by John Carle, Jun 29 2011 // 3:00 PM
Once the initial rush of new players began to slow down, Blizzard in their infinite wisdom allowed new players the chance to experience World of Warcraft for 14 days, free of charge. Though Blizzard hadn’t released the actual number of players who ended up becoming full subscribers, they stuck to this method for a number of years.
Now, with players at the 11,000,000 range, Blizzard has decided to switch things up a bit in a further effort to bring new players in to the World of Warcraft machine. Under this new structure, players will be given an unlimited amount of free play time on their account until their character reaches level 20.
Part of the reason behind this new strategy may lie in the fact that things come up out of no where in people’s lives unexpectedly and such a freak occurrence happening during a limited 14 day time frame may completely shut out the chance for this new player to experience what World of Warcraft has to offer. Instead, players are given the chance to experience Azeroth at their leisure, much like they are allowed to in a full version of the game.
There is no pressure to try and experience as much as you can in a short time span with this new system. There are, as expected, some restrictions to this Free-to-Play system though.
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Posted in: Activision · Announcements · Games · Giveaways · PC Games · Video Games
Tagged: Activision, Announcements, Azeroth, Blizzard, Free-2-Play, Free-to-Play, PC Games, Promotions, Video Games, Warcraft, World of Warcraft
by Sebastian Suchecki, Nov 16 2010 // 11:00 AM
DC Universe Online has got to be the most epic game in the world. Because of the hype surrounding it, and the constant delays, this game had better be the best thing we’ve seen since World of Warcraft, only better. We’re now getting a few tidbits as the beta is currently in progress that could prove just that.
One of the major elements to any successful MMORPG game is the upgrades for your custom character. It’s what drives millions of people to the WoW servers every day, and it could be what makes or breaks DCUO. We’re now getting a look at purchasable battlesuits that can be obtained by doing missions for specific characters.
The most specific examples the fine folks at Sony Online Entertainment have given us is the battlesuits obtained from missions with Wonder Woman and Black Adam. Check out the full trailer for the suits after the jump, and keep it here as we bring you the most up-to-date news from DC Universe Online as we await it’s early 2011 release date.
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Posted in: Action · Announcements · Comics · DC · DC Entertainment · Games · News · PC Games · Playstation 3 · PlayStationNetwork · Sony · Video · Video Games
Tagged: Black Adam, DC, DC Universe Online, Gaming, MMORPG, Sony, Sony Online Entertainment, Warcraft, Wonder Woman, World of Warcraft
by John Carle, Oct 14 2009 // 3:00 PM
Since its announcement, there has been tons of buzz surrounding the Warcraft film. Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King has already been put under the reigns of Sam Raimi (Spider-Man franchise, Drag Me to Hell) as it tells the story of Arthas, the young paladin prince who would be corrupted by an evil sword and ultimately become the ruler of the undead legions of Azaroth.
Speaking with MTV News, Raimi said “We want to be really faithful to the game…to the Horde and the Alliance and the mythology that takes place in the game, and the archetypes that the game presents… I think we would try and find touchstones within the game to make it accurate and true and choose one or some of the lands that are portrayed in the game with as much accuracy and authenticity as possible.”
Raimi followed by revealing that Robert Rodat, the Oscar nominated writer of Saving Private Ryan would be penning the script for the movie. An interesting choice for writer of the 2011 release, Rodat did the script for The Patriot in 2000 before disappearing from the scene for almost ten years.
While Rodat has shown he is adept at war drama, this will be his first venture in to the world of epic fantasy that Warcraft encompasses. He also must face the stigma that video games rarely get translated in to quality films, with the rare exception of the first Resident Evil movie. After such debacles as the Super Mario Bros. movie or box office failures like Silent Hill, Rodat has a lot of pressure going in to this film, especially from the more than 11 million World of Warcraft subscribers who will undoubtedly be the first to attend the movie when it hits theaters.
Posted in: Activision · Movies · News · PC Games · Scripts · Video Games · Writers
Tagged: Blizzard, Robert Rodat, Sam Raimi, Warcraft, Warcraft: Rise of the Lich King, World of Warcraft
by Cortney Zamm, Jul 24 2009 // 6:15 PM
Felicia Day will be penning a new comic based on her hit web series, The Guild for Dark Horse Comics! The Guild, written by and starring Felicia Day (Dr. Horrible, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, House) is the Winner of the 2008 Greenlight Award at SXSW as well as the 2008 YouTube Best Series and Yahoo! Best Series awards.
The show has racked up over twenty million viewers at watchtheguild.com. The Guild follows six World of Warcraft players, or “Guildies” Bladezz, Codex, Vork, Tinkerballa, Zaboo, and Clara, and their adventures both in the game and in real life.
Senior Dark Horse Editor Scott Allie came up with the idea to turn The Guild into a comic at last year’s Comic-Con. “Felicia’s amazing, and her writing will translate smoothly into comics,” Allie said. “It’ll fit great alongside our webcomics and our Whedon books.”
While the three-issue miniseries currently has no artist, Day is psyched to be on board. “The comics will be a great way for fans to become more involved with the characters, and see the characters interact in environments that we can’t afford to show in the web series,” she said. “I can’t imagine working with a better company than Dark Horse. It seems like a perfect match for the show. Indie cred to the max!”
Season 3 of The Guild comes out on Xbox, MSN, and Zune on August 25.
Posted in: Comedy · Comic-Con · Dark Horse Comics · Games · News · Video Games · Web
Tagged: Felicia Day, Scott Alie, SDCC09, The Guild, Warcraft
by Joe Gillis, Jul 21 2009 // 11:38 PM
In case you were curious what Sam Raimi was up to these days, wonder no more because Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures just signed him to direct the upcoming movie based on the hugely popular game Warcraft. Raimi, of course, is the director of the blockbuster Spider-Man series and will now bring the forces of the Horde and the Alliance to life in an epic live-action film. He will also produce the pic in association with Charles Roven’s Atlas Entertainment.
“At its core, Warcraft is a fantastic, action-packed story,” said Raimi. “I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen.” In case you’re not familiar with Warcraft, its set in a rich fantasy universe that revolves around the epic conflict between the opposing forces of the Horde and the Alliance.
World of Warcraft, the subscription-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game set in the Warcraft universe, is the most popular game of its kind in the world. Its most recent expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, is the fastest-selling PC game of all time, with more than 2.8 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and more than 4 million in its first month.
No other details on the movie such as cast, writers or a release date are available as of yet. But rest assured, when details emerge, we’ll bring them to you right here.
Posted in: Deals and Dealmaking · Drama · Fantasy · Games · Movies · News · Press Releases · Video Games
Tagged: Blizzard Entertainment, Sam Raimi, The Alliance, The Horde, Warcraft, World of Warcraft