Diablo 3 ：Friends and Family Beta Test now in Progress

Players can be happy now because there is a good news from the official site that diablo iiireaper of souls friends & family beta test is now underway. This time is different from past. Blizzard planned to invite valued media contacts, key members of the Blizzard community and the most active 3000 d3 players from worldwide to join this beta. That’s really a pioneering behavior.

Participants need not to sign NDA and they are allowed to share what they experienced in the beta. But all they see are part of the expansion and many contents have the chance to be changed before the final release.

If you’re disappointed that you didn’t get an invite to the Reaper of Souls Friends and Family beta, don’t fret. Closed beta for Reaper of Souls is expected by the end of the year. Invitations to the closed beta however will be extremely limited since all content in the expansion will be available, excluding the final boss fight.

So if you’re interested in beta testing Reaper of Souls, make sure you’ve opted-in with your Battle.net account. Around the same time that closed beta kicks off, Blizzard will be launching the Public Test Region (PTR) for Patch 2.0.1. That patch will include Paragon 2.0, Loot 2.0, the new difficulty system, additions of Clans and Communities in addition to balancing and tuning for all five classes. If you are looking for a full guide on all professions and a complete leveling guide for Diablo 3 then check out

Guild Wars 2's Nightmares Within goes live November 12th

ArenaNet announced the details of Guild Wars 2′s next Living Story November 12th update: The Nightmares Within. Furthering the story of the Nightmare Court teaming up with the Krait, this update brings a slew of new updates and a heavy metal song creation contest to boot. Let’s talk about what’s coming to GW2 with this update.

New Events

Lingering Poison: Though the Tower of Nightmares has been breached, the Toxic Alliance’s nefarious presence remains. Players will find that Kessex Hills and the surrounding countryside still are befouled by poisonous pollen.

Face The Nightmares Within: Special encounters await players brave enough to enter rooms within the Tower of Nightmares. What will they find? Agents of the evil Scarlet Briar? Or something much more insidious? Only one thing is certain: strength, determination and resilience will be required to survive.

The End of Nightmares?: Marjory Delaqua, the human detective, developed a special antitoxin to destroy the deadly menace at the heart of the Tower of Nightmares, but the team she dispatched to inject it never returned. Players will get their chance to pick up the fight and succeed where those before them failed.

New Rewards

Antitoxic Fashion: Players completing the meta achievement for The Nightmares Within will unlock a special Gasmask Skin that features the latest design in air purification and toxin prevention. This universal skin can be applied to any piece of head armor.

Exclusive Looks: Players can complete their wardrobes with a new Air Filtration Device – a dry-land version of the starter aquatic helm – or get the new Toxic Spore back item.

Minis: Players can earn two new Toxic Krait minis – one by destroying Toxic Alliance foes, the other by killing a special enemy hidden deep in the heart of the Tower of Nightmares.

Tri-Key Chest: Players collecting three keys – either from foes within the Tower of Nightmares or by bartering for them with Marjory Delaqua’s helper, Dee – can open the chest for a chance to win special treasures.

To top things off, ArenaNet is hosting a Rock the Nightmare music video contest. Break out your best editing skills to create a one-minute video for the song “The Nightmares Within,” which can be found on ArenaNet’s Soundcloud, and you could win a 3D-printed GW2 guitar or some SteelSeries gaming gear! If you are looking for a full guide on all professions and a complete leveling guide for GW2 then check out 

RIFT servers to merge on Wednesday October 23rd

According to the news piece posted yesterday, another round of server merges is on the horizon for Telarans. Seven servers will be shoved into existing populations to support healthier numbers but there is another motive for the forced merges.  The merge will facilitate servers being able to support multiple languages at a later date.

Develops speak to next week’s server unification process, where regional servers will be created to make the game more robust for players looking for larger populations.

First, it means that the pool of people that you can play with is even bigger. Random dungeons will once again be random across the entire population of the region, warfronts will have a larger pool to draw from for match making, Conquest will have more folks to slaughter, and it will be even easier to visit your friends on other servers!

Second, this merge will see a move towards “truly international worlds” for the game wheremultiple languages will be seamlessly supported on the same shard. A brief FAQ also addresses dupe character and guild names, with Trion offering free name changes for those moved characters and guilds.

