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Star Trek Online Recent Developments

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 13:21:59 +0000

It’s only been a little over a month since the release of this, at least to me, very fun game and the developers seem to be working constantly with squashing bugs and more importantly adding new content.

The first Special Task Force “Infected” was released adding more PvE content into the game. Additionally, another STF, “The Cure” was opened last week giving both Klingon and Federation players a chance to battle against a common enemy, the Borg. Also, a test server named Tribble is now up and everyone can jump in and test new changes and additions to the game.

Shortly, there will be another content update released called “Common Ground”. There’s a lot of changes and additions in it so read about it below.

PVP Updates

Wargames – Federation players can now participate in PvP against one another to better prepare for the dangers of the battlefield.
New PvP Map – Explore “Shanty Town,” a brand new Ground Assault map available for both Klingon and Federation players.

Customization

Off-Duty Uniforms – Experience DS9 in style! Starfleet officers will have the option to change into off-duty outfits to enjoy more casual attire.
New Stances and Hairstyles – Further customize your Captain by changing his or her hairstyle, or adopting two brand new stances: Stern and Relaxed.
The Captain’s Log – A web-based application to check in on you and your friends’ Captains and ships.

Ships

A New Klingon Battle Cruiser – The K’Tanco Battle Cruiser has been made available to Klingon Lieutenant Commanders.
Klingon Ship Customization – Use the ship tailor to customize your Bird of Prey, Carrier or Raptor.

Missions

New Fleet Actions Everywhere!
- The Big Dig – Available in Romulan space.
- DS9 Under Siege – The True Way has attacked and boarded DS9. Repel the invasion to save the day.
- Klingons Can Play, Too – Klingon Captains may now access the Crystalline Entity, Big Dig and Breaking the Planet Fleet Actions

Skills

Respec Is Here – Unhappy with your Captain’s skill point allocation? Use the respec tool to change things up. (Available both in-game and as a C-store item.)
New Skill: Starship Attack Vectors – Improve your ship’s accuracy and critical hit chance.
New Skill: Combat Maneuvers – Improve your ship’s evasion and turn rate.
New Skill: Starship Battle Strategy – Improve your ship’s critical hit severity and damage resistance.

In The C-Store

New Bridge Variants – All new ways to update your Bridges’ look, available for a low price in the C-Store for both Federation and Klingon ships.
Federation Ship Variants – New takes on your old favorites, available for a low price in the C-Store.
Respec – Unhappy with your Captain’s skill point allocation? Use the respec tool to change things up.
Character Slot – Purchase an additional character slot if you’d like to have more than three characters on your account.
Rename – Changed your mind about the cool name you chose? Get it legally changed! Recognized across the Alpha Quadrant.
New Federation Playable Species – Become a Tellarite, Pakled or Rigelian.

The Klingons have again much to look forward to as new PvE content becomes available to them. I already wanted to make a Klingon but since their gameplay is almost entirely PvP for now it just doesn’t appeal to me that much. The best and most anticipated new feature is most definitely the Respec option: I don’t think there’s a player who didn’t waste skill points on something unnecessary. I’m a bit disappointed though as this is a paid feature, but hopefully it won’t cost too much. Who knows, with a bit of luck we might even get one freebie!

Starcraft 2 Beta & System Requirements

admin — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:42:37 +0000

After years of development and anticipation, Starcraft II has finally entered beta. If you’re one of the lucky ones who received an invite you can now test the multiplayer component of SCII.

You can read the official beta FAQ to find out how you can enter into the beta, but it’s a longshot. In case you’re interested, you will need the following system requirements:

Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Windows 7
2.2 Ghz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor
1 GB system RAM/1.5 GB for Vista and Windows 7
128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card
1024×768 minimum display resolution
4 GB free hard space (Beta)
Broadband connection

Hopefully there will be more beta invites soon and keys will likely be given on various community sites. The release date for Starcraft 2 is not yet set, but apparently the game should be out in late 2010.

What’s Next in Star Trek Online

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 20:33:47 +0000

Despite just being launched, Star Trek Online is about tor receive an interesting update in a few weeks. A lot of players have been (already) complaining about the lack of endgame content, and even more about the lack of PvE content on the Klingon faction. Apparently, the developers are keeping themselves busy and from the news posted on the official website, here’s what we’re getting:

1. Borg Invasion

Three new high-level Episodes centered around the classic Alpha Quadrant menace, the Borg:

Collateral Damage – Help save civilians caught in a battle between the Borg and Undine (Species 8472).
Recovery – In this follow-up to Collateral Damage, Rescue colonists infected by the Borg virus and fight Undine determined to destroy them!
State of Q – Q transports you back in time to do him a special favor.

In addition to this scripted content, there will also be a Borg-themed Deep Space Encounter and some exploration content.

