I enjoy going to the unexpected districts and seeing some of the less salubrious sights of Fallen London. However, sometimes the timing is not quite what it could be and I really wish to leave in a hurry.

In that spirit, I created this quick reference guide to Scandal. My mother would not be surprised.

You have fled Fallen London for Tomb-Colonies in an attempt to avoid the gossip. Soon, the scandal will die away and you can show your face in society again. But it is somewhat dreary. There must be ways to speed things up, mustn’t there?

[More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

I don’t usually do editorial links on MMORPG-Info but this is important. On the front page of Blizzard Entertainment you will see the announcement:

With the launch of our new Battle.net, we’ll be making some changes to how players and Blizzard posters are represented on our official forums. Click here to read about our plans for integrating Real ID into our official forums, learn about the design philosophy behind the changes we’re making, and find out about some other upcoming features designed to make the forums a more enjoyable place to visit.

Ashelia has written a great article for Hellmode explaining why this is crazy talk: Why Real ID is a Really Bad Idea | Hellmode [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

These posts, which I originally filed under EQ2 Quests and Factions, are no longer being updated. As far as I know, the information in them is still current but I have taken the individual links out of the sidebar.

EQ2 Quests and Faction Guides

• Chronomagic (Automentoring)
• Kunark Faction Overview
• Kunark Faction Rewards
• Kunark Language Quests
• Lavastorm Essence Rewards
• Lore and Legend Books
• Order of the Rime

If anyone would like to submit up-to-date information, I’m more than happy to post the details.

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

APB (All Points Bulletin) is a recently released MMORPG by the talent from Realtime Worlds (of Crackdown fame) and published by Electronic Arts. The game has been in development since 2005, with a long history of delays, recently bucked by a release 3 months earlier than previously expected.

The core idea is a city-wide game of cops and robbers where players can play either side, Enforcers or Criminals and make themselves legends within their chosen faction.

APB’s server strategy has had many different influences, including the experiences of Realtime World’s Creative Director, Dave Jones, with Dark Age of Camelot. He refers specifically to an incident where a French language server was merged with an English server, causing a language barrier which soured the game for many players. As a result of his experiences, he wanted a MMO that didn’t need large amounts of players on a server to survive, allowing each player to play the game his way, without interfering with what other people wanted to do. To this effect, APB features a interesting method of handling servers. The world is separated within two Districts (or zones): the Social District and the Action District.

The Social District, a 100,000 population server, is where players can socialize as well as customize clothing, tattoos and cars (more on that later). The Action District is where players get into the meaty part of the game, with non-stop chaos and bullets. When a player accepts a job, he (and his group) are taken to one of the many 100-user, low-population servers which comprise the Action District. Within the standard Action District, players may only interact with cars and other players related to their primary mission, so Criminals need not fear getting several groups of Enforcers on their tails randomly. [More...]

Posted by Conot on http://mmorpg-info.org.

I know I have a lot of European readers and so I’m thinking this contest might be of interest. Radisson Blu Hotels are holding an easy-to-enter competition with a great prize: 365 hotel nights! I’m thinking if they have wi-fi, you could simply move in. Radisson Blu have created a website dedicated to this event: The Greatest Holiday in the World. They give you 5 years in which to use up the dates and you can choose your locations. [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

When looking at new games to make sure you get value for money, it can be useful to get an outside opinion but not everyone has the same taste. A group of reviews balanced against each other can be much more useful for making a decision than a single review without context from the reviewer. As a result, we’ve been running a series of reviews for games for the Xbox, Wii and PS3 to help you better know the pros and cons of the new releases.

Wukung has already rated a number of games this year, including Darksiders, Bayonetta, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Mass Effect 2, Dante’s Inferno, BioShock 2, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, Heavy Rain and Yakuza 3, Bad Company 2, Half Minute Hero, BlazBlue, Red Steel 2 as well as Disgaea 2, FFXIII, Just Cause 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Nier, Super Street Fighter IV and Iron Man 2! Here is his latest set of reviews, exclusively available on MMORPG-Info.

–Taymar

3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

Retro action adventure in the style of the classic 2D Zelda games, with a fun twist on the 2D graphics. While 3D Dot Game Heroes does borrow heavily from the original Zelda, the gameplay brings just enough of its own ideas to feel functional as both a homage and its own unique entity. Its retro gameplay is less sophisticated and accessible than even early Zelda games in some ways. I had a lingering feeling I would have enjoyed actually revisiting Zelda: Link to the Past more but this loving homage still has its moments and the character editor adds a fair bit of entertainment value.
7/10 [More...]

Posted by Wukung on http://mmorpg-info.org.

Backyard Monsters is currently one of the popular apps on Facebook, a multi-player tower defence strategy game by the Casual Collective. If you’re just getting started, take a look at my introductory post and the excellent FAQ on the official forums by Lara Leise.

By about level 20 to 25 your rate of production gets very slow in comparison to the resources needed for upgrades. The solution is to attack other players and carry off a silo full of everything you need. Of course the same is true for them too…

Defence

The only reliable defence you have is towers so you need to make sure they are safe. Pack all your towers as close together as you can (known as the ‘Big Dumb Bunch’ or BDB), plonk the town hall and your silos next to them, ring that with a wall (but leave strategic gaps – I’ll get onto that) and put the twig snappers, putty squishers etc. around that.

Everything else is too low priority to bother trying to defend. [More...]

Posted by Aach on http://mmorpg-info.org.

E3 2010, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, was held in Los Angeles this week and the gaming news sites have been overflowing with exciting news about upcoming releases. The exposition is over now and it’s taken me this long to go through all the announcements of interesting new games and pretty trailers. I’ve collected my favorite pieces from around the Web in this round-up.

I know it’s early days yet but I’m cautiously hopeful about the Warhammer 40K MMORPG:
Previews – E3 First Impressions – MMORPG.com

The game play looked great, there were Titans in the world and marines blasting away with their bolters. Orks wildly driving around and screaming as Orks do. At one point in the trailer we do see the UI pop up and I have to go back and pause it to see what they are working with and if any clues to the design of the game come up. There appeared to be a lot of different Space Marine chapters in the game just by seeing the armor sets they were wearing. Things do move fast in the trailer, but many of the fans I saw at the show were pleased.

I don’t know about the gameplay of this one but I can’t stop watching – it’s just so damn pretty: [More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.

Backyard Monsters is currently one of the popular apps on Facebook, a multi-player tower defence strategy game by the Casual Collective.

This game is a nice balance of simplicity and complexity. You are not punished harshly for learning slowly but there are a few things to know that are not immediately obvious.

The starter protection lasts for 14 days, which is about twice the time you need to get a decent defence ready. You don’t need to optimise every action and become Back Yard Monster Zen-Master.

The first section of the guide is about how to get started and covers about levels 1 to 20. The second section, Player vs Player, is aimed at players who have already built up their bases and are looking for a fight. [More...]

Posted by Aach on http://mmorpg-info.org.

As you pass through the Entrance to the Carnival picking up a refreshment and an education along the way and make your way past the Big Top Tents alongside the sideshows and the games tents, you will find the darker, shadier side of the Carnival. This is where all the exciting things happen.

Beneath the Neath

Descend PRECIPITOUSLY to ABYSSAL DEPTHS! EXPLORE the unknown CHASM!

The carnival’s big wheel lowers brave customers into the earth. It almost always brings them back, too.

[More...]

Posted by Taymar on http://mmorpg-info.org.