The merges begin during the normal scheduled downtime for North America on Wednesday, October 23 and for Europe on Thursday, October 24. If you are looking for a full guide on all professions and a complete leveling guide for RIFT then check out 

Warcraft Movie casting begins, Colin Farrell and Paula Patton Up For Roles

Highly anticipated movie Warcraft recently has begun selected roles. Legendary Pictures and Atlas Entertainment have reportedly made offers to Colin Farrell and Paula Patton to star in their Duncan Jones-directed adaptation of the Blizzard video game Warcraft.

Warcraft, the big screen adaptation of the Blizzard Entertainment’s videogame franchise, will begin shooting early next year, and it looks like Legendary Pictures and Atlas Entertainment have set their sights on Colin Farrell and Paula Patton to headline the movie.

According to Deadline, an offer has gone out to Farrell, but sources say there’s only a 50/50 chance he’ll take the movie. If the screenplay is indeed based on Jeff Grubb’s novel Warcraft: The Last Guardian, then the role Farrell has been offered is that of Khadgar, an apprentice to a powerful mage named Medivh.

Farrell’s recent movies have been under-performing at the box office so he’s in desperate need of a hit. Is Warcraft that movie? It doesn’t sound like Farrell is exactly jumping at the opportunity.

It is unknown what role Patton is in talks for, but her character is either that of a human or an elf. Besides those two, Paul Dano, Travis Fimmel, Anson Mount, and Anton Yelchin are also being eyed for roles in the movie.

Production is set for January 13th next year in Vancouver with Duncan Jones directing from Charles Leavitt’s script. If there are no delays, we may see the film hit theaters sometime in 2015.For more information about game you can visit the official site.

To celebrate the 4th anniversary Aion will host special activities for the entire September

Are you excited about the upcoming anniversary events in Aion? Aion is the NCsoft’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game .The staff will host in-game special events and activities for the entire month to celebrate the fourth anniversary of its western release.

The developers have multiple in-game events set to take place beginning September 18th. The studio mentions an Alchemy Event is already taking place. Within it you can unlock special chests throughout the world of Atrela by using special keys found from daily quests. Or, players can combine Alchemic Essences and Lead Fragments for the same effect. Players can participate every day, as of today, and the event will end on September 18th as the rest start to kickoff.

Daeva’s Day Events is another in-game event mentioned by NCSoft. Players can expect to receive cake buffs as well as Deava Wings upon the completion of quests. There will also be numerous challenges throughout the land that can help earn players golden feathers, which in-turn can be used to purchase rewards. Hide-and-seek is another game that will be playable. Find min-anniversary cakes around the area and earn rewards from these too. The Daeva’s Day Events starts on September 18th and runs through October 2nd.

You will also be able to use your creative side in Aion as players can submit their unique Key and Mecha design for the upcoming Aethertech class.  Titled Leave Your Legacy:  Aethertech, this special anniversary contest runs through Sept. 25th.

But that’s not all! GMs will host various mini-games and activities throughout the anniversary celebrations, rewarding players for participating. And on September 19th, players can celebrate Talk Like a Pirate Day with various pirate-themed activities and gear that’s exclusive to NA.

Square Enix and Blizzard collaborate to release Diablo 3 Japanese Version

Square Enix has announced that they will launch a console version of Diablo III in Japan. The Japanese version will be sold on PlayStation 3 platform in 2014 and the price has not been decided. At that time, Square Enix will collaborate with Sony Computer Entertainment to make Japanese text and voice.

While Square Enix is best known for their RPGs, they also have a second label called Extreme Edges that localizes Western games for Japan. Most of the Extreme Edges games are Activision titles like Call of Duty or Eidos games. Add Diablo III to that list because Square Enix announced they will publish the console version in Japan.

Diablo III is localized and sold on the PC in a number of other Asian markets, but the game has not been available in Japanese. The Extreme Edge division of Square Enix has published other Western games, and will be providing a full localization effort for Diablo III.

This Japanese localization is scheduled to be released only on the PlayStation 3 console. The Xbox 360 console has not sold well in Japan, so it may not be worth it to bring a localized version to that console.

According to the official Diablo III Console FAQ, the console version of Diablo III will eventually be available in South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia.

The Super Adventure Box comes back to Guild Wars 2 next week

The summer holidays are nearing end, Guild Wars 2 players, prepare to go back to school to take part in one of the most enjoyable side areas in the entire game, the Super Adventure Box, where players get to explore an 8-bit world crafted by the Asuran genius Moto, filled with fun, adventure, and references to classic video games.

