Steam Hammer is a sandbox RPG set in a steampunk universe in which players harvest resources, construct a Victorian-era industrial city, craft items, build airships, and wage war against other players with both melee and ranged weapons.
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Publisher: Big Way Playerbase: Shut Down Type: Sandbox MMO Release Date: May 12, 2017 Pros: +Steampunk setting. +Extensive Crafting. +Airships, Jetpacks, Victorian city building. Cons: -Clunky combat. -Confusing UI.
A look at MMO News and updates for the week ending May 8, 2017. This is the ninety-fourth episode in a weekly series every Monday that will cover all major MMO news and updates. The games mentioned this week are: Black Desert Online, Kritika Online, Hyper Universe Online, Final Fantasy XIV, Ashes of Creation, Overwatch, Skyforge, Legends of Aria, Tera, Shadowverse, MixMasters Online, DK Online, Darkfall: Rise of Agon, GunZ 2, Creativerse, DayZ, MapleStory, and Age of Wushu (Age of Wulin). Links to individual news articles we covered this week:
We're a little late to this one, but MapleStory v.185 was previewed on April 27, 2017 and will introduce a bunch of ReZero events to the game as well as the Meso Market. While I loved ReZero, the big news here is definitely the Meso Market. Players can soon convert their in-game mesos to Maple Points (cash shop currency) with other players. The conversion rate will be determined by supply and demand similar to how Blade and Soul and Neverwinter handle their own exchange systems. No word on exactly when v.185 will release, but it should be soon.
I suspect Nexon is introducing this system to combat gold sellers as people who want to buy mesos can do so through the Meso Market now by selling their premium currency. This is the first time players can purchase mesos in-game without breaking the TOS.
The ReZero crossover event should be live soon too. Players will be able to complete a daily quest to earn gift boxes and special titles, but making the wrong choice during these quests will result in death and a restart of the quest loop! There's also a leveling event where players are rewarded with special items and mesos for reaching level milestones (30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180). Re:Zero hair styles will also available in-game, so players can look like their favorite characters from the anime! See the microsite for a full list of all the ReZero events.
It's been almost a year since Ofir Maimon's indie browser MMORTS Barons of the Galaxy entered Open Beta, but he announced recently that the game will officially launch on May 13th. After launch, it will continue to be free-to-play, supported by an optional subscription that allows players to be elected for various political roles, allows them to move their corporate headquarters to a planet other than Earth, and keeps their corporation's assets from being liquidated in the event that they do not log in at least once every 15 days.
Contrary to many other browser MMORTS games, Barons of the Galaxy largely revolves around "industry and trade," with some politics thrown in for good measure. Cities aren't owned by a single player; instead, the game allows multiple players to set up shop in the same city. In-game systems make it harder to stay rich and powerful the more rich and powerful you become.
Those who are interested can head over to the official website and start playing the Open Beta version before its May 13th launch.
I've been looking forward to SF Team's Steam Hammer for some time now. Dubbed a "hardcore sandbox RPG" by its creators, the semi-survival game is one of a very small number of steampunk games to be released in recent times and perhaps the only steampunk MMO on the horizon. It has all the staples of the steampunk genre: Victorian architecture, guns, jetpacks, and even airships that you can fly around as a group of friends sit on deck and fire at enemies.
Until Friday, however, the game's release date had been up in the air. I've checked it a number of times over the past few months and the release date listed had always been "2017." On Friday, the developers silently changed the release date to May 12th.
Steam Hammer will be available on Steam Early Access in five days, but those who are interested in jumping in early can purchase Beta access from the official website. A global wipe is set to occur tomorrow, but it is said that the game is also more than 50% off of the full price during Open Beta, so, if you think you might end up buying it, now is the time to do so.
ARK: Survival Evolved Patch 257 arrived at the end of last week and I don't think it could have been more perfectly crafted for memes if Studio Wildcard had tried. The patch introduces the Apis Lithohermaea, or Giant Bee, which will construct hives that players can harvest honey from when tamed. And if you fail to tame them, you too can scream "NOT THE BEES" as they sting your character to death. The patch also introduced the Liopleurodon Magicus, which "tribes of The Island [claim] [...] has magical properties." I, on the other hand, have heard that it will show you the way.
