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TOME: Immortal Arena

TOME: Immortal Arena is a 3D fantasy themed MOBA with an emphasis on shorter 10-20 minute matches with more action. TOME differentiates itself from other MOBAs with its emphasis on simplicity - as the game has no ability power / armor penetration / magic resist / or other complicated stats.

[singlepic id=160 w=428 h=240 float=none] Publisher: KIXEYE / Steam
Playerbase: Low
Type: MOBA
Release Date: November 21, 2014 (NA/EU)
Shut Down Date: May, 2015
Pros: +Shorter 10-20 minute matches. +Simple learning curve. +7 vs 7 Map.
Cons: -Limited customization options. -Casual mechanics may turn some players away. -Few item choices / builds.

 

Blizzard Insider: Hearthstone Numbers are "off the charts" 75+ Million Players

Comments

A source inside Blizzard Entertainment, who cannot be named due to company policy about speaking to the media, stated on January 29, 2015 that Hearthstone's numbers were "off the charts". The game's next expansion is set to be released sometime soon and will focus on more PvE content (Think matches vs themed AI). The Hearthstone team has also been experimenting with 2 vs 2 gameplay, which would add an entirely new layer of gameplay to an already dynamic game. The most amazing nugget of information from inside Hearthstone is that the game's player base has exploded to over 75 million. The last publicly disclosed number was over 20 millions, which was released months ago. 75 million users is absolutely enormous. Much of the success can probably be contributed to the game's Mobile launch in the U.S. and release in China.

[singlepic id=1982 w=700 h=294 float=center]

The game's success has already surpassed the most company's most optimistic internal expectations. Besides Hearthstone, the next Starcraft 2 expansion, The Legacy of the Void, is already finished and ready to ship. No official release date is announced, but the company expects shipment sometime in Q2 (April-June 2015). Also revealed - Blizzard's newest upcoming title "Overwatch", a Team Fortress 2 like game, still hasn't decided on a business model. Blizzard is trying to decide between free to play or expansion type model. The game will definitely be free to play initially, but the way to purchase / unlock new heroes has yet to be decided.

Correction: This Blizzard insider vastly over stated the Hearthstone numbers. Blizzard reported in their Q4 2014 earnings results that Hearthstone had over 25 million registered users in its lifetime. Nowhere near the 75 million claimed by the inside source.

Key Details and Source Information:

  • Executives have “low expectations” for Heroes of the Storm. The insider thinks many of the senior staff on the Heroes of the Storm team will be laid off.
  • The next Starcraft 2 game is already done and ready to go. The release date is still not settled. The current time window ranges from April to June.
  • The World of Warcraft team has “quadrupled” its art outsourcing, which has been a bottleneck in the past. The next expansion is almost “feature complete.”
  • The insider says the members of the Diablo III team have been moved to a new project set in the Starcraft universe. The game will be similar to Warframe and contain gameplay aspects from Left4Dead, DayZ, Smite, and other MOBAs. It is in early pre-production, which means late 2016 or later.

Source: Yahoo Finance Editor

The Elder Scrolls Online Dropping Subscription Fee on March 17, 2015

Comments

The Elder Scrolls Online announced on January 20, 2015 that they would be dropped their subscription based business model on March 17, 2015 for PC and Mac. The Xbox One and Playstation 4 versions of the game will be available as buy to play titles as of June 9, 2015. Despite the transition, Bethesda's Elder Scrolls MMO won't be entirely free to play, as users still have to purchase a retail copy of the game. Upon transitioning from pay to play to buy to play, the game will be relaunched as "The Elder Scrolls Tamriel Unlimited. A subscription won't be required to access any of the game's main content, but a premium optional subscription will be available which offers DLC such as optional adventure content and zones. The subscription, called "ESO Plus" will be available in 30, 90 and 180 day payment plans. Much like EverQuest 2, premium paying users will get character progression bonuses (think faster XP gain) as well as an X amount of crowns, the new in-game cash shop currency. Crowns can be used to purchase premium in-game mounts as well as DLC content. Given that Bethesda is a Western developer and publisher, there's no chance that they'll sell any game breaking pay to win items found in some Asian titles. Expect the store to be filled with largely convenience / cosmetic items.