The rumors are true: Super Adventure Box is coming back to Guild Wars 2 for a 2013 encore event! The next content update for the game won’t merely trot out the old April Fools Day content for another go, but will also add several new levels and challenges.

When players return to the retro-themed game-within-a-game, they’ll have the chance to push onward into World 2 with several new levels and a terrifying end boss: the Storm Wizard. ArenaNet is also adding a new Tribulation Mode for those who like a challenge, more super weapon skins, boss weapons, and the chance to craft a Princess Miya mini.

The forthcoming update isn’t just about the Super Adventure Box; players will be able to craft ascended weapons and push up to 500 skill points in weaponsmith, artificer, and huntsman crafting. Legendary weapons will be buffed and magic find will be stripped away from all gear in favor of adding it as an account-wide bonus.

Players can get an early look at the update by joining a livestream with ArenaNet developers on Tuesday, Sept. 3, at noon (PDT) on the Guild Wars 2 Twitch channel.

Diablo 3 new systems and features in pre-expansion patch for free to all players

Before a Poland community manager said that part of the function will be provided free forpre-expansion players. Now the information got Community Manager Grimiku confirmation from American War Forums.

We want to implement a lot of the new systems and features in a pre-expansion patch for free. That should include Paragon 2.0, Loot 2.0, Loot Runs, and Nephalem Trials. For now, you’ll need to purchase the expansion to play as the Crusader, explore Act V, unlock the Mystic, and level up to 70. These details may change as development moves along, but we want some of the core gameplay improvements to be available for everyone.

The new Paragon system will remove the Paragon level cap (meaning you’ll be able to, well, infinitely level your toon), which is good news for the few and proud that have reached the max paragon level. There’ll also be other changes Paragon 2.0 will bring, and we’ll get those then too.

The Loot 2.0 vision for Diablo 3 will be especially important for those that want to get characters ready for the expansion. Loot 2.0 means that the gear drops you get will be more focused on your current character, which means that in general, gearing up should be easier; and that there should be more ‘reward’ for playing the game.

The other features Grimuku talks about, the Loot Runs and the Nephalem Trials, are end-game modes/activities. Blizzard seems to be taking a new direction with Diablo 3, addressing some of the fan complaints.

Play Guild Wars 2 for FREE August 23 – 25, 2013

NCsoft and developer ArenaNet said on Friday that Guild Wars 2 has become the all-time fastest-selling MMORPG in Europe and North America. If you’ve been holding off on trying it, though, then this weekend might be your moment. Guild Wars 2 will be hosting a free-to-play weekend beginning at 12:01 a.m. on August 23 and running until 11:59 p.m. on August 25 (PDT). All you’ll need to get started is your name, email address, birth date, and an alias.

Guild Wars 2, like its predecessor, operates on a single purchase and forgoes ongoing subscription fees. Expansive story content, dynamic public events, and world-versus-world PvP modes offer lots of stuff to do, so you’ll only be able to see a fraction of the content in a weekend’s worth of time.

You can over to the Guild Wars 2 site to read up on the game, check out our review, or go straight to the registration page to get signed up.

Blizzard registered a new property Trademark for The Dark Below

Blizzard registered a new trademark The Dark Below caused the Blizzard community hot discussion. The trademark (via Massively) does not give any further detail regarding what The Dark Below may pertain to and a company representative was not immediately available to comment.

A Gamescom invitation sent to media last month said, “We’re making a special announcement that’s sure to capture the attention of the Heavens, Burning Hells, and all the shadowed places that lie between.”

So what does this mean? If we break it down, it could be an expansion for World of Warcraft, Diablo III, or Starcraft. Blizzard has a tendency to break out new content after a while and stagger releases, so most recently they released Mists of Pandaria for WoW and Heart of the Swarm for Starcraft. By process of elimination, Diablo III needs some expansion loving.

During an earnings call earlier this month, Blizzard Entertainment president and cofounder Mike Morhaime said the company’s Gamescom announcement would be related to Diablo. Additionally, it is said that Blizzard may be releasing more information at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany from August 21st to 25th this year. We could be hearing more information on both The Dark Below and Project Titan.

Quick and Efficiency tips to help you better succeed in SWTOR 2.3

The Old Republic since Rise of the Hutt Cartel hit the servers. BioWare calls Update 2.3 Titans of Industry; somebody call it Czerka. they’ve been on and off test center for the last few weeks, checking out not only the latest zone planet CZ-198 but also the Bounty Contract Week, and figured that since you guys will likely be jumping right into this new content, so I will give you a few tips of my own to help you better succeed in this new venture.

