Filed under: Dungeons

Sony Online Entertainment is bringing out the big guns for its next DC Universe Online content patch. As we reported last week, the Joker is set to return for The Last Laugh, and fortunately for everyone, his voiceover duties will be handled by none other than Mark Hamill.

Hamill is joined by DC stalwart Arleen Sorkin (that's Harley Quinn to you, mistah), and Adam Baldwin returns to the role of Superman for the first time since DCUO's launch. The Last Laugh also features a new shield weapon, four new safe house battles, and 8v8 throw-downs in both the Watchtower and the Hall of Doom.

The Last Laugh will be freely available to legendary DCUO members, while free and premium players can purchase it via the in-game marketplace, the official website, or the PlayStation Network.

[Source: SOE press release]

Diablo III officially launched at midnight last night, opening the floodgates on what is possibly the most pre-ordered PC game in history. It's been almost 12 years since the previous game in the series launched, and it's still going to this day. Whether you've played previous games, have taken part in the Diablo III beta or are taking your first steps into Sanctuary today, everyone starts with a clean slate. In this article, I give my top five tips for spending your first few days wisely in Diablo III.

#5 - Spend most of your time on one character

It seems like a bit of a no-brainer to initially focus on one character, but in Diablo III's case, there's a special reason to do it. You'll likely finish normal mode around level 20-30, and until then, you'll get a new skill almost every level. It's only when you've completed normal mode and moved on to nightmare that the challenge really starts and you will have picked out an effective set of skills. Your last active skill unlocks at level 30, and from then on you'll gain a combination of two to three runes or passive skills every level until you hit the level cap at 60.

Read on for four more tips you should keep in mind as you start playing Diablo III.

Allods Online's mascots are back for another humorous video, as Troll and Crab try their hands (claws) at making potions. It doesn't quite go as expected, but it's hard to blame Crab for what happens (he's just an earnest little guy). This is all to promote the game's newest update, patch 3.0.2, which promises to be a savory concoction for players to quaff. Over the weekend, gPotato opened up a new mini-site to promote the update and has since posted several new articles highlighting the changes.

Some of patch 3.0.2's big selling points include a revamp of the Alchemy profession, the ability for pets to do the looting, a neat-sounding mentor system, a new skirmish called The Deserted Farm, a free-for-all treasure hunting space, a new raid boss, and better questing.

Before you head over to see all of the patch changes, make sure to catch up on the latest episode of Troll and Crab after the break!

[Thanks to Alex for the tip!]

Lord of the Rings Online's Update 7 is upon us, and it's established itself as taking a step forward... and a step back into the past. Featuring a new skirmish, a revamp of both Moria and the old Fornost instance, and an interesting addition to the legendary item system, Update 7 has a smattering of both endgame and mid-game content for most players to enjoy.

As always, it's worth combing through the notes for the smaller changes. Some of these include new and updated maps, friendlier Elves in Lothlorien who won't shoot you on sight, and Audacity lowering power costs in PvMP.

The official patch notes are up and the game will have the servers patched up by mid-morning. In the meantime, make sure to read up on what we think of the update's big selling points in our recent Road to Mordor column.

"Fornost was designed and built in a different era of MMO," Turbine's devs said about the newly revised dungeon. "It is time for Fornost to join the modern MMO world." With Fornost slated for a massive overhaul with Update 7, the team posted a developer diary to explain the history of the instance and its hopeful future.

The third instance ever created for Lord of the Rings Online will be chopped up from its current super-long state to four manageable dungeons. The devs said that it was designed from an EverQuest mindset of long dungeon crawls, but so much has changed over time and most players no longer have the time or effort to conquer it.

With Update 7, Fornost will turn into four element-themed six-person dungeons. Each of these dungeons should take well less than an hour to complete and scale from level 30 to 75 with two tiers of difficulty. The team's reworked positioning, bosses, and quests to reflect the upgraded experience. For those who might miss the old Fornost, the team says that playing all four instances back-to-back will replicate the grand tour that it used to be.

Massively's got so many cosmetic-gear gurus and sandbox aficionados on staff that sometimes I suspect no amount of character customization and housing and achievements and titles would ever be enough for us. We'd do just about anything for more ways to distinguish our characters in an MMO.

But what about raiding for cosmetic gear? Enter OpenRaid, a World of Warcraft website that helps players organize cross-server PvE dungeon raids and premade PvP teams for the express purpose of acquiring achievements and gear to transmogrify (i.e., map the skin of something cool onto something with good stats). While I'd hope that needing to run large-scale endgame content for gorgeous weapon skins isn't going to become commonplace in future MMOs, it's still fascinating to see roleplay-oriented players playing content they wouldn't normally touch, just to collect a dress.

So how far would you go -- or have you gone -- to get your hands on a sweet piece of cosmetic gear, title, or achievement?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

For those of you unfamiliar with the Pathfinder game system, what you need to know is that it's based on the core rules of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition. Needless to say, dungeons feature pretty heavily in the tabletop game. So Pathfinder Online has presented itself with a bit of a conundrum: How can it combine the traditionally instanced format of MMO dungeons with the open-world approach of the game? As detailed in the latest development blog, the team is aiming at something between the normal instancing methodology and more sandbox-style open regions.