[singlepic id=359 w=600 h=340 float=center]

Will The Elder Scrolls Online ever be free to play? Who knows. I suspect that Bethesda will follow in the footsteps of publishers like Sony Online Entertainment and Turbine in embracing the free to play model. Games like Dungeons and Dragons Online and The Lord of the Rings Online saw enormous success upon converting from pay to play to free to play. Tera Online and RIFT also did the same thing. They launched as buy to play + subscription games, and upon generating a ton of retail sales, they dropped the subscription and went free to play. No word on Bethesda if they plan on ever going free to play, but with more and more games embracing the free to play model, I wouldn't be surprised if The Elder Scrolls Online did eventually drop its subscription, especially since the game never lived up to it's hype since its original release. Given that the Bethesda poured over $100 million into the game, they aren't going to give up on it any time soon. Free to play may be the key to boosting the game's popularity.

See the game's official FAQ for additional information on this announcement.

RuneScape Increases Subscription Fee from $7.95 to $9.49 Starting March 1

Comments

Jagex previously announced that they would increase their monthly subscription fee back in Novemeber, 2014, but there was no date or amount attached to the original announcement. The numbers are in and the price increases are quite substantial. Starting March 1, 2015 new monthly subscriptions will be $9.49 while existing users won't see any price hikes. Anyone with an active subscription will be grandfathered in at the old rate of $7.95 per month.  International users will see similar price increases as seen below:

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Despite being released back in early 2001, RuneScape remains one of the most popular MMORPGs out there. The game is technically free to play, but nearly all serious players subscribe, as some of the game's content (skills/quests/entire areas) are only available to paying members. Even with the price increase, the $9.49/mo is still considerably less than the $15/mo most subscription based games charge.

Red Stone Global Relaunched through Developer L&K Logic

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L&K Logic Korea announced that Red Stone is re-launching globally through it's developer. L&K Logic ended OGPlanet's license for Red Stone on November 14, 2014 and decided to service the game themselves starting on January 20, 2015. Most Korean developers don't self-publish their own games outside of their home markets, so it's pretty big news that they decided to continue service for Red Stone. Current OGPlanet Red Stone players need not worry. Their accounts are safe and can be transferred into the new global service which officially launched on January 20, 2015. As the name implies, this new version of the game will be available to everyone around the world with no IP restrictions. Typically the only time this happens is when a game developer publishes their own title, as licensing agreements tend to force publishers to implement IP-Restrictions. The re-launch of the Red Stone will include several updates to the game such as two new areas: "Apostate's Escape (Lvls 420-500) and "Hidden Camp" (Lvls 500-550). For a full list of changes, see the source section below.

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The biggest beneficiary for this move should be Red Stone players, as expansions and major updates should be rolled out much faster than before. Previously, L&K had to develop new content, then send it over to OGPlanet to translate and localize. Now, everything is handled in-house through L&K. The title will be available through the Game&Game platform, which is used by numerous Korean game developers.

Red Stone is actually a really old game. It was originally released back in May 2003 in South Korea. The game quickly grew in popularity in Korea, but saw even more amazing growth in Japan. Since launch, the game has been available in the U.S. through various different publishers, with OGPlanet holding the license from 2007 to November, 2014.

Source

Hey fans! Since November, we have been running BETA service in an effort to provide you with both updates and improved service of Red Stone.
We can now officially let you all know that the task is near completion.
[GRAND OPENING]: January 20th, 2015 01:00(PST)

Content update will include:

- Game English Translation will be 90% complete
- Cash Point Shop will open with premium items & costumes available[Nacriema Server ONLY. The shop will not be available for Prandel Server]
- New fields: Apostate’s Escape(lvs. 420~500), Hidden Camp(lvs. 500~550)
- Molinar Tower level 6 and Forest In Time difficulty lowered. Quests are also added
- Champion class set items update
- Mutated Mini Pets and Pet item composing system update
- Rebirth Ring update
- Portal Sphere Power Kit update
- Costume System update
- Christmas event Portal Spheres will expire
- Alternate Dimension hunting zone update
- Class up for ALL CHARACTER CLASS update
- Class up Premium hunting zone(field) update
- Limit Breaker System update

Red Stone Official Source

SMITE Season 2 Patch Notes Released

Comments

HI-Rez Studios just released their Season 2 Public Test Server #2 patch notes for their hit MOBA SMITE. The second season of the game will feature the new conquest Map as well as many other gameplay and balance related changes. The first set of patch notes were released on January 16, 2015 with the second set released on January 23, 2015. Expect many other changes to be announced before the new season officially roles out. Typically the biggest changes to MOBAs like SMITE are released before a new season begins. Game developers do this to keep the competitive scene stable. It wouldn't be fair to change things so drastically during an active season.

SMITE approaches the MOBA genre a bit differently. Unlike traditional top-down view MOBAs, SMITE is third-person. Individual skills have to be aimed rather than simply targeted. Expect some major changes in the new season.

