Perhaps this is a little premature, but in the fairness of a slow post-Holiday news week, you’ll have to forgive us for getting excited about Blade & Soul’s impending head start on January 15th (next week!). So as we’re counting down the days, here’s the info you need to get prepped and ready for the moment the servers come on.
Shards Online: Player Run Merchants, a PvP Tournament & More Revealed
The latest Shards Online newsletter has been released with some interesting tidbits of information including the first community PvP tournament to be held on January 16th at 12:00 pm Pacific / 3:00 pm Eastern. Players will be able to compete in 2v2 battles in the single-elimination tournament and be able to earn up to 100 loyalty points and 5000 coins each with lesser rewards for runners-up.
General: Blizzard Aiming to Become the ‘ESPN of eSports’
The rumor that Activision – Blizzard had purchased Major League Gaming, North America’s biggest eSports company, has been confirmed via a press release. Bobby Kotick wrote that the “acquisition of Major League Gaming’s business furthers our plans to create the ESPN of eSports”.
Elsword: Anime Voice Actors Talk Parts for Season 2
Several well-known anime voice actors will be taking part in Elsword: Season 2 when it launches. Christina Vee (Bleach, Sword Art Online), Rena and Nicolas Roye (Naruto, Digimon) and Michael Sorich speak to developers about their roles and a bit of what it takes to be a voice actor.
General: Maingear Unleashes Alpha 34 – 8-Core or 18-Core Versions
Maingear has released the first information about its new Alpha 34 that comes in both the 8-core Extreme Edition or the 18-core Intel Xeon processor edition. The gaming PC also features a curved HD display, liquid cooled overclocked processing and full-sized graphics.
General: Oculus to Open Rift Preorders on January 6th
Those ready to take on virtual reality should set the clock for January 6th at 8:00 am Pacific / 11:00 am Eastern when Oculus will kick off preorders for Rift VR head sets.
General: City of Titans – Gameplay Trailer Shines Light on the Future
The City of Titans team has been largely silent the last several months but have come out of hiding with a brand new trailer to give fans something to look forward to until the game becomes playable at the end of 2016. The video provides a look at some combat and how the mechanics of city roaming will be presented in City of Titans.
Albion Online: Casual Play as the Gateway to Hardcore
In a new post on the Albion Online site, developers discuss one of the game forum’s hottest topics, “Hardcore vs Casual”.
General: Our Readers Speak: ‘Best of’ for 2015 Revealed
The MMORPG.com community has spoken. We polled our readers for the “best of” awards for 2015 and the results are in!
World of Warcraft: The Content Drought – What To Do Until Legion
Blizzard has given itself until the end of September to release World of Warcraft: Legion, the next expansion to the game and the one that is coming packed with new features, alterations in core game systems and much, much more. The problem is that that’s still nine months away. Even the “bridging” content between Warlords of Draenor and Legion isn’t likely until June or July.