2. Raid Episodes

Raid Episodes will be challenging new 5-man content available to both Federation and Klingon players. Here’s just some of them:

Infected – Investigate a federation station that Starfleet has lost contact with.
The Cure – A planet has been completely taken over by the Borg. Fight them for control of the planet.
Khitomer Accord – Travel back in time and uncover and participate in the events that led to the release of old Borg you encountered in the Tutorial Episode.
Into the Hive – Track down a missing Starfleet captain and come face to face with the new Borg Queen.

3. And more…

Klingon Fleet Actions – Form up with your closest friends and do battle in large engagements.
A New Klingon Ship – You asked for it, we made it: A Tier 2 Klingon Battle Cruiser.
Klingon Star Clusters – Seek out new life and civilizations … and subjugate them! Additional PvE content for the Klingon faction.
Federation vs. Federation PvP – Practice against your allies before engaging your enemies.
New Ground Maps – We’ll be adding a new Ground Assault PvP map, as well as a new ground Fleet Action.
More IP Locations – Check out Rura Penthe and our whole solar system, from Mercury to Pluto.

Bioshock 2 Launch Trailer

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:20:50 +0000

The official launch trailer for BioShock 2, featuring a cinematic preview of what it’s like to assume the role of the Big Daddy and defend Little Sisters against the infamous Big Sister.

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Bioshock 2 Launch Trailer is a post from Trolr.com

Star Trek Online Begins

admin — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 20:48:58 +0000

I haven’t posted any Star Trek Online news in awhile but that certainly doesn’t mean I lost interest in the game. Despite its negative aspects and mediocre reviews I still think the game has potential to be fun and from what I saw so far, it certainly does.

While there’s some stuff which is a bit confusing for me I seem to be getting the hang of it pretty fast. The game isn’t all that complex to tell the truth but is slightly different than from most other MMOs I tried. For now I’m sticking to Federation faction even though I can unlock Klingons (requires level 6).

The most confusing stuff about STO to me are skills, skill points, captains skills, bridge officers etc. I’m still confused as to how exactly it all works, despite reading a pretty good strategy guide which explains all that. There’s just too many abilities you need to keep track of and from what I hear you can’t max out all of them which is a shame. Anyway, I really don’t have anything useful to post for except to say I apparently messed up with traits (according to the guide at least). We’ll just have to see how it works out.

So far, my first impressions are for the most part positive and it would appear Cryptic didn’t mess up the game entirely. I’d love to suggest a few features to them but I won’t bother wasting time since most MMO developers don’t really give a crap about what people think. In the end, I just hope players will stick with STO, especially because it’s biggest competitor — Eve Online, sucks.

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Star Trek Online Begins is a post from Trolr.com

Three Great Turn-Based Games You Must Try

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:52:34 +0000

A couple of recent blog posts by Thallians and Tobolds inspired me to write my own list of fun turn-based games. While I must admit I haven’t tried all games on their lists, I’ve enjoyed a few which apparently none of their commenters did so if you’re looking for something new to play check these games out!

1. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive

Desperados is an entertaining game taking you to the wild west. You control up to, if I remember correctly, 6 characters, each of them with their own unique set of skills and abilities. The graphics are decent, the game isn’t too difficult and you’ll learn the basics in just a couple of hours.

Desperados also has a sequel which unfortunately I never tried (yet!). Grab your revolvers and Winchester rifles and get ready to spend a few days away from other games. Desperados: Wanted Dead or Alive is similar to an old classic Commandos which was unfortunately too hardcore (and too real-time) for my taste and I never managed to enjoy it.

2. Heroes of Might and Magic 3

HoMM3 appears on nearly every “classic games” list and for a good reason: it’s simply brilliant. I’ve been playing it every now and then for about 6 years now and never get tired. HoMM also has a couple of good expansions, however in my opinion all sequels suck. The game is set in a fantasy world in which you control various heroes, level them up, choose their abilities, learn spells, build cities and most importantly, fight.

It will probably take awhile to learn to play Heroes so be patient, it’s definitely worth it. The combat is probably the best I’ve ever seen and with a little creativity you’ll have no problem beating your opponents. The game also features a map editor and a random map generator which means endless fun. Try it!

3. Jagged Alliance 2

Jagged Alliance 2 is perhaps a lesser known game but nevertheless very entertaining. I’ve also been playing it on and off for years and while it doesn’t offer as much gameplay as Heroes of Might and Magic it’s still an excellent game. The storyline and cutscenes are quite impressive and even if you’re not a real fan of the genre I really suggest you try JA2.

There’s an expansion called Unfinished Business which doesn’t live up to the standards set by JA2 so don’t bother trying it. If you want a slightly improved game, check the unofficial 1.13 patch/mod.