The full patch notes are available here:

New Conquest Map

Chaos side is lighter. Fixed lighting bug on trees that was causing Chaos side’s dark areas to go to black and added some additional bounce lights throughout map.
Order side is brighter. Bumped up lighting on Order side to make it more vibrant.
Added some basic wildlife (not final yet).
Updated volcano’s ash cloud, added value ramp so it gets brighter as it approaches the Order side and reworked cloud for visual improvement on low settings
Added temporary stubs for Pantheon flags and god icon spawn pads, but these are not fully setup, and have several known bugs.
Fixed bug so that camp leash volume indicators (rock rings) no longer disappear on lower graphic settings.
Assist text for the Speed Attack Camp has been updated to be accurate.
Various performance related changes.
Misc

You can now type a “tag” into the search box on the god screen to filter by other criteria (IE:Roman, Ranged). The filter will not show any gods until the full word is typed in the box.
Added a new option under Video Settings called Shader Quality.
A new feature has put in place to automatically detect optimized settings for your hardware on a new install of Smite. A new button has also been added under Video Settings to allow existing installs to utilize the suggested settings.
Buff camps and minions will no longer target each other.
Buff camps are undergoing a new visual treatment for buff belts, which is not yet fully implemented. There may be some oddities!
General Gameplay

Titans:
Titans will no longer take damage from any source outside of it’s leashing range while being leashed or standing at it’s spawn point.

Lane Mechanics:
“Tagging” or dealing damage to a lane minion or jungle monster will once again reward XP and Gold regardless of if the player has moved out of reward range when it dies. (Reverted from PTS 1)
Towers once again remove all gold reward from minions they damage. (Reverted from PTS 1).
Note that: Assist reward range is still reduced from 80 to 60.
New Items (Item names are not final):
Manikin Scepter (Starter Item)
+20 Physical Power. Enemies hit by your basic attacks are burned, taking 10 physical damage every 1s for 2s, and are slowed 8% for the duration. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Cost: 800.

Lotus Crown
+40 Magic Power, +30 Physical Protection, +20 MP5, PASSIVE: Any allied gods affected by your heals gain +20 Physical Protection for 3 seconds. Cannot be cast on the same target again for 10s. Cost: 2250.
This is a new Tier 3 item that branches from Jade Mountain Helm.

Temporal Purification
Using this item removes crowd control effects currently affecting you, prevents new ones from being applied for 1s, and reduces all god cooldowns by 5s. Cooldown: 90s. Cost: 900.
This is a new active item branching from Improved Purification.

Shield of the Underworld
Upon activation you reflect 40% of all damage you take (after mitigations) for the next 5s back to it’s owner as true damage. While this is active, enemies cannot lifesteal from you. Cooldown 60s. Cost: 600.
This is a new Active item in it’s own tree.
Known issue: The special FX and sound is temporary. This will be updated in a future patch for clarity.

Achilles’ Spear
Upon activation gain +25% attack speed, and +35% Physical Lifesteal for 5s. You take +30% additional damage from all sources while this is active. Cost 600.
This is a new item in it’s own tree, and only available to Physical gods.
Known issue: The special FX and sound is temporary. This will be updated in a future patch for clarity.

Heartward Amulet
60 Magical Protection, 300 Health, Passive - Aura, +20 Physical Protection, +20 MP5. Cost 2100.
This is a new item that branches off of Silver Talisman.

Soul Stone (Starter Item)
+30 Magic Power, +90 Health, Passive - Your next damaging ability against an enemy god applies a damage over time effect that deals magic damage equal to 2% of the target's current health every second for 2 seconds. This effect cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds. Cost 800.

Bluestone Pendant (Starter Item)
+15 Physical Power, +90 Health, Passive - Restores 4% of your missing mana every 5 seconds. Cost: 800

The Crusher
+40 Physical Power, +20 Physical Penetration, Passive - Each basic attack against towers and phoenixes grants a stack that increases your Attack Speed by 4% and Movement Speed by 2% for 2 seconds. (Max 5 stacks). Cost: 2300.
This item goes into the Mace tree, building off of Heavy Mace.
Item Changes

Physical Boots Tree Changes
Boots (Tier 1)
+6% Movement Speed, Cost 300.

Combat Boots (Tier 2)
+12 Movement Speed, +10 Physical Power, Cost: 900

Warrior Tabi (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +30 Physical Power, +12% Attack Speed. Cost: 1550.

Reinforced Greaves (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +15 Physical Power, +100 Health, 30% Reduction to all crowd control durations. Cost: 1400.

