Introducing, The Elder Scrolls Online

Bethesda Softworks is taking The Elder Scrolls online. The game maker announced last week that it is developing a massively multiplayer online (MMO) version of its popular franchise. The Elder Scrolls Online is in development at ZeniMax Online Studios under the direction of director Matt Firor. It will be available on PCs and Macs sometime next year.

Bethesda promised more information about the MMO in the June issue of Game Informer. In a preview, the magazine said "players will discover an entirely new chapter of Elder Scrolls history in this ambitious world, set a millennium before the events of Skyrim as the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm." Introductory video after the break.

Firor had this to say:

We have been working hard to create an online world in which players will be able to experience the epic Elder Scrolls universe with their friends, something fans have long said they wanted. It will be extremely rewarding finally to unveil what we have been developing the last several years. The entire team is committed to creating the best MMO ever made – and one that is worthy of The Elder Scrolls franchise.

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Proving Grounds: Guild Wars 2- Beta Weekend Experience

As many of the MMO community already know, Guild Wars 2 was made available for pre-order last month. Along with pre-order came an opportunity for a beta weekend playable from April 27-29. On what many would consider an impulse buy, I pre-ordered the game just hours before it sold out digitally, and gained access to the beta with fist raised in the air. As some of the the podcast listeners might now, Dustin and I also had the first Geek Retreat the same weekend. We both holed ourselves up in his man cave and began a mystical journey of Geekdom. Watching movies and playing Guild Wars 2. The following article will very briefly overview my experience with the beta, and discuss the pros and cons of the highly anticipated 2012 MMORPG. Continue after the jump for my GW2 dissertation.

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'EVE Online' economy under attack

One of the many facets of MMO gaming is the very intricate, and sometimes delicate, economy which resides in game.  In games like World Of Warcraft, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Everquest, there have been attempts to bring said economy to a fixed location, but usually the game developers have thwarted those efforts in the past.  EVE online -- the ever popular space-based MMORG -- has come under economic fire this past week by a group known as Goonswarm.  Goonswarm is attempting to bring the EVE online economy to its knees, and the strangest part? Developer CCP is loving it!

Goonswarm leader Alexander "The Mittani" Gianturco is leading "Burn Jita:" an attack on hi-sec space that's intended to crash the game's market for an important resource and cut off trillions of player-made assets through blockades. Eurogamer reports that The Mittani and his team of over 1,500 players have spent months planning the Jita attack, and have built an army of 15,000 small, single-purpose suicide ships that render the protection of Hi-sec's AI police useless. So far, they've destroyed thousands of ships, and continue to attack vessels in hi-sec space — but it's not clear if the attack has succeeded in crashing the market, as conflicting reports about its stability have surfaced on the web.

Here is what CCP is saying on the subject:

I tell you what, it’s going to be f*&$%* brilliant. They’re going to do exactly what you’re able to do in the game, and people will have to roll with it. It’ll be great. We want people to be able to do this. If Goonswarm want to do it, we want them to do it and we want them to have a great time doing it… Last night I got an email – Jita was at 2100. Time dilation kicked in at 15 percent. And there were people just watching the s&*% that was going down. It was brilliant. It was absolutely great.

Meanwhile, lead game designer Kristoffer Touborg’s simply fascinated by the potential outcomes of this absurdly large-scale invasion. At the moment, he sees it as a chance to wipe the slate clean and force players to pull themselves up by their bootstraps again.

The people they’re going to hurt now are people who have quite a lot of security. There’s not a lot of turnaround on ships and goods in Empire. I think it might be healthy if we lose a lot of this industrial power, if they have to go back and save up for their ships again and be a part of the cycle of life everyone else is a part of. I don’t like complete security, and I do like when a large group of players who live in complete security have that pulled away temporarily. It’s going to be healthy.

If you would like to watch the madness unfold, there are many livestreams covering the events in realtime.