The patch also contains the following additions and changes.
TEK Turret and TEK Grenades.
TEK Cloning Chamber, which allows players to "clone their favourite creatures for the cost of Element Shards."
The Daeodon Comedentis, which is also known as the "Hell Pig."
The Kentrosaurus Aethiopicus, a small "close relative" of the Stegosaurus.
The Alpha Megalodon.
The long-awaited redesign of The Volcano, which now contains "the entrance to the TEK cave." It is said that the game's "deadliest foes" reside here and that, once players have completed the cave, they will "Ascend."
EVE Online turned 14 on May 6, 2017. Released in 2003, the sci-fi themed MMORPG has stood the test of time rather well and still boasts an average of 35,000 concurrent players at any given time on its single galactic server.
A free to play option was introduced on November 11, 2016 which allows new or returning players to try the game without committing to a traditional subscription.
To celebrate the anniversary, all active accounts receive a free pod skin (shown below) and a selection of fireworks and firework launchers that can be fitted to various ships.
CCP has done an admiral job keeping the 14 year old game feeling current. Tons of new content and quality of life improvements mean the game is no less accessible today than it was 14 years ago.
To put EVE Online's age in perspective, lets look at some products and services that were not yet released when EVE went live:
WordPress - The software used to make this website
Skype - The first major free VOIP service
The Pirate Bay - Our preferred method of acquiring PC games before Steam
Steam - The preeminent PC digital store front
Facebook - The site you avoid talking to your grandmother on
Gmail - The service that made email usable
YouTube - The first general video site that wasn't awful
Reddit - The site that killed forums
And of course EVE Online predates World of Warcraft which released the following year. Another mind blowing fact: EverQuest was the biggest MMORPG on the market when EVE Online first came out.
With its unique and more abstract gameplay style, I wouldn't be at all shocked to see EVE Online survive another 14 years. I still won't know how to undock my frigate by then, but I will certainly enjoy reading about the ongoing PvP wars in the EVE universe!
Thang Online is a free to play fantasy MMORPG released back in 2005. It's developed and published by a Korean company called Jaca Entertainment and looks a bit like other old MMORPGs like Hero Online. Despite it surviving the test of time, Thang Online is quite difficult to get into today. I'd only recommend it for nostalgia purposes for those who played it back during its peak. Like Kal Online and the dozens of older MMORPGs still in existence, this is best avoided by new players.
Despite originally launching over 12 years ago, Dekaron is still around and kicking. The game launched Update 19 Part 1 this last week which introduced the following to the game:
Delve into the depths of the Forgotten Underground Temple and face room after room of new deadly fast-respawning monsters in a new level 185+ dungeon
Collect resources and learn either Weapon, Armor or Alchemy crafting Mastery to forge epic items. Create ultra-powerful Helpyron gear and take on Trieste in style
Experience revitalized PvP with rebalanced Character Classes
New Character Titles show off your Dekaron’s achievements to the world. Complete specific quests and challenges to collect them all
Added Costume Closet system frees up inventory space and allows hotkey swapping between favorite outfits
Growth Area Improvements, Expanded Chat System, and more!
Dekaron used to be available in the West through NexonEU until they transferred service to Vertigo Games on June 20th, 2016. For a full list of updates / changes with Update 19, see here.
You remember Breakaway, don't you? Amazon Game Studios' debut MOBA title that is shaking up the genre by introducing various sports elements? It had its first Alpha playtest weekend last December? Yeah, that one. Amazon Game Studios announced recently that it will be returning on June 15th for more Alpha playtest weekends, with an "s."
You may recall that many of us here at MMOs.com weren't entirely fond of Breakaway at the time. The gameplay had too many moving parts, making it hard to truly adapt to, and movement could feel sluggish at times, which may or may not have been due to the game utilizing server-side movement handling.
That being said, it will have been six months since we last played the game by the time that we're able to play it again. In that time, Amazon Game Studios could have made a number of changes to the game that ultimately provide a better experience.
If you're interested in taking part, you can still sign up for the upcoming Alpha playtest weekends here. Anyone who signed up prior to May 4th will automatically get in, whereas it is unknown at this time whether anyone who signed up after will end up receiving an invite.
(8 votes, average: 3.88 / 5)