Ninja Tabi (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +30 Physical Power, +15% Cooldown Reduction. Cost: 1500.

Talaria (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +10 Physical Power, +28% Movement Speed and 25 HP5 while out of combat. Cost: 1500.

Magical Shoes Tree Changes
Shoes (Tier 1)
+6% Movement Speed, Cost 300.

Magic Shoes (Tier 2)
+12 Movement Speed, +20 Magical Power, Cost: 900

Shoes of the Magi (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +50 Magical Power, +250 Mana, Cost: 1550.

Reinforced Shoes (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +20 Magical Power, +100 Health, 30% Reduction to all crowd control durations. Cost: 1450.

Shoes of Focus (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +30 Magical Power, +15% Cooldown Reduction. Cost: 1500.

Travelers Shoes (Tier 3)
+18% Movement Speed, +30 Magical Power, +28% Movement Speed and +25 HP5 while out of combat. Cost: 1400.

Aegis Pendant
No longer provides damage reduction after the invulnerability effect fades.

Ancile
Now provides 8% Cooldown Reduction at base.
Cooldown Reduction per stack reduced from 0.25% to 0.2%.

Asi
This is now a Tier 2 Item.
Cost reduced from 1850 to 1780.

Celestial Legion Helm
The passive for this item has changed: Absorbs the next hit of critical strike damage you would take. This effect cannot occur more than every 15 seconds. When this occurs, you gain +40 Magical Power for 3 seconds.
Cost reduced from 3250 to 2850.

Charged Bow
Reduced Attack Speed from 25% to 20%.
Reduced cost from 1350 to 1200.

Charged Morningstar
This item no longer provides MP5.
Physical Power reduced from 25 to 20.
Mana reduced from 200 to 150.
Cost reduced from 1715 to 1200.

Cloak
Removed Health from this item.
Reduced price to 700G.

Death’s Toll
This item no longer provides 3% Attack Speed.

Doom Orb
Cost reduced from 1900 to 1790.
This is now a Tier 2 Item.

Draining Blade
Removed from the game, as Asi was brought down to a Tier 2 item.

Dynasty Plate Helm
This item is now a Tier 2 item.
Cost reduced from 1900 to 1750.

Fist of the Gods
This item is now in it’s own tree, and has been changed.
Using this item will stun a single god in the target area for 1s. Cooldown 90. Cost: 700.
Known issue: The special FX and sound is temporary. This will be updated in a future patch for clarity.

Frost Bound Hammer
Heath reduced from 400 to 300.
Enemies hit by your basic attacks now also have their attack speed slowed by 15%. This will not stack with other Attack Speed slows from items.

Greater Aegis
No longer can be used while under the effects of crowd control.

Greater Purification
This item no longer reduces cooldown times by 5s.
Cost reduced from 900 to 800.

Hunters Bow
Removed from the game, as it’s Tier 3 item has been moved to Tier 2.

Hydra’s Lament
Cost reduced from 2850g to 2150g.
Reduced Physical Power from +50 to +30.
Recharge time reduced from 4s to every 3s.
Passive changed to increase the damage from your next basic attack by +25% after using an ability.
This proc now only works on next basic attack, not next successful basic attack.

Hydra’s Star
Cost reduced from 1400g to 1000g.
Reduced Physical Power from +30 to +20.
Recharge time reduced from 4s to every 3s.
Passive changed to increase the damage from your next basic attack by +10% after using an ability.
This proc now only works on next basic attack, not next successful basic attack.

Ichaival
Now provides +10 Physical Penetration.
Price increased from 1650 to 1700.
This is now a tier 2 item.

Light Blade
Attack Speed increased from +10% to +15%.

Mark of the Vanguard
Health increased from 100 to 150. Boom.

Morningstar of Speed
Removed from the game as it’s tier 3 was lowered to tier 2.

Odysseus’ Bow
Price reduced from 2650 to 2450.

Polynomicon
Recharge period reduced from every 4s to 3s.
Additional damage on inhand increased from 50% to 60%.
This proc now only works on next basic attack, not next successful basic attack.

Protected Recall
Removed from the game.

Pythagoras’s Piece
This item no longer provides Mana.
Now provides +10% Cooldown Reduction.
Now branches off of Talon Trinket.

Qin’s Sais
Reduced Attack Speed from 25% to 15%.
Reduced passive effect from 5% to 4% of maximum health.

Radiant Orb
Removed from the game as it’s tier 3 was lowered to tier 2.

