Game News

I know this is past due, since April Fool's Day is long gone for the year.  However, I missed this one from Blizzard (again) and thought it was pretty funny.  Long, but funny.  If you're a WoW veteran-type person, you'll likely find something entertaining in the "evil patch notes" for v1.11.

Oh.. and I don't want to hear whining from people saying they shouldn't be wasting time on things like this and should be working on the game... phooey!  Game developers are people too.

I'm just going to drop the press release in here and get back to preparing for GDC.  I'm really looking forward to Age of Conan!

Innovative, unique and intriguing new online RPG classes introduced

Durham, USA — March 17, 2006 – Funcom announces the unveiling of the entire class and archetype system in ‘Age of Conan – Hyborian Adventures’. Fun and exciting classes like Lotus master, Waylayer, Herald of Xotli, Scion of Set, Bear Shaman and Priest of Mitra are but a few of the many classes you get to explore in ‘Age of Conan’. With four great archetypes, a multitude of intriguing classes and lots of innovative gameplay, Funcom is intent on bringing a brand new and exciting direction to the online RPG genre.

Click the link below to get the entire class and archetype listing in Conan: http://www.ageofconan.com/content/classlisting.htm

Click the link below to see the first article about the class system in Conan: http://community.ageofconan.com

In the months to come Funcom will unveil in-depth details on each of the exciting classes through the Conan newsletter and at the community portal. You can sign up for the newsletter on the official website.

‘Age of Conan" is scheduled for a Windows release in Q4 2006.

ABOUT AGE OF CONAN – HYBORIAN ADVENTURES - In ‘Conan’ the players will encounter a dark, lush, violent and sinful universe, presented in fantastic graphics and stunning 7.1 surround audio. In a world filled with cruel gods, mythical creatures, lost civilizations and a struggling human race, the mighty barbarian has finally seized the throne as king of Aquilonia. But Conan’s rule is on the brink of chaos, spiraling towards the doom of ancient evils. In this twisted fantasy world, dark magic and brutal combat lurks around every corner, and each man and woman must carve their own unique destiny under Conan’s reign. In the true vision of Robert E. Howard’s dark universe it’s now time for you to become a messenger of death.

ABOUT FUNCOM - Funcom is an independent developer and publisher of online games for PC, consoles and mobile platforms. Funcom has provided outstanding entertainment since 1993 and continues to expand its track-record of more than twenty released games. Recent successes include ‘The Longest Journey’ and ‘Anarchy Online’. For corporate information please visit http://www.funcom.com. For information about Funcom games visit http://www.anarchy-online.com, http://www.dreamfall.com or http://www.ageofconan.com. Funcom is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FUNCOM.

ABOUT CONAN PROPERTIES INTERNATIONAL - Conan Properties International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Paradox Entertainment Inc., controls all rights to Conan, associated characters and the Hyborian world, as created by Robert E. Howard and expanded upon by acclaimed authors and artists for decades. Conan is considered to be the world’s best-known fantasy character. For more information about Conan Properties International, visit http://www.conan.com. For information about Paradox Entertainment Inc., visit http://www.paradox-entertainment.com.

No, this isn't one of those "click here and win an iPod" ads, where you get there and they are collecting email addresses or plotting to overthrow the world, or whatever it is those companies do.  This is a real announcement.  While I had to take a few times looking around to make sure there wasn't some funky catch, it does in fact appear that you can play Wolfpack Studios' Shadowbane completely free now!  That's quite a boost to the "fee online games" realm, eh? 

Don't believe me? This is the clip circulating around, straight from the source:

There will be a more in-depth announcement coming soon but, in the meanwhile, I wanted to let our community know that this is not an error. Existing users can now open up their Account Manager and their accounts will now be working, allowing them to play Shadowbane for free! This does include those who had previously canceled accounts!

In addition, those who wish to try out Shadowbane for the first time will also be able to. All you have to do is create a new ubi.com account and then click on Add a Subscription, and you will have free access to the lands of Aerynth! This is not a Free-Trial subscription and it will not run out in 15-days. This is completely free!

If you are looking for a place to download the Shadowbane client, you can get it from FilePlanet by clicking here for the PC version, and here for the Mac version! While these version are labeled for the "Free Trial", they are full versions of the game client and any active accounts can be used to play using them.

No longer will players, existing and new alike, be charged to adventure in the lands of Aerynth! If you happen to be a new player or have not adventured in Shadowbane for many an age, makes sure you check out the Getting Started guide. You can also view the Shadowbane Version and Patch History to see what has changed over the last few years.

Now this is a great trend... well, I hope it becomes a trend.  Sony Online has announced their plans to sell ALL their online games in a single package (Joystiq).  Very nice!  I know that won't help a lot of people who already bought much of that stuff at full retail price, but it's an interesting move.  Sony already has their Station Pass, where you can subscribe to all their games with one monthly fee that's far lower than separate payments.  I figure this retail pack is a logical step along those same lines.

Actually, if it weren't for the Station Pass, this would only be a great sampler platter for most folks.  If you like even two of these games, the value is quite nice for that sucker.

Maybe I need to throw an email at Turbine about this one, not that they're missing this news, I'm sure.  I would be more likely to pay for a "Turbine Pass" of sorts, to play Asheron's Call, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Middle Earth Online, if there was a single, lesser fee.  I actually wanted to try AC2 again, and an all-Turbine-access ticket really might have brought me onboard that train!  I wonder if AC2 would have had more success if the gates had been opened to all the AC1 players a little more invitingly??

I can't justify $13/month for AC1 but I really want to play it again... bad. [edit: ..but if I could play AC1 and DDO for something less than DDO+AC1, I'd really be interested.]

Bah.. just a thought.