Disclaimer: These quick and efficiency tips are not endorsed by Czerka Corporation, the GalacticRepublic, the Sith Empire, or their affiliates.

1.Group up   

The quests on CZ-198 are not difficult. Any level 55 in just about any gear should be able to handle the questlines. However, today and likely most of the next few weeks, the planet will be crowded. BioWare offsets a lot of the congestion by instancing once the zone hits approximately 100 characters on a given faction. But the area we have to play in is still small. In square footage, it’s probably the same size as the Corellian Black Hole daily area, but it’s divided into multiple floors, making it seem that much more crowded. Grouping up allows you share kills in the tiny space. All the containers looted or destroyed by one player count for all the players in the group, so there is less fighting over spawns.

2. Kill all the mobs

If you’re in less-than-optimal gear, as my Assassin on test center was, these little buggers can cause you a major headache if you happen to be knocked into them. I’d suggest killing them first before taking on the anti-toxin container.

3.Do the flashpoints 

Here’s another tip that might seem to be a no-brainer, but I know there are people who are either intimidated by flashpoints or feel they are a waste of time. In all honesty, the flashpoints (especially the first one) can be completed solo if set to story mode and you have raid-level gear. Since you’re already in a group (see tip #1), it’s really just a quick ten-minute run per flashpoint. It’d be a shame to miss out on the rep items you can gain by completing the weekly quest.

4.  Run dilies on multiple characters 

If you don’t have time, I wouldn’t suggest that you make time to run dailies. However, that Czerka Executive Cruiser looks real shiny and requires Legend standing with Ordnance Acquisition Corps (Imperial) or The Adjudicators (Republic). Given the optimal situation, I estimate that it will take six weeks’ worth of reputation items to reach that level. The more characters that you run it on, the more likely you will be able to complete the rep grind in six weeks.

5.Don`t forget the macrobinocular quest

What? A macrobinocular quest in the new daily area? Yes. And you can complete it on each of your level 55 characters who have the macrobinocular item. You get a minipet, which is cool if you like minipets, but most importantly, you earn a purple rep item just for wandering around clicking on things. Of course, you can still gain a maximum of only 13563 rep points a week, but having more purple rep items reduces the number of grindy quest that you have to do in the long run.

Hope these tips help you out! I know dailies aren’t the most exciting thing to do, but unlike the daily area on Makeb, this daily area is quick and easy. The dailies themselves should only take about 15 to 20 minutes, and the once-a-week flashpoint run shouldn’t be too exhausting or grindy. Have you been playing on test center? What are your quick and efficiency tips?

WoW Loses 600K Subscribers in the 2013 Second Quarter

In the latest earnings release, World of Warcraft is down to 7.7 Mio subscribers. This means a total loss of 600,000 subscribers from 8.3 Mio last quarter. WoW has definitely seen better days, as at one point they had over 12 million subscribers, and since then that number is rapidly dwindling.

Activision Blizzard Purchases Shares From Vivendi

Activision Blizzard is purchasing 429 Mio shares from Vivendi for $5.8 billion. The purchase is financed with $1.2 billion of cash that was on hand and $4.6 billion of debt proceeds, leaving them with a $1.4 billion of net debt at the end of the deal in September 2013. With huge subscriber drops each quarter, it was not the best time to completely separate from Vivendi.

Countermeasures

The launch of an in-game store by Blizzard in 5.4 which is supposed to offer convenience items, such as the Elixir increasing XP in Asian regions.

Transmog items added to theBlizzard Store. Earlier this month, helmets were added to the online store for $15 each.

It’s time to introduce another AnnualPass, if Blizzard wants to lose less subscribers next quarter. Things look grim for Blizzard. Despite the vastly improved game quality in Mists of Pandaria they still arent able to counter their subscriber drops as more and more players stop playing the game, growing tired of the same content. We know that Titan development was restarted from scratch, this means WoW will need to endure a bit longer.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to WoW’s subscriber rate once Blizzard implements in-game microtransactions. After all, it’s very possible that they could end up driving the subscriber numbers down faster, but at the same time if the people who stay start buying items in-game then it’s possible that those transactions could offset the loss of revenue from the subscribers. Only time will tell. For more information you can visit the official site.