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| Issue #84 |
Five Tons of Flax
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July 27, 2007 |
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Welcome back, MMORPGamers.
This column is dedicated to H.C.
So, without further ado:
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Earlier this week, Blizzard announced that a comic book series based on World of Warcraft is in the works. The book will be penned by Walter Simonson, a veteran of both Marvel and DC comics, and will be drawn by Ludo Lullabi and Sandra Hope. The first few issues will feature variant covers, one being drawn by Jim Lee and the other by Blizzard Senior Art Director Samwise Didier.
The story of the new monthly series begins when a human awakens on the shore of Kallimdor with amnesia. He is enslaved by an orc shaman, and from there must battle against both the Alliance and the Horde in order to unravel his past. It is possible that the book will feature multiple storylines in the future.
The book is being published under DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint, and the first issue will be available on November 14, 2007. For those who can't wait to check it out, here are the first three cover variants as well as some concept art for the series:
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In other World of Warcraft news, Blizzard has just announced that they have reached yet another subscriber milestone. WoW has reached nine million subscribers worldwide. While some Asian MMOs boast numbers much larger than this, it is worthy to note that this number was accomplished in just under 3 years of live, pay-to-play service.
Blizzard is currently working with their Chinese partner to prepare The Burning Crusade, the game's first expansion, for release in mainland China. So be prepared to see that number jump even higher. Will Blizzard hit the ten million mark by the game's third anniversary? How much are you willing to wager?
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Korean MMO fans, rejoice! Another game has made the trip overseas!
To coincide with the upcoming Record of Lunia War open beta test, developer allm Corp has opened a global server for the game. Rather than connecting to servers in Korea, players in the U.S. and Europe are now able to connect to the North American server. By doing so, non-Korean players will see a massive increase in stability for the game.
With the advent of the global server comes the global Lunia website, a place for new players to find various guides and news, as well as sign up for the beta test and get a client.
Because Lunia is now available in the United States, American Lunia players are now able to participate in the Game&Game World Championship 2007. Tournament series are to be held within the game itself, and the regional finals for the U.S. will take place in Los Angeles this October. Winners from the regionals will be sent to Seoul to compete in the grand finals for $54,000.
At the time of this writing, the client is not yet available for download at the website, but it is expected to be posted shortly.
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Coming soon to Dofus is episode 9: The Night of the Living Woods.
The update, scheduled to hit the Shika server soon, contains tons of new additions and upgrades for the game. A new area, the Treechnid Forest, will be added. In the Treechnid Forest players will be able to find two new dungeons: the Treechnid Dungeon and the Soft Oak Dungeon. The new area and dungeons will be swarming with new creatures for players to investigate. Also in the update are new armor, weapons, and items for players to enjoy. Smithmagic will be introduced, allowing players to enchant their items. Finally, the Turquoise Dofus, with the power to enhance critical hits, will be made available to players
Head over to the official Dofus site for more information.
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The City of Stormreach is about to get crowded.
Details have surfaced on a server merge for Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach (DDO). Beginning on August 2, all of the current servers for the game will be consolidated into five individual servers:
Mabar becomes Argonnessen
Fernia becomes Ghallanda
Lhazaar becomes Ghallanda
Aerenal becomes Sarlona
Adar becomes Sarlona
Aundair becomes Khyber
Riedra becomes Khyber
Xoriat becomes Thelanis
Tharashk becomes Thelanis
The merge should not effect anything on any character except the character's name. If there is a duplicate name on any of the servers being merged, a character will be allowed to rename itself. Also, if a player has a full character roster on two of the servers being merged, that player will not lose any characters. Instead, that player will not be able to create a new character on that server until they have deleted enough characters to bring them back underneath the limit.
A pretty handy FAQ concerning the merge is available for anyone who might have further concerns.
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This week's column made me realize that my collection is sorely lacking in the Asian MMO department. I believe that I'm going to remedy this in the near future. There are plenty of games, even non-RPGs, that I would like to try. Not to mention that I've been neglecting some of my old staples, like Ragnarok and Gunbound.
Remember the days when there were only one or two MMOs to choose from?
Yeah, me neither.
Until next time.
Hail Eris,
Matt Blake (mail me!)
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