There’s a great amount of turn based strategy games released over the years and it’s unfortunate to see the genre dying off. If you look at the list there’s apparently a number of newer turn-based games in the past few years but none that are really good and addictive. The three I mentioned above are merely my personal favorites but if you’re looking for more try Panzer General, Sid Meier’s Civilizations, Total War, and the ones mentioned on the blogs at the beginning of this post. I should note all three games I mentioned work on Win XP just find; can’t say for Vista or Win 7, but they’re extremely cheap anyway.

It’s not about graphics or shooting countless zombies: with turn based games you can really sit back, relax and enjoy gaming. If you never tried any of these games you have no idea what you’re missing.

Torchlight 50% Off This Weekend

admin — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Torchlight is a hack-and-slash game which I really enjoyed playing about a month ago. Never got the will to do a proper review, but for $20 I think the game is very much worth it.

This weekend only, Torchlight is available on Steam with a discount price: $10. That’s more than a reasonable price for a game which you will surely enjoy. It does get a bit repetitive after a few hours but not to the point where it’s annoying or boring. You’ll finish the main storyline in about 10-12 hours, which is twice as much as what Modern Warfare 2 offers for $60.

Overall while I did find a few annoyances in Torchlight (example in image: item names overlap which makes it harder to pick them up sometimes), the game is very polished, runs extremely smoothly, graphics are impressive and I didn’t notice any bugs. System requirements are laughable: you can even play the game on netbooks.

There’s some talk about Torchlight MMORPG being in development and I’m really interested to see how that turns out. Until then, $10 or even $20 for this game is definitely worth it.

Torchlight Concept Art

Torchlight Wallpapers

Torchlight Screenshots

Global Agenda: Release Date, Preorder, Beta

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:14:35 +0000

In the most recent Global Agenda newsletter details have been released about the release date, pre-order bonuses and the start of beta.

About Global Agenda
Release Date
Pre-order Bonuses
System Requirements
Gameplay Videos
Screenshots

About Global Agenda

Story:

2155. From the ashes of the devastating Third Great War rose the Commonwealth, an oppressive world government determined to control the entire planet. The few remaining independent factions retaliate the only way they can, with elite teams of special operatives trained in advanced warfare tactics and equipped with high-tech weaponry. The future of humanity is their battleground, where knowledge is power, technology is a race, and everyone has a Global Agenda.

Features:

Create your agent – Create, customize, and develop multiple agent characters, complementing your FPS skills with accessible RPG-style progression. Unlock weaponry and cutting edge devices including jetpacks, grenade launchers, mines, deployable turrets, stealth suits, holographic decoys, robotic droids and HUNDREDS of others.
Co-Op with friends online – Four players share the same online mission experience – working as a team, communicating via built-in text and voice chat, infiltrating facilities, defeating end bosses, and earning technology upgrades.
Compete in fast-paced, multiplayer matches – Teamwork and tactics are paramount within objective-based game types designed from the ground up to support intense and balanced player vs. player combat.

Release Date

First, the most important news: Global Agenda will be released on February 1, 2010. I certainly hope Hi-Rez Studios knows what they’re doing: if you’re been paying attention you should notice Star Trek Online is scheduled for release only a day after. While these two games don’t have much in common, it’s not always a wise idea to release two MMORPG’s in such a short timespan. Warhammer Online for example was released just a couple of months before Wrath of the Lich King, and it definitely hurt their subscriber numbers. I might be wrong and this may not have a huge impact on these two upcoming games, but if I have to choose (and I do), I definitely choose Star Trek.

Pre-Order Bonuses

You can pre-purchase Global Agenda from Steam (digital download) or from Amazon (special limited edition box). Customers who pre-purchase the game will receive the following benefits:

Access to GA Beta – it will be available in January, but the exact dates are yet to be revealed
Exclusive in-game head flair – special in-game helmet captured from the Commonwealth and exclusive Elf head flair
Reserve Your Player Name and Agency Name – prior to the release you will be able to log in and make sure nobody uses your favorite character and Agency name
Pre-download of the game
Free 1 month Conquest subscription – all players who prepurchase will receive a one month worth of Conquest subscription (normal price $13)

If you ask me the benefits are hardly worth it unless you’re absolutely sure you will love this game. Not that you get much more by pre-ordering other games, but still you don’t get anything spectacular. Still, if you want to pre-order here’s the link again.

The game requires a one-time purchase but if you want to experience the full … experience, you probably will want to subscribe. It’s called a Conquest subscription and gives you access to Alliance vs. Alliance (AvA) world domination gameplay, mail system, crafting and new areas. Basically, you need to dish out $12,99 / €10,99 each month, otherwise you’ll be missing out on quite a few gameplay elements.