Korean MMO 'Tera' Gets a Release Date

The much anticipated and much talked about Korean MMO 'Tera' or "The Exiled Realm of Arborea' has been given a release date for May 1, 2012. Tera has the normal fantasy MMO feel of questing and common fantasy archetypes with skills and talents but what sets it apart is the breath taking graphics and combat. Instead of the standard click and attack feel of the World of Warcraft type MMO, Tera has a hack and slash action combat system instead. The combat feels more like an action game and the ranged classes feel more like a third person shooter.  It will be interesting to see this game first hand.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Levels 1-25 Review

Well after almost 48 hours, multiple trips to Sombrero’s Mexican Food 24-hour drive thru, and twenty-five levels, I am ready to rundown my full synopsis of Star Wars: The Old Republic.

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Star Wars: The Old Republic - Beta test weekend 11/25

Recently every single account that had signed up for a chance to test TOR before 11/11/11 was sent an email confirming their place in an upcoming test. What BioWare didn't do, was tell the millions of fans when they would be able to test their up-and-coming MMORPG set in the Star Wars Universe. Minutes ago a tweet revealed that the biggest beta weekend in SWTOR history will take place during the weekend of November 25, if you have yet to sign up for the beta, codes are still available! get your code if you didn't recieve a beta test email from BioWare. Will you play Sith or Republic? Let us know in the comments, as well as how you like the TOR beta experience.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - Collector's Edition Unboxing

If you have the cash, check out what you'll be getting in the Collector's Edition of EA and Bioware's The Old Republic... if you dont, at least they were nice enough to show us.

Tribes: Ascend- Beta Footage

How amazing does this game look? Did I mention it is being developed as a F2P (free to play)

Social Gaming Reboot: Wizardia

Most social networking games like FarmVille, or Happy Island are anything but social. Wizardia, a new game created by Lithuanian developers Yummi, is setting out to change all that.

StarCraft:Universe MMO - Limited Release!

The community Mod add-on for StarCraft II:Wings of Liberty, called StarCraft: Universe is a World of Warcraft based MMO set in the Starcraft universe....And with Blizzcon tomorrow, its open to the public, at least till October 30, 2011.

The game is available on Battle.net to try out, so hurry up and get a test run in before the 30th! More news to follow as Blizzcon kicks off this weekend. Take a look at the games website for more info

Star Wars The Old Republic Gets a Global Release Date!

Finally, after waiting for what seems like a millenia, the MMO we have been anticipating for most of all, has a release date. Today, a cavalcade of developers from BioWare took the New York Comic-Con stage to talk about the MMO. They also announced that the December 20, 2011 is the release date for the entire world and not just North America.

Star Wars The Old Republic Sign Of War Trailer

WoW Patch 4.3 Dungeon Preview Part Three: Hour Of Twilight

Part Three!  Read on for full details!

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DC Universe Online Going 'Free to Play'

If the only thing keeping you from buying DC Universe Online is the monthly fee, then fret no more! Next month the Sony Entertainment MMO is going free to play. Both PS3 and PC players will be able to download and play the game for free as much as they want. The remaining revenue sources will be the three tiered level sytem as well as the in game microtransactions. Read on for the video as well as the official statment from SOE.

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The Old Republic: The Eternity Vault, First Look

The Old Republic has just released some end-game raid footage for, “The Eternity Vault”. Check out the video:

 We get to see some extended boss fights and engagements within the new Raid system. The game looks good, but is it the WoW killer people have been waiting for? Only time will tell. Pre-orders are available now at most major retailers.

Some things I like:

-Healer UI

-boss mechanics

-polished cut scenes before engagement

Some things I don’t like:

-blaster fire sounds annoying and with multiple troopers/agents I may have to turn the sound off

-graphics seem a little unpolished in some areas (could be beta, or the video editing)

What do you think? Leave comments below.

The Old Republic Pre-Order is live

Pre-Order of The Old Republic is open! You get early access into the game, as well as a "color stone" with purchase of Standard Edition. A Collector's Edition, Digital Deluxe edition, and Standard Edition are available for purchase, and by the sound of it, each copy of pre-order TOR comes with a que number for early game access, I am not sure if that is Beta invites or a chance to play a few days before launch. This "color stone" does exactly what it sounds like it does, change the color of your lightsaber/blaster bolts depending on your class. Keep posted for more info!

Link to pre-order!

New CAD Comic: 'Exclusive'

Tim Buckley is at it again.  A look into the past to what we were all thinking about the future.  This is funny stuff people.  Click the image to read on.

Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Intro Cinematic Video

The Sith have returned. Enough said.