Runic Shield
This item has a new passive.
Passive Aura - All enemies within range 55 have their attack speed reduced by 15% and their Magical Power reduced by 50. Will not stack with other Attack Speed slows from items.

Shield of Regrowth
The item has been changed, and moved into the Round Shield tree as a Tier 2 item.
+20 Physical Power, +20 Physical Protection, +10% Cooldown Reduction. PASSIVE: After healing yourself from an ability, you gain +25% Movement Speed for 2 seconds. This cannot occur more than once every 10 seconds. Cost 1800.

Spiked Shell
Removed from the game.

Spirit Robe
Physical Protection increased from +10 to +45
Magical Protection reduced from +55 to +45
No longer provides Health.

Sovereignty
Physical Protection reduced from 65 to 30.
Health reduced from 450 to 200.
Price reduced from 2550 to 2050.
Aura now provides +25 HP5 in addition to +20 Magical Protection.

Tower Shield
This item no longer has Magical Protection.
Physical Power reduced from 30 to 20.
Cost reduced from 1500 to 1200.

Transcendence
This item no longer provides MP5.

Void Shield
Cost reduced from 2700 to 2600.

Warlock’s Sash
Starting Health reduced from 300 to 200.
Health per stack increased from +3 to +4.
Power per stack decreased from 0.6 to 0.5.

Watcher’s Gift
This item has re-worked.
+100 Health, Passive: Being within range 60 of a minion death without dealing the killing blow awards +4 bonus gold and +10 health.

Winged Blade
Health reduced from 350 to 300.

Witch Blade
Adjusted so it no longer stacks with Attack Speed slows from other items.

Gods - Balance/Updates/Fixes

Anhur
Impale
Damage from the spear is now reduced by 50% for any enemy hit after the first.
Mana cost increased from 70/75/80/85/90 to 70/80/90/100/110.

Ao Kuang
Dragon Call
Reduced Magical Scaling on basic attacks from 28% to 20%.

Apollo
General
Attack speed per level increased from 1.2% to 1.5%.

So Beautiful
Damage from this ability is now reduced 25% for each enemy hit after the first.
Mana cost increased from 70/75/80/85/90 to 70/80/90/100/110.

Across the Sky
This ability no longer knocks up enemies.

Chronos
Stop Time
Stop Tim can no longer be cleansed by slow immunity, and is considered a Stun for the purposes of CC removal.
Stop Time now reduces target attack speed by 25%.
Cooldown increased from 16/15/14/13/12/11 to 18/17/16/15/14.

Cupid
Share the Love
Mana cost reduced from 60/65/70/75/80 to 50 at all ranks.

Flutter
Known Issue: Ranks 1 and 2 do not provide an attack speed bonus. This will be fixed in a future PTS patch.

Fields of Love
This ability no longer causes diminishing returns on itself when it stuns and mesmerizes at the same time.

Hou Yi
Ricochet
Increased projectile speed.

Divebomb
Hou Yi no longer becomes immune to damage and healing while airborne.

Kukulkan
Whirlwind
Duration of damage over time effect increased from 2 to 2.5s.

Neith
Spirit Arrow
This ability no longer has its damage and root reduced for successive enemies hit after the first.

Nox
Siphon Darkness
Increased cooldown from 3s to 4s.
Reduced Magical Power scaling from 60% to 50%.

Night Terror
Casting time for this ability increased from 0.25s to 1s.
Significant updates to special FX and sounds have been made for clarity.

Rama
Astral Strike
Damage from this ability is now reduced to 75% for each enemy hit after the first.

Sobek
Blessing of the Nile
Increasing protection from 5 to 7 per stack.

Lurking in the Waters
Slow increased from 15% to 15/20/25/30/35%.

Xbalanque
Branching Bolas
This ability no longer toggles off when under the effects of crowd control.

Source Smite Forums

Chaos Heroes Online

Chaos Heroes Online is a 3D Fantasy MOBA published by AeriaGames and aims to be the spiritual successor to "Chaos DotA" in Korea. Choose from over 70 playable heroes and battle your opponents on one of two maps. The game is based on the popular Warcraft 3 map "Chaos".

[singlepic id=20 w=428 h=240 float=none] Publisher: Aeria Games
Playerbase: Small
Type: MOBA
Release Date: Oct 2, 2014 (NA/EU)
Status: Shut Down in February, 2015
Pros: +70+ Heroes to chose from. +Tons of skins. +Unique crafting system. +Unique shop system. +Balanced.
Cons: -Poorly designed item system. -Clunky gameplay. -Terrible bot AI. -Uninspiring music & visuals.

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