System Requirements

Minimum System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit)
Processor: 2.4+ GHZ Single Core
RAM: 2 GB (XP), 3GB (Vista, Windows 7)
Video Card: 256mb video ram or better with Shader Model 3.0+ (GeForce 8 series or higher/Radeon HD3000 series or higher)
Hard Drive: 15 GB free space
High bandwidth internet connection (DSL, Cable)

Recommended System Requirements:

OS: Windows XP SP2, Windows Vista SP1 or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit)
Processor: 2.4+ GHZ Dual Core
RAM: 3 GB (XP), 4GB (Vista, Windows 7)
Video Card: 512mb video ram or better with Shader Model 3.0+
Hard Drive: 20 GB free space
High bandwidth internet connection (DSL, Cable)

Gameplay Videos

Fan-made gameplay vid:

Official Gameplay Trailer:

Screenshots

Star Trek Online News Bombing

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:52:37 +0000

Last few days there’s more talk about Star Trek Online then ever. There’s a bunch of new articles, news, interviews and videos so if you’re interested check some of it below:

TenTonHammer’s crafting interview with Lead Designer Al Rivera.
Craig and Jack’s letters to Santa on TenTonHammer.
MMORPG’s character customization preview.
STOked’s interview with Producer Daniel Stahl.
Playhard’s interview with Jack Emmert.
Startrekonline.hu’s interview with Craig.
Gamereactor’s interview with Daniel Stahl. (Google translate version.)
STO Q&A at Remnant Gaming

Star Trek Online: Reach for the Stars / Explore, Discover, Engage Trailer

Star Trek Online: Starbase 24 Trailer

Best 2009 Christmas Gifts For Gamers

admin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:27:38 +0000

Everyone’s going crazy as always around Christmas, and picking gifts for people can only add up to the overall frustration, especially if you’re buying games or hardware. Gamers are picky and most of the time if we want a game, we already bought it. But just in case you have no clue what to give someone and need a bit of inspiration, check out some of the following pieces.

1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

This is without a doubt the most sought item this year. You may hold a grudge against Modern Warfare 2 due to its very short singleplayer campaign, but you can’t deny its entertaining features. It’s definitely the best game you can give away, in case the person you’re giving it to didn’t already buy it. I’d double-check first.

2. Dragon Age: Origins

If you haven’t heard anything about Dragon Age: Origins you’re either living under a rock or have an ad-blocker extension for your browser. Not only are there ads about the game on nearly every gaming website, people are writing about it non-stop and for good reason: it’s one of the best RPG’s released in a long time. It’s a great looking single-player game so if you know someone who’s into RPG’s he will certainly appreciate it.

3. Aion

Aion is yet another RPG, just MMO. While MMO games are not everyone’s favorite genre, Aion is decently polished and fun — at least for awhile. While I complained about the game once of twice before, it’s probably the next best MMORPG next to World of Warcraft. I seriously doubt you know anyone who didn’t try WoW yet so you can scratch that game off the list, but you can get gamecards — it’s pretty inexpensive but nevertheless a good and useful gift.

4. Left 4 Dead 2

Slaughtering gazillions of zombies is quite honestly extremely dumb and boring if you ask me, but hey people seem to dig that. Borderlands is a good alternative — it’s a sort of Diablo II/Fallout 3 clone as far as I understand and quite good, but I have yet to try it. Don’t buy these two for kids though, unless you can enforce the teletubbies mod.

5. Sims 3

Now this one you can give to underage people. While a regular fifteen year old will probably hate you for buying this and laugh in your face, anyone younger may enjoy it. It’s only here because it’s the top selling game on Amazon, not because I like it. You may also want to check out Crazy Machines as a perhaps even better and no doubt more entertaining alternative.

6. Razer Naga Gaming Mouse

If you’re up for spending around $80, this is one of the coolest gaming mice you can possibly find. It’s designed for MMO gamers in mind but just click the link and you’ll find dozens of awesome alternatives easily.

7. Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard

About $70 but worth every penny. There’s not a gamer in the world who won’t like G15 and you seriously can’t go wrong here. This is the best selling gaming keyboard for a lot of reasons so don’t hesitate to check it out.

8. Logitech Extreme 3D Pro Joystick

$30, great reviews, what else do you need? Oh yeah, a great flight simulator!

9. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Great graphics and you get to be a Batman — the only thing missing are jetpacks but with any luck they’ll put it in Arkham Asylum 2. For now this game will be more than enough, and chances are the recipient doesn’t have it already.

10. Star Trek Online

If you want to play it safe, it’s best to pre-order a game not even published yet. Star Trek Online is an upcoming (release on Feb 2nd) MMO game in which you get to drive your very own spaceship. According to early reports from the beta the game is hardly the best MMO but who cares, it’s Star Trek!

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