• Pwnage Honing

    Age Of Conan Noteriety System Coming Very Soon

    A little while ago, Age of Conan developers Funcom added the first portion of their player versus player overhaul, putting in place incentives to PVP such as the PVP leveling system that rewards you for killing other players. Unfortunately that half of the overhaul didn't contain consequences for just murdering anyone who happens by, bringing back memories of the early days of Ultima Online, where chopping wood resulted in "OooOooOOoOo" nine times out of ten. Now game director Craig Morrison tells Eurogamer that the Notoriety System, which makes it significantly less attractive to kill everyone, could be in place as early as next week.

    It works like this: You begin as an innocent. Killing another innocent makes you a criminal with a bounty on your head, and killing enough makes you a murderer who gets attacked by town guards. Killing criminals and murderers doesn't hurt a player's reputation at all. It's a nifty system that I am rather looking forward to having in place. Until then, I hide.

    Conan PVP consequences "very soon"     [Eurogamer]

    9:40 AM on Fri Oct 24 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    1,709 views, 29 comments

    Most discussed Comatose Turtle thinks ganguro are dreamy: Holy crap, just now adding this? I was a sniveling coward in that game, constantly looking over my shoulder and more »

  • warhammer online

    Warhammer Online Doubles Open-World RVR XP

    If you understood the headline you probably know this already, but it bears mentioning anyway. Mythic really, really wants people to kill each other in Warhammer Online, and not just in their encapsulated little battlegrounds scenarios. They want the conflict to rage across the open-world areas as well, and in order to encourage this they've doubled the experience gained from killed the enemy in open Realm versus Realm combat.

    With the addition of the new region-wide and RvR-wide chat channels we have seen a marked increase in Open RvR participation. In order to encourage this trend even further, we have made an additional adjustment to the experience awarded for killing enemy players in an Open RvR area. Previously we increased this amount by 50%. As of today, that bonus has been raised to 100%. With this change players killed in Open RvR will now be worth double the experience than those killed in scenarios!

    I just can't understand why this is necessary. Going from questing one minute to rolling over the forces of Chaos in a giant warband is one of the best things about the game. Perhaps it just takes a bit of coercing to snap people out of the World of Warcraft queuing up for PVP mentality. either way, more XP for me!

    Experience Enhancements - Phase III [Warhammer Online]

    8:40 AM on Thu Oct 23 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    2,559 views, 69 comments

    Most discussed Thrillkiller: Its the end of the free month of play, so WAR is going to pull some sort of stunt to more »

  • runescape

    Runescape Launches PVP Worlds

    In the works for quite awhile, primitive though still wildly popular among fans free MMO Runescape has just launched PVP worlds, special PVP servers where players can fight against other players with their precious, precious items at risk. Characters are required to have a combat level of 20 to even enter a PVP world, where combat may be initiated anywhere but a few choice safe areas such as banks, a fact that is sure to make banks very crowded indeed.

    Not only is player killing encouraged, it is even rewarded, with item drops pulled from the opposing player's inventory and a special PVP world loot table which includes new PVP specific combat items and XP increasing gloves. The more time you spend in open PVP, the better the rewards. If you can get past Runescape's dated look and feel it could very well be a free PVP paradise. Hit the link for more details.

    15 October 2008 - PvP Worlds [Runescape - Thanks Alan!]

    8:40 AM on Wed Oct 15 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    6,008 views, 51 comments

    Most discussed pieisdelicioushere: Just what the MMO world needs, more crappy attempts to copy WOW! more »

  • Game Updates

    Age Of Conan's All-Dancing, All-PVPing Evolution Plans

    So Funcom and Eidos released Age of Conan, and hundreds of thousands of players have signed up...what now? The two companies have revealed their plans for evolving Age of Conan over the coming months, with heaps of new content influenced directly by player feedback in the pipes.

    It all starts out later this month with a major PVP update, which they are calling "To The Death." The update will institute consequences and rewards for engaging in PVP battles, including the promised PVP leveling system and a Fugitive system, that will make it easier for other players to hunt you down the more lower-level characters you kill.

    Other planned updates include guild alliance warfare, allowing guilds to team up and even form alliance keeps while fighting over "wonders of the world" that grant special powers, a system of in-game achievements called Powerpoints that will reward players for completing various tasks with points they can spend on special gear and powers, new areas to quest in, and a combo-based dancing system motion captured from professional dance artists. Joy! Hit the jump for more details on the evolution of Age of Conan. More »

    8:40 AM on Fri Jun 13 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    6,728 views, 44 comments

    Latest by FunkyJ: My question is why wasn't this in the game in the first place, like promised? more »

  • Expansionism

    EVE Online Enters Empyrean Age

    The latest expansion to CCP Games' deep space MMO EVE Online has just gone live, bringing space-miners, space-moguls, and space-fighters alike into the Empyrean Age. The expansion focuses on two of the most important aspects of any MMO, storyline and PVP, introducing factional warfare, a system of militia ranks, system occupancy, combat zones, and factional warfare bases for players to capture and control. Each of the factions now has a corporation open to all pilots to help coordinate war efforts.