In short, while dungeons themselves won't be instanced, the entrances will be hidden in various locations. When a dungeon is generated, a player who finds the entrance will have that dungeon locked to him or her until the dungeon is cleared, at which point it will despawn and be replaced by another dungeon. It's an interesting idea, and it's well worth reading the full blog for a look at how this system might work in practice.

I've recently returned to World of Warcraft and was surprised to find a much more complex game than when I left (contrary to popular lore in our comments). Several of the classes have been revamped mechanically to be far more interesting and layered, and new dungeon encounters are frequently among the best in the industry.

At endgame, anyway. I realize that outside of heroics and raids and PvP, WoW (like many MMOs) aims for accessible simplicity, which is nice when you're just happily grinding away or teaming up with weekend warriors not looking for a stressful challenge. One of my mates even bragged about facerolling his way through the dungeon finder, and I had to wonder, do people really do that? Even if content is easy, I still try to play it "right." I'll still make sure I know how to play my character, probably because I'm terrified of being that person in a PUG -- you know, the one who makes people hate PUGs. But I have to admit that the idea of honestly just punching whatever buttons just to see if we'll still win has its own amusing charm (and a strange level of challenge too).

Have you ever facerolled MMO content, literally or figuratively?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Iris Online players are in for a treat today because it's patch day. And not just the small sort of patch with a bunch of bugfixes, either -- this is the big kind, the kind that opens up new areas and expands the level cap. In fact, it's exactly that kind, as today's update opens four new zones and the Lost Temple of Atlantis for player exploration. The temple is meant as the most challenging dungeon in the game and contains a variety of treasures for players braving its depths.

Beyond the temple, the new zones give players new chances to strike back and liberate the land from the Sahar, complete with new quests to enjoy. Those new quests will also help as players head for the new level cap of 75, but if that alone isn't enough, the development team is doubling all EXP and SXP rates until April 29th. Players can also earn special treasure boxes for a limited time, a little extra boost for enjoying the game's new content.

[Source: gPotato press release]

If you've grown bored in Seven Souls Online, the 1.1 patch is reason to celebrate. Neowiz is raising the level cap to 50 and adding plenty of new items and gear to match.

The sci-fantasy adventure also boasts new dungeons that include the Hall of Resurrection (levels 39 to 43) and Purgatorium (levels 45 and up). Both of these gauntlets will dole out "fantastic rewards" upon completion. Finally, gamers can look forward to the new Western Mikan Plains zone as well a huge number of new quests and items to loot and trade. If you're still looking for something to do after you've conquered all the new content, Neowiz is hosting a Lineage of the Sky guild PvP tournament.

Further details on Seven Souls' 1.1 patch and the PvP event are available at the game's official web destination.

[Source: Neowiz press release]

When I returned to World of Warcraft a few weeks ago, my more hardcore guildies were in a rush to show me the newest sights and latest dungeons. I don't blame them; they didn't want to run regular dungeons when they could be doing the shiniest heroic content and most cutting-edge encounters. But in modern WoW, one thing stood between us and that instant gratification: item level.

Because I'd taken breaks from the game, my max-level Shaman had fallen behind in power as the seasons wore on. And that official item level stamped on her gear was more than just a marker that I wasn't elite; it literally gated the dungeons unless I sacrificed rewards (counterproductive) or got a bunch of new gear fast. It didn't take but a weekend or two to catch up, but it was still an annoyance that slowed everyone down, especially since my guildies were overpowered enough that a few more points on my gear weren't going to make or break our success. And while I understand that item level is a useful shorthand for judging your readiness for content, it's a bit disheartening to realize that gamers are being encouraged by the game to see each other only as a numerical gearscore.

What do you think -- should items and item levels gate dungeons and other content?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!

Love it or hate it, the dungeon finder has become synonymous with the modern-day MMO. Further evidence in this regard comes via En Masse Entertainment's latest website update, which trumpets the addition of dungeon finder mechanics to TERA.

En Masse says that in addition to the standard group-making functionality, its version of the dungeon finder will give players "significant bonuses for grouping, and even send [them] extra rewards when the last boss falls."

TERA's dungeon loot drops have also been increased across the board, in some cases up to double and triple the rates from past beta weekends. Hit up the official site for more details, including a comprehensive list of the game's dungeons.

Ankama is updating Wakfu today with a content drop called Monk Island. There's a dev diary on the game's official website that provides a bit of detail, including information about religious fanatics, a new dungeon, and all of the mystery you would expect from a secluded island.

Here's the scoop for those not familiar with Wakfu: It's a fantasy sandbox title that makes up the MMORPG portion of a global cross-media IP. It's based in the same universe as Ankama's Dofus MMO, and it features many of the same classes and professions.

Ankama has released a brief Monk Island teaser trailer that shows the Messaround Monastery as well as a bit of combat action. You'll find it after the cut.