William Dobson
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Will blogs from the Land Down Under, and when he's not writing about games, or playing them, he works for a bank and gets closer to finishing his college education. Apart from MMOs, he is also an avid console gamer.
Sixth-year Veteran Rewards announced for EQII
by William Dobson 
Dec 7th 2009 (2 years ago)
EQ2
SOE
If you've faithfully stayed with EverQuest II since launch, then you've got a handful of new Veteran Rewards to look forward to just around the corner. The sixth-year rewards have been announced on EQ2Players, and one of the bonus items in particular has the community cheering. Beginning with that most celebrated item, the rewards are:- Call of the Veteran: A charm-slot item that can be used to teleport to a group-member, or summon them to your own location. This functionality was confirmed by EverQuest II lead programmer Rothgar on the forums; the EQ2Players page only mentions teleporting to someone else but leaves out the summoning part. It has a reuse time of 60 minutes.
- Hammer of Adept Hands: A charm-slot item that can be clicked to completely refill your tradeskill vitality. Its reuse time is 7 days.
- Destiny Accessory Bag, containing the Hood of Fate and Shroud of Fate: A hood and cloak to let those around you know that you're part of the six-year club.
EQII's producer discusses the next update and scrapped features
by William Dobson Dec 7th 2009 (2 years ago)
EQ2
The letter goes on to discuss a couple of features (that may or may not have once been considered a part of the Will of a Tyrant update) that have been scrapped altogether. The Item Ratings system was abandoned, at least partially due to feedback from the player base, and the Fighter revamp that was in the works has been considerably scaled back. Both of these negatives do have a silver lining though -- the developers are looking at alternative ways to enhance gear, and Fighters will still see some tweaks, albeit "small changes, rather than sweeping revamps". Crusaders will be among the first Fighter classes to be looked at -- see the full letter for some early details.
While the producer's letter makes Will of a Tyrant sound overwhelmingly lacklustre, keep in mind that it doesn't go into some previously announced events that should give players something new to do for at least a little while. Hopefully the decision to squash all those bugs pays off with a smooth launch for Sentinel's Fate in February.
See an Aion GM in action blowing up spammers
by William Dobson Dec 6th 2009 (2 years ago)
NCsoft
Enter Youtube user MidoriPeanut, who managed to catch an Aion GM in the throes of a banning spree and recorded it all for the rest of us to enjoy. The movie features the GM blowing up a number of goldspammer ad stores, all set to the dramatic Syringe by Emilie Autumn. Sure, this could all take place behind the scenes and the offenders would quietly disappear from the world, but isn't it a lot more fun seeing them cast off to hell by a cutesy animal? Get out the popcorn and head past the break to see the banishing in action.
Nexon America's financials continue to impress in Q3
by William Dobson Oct 16th 2009 (2 years ago)
Nexon America's CEO David Kim pointed out that this success comes without the bump that releasing a new game often brings: "Increasing our revenues without having added any new games to the company's portfolio for more than a year tells me that we are on the right track. Dungeon Fighter Online is just ramping up, so no revenues generated by that game are reflected in the outstanding third quarter we've had.
Dungeon Fighter Online is still in open beta, but an item mall has just been launched for the game. We can only imagine that Nexon's growth will continue when these revenues begin to show up on future financial reports.
EverQuest's third Road to Underfoot event shakes Norrath
by William Dobson Oct 16th 2009 (2 years ago)
SOE
The Road to Underfoot mini-site has been updated with a section on Breaking the Seal, as well as a short video showing the enemy in action. The epicenter of the shaking seems to be coming from Odus, so those willing to fight should gather there. Remember that apart from the early access, there is also a beta for Underfoot that SOE is still taking applications for, so there's another way to see the expansion ahead of time too.
Meet EverQuest's mountain-makers in Underfoot zone "The Foundation"
by William Dobson Oct 15th 2009 (2 years ago)
SOE
Their job gets even worse. Sometimes a god might decide to raise a new mountain themselves, without thinking about the Genari underneath. When that happens, the Genari will most likely be crushed under the new weight. Don't fret though, because the Genari's broken form is often enough to keep the mountain up, and Brell can simply make another giant later on. Now that's cold.
Screenshots for The Foundation have been added to our Underfoot gallery, and we're very pleased to have another handful of exclusive pictures to share. Check them out below, and learn more about The Foundation's lore at EQ Players.
EverQuest patch switches up hot zones, nerfs some Ancient Heroes rewards
by William Dobson Oct 8th 2009 (2 years ago)
SOE
Apparently while performing some end-of-the-summer cleaning, the doors within Howling Stones were left unlocked. It may be some time before a maintenance crew can be sent there again to lock the doors up tight. Use this knowledge as you will. In addition, the spells protecting the entrance to Howling Stones have weakened, and adventurers of lesser skill and strength may find its halls now accessible.
The other big change with this patch involves some tweaking of the Ancient Heroes missions from the previous update. The rewards from these missions have been the subject of much controversy ever since their introduction, and this patch has made many of them worthless (though they can still be refunded by handing them to the quest-giver). Having said that, some of the group-level rewards were actually improved. Hit the jump to see the patch notes in their entirety.
Latest LotRO dev diary details legendary weapon changes
by William Dobson Oct 7th 2009 (2 years ago)
LotRO
Turbine
There will also be a brand new item type, a series of "legendary item advancement scrolls". They will provide an alternative method of improving or altering legendary weapons, and will be found both as loot from enemies and from the deconstruction process. In addition, crafters are getting a significant nod with the introduction of a fourth relic slot that can only be filled by player-crafted relics. It gets better: every crafting profession can make a different kind of relic, providing a range of improvement options, and ensuring that no crafter is left out of the fun.
To read up on all the details of the upcoming legendary item changes (including specifics on how experience will be altered) see the full dev diary at the official site.
Upcoming Champions Online dev chat to focus on the Hero Games
by William Dobson Oct 6th 2009 (2 years ago)
Champions Online
Cryptic
The main way that the devs will be taking questions is through this forum thread. They plan to go through as many of the questions posted there as they can, but the audience will get a chance to ask some follow-ups or extra questions at the end too. The IRC channel is #championsonline at irc.coldfront.net, or if you don't want to use an IRC client, there is a Java chat client available as well.
So, if you think the Hero Games in Champions Online could be improved somehow, get a few questions ready (remember, the questions thread on the forums gives the highest chance of them being answered) and let your voice be heard this Thursday.
EQ's producer discusses new Legends of Norrath-gated instance after player concerns
by William Dobson Oct 6th 2009 (2 years ago)
SOE