    Along with all of the healthy player killing comes an entirely new region called Black Rise, which contains 49 new star systems and 40 new stations, many of which are already sworn to a specific faction.

    It sounds to me like folks hungry for some ship-on-ship PVP might want to sign up for their umpteenth free trial of EVE Online.

    Empyrean Age Features Page [EVE Online]

    8:20 AM on Wed Jun 11 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    2,172 views, 36 comments

    Latest by Replica23: @robo-magic: "If I didn't have a full time job, a girlfriend and a life, I would totally play EVE Online..." *rolls more »

  • age of conan

    PVP In The Age Of Conan

    From here on out, game trailers lose points with me if they don't have a guy green-screened over the gameplay footage, pointing out features like some gaming weather man. Witness Age of Conan product manager Erling Ellingsen (whose name does amazing things to the tongue) discussing the finer point of PVP in the game, from the PVP level system to the different locations available for wholesale slaughter of your fellow players in Hyboria. I love how he calls them PVP mini-games. Makes me think that at any moment Wario is going to pop out and demand you pick his nose in under three seconds, which is a feature that would completely sell me on the game.

    2:00 PM on Thu Apr 24 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    19,699 views, 71 comments

    Latest by psychobaka: @Alith: I am very aware that WoW is not original in its interface or game design by any means. more »

  • world of warcraft

    Blizzard Launches Global WoW Arena Tournaments

    If you're one of those obnoxious World of Warcraft players always bragging in general chat about how much ass you kick in the PVP arena, it's time to put your money where your mouth is. No no, stop stuffing dollar bills up your ass - what I mean is Blizzard is launching a new type of Global Arena Tournament, where for a buy in price ($20 USD) players can hop on a special realm, create a level 70 with epic gear, and battle it out 3-vs.-3 style for a chance at a $75,000 grand prize.
    "eSports is one of the most exciting facets of online gaming today," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're pleased to expand World of Warcraft's tournament options for players who want to focus mainly on the competitive aspect of the game."
    Tournaments are scheduled to begin in April with online qualifiers in Europe, South Korea, North America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau. Hit the jump for the full details complete with a run down of the fabulous cash and prizes up for grabs. More »

    8:20 AM on Fri Feb 15 2008
    By Mike Fahey
    3,838 views, 48 comments

    Latest by 1ronm4n90: i wonder if someone is worthy? can i be beaten? with epic gear i wonder if anyone in the world more »

  • clips

    Furious Fury Combat Trailer

    Auron is ready to start sending out invitations for the first round of closed beta testing for its massively multiplayer online PVP game, Fury, and to commemorate the occasion they've released this gameplay trailer showing you what kind of action you can expect to run into should you be picked. If you like what you see you can still head over to Unleashthefury.com and give signing up a go. I've not had my hands on the game since GDC but what I saw was definitely worth looking into.

    12:20 PM on Mon Jul 2 2007
    By Mike Fahey
    5,225 views, 32 comments

    Latest by Furious_Liver: I'm drawn to the title of this game. ;D @Huginn: Oh please you know you wanna see the Super Robot Taisen more »

  • penny arcade

    Time on Web Comics

    One more nail in newspapers' coffin. More »
  • lineage ii

    Lineage II's Chaotic Chronicle Concludes


    Lineage II, the massively popular (just not in the states) MMORPG and an excellent place to get your ass handed to you over and over again by very pretty polygons is moving into a new era, as NCSoft announces The Chaotic Throne - Interlude. This update serves to bridge the ending of the Chaotic Chronicle and the beginning of a brand new chapter in the game's storyline, which I would have loved to delve into had you people stopped killing me for a minute. The update introduces a new dinosaur-themed zone, over 15,000 new items, more weapon upgrade options, a dueling system where you can get your fight on without harassing new players, more quests and over 60 new skills. Also of note are Shadow Weapons, which are cheap versions of high-level weapons with a limited duration, an innovation I completely approve of. The update will hit sometime in April of this year. Michael Fahey More »

    9:20 AM on Wed Feb 21 2007
    By Mike Fahey
    3,708 views, 13 comments