their fans.  Whether it's pets, plushies or posters, the place has always had novelty items for both in-game and in real life for gamers to enjoy.  This morning, the store introduced two new products to its line up.  Hit the break for more.

[Source: MMO Champion]

Blizzard has always introduced incentives for World of Warcraft subscribers to help them make more money introduce new players to their MMORPG.  Convinced that the famous Zhevra mount was not the right prize for referrers, Blizzard announced they're introducing a new two-person flying mount to the masses.  Hit the break for more.

Blizzard recently previewed the upcoming features that Battle.net will provide. "Fully integrated, user-friendly, and fast, the all-new Battle.net makes it easy to find and play games, opening the world of online gaming to generations of players." The preview was tailored to StarCraft II, however they mention how it will affect all of the current and future games, certainly Diablo III. Key features touched on were an "always-connected experience" that will allow players to chat with friends, unlock achievements, and receive game updates (think Steam); Arena matchmaking that will make more sense than World of Warcraft's system; A social network that will span all games on Battle.net; Support for community-created addons.

Since the inception of World of Warcraft, and MMOs in general, finding a group to run dungeons has been the bane of the majority of players, with the exception of tanks and healers. Although Patch 3.3.0 has been live since early December, only until now have I been able to use it extensively. Despite this I will give a brief explanation of the new system. The major feature is the cross-realm instancing, which works exactly like cross-realm battlegrounds. Players queue up as one or more roles (tank, healer, dps) and should they choose, as the dungeon guide (party leader).